December 11, 2012

child's play - the christmas mantel

Last year, the Christmas mantel was all about the ribbon. This year however, I wanted to do something like...I had no idea. I never know when it comes to the mantel. I've accepted the fact that I will have chronic paralysis in this area- especially at the holidays. So I just thought I'd wait for inspiration to strike. And then I saw this.


My 5-year-old, Amelia, took it upon herself one day to delicately remove everything from the coffee table and do her own decorations. "Mommy I made you a centerpiece. Isn't it beautiful?" She comes by it honestly.

I am an encourager (and the enforcer, but that's a different post) so if she's got the styling bug, who am I to deny her the pleasure. So I decided that this year's Christmas mantel would be all about crafts ala Amelia. Eve would offer all the moral support that 20-month olds can provide.

I had pinned this last year and thought it would be a great jumping off point.
The Wool Acorn via Pinterest

We went the speedy route and opted for pre-made little pom poms from Hobby Lobby instead of making our own. And we raided my mom's Christmas supply for a bunch of pinecones.


Amelia picked out the color schemes and decided on the placement.


She would hand me a ball and say, "put that one there." I was merely the hot glue gun operator. The whole thing went really fast. I think we were done in about 4 Christmas songs (love Pandora). A perfect craft with little ones who don't have very long attention spans.


She did a great job I think. This girl has got some mad color dispersing skills. And she practiced great restraint  I would have been gluing balls all over those things. That sounded weird.


Of course, I had to get into the mix a little bit. My contribution - an pink ombre pinecone.


So with our pinecone Christmas tree village ready, we made some garland. And what kind of garland do you make when your husband works for Dunder Mifflin? A paper chain of course.

Again, Amelia was in charge of picking out the colors. We talked about red and green but she wanted her favorite color - rainbow. She's learning about creating patterns at school, so this was a perfect activity.

 An afternoon of quality girl time produced one colorful Christmas mantel.


The jewel votives work really well with the colors in the trees and garland.



Birds eye view.
Christmas is the ultimate kid holiday, so I thought this was rather fitting. And since I get free reign of the house the rest of the year, I thought the girls should have some input into how our living room should look for Santa's arrival. As Amelia pointed out, the fireplace is like Santa's front door to our house.


So, welcome Santa.


How about you? Ever put the holiday decorations into someone else's hands? Any good holiday crafts you recommend for kids?  Have you ever tried to explain to a 5-year-old that rainbow is not a color, but rather a whole group of different colors? Don't bother, it is a loosing battle.

I linked up to Clean & Scentsible and A Thoughtful Place.

30 comments:

  1. I absolutely love this! Your girl has true talent! Happiest mantle I have seen this year!

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  2. So cute! I can see your little one takes after her talented and creative mama. I love this mantle.

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  3. Now this is the real meaning of Christmas. I love it. I had to laugh because when my daughter was younger, I asked her what color we should paint the house...she said rainbow. That was the last time I asked for input from people who live in this house.

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  4. SOOOOO fun! i love that the kids are involved and it's so colorful and eclectic!!! lovely!!!

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  5. This has got to be my favorite mantel! So adorable! Great job Amelia.

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  6. What a very colorful, but simple xmas you are having! J Loves it when I let him help out with the decor... well done! The pinecone trees are super cute!

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  7. Very welcoming! Santa's going to love it!

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  8. I just love it! It is really cute and you have a memory of time shared doing something that I am sure your girls loved. I am going to "pin it" and find some time to make something Christmas-y with my 3 year-old.

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  9. ok seriously stealing this idea from you. Love the cotton balls in the pine cones. The color is wonderful and love the fun pom poms! I am all about the pom poms this year! I can't wait to do this activity!

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  10. Great! What a wonderful, creative idea! Amelia has a lot of talent! Her color choices are fabulous and so, so Happy!!!
    She deserves an A++++++ and four Gold Stars! along with a big hug and kiss!

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  11. I love it! The colors look great.

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  12. So, so cute!! I love it and I especially love all the colors. So non-traditional, it's perfect. I am obsessed with the adorable pincones.

    Xo-L

    simplylowcountry.blogspot.com

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  13. This is super cute and I think made even more special with your little girls help! love it!

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  14. Coolest mom ever! I love it, it's so cute! Those pinecones are adorable.

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  15. Awww I love it! It's so cute and colourful and I love that Amelia 'designed' it - she's obviously inherited your love of decor!! There is nothing that can't be made better with pompoms. Of this one thing, I am sure ;) xxx

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  16. Such a fun project and a wonderful Christmas display!
    Have a happy holiday!
    xo Nancy
    Powellbrowerhome.com

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  17. this is so sweet. we did a rainbow tree and our mantle has rainbow garland as well. my 3 year old loves the rainbow as well!

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  18. Your daughter has quite the eye! These are such cute DIYs and great for the kiddos! Those garlands bring me back to when I was a kid :)

    xx
    Holly Foxen Wells
    GlamourMash

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  19. I was just saying today that I love the old school paper garlands! She should be so proud of her decor...a chip off the old block!! PS. I am mantel inept too...everyday of the year!

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  20. beautiful and creative! I love all the colors.

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  21. I burnt out years ago with holiday decorating and gave the job to my kids. Now that they are grown I enjoy decorating again with my daughter. They still laugh how I would let them decorate and supervise laying on the couch.

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  22. Love this idea! I have a bunch of left over pom poms from my project that I could totally do this. I went bright and colorful this year as well with my decorating.

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  23. Marvelous work!!!! Love!
    Whitley
    www.thequeencitystyle.com

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  24. I'm just catching up on blog reading now...and your mantel is so fun! You and I are kindred crafting spirits, that's for sure.

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  25. That is so cute! I love that it was a group effort with the kiddos! I know what you mean about wanting to encourage your daughter's decorating interest. My 7 year old son sometimes starts telling me where things should go, what would look good where, etc. It's usually just with holiday decor. But then I feel like I should listen to him even if I don't agree, because I don't want to discourage him. I told my husband that maybe someday we'll be a mom and son decorating team. He wasn't very excited about that idea. haha

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  26. Cheers to you for supporting your daughter's creativity. What a great way for together time. They grow up so fast, enjoy your special time. It looks terrific!

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  27. That is so cute!!
    ali
    www.40tasks.blogspot.com

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  28. so adorable- I love your mantle!

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  29. Awesome! I'm always a fan of colourful Christmases - not necessarily the traditional green and red, so I love this! Also, the pine-cone pompoms look like candy and make me hungry... :)

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  30. Yeah,
    This year we pretty much are leaving it to the kids. I think it's important to allow them to be creative and it builds lasting memories of Christmas time. To be honest there is something so cozy about letting them put their mark on Christmas.

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