Decorate your mantel for less than $25

Christmas is one of the most anticipated days of the year. One way I like to get into the holiday spirit is to decorate the house. Growing up my parents would usually make a weekend out of it. Dad would be sent outdoors to string the lights, while mom and us kids would throw in a batch or two of shortbread cookies while listening to Sarah Mclaughlin's Christmas album, strapping garlands to the staircase and cramming little santa figurines into ever available square inch of our home. Now that I have my own place, I like to try and keep some of those traditions alive. The apartment I'm in now has a beautiful old fireplace and mantel-definitely my favourite feature of the home. With a limited budget in mind, I want to show you how I decorated me mantel for under $25--and how you can do the same!!

To get a more traditional look, I incorporated a strand of garland and added lots of reds and whites. A trick with the lights is to buy battery operated wire ones--cheap but also easy to manipulate to bend how you want them. I purchased the garland from Home Hardware. It comes in a 9' strand for $4.99. The wire lights you can find at pretty much any department store or home-decor store around christmas, mine were also from HH and cost $6.99 for a 8' strand.

I used a can of fake spray-snow from Walmart to add an extra rustic touch to the mantel. Super easy to use, and not as messy as I was expecting. ($3)

money saving tip: wrap a piece of wall art with some catchy paper to create the allusion of a present. Total cost for wrapping paper and ribbon= $5.

To save money I hung old ornaments I already had, in the garland. I picked ones that went well with my traditional theme and colours. The pinecones I literally found lying around outdoors (LOL)--but they look great and add a rustic flare.

These DIY mason jar snow globes were the perfect finishing touch to my mantel project. They're fun, easy and CHEAP to make. Plus you gain the added satisfaction of having your own project on display for all your friends and fam to see! For a do-it-yourself guide on how to make them check out my DIY page.

*All pictures taken by the talented Brooke Peloquin*

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