Fall Mantel

I have really been enjoying this cooler weather, it has definitely helped put me in the mood for fall. The trees are starting to change colors and the leaves are falling. There is nothing like a gorgeous fall day! One of the things that I do every year is decorate my mantel. Sometimes, I tend to go a little overboard with the decorating. This year I decided I was going to try to keep it simple and not get every fall decoration out.  

I like a little symmetry when decorating and thought the candlesticks evened things out a bit.

I leave this chalkboard frame up almost all year long and then change it for each season. It's perfect for hanging wreaths on as well as being used as a chalkboard.

I found this old wheel at a local antique store. I think it might have cost $5.00. I think it gives the mantel more of a rustic feel.

 This little ceramic acorn came from my husband's grandma. She had an antique store and she let her children and grandchildren go through the store and pick things out before she sold the store. I might have squealed when I spotted this little cutie!

 

I love stacking books up and using them for decoration. This little pumpkin is also a favorite that I sit out every year. 

There you have it, my fall mantel for 2013! Are you going all out with the decorations this year or keeping it simple?

I am linking to:

Thrifty Decor Chick: It's Fall Y'all Linky Party

Little Miss Celebration
Debbie Doos: Pinterest Blitz
Home Stories A to Z
Savvy Southern Style
Rain on a Tin Roof

Celebrate Fall Giveaway

Guess what today is? Yep, it is officially the first day of fall y'all! I've teamed up with a group of amazing bloggers to offer you another AWESOME giveaway.

The winner can choose how to spend the $300 gift card at Target, Amazon or choose a Visa gift card!
  

To enter this giveaway just click on the Rafflecopter below.

 It will walk you through the whole process, super simple. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 Contest runs from September 22 - September 29, 2013. 
A great group of awesome bloggers have pooled their money 
to sponsor this giveaway; it is NOT sponsored by Target, Amazon, or VISA. 
The more entries you have, the greater your chances of winning. 

Good Luck and Happy Fall to all of you!

State Silhouette Pumpkin

Fall is finally here in Indiana! Wahoo!!! I was a little worried earlier this week that fall wasn't coming because of a few 90 degree days we had. The temperatures finally dropped and I have had to break out my cardigans. I have a checklist of things that I need to do once September 1st comes 1). put up a fall wreath 2). buy mums, 3). buy pumpkins (this includes anything that looks like, smells like or tastes like a pumpkin). Yeah, I might be a little obsessed with pumpkins! So, I must warn all of you that you might see a few posts about pumpkins. One project I did this past week was create a state silhouette for a pumpkin that I have on my front porch.  I first saw the idea from Country Living magazine. I know I am a total copycat, I hope we can still be friends but I think you will like my version. :)

The first thing I did was spray paint a "Funkin". Have you all heard of a "Funkin"? It is a fake pumpkin that you can carve. See, I told you I like anything that looks like a pumpkin (even if it isn't the real thing). Funkins are awesome because you can use them year after. I bought mine at an end of season sale at Jo-Ann's. 

I spray painted mine with Rustoleum's Heirloom White spray paint. 

To create the state silhouette I went to 50states.com and printed off the state of Indiana. You can print any state you want. Once I printed off my state, I turned the printed sheet over and took some black sidewalk chalk and rubbed the chalk on the paper. You might remember me using this method before in previous projects. It's the easiest and cheapest way to transfer images. 

After you have finished rubbing the chalk on the back of the printed paper you can then tape the picture onto the pumpkin. This was probably the trickiest part because the pumpkin is not a flat even surface. Once I had taped the print to the pumpkin I then began to trace the outline with an ink pen. The pen transfers the chalk onto the pumpkin and creates an outline for painting the state.

After the image was transferred to the pumpkin I was ready to start painting. I used an outdoor paint for the state because I am putting the pumpkin on my front porch. I would use a smaller paint brush for the outline and then a bigger one for the inside of the state. I did a total of two coats and let it dry for two days before sitting it outside. 

I am pretty pleased with how the project turned out. I was a little worried that it wasn't going to look like the Hoosier state but I think it looks pretty darn close to the printed state. Here is a picture of the printed state again and the finished pumpkin. Not too shabby, huh?

I love how it looks on my front porch. I think I am going to paint a little heart or a star where my hometown is located. And even though I am a copycat nobody else in my neighborhood has a state silhouette pumpkin sitting on their porch! ;) 

I hope you all have a great week! 

I am linking to:

Little Miss Celebration
Debbie Doos: Pinterest Blitz
Home Stories A to Z
Savvy Southern Style
Rain on a Tin Roof

It's A Blogiversary Giveaway!

I have a special giveaway for my readers today! It's actually a blogiversary in honor of two awesome bloggers who revive outdated or old furniture with paint and a lot of love. 

So, since it has been one year since Girl in the Garage and Restoration Redoux started blogging we're celebrating by offering a big giveaway! 

There will be TWO winners:

1st prize- $225 gift card to Target

2nd prize- $100 Plum Box filled with all kinds of goodies from Pick Your Plum!

Just follow the directions in the Rafflecopter below!

(Sorry, U.S. only)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The giveaway ends September 14, 2013! Good luck to all of you!!!

Please visit Jen from Girl in the Garage and Shanna from Restoration Redoux you will love their blogs, I promise!

Pinecone Wreath

Hello! I hope you all had a great Labor Day weekend. We did some camping with our family over the weekend. It's kind of like our end of summer party! The best part is we cook everything over an open fire. It is seriously the best food and I always feel a little sad when the weekend is over. Although the thing that always gets me cheered up is knowing that it is September and that means the fall decorations start going up. 

The first thing I do whenever a season changes is change out the wreath on the front door. I like to change things up quite a bit so I am always looking for thrifty ways to decorate. This year our pine trees finally had pinecones. I have lived in my house for 8 years and no pinecones until this year. Don't worry, I wasn't going to let my pinecones go to waste so I collected a few buckets of them. I knew the first thing I wanted to do with my pinecones was to create a wreath.

I had bought this styrofoam wreath from a garage sale this summer for $.25. I spray painted it a brown color with spray paint that I had already had in my stash.

I started hot gluing the pine cones around the wreath. I tried to put the smaller ones inside and the bigger ones on the outside of the wreath. If you are a perfectionist this is not a wreath that you would want to make because the pinecones are all different shapes and sizes. I had to just place them wherever I thought they looked good. Also, it takes quite a bit of hot glue to make the pinecones stick to the wreath.

I found these teeny tiny pinecones in my yard that fell from my neighbors trees (thank you nice neighbors)! I used these to fill in the gaps on the wreath. I think they kind of look like rosettes.

Next I used some burlap and orangey/peach ribbon to attach the wreath to the door. 

I always feel so proud using things that I already have! 

Do you have any fall projects that you are working on? I can't stop myself for thinking about fall and don't even get me started on pumpkin spice lattes...love fall!

I am linking to:

Little Miss Celebration
Debbie Doos: Pinterest Blitz
Home Stories A to Z
Savvy Southern Style
Rain on a Tin Roof
The Lettered Cottage: It's Fall Y'all Linky Party