Creepy-Crawlie Halloween Mantel~

Quick!  Call the exterminator!! We're being invaded!  This year the kiddos and I thought it would be fun to do a not-so-traditional Halloween mantel which, in our house, is actually the top of the dining room buffet.  I had seen a pretty fall display in a magazine that used butterflies, and it got me thinking that a mantel that featured bugs would be fun - and creepy-crawlie (creepy-crawly?) enough for my boys.

I'm not really into the creepy stuff for Halloween, though, so I had to think about how I could do it and still have it look a little bit on the "elegant" side (you know similar to the way Martha Stewart pulls off a creepy Halloween that still manages to me somehow elegant at the same time.  Yeah.  Like that.) 

I found the bugs by searching my friend Karen's - aka The Graphics Fairy's fabulous site. They are great vintage insect illustrations that I knew would work perfectly.  I also really love the atypical halloween palette of burnt orange and blue.  It's actually very pretty.  Pretty creepy-crawlies.  Lol!

I used an old piece of wood that my kiddos use as a "staff" when they're playing wizards, and attached the bugs - which are printed on vellum to give them a richer, more realistic look - with a bit of stick glue.

I also liked the idea of having the bugs appear to be crawling around the display, so I added some to the lamps.

I found this great old textbook insect guide (also on the Graphics Fairy site) and stuck it in a frame.  I added a few crawling bugs to it as well.

Finally,  I added a butterfly to a faux pumpkin as well....this is a super-easy project that I'll share with you later this week.

The kids love it!  And you know what?  So do I.  I like the fact that it is different...but still very Halloween-esque.  Yep, that's a word. :-)

Happy Creepy-Crawlie Halloween!

My Joss& Main Curated Collection is still going on, and there's lot of great stuff still available.  If you want to join Joss & Main, you can join here. 

Have a great day~

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