12/2/10

Home For The Holidays: Mandi's Treescape DIY

Holiday Feature on Smile And Wave
I've lined up some talented bloggers to share some holiday inspiration while we're in transit to our new home! Here's an easy way to add a touch of classic white to your Christmas mantle or tablescape this season brought to you by one of my favorite vintage-loving bloggers.

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Hello friends! This is Mandi from Here's Looking at Me, Kid, and I am delighted to be guest blogging for Rachel's "Home for the Holidays" series. This time of year is always anticipated for many reasons, but one of my favorites is the chance to transform my home into a wintry retreat.

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This year I decided it would be nice to turn the thrifted milk glass collection that adorned my fireplace mantle into a treescape for the holidays. All you need for this project is some glass dishes, some cones (I used foam, but you can make your own from posterboard, though it will be more difficult to pin.), straight pins, and the fabric of your choice. I used lace from a thrifted curtain, and backed it with white fabric.

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I began by matching up the cones with the sizes of glasses I had. I used a bread knife to shorten certain cones to fit the odd sized dishes.

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Next, I wrapped the cones in the fabric, pinning the edge to secure it. The edges of the fabric were also pinned at the bottom and at the top to achieve a clean look.

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To decorate the tops of the cones, I made pom-poms out of strips of lace. I secured the lace strips with another strip of lace that I tied around the strips, and fluffed them up before pinning them onto the tops of the trees.

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I repeated this process for each of the trees, and then arranged them onto the mantle, being sure to balance the heights. I had thought about using patterned fabric for the cones, but I think the white-winter look is quite nice and can even stay on the mantle through January. Taking down holiday decorations always makes me quite sad, so I like to come up with any excuse to leave them up longer!

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You can see more images of my home at my blog, as well as DIY projects, vintage inspiration, my wardrobe, and daily shenanigans. Be sure to say hello if you stop by! Thanks for having me, Rachel! -Mandi

Thanks, Mandi! If you need some vintage wardrobe inspiration or have a happy place in your heart for mid-century design, classic movies, and links to great photography and design inspiration, Mandi is your girl. She's a contributor to one of my favorite design blogs, ApartmentTherapy, and regularly shares her own date night adventures with her husband. She's a gem. Go see.

Be sure to check in regularly this week and next for more 'Home for the Holidays' inspiration.

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xoxo,
Rachel

12 comments:

Carey C. Bailey said...

OOOOOHHHH. That is wonderfulness! Thank you! With Joy, Carey

Amanda said...

genius. What a great idea! Love the white and lace!

letter A studio said...

White is wonderful! It looks great with everything.

Thanks for sharing these posts Rachel & guest bloggers :)

Caitlin @ Desert Domicile said...

What a great DIY, thanks for sharing!

Unknown said...

These are lovely! What a great idea!

I totally know what you mean about the sadness of taking down decorations. I remember one year we took our tree down right before Valentine's day. But that could have been because my mom didn't feel like taking the lights off of the tree so she delayed it as long as possible...

Becky said...

PRETTY!

Cassie said...

Cute! What a good idea.

P.S. LOVE your mantle!

Zoe said...

this is such a great DIY, i can wait to try it out, such a pretty decoration idea.

Zoe

http://blessedbeeapothecary.blogspot.com/

MargaretB said...

These are so gorgeous! Thanks for sharing so many great holiday projects!

Tasha Roe said...

just curious...can't see any of the photos. is that a problem on my end or a hosting issue?
it's such a tease....
;)

Unknown said...

lovely idea! i am definitely going to have to make me some of these :)

peace. love. create.
victoria
http://gardenofedendesigns.blogspot.com/

Sage Dawson said...

SIMPLE & ELEGANT! LOVE THIS!