Imperfect & Fabulous: Easy DIY Fall Mantle

Last year I saw this fall display spelling out the word thanks. I loved it, but wanted to glam it up a bit so I decided to put my own spin on it.

I decided to use red wine bottles because those are something that we tend to have in this house (especially during the holiday season) and I like the variety in shape you can find. The darker the bottle, the better this will look. I actually made this last year and then this year remade the T and the H with darker bottles. The bottle on the left is the one I made this year. Look how much clearer the letter is. The old one was good, but the darker bottle is so much easier to see!

In addition to your wine bottles you will need some repositionable vinyl letter stickers, Krylon glitter blast spray, and some wheat. I used the bronze blast color. If you haven't used this stuff before, prepare to be amazed. I absolutely love it because while I love glitter, I hate the way it comes off on everything. This stuff solves that problem and it gives such even coverage.

Start out by removing the labels from your wine bottles. The easiest way to do this is to soak them in hot water with a little bit of bleach. Leave them alone for about 30 minutes and when you come back the labels will be floating on the top. No scraping or scrubbing required! Rinse and dry your bottles. I recommend letting them fully dry upside down overnight because if your bottles have a little water left in them then the wheat can get moldy. I may have learned that the hard way last year.

Once your bottles are dry carefully apply the stickers to the bottles. Since the stickers are repositionable don't worry if you don't get them on straight the first time. I decided to stagger my letters with every other one being lower.

Then take your bottles outside and spray them with the glitter spray. Spray from top to bottom all the way around the bottle. Don't spray on a thick layer, it will get drippy. Just let it dry and then spray again. I did 3 coats because I wanted the glitter to be thick but you could probably just do 2 coats. Let them dry overnight and then peel off the stickers.

Now take your wheat and just stick some in each bottle until they look the way you want. I decided to add some fake fall leaves to fill in the mantel a little bit. I bought them last year on clearance at the end of the season but right now all fall stuff is on clearance at the craft stores so you can get some for a great deal.