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The Frugal Homemaker

Your guide to turning your house into a home... one DIY project and yard sale find at a time

A mantel fit for Fall (+ spray painted mirror)

September 29, 2011

 

Fall mantel

I am excited to share this as my first post!  I promise that I will eventually share non-fall themed posts!  But since fall officially began last week, the weather is starting to cool down, and I am finally in the “fall-decorating-mood”, I will have lots of fall-themed projects and posts over the next few weeks.

Just for fun, here was last year’s fall mantel.

Fall mantel

I really liked it, but I wanted to just rearrange it a little and make a few changes this year.

The one thing I wanted to change was the center object – should I re-use the rectangle mirror with a dark frame from last year, use a vintage window, or shutters??

But every fall picture that I was drawn to on Pinterest or other blogs had white chunky mirrors or frames and lots of white accents and I knew what exactly what I wanted (and it was free!)

Fall mantel

I had this beautiful, brassy mirror that I got at a thrift sale for $8.00 last year.  The gold was spotted and stained, but that’s ok cause it definitely wasn’t staying brassy gold.  I bought it to use in my 1/2 bath, but since that project is not done yet it was just in storage.

spray painted mirror

A quick coat of primer and 2 coats of white spray paint and it was perfect!

Almost didn’t recognize it, did you? Smile  Spray paint does wonders.

Fall mantel

The only other thing that I made new for this year was the linen banner.  I had some scraps (literally scraps!) of linen that I cut into 4 triangles.  I had wanted to try this method using freezer paper to print on burlap, but I didn’t have any freezer paper.  So I just free-handed F-A-L-L with a permanent maker onto the linen and it worked!  I hot-glued the linen triangles to some twine and it made the perfect banner for my mirror! Smile  Cost me nothing, took about 10 minutes, and it is my favorite part of the mantel! Smile

Fall mantel

We don’t burn logs in our fireplace, but I do love to light these candles at night.  So pretty and makes it even seem more like fall…

Fall mantel

I love how there is plenty of fall colors, but it is not screaming pumpkin orange either. Smile

Fall mantel

Now for some details on the other items:

*skinny white vase – clearance at Michael’s this summer $2.02

*verse plate – bought last year at Hobby Lobby

*clock – Kirkland’s and it stays on my mantel a good portion of the year

*leaf garland  – clearance at Hobby Lobby a few years ago – 90% off for $1.99

*white glass candlesticks (you will see them all throughout my house in different seasons!) – yard sale purchase this Spring – $5.00 for the set

*metal urn – 50¢ yard sale purchase (used to be bright purple)

*leaf stems, etc. – bought at Hobby Lobby last year

Fall mantel

The large white candlesticks on the floor are from PartyLite, but were a $8.00 yard sale purchase (and received some spray paint love) this past summer too.  The baskets hold my husband’s favorite car magazines! Smile

Fall mantel

I think this mantel and my Christmas mantel from last year would probably tie as my favorite mantels of all time.

(LOVE the crisp white in this picture!  You did know white was a fall color, right? Smile)

Fall mantel

And one more picture by candlelight… all I need now is a cup of coffee and a good book!

Fall mantel

Have you caught the fall decorating bug yet?  What is your favorite fall color?  ( I wrestle between brown, WHITE, and brownish-orange. 🙂

I am linking this post up at Layla’s for her Fall Mantel party.  Lots of inspiration for fall there!

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Comments

  1. Renee @ Living, Laughing, & Loving says

    September 29, 2011 at 11:32 AM

    Looks great! I have lots of fall stuff, but haven’t gotten anything down! Your mantle looks great and I love the FALL banner!! I love fall colors!

    Reply
    • Christina says

      September 30, 2011 at 3:17 AM

      Thanks, Renee! I am not done decorating either. I printed some free subway printables to hopefully do some more decorating with them this weekend. 🙂 and I need some more fall candles out to light 😉

      Reply
  2. Ally Stanton says

    September 29, 2011 at 12:40 PM

    Makes me really jealous I don’t have a mantel to decorate in my apartment! Really pretty turned out great.

    Reply
    • Christina says

      September 30, 2011 at 3:16 AM

      Allison,

      aww – don’t be jealous! check out the links in the party – there are lots of people that don’t have a mantel that decorate the top of a piano, a ledge or shelf. or a fake mantel! just find somewhere to decorate. 🙂

      Reply
  3. tina says

    September 29, 2011 at 9:36 PM

    beautiful mantel.. the candlelit photo is so pretty!! also love the little banner over the mirror!!

    Reply
    • Christina says

      September 30, 2011 at 3:15 AM

      Thanks, Tina! and welcome!

      Reply
  4. Christa @ BrownSugarToast says

    October 1, 2011 at 12:14 PM

    Ooooohhhhh….I really love your mantel!!! It’s so fall-ish and classic! great job!

