Fall Mantel with Wood FALL Sign

 Although we have escaped the worst of Hurricane Irma - I have to say it has been a roller coaster ride this week.  Our evacuation orders were rescinded, however, we still received some winds, rain, storm surge and tornado threats - much better than what they were predicting at the beginning of last week.  We lived in central Florida for 20 years and have many friends and family still there - my heart goes out to them - let's remember them in our thoughts and prayers as we go about our day. Let's also pray Hurricane Jose stays out to sea - it's way too soon to go through this again.
Besides the weather threats here we are also having some much awaited cool temps and fall-like days.  I have been anxiously awaiting these.  With these cooler days, it feels more like Fall so I thought I would share my Fall Mantel decor with you all today.

Fall Mantel With  Wood FALL Sign

I was at Hobby Lobby earlier this year when their fall items first came out and found this great wooden letter sign.  I think it was about $6.99 but with their 40% discount coupon, you can get it for much less.  I thought "why not?" and picked one up.  I decided to decoupage the letters with some fall scrapbook papers I had on hand.

For this project you'll need some scrapbook papers. These are the ones I picked out to use but finally decided on the goldish print paper.  These papers are some I had in my stash and are no longer available but, I am sure you can find some you love at your local craft store.

You'll also need a pair of scissors, a paint brush, craft paint of your choice and Mod Podge.

First, I painted the letters on all sides except the front with some craft paint.  I used a harvest gold color that came closest to matching the paper.  Then I simply traced each letter on the paper and cut them out.  It only took one piece of 12 x 12 paper to do all 4 letters.  Next, I coated the front of each letter with decoupage and smoothed the corresponding piece of paper on it.  You can use an old credit card to smooth out any wrinkles you may get.  Let it dry.  

After they were completely dry I took a small piece of sandpaper and sanded all the edges around the scrapbook paper.  You can see how the "distressing " looks after sanding it on the letter on the right.

The distressing changed it a lot but, I wanted them to look aged also.  So, I used a Tim Holt Vintage distress ink and rubbed around the edges where I had just sanded to darken them and give them an aged look as you can see below. 

  To put the mantel together I first started with a large chalkboard I hung on our rustic wood backdrop that lives over the fireplace. I made This one from an old picture I had.  I simply painted the frame white and the glass with black chalkboard paint.  These are very simple to make using old pictures or mirrors I find in thrift stores and I have several in different sizes I like to use through out the house.  I use them to write quotes on or hang wreaths or just leave blank.  They give the room that farmhouse touch I like.  

On the blackboard I hung a paper leaf wreath I made a couple of years ago.  I think this is one of my favorite wreaths I have made. It's just so Fall looking with its bright aged leaves, burlap bow and bits of berries and flowers.  You can find the instructions to make this wreath here

On the mantel itself, I placed some book page columns I made - these are quite simple to make out of old paper back books, you can find the instructions here.  On top of them I placed some of the little fabric pumpkins I made this year. Another simple project using bits of fabric I had in my stash - the tutorial for them can be found here.

 In front of the fireplace, I placed two wood crates that I bought unfinished.  I stained them and did some wood burned labels on each end.   I will be sharing a tutorial on how to do this at a later date.  On top of these, I placed an old bushel basket I painted white and filled it with bits of faux flowers, fall fruits and pumpkins.  On top of the crate is my twine wrapped pumpkin. I will be sharing a

tutorial for it later also. 

Here is a full view of the mantel with all these fun projects I completed.  I love the Fall sign and the little fabric pumpkins I did this year but, I think the wreath is still my favorite.

What have you been making for Fall - I love to hear from you so tell me about it in the comments below.

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I will be linking up to the parties listed on the Where I Party page.  Please go by and visit each one as you will find all kinds of great projects and inspiration.

If you like this post you may also like these:

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                                                                                Colors of Fall