DIY: Minimalist Holiday Mantel, $10 Edition - Remodelista

DIY: Minimalist Holiday Mantel, $10 Edition - Remodelista
I have always been a mantel minimalist. Meet my wintery wonder, the $10 holiday mantel.
I have to admit, I picked up the $5 seeded eucalyptus branches from my local Whole Foods with the idea of incorporating them into a more lush display, but my minimalist tendencies won out. Overlapping the ends slightly, I then lashed about five branches together with floral wire.
From there it was easy to style the rest of the mantel piece.
To balance out the composition on the opposite end, I stacked a trio of vintage garden books (from my grandmother’s collection) and topped them with a couple of paperwhite bulbs (which account for the remainder of my $10 budget).
A pair of midcentury Swedish shot glasses serve as votive holders and provide a bit of glassy glimmer to this side.
To complete the overall composition, I filled the hearth with a grouping of foraged branches, which will eventually serve as kindling.
A vintage galvanized tub, which has always served as my log holder, received a holiday treatment with the addition of a few festive pinecones, foraged in Maine and California.
Of course, no holiday mantel is complete without lights.
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