A Fall Mantel

Hey all!  This is week 3 of our blog tour and it continues with fall mantel and shelf decorations.  Jennifer of The Striped House began our week with her burlap, birch branches, and mercury glass...beautiful!  Yesterday, Lisa of Concord Cottage shared her easy, no sew banner that she added to her charming mantel along with candles, pumpkins, and beautiful empty frames...love that look.

Today, I'm sharing a faux mantel.  My real mantel is also home to a huge TV...not so lovely to decorate.  Here's a shot from my Fall 2012 post.  You can see that I have a tiny spot on each side of the TV to decorate.

The mantel I decorated for today is one I created from an old door.  I made it to be used in my work room.  My room is in the basement garage with no heat so when I purchased this adorable heater for my room, I knew I'd need a mantel for it someday.  That day is now thanks to hubby's help this past week.  :)

I added the shelf and crown on top and it fits perfectly in my tiny 10x10 room.  

The decor theme is pretty neutral, using a lot of natural pieces.

Inexpensive plastic pumpkins from the Dollar Tree that I painted, dried okra pods, preserved leaves, and an old gold frame from the thrift store

An old Colorado state map and a 1921 silver trophy, both found at a local thrift store.

Isn't this old trophy adorable?  From July 4, 1921, awarded for the 220 yard dash...love it!

An old brass lantern (originally wired for a lamp post) found at a church rummage sale for $5

By the way, church rummage sales are the BEST sales around...lots of great stuff at great prices!

The large candle is wrapped with a strip of burlap webbing and I wrote the word autumn with a black Sharpie.  The webbing is great to use on candles and if you use a tape on the back to secure it, you 'll be able to use both sides of the webbing!  The other side could say happy thanksgiving, boo, or whatever floats your boat ;)

More dried okra pods, preserved leaves, and dried hydrangea 

Curly branches cascade over the top

That's it!  I hope you're enjoying our Fall Mantels week on the blog tour.  Be sure to stop by 2 Bees in a Pod tomorrow!  I know Jennifer and Vicki will have something amazing for us.

Here's a pinnable pic for you (see Pin button at the top of sidebar).  I appreciate it!

By the way, this guy's outside my work room door awaiting his debut in next week's Outdoor Fall Decoration theme ;)

Thanks for stopping by and God bless!

Angie

I'm linking here:
THE STYLE SISTERS
JENNIFER RIZZO
HOME STORIES A TO Z
FROM MY FRONT PORCH TO YOURS

COMMON GROUND

HAVE A DAILY CUP OF MRS. OLSON
COASTAL CHARM'S NIFTY THRIFTY TUESDAY

FRIDAYS UNFOLDED

FEATHERED NEST FRIDAY

ONE MORE TIME EVENTS

TWIRL AND TAKE A BOW 
SAVVY SOUTHERN STYLE

STONEGABLE
UNDER THE TABLE AND DREAMING

A DELIGHTSOME LIFE
ART IS BEAUTY

CLEVER CHICKS BLOG HOP DIY SHOWOFF IT'S OVERFLOWING

THREE MANGO SEEDS

ELIZABETH JOAN DESIGNS

WEEKEND CRAFTS

PRETTY PINTASTIC PARTY
THOUGHTS FROM ALICE
HYMNS AND VERSES
MISS MUSTARD SEED

After the Hunt Tablescape

Hello and welcome to this stop on the fall blog tour.  Our first week's theme is tablescape.  If you're popping over from The Striped House or Concord Cottage, I'm glad you're here!  If you missed the first two posts, you can check them out at The Striped House and Concord Cottage.

My tablescape is a little out of the box.  I wanted to do a hunt version of a tailgate picnic.  I've always loved plaids and tartan prints so pulling this together was pretty easy from things I had around the house.  Warning:  this post is loaded with photos so you may want to grab a cup of coffee before we get started.

Ready?  Good, let's go!

This is set in my back field (which looks prettier in photos thanks to strategic staging!)  I used an old farm table along with two folding camp stools for the dining area.  Everything, except for the Tilley hat, came from thrift stores.  I pick up plaid wool throws whenever I find them.

