Christmas Mantel

One of the things I love about blogging is how it keeps me motivated to get projects finished.  And since I wanted to join Layla @ The Lettered Cottage for her Christmas Mantel Party, and Kim @ Savvy Southern Style for her Boring to Better Party, it was just the push I needed to get my mantel decorated early this year.

I have two fireplaces in my house and the one I'm showing today is in our finished basement.  The room has a stone fireplace and one stone wall which gives it somewhat of a lodge feel.  So I decided to decorate it this year with warm woods and pops of red and white.  I didn't want to spend any money so I scoured my Christmas bins and my basement storage area to find pieces to use.

The window came from my childhood home.  The house was built over 100 years ago and this is one of it's original windows.  My Mom and Dad still live in the house and they had the windows replaced a few years back.  At the time I took the window I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it but I love how it looks on the mantel.

I made the yardstick star a couple of weeks ago and the tutorial can be found here.

I dressed it up with a red bow to add some color.  The metal star is one that I have had on my mantel for almost five years.  I also took three old bottles and added some small game cards to read JOY.

We're not finished just yet.

The fireplace is anchored on the left side by our TV and the right side with cabinets, both with lots of upper display space.

More "shopping" around the house and lots of time tweaking the display (my legs are sore from going up and down a ladder) and this is what I finished with last night.  All I kept thinking while I was adding all the stuff was that it was going to end up looking like a TGI Friday's Restaurant.

Not my best photo but I really needed a wide angle lens (and better lighting) to capture a good picture.

After looking at this picture I think I need some garland draped under the mantel with some stockings.

Here are some additional pictures of the mantel area:

An old wood game board propped against the wall is a backdrop for a flying Santa.

The vintage lantern was an antique store find.  It was made for a light bulb but I took the electrical components out and added a battery operated candle.

The lantern is sitting atop a shelve from an old trunk and the little red truck was a toy of my husband's from the mid-60's (gotta love that his mother saved everything).

I rounded the display out with a wreath, one of my favorite Santa figures, and some trees and snowflakes.

On the right side I piled on more stuff.  A second lantern, some of my Santa collection in a wood box, a white wicker basket with poinsettias and twigs, and a well loved sled that was my husband's from when he was growing up. 

This was the first time in five years that I have decorated the entire mantel area.

I hope you enjoyed the tour.

I have seen a few of the beautiful mantels that have been posted today and I'm off to go visit some more.

Jane