Disclaimer – This is a sponsored post by JOANN.  All opinions are 100% my own.

Merry mantles are the best part of Christmas decor in my book….well, second to the tree of course.  I love how they are instantly more warm and festive and its such a great gathering place for friends and family.  A crackling fire, a bit of cheer, and stockings hung with care….it’s the focal point of an entire room and adds so much fest!  And I like to do themes each year with my living room and this year I am bring the flocked trees inside and doing a ‘home for the holidays’ theme!  Here is a little sneak peek!

Usually our mantle is pretty bare.  We are one of those people with the super elegant television and sound bar.  Classy.  But on Christmas, I can spruce it all up and this year I headed to JOANN to pick up a bunch of cute stuff to play up my theme.

Let me give you the play-by-play.  First it should be said that I have six small nails in our mantle spaced about five inches apart on either side.  These help keep all my holiday stuff up there safe and secure from toddler hands.

I started with these garlands of glittery leaves.  They were a whopping 70% off and then I was able to stack another coupon on top of that for another 20% off!  Those kind of savings justifies me buying ALL THE THINGS.

I love the flocked and glittery look but really I love how this garland drapes and looks more organic.

I draped two from one side and two from the other and made sure that they were securely hooked onto the nails.

Then I anchored the mantle on one side with a gorgeous can that is wrapped with birch bark.  This isn’t a christmas item….just a favorite from their gardening section.  It’s always a good idea to shop the entire store to get ideas of what you can use!

Inside the can, I used four sprays of these flocked berry stems.  I love the look and am pretty sure that I had a woman stalk-follow me in the store waiting for them to be taken out of my cart.  Fat chance lady.

On the other side, I put another tall piece – this white house.  I love the height and since it’s hard to fit a lot with that gigantic tv up there, picking things that are narrow and tall is key.

Then came time to cover up that sound bar.  I love surround sound on movie night but it always comes with a pretty ugly visual aid.  I found these light-up houses that work perfectly as a cover-up and they work perfectly with my theme…Home for the Holidays.

The houses are actually attached to one another….this is two sets….so if I needed to remove them for a viewing of Elf, I really easily just move the over.  I don’t want to block a single note from Zooey 🙂

Then came the stockings!  This was the best part because all the kids LOVED picking out new ones and these were crazy affordable!

Ella gets the all-white one on the end with the sparkles, then Weston picked out the striped one because it is so soft.  Will picked out the traditional red one with the brown fur…..he said because he has brown hair and likes the color red.  LJ liked the tree one and that is pretty darn great because Max claimed that white one (probably because it was the one closest to him at the time! ha!).

All of them are so well made! I’m gonna head this week to another JOANN store to find some additional ones for Jeremy and I (and Bear).  I would have grabbed some more when I was at the first store but the stalker-lady was grabbing the last ones before I had a chance.  It was literally like Supermarket Sweep when I was there.  I am surprised that nobody took off their earrings because all the ladies wanted all the things.

Moving right along….I wanted a little pop of red on the side with the berry sprays and found the cutest red luminary.

And I balanced that out with some bottle brush trees on the other side next to the house.

The red luminary is so pretty and I could see myself using it for Valentines day, Fourth of July….even Thanksgiving.  That’s why I always say buy red stuff for holiday decor!

To bring a little red to the house side, I made a simple little wreath out of a berry pick.  I just bent the branches and twisted them till they formed a tiny circle.

And then I hung that on the white house to make it look a little more festive.  I gotta give my sister credit for this idea….she is a smart one.

And there you have it…..one very festive and lovely mantlescape!  Pretty right!?

I love the homey vibe and the fresh colors – it is still traditional but with a little bit of twist.

It definitely feels wintery with all that flocked greenery and pops of red.

Even with the items up there, it doesn’t block Jeremy’s favorite part – the tv 🙂

Oh and did I mention that the thing lights up?  The houses do and so do the bottle brush trees (I didn’t have AAA batteries so that is gonna happen asap!) and I even plan on popping a small flameless candle in the red luminary!  So fun right?!

And if you are wondering – the wreathes are such a ridiculously good price that I picked up two to put on my french doors to my office.  Ignore the decoration boxes in there.  I’m doing the tree next!!!

And speaking of tree….I love this idea of taking apart this bell garland and hanging them on the tree as individual ornaments or in a grouping on a wreath or on a door handle!  I love the finish and the sleigh bell look and since they were half off PLUS stacking my coupon of an additional 20% off….that brings the total down to….$8 for 12 bells!  Not bad considering I’ve seen similar ones for $2 a pop ON SALE.

And because I can’t help it with the gifs…..here is the progression of our mantle makeover with a big splash of homey fun!

So what is your theme this year?  Anyone else rocking the sound bar/tv combo with their Christmas wares?  What is your solution to decorating around it?  Do you hide your stuff too or just embrace the electronics as a compromise?  I figure that what is home for the holidays without the ability to watch all the Hallmark movies, amiright?!