Love the look of a holiday mantel but hate fighting with garland? Here are a few tips for an easy and festive mantel you can whip together in 10 min or less!
I’ve always decorated my mantels with lit garland, it’s beautiful, but sometimes it can just be a plain pain! Getting the garland to lay just right, trying to make sure it doesn’t slide off and take all of the other decor with it crashing to the ground can be enough to drive you crazy!
So, first step, replace garland with trees 🌲 I love mixing up different kinds of trees and I love lights on my mantel so I chose these two little flocked trees. A lot of smaller trees like this don’t have lights but just add your own, a little strand of 20 lights work perfectly. Aesthetically it looks better if you add in trees of different sizes, the different heights mix it up a bit. I also like a balanced look so I keep both sides the same.
We have a rustic Christmas theme throughout our kitchen (here) and living room so I kept our mantel rustic and I love it. Having trees flank a nice centerpiece is easy. Find whichever theme you like and adjust your decor.
I threw up a branched snowman in the middle and flanked it with nutcrackers. There are so many neat nutcrackers out there and they bring in nice pops of color.
There are also amazing stockings and stocking hangers out there. I chose no show hangers because I didn’t feel our mantel needed more. I love these knitted stockings that kind of blend but also bring in some different textures.
We always do benches in front of our fireplaces because we live in South Dakota and plopping down right in front of the fire and getting a nice blast of heat is a must from time to time. It also makes it possible to get in another spot for holiday decor! My son gets a kick out of gnomes so I found these two cuties and gave them this cozy spot.
We keep this mirror up as a backdrop year round. Mirrors are especially great above fireplaces over the holidays because the Christmas lights reflect at night and it makes for such a beautiful and cozy scene. When it comes to mirrors, the options are endless! So, find yourself a nice mirror, a few trees, maybe a gnome, snowman and a nutcracker or two and whip that mantel together in no time!
Quick side note for any of you building a new home or remodeling, remember to put an electrical outlet in your mantel! It makes it so easy and you won’t have to deal with running extension cords.
Here’s to cozying up in front of a simply decorated fireplace all holiday season 🎅
Happy decorating 🎄
