fall decor

FALL MANTEL DECOR

Hey friends!! I (Jenni) haven’t been posting much on here due to pregnancy woes and such, but I THINK I am at the end of the worst part for me. I am always so curious to hear other women’s stories about pregnancy because it affects us all so differently. I personally am a major sicko my first trimester  (and usually the first bit of my second), which is just no. freaking. fun. I am grateful to have a healthy baby so far and a healthy pregnancy though, so I will stop my whining now.
Among the many things that have been lacking in my life, my fall mantel decor is one of them. I bought a couple of lanterns on sale one day at Target. I came home so excited to put my mantel together during nap time. Yeah….. I got everything OFF of my mantel, however, I did not put anything new or “fallish” back up on my mantel for weeks. I decided to partake in nap time most days. Anyway, by default I ended up with our perfect mantel decor. I just wanted simple and neutral all the way. I love to use decor that I can leave up until Thanksgiving. I may add a few feathers and other little things, but the overall decor stays the same.

I already owned everything I used for my decor except for the lanterns, which I got for $30 and the chevron pumpkin. I think it was $10. I will use them year after year though and bought them on sale so I am okay with it. I made the book page garland last year. I actually stored it away in a box to get rid of it, but hadn’t gotten around to it. I am glad I had it to pull out and put to good use. 
Below are some other inspirational mantels that I loved while searching through Pinterest for ideas for my own. One thing for me that is important is to not spend a lot of money on mantel decor. I like to just find things outside, thrift shops, around my house or simply get my craft on. 

SIMPLE PUMPKIN DECOR DIY

Contrary to popular belief, I’m extremely lazy. I could sit on the couch in my jams all day watching movies, eating snacks, and trolling around on Pinterest. Maybe squeeze in a couple hours of reading. That’s actually my dream day. When it comes to decor in my own house (not for a client and not for one of my kid’s birthdays) I’m just like… no. Too tired. 
So here’s the easiest possible one step above nothing fall decor for you!
CHALKBOARD PUMPKIN
1. Sketch a circle/oval/fancy shape on your pumpkin.
2. Paint in the shape with chalkboard paint. The bottle I bought said to paint 2 coats. You can see the first coat below left a few bald spots. Two or three coats is perfect.
3. Um… that’s it.
We’ve been using this as a countdown to Halloween for the kids!
The only thing I’d say about this is that if you use this over and over, the paint starts to chip. Just paint another quick coat of chalkboard paint and you’re done.
I brought the pumpkin inside and used it as a centerpiece when we had friends over for dinner this weekend (with takeout…like I said- lazy!). Ari collected pretty leaves for the table. It made our dinner a little fancier.
I bet you could take this idea and run with it! 
Tag us on your instagram photos @loveandlion, so we can see!
-L