A fall mantel

Hello there! Well, the bins of fall decor have finally been pulled up the stairs, and I’m a little shocked at how much beady/leafy/pine coney stuff I’ve accumulated over the years.

I mean, I lurve me some beady stuff, but it’s a little much. :)

I set to work on the family room mantel today and started out putting it together like years past, but quickly realized I quite liked the way I had it decorated already…so I just decided to make some fallish changes and I LOVE it!

I especially love that it only took about 20 minutes and stuff I already had.

I started with some long, branchy, beady thangs I found deep in a storage bin…I don’t even remember buying them. :) I love finding surprises from the previous year! How fun is that?

I piled four of them up across the front of the mantel and fluffed. And fluffed. And fluffed some more:

I love that their twisted branches look so real.

Well, as real as branches with squishy foam beads can look:

:)

Instead of adding a ton of candles across the mantel like I’ve done in the past, I just changed out the cream candles for some in warmer tones:

The warm, fall-inspired candlesticks work perfectly!

I filled the cloche with some fall fillers, but when I stood back, it was looking a bit too busy. So I grabbed a candle stand, perched a twiggy pumpkin on top, and tied a ribbon around the base instead:

I love how the pumpkin ties in the texture of the large rattan platter in the back -- that platter stays up there throughout almost every season because it’s so honkin’ big and fills up the space perfectly.

I was determined to use what I have, and I realized this week I had PLENTY to use. ;)

I’m really pleased with how it turned out!:

I’m not sure where I got the beady stuff last year, but I’m willing to bet it was Hobby Lobby. I’m obsessed with the Hob Lob. The huge gourd was from Michael’s last month – I think $10? The twig pumpkin was a Goodwill find this summer ($1.99!) and the cream ceramic candle stand is from Target (they still have them in the Smith and Hawken section.)

I’ve mentioned before this corner mantel has been a thorn in my decorating side – it’s much deeper than a normal one and not nearly as wide. It’s a bit challenging to make it work, but I think I’m starting to get the hang of it.

It only took six years. :)

I love that I’m able to layer decor a bit more with a mantel like this:

Of course, I especially love it at night…lit candles make just about anything look lovely!:

There you have it! My fall mantel –- using what was already there, amped up with fall colors and fluffy beady stuff. You can’t go wrong with beady, seriously.

Have you started fall decorating? Are you feelin’ it yet? Just as I start to get in the fall mood…it’s supposed to get in the 80’s here again this week.

GAH!! Bring on October!! :) (I’ll be putting up the Halloween mantel before I know it!)

**I’m linking this up to Nester’s mantel party and Julia’s fall decorating party!