Thankful to Have a Thanksgiving Mantel

I knew what my Thanksgiving mantel would look like months ago.  I am a Pinterest addict, as I mentioned before.   I was inspired when I came across this photo on Pinterest and I knew I was going to hijack this idea with the old brown beer bottles.

 

                                                                                          Source: whipperberry.com via Shanon on Pinterest

 

I just thought it was the most adorable Fall mantel.  

 

One Sunday afternoon in the middle of a rain storm, Jason and I decided it would be a good idea to schlep around an OUTSIDE flea market.  We were only there for less than ten minutes because we quickly realized how foolish it was to drag our one year old around in a downpour.

 

But in those ten minutes, I found exactly what I was looking for:  a big box of old brown beer bottles.  I only needed six bottles to pull off the look I found on Pinterest.  The woman who was selling them was just trying to unload her stuff so she cut me a deal:  an enormous box of a variety of bottles for $5. 

 

So this weekend, I pulled out those old bottles, cleaned them off and printed out the word "Thankful" on my Silhouette. 

 

After I put the letters on the bottles, I put a wheat stalk in each bottle.

 

 

 

 

I filled a basket with pinecones and placed it on some world atlas books that were left in our house when we bought it.

 

 

 

 

 

On the other side of the mantel, I used the pumpkin Jason made me for Halloween and put some gourds up there with it to hide the plate we placed beneath it in case it begins to rot

 

SIDENOTE:

(As lovers of all things Fall, we keep pumpkins as long as we possibly can in our house.  Once, when I first met Jason, he bought me an enormous pumpkin and placed it in my living room.  This thing was gigantic - I don't think I could have even moved it if I tried.  I developed a sort of attachment to it because I loved that he bought me a pumpkin! A lot of guys buy their girlfriends flowers or jewelry but this guy bought me a PUMPKIN and I loved every bit of it. 

 

Needless to say, the pumpkin became a permanent decoration in my house . . . well into Spring, until one day Jason picked it up to discover a thick goo leaking out of it!  Ew. That's gross . . . so now we keep plates underneath just in case we keep the pumpkin longer than we should!)

 

 

You wonder why I'm not consistent with blogging?  Maybe because I tell a million stories and my posts always ramble on . .. I just can't help it.

 

Anyway, so I placed a pumpkin and some gourds on the left hand side of the mantel. 

 

 

You might remember, this pumpkin that Jason painted for me for Halloween this year.  I just turned that "31" around to the back so no one would see it. You can also see the plate that is underneath it in case it decides to leak goo.

 

 

 

I put an old window behind everything for a backdrop and there you have it, my Thanksgiving mantel.

 

 

Do you think it's HGTV worthy?  Am I famous yet?

 

 

Yikes! My House is Spooked

Last week, I pulled in the driveway when I came home from work and was totally freaked out by what hung in my doorway.

Jason finished spooking up the house for our favorite season.

These guys have been up for about a week but they still scare me when I'm cooking in the kitchen and I look out the window or when I'm pulling in the driveway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Noah is fascinated by them.

 

 

 

This year, J didn't go crazy with the cobwebs like last year.

Instead, he kept it fairly simple. I think my favorite Halloween decoration is this skeleton that Jason placed on a candle holder. It's so simple and I love it.

 

 

 

 

He also strategically placed these Halloween masks on our bookshelves and again, I had to do a double-take a couple of times!

 

 

 

 

 

If you're opposed to gore,  you wouldn't like Jason's decorating.  I generally keep things pretty mild, but Jason really gets into the season and he doesn't hold back on the spook factor.

 

 

 

 

 

If Martha Stewart can pull it off, why can't we?

 

 

Of course our whole house isn't gruesome. 

We still have our spooky tree with adorable Halloween decorations we found a few years ago at Pier One Imports.

 

 

 

 

The werewolf stayed in the same spot as last year, peeking out from behind a ladder.

 

 

 

 

 

Our bay window is spooked with oversized spiders, tombstones, and a knife stabbed into a plant.

 

 

.

