Mantle Decor

Since Paul & I have moved, we finally have a mantle!!! This is the first one I have EVER had. This holiday season, we are doing it very frugally. So I'm taking in all those Pinterest ideas that I already have all the 'ingredients' for.

My favorite, this old window chalkboard.

 This I originally made for our wedding seen here:

It's super simple to make homemade chalkboards. Pick up spray primer & a can of spray chalkboard paint. Tape off the border. Spray a couple coats of primer. Let dry, then spray a couple coats of paint. What I have learned from drawing on it:
- It draws better after you have drawn & erased it multiple times
- Side walk chalk & art chalk work better then school chalk (in the beginning)
After the paint dried, I combined it with my favorite decoration & weather... SNOW & snowflakes! The wording was completely free handed by yours truly. Pretty proud of myself. I love a good font.

Next, I was checking Joanns for some cute, glittery snowflake candles & when I found them, they were out of my budget. So, I took some of our left over wedding candles and glitterized them. You know glitter is the herpes of crafts... it gets everywhere! and I LOVE it too! Paul, not so much. haha ;)

All you need:

- Candles

- Elmer's Glue

- Glitter

Instructions:

Glue the candle the design you desire - just one one side. Glitter it. let it dry. Then repeat with the other sides. If you try & do more then one side the glue will roll.

With the love of snow, brings snowmen! This idea came from this Pinterest link. I looked at the picture & went from there with my own idea.

What you'll need per snowman or lady:

- 3 Foam Balls of different sizes

- Wire (I had a fencing wire already in the garage)

- Yarn (for two I used almost one full 'log')

- Buttons (or I used a couple scrapbooking 3-D buttons dipped in glitter)

- Burlap (the length depends what your tying)

- Hot Glue gun

Instructions:

Wrap foam in yarn. Tack with glue. Once all three are wrapped, cut two pieces of wire a couple inches in length. Poke in the biggest ball half way. Dot hot glue around it then put on the middle sized ball. Repeat with the top 'head' piece. For the hat, I did two different styles. The one on the female was easier then the males. Females: coil wire around until it's big enough. Males: form in the shape of a hat. First layer is easy, it's the 2nd & 3rd layers that are a little tricky to get the same. I wanted them to have 'buckles' on the hat, which is a square I formed with needle nose pliers. Poked in the twisted wire arms. Dipped the 3-D buttons in glitter, glued on. If you use buttons, simply glue on. Scarves tied around their neck - easily done when they're laying down. The female's hair is burlap strings braided.

'LOVE' sign is also hand made, only I can't take the credit for it. It was a wedding gift. The pine around the base of everything is the trimmings from our Christmas tree.

Still have to get our stockings hung but this is a great start.
Have any decorations you love?