Halloween mantel - 2012

I took some time the past few days to work on decorating my mantel for Halloween. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays to decorate for, and we have TONS and TONS of decorations to show for it, but let's just say most of it is "orange overload".

So this year I decided that less is more, and that I wanted a more muted and toned down mantel with natural colors and elements, as well as some handmade elements, mixed in.
Here is what I've done so far....

The owl and book I already had, the two silver plates on either end I picked up at the thrift store for a couple of bucks. The plant was already there and I liked the greenery and natural element that the basket added, so I left it.

Watch out for the sneaky crow hiding in the bush. I've heard he has a temper.

I made myself a set of "BOO!" blocks, and I love them! And of course, a sad little black bird on a plate always makes me think of Halloween. HAHA!!!

A couple of old spools (another thrift store find), a spooky old tree, and a little handmade garland (book pages stapled to twine...couldn't be easier) finish it off!

I really wanted to make some sort of handmade wreath to go over the mirror, but I haven't been able to carve out the time to do it yet. If I don't get to it soon then I'll just utilize my motto..

There's always next year!