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Christmas Mantel Decorating Ideas: Our Snowy Rustic Natural Christmas Mantel

Christmas mantel decorating ideas: use a simple combination of snowy branches, greenery, and garlands to create a natural, rustic, cozy holiday feel. 

When it came time to transition our decor from Fall to Christmas I was sad to part with our fall mantel decor. I had loved the warm, earthy, rustic feel of it so much. It had a great mix of warm and cozy tones and textures, and my DIY textured vases are one of my most favourite recent DIYS. So instead of starting completely from scratch, I decided to keep the aspects that I loved, and add some new holiday touches. The thing I love most is that in addition to creating a cozy holiday mantel that sets the tone for the rest of our living room Christmas decorating; it will also be super easy to transition it to winter after the holidays are over!

Christmas Mantel Decor graphic in green.

Today my Seasonal Simplicity friends have joined me for a Christmas mantel hop, so be sure to check out all of their amazing ideas at the bottom of today’s post. I’m sure you will find some gorgeous ideas to inspire your holiday decorating this season!

20 Inspiring Christmas Mantel Ideas poster.

My best tips for creating a Christmas Mantel you’ll love all season long:

A stone fireplace decorated for winter.

First, consider the overall style and feel you want

Consider the style of your fireplace. If it’s traditional and elegant, you may wish to go with a more traditional, elegant style. Some of my friends are sharing beautiful, elegant mantel decor ideas at the bottom of the post – be sure to visit them for ideas! Because the fireplace in our new home is made of rustic stone topped with an earthy, warm toned wood mantel, it suits a more rustic, natural feeling decor style. Work with and bring out the best in the style that you have existing in your home, rather than fighting it.

Choose your central piece

Christmas banners are strung across the fireplace.

To decorate your mantel, choose a central element to center your design around. It might be a mirror or a piece of art. Since we have a Frame TV in our living room, I began by choosing a new image (sourced on Etsy) to project on our frame TV. I chose it because I liked the calming, wintery feel of it and because it worked well with the light, alpine feeling I wanted to create in our living room (see my Scandi Style alpine Christmas tree decor here).

There is a watercolour snowy picture on the mantel.

Layer in your decor based off your central piece

Wooden sign that says Christmas is on the mantel.

As I mentioned, I chose my central artwork based on the colours and feel I wanted for the rest of the room. It was easy to layer in blues and greens, as they worked so well with the art. If you have a mirror, you can really go any way with the rest of your colour scheme, or keep things neutral.

There are evergreen and pine cones on the mantel.

I re-used my favourite green/brown and teal/grey vases flanking either side of our picture (TV), and just added wintery branches to change them over from Fall to Christmas. I also added in some wooden elements; the trees and deer, to keep things warm and rustic feeling.

Use what you have

Up close shot of the Christmas sign.

To create this mantel, I used some fairly simple elements that I already owned, in addition to just two new purchases: the Scandi Style string of house lights, and the wooden bead garland. Make sure to search through your Christmas bins to see what you already own and that can be reworked in a new and interesting way!

Wooden Christmas trees on the mantel.

There are little twig reindeers on the mantel.

Add some fun, festive touches

The most “Christmas’y” parts of this holiday mantel are definitely the faux pine greenery garland, along with the cozy wool stockings. Aren’t those little fur pompoms the cutest?

Stockings are hung on the mantel.

There is a lit fireplace.

And I also layered in four different swagged garlands; my printable “Joy to the World” garland, my DIY pine cone and pom pom garland, a new little light up Scandi style house garland, and a natural, rustic feeling wooden bead garland. Have fun and don’t be afraid to mix in different layers!

JOY banner strung across the mantel.

The decorated mantel.

Christmas mantel.

To transition your Christmas mantel to winter

By using elements that are wintery and not specifically Christmas, I’m able to keep many of them well into January and February. I will remove the obvious like the Christmas letters, wooden deer, stockings, and Joy to the World sign. I may keep the pine garland up for a while; it depends how much I’m craving a clean slate come January! I will probably be able to keep the same winter art piece as well as the vases with snowy branches and wooden trees.  I’ll also likely keep the wood bead and acorn & pom pom garland. I’ll simplify and clean it up, but the basic elements will be there and will last me through February when I start to crave spring!

Sources:

I made several of the things you see on this mantel, and/or offer them as a free printable! You may be interested in these posts:

And, if you are you looking for some similar finds to what I used?

As I mentioned, I made the JOY banner, the two blue/grey vases, and the acorn/pompom garland. The green/beige vases were from Urban Barn last fall. I purchased the pine garland at Costco a few years back – I’ve used two of them here (we own about 10 sections of garland). The “Christmas” letters are from the Dollarama and I stained and painted them. The wooden trees were from a local grocery store that sells decorative items, and I picked them up at end of season clearance a few years back. I buy my frosty winter branch picks at the dollar store, though the nicest big pine ones are from Michaels (where I always use a coupon or get a BOGO sale). The little wooden deer were from Wayfair a couple of years back, and the stockings and village house garland are both new this year, from Canadian Tire. Since many of my sources aren’t readily available online if you are from the US, I’ve added some similar finds for you below that are similar…

I’ve gathered some similar finds for you:

 

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Snowy Rustic Christmas Mantel Decor graphic.

As I mentioned, today I’m joining some of my talented blogging friends who are also sharing their Christmas Mantel Decor Ideas with you as well. Be sure to visit their posts by clicking on the links below the images.

Snowy Natural Rustic Christmas Mantel Decor at The Happy Housie

Asymmetrical Christmas Mantel Garland at Maison de Pax

How to Create a Gorgeous Christmas Mantel Garland at Maison de Cinq

How to Design an Elegant Christmas Mantel at Grace in My Space

Festive Farmhouse Holiday Mantel Decor at She Gave it a Go

Colorful Holiday Bedroom Mantel at tatertots and jello

Classic Burgundy and Silver Mantel at Deeply Southern Home

A Traditional Red and Silver Christmas Mantel at Sincerely, Marie Designs

Elegant Holiday Mantel with Candlesticks at Modern Glam

Console Table Holiday Mantel at Rooms for Rent

How to Decorate a Rustic Christmas Mantel at The Tattered Pew

Neutral Christmas Mantel with Green Garland at Taryn Whiteaker Designs

Red and White Modern Holiday Mantel at This is Simplicite

Winter Wonderland Christmas Mantel Ideas at Clean and Scentsible

Asymmetrical Christmas Mantel Ideas at Life is a Party

Our Outdoor Fireplace at Christmas at This is Our Bliss

A Christmas Village Mantel at A Pretty Life in the Suburbs

An Elegant Christmas Mantel at Rambling Renovators

Green and Gold Neutral Holiday Mantel at Joanna Anastasia

Warm and Elegant Holiday Mantel at Life is Better at Home

Here are some of my holiday mantels from years past…

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18 Comments

  1. Krista! Your mantel is so gorgeous!! Love the to of keeping it neutral enough to keep up all winter long. I’ve always taken the garland off the mantel after Christmas, but not this year!!! Thanks for the tip girl!

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