It's been a while since I spruced up my mantel...as in I haven't changed things up since the beginning of the year when I did my Pantone Color of the Year Mantel. It's time for a change, folks, and I thought I'd find a frugal and easy way to dress up the mantel using some wooden stars, washi tape, ribbon and string, and plain old craft paint...and a few candle holders/lanterns.


The process to decorate these candle holders is embarrassingly easy. They have these embossed stars that are made to look like cut glass. I am sure that you could find some 70's era vintage candle holders that would be the same.


I put a small drop of blue or red craft paint in alternating stars. The key is to put as small a drop as possible in, then spread it out with a bent paper clip or something similar. If you make a mistake, you can peel it right off once it's dry...or you can wipe it off with a damp cloth. And that's it for the candle holders.

For the lanterns, simply take washi tape and make a pattern on the lantern. For the white lantern, I made a radial pattern, trimming with some red ribbon. I added some red washi tape to the white vase, too!


To make the blue lantern, I took washi tape and wrapped it around wooden stars.


I then used bakers twine to wrap them around the lantern. I made some extra stars with bakers twine to be a little garland on my mirror.


For the finishing touch, I used a silver star (I used this star's twin for my Patriotic Washi Flower Wreath), and a cool patriotic quote art with origami stars from last year.


And if you want to know where I got all the fun lanterns and candle holders...I got them from Ikea. I think several of them are recent arrivals there.


Enjoy! And thanks for stopping by...Thanks Mandy for hosting this fun celebration!