DIY Holiday Mantle Without Garland
For a fresh take on mantles, use just a few novel ingredients to this mantle recipe that can be customized and seasonally rotated to your liking:
SHED THE GARLAND.
Beautiful and elaborate garlands are tried and true but not very original and they can be expensive AND, let’s face it, obnoxious. They are limited, typically, to the Christmas Holiday season and leave an empty feeling when it’s time for cheap valentines decor. I am opting for some fresh ideas more gentle, practical, yet just as welcoming and beautiful!
USE EXISTING ART.
Use the piece above your mantle and choose objects that flow with it in color, texture, or style; Don’t have a piece over your mantle? Then get one instead of buying expensive Christmas decor. TIP: If you work with the colors and textures in your mantle art, your mantle decor will blend well with the rest of the decor in the room as if it's a part of a larger story. Want to see the whole room? Featured here
NON HOLIDAY SPECIFIC
stocking hangers can be used to hang Christmas stockings over the holidays; then hang seasonal fresh herbs, silk stem bundles, or other seasonal items from them throughout the year. These stocking hangers can be found at Terrain during the holiday season and have the feature of mini planters. I put live mini- succulents in them that don’t need much watering and they last for months! I’ll be excited to hang tiny spring wreaths from them in March, and replace the succulents with tiny pumpkins in the Fall.
MIX REAL GREENERY WITH BELLE FAUX and it ALL looks real.
If you can’t get stocking hangers with planters, consider inserting some small potted plants to alternate with the stocking hangers. Instead of garland, lay real or faux stems gracefully to drape over the edges of your mantle. Consider magnolia stems or something more wafty. And willows in the spring with your new hanging dried herbs. This provides a light touch and adds just enough greenery so no one misses the always predictable garland.
MISS-MATCH WITH SYMMETRY.
Notice the painting is framed by bronze metal angels on the right and tall fuzzy trees on the left. Do they match? NO. But they are the same general size and scale and they create a nice set of miss-matched bookends to the scene. Perhaps you put 3 tall wise-men on one siden an angel with trumpets on the other, and the Babe with Mom and Joe in the middle; THE focal point of Christmas. Ha! I may do that next year.
ABOUT THOSE FUZZY CONE TREES.
Check out this insta video and do your thing: Make Your Own Fuzzy Cone Trees
TIE IT TOGETHER WITH A BOW or the Babe, Mom, and Joe.
OR use something simple and elegant for a focal point. I chose a bow because I happened to have this favorite ribbon that made the perfect center.
OH YEAH, THE STOCKINGS! Almost forgot. If your stockings don’t match your new or existing art, get some new ones. They will pay for themselves with the love they share with your art and your room. This puppy stocking was made for a previous schnoodle we named Sgt Pepper, hence the “SP”; but it is a hand-me-down to Hershey, our yule-tide party animal who can’t wait to get to his Christmas bones and treats. He’s also a schnoodle, so it works.
TIE IT TOGETHER WITH A BOW or the Babe, Mom, and Joe.
OR use something simple and elegant for a focal point. I chose a bow because I happened to have this favorite ribbon that made the perfect center.
OH YEAH, THE STOCKINGS!
Almost forgot. If your stockings don’t match your new or existing art, get some new ones. They will pay for themselves with the love they share with your art and your room. This puppy stocking was made for a previous schnoodle we named Sgt Pepper, hence the “SP”; but it is a hand-me-down to Hershey, our yule-tide party animal who can’t wait to get to his Christmas bones and treats. He’s also a schnoodle, so it works.
