A Ski Lodge Mantle Display

Our doll's faux stone fireplace is decorated with life-size ornaments from our own
Christmas tree collection. Ordinarily the ski lodge and star above it hand on a tree for
 decoration, but they look just as charming inside of the dollhouse, on top of the mantle.

    This year we will experiment with decorating our largest dollhouse for Christmas in both traditional and unique ways.

    As you can see the eighteen inch doll's stone fireplace is trimmed with a ski lodge, embroidered star, horses, bottle brush trees and a small cast iron figure carrying his own set of skis back to the cozy winter scene on our mantle vignette. 

• See how we built this faux stone fireplace for play!

    The mantle is outfitted with a simple, vintage covering cut from white felt. You can make a similar one to ours quite easily! Just measure the length and width of your doll's own fireplace mantle plus one to two inches extra to hang over the edges. Cut this shape from snowy white felt and then clip the corners for a bit of overhang. Wherever the felt hangs over the edge of the mantle, cut an abstract squiggly line that looks like snow drifting in winter. (See the mantle photo.)

       During the 1950s, tree skirts and mantle covers where sold in five and dime shops with similar cut patterns. One of these miniature hand-cut covers can dress up your doll's fireplace for cozy winter nights and will also protect the surface mantle from scratches while you play.

       I also included in this display a 24 inch white tree that was purchased for the large dollhouse from a resale shop. Some years we decorate this tree using only handmade ornaments and other years it is decked out with miniature glass baubles.

       Beneath it's lowest branches are the doll's Christmas gifts wrapped and displayed on top of a handmade tree skirt. Each little box has a lid that is wrapped separately so that the dolls may open their presents every year without spoiling the fancy paper.

• Learn how we made a no-sew miniature tree skirt.
• Christmas gift wrap for dolls

Left, the white, 24" Christmas tree is decorated with gold and silver tinsel, and tiny glass
ornaments. Center, the mantle is covered with a hand-cut felt cover that is made to look
 like snow. Right, See the tiny horses in front of the bottlebrush trees; these are charming
additions to our small Christmas vignette.

       Below is an alternative way to decorate the mantle using the felt snow using red, pink and white ornaments. Here the dolls have put out delicious looking cupcakes for Santa. This sweet cake stand with a glass dome is also an ornament normally used on our family Christmas tree.

Here you can see an alternative Christmas display using the same snowy, felt cover. On this version
of the mantle I've included pink bottle brush trees with peppermint stands. A vintage Santa ornament
made using baker's salt dough is hung above the mantle and delicious looking cupcakes under a glass
cake dome will soon be consumed by dear old Santa himself, after the presents are arranged beneath 
the red and white trimmed tree.

Left, you can see our version of a peppermint tree skirt. Center, a vintage Santa holds a tiny chenille
tree and is displayed at the top of our doll's white Christmas tree. We show folks how to make a 
similar craft like this one at our Belsnickle Blog here. Right, are a few red and white wrapped gifts
for the dolls on display in the seat of our white, wooden rocker.