Getting Out of My Comfort Zone: Our Woodland Fall Mantel!
September 12, 2024
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How to create a beautiful and rustic woodland themed fall mantel.
I went out of my comfort zone with my fall mantel this year, but I'm so glad
I did! This time I added decor I've only traditionally used at
Christmas.
This is my favorite fall mantel EVER. It has everything I love...overflowing
with full fall leaves and beautiful, warm autumn colors.
This time of year I definitely feel the need to nest, and in the fall and
winter that means making the house feel as cozy as possible. In general I
prefer less decor in the spring and summer, but in the cooler months give me
all the layers and textures and colors!
Last year I
decorated our mantel with some fall stems
I found online:
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These
long maple stems
have a great array of small to large leaves and look like they have started
to turn colors in the fall:
I knew I wanted to incorporate these maple stems again, but wanted to create
something more lush and full this time around.
I didn't have a distinct idea in mind...until I came across this photo
online and fell in LOVE:
I can't find a source for it -- I'm pretty sure it was created with AI online.
But isn't it so lovely? Just looking at it soothes me. :)
That image inspired my "woodland" fall mantel theme. My version leans a little
more fall and I LOVE IT.
Thankfully I had the Christmas greenery to work with, as well as the leaf
stems. Although I ended up getting two more stems to fill it in even more.
I started by laying the evergreen stems down across the mantel. I like to have
them falling off of the ends just a bit, to make it look more natural:
I start from each end and work my way to the middle. These are similar evergreen stems with pinecones.
Then I added in the maple leaves on top, making sure to weave the leaves in
and out of the greenery here and there.
The medium and large sized leaves on these stems have wire behind them, so not
only can you manipulate the branches, but the leaves as well:
These stems are substantial (four feet long!). They really are beautiful and
very high end, especially for the price.
I wanted to add some more "forest" touches, so I grabbed a few of these
long acorn stems
at Hobby Lobby:
These
acorn stems from Michael's
are very similar, as well as these
Amazon acorn versions.
Mine have wired branches, so it was easy to position them where I wanted
them.
Wired stems are essential to creating a lush fall or holiday mantel arrangement!
I wanted at add just a bit more texture and color, and these
colorful fall hops stems were PERFECT:
I just love them, and am trying to hold back from going back for more. I
think they'd be so pretty grouped together in a vase or vessel.
I stuck them in the display randomly, just filling in empty spots that
needed a little something. These are smaller, so you don't see them from far
away so much, but they do help to make the whole mantel feel more lush and
thick.
Target has a couple of pretty hops stems as well -- a
colorful version like mine
or this
golden hops bundle of stems
that would look fantastic in a bright white vase or a dark and moody
one.
I tucked and bent and rearranged, then stepped back and did it some more.
The final touch (using my inspiration pic) was to nestle a few rattan
pumpkins in the middle:
Those were from Target a few years ago I believe.
It turned out even prettier than I could have imagined...I'm so in love with
how my woodland fall mantel idea came together!:
I hesitated at first about using the evergreens in fall decor, but they work
so beautifully with the warm tones.
I could not love it more:
Our dark blue fireplace (Cyberspace by Sherwin-Williams) is the perfect
moody backdrop for the pretty fall colors:
Now I'm trying to figure out what florals and/or leaf stems I can add to the
greenery on our Christmas mantel! I would love to create something similar,
with a holiday theme.
I can definitely use the acorn stems in my Christmas decor too.
After living with this for a few days, the only addition I'd like to make is
adding a strand of twinkling lights tucked in here and there. Wouldn't that
be pretty at night?
I've been hard at work on my office makeover (check out that link to see
what I'm up to!), but I've been putting some fall decor out here and
there.
I hope to finish up this weekend. Until then, we have this beautiful spot to
enjoy in our family room:
I hope this different take on fall decor inspired you this season! Try
something different -- you may be surprised at how much you love it.
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Love! Fall is my favorite - your mantel is beautiful! Like the twinkle lights idea too!
ReplyDeleteThank you! Definitely going to add those!
DeleteThis looks so lush and full! Can you share how many of each type of greenery you used?
ReplyDeleteI will try to count! I know I used five of the acorn sprigs and ten of the little hops stems. Thank you!
DeleteIt looks really beautiful. You have a good eye.
ReplyDeleteI’d live to see you modify this to work for winter
ReplyDeleteLovely mantel. Thank you for sharing, for autumn is my all-time favorite time of the year.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful!
ReplyDelete