Wintry Mantel Ideas 2014

Well I think it's pretty safe to say: Hello Winter!

Here in MO, we've had record breaking low temperatures this week and it has been nasty cold… even blizzard-like at times with all of the wind and snow.

Even though it is freeeeezing cold, I am a lover of all four seasons and I love that we live in a place that has a good variety of the seasons.

As I was "un-decorating" from Christmas, I was thinking back over the past year and the changes in decorations that I've made on the focal point of our living/family/main room… 

our mantel.

Here's our Winter mantel for 2014:

I used the same window frame that I've used with almost all of our mantel decoration but this time, I added some snow! It was so easy! 

With real, freshly frosted windowpanes outside from the most recent snowfall {cue the song}, I was able to mimic the look on our own indoor windowpane using this stuff:

I also used some trees and snowflake ornaments that I normally would have packed away with the Christmas stuff, but instead decided to keep out for the winter.

More Ideas for your Wintry Mantel:

If you're wanting some more ideas for how to decorate your fireplace after your Christmas decor has come down, check out these gorgeous ones I saw on ye olde pinterest…

^ Love the mix of rustic and contemporary in this simple mantel.

^ That wreath is gorgeous! And cozy looking! It's made from sweater material.

^ Love this gorgeous mantel. That sign is awesome!

{Jera, this fireplace reminds me of yours!}

^ Branches are a great and cheap decoration for winter. I also love the adorable pom-pom garland on this one. So clean looking, yet so cute!

Here's a look back at our mantels from 2013:

Some of these pictures are edited, so the coloring looks different. The mantel itself has not changed {even though it may appear that way in some of the pictures}, only the decor placed on it.

 ^ Late Winter/Spring/Easter 2013

^ Late Summer 2013 {Back to School}

 ^ Fall 2013

^ Christmas 2013 

{"The Christmas Story" Willow Tree Nativity}

As you may have noticed, I use a lot of the same decorations - windowpane, wire basket, books, etc. - throughout the year. I just try and mix them up a little bit!

I hope you were able to glean some ideas for cute ways to spruce up your fireplace mantel, even after the holiday decor has come down. And even if you don't have a mantel, you can always decorate a shelf if you have one. We have this beam above our couch that is equally as fun to decorate for all of the seasons!

^ Our beam that Ty hung on the wall last year. It's pretty big, even though it doesn't appear that way in this picture! :)

Next up… Valentines Decorations.

{Which means we'll be closer to spring and warmer temps!}