Working on a Winter Mantle

Over the weekend I started working on decorating my mantle for winter.  Until a few months ago I had not changed my mantle decor for years.  Yep, you read that right.  Years.  But I liked how it looked and wasn’t thinking about changing it seasonally.  So decorating my mantle for the winter season is new territory to me.

I got the idea for this gate from Funky Junk Interiors.  Here is her gate here.

We had this old fencing we picked up several years ago for a homeschool co-op day we had.  I wanted to save it but it has slowly been being used for firewood.  Fortunately, we still had this piece.

After taking apart the boards I somewhat followed Funky Junk Interiors tutorial and came up with this. Let me tell you I was excited.  I’ve never made anything like this before.  It was so simple, too.

Now, I’m trying to make it a part of my winter mantle scene and I’ve been having difficulties ever since.  Here was my first attempt.

A little plain – needs some color.  After consulting with my sister who asked her sister-in-law for some help, I have now come up with this.

I’m considering painting the branches white like I did in the first picture and I really would like another splash of color. (hmmm, you didn’t notice that the fireplace needs some touch-up paint, did you?)  My walls are a terra cotta color so using red is out of the question.

Now for the craft idea I’m contributing to Centsational Girl’s Holiday Craft Party.  I decided to hang the letters JOY on my mock gate. 

 To make this I needed:

Chipboard letters

Mod Podge

Scrapbook Paper

Something to hang your letters (I used strings of beads.)

Step 1:  Spray paint your letters if desired.

Step 2 (Oh, this is easy, I know but there may be some out there that are just getting into crafting.  I know I didn’t know anything about Mod Podge until a few months ago.)  Trace your letter onto scrapbook paper & cut out.

Step 3:  Using a paintbrush wipe Mod Podge all over the front of your letter and then place paper letter on top smoothing any bubbles or creases.

Step 4:  Using your paintbrush spread a layer of Mod Podge over the top of the papered letter.  This gives it a protective coating, I believe.

Hang letters using string, beads, ribbons or other materials.