My September Mantel

You know. With ten days left in the month, I thought I would finally get around to showing you what I did for my mantel in September!

I wanted something new and different from the whole back-to-school thing, but I wasn't quite ready for a full-fledged fall mantel yet. So...enter the apple mantel!!

I hunted around Pinterest and found the majority of my inspiration from a picture that was actually a decorative dishwasher cover! Who knew?

Here's the whole thing:

 Yes. It makes us hungry. HA!!

What I love about it is that I spent almost NO money on it! I shopped the house, just like I learned to do from the DIY decorators, and here's what I found:

Left the easel up there from the last mantel decor and searched through my cookbooks to find a good apple pie picture. I lucked out in finding it in a spiral bound book, so I had no issues displaying the photo!

Borrowed a ramekin from the kitchen and filled it with cinnamon sticks from the pantry.

Borrowed a tiny measuring spoon set {pinch, dash, etc.} and coupled it with two small wooden spoons from the kitchen caddy.

Used a red pie plate we got for our wedding and filled it with real apples. {That was the only money I spent on this decor - the apples. I think I paid about $4.00 for the bag, and if they're still in decent shape when I'm done with the mantel, I'll use them! :)

On the other end, I borrowed a pastry blender, rolling pin and apple corer/slicer from our kitchen and added those. I didn't own a sifter {because I'm not a real chef and find sifting an unnecessary step} but my Mom had one, so she let me borrow it for the month.

I washed a spaghetti sauce jar and Ryan peeled the label off for my flour jar. I filled it with flour from the kitchen and added a small metal measuring cup inside. {I keep a lid on it but took it off for the picture.}

And it felt like it needed one more touch, so I found a neutral kitchen washcloth and put it in the mix.

And that's the mantel! Simple, cute, and CHEAP!!