Christmas Décor on a Dime: A “JOY”ful mantel

I did my mantel a little different this year.  I have a collection of snowmen that I usually sit across the mantel and then drape my greenery topped with a deep red bow.

 

(As you can see a little in last years picture.)

But as I said this year, I am LOVING the natural look – pinecones, fresh looking greenery and so on. 

 

So I decided to invest in some boughs of “real” looking greenery (bought on Black Friday at Michaels with a coupon!)  I thought I was going to have to secure them on the mantel, but they are actually just laid up there!

 

 

I added a pinecone topiary (that I bought this summer at a yardsale) sitting on top of a spray painted urn that I also found at a yardsale.  And a berry topiary that I picked up on clearance last year.

 

 

My red candlesticks are back on my mantel (I showed you how I transformed those here) topped with some white candles with a red bow tied around them.

 

 

I wanted to do something different over the mirror.  I love to use wreaths over my mirror, but thought that a wreath would look too cluttered.  I was seeing wood letters painted and mod-podged on lots of other blogs so I decided to make my own too!

 

I picked up these wood letters at Hobby Lobby ($0.99 each) and a bottle of deep red paint craft paint ($0.67).  Super cheap project!

 

 

I painted the front and back (because you will see a reflection of the back in the mirror!)  But I wasn’t liking the solid red look.  So I distressed the edges down to the wood with a little sandpaper.  Again, loving the natural look! :)  I did a light spray of clear topcoat and they were done!   I hot glued some white ribbon to the back and used a tiny dot of hot glue to attach the bow to the mirror frame (it will pull right off after Christmas.) 

 

Here is some shots of the mantel with the Christmas lights off and just the red candle in the middle lit.  I love this look!

 

   

 

And some more pictures of the Christmas lights in the greenery lit.  I really can’t decide which one I like better!

 

What do you like better?  The greenery lit or unlit??

 

 

And a sneak peek of my tree which I will be sharing tomorrow.  :)