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!