My first Mantle

one of my favorite parts about this new house

is that I have a mantle. 

Somewhere to hang garlands, put decorations and be a real "focal point"

So, for our first holiday, I knew it would have to be excellent. 

I had seen this on Pinterest:

via

Sooo, I made my own. It's SUPER easy. 

Step (1): gather all your supplies. 

I used plain white acrylic paint, Martha stewart white pearl and some flaky iridescent glitter. 

Step (2): Paint it. Paint it good. 

I used a TON of all white paint, and then only 2 coats of the Pearl paint in order to get a completely opaque coverage. (Which is HARD with white..) 

Hint: I let the white dry overnight before adding the pearl. 

Step (3): After letting the pearl paint dry 6 hours, 

I mixed a ton of white & pearl paint together and really smooshed it onto the letter. 

While it was still wet, I went over the area with the glitter. 

I did this in sections, and went back with a smaller brush later to add paint/glitter in missing sections. 

Step(4): Let it dry while lying down, then shake it off lightly. 

and voila! 

Pretty wintery wonderlandy Joy. 

Accessorize with dreidels and christmas balls as you wish ;)

And the final mantle piece: 

I'm not -completely- convinced she's done, but I love it so far.