Inexpensive Christmas Decor
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We have lived in our home for 22 years and have watched both our family and home transform over the years. From one child to two, then add in three adopted siblings. Watch a daughter get married and leave home and a son go away to college. Changing rooms and purposes and hearts in the process.
Our home is evidence of the love we pour into our family, the struggles, joy, heartache and grace.
With every home project we tackle we make memories and experience life together. As we find solutions to problems (both in our physical home and the craziness of relationships), we allow our children to observe and experience problem solving and compromise. Thank you to all those readers who enjoy and visit our home projects and also allow us to share our hearts with you.
On to our mantel problem. The problem? No mantel! No fireplace. No nothing. The solution for me (as I discovered with our fall decor) is to decorate the top of our piano like a mantel with some inexpensive Christmas decor.
This year I totally redid my “mantel.” Usually I take my nativity collectables and let the kids just arrange them in any old way. Not this year!
I chose my favorite nativity set and used them as the centerpiece, setting them inside an empty picture frame.
At one end of the piano I used one of the many glass containers we had for Rachel’s wedding and filled it with ornaments and tied it with a bow.
Surrounding the main pieces was greenery with pinecones I sprayed with Glitter Blast by Krylon.
If you look at this post you’ll see these exact candles, stands and burlap in my fall decor. I changed the ribbon and that was it! They fit in perfectly!
I bought a ton of these wooden words at Michael’s one year after Christmas for $.10 each and sprayed the word faith with the glitter spray to give it a little bling. I like bling. Can you tell?
Other than the glitter spray (60% off coupon at JoAnn’s) and a strand of lights (NOT on sale. Sad.), I didn’t buy anything new for my “mantel.” I just pulled out all my Christmas supplies and started throwing things together. I love the result (won’t tell you how long it took, though) and it filled my need for creativity and frugality at the same time!
How do you save money on Christmas decorating?
Would you like to see more of my favorite Christmas projects? Here’s my 2013 Christmas Home Tour,
my fence board Christmas tree,
and my rustic Christmas tablescape.
Great idea, as someone who does not have a mantel, I really appreciate this! I showed this off this morning!
Carlee
http://www.ladybirdln.com
Looks beautiful!
Thanks for coming by to link up to the Christmas Mantel party at Embracing Change!
Stacey
Great job! This is all lovely and festive. I love the way you use the top of the piano like a mantel–it looks just right!
Thanks, Richella, for always hosting each week. I’m glad you enjoyed my Christmas decorating!
Marty@Marty’s Musings
Marty,
This is so beautiful and a very creative way with no mantel. Thanks so much for sharing at Wednesday’s Adorned From Above Blog Hop. This weeks party is live. I hope to see you there.
http://www.adornedfromabove.com/2012/12/7-recipes-and-wednesdays-adorned-from.html
Debi @ Adorned From Above
Joye and Myrna @ The Busy Bee’s
Linda @ With A Blast
Beautiful! Thank you for joining me at Home Sweet Home and have a Merry Christmas!
Sherry
it all looks beautiful! love the wrapped candles!
Thanks, Cassie, for visiting my Christmas mantel (or lack of one) post. I love the wrapped candles, too, and they were ridiculously simple!
Marty@Marty’s Musings
We didn’t have a mantel in our old house and I was always sad. I used to decorate the stair railings with our stockings and the dresser top where our tv sat as our “mantel”. I love that you repurposed your decorations! Thanks for linking up at A Crafty Christmas!
Lisa, thanks for visiting Marty’s Musings and sharing about your mantel! Love your blog and I’m glad to be linking with you this week!
Marty
SO pretty! Glad to know I’m not the only blogger in the world without a mantel…haha. Thank you for linking at Shine on Fridays!
Amy, you are certainly not the only blogger without a mantel, but I admit I do drool over some of the one’s I’ve seen this year! Thanks for liking my “no mantel” post!
Marty@Marty’s Musings
Great decorations! We don’t have a mantel either, and no really place we can use as a fake mantel. We do have an open wall in our kitchen though, so I’m thinking maybe I’ll put a shelf up so I have somewhere to decorate! Thanks for sharing at The Fun In Functional!
GREAT ideas! We also have no mantle, so I’m looking at using our piano in a similar fashion this season!
