Rustic Farmhouse Christmas Mantel – Home for the Holidays

Hello and welcome back… today I will be sharing our rustic farmhouse Christmas mantel with you and I am joining some wonderful friends for our second annual, “Home for the holidays” tour!

You can see last year’s tour here. 

Sharing our homes can sometimes be a bit stressful in an already busy time of year… that is why this year I’ve decided to simplify! I’ve decided to minimize our decorating and not deck all of the halls. I will be sharing our rustic farmhouse mantel and a little bit of our living room. Even though our mantel has a temporary wooden top on it, instead of focusing on that I’ve decided to show it,  it’s not perfect and does not look like it does in my minds eye. Learning to let go of an ideal is a HUGE step for me and there is no one I’d rather share our simple mantel with than this lovely group of friends and you…

This time of year is hectic enough without obsessing about what is not done and be happy and satisfied with what you can get done. For me there has been a theme this year… my theme is, enough! We’ve really simplified this year and I really feel happy with that decision and it is enough, for me and my family.

I wanted to use my antique wooden pinecones and pair those with some mercury pinecone ornaments…. I also added the most adorable little DIY handmade pinecones made with vintage sheet music, you can see the whole tutorial here. I’m pretty pleased how this simple mantel turned out.

I used a set of antlers as the focal point and hung them with thick jute from a vintage wrought iron corbel, I added some texture by placing a boxwood wreath in behind them. I also did something this year that I very rarely do… I went symmetrical! Eeeeek! Usually I am more comfortable in the asymmetrical world of decor… change is good, right? 😉 On either side of the antlers and boxwood wreath I stood some antique beveled mirrors, they have the cutest little glass knobs that add just the right amount of sparkle, I suspended some mercury glass votive holders from the mirrors with jute and added tea lights, again it’s just enough glow and sparkle for our rustic mantel. Then I used glass and silver candle holders, our mantel is quite high… instead of tapered candles in the holders I placed some vintage tart tins with tea lights on them, the candle light glow is soft and just the right amount. And then, the pinecones, oh those pinecones that I am totally crushing on and yes I admit, obsessed with! Haha Our living room is a very lived in space and it’s super cozy… that couch has been with us for over 17 years and it shows… how many hours of movies, cuddles, family talks and special times… I couldn’t begin to tell you, countless wonderful memories, this is our hub where we relax, unwind and live.

Our Christmas tree isn’t up yet… it’s sitting on the porch ready to be installed this weekend,  it will be going in the corner where the ladder blanket is.  In keeping with my “relaxed” theme, I may post about it… but more than likely I will share our tree on Instagram (my favourite).  Mr. Mans made me that beautiful coffee table last year for Christmas, what a HUGE surprise, he was so cute out in “Santa’s workshop” for hours.

Our simple farmhouse kitchen has a very long to-do list… that’s okay though, every project and every coat of paint will make this our home. I did want to tell you about that oak table and chairs, they were given to me by my Mother, this set belonged to her parents and it’s very special to our family.  I remember this sitting in my Grandmother’s home, in the formal dinning room, we now use this every single day. Mom and Dad had it finished by someone that loved shiny… we will be redoing it one day with less shine! 🙂

Finally, I want to share my favourite corner with you… It’s relaxed, soft, imperfect and enough! I hope you enjoyed my laid back and simple Christmas tour, thank-you so much for stopping in. xoxo

Now, I invite you to go visit with my lovely friends, as they welcome you into their beautiful homes for the holidays.