Fall Mantle

After I did my fireplace face lift this summer, I was ~~VERY~~ a little nervous about how Fall colors would look with all the white. It looked great for the Summer, but all my fall nesting mess is orange! I wanted to do something different than I had ever done before.

Summer:

I knew two things going in that I wanted to do for the fall. 1.) Find two matching vases, for a symmetrical look 2.) Layer artwork in front of the mirror. (More tips at the end)

Well, first of all I have to show you that I did indeed find two matching vases, and at the Goodwill, no less. I mean how often do you find a pair of anything, other than shoes at GW? I thought they were a bargain at ten dollars a piece, they are 18" tall, but I couldn't believe my luck finding a pair! All they needed was a little spray paint, which is of course the prerequisite for all my accessories. Can you be spray painted if need be? If the answer is yes. Sold.

Before:

You've seen it time and time again, primed, then spray painted in gloss white. For an easy and natural arrangement, I used real branches and a spray of silk maple leaves. I think the branches make the leaves seem more real.
After:

One other thing that I did, that you might be able to do too, see the two tall candle holders? I have had those for years and I decided to accent them with some sisal roping, to give them some texture and visual weight. I like the idea of using glass, so I just used the rope in the middle section, leaving the top and bottom exposed. Wouldn't that look cool with metal candle holders too?This is the big rope, not twine and it's the kind that looks a little darker than the regular sisal rope.I just put a little dab on one end starting at the top and wrapped the rope around, I didn't glue again until I got to the end, so in case I changed my mind the glue would pop off the glass pretty easy. In theory of course.

I also made a pennant garland, it's just so fun and festive, I made it following Jen's great tutorial.

The burlap repeating the texture and color of the sisal rope.

For the Artwork, I used pictures that I took at Barnyard Days last year. I printed them out here at home and framed them. The smaller piece is a great tree print I found at the Michael's.