As we begin to nest our homes for the autumn season. One of the first places we love to spruce up is the mantle and we all love gathering ideas about how to decorate a fall mantle. I have never had a real fireplace mantle, but have always found some flat surface to use in its place. This is the first fall that I have had my Pottery Barn “Mantle” shelf, and it was so much fun to decorate!
As you know I am all about keeping things simple, and using things I already have as much as possible. This time around for decorating I kept to traditional colors, using a simple color scheme of white, black and orange. Then as always, I gave the fall mantle my vintage spin.
I started by gathering some old bobbins that I had stuck away in a box. I had seen someone use black candlesticks to hold small mini pumpkins, and that inspired me to find something to implement the same idea. These old bobbins were all different colors, some had been painted on the ends with country colors.
I have had these bobbins since the 80′s, and hadn’t used them in a long time, and knew I wanted to give them a makeover.
Within minutes I transformed the old bobbins with some glossy black spray paint. From country to vintage chic! I couldn’t be happier with the results, and I can picture these black bobbins used as props for many things, but for now they are perfect for the mini pumpkins.
For the rest of the mantle decor, I pulled white decorating items that were just around my house. The old window, white pitcher, church birdhouse, and blessings sign were all pulled from here and there. By gathering common white colored items it makes them all work together. Then I added my silver platter to introduce a different shape, as well as a break to the eye.
I purchased two funkins at the craft store, one in creamy white and one in orange and they are the larger pumpkins used. Then all the small mini orange and white pumpkins are real and purchased from my local grocery store. I also bought the faux fall garland and bent it and moved it around to wind between everything.
That is all it took! Easy, cheap and perfectly vintage inspired.. I am enjoying the warm tones in my living room.
Below the mantle shelf is my love seat, where I added my cozy penny throw, bringing the perfect warmth in color and texture. Do you picture me sitting here? This is where I do most all my computer work from on my laptop. Can you see why? Very comfortable!
Then to the left of my love seat I placed my large black pedestal, which tied in perfectly with the newly painted black bobbins. I placed another funkin in the pedestal, then used a piece of the leftover garland from the mantle and wrapped it around. I love decorations that are quick and easy like this!
And this is what my fall mantle and room setting looks like all together. I feel ready for fall now! So what about you? Have you decorated your mantle or a mantle-type surface for fall yet?
And now it’s time for our weekly link up…
Life In Bloom Link Up
For those who are joining in to link up today, feel free to link up any post that celebrates your life in bloom! This can be any post from the week on faith, parenting, marriage, recipes, homemaking tips, or something you feel will be a blessing to this Life In Bloom community.
- When linking up please copy and paste in the actual url of your post not just your blog url, so we can find your post later.
- As a courtesy, please link back here, or copy and paste the code for the button provided at the bottom of this blog page, and add it to the bottom of your post so others can find the Life In Bloom community.
- As a way to build up the sisterhood here, please visit a person or two ahead of you in the link up, then everyone feels a part of the community.
Let’s bloom together!
Related posts:
LOVE it! What a gift you have, wish you lived close and could come over and give it to me, LOL
Angela
Yeah- now that would be fun! Then I could get more of the creative energy used up on someone else!
Very, very pretty! Love that Pottery Barn shelf……..its gorgeous!
Yeah a spendy purchase but so worth it now.
I absolutely LOVE it! You are so creative!!!
takes ones to know one!
OH so pretty!
Thanks Cherie, I had a lot of fun doing it!
drooling over your shelf! wonder if I could talk my husband into making me one?? we don’t have fireplaces in southwest Florida
– I really need one!
Yes I love mine, I have seen someone make a PB knock off like mine.
Drooling over this! I so love bittersweet! I need to find some here. Back home we had a “Bittersweet and Cider” festival and it was so easy to find.
So pretty!
Stacey,
Thanks! Yes I love bittersweet too. We don’t have it around here. Mine unfortunately is fake and from JoAnn’s!
Absolutely lovely!
Thank you! Hope it inspires others. That is why I do this stuff I do!
Denise-
I LOVE your fall mantle!! Just gorgeous!!
Oh thank you Kristal! Thanks for coming to visit my blog.
Totally gorgeous!! Love that shelf/mantle & I love the spools with pumpkins!
I put mine on chunky candlesticks but they aren’t varied heights so I need to figure something out lol
Kristi,
I have thought of trying wooden spool/spindels like you can get at Home Depot for stair rails, and then cut them into different heights, then paint and distress. That might work!
What a beautiful, vintage mantel! You inspire me to put the finishing touches on my fall decorations. I think I want to start collecting spools now, so I can stack pumpkins as you did! Beautiful, Denise!
oh thanks Kristen! Yeah have fun decorating and finding something to prop up those pumpkins!
Thanks for stopping by. : )
Denise~
Your mantle idea is fabulous!! I may have to do that in my living room! I had a mantle over my fireplace in my old house, but there isn’t one in the new house. I have a open box for the tv over the fireplace in our family room, but no room to put things. Hoping to have my hubby make a mantle for that sometime when some other projects are done!! Always something to work on! Thank you for sharing!
Blessings,
Cindy
Also… the decor is lovely too!! I have spools & hadn’t thought about painting them. Always great ideas!
Blessings,
Cindy
Cindy, yes Tv’s over mantles can make it tricky to decorate. I have seen people kind of decorate around them. I am sure you will come up with something. The other thing I have done, before having the shelf mantle I do now, is I have a piano and use the top of it for a mantle surface, or really any large shelf or flat surface can act as a mantle.
I used old bobbins with punkins on my mantel this year too. Such cute “props” they make, eh?
Awesome Cindy!
I could look at that Fall mantle forever! It’s beyond lovely!! What (another) amazing gift you have. That really does look like the comfiest place, to work on your laptop. Perfect & inspiring setting.
Laura,
You are so sweet and give me too much credit! You are so talented yourself!
Love the look Denise! Very creative… I’m coming back for sure!! I need help with decorating!
Very Pretty. It’s so clean and uncluttered looking and I love how that mantle is floating up there without a fireplace below it, what a neat idea! I think I am going to have to steal that idea for my own home
I love this! My mom used to have old spools and she had taper candles in them. I wish she hadn’t sold them because I keep thinking how cool they would look painted white.
Thanks for hosting this linkup!
I LOVE fall and these mantles are beautiful!
Lovely ideas! Thanks for the great post & for hosting the linkup, & God bless!
Denise, these pictures just made me smile. Fall is my favorite… beautiful job sister!
~ Blessings, Amy
Beautiful Denise!! I’d love to come over for cocoa and visit in this lovely space!!