Style Shelf Mantel Christmas Decor

Hi everybody, it's Melissa from Welcome to the Woods. I recently built these cute shelves in my dining room and I decorated them for Christmas. I have some tips to share with you today about how to create a beautiful display for your mantel or open shelving when you're putting out Christmas and holiday decor. I need you to comment in right away. I'm curious to know if you are done Christmas decorating, in the middle of it, or if you haven't even started yet. What point are you at with your holiday decor? I also would really appreciate a share on this video if you liked it because each share tells me that you want to see more content and more videos like this one. When styling a mantel or shelf you'll want to consider four principles. The first is grounding. Cover the base of your area with something to ground the space. In this instance I'm using an evergreen garland and a faux fur rug. I definitely think you should work greenery into every design to bring life and color to the shelf. These pillar candles that I'm adding are a really easy DIY. I took real birch bark off of rotten logs and then just wrapped them loosely around my red pillar candles and they're just so beautiful up against that dark green evergreen. You might have caught my other video in which I hand lettered the naughty or nice sign. This side was actually a stencil and then I framed it out. It's really fun to watch so go ahead and check that out on my video list. And then this is something you would have seen me pick up at the thrift store if you're part of the Welcome to the Woods group. So go ahead and join that group if you want the inside scoop on what I'm doing. The second principle when styling your shelf or mantle is working in odd numbers. Groups of three items like my two candles and garland on the bottom make for a visually attractive display. The top I'm displaying smaller items so I'm grouping together five. Before I add the mirror the top display looks unbalanced but after it looks great. Third consider texture. Mix various textures in what you are styling your mantle or shelf with. Greenery adds instant texture but also adds soft textiles like my rug and straight hard lines like my hand-lettered wood sign. I really feel like the more texture the better. The fourth and last principle that I would recommend in styling mantles or shelves is height variance. You don't necessarily have to have all your tallest items in the center but you do have to display different height items for a visually attractive display. I hope this advice gives you guidance as you decorate your mantle or open shelves at home. For more DIYs, crafts, and decor follow Welcome to the Woods.