Fall Mantel

Well I stayed up til early in the wee hours to finish my fall decorating yesterday/today.  I took lots of pictures and then after going to bed at 2 o'clock this morning, I slept for 6 hours, got up came down stairs and after looking at the pictures again said to myself, "these look awful".

The mantel has dried out over the years, the fireplace surround needs updating and it needs fire logs.

So, I got to work redoing the fireplace.  First I took 50/50 Lemon Juice and Olive Oil and brushed in on the mantel and while it soaked in I spray painted and glazed the surround.

First I sanded with 100 then 150 sand paper then I finished up with a 220 grit. Wiped it down and spray painted with Rust-oleum Flat Brown.  I liked it much better like this but I wanted some depth so I got my ''oops" glaze from Lowe's (marked down from $20.88 to $2.00). 

Next I went out to the wood pile and got some logs which were wet from last nights much needed rain. Thank you God!!!  

I'm so glad I did all this because I love with the way it looks now. 

My daughters cat MoMo looks like he wants the swan.

I know it's not my usual colorful decor but I have been looking for a large swan for almost a year now and I had to go all the way from Rockwall to Richardson (an hours drive) the other day to pick up two drawer pulls that their Hobby Lobby had. I put them on special order here and I've been waiting over two months for them to come in, then the lady tells me that they've been discontinued.  So, I started calling every HL around and they were the closest I could find.

That said, I stopped in at an Antique Mall on my home and spotted this little beauty under a cart with a bunch of stuff in front of it, all I could see was its breast, could it be? looking a little closer trying not to get to excited! YES!!! it was my long-looked-for-swan and an added bonus was it was 25% off so it only cost me a little over $10.00 with tax.

So, I decided to put him front and center.  I had been looking online and found these swans for almost $40.00 each at http://www.piperclassics.com/products/Carved_Brown_Swan-7646-26.html. I like the color of the black one but, with my rock on the fireplace being so dark I feel like it's best if I keep him light colored.

Hopefully the weather will start feeling a little more like fall soon. While it's not in the 100's the mid to upper 80's still feels like summer to me.  I hope it feels like fall where you live.

Thanks for stopping by. 

Hugs,

Theresa

I'm linking up with

Three Mango Seeds - http://threemangoseeds.blogspot.com/2011/10/link-up-motivational-monday-link-party.html

Savvy Southern Style - http://savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com/2011/10/wow-us-wednesdays-35.html