Project Mantel

One of my most favoritist things to do at Christmas time is to decorate the house!  I don't think there is anytime of year when a house looks more COZY than at Christmas time!  It feels warm and loved!  I so enjoy decorating for Christmas...it takes me weeks to get everything just right!

So this year we started to pull the boat loads of totes out of the attic the weekend of Thanksgiving.  Slowly the totes made their way down the steps and I scattered my trinkets around the house.  I scattered, and rearranged and scattered more for 2 weeks!  I almost have everything just where I want it!  Almost!  

This was my first year doing my mantel - and I felt a lot of pressure to get it right!  My mom has always decorated her mantel to the tee!  She had Nutcrackers and Carolers and lots of lights and more greenery!  She did the same mantel year after year, tweaking just slightly and improving just a bit every year!  This year - the mantel was MINE!  I wanted something simple and natural, but fun and whimsical!  We have a gorgeous stone fireplace and I just wanted to accent it!  I started out with one of my favorite winter time decorations - PINE CONES!  I sent Little Man and Princess out the door with a bucket in tow and gave them strict instructions not to return until the bucket was full!  They very quickly returned with everything I wanted and more (like leaves, stones and pine needles - YEAH).  But, I had the pine cones I needed!  So, I filled my glass jar to the brim and found a hurricane to use for the opposite side...placed one on either side of the mantel and moved on!  

The kids and I went out and trimmed some greenery off the white pines that line our back yard and I filled in the rest of the mantel.  Gotta love free decorations and they smelled beautiful!  I rounded up a slew of white votive candles of all different heights and used them as the centerpiece.  Red berries gave a splash of color...and then the piece de resistance...the huge Christmas balls from Christmas Tree Shoppe ($1.99 ea.)!!!!!!  So love my ginormous, bright colored Christmas balls!  Then I took a step back and admired my work - something was missing!  I needed something in the middle.  I wanted a mirror and knew I had to have one somewhere in my house...but couldn't find one!  The Hubs searched the attic, I searched the garage, we both searched the basement...no mirror!  I ran out to Christmas Tree Shoppe and they had two to choose from...one too big and one too square!  I darted over the TJ Maxx and the angels started to sing!  The perfect mirror - and it was on sale!  Allelujah!  Mantel complete!  I absolutely love how simple and fun it is!