Fall is just around the corner, and with it, that wonderfully cooler, crisp air, colorful leaves and those fabulous aromas like cinnamon and apples wafting through the air. It’s one of our favorite seasons, and one of the best ways to enjoy it is to use some of the earth’s natural, organic elements to create your own autumn home decor.
Those warm colors can bring a fabulous ambiance to your home, inside and out – there’s really nothing more beautiful than the vision of pumpkins, leaves, pine cones, branches and the like, and using natural elements makes decorating inexpensive too.
Whether you’re looking for a few simple, basic ideas or a more elaborate project, we’ve got you covered.
1. Decorate Your Mantel
A fireplace mantel serves as a natural focal point, making it an obvious place to deck out for the fall. In fact, if you have one, it should be the No. 1 priority in your decorating scheme. And, the good news is that nature has provided us with lots of materials for doing just that, many of which are likely to be right outside your door.
You can simply mix and match any of the following to beautify your mantel –
- Pumpkins
- Pine cones
- Branches
- Dried berries
- Acorns
- Birch logs
- Feathers
Or, consider some of these ideas.
- Fill up several glass vases with items like acorns or walnuts and pine cones and place them on the mantel. Try to use vases of different shapes and sizes for a more attractive look.
- Stencil letters on small, white pumpkins to spell something related to fall or to create a meaningful statement on your mantel.
- Simply scatter pumpkins of various sizes and colors across your mantel.
- Put leaves you’ve collected into frames of varying sizes, and display them on your mantel.
- Fill up a low, long dish with cranberries, and then sporadically place fat autumn-colored pillar candles throughout the dish.
You can find even more ideas at The Frugal Homemaker here. This one really goes all out by not only decorating the entire mantel but the floor and in front of the fireplace too.
2. The Asymmetrical Wreath
Other than your mantel, there are few things that scream fall better than an autumn wreath on your front door. There are so many different ways to do a wreath, we’ve done some digging to show you some of the most beautiful options.
This one really piles on the natural elements, using pumpkins, pine cones, leaves and even fruit. You can find the tutorial on Artsy Chicks Rule here. Of course, you can also use the basics of this idea to create your own customized wreath too, using any natural elements you can come up with.
3. Indian Corn Wreath
We really love the way this one looks, it’s incredibly unique, using dried corn husk it kind of looks like a massive sunflower. Choosing ears of corn in a variety of colors makes it really stand out. You find the details for how to make it at Stone Gable here. Once you make this one, you’ll be wishing you’d known about it years ago, it’s absolutely stunning!
4. Popcorn Kernel Wreath
This one is definitely unique, and you can easily come up with your own ideas as far as natural elements to add rather than using store-bought items. The items Cherished Bliss uses in its tutorial that can be found here include a pool noodle that is bent into a circle using duct tape to create a wreath. It’s then covered with burlap and sprinkled with popcorn kernels, and has a number of items added like leaves and berries. The hanging strap is made using a ruffled strip of fabric and a piece of muslin.
5. Pinecone Wreath
One of the most popular wreaths for fall, this pinecone wreath (instructions found here) is fairly basic but gives you the option to add whatever types of filler you like, such as acorns, leaves, or what have you. Using spray paint in various autumn colors is optional.
6. A Nut Wreath
There’s not even a need for detailed instructions for this one, it’s so simple. Do something different by branching out from the standard round wreath by using a square or some other shaped picture frame. Just hot-glue some unshelled nuts around the frame and leave a spot at the top for a ribbon to hang it. Wrap a coordinating ribbon around the top in a loop to create a wreath hanger.
7. Painted Acorns Centerpiece
For an incredibly fun and easy centerpiece for a table, all you need is acorns and some acrylic craft paint. All you have to do is paint some acorns as per the tutorial here on Home Stories, and then add them to a small bowl or other decorative types of holders, and you’ve got your own gorgeous DIY autumn centerpiece.
8. Bell Jar Fall Display
This autumn DIY project is also incredibly simple and allows you to get as creative as you’d like. Basically, you’ll capture fall right inside a bell jar, and put it on a shallow bulb dish. Line the dish with moss, adding a few small gourds and leaf branches, and then top it with a bell jar. If you don’t have a bell jar and don’t want to buy one, you could even use a glass cake cover instead. Get more creative by adding a few items of your choice around the base of the dish – maybe tiny pine cones?
9. Vases Filled With Natural Elements
If you have a lot of vases hanging around without anything in them, take advantage of them by layering and incorporating various natural elements inside to make eye-catching fall displays that can be placed throughout your home. All you need to do is fill each one part way with some nuts, like acorns. Then cut a piece of scrapbook paper to fit inside each vase and arrange branches and/or stocks of wheat inside.
10. Create an Autumn Porch-Scape
You can make your porch little beautiful for autumn by using tiny pumpkins, gourds, fall-inspired pillows and other natural items. House on the Way has some great ideas for putting this one together. Again, get creative by adding natural elements that you can find near your home.