Sleigh Ride Christmas Mantel

Hello friends. It's the most wonderful week of the year in blogland- Christmas Home Tour Week! Today, I am participating in a fun blog hop put together by Suzy from Worthing Court with a group of talented bloggers of Christmas Mantels Around America. Please be sure to read to the end of this post to visit all of the beautifully decorated mantel styles. I am excited to see how our decorating styles vary depending on what region we live in.

It is usually a challenge to come up with a new idea of how to decorate our family room mantel. I always aim to have it represent our family in some way. Since we enjoy spending time at our family's cabin in the mountains, that tends to influence my ideas very strongly. This year's mantel idea actually took form last winter when we found this big toboggan on clearance in the after-Christmas sale at TJ Maxx. The red plaid cushion and heirloom quality wood literally called out to me across the store!

We had lots of fun with this very toboggan in the snow last winter and we plan to do so again this year. In fact, if we get a snowstorm before Christmas, I think we just may need to dismantle this mantel. :)

Above the mantel shelf, we added a pair of antique snowshoes along with a few cut birch logs (all from our favorite place-the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate NY). I then added some garland that we bought at Pottery Barn a couple of years back. This garland was a splurge but it has held up so beautifully and looks so real that it was definitely worth the investment. I intertwined a plaid scarf ribbon that I recently found at Michaels to soften things up. I also added some battery powered twinkle lights because, well, twinkle lights are a Christmas necessity to me.

Next, I painted the DIY sleigh ride sign on a piece of scrap wood leftover from a sign I made for our upstairs mantel. I will be sharing that mantel later this week in the big Holiday House Walk.

On the stone hearth, I added a new plaid throw from Pottery Barn to soften things up a bit. The sled pillow is from Wayfair and it just may be my favorite find this holiday season.

Finally, I couldn't resist one more addition to this mantel display. I think our sweet golden retriever, Dax, completes the picture quite well.

Thanks for stopping by today. I have a lot more holiday decor to share, including the rest of our family room in the Holiday House Walk this Friday. I hope you'll be back! Please be sure to visit my talented blogger friends using the links below.

Decorating styles can vary all over North America. Enjoy visiting these other fabulous blogs to see how they’ve decorated their Christmas mantels in the region where they live!

CANADA:

This Mama's Dance

EAST:

Atta Girl Says  ||  Golden Boys & Me  ||  In My Own Style  ||  StoneGable  ||The Everyday Home  ||  The Rustic Life  ||  Worthing Court

CENTRAL:

Cedar Hill Farmhouse  ||  Edith & Evelyn  ||  House By Hoff  ||  It All Started With Paint  ||  Maison de Pax  ||  Town & Country Living

WEST:

At The Picket Fence  ||  Classic Casual Home  ||  Tidbits  ||  Twelve On Main