Football Season Mantle

Are you ready for some football? (How sick are you of hearing that phrase around the blogosphere?)

Ready or not, football season is upon us. Around here, that means Boise State. We love our Broncos. This valley goes crazy when September arrives.

I decided it was time to get our house in the festive spirit as well. Why not? So I decided to tackle the mantle yet again.

By the way...the spelling of mantle is one of those things that drives me crazy. Apparently you can spell it either mant-LE or mant-EL. Both mantle and mantel are interchangeable. I hate indecisiveness in language. Especially since I seem to run into mantel all over Pinterest, while I seem to prefer mantle. * End rant. *

The initial endeavor for this project failed miserably. I planned to make some cardboard letters, but it was the project disaster that ended up finding a home in the trashcan.

I redesigned and moved on. Because I'm a ... professional? Who knows? Something like that, I guess.

The first part was easy. A photo made for us last Christmas by my brother Tyler and his wife Victoria. It was taken at a game last season. Next to that, a blue beer bottle from some home brew my brother Chad made. This mantle is a family affair.

On the left side, a few more bottles. This time, a twine wound bottle from our wedding tied with an orange ribbon and an empty wine bottle filled with water and blue food coloring that I sealed with a saved cork. 

I dug out a photo frame that hadn't seen the light of day since approximately 2006. It was hunter green and needed a little neutralizing. A quick black paint job and it was ready to go. In it, a copy of the Boise State fight song all decked out in blue and orange.

After that, the big guns. I needed a centerpiece.

I busted out one of the $2 shelves I salvaged over at ReStore (one of my favorite places in the world) and gave it a quick prime/spray paint.

Thanks to my lack of transfer paper (a small oversight), I had to change my initial plans. I printed out my logos and laid them down over the shelf. I traced over them with an X-Acto knife, leaving small indentations that I could follow for painting.

I hand painted the sign while listening to last week's game (which we won, by the way). Once again, I was reminded that tempera paint is not always my friend. It turned out a little less smooth than I originally planned. But, I think it still looks pretty sharp. I sealed it with some clear coat and it was ready to go. Darian thought it was a sticker, so I'm calling it a win.

Speaking of Darian, he made it obvious that I decorate the mantle far too often. I was down measuring the length when he piped in, "Oh...you're making one of those again?" He was referring to the banner.

The banner was pretty straight forward. Some cardstock triangles, a string of blue ribbon, a little bit of glue, and some strips of leftover fabric. Voila. 

Just like that, festive banner. Go Broncos!!