lovethechefblog

With Christmas right around the corner decorating is a must! Being in a new house this year I wanted to try a few different things that I haven’t done before. As I was scanning through Pinterest I saw this amazing video about decorating a mantel for Christmas. I love a good challenge so I thought I would give it a try.

There has always been a conversation at our house about having two trees. I want two and my husbands says one. Let me just confess now that our one is pretty big.

I have never won the tree battle. But this year, my husband, Mike says, I made my own tree on the mantel. I think he is right! Thanks to a Pinterest pin I saw and the video I watched on HGTV.

The first step was to find a piece of felt or fabric to cover my mantel to protect it from damage. I used carpet pad since we had it on hand. I measured the mantel and my husband cut it for me.

Next I need a board that I could hammer nails in so again, my wonderful husband cut one for me.

I then placed the items that I wanted to use on the mantel. I used squares of wood to add height to my candles and vases.  You could use books if you don’t have wood on hand. I the took a marker and outlined the spaces that I was going to place my items. It was now nail time.

I put way too many nails in my board. I may have used a third of them.

Now to get the greenery ready. I bought Christmas tree greenery from a local tree lot and collected two other types from the woods. The magnolia leaves came from a friends yard.

I placed my vases and candles on my board and secured the board to the mantel.

I bundled the Christmas tree gtreenery to give the mantel volume. Using wired I hung it low.

And the layering begins. Using my nails again, I hung the cedar.

I placed the pine tree branches across the top to cover any nails or wooden squares I used. Then, the magnolia, the lights and star, snowflkes and balls ( I bought the snowflakes, balls and stars at the dollar store). Since red is one of my favorite colors  I added a vine of red sparkle to the greenery. I didn’t want to add a lot so the mantel would stay elegant. Add greenery to the vase and It was done!

So, thanks to a simple HGTV video I have a beautiful mantel. This is an easy task, it just takes a little prep time. So thank you HGTV!