Halloween Mantel Ideas

SPARK YOUR CREATIVITY WITH THESE EASY HALLOWEEN MANTEL IDEAS & FREE PRINTABLE!

Typically, this time of year I’m all about pretty fall decor but this year I’m leaning more towards Halloween decorations.

When my girls were younger it was all Halloween decor. When they got older, I was bored of Halloween decorations and switched to only fall decor. Now, after several years of that, it’s time to mix it up again.

When you decorate a lot, you can become bored with the same old things again and again.

For this year’s slightly more spooky look, I went with simple items mixed with vintage finds and a touch of unexpected.

Fireplace Mantel

The fireplace mantel in my living room is purely decorative. You can learn more about how we installed the wood mantel here.

It’s fun to switch up seasonally to keep things interesting.

As you can see I used traditional black and orange colors for the mantel mixed in with greenery.

Halloween Printable

One the of first things you’ll need is a focal point.

The focal point of my Halloween mantel is this vintage art. It’s just spooky enough without being too creepy.

I’ve added this and a few others that are available in my free printable library. The library is for subscribers only – you can sign up here.

Old art makes for really great vintage Halloween decor. Old portraits are another great idea.

The wooden frame was a thrift find. I have quite a few of those waiting for just the right piece of art. Really great old picture frames are something I never pass up at the flea market.

I considered using the black wreath I made out of black lace last year as my focal point but the art won out. It helped to pull the color scheme together with the orange and green.

In addition to the decor, I also wanted some greenery. I felt moss and hanging greenery was a suitable fit for Halloween.

Halloween Candles

My black candle holders are from Pottery Barn. I’ve had these for several years and I use them often. There are so many different ways to use them, they’re suitable for any occasion.

For Halloween, I paired them with black candlesticks. The black-on-black adds to the spooky spirit.

Candles are an easy way to add ambiance without spending much money on vignettes. Something as simple as changing the color of the candles can be a fun way to change the whole look.

Creative Ideas

One way to get creative with your Halloween decorations is to look around the house and see what you already have that might add interest.

The black matador statue on my mantel is a recent vintage find. He was so unique I couldn’t pass him up! He makes for a fun unexpected element to this year’s mantel.

Rather than a traditional Halloween garland, I draped black velvet ribbons from the mantel.

Natural Halloween mantel ideas

As you can see in the small crock I have pheasant feathers. It goes along with the unexpected and adds to the natural elements. Whenever I decorate anything, I always like to include natural, earthy items.

Doing so also helps to save money on seasonal decor. No need to buy anything and store it away all year.

I even used some of my dried-up hydrangea leaves scattered on the mantel for more natural decor.

paper bats

Everyone is using black paper bats these days for Halloween decorating but I couldn’t resist using them as well. They’re totally affordable (check the dollar store) or you can even make them yourself using a template for bat cutouts.

If you don’t want to make them yourself, they are readily available to buy online too.

Vintage decorations

Much of what you see on this mantel is vintage. For example, the clear cloche. That was found at a flea market for only a few dollars.

Under the cloche, I added a simple velvet pumpkin in traditional orange rather than my usual white pumpkins.

Under the cloche was also a perfect place to add a few additional small bats.

Simple yet effective!

On the other half of the mantel, I cut hydrangeas from the garden and put them into a vintage tin. I also made a portrait cutout and framed it.

For height, I grabbed dried stems from the garden and spray-painted them black.

Balance

To balance the lower half of the mantel, mini pumpkins, and autumn branches bring in autumn colors. I use those branches every year and they always make the whole design. This year I have them in a large vintage crock.

I used all faux pumpkins for this mantel because it was a little too early to find real ones when I decorated the mantel.

I varied the mantel decor using items of different heights. I always like at least one thing on there to be tall. It helps to draw the eye up which is especially good in smaller spaces.

In this case, it’s the hydranges with the branches.

Another consideration I had was hanging floating white candles or witch hats from the ceiling as well but I couldn’t think of a way to do it without making holes so I skipped that idea.

I’m definitely having fun mixing things up with Halloween decorations this year.

I hope you enjoyed my slightly spooky mantel, it’s a slight change from my usual decor for the fall season! But don’t worry, you’ll never see any creepy spiders or other gross types of decorations here!

Just enough to get you into the Halloween spirit!

When it comes to Halloween mantel ideas, I’ve had a few this year. Another idea came to me right after I already decorated this mantel.

The new idea is so much fun I’m going to switch this up again before Halloween and try out another version!

Because the best part of Halloween, is coming up with creative ideas, isn’t it?

Stay tuned!

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