    Reply
    • Christina says

      October 2, 2011 at 3:20 AM

      thanks, Christa! 🙂

      Reply
  5. Ally says

    October 4, 2011 at 7:45 PM

    Awesome job! Beautiful mantel, and I love the “fall” banner. You have great handwriting! I really like both your mirror options. But the white one definitely brightens up the space. Glorious spray paint! 🙂

    Reply
    • Christina says

      October 5, 2011 at 3:38 AM

      Thanks so much, Ally! I taught K-4 and K-5 for 2 years so I am pretty good at making stick figure letters 😉

      Love spray paint too! 🙂

      Reply
  6. Stacey@RealSouthernLiving says

    October 6, 2011 at 2:51 PM

    Love the fall inspiration! I have been wanting to do a fall banner and I love yours!

    Reply
    • Christina says

      October 6, 2011 at 3:53 PM

      Thanks so much, Stacey!

      I might do a “Give thanks” banner too – I truly love my “fall” one! don’t know why I haven’t done it before. it was so quick, easy and basically free!

      Reply
  7. melissa rice says

    October 6, 2011 at 8:40 PM

    so very nice and relaxing. nice job

    Reply
    • Christina says

      October 7, 2011 at 3:15 AM

      Thanks, Melissa!

      Reply
  8. melissa rice says

    October 6, 2011 at 8:41 PM

    oops was visiting from 320 sycamore
    you can find me at http://www.theshabbyfarmchick.blogspot.com

    Reply
  9. melissa*320 sycamore says

    October 8, 2011 at 7:22 PM

    I can’t believe you free-handed this! It’s simply beautiful. Thank you for sharing it with us…have a wonderful weekend!

    Reply
    • Christina says

      October 10, 2011 at 1:52 AM

      Melissa,

      aww – you are too sweet! 😉 Guess all that writing of my K-4 kids names on their papers in perfect block letters paid off 😉

      Thanks for coming over and commenting! (And I had a super fun weekend yard sale shopping – look for my treasure that I found in a post on Thursday.)

      Reply
  10. PJ says

    October 12, 2011 at 4:16 PM

    Last years mantel was nice, but I like this year’s mantel even better!

    I’m your newest follower. 🙂

    Reply
    • Christina says

      October 13, 2011 at 1:35 AM

      Awww. thanks PJ!

      and welcome!

      Reply
  11. Cyrus says

    March 21, 2014 at 12:09 PM

    Incredible! This blog looks just like my old one! It’s on a completely different
    subject but it has pretty much the same page layout and design.

    Great choice of colors!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Day 1: Shop Yard Sales says:
    October 2, 2011 at 2:40 AM

    […] And you saw this mirror transformation in my fall mantel post. […]

    Reply
  2. Thanksgiving banner for the fireplace (made for FREE!) says:
    November 18, 2011 at 12:13 AM

    […] wanted to do a burlap version of a banner/flags to mimic the “FALL” banner that is hung on my spray painted mirror over the fireplace.  (See how I did that banner […]

    Reply
  3. A Christmas mantel (+ a new Christmas craft) says:
    December 6, 2011 at 3:04 PM

    […] loved the white mirror that I spray painted and used on my fall mantel so I knew that would stay.    The […]

    Reply
  4. Pinterest inspired project: Clothespin wreath | The Frugal Homemaker says:
    February 28, 2012 at 12:23 AM

    […] I made a little banner from some scrap white fabric I had (following the same method I used on my “Fall” banner), added some little yellow flowers from my flower stash, and it was […]

    Reply
  5. Celebrating 100 posts + a giveaway! | The Frugal Homemaker says:
    February 29, 2012 at 12:39 AM

    […] can find those posts here – Fall mantel, Christmas mantel, Valentine’s […]

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  6. Thanksgiving at our house - The Frugal Homemaker | The Frugal Homemaker says:
    March 2, 2013 at 12:21 AM

    […] I shared my spray painted mirror and fall mantel here. […]

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  7. Fall project round up | The Frugal Homemaker says:
    September 10, 2013 at 10:43 AM

    […] was my mantel in fall 2011.  I still love all the white with the bright pops of oranges and […]

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  8. 31 Days of Fall Inspiration: Fall mantel | The Frugal Homemaker says:
    October 1, 2013 at 9:53 AM

    […] can get more details on the 2011 fall mantel here and the 2012 fall mantel […]

    Reply
  9. The 26 Most Amazing Fall Mantels You've Ever Seen (In Every Style You've Ever Imagined!) | The 26 Most Amazing Fall Mantels You've Ever Seen (In Every Style You've Ever Imagined!) | Social Dashboard says:
    October 30, 2014 at 3:07 PM

    […] Photo via Hometalker Laurel @Chipping With Charm19. Pops of Color Photo via Hometalker Christina @The Frugal Homemaker20. French Farmhouse Photo via Hometalker Pamela @From My Front Porch to Yours21. Rustic Undertones […]

    Reply
  10. The 26 Most Amazing Fall Mantels You've Ever Seen (In Every Style You've Ever Imagined!) - GANGUPON says:
    October 30, 2014 at 3:09 PM

    […] 19. Pops of Color Photo via Hometalker Christina @The Frugal Homemaker […]

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Hi!  My name is Christina . . .

I love doing simple, frugal things to make our house feel like HOME! Come learn along with me how to have a beautiful home on a budget.

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