How many of y’all have been into the ceramics and now have a collection of them?  I have the truck and tree and the vintage ceramic Christmas Trees.  I needed a better way to display them and came up with the perfect solution. Today I’m going to show you how to create an easy backdrop for Christmas for your mantel. You can even keep this backdrop up through Winter!

Gather your supplies

Disclaimer: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will make a commission if you click through and make a purchase.  It helps fuel my coffee habit so I can keep painting fun stuff for y’all!

I took some particle board that my husband was going to throw away. Some cheap paint brushes, a toothbrush and of course, paint!  Now, before we get started, I want to share 3 tips with you.

Tips for painting the backdrop

1. Pick a color scheme. I’m picking grays and whites. A grayish blue in the background, maybe some greens and then a ton of whites.
2. Think about what you want to put in front of the backdrop. I’m putting Christmas decorations in front of it.
3. Find something cheap to paint it on! I’m using some particle board my husband was going to throw away.

Let the painting begin

First things first, let’s paint the background, I chose a gray blue.  Squirt the paint on the boards and then spread it around with a cheap brush.   Next up, we are going to add some snowflakes.

Get your snowflake stencil and some white paint. I use a stencil brush to add the snowflakes, I put them all over the backdrop!  I may have gone a little snowflake crazy. If you don’t have stencils you can use paper towel, or even bubble wrap to add some texture. If you use a stencil don’t forget to offload like I did.

Lastly you are going to do some tree placement. You will just do a basic Christmas tree shape, like an elongated triangle. Place the trees anywhere you want.

Happy Little Trees

I grabbed a ton of different greens and white to paint with; Yellow Green, Festive Green Metallic, Hauser Dark Green, Green Yellow Traditions and a Black for a little shading. Hopefully these trees turn out cute, if not, no harm done. I’m still having a blast, right?

Now rinse your brush or grab some new ones and just start layering on your green paint, starting with the darker color first and then add dimension with the lighter color using the same technique you did with the black.  Now two trees need to be the same color, use your darker colors for the trees that are close up and the lighter ones can be in the back.

Snow Much Fun

Rinse your brush and take some white paint and just paint along the bottom of the backdrop to add a bunch of snow. To add snow to the whole painting just grab a toothbrush (one used for painting). Dip it in your white paint and just grab the bristles with your finger and move it up the tooth brush.  Just be careful with your clothes. 

Dip your brush in a little white and dab it over the trees.  Make sure your trees are dry first! If you painted and it wasn’t dry, you can use a blow dryer to dry it quickly and just go back over it with white.  Of course, you can always add a little glitter or Snow-Tex to your painting.  You can make it shimmer and give it some dimension.

There are so many uses for this mantel backdrop; you can use it to display all of your Christmas and Winter ceramics or even a Christmas Village.  Pixie has a Christmas Village her grandma gave her and she loves to put it out each year. This would be the perfect backdrop for that!

Did you enjoy painting this backdrop for your mantel with me?  If so, catch me live! Text “Texas Art and Soul” to +1 817-373-5478 receive updates when I’m live.

Supply List

• Cheap Wood/Particle Board
• Cheap Brushes
• Toothbrush (for painting)
• Snowflake Stencils & Stencil Dauber – Use code TEXASHEIDI for a discount at checkout
• White Paint
• Black Paint
• Blue Gray Paint
• Yellow Green Paint
• Festive Green Metallic Paint
• Hauser Dark Green Paint
• Green Yellow Paint
• Snow-Tex
• Glitter