fall

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. 

TRIP TO THE PUMPKIN PATCH + FRESHLY PICKED GIVEAWAY!

Fall is my favorite time of year! Love the colors, love the weather, and adore fun fall activities. Jeffrey and I took the kiddos to Gentry’s Farm this past weekend to pick pumpkins and take a billion pictures. My twin sis, Ellie, was in town (always a ridiculous amount of laughs), so we made a day of it and afterwards went to one of our fav standbys for dinner, Burger Up. Ari ordered salmon and salad. What. A. Little. Weirdo. But he’s MY little weirdo. Meanwhile Ellie and I ordered Hatcher Farm milkshakes. So… anyway…
You know you all dress your littles up when you go to the pumpkin patch. You’ve gotta, right?! Luckily, Max can fit into all of Ari’s old clothes, but shoes are a different story. Jenni and I are OBSESSED with Freshly Picked Moccs. We might have one or three or five pairs for our littles and can’t stop won’t stop. The are THE softest shoes in the most beautiful colors. They’re absolutely perfect for almost walkers like Max too. He is a turbo crawler and these babies have elastic that slip right on and don’t fall off. Seriously. The only shoes that Max can’t pull off. Also one of the only shoes that fit his chubby feet! The soft, buttery leather and the elastic work their magic.
Jenni and I are so obsessed with Freshly Picked Moccs that we wanted to share the love with you! Scroll down for deets on how to enter the Freshly Picked Moccasins giveaway.
Max is wearing the Butterscotch mocc. Such a yummy color and perfect for fall!
Can’t cut those curls. Baby mullet.
**GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED**
And now for the
FRESHLY PICKED MOCCASINS GIVEAWAY!
The lucky duck will win one pair of Freshly Picked Moccs in their choice of color and size.
TO ENTER:
1. Comment on THIS blog post with what color mocc is your fav. See all the beauties right here.
On your cell? Comments only work on the full web version, NOT mobile- blerg
2. Follow @loveandlion and @freshlypicked on Instagram
3. Tag 3 friends on our giveaway Instagram post (@loveandlion)
That’s it! 
Contest closes Thursday, October 23 at 12:00am CST.
We will announce the randomly selected winner* on Friday, October 24th right here on the blog.
*Winner must ship to US only and must not have won a giveaway including Freshly Picked Moccs in the last 60 days.
**GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED**
We so appreciate you coming by our little ol’ blog, and hope you stick around. Rad parties, crafts, recipes, style, and snippets of our lives!
xo
-L

DIY FALL DOOR DECOR

We’re stiiiiill in our rental- two more months to go before our house is finished!!- but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t make it feel homey and festive for fall! Or at least that’s what Jenni keeps telling me. This was a super easy and quick craft project that I did during nap time. You can do it too… promise! I made a free download for the template you can get right here.
What you need:
1 piece of Kraft paper or other color card stock
Metallic Sharpie (or you could use paint!)
Scissors
String
Stick
Washi tape
Glue and glitter if you want to make it glitzy
1. Print template… Click HERE to download
2. BEFORE you cut out the feathers, color in designs with a gold sharpie or paint designs. It’ll make less messy that way!
3. Cut out the feathers shapes then score by using your fingernail tracing along the middle- I sort of did this in a curved shape to give the feather more dimension. Gently fold the feather up. 
4. Cut thin diagonal lines all the way down the sides of the feather. Run your fingers up and down the fringe to give the feather some texture.
5. You could stop here… or you could get a little messy and add glitter! I used Martha Stewart’s Florentine Gold Glitter. 
See that fun fringy texture?
6. Find a stick…
 Tip: toddlers are low to the ground and can find the best sticks. And oh yeah… boys love sticks.
 See that pretty texture? Score, Ari!
7. Attach string to each feather with a little piece of washi tape then simply tie the string to the stick. 
Happy fall y’all! 
(I only say “y’all” in print… it just doesn’t sound right in my midwestern accent!)
-L