A Minimalist Christmas Mantel

I had so much fun putting this year’s mantle together! With pretty Christmas trees and garland made of wool, stocking decorations made of dry citrus, jingle bells, twine, and fluffy flowers, your mantle can look just as delicate and enchanting! Let me show you how I did it!

I love including flowers and dry citrus ornaments in my Christmas decorating. This year, I covered my dry flower Christmas tree entirely with dry roses, marigolds, and about a dozen other flowers and natural touches! I simply love those citrus ornaments. They look like pretty glass windows in the tree! 

With this mantle, I wanted to create elegant, simple tree decorations that looked natural and delicate. I used twine and wool with little pompoms.

I used 3 modern candle holders, and a porcelain Madonna that my Grandmother gave me when I was young. I even made the mantle itself! Well, part of it. It literally hangs on the wall like a picture frame. If you want to add a mantle like this to your home, here’s how we installed it.

I love the minimal candle holders, cozy white knit Christmas stockings, and brass stocking holders. They’re such simple, quality decorations. 

I also draped wool balls and tiny bronze bells on the mantle. I’ll show you how I strung them together below with simple baker’s string.

1. First, measure your mantle width, then cut baby’s breath stems a little smaller than that size.

2. Use string to tie about 3-4 stems together so you have a nice little poofy mini-bouquet. Cut any long string around the knot you made around the stems.

3. Start at the edges of your mantle and work your way in, placing each little bouquet along the top.

4. Place baby’s breath around your mantle decorations, tiny bouquet by tiny bouquet. You don’t need to tie the bouquets into a garland by attaching them.

Handmade Wool and Twine Christmas Trees

These are so easy to make! I wanted a little bit of variety in the designs but still wanted to keep things minimal, so I didn’t get too wild. Some trees have little pompoms, some are simply wrapped in twine or wool, and some have a sweet little spiral detail, but that’s that. 

I used 2 different cone sizes. I have a full post on how I put together the white ones, but to make the twine trees, you’ll start with a glue gun, paper mache cone, tiny pompoms, and a nice spool of twine.

1. First, lay some cardboard down to protect your table from any hot glue that might drip. Then, start at the bottom with a short line of glue along the edge. The glue stays sticky for about 10 seconds so you have about that long to take the twine and press it in. Hold it there for about 3-5 seconds. Be careful because that hot glue is HOT.

2. Next, wrap the twine very tightly up the cone. Every few wraps, add a small line of glue up one side. Keep wrapping (again, making sure not to touch the glue), and tightly circle it around all the way to the top.

3. Once at the top, add a dot of glue on the tip, and either use it to secure the end of the string and cut the rest with scissors, or you can make a simple spiral all the way back down the tree by rotating it, and using a dot of glue at the bottom to attach the end to the bottom of the tree.

4. You can also add little pompom “snowballs” by adding one dot of glue and attaching them. Don’t go overboard here, A few snowballs go a long way. 

Bell Drapery

You’ll love these little bronze bells! They make the most gorgeous little twinkly jingle when they shake. They also come in silver if you want a more icy, silvery look to your mantle. You’ll start with baker’s string, scissors, and little bells.

1. Measure the length of your mantle. You’ll want your string to be about a foot longer so that it drapes nicely. Then, tie one simple knot through a bell, leaving at least 3 inches of string on the right side (you can always tie more string to that end to make it longer if you need to).

2. Tie bells along the string about every 1-2 inches.

3. At the end of the string of bells, leave at least 3 inches of string.

4. Nail a small nail in the end of your mantle and tie one end of the bells to the nail. I like to make a simple, pretty bow. Drape it across the mantle, and tie it to another nail on the other end of the mantle. Again, if you under-measured, no worries, just tie a little more baker’s string to the end and use that to attach it to the nail.

Wool Ball Drapery

These beautiful wool balls come in so many colors on Amazon. I love the simple white, but if you’re looking to add a little color, you can have a lot of fun with these. You’ll use a needle, white thread, baker’s string, and about 45-50 wool balls.

1. Measure your mantle. The white balls should drape lower than the bells, so thread your needle, and use 2 more feet of thread than your mantle’s length. Start stringing wool balls, tying a tight knot in the thread at the end to keep the balls from coming off. You don’t have to be too careful about how far each one is from the other. They’re easy to space out once they’re on the thread. 

2. Use a foot or so of baker’s string to tie to the thread at each end.

3. Make sure the wool drapes about 4-5 inches below the bells. If it’s too long or too short, no worries! Just add a little more or remove some until it’s the perfect length. 

4. Use the baker’s string to tie the ball drapery to the nail at each end of your mantle that also holds the bells. I’ll usually make a bigger bow with baker’s string to make the little tie look more rustic and pretty.

If you want to make pretty citrus ornaments to hang on your Christmas stockings, they’re so easy to make! Take a look at my rose and marigold Christmas tree post to see how I made them.