Autumn on Our Brand New Fireplace

On the weekend, these boxes arrived addressed to ME!

Dear sweet hubby went to work right away putting all of the mocha-coloured hunks of wood together.  (I think he was as excited as me!)

And within a hour we had this:

A brand new electric fireplace complete with a expanse of mantel perfect for seasonal decor of every kind!!

The picture above shows how it was decorated for the first couple of days.  I placed on a few things to add some interest, but it was nothing special.

But yesterday, I cleared the whole thing off and........

...... got started on my first REAL mantelscape:

As you can see for the photo above, I began with a couple of shutters that I recently found in a local ReStore for $2.00 each.  What a steal! On top of that I layered two mirrors before adding all of my accessories.

For some height, I placed a metal can full of white silk flowers, sticks and rusted stars.  

I found this mercury glass owl at a discount decor store (Homesense) last week and I knew he would be perfect for my new mantel.  I like how he adds some sparkle to the layout.  

At the other end of the mantel, I added some neutral pumpkin action - a patchwork fabric pumpkin and some little white gourds.  

I love the metal leaves and wound-wire curli-cues on the plush pumpkin.

Using my Cricut, I cut four shapes out of neutral cardstock and layered together a string of cute little pennants to hang across my stacked mirrors.  

Over all I am very pleased with the finished look.  I like the layering I achieved and the mix of texture.  I was worried at first that my shorter mantel surround would leave a ton of blank extra space above. Adding the tall shutters filled this space perfectly!

The kids like what I've done so far on the mantel.  They say that this can serve as my "Thanksgiving" mantel. 

However, I'd better add some really spooky things for Hallowe'en, or in their words, "they'll be very sad!"

Don't worry A, B & C - the Hallowe'en mantel is already in the works!