Our First RUSTIC Christmas Mantel - Twigs, Berries and Reindeer

Here we go!!!   Let's get right into the Rustic Christmas decorating!

Alright, I'll admit, I'm not always ready to start decorating for Christmas but this year is my FIRST year (after a FIVE year renting era) in our new house.

You have to understand, in the rental, we didn't even HAVE a mantel.  I was very thankful for that house but c'mon people, I am an interior designer and I went 5 years without a mantel.  :-)

So I guess I'm a little excited.......bear with me :-)

I wasn't sure what my plan was for my huge mantle but I was walking around Michaels with my eldest daughter and we walked by this GIANT (I mean H.U.G.E) wood wreath and I started laughing and said to my daughter, "Look at that wreath, who in their right mind would buy a huge thing like that??"  We got a kick out of it, chuckling over the idea of the crazy person who would want that.

But of course, as things usually progress......that night when most people's minds SHUT OFF, mine starts to spin and it hit me I AM the weirdo that would by a giant wooden twig wreath!

We went back the next day, and I grabbed that 3' round wreath.......my daughter just looked at me and said, "Weren't we cracking up yesterday thinking that the person who would buy that would was crazy?"  I responded, "YEP, and it will be PERFECT on our mantel" :-)

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I told my youngest to "pose" so people could compare her to the BIG wreath!  It is 3 1/2 feet wide!!!!

You want to know how much that wooden wreath was?  $12.00 (with my 40% off coupon)  Can you believe that? (insert happy dance!)  I am just giddy that something so large that can make such a big statement was only 12 bucks!  YEA!  All the other trimmings (beads string and lights) were things I already had on hand.

Those reindeer I bought at the thrift store for .50 cents each :-)  And all the greenery was purchased last year on a 75% off clearance sale!  All of those Beautiful Red Candles came from a friend and they have a great story if you want to click on over later.

The candle story has something to do with the little munchkin below :-)

AND last but not least, I have to show it to you with the lights off :-)  My eldest daughter said her favorite thing to do before she goes to bed is sit in the living room with all the lights off "at least for 30 seconds"

I actually took these pictures before we got our Christmas tree......you see, getting a tree is my husband's job and he's not as gong ho about this whole decorating right away stuff :-)  It's OK though, he's stuck with me!  SOOOO in a post or two, I'll show you the tree.  Someday, I'd love to collect a million birds like the one below and have a Christmas tree decorated in birds and berries.  When my ship comes in, I'll do that but for right now, decorating my mantel for 12.00 is good enough for me!

                                 Come check out the rest of my Christmas Home Tour!

Tips on taking outdoor light photos

Christmas Vignettes!

Front Porch

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!