My Christmas mantel

FINALLY I can share my Christmas mantel with you! (And can we all just vow to overlook my dirty fireplace tile that I didn't vacuum before the pictures? K great.)

Christmas is fast approaching and since we'll be out of town this year, we decided not to get a Christmas tree. That and also Connor would probably try to eat the needles so I'd like to avoid my son poop a Douglas Fir if possible.

Since there was no tree, I decided to go all out with my mantel and decorate it using things I already had, as well as store bought items to keep it affordable but festive (several tutorials to follow over the next few days!)

Most of my supplies were purchased at Wal-Mart, like these snowflake and and icicle ornaments, ribbon, and garland below.

I used a vase that I already had and some fake berries I found at the Dollar Store to add a pop of color to the cool palette that I chose. I made these awesome hurricane vases myself and filled them with small ornaments.

This printable nativity is another super easy tutorial that I'll be sharing soon.

And these garland trees were also handmade, including the tree forms (another tutorial as well.)

But my favorite part had to be my "Let it Snow" wall art that I made using an old frame that I repurposed. I originally had something else in mind when I started making it, but it morphed into this  instead (which I actually like better than my original plan.)

I hope you like my mantel! Not too shabby for my first shot I think :) Check back over the next few days for tutorials on how to make a lot of the decorations you see!

Check out my sidebar to see where I link up each week!