Goodness me I've been unbelievably busy. I've been filling lots of orders, and I had my in-laws come visit so it has been non stop for what feels like weeks! I decided I wanted to get a little holiday decorations up before the in-laws left so I got started on the mantel.
Once I got the grapevine split I realized it was pretty thin. I had some awesome cream color burlap "ribbon". I'm not really sure what it is but it is awesome and only $7 at Walmart so I stocked up on it :) By cutting a strip and looping it through the wreath it added a good bit of weight back so it didn't look so wimpy any more.
Then I collected some cedar branches and added the flower from the Dollar Tree. I just added a few sprigs of cedar and made sure not to leave them to tight, making it more organic :)
This wreath took me less than 30 minutes to make. The hardest part was getting that dang grapevine wreath separated, but you don't need to do that unless you are like me and trying to get as many projects out of one as possible :)
I love the way it turned out, and the cedar will be easy to replace when it dries out, so that pretty green pop will stay all season long!
Now this is the first time I've been able to really decorate for the Holidays. I'm so excited for Christmas this year, I get to collect goodies, pick a theme, and get it all together! I started the other day by pulling down everything I have from last year. Which isn't much, basically one small moving box full.
I don't have a big budget to get my "theme" together so I am doing as much on my own with free goodies from nature and some good stuff from wally world and the dollar tree. For my mantel I knew I wanted a wreath in the center. I picked up 2 grape vine wreaths. But wanted to be sparing with them so I decided to pull them apart. This allowed me to use them in other places around the house!
Here you can see how it looks when pulled apart. 1. is the original wreath. 2. is the thick vine that holds it completely together. it takes a while but you just tug and pull until you find the end and un wrap it. 3 and 4 are the two halves that fit together to create the original wreath. You can tell that one is a little more sturdy looking. Basically the two are intertwined almost perfectly so pull pull pull and then you can find the one or two vines that hold them together.
Once I got the grapevine split I realized it was pretty thin. I had some awesome cream color burlap "ribbon". I'm not really sure what it is but it is awesome and only $7 at Walmart so I stocked up on it :) By cutting a strip and looping it through the wreath it added a good bit of weight back so it didn't look so wimpy any more.
Then I collected some cedar branches and added the flower from the Dollar Tree. I just added a few sprigs of cedar and made sure not to leave them to tight, making it more organic :)
This wreath took me less than 30 minutes to make. The hardest part was getting that dang grapevine wreath separated, but you don't need to do that unless you are like me and trying to get as many projects out of one as possible :)
I love the way it turned out, and the cedar will be easy to replace when it dries out, so that pretty green pop will stay all season long!
To finish up my mantel I figured why not add some of those distressed boards I've been selling so much of! I wanted mine to look different so I opted for a vertical and horizontal combo. I picked my theme to be pretty natural, seeing that I can't buy too much. Sticking with wood tones makes it easy to add in any pops of color that may show up :)
I also used some left over card stock and made some rad paper stars! I LOVE them and think it plays off well with the "Night Devine" theme :) I've still got some dressing up to do but I love the way its going!
So happy with how my first ever Christmas mantel turned out. Now I know why people get so amped about decorating for the Holidays :)
