OH Yeah... Gettin' Creative

Today on my home from a nice walk at the lake (I'm only 'allowed' to run every other day to avoid injury.  That's why I was walking.) I picked up some gorgeous yellow and red leaves.  I created a simple and free (!) decoration for our mantle. 

The apples will slowly disappear
as I pack them in Will's lunch!

And that, folks, is what you get when you have time, a dash of creativity and zero dollars.  You could add a nice big candle as a centerpiece and then smaller votives to fill in the space (in my case, I am living out of a suitcase so I literally have nothing).