Our Hopeful Home: How to Decorate a Blue and White Christmas Mantel

Decorating a Christmas mantel doesn't have to be difficult, especially when you have the perfect matching flocked garland and wreath as the star performers. Add some blue ornaments, a few elegant bows and chinoiserie accessories, and you've got yourself a blue and white grandmillenial Christmas mantel.

elegant white mantel decorated with flocked garland and wreath

While I have Seasonal LLC to thank for the gorgeous artificial Royal Oak flocked fir 9 foot garland and matching wreath that I'm sharing with you today, all opinions are my own.

Garlands are a staple of Christmas decorating. And while I love "live" Christmas garlands, they make a mess as they dry out, they're super costly and they need to be replaced every year. So not exactly cost efficient. And truth be told, even artificial garlands (and wreaths) tend to be costly as well. But faux greenery is an investment that will last for years to come.

slim tabletop Christmas tree with chinoiserie ornaments

I loved my grandmillenial tabletop Christmas trees in the foyer so much this year that I decided to continue their theme in the primary bedroom.

elegant blue and gold living room Christmas tree and mantel

Luckily I still had some DIY chinoiserie Christmas ornaments to use in the display, along with some of the gorgeous blue ornaments I used to decorate my slim flocked Christmas tree three years ago.

wooden cathedral arhes backdrop mantel blue and white Christmas decor

I love to display a twinkling Christmas garland on the bedroom mantel, along with a matching and/or complimentary twinkling wreath above it. This year was no exception, and my Royal Oak flocked fir 9 foot garland and 24 inch flocked fir wreath from Seasonal LLC really fit the bill.

flocked garland hanging over side of mantel

I was able to drape the 9 foot LED prelit flocked garland across the mantel, after "fluffing" all the stems to achieve the full effect. Since the garland is generously long (9 feet versus most 6 foot garlands), I laid it out on the floor to work on its shape. All in all it took me about 45 minutes to complete the fluffing.

The flocking is quite generous compared to other artificial greens I've owned, and while it does shed (especially when first fluffing it), I've come to expect that as a natural consequence of having flocked greens. Luckily, the vacuum cleaner picks it right up. In addition, be aware that your clothes can also get covered with flocking when you are working with flocked greens.

While the warm LED lights definitely create a lovely glow (and have 8 display options including twinkling), I do wish they were more randomly interspersed throughout the garland. By that I mean that the lights appear to be attached to the garland almost in a straight line running along one side of the garland.

white mantel Christmas stockings garland wreath

Unfortunately, that means most of the lights were more toward the back of the garland rather than toward the front of it.

I say "back" of the garland since there's a cord and plug to consider, and I only have access to an outlet on the right side of the mantel. So I had only one choice as to the actual direction in which I could lay the garland (leaving more of the lights along the back).

flocked mantel decorated with blue Christmas ornaments

The flocked LED pre-lit wreath, however, had evenly interspersed lights all around. It was much quicker and easier to fluff than the garland was. And while it, too, has a cord and plug attached to it, it was easy for me to camouflage that under cover of the garland.

grandmillenial chinoiserie tabletop Christmas tree in ginger jar

The electrical cords for both the garland and the wreath got plugged into the same extension cord. I was able to hide all the cords (which are hanging from the right side of the mantel) with a ginger jar filled with a tabletop Christmas tree that I decorated with some of my DIY chinoiserie Christmas ornaments.

handmade chinoiserie Christmas ball ornament

DIY Chinoiserie Ornament Tutorial

vintage chinoiserie vase filled with blue berry picks

One of my daughters purchased a set of these lovely vintage chinoiserie vases at an estate sale. They worked beautifully with my blue berry picks.

chinoiserie cachepot filled with mini Christmas tree decorated with blue bows

I purchased this vintage chinoiserie cachepot at Goodwill years ago. It made for just the perfect mini Christmas tree stand which I set on my bedside table. I happily added blue bows to the tree in keeping with the theme.

My Texa House blue and white floral throw pillows on bed

The bedroom decor and bedding also happens to be blue and white (love those pillows!) so it all worked pretty seamlessly together.

HOW TO CREATE A CHRISTMAS MANTEL WITH BLUE AND WHITE GRANDMILLENIAL STYLE

If you're trying to achieve blue and white as your main mantel decor colors, you can create the look by adding chinoiserie ornaments, blue and white vases and ginger jars, as well as beautiful ribbons, bows and floral/berry picks to your display.

white cable knit Christmas stocking with blue ball ornament

You could even use blue and white stockings, although I don't have any so I chose to use plain white cable knit stockings decorated with blue ball ornaments. Blue and white chinoiserie Christmas stockings are a dream of mine!

And if your overall decor in the room also follows in the blue and white style, then all the better!

My Take on the Seasonal LLC Flocked Garland and Wreath

Let's be honest. We've all become used to, and reliant on, battery-operated, remote controlled LED lights with timers. And there's nothing wrong with that. Though while it's certainly convenient, you still need to buy (and change out) batteries -- sometimes many times during a season like, say, Christmas (at least in my house).

With plug-in lights you don't have to worry about batteries. And that's a good thing if you're concerned about the environment. Plug-in LED lights are definitely better for the environment than battery-operated lights.

The length of the garland is amazing, as most faux garlands are six feet long and this one is 9 feet long. More bang for your buck. And the flocking is substantial, which goes a long way toward creating that winter wonderland feeling we all love.

The overall quality of both the garland and wreath is above average. Believe me, I've had a total of six artificial Christmas trees, and more faux garlands than I'd like to admit ever having -- and this garland and wreath surpass them when it comes to quality. In other words, I don't see the branches breaking or snapping off any time soon.