Halloween Mantle

It's the second most wonderful time of the year! Pumpkins, gourds, acorns, yellows, reds, oranges, and... CANDY CORN! I am ready for fall, ya'll! Even though it was a high of 90 today in my little nook of the desert, it didn't dampen my desire to decorate my mantle. Eeek!

I took it easy last Halloween and had very "kid-friendly" decorations here and there. This year, my 10-year-old is a bit braver and my 2-year-old... is... such a nut. Nothing scares her. She actually called the skulls I pulled out from storage "pretty." Yes, that's my silly willy.

I used all of last year's decorations and threw them together with projects I've done throughout the year. I only spent $4 for this mantle display. Vases are my favorite thing to use during ANY holiday because you can fill them with practically anything. For the sake of keeping costs down, I filled one with a candle I already had, but stuck some fall leaves in there to jazz it up a bit.

I have found many of my vases at GW and enjoy finding clever fillers for them. Take a look at this fun idea:

Those are black river rocks found at the dollar store. I've seen blogs where people paint these with chalkboard paint, then write things on them with a chalk pen. I was going to do that until I found out that was going to cost me almost $10. Instead, I bought a bag of black rocks ($1) and wrote on them with white-out (FREE). Yeah, buddy!

Remember my brassy, GW lantern I fixed up here? Well, it was quite lovely in our guest bath when I was aiming for a coastal feel. Now, it is holding spot for a scary skull...

Throwing in some more of my GW finds over the year, here is my finished Halloween mantle:

The only thing I purchased was the black crow, headstone, rocks, and the gray, torn material (each only $1). Not exactly "child friendly" but my weird kiddos love it. ;) This week, I'll be working on TWO Halloween wreaths. LOVE!

Linking up with: Amaze Me Mondays, Debbie Doo's, Keeping It Simple, Made By You Monday, Nifty Thrifty Tuesday, Good Life Wednesdays, Twice Owned Tuesdays, 20 Below Thursday, A Creative Princess, Freshman Friday