Christmas Mantel With Jingle Bell Garlands

Michelle Meyer

2 years ago

This year’s Christmas mantel with jingle bell garlands has put me in such a jolly mood. It’s a good thing no one was around as I broke out singing carols while I was decorating. I think you’ll love these sweet garlands as much as I do. Especially when you see how quickly they come together.

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It’s time for our November Pinterest Challenge and this one as you can guess is all about garlands. If you’re new around here, every month our host Cindy over at County Road 407 selects a photo for us to recreate. Well this month we doing something a little different and coming up with our own inspiration for the challenge.

It’s going to be interesting to see the variety of garlands everyone comes up with, and what inspired them. Be sure to click through all the links at the end of the post. If you’re stopping by from my friend Carol of BlueSky at Home welcome! Carol is sharing nine ways to use garlands in your home!

To see the Pinterest challenge from November last year, click on my post How To Decorate With Poinsettias In Crates.

In This Post

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Christmas Mantel With Jingle Bell Garlands

The framed snow scene watercolor over the mantel sets the stage for the green and silver colors I’m using this year.

Just to give you a little background. My dear Great Aunt Ruth painted this watercolor back in the 60s. What a character she was wearing her crazy red hair piled up on her head, always had a glass of Scotch whisky in hand, and could swear like a sailor.

When I was a child, my mom told me not to listen to anything my aunt had so say, so naturally I hung on to every word. I smile thinking back on her, and still love her whimsical paintings with their folk art quality.

Several weeks ago I spotted a jingle bell garland on Pinterest from Magnolia and decided to create one of my own using ribbon. The one from Magnolia is on a red and white braided rope, but I’m focusing more on colors that will compliment the painting.

Supplies

ribbon
jingle bells
scissors

These jingle bell garlands are easy to make by threading the ribbon through the loop on top of the bell. Even though the 3/8″ silver grosgrain ribbon is narrow, it has just enough stiffness to keep the bells in place.

The 5/8″ green velvet ribbon is a little more tricky, because you have to roll the end of the ribbon to be able to fit it through the loop.

Once all the bells are on the ribbon, trim the ends the ribbon if it looks frayed. Then hang the garlands from the mantel with clear hooks.

Shop Supplies

Mercury Glass Trees And Painted Houses

Every year I think I’m going to use my mercury glass trees in another spot, but I still love the way they look on the mantel. I know you must be thinking I could stretch my imagination just a bit, but when it works it works. Plus the mercury glass trees just seem to frame the watercolor perfectly.

Check out these posts for more ideas on using mercury glass, Cozy Christmas Mantel In Red & White and Christmas Mantel With Mercury Glass & Ticking.

I’m repeating the green colors from the painting with little green houses and faux greenery. Old books become risers for the mercury glass trees, pine cones add a natural touch and a few loose bells finish the mantel.

By the way, the houses were previously painted bright colors and were hanging in the laundry room. To see how they look before click over to Laundry Room Organizing Ideas.

Each one is now a different shade of green paint like the ones in the watercolor. It’s a fun way to reuse what I have on hand, and I can use them for more than just Christmas too.

I can’t wait to mix in some fresh greenery on the mantel. Bringing in the fresh scent of pine and cedar always makes me feel like we’re getting a little closer to the Christmas season.

Be sure to follow Thistle Key Lane on Pinterest, where the boards are up to date with holiday inspiration that you can use right now!