Santa's Picnic by the Campfire: A Rustic Christmas Mantel

Do you tell stories with your decorating?
It's my very favourite way to build little fairytale lands in my own home! Here's how I do it:
Think of a story with a single element you wish to use.
Gather up like themed things that can fit into your storyline.
Arrange until you love what you see.
Post them on Hometalk, so you can share your crazy scheme with your friends!
Gather 'round my friends, I have a Christmas story for you today, that circles around this year's Christmas mantel...
... all thanks to a fallen tree.
And lost wifi. Ouch.
Paint source for this glorious perfect red: Fusion Mineral Paint's Fort York Red. It is perfection!
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This post is part of a MASSIVE Christmas themed blog hop, hosted by Hometalk and CountryLiving.com!
Click to see them all!

One blustery day, Santa (that would be me...) was gravely concerned. The wind was howling through his forest. He was in the middle of a (blog post) very large toy order without a battery backup plan. So he quickly hit save, and went in search of the candles, just in case.
Then in the blink of a reindeer eye, the lights went out.
And then he heard a massive...
*CRACK*
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Tutorial / Start with a single element. In this case, it was the Sleigh Rides sign.





Unsure if he was more stressed out by the storm or the lost wifi (you know how it is...) he investigated.
A gorgeous blue spruce gave way to the great storm, and tumbled down, splintering into a bazillion pieces.
Santa's first thought was that this was a terrible tragedy... until he came up with a plan to make eggnog out of eggs. (the lemonade theory if you will)
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Tutorial / as luck would have it, the fallen tree fuelled this design!





Gathering up the elves, (my hands), he scooped up some branches, and head to the North Pole Square (my fireplace), where he decked out the town in the finest evergreen branch display in the land!
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Tutorial / I placed a container filled with water inside the metal milk pail so the greens would stay fresh! Then everything was layered into place. Lights were added last to add a little holiday sparkle.





After the long decorating day, he invited the crew to a picnic beside the campfire to warm up. With this themed coke of course.
He was very clever with branding after all...
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Tutorial / Bring in elements to tell your story. Red was a large part of it here. So was rustic. Which resulted in a picnic beside a campfire.





With antique red lanterns aglow, they toasted to the official start of the Christmas season!
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Tutorial / :To illuminate old lanterns, string white mini lights behind them. Safe, candle-less illumination!
Sprinkle snow along the mantel in 'mounds' as the wind would naturally blow.





And they fuelled the fire late into the night, enjoying the wealth of their good fortune, straight from what could have just been viewed as a tragedy.
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Tutorial / Enhance a crate of firewood with a few chunks of branches with greens attached. Cute, free decorating touch!





Sleigh Rides is a stencil, so you can easily make this sign! More at blog link below.





So from my North Pole to yours, may every fallen tree in your life magically morph into days of wondrous joy for you and yours this holiday season!
Now... pass the coke...
* Hear the WHOLE crazy-ish story,
* see more mantels from Christmas pasts,
* learn how to make the sleigh rides sign,
* AND visit 168 other brand new Christmas projects,
all at the blog link below!






Original article and pictures take http://www.hometalk.com/11598190/santa-s-picnic-by-the-campfire-a-rustic-christmas-mantel site