easy fall mantel art

This year for some fall mantel decor, it was kind of hard to part with our Mariner’s Compass. It was so springy and fun, we thought it would be nice to mix things up a bit, though we’re sure it will be making a bit of a comeback in the future.

Because we’ve simplified our tv area in the living room, and just made over our mantel, we felt like easy layers were the order of the day.

We love the contrast of old and new that it brings, and brought in a combo of flea market finds with modern touches. You may recognize our wings that have made a reappearance from our dining room days…

and we paired it with a fun print from a friend. We also scooped up this little toolbox at the local flea market, along with an affordable vase from Target that we thought would be fun with some gold branches. And last but not least… it brings us to the custom, easy art we made for our mantel.

It all started with this old gunny sack that we scooped up at the flea market for a few dollars. I adored the subtle details, and thought it would make a fun piece of art.

So we took some wood and cut it down to the size of the gunny sack. {36 x 30}. You can use any width you wish, depending on your end look. Also, this wood was cut at an angle, so if you don’t have a mitre saw, you can use a simple mitre box. OR, You can always have the wood cut at your local store, and leave it plain jane, joining it with L brackets on the back. This project is adjustable and totally doable for anyone’s comfort level.

When the wood was cut, we went over it with Cabot’s stain in Cinnamon Toast. We love this stain because it goes on more like a paint, you can have it custom mixed to your own favorite shade, and it dries really quickly.

When that was dry, we gave it a top coat {leaving the edges lose and unfinished} in Benjamin Moore’s Once Upon a Time.

Confession: Sometimes, I may or may not let the titles of colors influence me. Jamin’s all, I like this shade better because it has less grey. And I’m all, but this one is called Heavenly Pink Fairy Piglet Twisty TAIL! MUST HAAAAAAAVE!!! NOOOOWWWWW.

While that dried, it was time to move on to the fun part. This is a quick and easy way to do a little custom “screen printing” from around your home. The process involves a piece of paper with your pattern you wish to use {we chose the number 22 because of its special meaning to us + just printed it large and in charge}. From there, trace it directly onto some freezer paper, the non glossy side. When it’s traced and you’re happy with the look, take the freezer paper, + an X-Acto blade {with a protective mat underneath} and cut out the design. {You can see more examples of this in our posts here and here.}

For a gunny sack, we first cut it in half so that we could use the other side for something else, later.

When you’re finished cutting out the design on your freezer paper, simply place it on your material, {glossy side down} and iron it, until it sticks.

Then it’s time to paint. Place something protective underneath to help with bleeding, and be very careful to paint away from the edges, while you fill in your design.

For this one, we used some gold leafing paint we already had on hand. The chemicals were immediately separated on the fabric. It had a little bit of a happy accident, with an antiqued feel by bleeding underneath.

I recommend a nice fabric paint, acrylic or even latex {if for wall decor} – stick with fabric paints for tshirts and the like. But for this, the gold leaf paint worked out just fine.

When we were finished with that, we assembled our frame with L-brackets. We simply placed all the pieces together, face down and secured the corners. Then, from there, we placed the gunny sack where we wanted it, face down as well.

Be mindful of your placement from the front.

Next, we slowly stretched it out, and secured it with our little Ryobi Brad Nailer. You could easily use a basic hand operated staple gun as an alternative to this. The stretching process is a lot like if you were to make your own canvas, which I’ve used time and time again.

The goal is to stretch it equally, though this was a bit more challenging with an older fabric. So I made a diagram below, to show how it’s done. Pretend that the grey border is your frame, and the numbers are how you will rotate around each edge with your stretching.

Basically, go around each edge, and for one side, immediately do the opposite. For the next side, coordinate it with the next opposite.

You can follow along with your eyes below, but you’ll see, 1-2, -3-4, and so on. It’s opposite, slowly rotating and adjusting as you go.

Just stretch the fabric lightly across the top, and staple to secure it as you go. If you have a little overlapping with the fabric, no worries. Simply go back and bunch it up to staple it down, or trim around the edges to clean it up.

TADA! You have some instant art for your home.

It’s one of a kind with just a few easy steps!

As always, let us know if you try it or have any questions. We’re ready for this fall weather! Come on, Alabama!

Have an inspired day!