Christmas/ Winter Mantle {Evergreens and Hydrangea}

As I mentioned on my facebook page, I didn't get around to showing you my Christmas mantle before Christmas. A few of you said you would still like to see it and since I'm planning to leave it up all of the month of January yet too, I thought I'd oblige you. 

With the bathroom remodel going in full swing, taking time to decorate for the holidays was kind of a hard thing to do. Don't get me wrong, I love to decorate for the holidays but I felt like all available work time should be spent in the bathroom. As Christmas drew nearer, I saw I wasn't going to get done the bathroom by Christmas anyway so I took an afternoon and decorated the mantle in my bedroom. This was the extent of the Christmas decor this year but I'm hoping to compensate next year. hehe

I knew I wanted to keep it fairly "natural" and incorporate blue and red. 

When I saw this cute J O Y letters on Pinterest,

VIA Stubbornly Crafty

I knew where I was going with my theme. 

Peace/ Joy/ Love

The Peace dove was found at Meijer (I snagged it for 50% off because it's missing a bell)

The window was already hanging there so I just put a tack in and hung the 'sign'. Easy Peasy. 

The wooden J and Y letters I ordered from  this Etsy shop. I probably could have made them but time was of the essence and I wanted to support a home business so I let her make them for me. :) I spray painted them and mod podged some scrapbook paper on top. I will have to say, this part of the mantle I am not very thrilled about. I couldn't find scrapbook paper in the shade I wanted and I couldn't find a bell large enough to look right. I want to keep looking for one and hopefully change it up next year. 

My favorite part of the mantle was also one of the easiest. It literally took

less than 10 minutes and I think has such a big impact.

 My evergreen and hydrangea wreath.

I started with a live evergreen wreath

and just added hydrangeas. You may remember the hydrangeas; they were already on the mantle in a granite bucket. I didn't glue them or fasten them in any way. I just started tucking them in around the wreath.

I liked the look when I was finished but it needed something to ease the transition from the evergreens to the poufy hydrangeas. I grabbed some twigs with tiny red berries and tucked them in at an angle behind the hydrangea. They were pretty secure and I didn't feel like I needed to glue them. I think they added the perfect touch. I don't know that I've ever seen the combination of evergreens and hydrangeas but I'm loving it!

I love the contrast of the hydrangeas and evergreens with the chippy white picket fence!

For my frame, I took sheet music for Joy to the World that I found online and edited it

with the words Joy to the World on top. Added a burlap looking background

 and a few snowflakes and here it is.

The candle was a thrift store find. I just wrapped burlap and twine around it to dress it up.

The potted evergreens are fake. They were an after Christmas clearance find and added later.

And here is the whole view: Peace on earth, Joy to the World, and Love.

Thank you for letting me belatedly share my Christmas/ Winter mantle!

If you want to see what it looked like before, go {here}.

Linking to: SNS at Funky Junk Interiors

From the Farmhouse