A.k.a. How I Decorated a Rather Large Mantel on a Budget
Christmas decorating is in full swing around here and I am happy to announce that I am sticking to my self-imposed challenge to reuse, reinvent and repurpose items from around my house to avoid spending money and accumulating loads of unnecessary clutter in my house over the holiday season. I am also happy to announce that my mantel is done and it is my favorite mantel-scape ever. And I have photos to share!
But first, here’s a little ‘before’ pic to illustrate what our mantel looks like (mostly) bare. It is a huge mantel (the frames sitting on it are 2’x3′ just for comparison). I actually figured it out once at more than 150 cubic feet of space (and yes, I did briefly consider throwing a mattress up there and calling it a guest bedroom). In the past, I have found it to be a daunting task to come up with space filling, non budget busting decor ideas.
Anyway… here’s before:
I went around the inside and outside of my house gathering supplies and when I was done, my Christmas mantel ingredient list included:
- An old window found in our basement, bought many years ago at a garage sale
- Wine bottles from a friend’s party (okay, these weren’t actually in my house until I asked her for them, but they were free, so, who’s counting?)
- Pine cones from a box in our garage (originally picked up off the ground during a family vacation in Georgia)
- Green ribbon and dried eucalyptus reused from my 30th birthday decor
- Black candle lanterns with white candles that I already had on the mantle
- Branches from our backyard
- Two pieces of flagstone leftover from our summer landscaping project
- My nativity, a star tree-topper (stand part clipped off with tin-snips) and assorted ornaments (all found in our Christmas tubs)
Put it all together and what do you get?
This!!!!
Some close-ups…
My favorite part is the way the flagstone elevates the nativity, really making it the focal point of the mantel, despite its small size:
My second favorite part of the mantel is that I managed to pull it together without spending even a penny.
I’m so glad my massive mantel is done so that I can use it as a jumping off point for the decor in the rest of the house. (Stay tuned!)
It looks great….do you hire out?
Sure!
Two thumbs up! I’m afraid I spent more than you just to put fresh Tootsie Roll Pops in my sucker tree!
Ah, but you can eat your decorations, which definitely counts for something :-)
Love it! It’s beautiful!
hmm..could use more sharp objects… ;)
Unlike you, my dear brother, I generally don’t decorate with weaponry. :-)
I love it! Looks great. You should start your own company re-using people’s things to create new things.
And by “I generally don’t decorate with weaponry” she means “I have a 4 foot long harpoon hanging on my living room wall.”
The harpoon being the one exception. You get to pick your husband, but not your husband’s family heirlooms.
Melissa – That would probably be my dream job, but I have no idea who would ever pay me real money to do it!
As usual it’s absolutely beautiful! I guess I’ll have to see what you did with the coffee filters on Christmas Eve.