I’m loving my magnolia wreath Christmas mantel decor. I’ve loved magnolia wreaths for ages, and this one is my favorite new decor piece. Enjoy the tour of my mantel!
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah! Are you singing yet? The Hallelujah Chorus, I mean? It’s finally time to share this year’s Christmas decor (part 1), and I’m so excited! In a home decor blogger’s world, this is the high point of the year. The Super Bowl. Coronation Day. The peak of all the decorating posts for the year. The Christmas Home Tour.
Each year I like to shake things up a bit by adding new elements, rearranging old ones, and keeping a few sweet traditions right where they are. Shall we take a tour of the magnolia wreath Christmas mantel? I share some of the living room too, plus a sneak peek of the kitchen, but this is mostly about the star of the show: the mantel.
I’ve mentioned before that I start planning my Christmas mantel months in advance. I search online for ideas, gather new pieces, and wait for inspiration to strike. Last month I shared my DIY Cathedral Window project (click here) and how I fell in love with the gorgeous magnolia wreath from Magnolia Market. It’s one of my favorite things right now.
It’s been up on the mantel for a couple of months, and as inspiration strikes, I add a little something here and take a little something away there. Eventually I end up with what I want to share on my blog.
Last year I needed some pretty Christmas artwork for the gallery wall in my living room, so I bought these two watercolor prints from Gracelaced. I don’t need them on the gallery wall this year because I finally filled it with personal photos, so I wasn’t sure where to use them.
As I was pulling out my Christmas decor, I came across them and thought they would look perfect on my mantel. I love that one is a Scripture verse and the other is a hymn.
The “joy” sign is from the Dollar Spot at Target. When I spotted it, I knew it would look perfect nestled in my new magnolia wreath. I painted it with leftover sample paint in Stratton Blue (Benjamin Moore).
The navy plaid ribbon on the candles and the navy buffalo check pillows nod to the new ribbon on the big tree in my dining room. That will be revealed in due time, my friend. (Next week, so be sure to stop back by!)
Actually, the pillows have been on my wish list for at least a year. I wanted to play up navy plaid and buffalo check this year, so I just had to snatch them up! I do hold my breath whenever the kids get near them, but they’re so worth it. I may keep them in the guest bedroom for a while, since my girls don’t go in there.
I couldn’t help myself. I just had to have this adorable Christmas countdown from Target. So stinking cute! I can’t wait to move it each day with my girls. One tradition we’ve always kept is that the living room tree holds all of our special family ornaments. It’s a hodgepodge of ornaments that mean something to us. Each Christmas I get the girls an ornament that represents something they loved that year.
This year my oldest is getting a box of crayons ornament to commemorate her first year of kindergarten. The little one is getting a baby doll ornament because she looooves baby dolls. If I could find a diaper ornament, I’d get it too, since her favorite thing is changing her baby’s diaper. It’s so cute!
One thing I did differently this year is that I added some pretty touches to the tree, like the wooden skis and the plaid ribbon. I’d always just hung ornaments and never thought to add ribbon too. Duh! Just because a tree has personal ornaments doesn’t mean it can’t look like it came out of a Pottery Barn catalog. Ha!
Because the tree sits in the living room where we spend nearly all our time, I hung all the non-breakable ornaments on the bottom so little hands can play with them. My girls love taking them off during the day and rearranging them back on the tree before bed. It’s all part of making your home work for your family and creating a space they’ll love.
Now, don’t be fooled. The big tree in the dining room has plenty of breakable ornaments, and I keep it safe with some extended baby gates. Ha! You can see the real-life look of my creative central station dining room and big tree on Instagram (click here). It’s a mess, y’all! A few more pictures to send you off!
Sources for the Christmas Mantel and Living Room:
- Christmas wagon accent pillow
- Ruffled Burlap Tree Skirt
- Chandelier over the kitchen area
- Pottery Barn Twill Sofa
- Cathedral Window Tutorial
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