Our Home // Fall Mantel + Teal Pumpkins

Can you believe that it'll be October in a few days? How is that even possible? So I may be in denial, but today I decided it was time to pull out the Fall decorations. I'm hit-or-miss with the other seasons, but I love Fall decor. Something about pumpkins, those rich colors and the changing of the seasons.... Not to mention the kids being back in school so I actually have some time to think about stuff like this!

Over the past couple of years I've collected a variety of decorative pumpkins. I think I've met the fake pumpkin quota, so this year I decided to remake a few instead of buying more. Inspired by a recently purchased accent chair, I decided that the addition of teal would add just the right amount of "pop" to our traditional pumpkin display.

Click "Read more" for the tutorial

Adding Color to Fall Decor

materials needed:
old or inexpensive plastic pumpkins
primer
teal acrylic paint
krylon glitter spray
krylon crystal clear sealer
gold/copper leaf paint pen or gold/copper acrylic paint

instructions:

I purchased a bag of these inexpensive decorative gourds from Michaels a few years ago. They're light and plastic... the perfect candidates for a make-over.

Prime them...

Then paint them the color of your choice. I used a gold paint pen to color the pumpkin stems. I could only find a matte teal acrylic paint which, unfortunately,  stuck out like a sore thumb amongst all the other shiny pumpkins. So after the acrylic paint dried, I hit them up with a coat of Krylon Glitter Spray. I like this one because it gives a more subtle shimmer and shine. If you like a ton of glitter, you'll probably want to use Glitter Blast instead. To protect the finish, I then applied a final coat of clear acrylic sealer.

Our decorated Fall Mantel...

The black pumpkins were a project from last year. They were painted with chalkboard paint and I decorated the one on the left with chalk polka dots. Full tutorial here.

 This is going to be my cozy little reading nook.

I just need to find a good reading lamp and I'll be set for those cold nights when the sun sets at 5 pm... NOW I'm in the mood for Fall!

Find It //
tutorial for the chalkboard paint pumpkins
teal accent chair is from World Market
bullseye pillow is from West Elm (summer 2013)
teal square vase is from Threshold Collection @ Target (summer 2013). Now on Clearance!
owl candle holder from Patch NYC Collection @ Target (fall 2012)
gold candle holders are very old
copper and silver decorative pumpkins are from Michaels (fall 2012)