Fall Mantels

Fall is definitely one of my favorite times of the year. I love the colors, the food, and the sense of family together-time it brings. I have memories from when I was a kid of putting on my darkest sweatshirt and sweatpants, and heading outside with my brothers and neighbors, and playing "manhunt" at night in our neighborhood. We would love to play this in the fall because some of our best hiding places were in big piles of leaves, and we would jump out and scare each other when we were close to being found. Something about the fall, maybe its all the anticipation in the air of the upcoming holidays, just makes me feel like a kid again.

Now that I have a house of my own, I love decorating for fall. Being newly married (I consider 5 years newly married- is that right?) we don't have an abundance of holiday decorations yet. But each year I grab a couple more to add to the collection, and the boxes we add to the attic at the end of fall seem to multiply. My favorite thing to decorate any season of the year, is this mantel that my dad built for us. I never decorate this thing the same way twice- and I often tweak it throughout the season. This is the first thing you see when you walk in my front door, so I like it to look as welcoming and festive as possible.

Below is the mantel before and after decorating this fall.

Whenever I switch up my mantel decor, I like to start by removing EVERYTHING from the mantel, bookshelves, and wall. Then I take stock of all the decor items I have. I lay everything out in my living room, and start playing. This year I used a couple of old gold frames I found at an antique store awhile back. I also added the hand-painted sign I made last year. Some garland, pumpkins, and Target items and boom, a warm and inviting display when you walk through our front door. Not too overwhelming, but enough to evoke some feelings of warmth and cheerfulness.

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Don't these ghost pumpkins just make you happy?

I hope you enjoyed some of my fall decorations this year- and I hope you enjoy decorating your own home! No matter how well decorated you may be this year, what matters is the time spent together with family and friends, and the memories that you make. Just as clearly as I can remember that fall nights meant sweatpants and manhunt, the memories you make this holiday season can last a lifetime. So enjoy each other and yourselves! Happy Fall!

#fall #homedecor #mantels #athome