Mantle Redecorating!

There always seems to be a post Christmas blah-ness about our house. All the decorations are gone and it just seems empty. I was pretty proud of my mantle decorations this year so it just seemed even more depressing once I took down all the Christmas decorations. Not to mention it has been decorated exactly the same since we've lived in this house which is 3 years now. It was in need of a change. Here's how it looked after I took down most of the Christmas decorations and how it's typically been decorated:

Post-Christmas Mantle

This is what it has looked like since we've lived in the house...I was ready to change it up!

Okay, so I left the geese- these were a wedding decoration tradition my mom has for her children, I can't quite remember the significance but anyway, they stay on the mantle and so does the silver "LOVE" sign. Everything else went! (Our unity candle and wedding pictures got moved to our china cabinet) During Christmas our Nativity scene is displayed on the mantle along with the stockings and this year my new addition was these hurricane lamps that have poinsettias painted on them.

So here's what I had to work with:

here's a closer look at the hurricane lamps and a few of my new items.

Ribbon- 33cents a yard for each (I got two yards of each so I would have some extra to play around with. My origional intent was to use the ribbon to cover the poinsetta's on the hurricane lamps but it wasn't going to work so onto plan B...
I layered the ribbons around the candles to give them a more personal feel.
Then, I used some white tulle and white tissue paper to line a vase, (I cheated) and got a $5 flower bouquet and arranged them together in a vase.
I then gathered up my willow tree figurines that Tyler had given me for my birthday and arranged it all around the white Christmas lights (I loved how they looked at night with my Christmas decorations so I decided to keep them) and here's the finished product:
 

The completed mantle

my $5 floral center piece

our "family side"

our "wedding side"

my favorite willow tree figurines

So there you have it! My redecorated mantle that cost me:
$2.22 for all the ribbon, $5 for the flowers, and $5 for the white candles
Total Transformation: $12.22
I liked that it is simple and not overly cluttered and it cost me less then $13!
Tomorrow is another Lunch break scramble! I'll be testing out my Space Bags...We'll see if they really work!