Cozy Vintage Christmas Mantel!

Cozy Vintage Christmas Mantel

Mixing fabrics and nostalgic treasures to create a cozy vintage fireplace mantel!

Every year I always begin my Christmas decorating with our fireplace mantel.

It’s usually in our dining room, but I moved it recently to our living room.

Yes, you read that right. I moved it.

If your new here you might not know this but I can do that quite easily because our ‘fireplace’ is a freestanding electric fireplace.

It was one of the first purchases I made when I moved into this house. I didn’t have a big budget for it, so I picked out the most basic (and ugly) one they had at a local big box store. Then I grabbed some sandpaper and a can of paint and re-created that faux wood fireplace into what I wanted it to look like.

There’s been plenty of memories made around that fireplace since.

Many laughs, and a few tears. Many feet getting warm, and many cups of cocoa being sipped. There’s been good news like Mike’s proposal and the announcement of our first grandbaby. Bad news like our friends passing and the flood in our basement.

Yes, this old faux fireplace has been at the center of it all.

Cozy. Warm.

A part of our family.

And always decorated for each and every season.

This year when I began planning how I would decorate her(yes, our fireplace is a her-don’t ask :)I decided I would give a nod to another old tradition. A Christmas village. My sister gave me my first piece years ago! Then it grew and grew and would literally take hours for me to set up all the other pieces I collected.

Eventually, it just got to be too big and too much, so I stopped putting it out.

Now, every time I look at these white ceramic houses I think of my sister and the tradition she started. How magical that Christmas village was and how happy it made so many folks who stopped over during the holidays. Who knows? Maybe I’ll take the time to put it up somewhere next year. But for now, I’m loving the nostalgic feel these new ones provide our sweet fireplace this year.

Along with some homemade ornaments and decor (I’ll be sharing more on those in another post) I also added in some vintage with an old window I found at the farm and the sled my dad had as a boy. They are both cherished treasures and bring such joy to my heart to have in our home.

Tip: Fresh greenery tends to make me go “Achoo” so I try and buy a few good quality garlands for special places like this and add in some more faux branches to bulk it up a bit.

Bottle brushes, fuzzy stockings, and jingle bells round out the cozy Christmas vibe I wanted.