Halloween Decor And A Perfect Cheat!
The Halloween decor on the mantel began to take shape. Using the same base elements from the spring mantel makeover, fall elements were added. Of course, the black ravens were added after taking away the ceramic birds. The rust colored glass pumpkins were added for a touch of autumn. The little bit of dark gold glitter on them echoed the brass of the candlesticks, the urn, and the brass and gold on the clock. The brass urn was filled with an autumn mix of colorful leaves and berries. It is actually a silk floral candle ring, which is pliable so it was shaped into an oval to fit perfectly in the urn.
As I stepped back and looked at the display, I knew I had to do something with the orchids, which had lost their flowers. I love orchids! These were flowering for many weeks, but ultimately, they lose their flowers. They will bloom again as long as they are watered each week, but they are not so aesthetically pleasing. Trying to decide what to fill the vases with, I considered mums. I think mums would be too heavy...Then I thought about buying another set of live orchids. The store didn't have rust or orange colored orchids.
On a trip to Michael's with Sophie, looking for flowers for her fairy costume this year, I happened to notice some silk orchids. I had a sudden epiphany! Instead of buying another set of live orchids, I could just add a couple of silk orchid stems to the pots! Upon further investigation, they had a stem of orange colored orchids! The stems and flowers seemed a little too large for my display, but it gave me hope that I could find orchid stems in an autumn color at another store.
Hobby Lobby had the burnt orange colored stems you see in the picture above. They were fifty percent off the regular price! I bought four stems for six dollars! Don't you think they look great?
The key to making silk flowers look real is bending the stems into a more believable natural shape. Straight from the craft store, they are usually straight and stiff, but as you bend them into a more natural shape, they begin to look more realistic.
After the colorful burnt orange orchids were in place, it was obvious that the orange color was also needed on the right side of the hearth. Even though the baskets and the pumpkin look heavy on the right side, the chair on the left balances the weight. The skull was removed and the little vintage pumpkin on a pedestal added the bit of orange the left side needed.
Standing back, I knew that those colorful stems were the finishing touch to the mantel Halloween decor and a perfect cheat!