The tailgate of our old (early 80s) truck was used for a serving area.  You may notice my DIY pendant lights that I posted about here.

Did you know you can check with local wine and liquor stores to see if they have any wooden boxes??  I check one frequently in my area.  He's always glad to pass along any he has sitting around.  The Jack Daniels box was a display box that originally had clear plexiglass in the front.  I removed the plexiglass and painted it on the reverse side with #Krylon Looking Glass paint.  I love that stuff!  And, I love how the box turned out.  It reminds me of a vintage bar mirror.

I also hoard, uh, collect vintage plaid thermos and picnicware.  (I also have a blue plaid set just for tailgating at my daughter's college)  :)

The fowl barware glasses are a set I picked up at the thrift store, along with the decanter.  There is actually something in the decanter but I used gin, which happens to be clear.  Bad planning.  (I actually have to interject here...I love vintage barware and an occasional fruity drink but gin...blech! Sorry gin drinkers.  I'm not sure why we had gin in the first place so I wasn't too upset to pour it out after this.) 

The bamboo cane...$1 at the thrift store.  I'm telling you, if you don't shop thrift stores, you're missing some great stuff!

You've got to have your compass when hunting...as well as a bug book and magnifying glass.  Ok, maybe some serious hunters out there would leave the bug book and magnifying glass behind.

Soup and chili are two great tailgating dishes.  Use a variety of thermoses and attach labels with the contents.

The old crock jar holding the vintage silverware belonged to my grandparents.

The sun was just about to set but it was making for some great last minute photos before the light was gone.

I hope you enjoyed tailgating after the hunt.  Here's an easy to Pin version to save on Pinterest for later!

Be sure to continue the Fall Tour tomorrow and see the great tablescape Vicki and Jennifer of 2 Bees in a Pod share!!

Thanks for stopping by and God bless!!

Angie

I'm linking here:
THE STYLE SISTERS
JENNIFER RIZZO
HOME STORIES A TO Z
FROM MY FRONT PORCH TO YOURS

COMMON GROUND

HAVE A DAILY CUP OF MRS. OLSON
COASTAL CHARM'S NIFTY THRIFTY TUESDAY

FRIDAYS UNFOLDED

FEATHERED NEST FRIDAY

ONE MORE TIME EVENTS

TWIRL AND TAKE A BOW 
SAVVY SOUTHERN STYLE

STONEGABLE
UNDER THE TABLE AND DREAMING

A DELIGHTSOME LIFE
ART IS BEAUTY

CLEVER CHICKS BLOG HOP DIY SHOWOFF IT'S OVERFLOWING

THREE MANGO SEEDS

ELIZABETH JOAN DESIGNS

WEEKEND CRAFTS

PRETTY PINTASTIC PARTY
THOUGHTS FROM ALICE
HYMNS AND VERSES

The Best Cleaner for Brass (and many other things)

A couple of years ago I stopped by a yard sale and found a large brass planter.  It was pretty tarnished but for $2, I couldn't pass it up.  I brought it home and planted it with succulents and stuck it on the table on the deck.  

Fast forward to a few weeks ago when I began sprucing up the deck for spring and found the planter...dead succulents, lots of dirt, and plenty of tarnish.

I decided it was too pretty to just waste away on the deck so I brought it inside and began to restore it to its former beauty.

I found Bar Keepers Friend several years ago and have used it religiously ever since.  I first discovered it while looking for something to clean the marks off of my white porcelain sink.  You know the ones that e-v-e-r-y pot and pan make on your white sink?!

So I pulled out my trusty cleaner and began scouring my brass planter.  

It didn't take a lot of elbow grease and the old toothbrush came in handy for the small areas.

So, ready for the after?!  (ok, I know you already saw it in the header but humor me)

Isn't it beautiful?  I had a pot of shamrocks in there until recently...brown thumb, had to throw them away.  I just stuck the feathers in to go with the bird nest in the iron piece in front of the planter.

The planter is sitting on top of my grandfather's old pie safe.  It's one of my favorite pieces in my home.  I still remember it sitting in their basement filled with old gardening tools.

