My Fall Mantel {Decorating on a Budget}

I love decorating for Fall and Christmas, they’re my absolute favorite times of year to pull in some seasonal decor.
I’ve never been a big fan of my stone fireplace (I think that might be because I hold a grudge against if for not working. Yeah, we didn’t find that out until about three months after purchasing our home, which is a long story for another time) but this time of year I do enjoy sprucing it up with the colors and textures of the Fall.

I’m a firm believer in decorating on a budget, and that anyone can do it.
I do this by first looking around my home and using what I already have, especially finding pieces that are significant and special to me. That makes it so much more fun, when everything has a story that’s not “oh yeah, I went to store XYZ and got that off the shelf of 75 others just like it”.
I like to tell folks that I found a piece at Goodwill for a fraction of the retail price or that my kids and I went treasuring hunting (our term for yard sales) and found something cool and unique together.

Anyway, I’m no interior decorator, but I thought I’d share the pieces I’ve used this year, and some of the stories behind them.

My daughters cowgirl boots. Okay, I’ll admit I had to beg her to let me use them, and with the promise that she can take them down when she wants to wear them. The horseshoe we found at a yard sale one Saturday before my sons first football game. The old window art was a Christmas present from my parents that they found in Gatlinburg, TN one year on an anniversary trip.

You might recognize these candlesticks, I found them for 25¢ at Goodwill. I shared my distressed paint technique I used on them here on my blog. The globes on top were a dollar each at the Christmas Tree Store I visited with a dear friend on a trip to Connecticut a few years ago. I love globes because we, as a family, have a heart for missions and the nations.

The cedar stumps are some my dad had saved from a tree that fell in his yard in 2004 when Hurricane Ivan came through Florida.

This cornucopia was also Goodwill treasure. I paid $3.99 for it and it still had it’s original $49.99 store tag on it. The pottery jars were from that same trip to Connecticut, found at an estate sale.
The silk flowers inside the pottery were from a bridesmaid bouquet from a wedding I was in for some precious friends in Louisiana.
And, the Native American sculpture of the woman holding the baby we found in the mountains of Denver, when I was pregnant with my fifth baby.

The African plate is one of my newest favorite pieces. My husband and daughter brought that back to me this summer from Mozambique.
The mirror was a find at a local antique shop for $20. One of my best friends and I found it there on a final trip just before she moved to South Dakota. All the other pieces were yard sale finds that I went to with one friend or another, except the pine cone. That one my four year old decided to put in the pot.

The Fall banner, which I also posted last year, my daughter and I made together from some leftover scraps from my Etsy art pieces. She added the beads on the bows from her own stash of goodies and finds.

So you see?
Each piece tells a story and was done on a budget.
I can look at it and remember each story, each friend, each place we were when we found the piece. The fun we had collaborating. I know, you can have just as much fun in a big box store sometimes, but admit it, it’s not the same.
This year, challenge yourself to try something different. Look around, be creative! You just might come up with something wonderful, and even better, some memories to relive.