A Simple Fall Sign to Decorate a Mantel for Fall

Today my two oldest kids went back to school. My daughter is in Grade 1 this year and my son is in Kindergarten. They, of course, couldn’t have been more excited. Me, on the other hand…I’ve been basically dreading this day since August 1st rolled around. I am looking forward to returning to a scheduled routine, but I sure am going to miss having all my kids home with me every day! I feel like summer just flew by—especially the month of August. It seemed like the month of August was so smokey most of the time, so I felt like we didn’t get to do as many outdoor activities that we normally do. I’m hoping the month of September is warm, because I want to make up for some of those lost beach days with the kids!

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Since I have such mixed feelings about sending the kids off to school today, to cheer myself up I decided to switch up my mantel decor. I made this cute fall pumpkin printable the other day, and today I threw it in a frame and placed it on the mantel.

Before I took my son to Kindergarten this afternoon, he was looking up at my pumpkin sign on the mantel and says, “Mom, I really like that sign up there!” “Awww, thanks buddy,” I responded. Then he says, “Know what else I really like? You!” Gosh, that kid can sure melt my heart! It’s so fun to see the kids growing up, but it’s hard to watch it happen right before my eyes!

The frame I used is an 11 x 17″ (matted to 8×10″) frame that I picked up at Michaels. I love the greyish barnwood color! I have a bunch that I use throughout my home. I also found these similar frames here. I bought this little wreath months ago, but I found it a little small to prop up on my mantel. So I found this cute burlap and lace ribbon at the dollar store, and cut it in a narrow strip to hang from this old vintage window. I think the wreath looks just the right size now that it is hung! My wreath is out of stock, but I found this similar wreath which is cute too!

I’m ahead of the game though this year when it comes to fall decorating. I usually wait until October, but this year I’ve already done a table centerpiece (see this post for more about that) and now my mantel, and it isn’t even officially fall yet for a few weeks! I’ve actually never really decorated much for fall in the past, so I probably won’t go too crazy this year either. I try decorate with neutral items that I could leave up any time of year, and then throw in a couple more seasonal items. See this post and this one for some of my fall finds, if you’re looking for inspiration!

Head on over to this post to grab your FREE fall pumpkin printable! When do you start to decorate for fall? Do you go all out, or do you keep it simple? Thanks for stopping by the blog today! I would love to hear your questions or comments!