My Halloween Mantle and the Tennessee Mantle Hop

Fall is in the air and nothing says "October" to me like pumpkins!  I decided there was no better way to incorporate pumpkins into my decor than to create a little pumpkin patch on my fall mantle.

And what's more fun than seeing one Halloween mantle?  How about FIVE of 'em?

Welcome to the Tennessee Mantle Hop - Fall Edition!  

A few of us Tennessee bloggers got together recently and decided it would be fun to have a blog hop to show off our fall mantles.  Check out Angie at The Country Chic Cottage for the previous stop!

And now I present to you: 

The Pumpkin Patch!

I had so much fun turning my mantle into a temporary pumpkin patch.

If you know me, you know I love cheap & easy!  This whole set-up cost me around $30 and I have supplies left over. We're also talking maybe an hour total of work time.  I added in a few things I had on hand and I am very happy with my new fall mantle!

I started with a 2x4 ($2.30) from a home improvement store.  I had them cut it (for free!) into 5 pieces: 12", 16", (two) 20" and 24".  I spray painted all the pieces orange.  

I picked up an assortment of decorative wood pieces from Michael's (did you know JoAnn stopped carrying wood crap? tsk tsk) and painted those with green acrylic paint for stems.  Some pieces I glued together to make more of a statement.  I then attached the stems to the pumpkins with a little E6000.  

I used the same method with a few wood frames and plaques.  Then I wrapped and tied on various scraps of ribbon and fabric to give it a little extra sumthin'.

I decorated an old wood frame with spray paint and rolled flowers and topped it with a bow "stem" for an instant pumpkin wreath.

I printed off a few graphics from The Graphics Fairy for my frames, and also used a few things I had on hand.  I whipped up a quick paper shred garland by shoving paper shred through the sewing machine, one bunch at a time.  I love how it looks under the pumpkins!  It would also be cute in kraft brown, but I am a fan of the pop of green it adds to the whole shebang.

Then I strung up one of my scrappy ribbon garlands to top it all off.

I am seriously loving this mantle a little more every time I look at it!  :)
Now to do something about those gold fireplace doors. Ack!

Don't stop here!  If you want to check out even more fall mantle yumminess, head on over to see what Gina has cooked up at The Shabby Creek Cottage!