How I Refreshed My Mantel For Under $30.00.

I will admit I was not one of those “oh I love my Christmas tree I don’t wanna take it down” kinda people after Christmas. Nope! In fact, I was actually tired of staring at my tree and couldn’t wait to get rid of it. Long story short one night a mosquito flew from the window next to our tree. I flipped out I started thinking of my tree as a giant plant. A giant plant with bugs and I couldn’t wait to get it out of my house. Needless to say, next year we will uh have a fake tree. But that’s a story for another day. Anywho once the tree was down and all of the holiday decor was packed I felt a little gray. Not because my decor is gray but because our little home just felt so empty. Then Valentine came, but I wasn’t much of a Valentine’s day decor person either so… Yes, I had the after the holiday syndrome.  I put all my regular decor back, I cleaned, I hung new photos on the wall but nothing helped. So I began thinking what can I do to make my home feel like a home again? At At that moment I realized I would refresh the heart of our little home our mantel.

So to refresh your mantel you must first ask yourself what can I fit on my mantel? Well, my mantel is very small but I knew I wanted something homey but also something that fit with the rest of my living room.

I headed to Target dollar spot where I purchased these tiny homes. I believe they were actually about $2-$3. They were super cute and even lit up.  I grabbed a handful of those five to be exact. Next, I headed to my local Hobby Lobby where I found the cutest cake stands. My friend Gabi actually gave me the idea to sit some of the homes on cake stands which I absolutely love so much. I would have never thought to use a cake stand but the tiny homes fit perfectly and the cake stands only cost me a few bucks. I also accidentally ran upon a little decorative sign that was only $2 as well and snagged it. I envisioned this in the center of mantel amongst the tiny house and the cake stands. Lastly, I headed to a local Michels craft store where I found a $9 garland to give my mantel a pop of color. The garland was a little long so I cut each side and wrapped the rest around the bars of my mantel. I liked this look a lot. It reminded me of the beautiful brick homes in new york city with the green like vine in between the bricks. I believe they call it Ivy. To top off my refresh I added a white pom pom garland in between everything. I can’t lie I totally used this for Christmas but it was too cute and reusable to pack away I had too.

Once I put everything together on the mantel it flowed so perfectly. It made for one of my most favorite parts of our living room. Also something we receive a lot of compliments on when we have visitors. This whole set up cost me under $30 and was so easy and quick to do. I hope this gives you ideas on what to do with your mantel and also how to shake the after the holiday syndrome for your home as well. Have fun refreshing!