Make Shift Mantel

It’s that time again! Time to deck your halls with all your baubles…and balls. (Sorry, couldn’t resist…hee hee) Since Hubby gets a full 31 days of Halloween (his favorite holiday), I decided that it wasn’t fair to settle on 25 for Christmas, so off Will & I went to pick up our decorations at our storage, aka Mom & Dad’s garage.

After going through the boxes & picking out what I definitely wanted to put out this year, I was a little saddened by the same ol’, same ol’. Working what you’ve got can be tough! So I decorated, & rearranged, & rearranged a few more times until I came up with this:


Last year it looked like this:

I feel like it’s definitely an improvement. Especially in the toy department! Phew! This kid has too much stuff!

Here’s a closer look:

I decided to keep with my red, green, white, & silver scheme. It’s classic. I’m a traditional kind of gal when it comes to my decorations, usually. But I still needed to change things up a bit from last year.

I kept getting stuck in the rule-of-three. I had a group of 3 on each ledge. No good. It’s a good rule, but not for every surface. I also broke up all of my sets… Those candleholder vases are a group of 3. I Spy two up here… and the 3rd is on my end table. I also broke up my pair of reindeer. He’s also on my end table (…you’ll see it at the end of this post.). A little easy logic to this method is that it helps tie in the whole room and not just the accessory-heavy areas. It also keeps your eye moving because there’s something new on each ledge. If I kept 3 things on each shelf, you’d take a quick glance & give me a “aw…that’s niiiiiiiiiiiice”, instead of a “Wow! You’re so festive!”. The more exclamation points you can squeeze out of your guests, the better.

Now, let’s break it on down:

My lovely silver reindeer is looking so regal up top. My red bell tree is so jingly, and if you’re Will reenacting an epic battle between Iron Man (him) and a dinosaur (either me, Hubby, or an actual dinosaur…), you’ll make the tree jingle jangle. Festive? Yes, but maybe you should Simmer Donna, child.

On the 2nd tier:

I reused my glittery pinecones in the candle vase that were leftover from last year’s table décor failure. If you need a good laugh & want to see what not to do, click here. I decided to display my growing collection of holiday books Hubby adds to each year. I’ve got the Elf book, Frosty the Snowman, and Twas the Night Before Christmas. Claaaaaaaaaaassics. My silver snowman was looking a little tarnished so I used Lani’s toothpaste trick, and like magic, it came back to life! He was seconds away from a coat of spray paint, but he’ll make it at least one more shiny sparkly year in his original silver coat.

Last tier:

Because my new owl & I are having a not-so-secret love affair, he’s worked his way into my Christmas décor. He’s also filled with smelly pinecones. I kept a few out, but I don’t need to see the whole bag. I just like to smell them. I snagged that cute red folding tree from Joann’s this week for 50% off. Hello $7 addition to my Christmas cheer! I love the natural texture I get from my wood mirror, too. Nate Berkus would be proud that I’m bringing the outdoors in… and he would be super happy if I brought in his favorite grosgrain ribbon trick. Sorry…not in this room, Nate.

Over on my end table next to the sofa is my other reindeer & candle holder, & my plant that has managed to stay alive even though I forget to water it, regularly. 

I went from about 50 groups of 3, to two, but they’re on different walls of my room. You begin & end with a reindeer, which is a happy accident. 

What are you doing to bring in the holiday cheer into your home? Happy December 1st! Have you started your advent calendar? Lani made her own this year… You’ll see that this afternoon!