What do you suggest?

Yesterday, I was in the dressing room at Ross, Dress for Less when I heard a lady say to her friend, "Tell me the truth." She was standing in front of the 3 way mirror checking out an outfit. I was half dressed, but almost ran to the mirrors to give my opinion. I luuurv giving my opinion! But, alas, I refrained.

Besides clothes shopping, I have started redecorating my home for Christmas. I picked up this mirror at a little resale shop yesterday. Love it! Tall candlesticks? Cheap at a discount store. Gold trees? A thrift store. Stockings will be hung by the chimney with care, eventually.

Here's where you come in, my dressing room lurking friends. The issue? Fireplace shelf/mantle. See the oak shelf over the fireplace? I hate it. I have a marvelous oak fireplace mantle/surround, but, I use it for a headboard. Here it is:

Look at this bigger picture of the fireplace.

There is a hole under the fireplace that was built for firewood. It comes in handy. On either side of the hole, see the silver vents? The fireplace has a heat-a-lator. It helps disperse heat. It's a good thing.

If you look at that first picture again, you'll see that the bricks between the two stocking trees have slits. The heat is blown from the heat-a-lator, through these slits.

But now, if you will, imagine an antique mantle surround. It won't fit. It would cover the vents on the sides, and it would most likely cover the slits in the bricks. Not good. What to do? Besides the vent placement, the fireplace is high. So, it sits too high for my mantle surround, anyway.

What do you think? Just find an old hunk of wood and make it into a shelf? Find an old half rotten surround and chop off the legs? Help!

What do you suggest? To quote the gal in the dressing room, "Tell me the truth." I have lived with (and hated) this shelf for way too long. Maybe Santa will hook me up with your groovy suggestion.

You may have noticed, I've been away from the computer quite a lot lately. I am behind on y'alls posts. I miss you. But, I am also behind on life. My home and both stores need me. It's a tug of war and life away from blogging/reading/commenting is winning the tug right now. Thank you to the newbies/lurkers who have left comments recently. I'm sure I'll be back in full force soon.

Happy Wednesday!
~Mindy