The little lithograph print hanging on the wall in this vignette was also purchased at a yard sale about 20 years ago, possibly THE best yard sale I've ever been to!  This print was $1.  I also purchased a huge wooden bowl with a teal stripe around the outside and sailboats painted on the stripe and a gorgeous pair of brass and crystal sconces. Again, for $1 each.  Why oh why did I sell those?!  Still kicking myself.  

Back to the best brass cleaner ever.  Bar Keepers Friend is an amazing product.  Like I said, I use it on my porcelain sink, pots, pans, copper, and fiberglass shower/tub.  I does say NOT to use on silver but I confess, I purchased an old silver punch bowl (see that post here) that just would not clean up.  I tried all the typical silver cleaning tricks, Wrights Silver Polish, and even bought a bottle of Tarnex.  Nothing.  Nada.  The tarnish would not budge.  So I went against the directions and used Bar Keepers Friend on the silver punch bowl.  It turned out beautiful!  Warning, it may scratch!  I had no other options and it worked for me.

Silver Punch Bowl Before

Silver Punch Bowl After

Thanks for stopping by and God bless!

Angie

This post was not sponsored by Bar Keepers Friend.  It is just my honest opinion of a product that really delivers.  I was not compensated in any way for this post.  

I'm linking here:
THE STYLE SISTERS

JENNIFER RIZZO

FROM MY FRONT PORCH TO YOURS

COMMON GROUND

HAVE A DAILY CUP OF MRS. OLSON

COASTAL CHARM'S NIFTY THRIFTY TUESDAY

FRIDAYS UNFOLDED

FEATHERED NEST FRIDAY

ONE MORE TIME EVENTS

TWIRL AND TAKE A BOW

SAVVY SOUTHERN STYLE

STONEGABLE

UNDER THE TABLE AND DREAMING

A DELIGHTSOME LIFE

ART IS BEAUTY

  CLEVER CHICKS BLOG HOP DIY SHOWOFF IT'S OVERFLOWING

THREE MANGO SEEDS

ELIZABETH JOAN DESIGNS

The Curiosity Cabinet and a Gallery Wall

I love old curiosities...don't you?  I'm not talking about freaky, weird things like they made the TV show about.  I mean everyday things, old books, old coins, starfish, rocks...things like that.

Years ago, my husband built this cabinet for me using an old window.  I love, love, love it.  It's simple but has always been one of my favorite pieces of furniture.

I began filling it with old books and I liked the way it looked.  They seemed to be meant for each other.  As time went one, I added other "old" pieces.  Tarnished silver.  An old brass ship.  Pewter goblets.  And I just kept filling.

The vase hold river rocks and river glass.  (I'm from the foothills of the Smokies and I love river rocks. 

These all came from the Little River in Townsend, Tennessee.)

The rock piece with a hole was found in the creek bed at the back of our property.

I believe it is part of an Indian artifact.  The other rocks have shell fossils.

It even spills out on to the top.  Old bottles found at my grandfather's farm.  Foreign coins.  Pennies flattened on the railroad tracks.  An old globe, minus the stand.

I left you hanging a while back when I posted about my gallery wall of vintage maps.  This is the wall above the cabinet of curiosities. You can see that post here.  I had most of the wall done except for the upper left corner.  I needed something for that spot.  Well, I did finish that wall finally.  I found the right size frame, painted it black, and added a vintage map of the State of Tennessee.  I think it fit perfectly.

Thanks for stopping by today and God bless!

Angie

I'm linking here:
THE STYLE SISTERS

JENNIFER RIZZO

FROM MY FRONT PORCH TO YOURS

COMMON GROUND

HAVE A DAILY CUP OF MRS. OLSON

COASTAL CHARM'S NIFTY THRIFTY TUESDAY

FRIDAYS UNFOLDED

FEATHERED NEST FRIDAY

ONE MORE TIME EVENTS

TWIRL AND TAKE A BOW

SAVVY SOUTHERN STYLE

STONEGABLE

UNDER THE TABLE AND DREAMING

A DELIGHTSOME LIFE

ART IS BEAUTY

 

CLEVER CHICKS BLOP HOP

DIY SHOWOFF

IT'S OVERFLOWING

THREE MANGO SEEDS

ELIZABETH JOAN DESIGNS