Christmas Mantel

Happy Last Day in November! Now that Thanksgiving is over, Christmas is in full swing at our house.

I’m having so much fun decorating! I shared on Instagram how this is my first Christmas with a working fireplace and I’ve been itching to hang stockings and get festive.  Well, the stockings are hung by the chimney with care. Want to take a peek?

The garland started with two cheap fake-looking greenery garlands. I cut real pine branches and added them to the garland to fill it out and make it look luxe. Then I added white twinkle lights, then the green sparkly ribbon. This is how I prepped the ribbon:

I used my tile floor as a spacing guide. At the start of each new tile, I twisted a long piece of wire around the ribbon. Then I used the wire to connect the ribbon to the greenery. You can read a detailed tutorial for how to decorate Christmas garland here.

After the ribbon, I started adding ornaments and floral picks in reds and golds. I used more floral wire to attach these.

For the decor above the mantel, I created hoop art using embroidery hoops and added little pine sprigs.

I downloaded the adorable station wagon print from Craftberry Bush. I was going to use it as an embroidery pattern, but decided it would be too difficult, so I just cut out the image and used a glue stick to glue it to the white fabric. You can’t even tell unless you look at it really close up. It totally looks like it’s printed on the fabric. Works for me! Ha!

I have our themed tree upstairs, but the tree next to the fireplace is my favorite. It’s full of all of our keepsake ornaments. My husband and I give each other an ornament every year. My grandma has given each of her grandchildren a handmade ornament every year for over 20 years now. This tree has the ornaments my kids make at school. The tree upstairs is pretty and it’s fun to decorate, but this tree is sentimental.

I made the Christmas Tree Farm sign. You can download the template to make your own sign HERE.

I bought the stockings and the plaid letters at Target. These are our “pretty” stockings. My mother-in-law knitted matching stockings for every person in the family (seven kids + nearly 30 grandkids). I treasure those stockings and we will use them every year forever. They just don’t match the other mantel decor, and my OCD couldn’t handle it, so those stockings are hung in another part of the house. Ha ha.

When I got all of the decorating done and turned the lights on, my husband said, “This is just what I was hoping our home would look like at Christmas.” I just about died of shock. Coming from a man who doesn’t notice anything frilly, this was a big deal! I’m thrilled!