Going for a natural and rustic look that spells an old fashioned Christmas? You need a few of the following items to create this festive look:
- Burlap sack and baby doll to resemble baby Jesus
- 2 ceramic milk jars or candle holders, etc… 2 tall candles
- Rusty old grate or silver or copper tray
- Picture of horse, cowboy, cows, etc….
- Cowboy boots
- Fresh or faux evergreen branches
- 2 small faux Christmas trees
- Pine cone Wreath
- Red wooden beads
- Christmas stockings
- Wicker basket filled with chopped wood
Tis the season to decorate and invite family over and make your fireplace really warm and cozy. I’m typically not a country type girl but this year after seeing some pictures of trees in wooden chests and antique ornaments hanging on the trees it got me thinking. I come from country stock my father grew up on a farm. His parents were farmers. They had horses and milked cows. A rustic cowboy Christmas mantle cast up sugarplums in my head. My husband and I had just brought home the biggest tree we had ever hunted before. For the past 9 years we have gone to the mountains and brought home a tree. I love that he still likes to hunt for a tree, cut it down, bring it home and decorate it. Christmas is near and dear to my heart and I love though we are empty nesters, he still likes to celebrate the season with me looking forward to kiddos coming home with their kiddos for the holiday.
Start By Clearing Your Mantel
Take everything off your mantle. Wipe it down with a rag and remove all the dust bunnies they need to go away haha. You want a clean slate to start designing. Once you have that taken care of it, it’s time to work some Christmas magic.
Start With A Tray Or Rustic Grate
I found an old rusty fireplace grate outside by my husband’s shop. It had been sitting in the yard when we bought the house. I can find a use for just about anything and I use it a lot for decor. It had found a home in my front room on a dresser. I always shop my home before I go out and buy anything. I grabbed this to use on my mantel. I needed a backdrop for my rustic burlap bag. You can substitute a wooden tray or a tarnished silver tray if that is what you have. Put this in the center of your mantel. I had to do this because the burlap bag matched the rocks on above my fireplace and I needed some contrast so the bag would stand out more.
Rustic Bag Turned Into a Manger
Take a burlap sack and stuff it half full with a fleece blanket. Roll down the sides all the way around. At first, I filled the burlap bag with things you would find in Santa’s sack, if Santa rode a horse. As I thought more about it, I decided to create a rustic creche to remind my family the reason for the season. I wired the back of the burlap bag in a couple of places to my rusty fireplace grate. The grate is heavy enough to keep the bag from slipping off my mantel. I have a doll I added a bit of make up to to give it the look of a baby. I laid the doll on top of my burlap bag. The rusty grate was a nice contrast to the burlap bag. The burlap bag and the baby are reminiscent of a country nativity. I added a leather belt that I put around the bag. It added some color to my bag.
Snowy Country Picture
Remember I shared with you that I shop my home before shopping for things I need for decorating. A few years ago I found a rustic picture a snowy scene with a cowboy on a horse and a cabin in the background. I bought it at a thrift store for a dollar. It hangs in our downstairs bathroom because I decorated the guest bathroom with a rustic flair.
Cowboy Boots
My hubby wears cowboy boots now and then so I grabbed the pair he doesn’t wear as often, stuffed them with two or three pairs of socks and topped each boot with a small Christmas tree wrapped in burlap. These matching mini Christmas trees that work well in my display. The burlap wrapped around the base of the small trees tied into my Santa sack made of burlap. The green mini trees tied in with the faux greenery. When you put together a display, you want to carry some of the textures, color, and theme throughout your display. It will make your mantel look more put together. More cohesive. I set a small bag of flour on my hubby’s boots. It is a reminder of one of the special pioneer treks we participated in. (Remembering courageous pioneers who trekked west to Utah many sacrificing life and limb to be able to worship God as the prophet Brigham Young had been commanded them to come west.) It seemed to fit in my rustic display.
It’s fun to sneak in things in your Christmas decor that have meaning to you. Christmas is the perfect time to use special mementos in your decor. You can use all kinds of things that aren’t considered Christmas per se but you can add touches to your items to make them look like they belong in your display. I think I chose a cowboy theme because I am remembering my father who died 11 years ago. He could have been the old fellar himself (as he called him) Santa Claus. He loved everything about Christmas and he passed this love of the season on to me. Thanks for letting me wax sentimental there for a moment.
Ceramic Milk Vases
In your Christmas stuff, look for something white and that you have two or three of like ceramic milk vases. (You could substitute with tin replicas of milk cans or something similar.) In place of these, Santa Claus mugs or tin cups would work too. These vases have a bit of farmhouse flair but with a cow on the front sculpted into the vase, they pass for either farmhouse or rustic country. Odd numbered items are better than even numbered ones so having three of something is better than two…except in the case of my two cowboy boots… hehe! Put some greenery in your vases. I added tall red candles. I stuffed paper in the vases to help the candles stand up straight since the vase wasn’t exactly made for candles. I’m always coming up with interesting uses for things that they were not originally created for. Amaze yourself by giving yourself permission to be creative!
Fresh Or Faux Evergreens & Pine Cones
Decorate around, in, and on the items on your mantel with fresh or faux evergreens. If you have greenery in your yard go and cut some to decorate with. You will have to spritz it with water from time to time to keep it fresh. I like to shop Hobby Lobby’s fifty percent off sale when it comes to their Christmas products. You can load up on their faux greenery to complete your Christmas mantel display if you don’t have fresh greenery available to you. I like to mix fresh and faux. Use a little or use a lot depending on what you feel looks best. Use pine cones to tuck into your greenery. It will add to the natural look of your mantel.
Pine Cone Wreath
Gather some pine cones and glue them to a straw wreath base. Glue different shaped and sized pine cones on your wreath with hot glue. Glue pine cones on top of pinecones and cover the entire base. Hang ribbon in the middle of the bottom of your wreath. Let it cascade down. I love the look of ribbons hanging freely down from the center of the wreath. Snip off the ends of the ribbon so they are just the right length. It adds a festive look all its own. If you would rather have a greenery wreath instead, you can substitute that for the pine cone wreath. A wreath sitting on the mantel adds something unexpected to your display. And unexpected is good!
Stockings Hung By The Fireplace
Hang your stockings on the mantel under your display. It doesn’t matter what stockings you have. After all the stockings I have made for my family over the years, I fell in love with some beautiful white canvas and yarn stockings that I couldn’t resist buying. They went perfectly with the rustic look. I’ll add the rest of the stockings before the rest of my family arrives for Christmas. I tucked a little piece of evergreen greenery in the side of each stocking so it hangs down a bit. I tacked a small nail in my wooden mantel to hang each stocking. If you don’t want to put nails in your mantel, hang a piece of twine on the wall next to your mantel pull it across the front of your mantel and tack it to the wall on the other side. Hang stockings by using clothes pins to hang your stockings to the twine.
Add Accents
I added a couple of decor accents that finished off my Christmas mantel display. I had some red wooden beads and strung them across my display. I also hung a wooden star with a faux green wreath (purchased at Hobby Lobby) on the wooden star and hung it in between my stockings. You could add some berry picks or mini star garland to your display whatever you have on hand or want to add to your Christmas decorating stash to decorate your mantel with.
Wicker Basket
Fill a wicker basket with chunks of chopped wood. Set it to the left or right of your fireplace opening. It’s not only convenient but it is also a cute addition to your fireplace decor.
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