a seasonal mantel

I was wandering my favorite blogs when I saw this entry on a beautiful and creative driftwood Christmas tree from Paint Cut Paste. I saw that cool old wood panel propped up on the mantel and was kind of jealous. "I want a distressed cupboard door" was a thought that actually crossed my mind! Then I remembered my stack of old paned windows. And then I was struck with a Christmas mantel vision!

First step: Prepping the window.
They were already painted white but some spots sported avacado of another decade and other spots were bare wood. I was mildly concerned that there might be some lead-based paint peeking out so I decided to paint the whole thing with a nice thick coat of white paint. I was kind of impatient to get the vision underway so I painted one side, flipped it over, balanced it on old flowerpots, and painted the other side and the edges.

Second step: Perfecting the window
Lucky for me, my husband peeled off the tape and scraped off any "oops" spots with a razor blade. I didn't ask him to do this, he just did. He's nice like that.

Third step: Hang the wreath
All I did was take a single piece of ribbon and staple gun it to the back of the window frame. I think a thicker ribbon might be nicer but I did not already have the classic Christmas red in that width.

Final step: Tah-dah!
I especially like how the pinecone swag matches the browns in the wreath details. Lovely!

PS I just updated my "favorites" section with all the craft blogs I am currently subscribed too. Take a peek. Maybe you'll find a new favorite of your own!