I love Fall. To me, the shorter days and “sweater-weather” sing to my little homebody heart. I feel like this season means warmth, and slowing down, and fussing over things like candle arrangements and fall mantel decor.
And if you’ve been following along on our epic home-renovation journey, you’ll know that we have a brand new mantel to decorate!
Our mantel is on the larger side, and our ceilings are vaulted; I knew that we had to aim for some height – which is why I adore the candlesticks. They’re such an easy way to create balance and achieve scale on the mantel.
Supplies needed to decorate your own fall mantel:
- 5 Unfinished Candlesticks (for tapers) – 3 at 9 inches, and 2 at 6.5 inches
- Deco Art Acrylic Paint in Silver Morning
- Foam Paintbrush
- Fall Accent Faux Leaves
- Various Berry Sprays
- Cornucopia Basket
- Large Twig Pumpkin (10 inches)
- 5 Small Twig Pumpkins (4 inches)
- Metal Star Garland
- Small Gourds and Pumpkins
- (The clock and owl were already on my mantel, waiting for some excitement to happen)
The candlesticks come ready for painting ideas. I was originally going to paint a couple of coats of silver, and then perhaps some chalk paint on top (for distressing purposes, of course).
But as I watched the first coat of paint dry, I realized, “I actually like this metallic silver!”
So I kept it.
After the painting and drying portion of this project, it was all decorating from there. Oh, I was in heaven.
The twig pumpkins provided great texture in the look of my fall mantel, but fall can lend itself to a lot of brown.
To break that up, there needed to be a pop of colour on this fall mantel.
Enter the leaves, the berries, and the pumpkins!
I love these faux leaves – they don’t look fake at all! The colours are rich and deep, and it’s easy to decorate with them. You just sprinkle them like you would confetti or coconut.
If I wasn’t such a control freak, I would have let my five year old do it. (But… mama likes her mantel just so…)
And speaking of five year olds, she was in LOVE with this cornucopia horn (or Horn of Plenty, as she called it). I arranged a spray of berries and gourds spilling from the horn.
This would also make an incredible Thanksgiving centrepiece.
The fall mantel seemed to come together as I arranged and fussed over all of the details. I love the mix of the twig pumpkins with the real ones. They make a lovely family.
And with my new fall mantel, it’s starting to feel a lot more home-y around these parts.
But please ignore the drywall dust. It’s a battle I’m still waging.
More Project Ideas
Easy Thanksgiving Place Card Holders
Fall DIY: Burlap & Felt Leaf Wreath
Easy Colorful DIY Fall Table Runner
DIY Apple Pie Tea Light Candles
Burlap Thanksgiving DIY Table Runner
20 Fall Crafts for Kids
Easy Thanksgiving Table Decorations
Glittered Paper Mache Pumpkin
DIY Fall Planter Box Door Hanger
Fat Quarter Patchwork Pumpkins
I love your mantel Tara! I’m going to make over mine soon. I’ll be stealing a few of your ideas too. lol
This is so gorgeous!! I just don’t have the eye for this sort of thing, so the suggestions help!
This is a beautiful mantel Tara! I love how you put everything together, and I’m especially loving the silver candlesticks – I think you were right to leave them silver! Love it all!
I also love those unfinished candlesticks! I think I am going to order a few for Christmas. Thanks for the tip!
Those candlesticks are lovely! I can’t wait until I can decorate again! Right now the boys would destroy everything.
That’s a very well decorated mantle, everything looks great!
Thank you, Heather! It was a lot of fun to put together. I love the fussy bits of decor.
Loving your mantel Tara…how fun is it to be able to decorate for every season? You’re awesome at it. The candle sticks look great !
Beautiful! We’re putting in a fireplace (not a real one, electric) and I am already unnecessarily excited about the fact that we will have a spot to hang our stockings. So I totally understand your enthusiasm!
Once you get a mantel, you’ll never go back. We had an obscenely large one in our last house, which is why I’m so excited to have one with a bit of weight to it in our new house. I can’t wait to see your pictures!
Beautiful – and it will fit for a the whole season and not just one holiday – I love it!!
Thank you so much, Jamie! I was hoping it would be a good Autumn look (not just Halloween, or Thanksgiving) – I’m really happy with how it turned out!