Enchanting Fall Mantel

Putting together a fall mantel seems to be one of my favorite things to do. It is actually the first real project I ever did her on my ol’ blog – I’m just sentimental like that.

Plus, like so many of us, I just love the fall. My oldest daughter was born in October (one day short of a Halloween baby!) and our anniversary is also in October.

Don’t you just love the change in the air, the crispness? Of course, we will all be complaining about the cold soon, but until then…

I am hoping to bring you more easy to do fall ideas over the next few weeks – all part of…

When I started to put together my mantel this year I was a little start and stop, but in the end I met my goal of what I really like in a mantel display.

It works with the room that it is in, mixes vintage and new – and is maybe just a bit quirky (kind of like me I guess!).

I am really enjoying the golds (yes, I painted more things gold) and browns contrasting with the painted wood work and bringing out the rich woods in some of the furniture.

It kind of makes me just sigh a little bit – comfort colors for me.

Unfortunately, as always, my process is always chaotic. And when I say chaotic, I mean messy. The storm before the calm I guess.

Actually, I took pictures of the whole process this time and I will share with you soon.

My daughter said to me at one point “Oh Mom, I love when you start making a big mess!”. When I asked her why her answer was “that means the holidays are coming!”.

That did my heart good. I remember my Mom decorating when I was a kid and being so excited. Of course, my Mom did not start in September and nothing she has ever done has been messy!

My starting point was my mirror and this crazy idea to use a paint pen. Now, I must first disclaim – please do not do this on a treasured or valuable mirror. But, I did test it and it comes off with - you guessed it, good old fashioned Windex and Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. Truly, they are magical.

Originally I used a dry erase marker, but it just was not opaque enough, so I tried the Gold Paint Pen from Krylon (found at Micheal’s – fabulous!).

For some reason I kept thinking of an enchanted ball. Once, many years ago I did go to a ball of sorts, long gown at a fancy mansion for a fox hunting club. Sounds fancy, I know, but really I was just a friend of a friend of someone who was a member. You know the, 6 degrees of separation for fox clubs? Anyway, it was fun, but I got that out of my system and I will be much happier in my family room in a pair of jeans these days.

I found this lady at a vintage store months ago and knew exactly what my fall mantel would be and that she would be on it.

And then I was lucky enough to find her a friend. We all need a friend at the imaginary ball.

And of course, since I love all things French, this is a Parisian ball. Now, I would put on a gown to go to a ball in Paris.

And then I just built around my mirror and my two lady friends.

Keeping to gold, browns and creams – mixing new and vintage and some outdoor elements.

I have had this set of antlers from an auction for a bit and I love the outdoor element that it brings in along with the feathers and pinecones.

I also wanted to add something to the front of the glass of the fire box until we start using the fireplace more regularly.

I am not 100% sure what this is, but my best guess is a crate cover. The other side is some type of metal and had a beautiful pattern on it, but it is quite rusted. I gave a washing and then just used some furniture wax to warm it up a bit. I found it at a vintage shop a few months ago and just rested it there with some vine pumpkins and pinecones.