christmas decor

Crafting with Claire: Holiday Mantle

“May your walls know joy, may every room hold laughter, and every window open to great possibility.”
— Mary Anne Radmacher

Claire Jackson is such a refreshing part of our Bustle family. When she isn’t wowing us with her endearing creativity, she is spending time with her sweet husband, Dan, and their two precious children, Eleanor and Henry.

We all know someone who makes decorating look effortless. Claire is THAT person. Everything she touches turns into a Pinterest ad and we love her for it. While we can’t all be a “Claire", at Bustle we want to make the art of creativity attainable for everyone. That’s why Claire has made it her personal goal to curate crafts that we can all partake in. Every season, she will lead us in a step-by-step guide through the latest diy trends. Whether you’re crafting with kiddos or by yourself with a glass of wine, we hope you enjoy this pretty piece of mindfulness

This season’s Crafts with Claire is a beautiful homage to the warmth of home for the holidays. There is something so heartfelt about a festive mantle with twinkling lights and nostalgic decor. This setting will be the backdrop to your most treasured memories for years to come.

In this blog, Claire will guide us through her process of designing the coziest Holiday Mantle, shopping at one of our favorite places on earth, TARGET.


It seems like the big box stores ordain their shelfs with holiday merriment earlier and earlier each year. Sometimes the array of stockings and Christmas garland can be quite overwhelming. We’ve all had that moment of standing in the middle of the holiday lights display, trying to figure out what size bulbs would be just perfect for our tree. Claire is helping us get our holly jolly together this season!

She took on the task of using a $50 design budget to create a mantle worthy of all our White Christmas dreams. She frolicked through the aisles of Target to pull this project together and we are NOT disappointed. We hope you can get some inspiration from Claire’s lush display. Keep an eye out for links to shop some of these items for your own decor!

“Christmas is a piece of one’s home that one carries in one’s heart.”
— Freya Stark

Claire’s Tips to Build an Aesthetic Holiday Mantle

1.) When you start designing a new display, it helps to make the key elements of your design symmetrical and then add other things to make it interesting and give balance.

2.) Add lights for that Christmas glow!

3.) Working vintage items into your scheme will add sentimentality and warmth to your design.

BUSTLE IS DRESSED FOR CHRISTMAS

It’s no secret that we love the holidays. ESPECIALLY, decorating for the holidays. Let’s be real, some of the most fun we have over the Christmas season is scouring for the perfect scented pinecone. And while we’re busy trying to decide which poinsettia pillow best fits our aesthetic, we are finding simple joy. The feeling of accomplishment as each little corner comes together is a familiar form of serotonin. Decorating Bustle for Christmas was every bit of therapy that we needed it to be. While fun, we’d be lying if we said it didn’t come with a few…. hiccups. If you’d like to see our decorating feats AND blunders, you can watch our recent reel here <3

Christmas is a season for kindling the fire for hospitality in the hall, the genial flame of charity in the heart.
— Washington Irving

We hope you all have a beautifully decorated holiday season. Sending all our love!

Decorating the Bustle store for Christmas in Birmingham, Alabama.