Tutorial: Creating a Cozy Christmas Mantel

This is the mantel in my family room, which I decorated in an après ski theme for Christmas. It is a mix of cozy ski lodge, winter wonderland, and traditional Christmas decor. You can explore the whole look in this blog post. Because the pair of white Christmas trees are so dramatic in this room, I choose to keep the mantel decor simple.

This is such an easy greenery mantel piece to create, and it actually does not use a traditional garland. Instead I put two teardrop swags end to end to create this elegantly curved swag. These greenery pieces work great for mantels because they give you the fullness and height in the center of the mantel and then taper out to the ends.

Here’s a look at how I put this cozy Christmas mantel together:

First, I jazzed up the firebox. Unfortunately, we are not able to light a real fire in our fireplace due to chimney damage, so to make it feel cozy I arranged pillar candles and pine cones around a stack of birch logs then I draped twinkle lights over it all. The lights are plugged into our tree lights, so they come on when we turn on the trees.

Then, on the mantel itself I screwed in a large hook into the wall to hold the faux pine swags.

I used the hook already bent into the swag stem to secure it to the hook in the wall, and I also added fishing line from the midway point of the swag back to the center hook for extra security.

I did this for both swags to secure them on the mantel. Then I fluffed the branches to make the pine stand up and create the shape I wanted.

Next I added my red berry sprigs to the pine. I simple poked them down in between the pine branches, spacing through out the swag with a cluster in the very center.

Then I added glittered white snowflakes in between the pine and red berries. I felt like the green and red needed a pop of white to help tie in the white bells and white Christmas trees.

To hang the large metal bells, I tied a piece of fishing line around the rope hangers they came with, looping all three together. I secured this fishing line to the center hook. I have another set of 3 bells, if anyone is interested. I think they are such a joyous reminder of the reason for the season, and you could use them on a Christmas tree or as porch decor. Another set is available to purchase here.

Finally, the pine swag needed a pretty bow to really make it feel like a cozy Christmas mantel. I created a multi-loop bow with the red and white snowflake ribbon then placed that on top of a single-loop plaid bow. My tutorial for making multi-loop bows is here. I simply attached the bow to one of the center sprigs of pine and draped the tails down over the bells.

I adore how my cozy Christmas mantel came together. I love the rustic texture of the mixed pine and the pop of red with the berries and ribbon. The white bells add to the Christmas feel and create a central focal point for the entire fireplace area.

Creating an eye catching Christmas mantel that feels cozy and festive doesn’t have to be difficult. I created this swag decoration in about an hour. Go check out the rest of my après ski Christmas look here.