Thanksgiving seems to get bypassed all around the country every year. Even in our home I don’t usually decorate for Thanksgiving or make it a priority. Of course we gather with our family to share dinner together, but that day is the only time we think about it.
This year I wanted to make sure we were being thankful all month so we are using this family Thanksgiving activity and the leaves are being added to a piece of twine on the mantel each day.
This mantel was finished in under 20 minutes. I had a group of friends over for a soup swap last weekend and I wanted to get the Halloween stuff down and something new up. I hope this will help you see a beautiful mantel doesn’t have to take a lot of time to complete. Just use what you have, pull from other areas of your home, and maybe make a quick DIY to finish it off.
One of the easiest parts about a Thanksgiving mantel is that you can pull nature in and it looks amazing for this time of year. We have an overabundance of pine cones in our backyard so I used a bunch of those plus a few gourds that I bought a couple of weeks ago. You could also use branches or fill mason jars with acorns or leaves.
Remember the frame I painted? It’s now on the mantel with a chalkboard background to write on. I also added a few candles. Candles are my favorite thing to add, they make a room so cozy.
It still looked a little bare but I remembered I had some brown packing paper in the garage. I made pinwheels out of those, hung them up, and it looked perfect!
Do you know how to make a pinwheel? It’s super easy. Let me show you real quick.
Pinwheel Tutorial
- Start with a rectangle of paper, the bigger the rectangle the bigger the pinwheel.
- Fold it accordian style starting at a short end.
- Fold in half, open up and staple the middle. I used staples to hold everything together.
- Bring two sides together to make a half circle and staple together in the back. Do the same for the other half.
- If it’s a little wonky trim around the edges with some scissors.
- Finished!
Not too bad for under 20 minutes, woohoo!
Linking up to Tatertots & Jello and Organize and Decorate Everything!