Followed you over from Five Days 5 ways! 😀
Thanks for stopping by Marty’s Musings and my Christmas mantel post. Go for it with the piano! In case, it’s not being used anyway 🙁
Marty
This is beautiful, everything flows really nice.
Thanks for sharing at the Adorned From Above Blog Hop.
Adorned From Above,
Debi.
The Busy Bee’s,
Myrna and Joye.
Beautiful!
I have a fireplace but no mantel so like you, I substitute other surfaces, mainly the ledge in my kitchen.
It looks beautiful, Marty! I love the tip for using the frame, too.
Thanks so much for sharing at the link party,
<3 Christina at I Gotta Create!
Your “mantle” is beautiful. Love the lights, it gives it all such a warm glow!
Very beautiful, you did a great job!
Saw you linking at Whimsy Wednesday.
Debbie 🙂
Lovely! I don’t have a mantle either and I use another piece of furniture as a mantle. Works great for us! Enjoyed the post!
Thanks, Tonya, for visiting my mantel post on Marty’s Musings!
Marty
It looks beautiful!
It looks amazing!
totally gorgeous! I use a shelf as my fantel! Wish I had a piano to decorate because yours looks awesome!
Hey, Danni! Thanks for the compliment on my mantel(ish). So glad you stopped by Marty’s Musings!
Marty
Beautiful…too bad I have neither a mantel or a piano. Doesn’t keep me from enjoying this though, just lovely.
It looks very pretty, Marty. I love how you used the empty frame to contain the Nativity. This is the first home we’ve had in many years with a fireplace and mantel — small & shallow, but a mantel never the less. In our previous home, when we turned our back patio into a sunroom, The Man built a mantel that was quite large & had a super-size mirror (from a wall behind a bar that we took out in the family room) attached to the wall above it. It was a delightful place to decorate for all the seasons. My way of keeping costs down during Christmas decorating is to keep using the same things I’ve used for many, many years and just displaying them in different ways.
Stopping by from WFMW. I love what you’ve done with your piano! I think I may have to borrow some of your ideas. It’s truly gorgeous! Blessings from Croatia: Rosilind from A Little R & R: http://www.littlerandr.org
Thanks for visiting Marty’s Musings and my home decor post on decorating without a mantel! Have a great day!
Marty
Wow, you are one clever lady! Thanks so much for sharing this! I’m so glad you linked up this project on our homemade holiday party! Don’t forget to come and cast your votes for your favorite 5 (and have your friends come out and vote for you too!)
Marilyn
4you-withlove.blogspot.com
I use my mantel . . . and my piano . . . and any other flat surface to decorate for Christmas. 🙂 My Nativity Set goes on the mantel. My Christmas Village goes on the piano and the living room bookshelves. Candles go here, there, and everywhere.
I was going to decorate this past weekend. We then had a death in the family (elderly, but I had to go out of town for 2 days), and now I am down sick. I sure wish my Christmas decorations would magically appear. Maybe I can get my 16 year old to put some up tonight. They would brighten my mood (despite my swollen glands, fever, and aches). If I’ve got to be sick, I might as well be surrounded by beauty, right?
What a great idea, I don’t have a piano to use, so I have to resort to the entry foyer table as my mantel. In Florida, fireplaces just aren’t popular☺ Your display is gorgeous!
laurie
Hi Marty! I love your non mantel especially your candles. They are gorgeous, I had to pin them!
I’m having a, “It’s a Social Hop like Crazy” party. I’d love for you to hop on over, grab a button and link up your blog.
http://mydailyphotojourney.blogspot.com/2012/11/social-hop-like-crazy-party.html
Have a crazy beautiful week!
Love your “mantel”! Think I need to buy a couple of cans of Glitter Blast now…
On your question of how to save money on decorating??? Most importantly, I re-use things every year and sometimes just change location of certain deco’s. I also shop good ole Dollar Tree and latch on to some great finds to either perk up an older piece or create something new. In the past, one of my favorite things to do was go in search of bags and bags of pine cones to make wreaths. I mostly gave them away but still have my very first one I made 30 years ago!!! It’s got a place of honor on my small front porch…tattered and weather beaten but full of memories.
Congrats, Jane on being creative with your decorating and stretching money! I appreciate your stopping by Marty’s Musings!
Marty
Your “mantel” is very beautiful. All of it is just lovely, and I really like your nativity, the colors are so soft and pretty.
That Glitter Blast is amazing stuff, just perks everything right up.