My First Winter Mantel

This year my Christmas mantel display was just a row of six small poinsettias across the mantel.  I only put up one of my usual two Christmas trees and so many of my holiday decorations stayed in the boxes this year.  The season was short, too busy to relax and enjoy, and now that January is here I wish it had been longer because I really didn’t feel like I enjoyed my decorations long enough.  This is why this month I decided to decorate my first winter themed mantel display.

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The short time between the Christmas holidays and the next holiday, Valentine’s day, often feels cold and void of something. After weeks of bright lights and shiny ornaments our homes can feel a bit blah. The winter months can be a challenge for decorating our home. At least it is for me. Anything I have tried in the past just seems to be more like another Christmas decoration, especially on the mantel, so I usually just put up something generic and non-seasonal on the mantel until Spring.

Recently I started cleaning out my craft room (again) and decided that I had just too many half-finished or never-started projects that I needed to get done.  Two of those things were wreath forms for wreaths I never started. So I decided two things – 1 – my back entrance needed a winter wreath and 2 – a second winter wreath needed to go over the mantel.  You can see the post on the Simple DIY Winter Wreath for my back entrance here.

 

 

The second winter wreath with a small squirrel is so adorable!

Of course with a mantel that is 8 feet wide, a small little winter wreath was not going to be enough.  I took a quick trip to Hobby Lobby for winter themed supplies and found the shelves completely bare of anything that could be used for winter.  Nothing. Nada.  There wasn’t a left over white tree or vase to be found anywhere in the store.  The entire store had already been switched over to Valentine’s and spring decor and it was only 4 days into January!

I went back to my messy craft room to find anything I could use or make to complete my winter mantel display.  I am always happy to reuse things and spend very little money on a project.

 

Find ways to use what you already have in a new way.

I started my winter mantel display with one of the old window frames from our rental house.  Since our fireplace is stone we can’t really add nails to hang anything so the hook on the window frame is a perfect solution.  The second smaller winter wreath I made from my craft stash with the squirrel ornament is just so adorable.

Next I borrowed a chalk board from another room and wrote out some well known song lyrics.  (Now I have been singing that song in my head all week!)

 

 

Some of the things I found in my messy craft room were lots of pine cones, wood slices, and small pots.  A couple of layers of white paint and some hot glue made these into some adorable white tree decorations.

 

 

 

The felt snowballs and the “Let It Snow” wooden box are actually part of my Christmas decoration stash but work great for January’s winter weather.(Except I live in the south and snow isn’t always in the forecast.  Here’s to wishful thinking.)

 

 

In my craft room, I also have a box full of mini yarn hats that were once used on a project for a Winter Themed Wreath.

 

 

These mini yarn hats are made from toilet paper rolls!

Do you remember seeing those a few years ago all over Pinterest?  You can easily make these just using tubes from toilet paper rolls and yarn.  I even included a short tutorial for them in this post about Winter Themed Wreath I did a couple of years ago. At first, I considered making a garland out of them but instead went to my own yard, picked up several branches, put them in a glass jar and instead made a creative mini hat tree to add some height to the winter display.

 

 

 

 

And with that my first winter mantel display is done!

In a few weeks I will change out a few of the items for Valentine’s Day decor.  This is a new trend I am going to try to keep going all year for the top of my mantel.  I think it will be fun to change it out with each season and holiday this year and see what I can come up with on a budget.

“You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you.” Psalm 128:2