Christmas Mantel 2013

I’m pleased to share my Christmas mantel with you today.  This mantel is so different than anything else I’ve ever done.  Never in a million years would I have dreamed that I would have a woody cabin inspired mantel.  It’s never been my style, but I suppose I should have kept in mind my favorite saying, “Never say Never”.  I’ve said it for years, because I truly believe you never stop changing and evolving.  What you dislike like today, you may like tomorrow and vise versa.  And really it’s not a bad thing.  Life changes and we need to too. Really the best part of this mantel in my mind, is the fact that I really had no idea where this mantel was going.  Months ago I decided I wanted to incorporated white branches in my Christmas mantel.  That was all I had going in.  I just started decorating, and looking around the house.  I pulled the mirror from the basement, the silver K was dusty and dirty in the garage, and the grapevine reindeer is from Joann’s.  He was actually in my car to return.  I loved him when I saw him, but just didn’t know how he would ever fit in to my décor.  Old white cable knit sweater sleeves dressed up some plain glass vases and gave my branches some where to sit.  I found this beautiful wool felted ribbon at a specialty store a while back.  

I painted an old sconce glass by dipping it in paint and letting it dry.  It reminds me of a snowy mountain top.    

A few extra large pinecones flank the edge of the mantel, set off by burlap bows.


Saving that box of old clear bulbs that use too much electricity finally paid off!  I used some white paint and painted them to match, then using twine attached everything together.  It makes a nice subtle bunting.

My snow shoes came from the Katie Brown collect at Meijer.  If you’ve never checked this line out, you totally should.  It is so cute I almost regret giving you this tip!

I found this neat paper star at Home Goods and used it with some white picks to tie my tree into the mantel.  This is the first year I have two trees up in my house.  I purchased this skinny tree in an urn and really do love the size of it in my family room, which isn’t that large.  Not having a tree skirt on the floor makes everything feel neater.  I also added the painted lights attached to the wool ribbon around the tree as the garland.

Here’s how it all looks together.  I am loving the layered effects of the wreath over the mirror and the reindeer on top of that.  It really adds a lot of dimension to the room.  The mantel feels cozy and natural to me.  I feel like I will be able to leave this up the whole winter. 


My monogrammed  fire place cover is made from Pallet wood and is insulated to keep out the chill.  If you missed that post you can find it HERE.  Here’s a closer look at just the mantel. 



Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you enjoyed my mantel.   Diane


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