Thanksgiving decorations

TGIF everyone!

So how are your Thanksgiving preparations going?  I do not host Thanksgiving dinner, but I do still decorate for the season.
This is my mantle this year.

Step 1 - I kept the branches I had up from Halloween.
Next I layered some faux fall leaves and uncurled a twig wreath.  Then I put 2 lanterns on each end (they do have candles in them).  Finally I layered a string of led orange lights (from Halloween - dollar store) and placed 2 faux pumpkins in the middle.
I really like it.
Here it is lit up at night.

My fireplace is massive and I mean big!  At the bottom I just stuck all my pine cones in a basket and a tall vase I got at Home Goods for $12.00 ($11.99).  See John McGraw, I do have an obsession with pine cones!

Then I decorated my buffet.  I need to replace this, it is BIG and my house is tiny only 1500 or so square feet on each level.  But, the buffet holds lots of plates and dishes - I LOVE dishes, don 't know why I just do!  Anywho, the leg is broken.  This poor buffet came from England when my Grandmother came over to the USA in the early 1900's so it has been around for a while.  I don't think it can be fixed, the leg broke in half when I was moving it last Christmas and now I've got it taped with really thick black tape.  The buffet is probably 5 feet long and has great storage so I need to find something else to use in its place.  I am still on the hunt for something!  

I really like decorating it though and if I didn't have it then this is what my mantle would look like.  
Ok to start I bought an orange hunk of plain cotton material.  I got 1 yard at Walmart for like $5.00. I placed some books on one end and layered the burlap I bought in September over the top and added a runner of faux leaves (2 sets).  Then put my Target lamp on top of the books (for height).

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 The goal is layering, layering, layering... repeat after me - L A Y E R I N G!
Now I started adding decorative items, the awesome iron ball my daughter gave me for my birthday, a small plate I got from World Market (notice its a dragonfly!), the face I got from a craft fair and faux pumpkins.  I really just started placing things and stepped back and moved things around till I got them where I liked them.

You'll notice I also used a sea shell.  I always use shells in my decorating no matter what time of the year.  It's homage to my home and where I grew up outside of Baltimore, Maryland.
Isn't that iron ball just AWESOME!
I got these big glittery acorns at Hobby Lobby (they are picks, meaning they have a stem on them.  You could cut this off if you want, I did not).  They were on sale for $2.99 each.  I got an all brown one and an orange and brown one and just stuck them into the arrangement.

 As I stood back and looked I noticed I needed something around the lamp.  Last year, after Thanksgiving, I bought several small picks at Hobby Lobby they were 50 cents each!

I ALWAYS ALWAYS shop after the season, you get things at such a great discount!  That is how I got the $12.00 Halloween clown.
I just tucked several of these picks into the area around the lamp.

Looks good right!
The final step was the basket.  I had a lot of left-over faux gourds and pumpkins.  I got a basket and placed it at the opposite end from the lamp and filled it with the remaining faux stuff.

And we are done!  I think it looks AWESOME!

What do you think?  I love it.
Next week I'll show you my dinning room table set up.  Till then have a great weekend!  Victoria