Fall Mantel with Wheat and Rustic Painted Pumpkin

Do you ever have an internal struggle between the ease of doing the same thing you did last year, or mixing it up a little and doing something new? I really wanted to re-use my leaf paintings from a few years ago in this year’s mantel decor, but then I felt drawn towards doing a fall mantel with wheat and pumpkins, and painting a big DIY rustic painted pumpkin canvas. My creativity won out over laziness, and I decided to do the painted pumpkin. I love the drama it adds to the mantel because it’s so HUGE. If you don’t have a real fireplace, a faux mantel does a lot of heavy lifting design-wise and adds a ton of texture and architecture to the room. It also is a fun area to be able to decorate every season.

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I love the wheat, because not only does it smell amazing, but it has a loose and casual look which I love.

I filmed my canvas painting process so you can also paint one, and I’ll have the tutorial up soon! It’s similar to my other painted pumpkin DIY canvas from a few years ago, but this one has a more abstract, rustic feel, and I use some different tools to paint with.

On the mantel, besides the wheat bunches from the craft store there are some mini-pumpkins that I painted white. I couldn’t find the white pumpkins I needed, so a little bit of paint goes a long way.

On the side of my mantel, I added Edwin and Albert. They make a handsome pair, thought the arguing is unbelievable. Albert really needs to mind his own business.

I let the DIY rustic painted pumpkin canvas be the star of the show in my fall mantel with wheat, and flanked it with my vintage brass candlesticks. I think it makes for just enough color with the dark canvas.

You can see other fall mantels, and it’s fun to take a walk down memory lane! Like this one is from, 2014,   Fall mantel  2015, Fall mantel 2016. Fall mantel 2017, Fall mantel 2018, and Fall mantel 2019.