Good morning all! Today is the day I finally get to show you my mantel! I’ll be honest with you. I threw 2 maybe 3 fits about this on the floor (like a toddler) I think I might have even cried once! Please tell me I’m not the only one who throws fits over decorating! But I won’t knock the fit throwing, because I am totally in love with my mantel aka piano! Since I don’t have a fireplace in this house the piano has taken on that roll, it all started with my fall piano decor. To be quite honest, I’m kinda liking it more than my previous fireplace mantels because it is deeper! Enough talking… let’s take a look at all these pictures I took ; )
A Rustic Christmas Mantel
My absolute favorite favorite part about this are these last minute stockings I whipped up in under an hour! Seriously… aren’t they awesome. I’m not usually one to toot my own horn, but I absolutely LOVE them!! There is a tutorial coming soon : ) You will laugh at how easy they are! The first thing my sister asked was how I got them to stay up there…. I used a nail. I know I know… I hammered a nail into my piano. Well..it was free. It’s already pretty banged up, and I can just use wood filler if I want. I didn’t nail them down to far so you couldn’t actually put things in the stockings and leave them there. We always fill our stockings on Christmas eve and then I take them down anyways because most stocking holders don’t hold much weight. Feel free to use your stocking holders though ; )
So while I was throwing fits.. I mean decorating the piano I really wanted to pull the same elements from my Rustic Glam Christmas Tree I shared with you earlier this week. So I had the Drop Cloth Tree Garland I made, so I knew I wanted drop cloth incorporated… that is how the stockings were born. Yes, those bad boys are made out of drop cloth! I used several scrap pieces of drop cloth I had, but basically I got 5 stockings for around $10… yes please!!
Even though my tree isn’t real… it certainly looks real doesn’t it? So that is why I went with the real garland this year. I can’t believe this is the first time I have ever decorated for Christmas with REAL garland! I was truly missing out.
First I got some pine and it just wasn’t doing it for me… I ended up using Red Cedar Garland and I am smitten! It smells so good and it’s just plain beautiful! You might recognize the pine cones on there, it is actually a garland I bought from Michael’s you can find that on my tree as well! I love how it brings in just a little bit of red with some gold shimmer. It was just perfect for my whole decor vision I had this year!
Obviously I had to incorporate mason jars, why you ask? Because they are mason jars, hehe! I actually bought a big box of these old rusted mason jars at a yard sale. The lady kinda looked at me like, “I can’t believe someone is actually buying these” … as if they set them out as a joke and bet on how many people would pass them by. Of course I’ll take them! I used them on my fall mantel, now here… I’m sure they will be popping up throughout 2014 too!
The wreath just started off as a plain rattan wreath from Hobby Lobby and that’s nothing a little spray paint can’t fix right?? Essentially I wanted it to look like it snowed on the wreath with gold and glitter. It’s really hard to get that detail in the picture, but here’s the tutorial if you want to see how it’s done ; )!
So there it is… my Rustic Christmas Mantel. I hope you love it as much as I do!
Crystal says
So pretty!! I love the stockings!! Love it!!
Ashley says
Thank you Crystal!
Could have fooled me! I definitely thought it was a mantel at first. Creative eye – it looks gorgeous!
Thank you Brandi! : ) It looks like a fireplace mantel from the street because you cant see the bottom of the piano… hehe!
Ooh, I love the greenery on the stockings! This is so beautiful!!
Thank you so much Chelsea! That is my favorite part too!
I love your Christmas stockings, but am really in love with your black piano! Now I’m obsessed to find one just like that! Did you paint it or did it already come that way? ~Delores
Thank you Delores! It came that way : ) I often see these kind on craigslist for free… lots of people just want them moved because they are so heavy! good luck : )
Ashley, this is beautiful!!! You keep making me want to paint my piano that gorgeous color! You did a fantastic job whipping up those stockings, and I love all the greenery. And that wreath!! Thanks for sharing! Have a very Merry Christmas, sweet friend!
This is adorable! Love the piano idea. I really want to make the JOY wooden thing that you had on your piano another year. Super cute!
Thanks Karen! I am loving that sign! It will definitely have to stick around for another year : ) Have a great week!
This would be adorable with the candy cane canning jars you posted recently! (Which idea I just shared on my blog this AM with links/credits to you– hope you don’t mind!)
Just subscribed– this looks like my kind of blog!
Mary
Omg I’m in shock about the piano…I had one like this when I was a kid. It was SO beautiful. The piano was moved with my mom and dad and handed down to my niece. I haven’t seen it in years, but seeing yours sparked a memory. You made a creative stocking holder however NAILS in the PIANO makes me CRINGE. You had a VERY valuable piece there, with genuine ivory keys (which the piano makers haven’t done in decades). It’s a shame you didn’t rig a string or ribbon through the loop on the stocking, stretch it over the piano and attach it to one of the many appendages sticking out on the back of the piano. You covered the top of the piano anyway, so those strings wouldn’t have shown. I appreciate your creativity but hope there’s not irreparable damage.