The house is all set for Halloween.  Now we just need to get our costumes!

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

Simple Fall Mantel

Every year in September I am tempted to decorate the mantel for Halloween because it's my favorite season, but I always make myself wait until October.

So after I took down the 'Back to school mantel,' I created a mantel to celebrate Fall.  It will only be up for a couple of weeks before I put up the Halloween mantel for the month of October, but I figured I'd share it with you before I change it.  It's pretty simple

 

 

 

 

I have my monogrammed platter, that I have managed not to break for several years now!  You can read about it here.

 

 

I have a collection of old bottles, so I gathered a couple in brown and one in red and added them to the mantel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have my mirror turned into a chalk board, along with some cat tails and some stalks of wheat that Imani found a few years ago. I also placed some Fall colored candles on the mantel and threw in some pine cones for texture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

To the left is a big round vase filled with a money plant my friend Brittney gave me many years ago.  It's one of my favorite gifts in my house.

 

 

 

 

Pink Fall Tablescape

Who says Fall has to have oranges and yellows?

This year I set out to create a Fall tablescape that used pink rather than orange only because I bought a bunch of beautiful snapdragons at my local farmer's market for just $5.

 

 

 

 

As you know, after reading Garbology and having my "Green Awakening,"  I'm trying not to contribute to the cycle of consumption and waste. I was going to head to the Salvation Army to get some things to pull together a Fall tablescape, but I figured I'd see if I could do it without purchasing anything.

So I headed out to my yard and gathered some things that indicate Fall.

I added some cat tails and some of the 'weeds' from the tops of our tall grasses to the snapdragons.  I also wrapped a piece of burlap and some brown paper ribbon around the vase to add texture.

 

 

 

 

 

I used a piece of burlap as a table runner.

I also gathered up some acorns and stuck them inside the twine I wrapped around the napkins.

 

 

 

I ripped some brown packaging paper and wrote names on for place cards.

I wanted to keep it simple (and cheap!)

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, I collected some of these prickly thistle-like stems (if someone knows the real name of these weeds, please inform me!) and put them in two old beer bottles.  Be extra careful if you decide to use these for decorating because they are full of prickers.

 

Seriously, they could be used as a weapon if anyone broke into our home while we were eating dinner.

 

 

 

 

I'm happy with what I came up with.

 

 

 

 

 

And there you have it -an easy, inexpensive, and pink Fall tablescape. If I can do it, you can too!

 

 

Partying With

 

 

Welcome Fall

I can't believe today is the first day of Fall.  The older I get, the faster time goes by!

 

Fall is one of my favorite seasons - especially here in the Fingerlakes of Upstate New York.

 

What's not to love?

 

Beautiful Fall colors
 

 

Source: shannoneileenblog.typepad.com via Stephenie on Pinterest

Walks in the cool air with leaves crunching beneath your feet

Source: thecolorsofmymind.tumblr.com via Stephenie on Pinterest

Picking Apples

 

 

 

Hot Apple Cider
 

 

Source: bravoalphaevents.com via Stephenie on Pinterest

 

 

Carmel apples

 

 

Source: prettyorganizedpalace.blogspot.com via Teresa on Pinterest

Apple Pie



 

Source: joannagoddard.blogspot.com via Stephenie on Pinterest

 

 

 

Picking Pumpkins

 

 

 

 

 

All things Halloween - dressing up, decorating, and candy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can see some of other costumes here . . . and some of our other Halloween decorating ideas here, here and here..

 

 

 

Thanksgiving


 

Source: via Loretta on Pinterest

 

Knitting



 

Source: tricksyknitter.com via Donna on Pinterest

 

 

Football

 

Source: google.com via Kim on Pinterest

 

 

Crockpot meals

 

 

Source: eatingwell.com via Andrea on Pinterest

What's your favorite thing about Fall?  To bring in the season, this week I'll be sharing my Fall tablescape (no orange or yellow!), my Fall mantel and hopefully my Halloween mantel!  Be sure to stop back and see how we celebrate our favorite season.