Folk Art Fireplace Mantel Decorations

The best way to psych myself up to take down Christmas decorations, is to get excited about putting up something new. I try to change up the mantel every season, but just using things we have around the house. It's a fun creative challenge for me. This year, I started things off with a home-sewn stuffed deer head.

This is made from scrap fabric and a great free pattern from Charming Doodle. You can find the pattern and tutorial here. I didn't read the whole thing before I went in search of my fabrics and had already picked out the ear fabric before reading that you are supposed to use felt for those. The felt would be quicker and stands up better. If you use fabric like I did, I would recommend some interfacing if you want them to stand up more.

I love this pattern because it's a fun concept and it's really fun to pick out fabric. Elena recognized the apple print right away as being the same as a dress she has. Those antlers take some time to sew, turn and stuff. I won't lie. If you don't have time, I've seen people use tree branches and that's cute too.

First I hung him up by himself and thought he looked pretty good.

But then I thought I'd play around with the mantel and added in a birch log, some candles, a shell-art piece Olivia made with Elena, and a carved panel. Hanging below is an owl garland I made last year. For more info on that, see this post.

I'm not too sure how long this will stay up. Maybe through February and then we'll start thinking spring. Other than the fact that the deer should be a little further left in my opinion, I think it's a pretty fun look. Do you like to change things up often or do you tend to keep the same decorations up year round?