Autumn Touches On The Mantel

Here's my autumn on the mantel for this year!  

Keeping it simple yet a bit elegant.

 I used the cloche that has been showing up in various spots in my living room and stuffed it with some gourds and velvet pumpkins as well as dried berries and leaves.   I used a magnolia leaf candle ring I picked up last year at Pier 1 at the base.

 The pumpkins and stands are new from Pier 1 this year.  I will find various ways to use the stands which make them a good investment.  

I loved how they made these natural style leaf covered pumpkins including a touch of feathers on the top!

It's begun to feel like autumn here and I'm enjoying it.  I especially love how the nights cool down and the days are moderate in temp.  

Can't help it- tomorrow is the first day of Autumn and I am embracing it!!

Owls and Pumpkins

I love the rich harvest colors of autumn.  Dried berries, pumpkins, apples and colorful leaves really create a warm and engaging look.

I found my little owl from last year (Michael's) and set him on this berry branch (which I folded and bent to fit in here) and tucked in some natural excelsior for a filler.  Just something small and cute for the table! 

This little owl is also from last year (Pier 1) and it holds a tea light candle.  I used this wood and wire crate last year (Michael's) for a whole different look with dishes as seen "here".  Apples are a must for my "harvest" type accents!  Again I try to use things I already have and mix them up.  Sometimes I add a new item to offer more variety.

Keeping a "harvest" theme going I put together a collection of my faux pumpkins.  I decided to load the basket in these rustic orange tones.  These are the colors that truly say fall to me!  

The gold accented ones were new this year (Michael's) which I grabbed for some added elegance!  The smaller seeded ones were used on the mantel last year as seen "here".  As you can see I'm still keeping it simple!  Less to put away!

I've got a few more things for fall but I'm not 100% done so I'll share them soon!

Joining:
 Metamorphosis Monday 

Mum and Pumpkin Topiary with Gourds

I got a vision in my head to create a topiary with my large 

planters that are located out in front of our garage.

 This is how the planters looked through the summer.  A mass of Supertunias and giant Salvia plants had really taken over.

 In my head I saw mums and

a basket on a stem perched above the mums...

So I explained my vision to my hubby and off we went to see what we could come up with.

We found the mums easily enough but the basket part proved more difficult.  We wandered around a few places and then at a garden center I found a pair of these metal hanging baskets that had been disassembled.  We agreed this may be the ticket so we walked over to the checkout area and asked how much they wanted for them (trying not to appear too eager).  When she said $5 each we grabbed them.

Now comes the part I needed the most help with.

 He chose this 1/2" EMT (Electrical metallic tubing he had it on hand- used for electrical wiring) and made cuts in the top, then fitted it to the basket. (We had been hashing this out on the way home as to how we were going to attach the tubing to the basket- and I came up with this idea with the cuts.  I may not always do all the work on my projects, but I have lots of ideas!)

He tapped the sides down to fit around the wire, then he pounded the bottom flat and cut an angle on them so they'd be easy to poke through the plant.

He picked up this spray can of Anodized Bronze at the hardware store and painted it all to be one color.  
He had also lightly sanded it first to prep it.
I guess he was in the mood for a project because he had these built and painted in less than 2 hrs!

I pulled out the plants from the planters, and then I removed a lot of the dirt.  I forgot I had put a plastic pot in the base upside down so I could use less dirt.  Stroke of luck!  He drilled a hole in the center and now we had something that would help keep the topiary from being tippy.  I left the plant in the plastic pot it came in and he drilled a hole in the bottom.  I carefully parted the mum in the center and he tapped it through.

 Ta-da!

The rest of my vision was to pile gourds and pumpkins in the baskets.  I chose only one pumpkin because of weight and a colorful variety of the gourds.

I had to play with the gourds because some of them could 

fall through the holes

I did each one a tad different.  

I thought some Indian Corn would be cute too but so far no one had any at the farm markets.  Dan thinks the squirrels will go after the corn and make a mess so I'm thinking I should leave well enough alone.

Finally some sun!
It's been raining on and off for days.

  

I'm anticipating doing something with these for Christmas too. 

So tell me what you think!

I'm joining the following parties-

Metamorphosis Monday 

 Inspire Me Tuesday 
Your'e Gonna Love It 

Seasonal Sundays

Projects.....

Fall Blessings Project...

These are the supplies I started with, a glass plate- painted from underneath with a copper finish. A bag of orange colored moss, a few artificial branches, some ceramic  pumpkins, stacked pumpkins on a stick, and candles.  I only used one candle, turned out to be too many items!

This is the final result....

This is the backside view...

My Bargain Priced Frame Project....

I picked up this frame at T.J. Maxx for $10... I bought a poster with an Italian Countryside picture.  I used the matting that came with the frame to create this multi scene look....         

 This is the poster I selected.  I removed the matting from the frame and laid it on top of it the poster and chose my spot to use.  I traced the outside of the matting and cut it out..

      

     This is a view of the poster after I cut out my selected area...

I forgot to take a picture of the frame before I painted it, but I used a Dark Bronze spray paint on it, then I highlighted it with a Gold paint, by lightly dusting it with the spray paint.  I also masked off the inside edge that already had a soft gold finish to it.