Decorating The Mantel For The Autumn Season

I'm celebrating the beautiful

 season of Autumn

by decorating my fireplace mantel .

It is amazing the difference 
in theses first two photos.
The first one was taken at night
 with the candles glowing
and my camera set for low light
 long exposure, without flash.

 This photo was taken in the daytime, 
using full flash.
 In the first photo our living room 
wall looks like it is painted 
a bright deep yellow and in the
 second photo it looks white.
In fact the true color is 
a pale creamy yellow.

My decorating started with a circle 
cut from a scrap of fiber board 
saved from a window shipping crate. 
I used it last year (painted white) 
for a Christmas wreath
decorated
 with black & white family photos. 
  

But for this project I painted it black.

A few years ago I was in Wal-Mart about a week 
before Thanksgiving and they were putting out their 
Christmas decorations and all of their
Autumn decorations were marked 80 percent off.   
So I purchased quite a few bunches of leaves 
and little fake pumpkins.  
I find that they get dusty so I just 
hose them off with cold water 
and dry them in the dish drainer. 
They do just fine.

 

 
These wonderful wooden crows 
were a garage sale find at 50 cents apiece. 

I think my crows are so adorable!

My mantel is ready for the season
 and I think it will be 
beautiful through Thanksgiving.
  

I think I'll spend the rest of my afternoon
 curled up on the sofa with a good book, an afghan, 
a cup of coco, and my Butchy dog. 

How are you spending your day?


Remember to be nice to yourself.
Slow down and smell the roses, 
so to speak, 
and treat yourself to a 
little bit of quiet relaxation.

Connie :)