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Friday, September 30, 2011

Fantel (Fall Mantel)

I love autumn.  It's my favorite time of year.  First of all it's the return of football, my favorite spectator sport(made even more enjoyable this year, because we're winning.)  The explosion of color that I get to enjoy while at my boys' practices and games is so beautiful and ever changing.  I love being able to go apple picking and watch fresh apple cider being pressed.  I love the crisp air that signals it's boots wearing time, without the bitter cold of winter.  People who know me, know I love to play scrabble, and this year's autumn mantel started with a scrabble player's homage to autumn.

I scrunched up a piece of double knit fabric from my stash to use as a runner for my mantel and added some indian corn,

and this fantastic urn that I picked up off at HomeGoods, clearanced for only $12.  I love the leaf shaped handles and the drippy glaze.

On the other side of the mantel, I placed this Smith & Hawken candle holder, that I snagged from Target last year for only $4.98.  I love the size of it, because you can easily use it to build a table centerpiece.

Here's what my autumn mantel looks like right now.  The fruit are just place holders, because I didn't have any gourds in my kitchen.  Easily remedied with my next grocery trip.

On an unrelated note, I'd love a show of hands, for or against, should I paint my brick fireplace?  What about the mantel?  Beef it up?

Thanks for popping in and decorating with me. I'm linking this up to The Charm of Home's Home Sweet Home, The Shabby Nest's Frugal Fridays, Hooked on Houses' Fall decorating party, Hope Studios' Fall Mantel linkup, and the parties below.
Chic on a Shoestring DecoratingThe Lettered Cottage The DIY Show OffStuff and NonsenseFunky Junk's Sat Nite Special

17 comments:

  1. Love your Fantel! I happen to really like beefy mantels, so I vote for that, but can't really tell on the painting from these closeups. Very pretty!

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  2. Loving your Fall Mantel Marcia! Such cute art work too. Have a wonderful weekend.

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  3. Your mantel turned out great. Love the scrabble art on the wall.

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  4. I think your mantel looks great! I absolutely love the scrabble art on the wall. Did you make that or buy that? Super cool!

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  5. Your mantel looks great! And I definitely don't think you need to paint it - it's gorgeous as-is!

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  6. everything on your 'fantel' is looking sublime

    i do adore
    that fabric scrabble piece
    with its autumny words

    thanks for sharing at fridays unfolded!

    alision

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  7. I love Scrabble! Cute idea. You're so seasonally responsive. ;-)

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  8. I love your autumn scrabble board.
    Patricia@grammygoodwill.blogspot.com

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  9. I'm your newest follower and a mom to all boys too! Visiting from Something Swanky, hope you'll stop by my blog at thecrunchymamacita.blogspot.com and hopefully become a follower :)

    Paige

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  10. So cute! It's funny because I was just thinking of a project using the Scrabble tile theme. Great minds! Happy fall!

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  11. Marsha what a cute idea, I love it!! I have hooked up with Julia's Party as well!

    xoxo
    Karena

    Art by Karena

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  12. Hi, I'm here from Hooked on Houses and checking out the party! :)
    Love your mantle... especially LOVE that red urn! I like your fireplace, but how about all white or an all khaki color for the bricks? How do you feel about black?! Or maybe a totally different thing: a robin's egg blue??? The bottom line is: You should paint it if you want to... if you like it as is, leave it! You have to live with it, so make it what YOU'D prefer it to be. :)
    Best,
    Gloria
    p.s. You can always repaint if you don't like it if you do something!

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  13. So pretty, warm, inviting and festive! :)

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  14. Love the Scrabble wall hanging. I'm indifferent about painting the brick, but I definitely vote to beef up the mantel.

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  15. What a cute novel idea with the scrabble fall words!
    I'm 50/50 about painting brick. I would start out by painting the mantel in a satin black. A friend of mine did this recently and it turned out great. It's a simple thing to do but can give a great look very quickly. The bricks seem neutral enough to not have to paint them...try the mantel first then decide! There are also a lot of "ready made" mantels you can change out with too. I guess it depends on your budget.

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  16. What a cute banner for fall! I love it! I would paint the brick not the mantel itself. Thank you for linking it to Home Sweet Home!
    Sherry

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