A Fall Fantle

Yup. We live in a 100 year old house and we have no fireplace. How is that possible? Now, we have an old unfunctioning chimney, just no fireplace. It's OK, house, I still love you.

I decided I still needed something mantle-ish to accommodate my decorating needs, so Chris built me a little something.

The top is reclaimed barn wood and the legs are old 2 by 4s that Chris took out of the wall upstairs when we was re-studding Kennedy's closet.

I'm not quite done decorating it yet, but I'm sharing it anyway. I wanted to get some hay and maybe a big mum for underneath it, but I then I didn't. Such is life.

 

The weather-vane was at the house already when we got here. I just brought it inside and gave it clear spray to seal it up.

 

Chris picked up the white shutter thingy for me the other day, just cause. It's actually a mirror inside the doors, but he thought it would look good on my fantle and he knows I like shutters. Don't hate.

Leaves from our trees.

A dollar store pumpkin, spray painted white with a yarn-wrapped stem.

Our walls are really terrible and all need to be replaced anyway, so why not nail in some branches and see how it looks?

And there you have it!

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Our Fall Mudroom

Well, we're now officially into our first Fall in the country and so far, it's pretty much awesome. Of course the decorating festivities continue as always. Nothing new there.
 
This time we're going to visit the mudroom off the front kitchen entrance.

Let's get to it!

I started out a couple of weeks ago by painting the ugly glossy forest green door this fun barn red and from there I was pretty much unstoppable, as I'm sure you'll be able to tell.

The sugar beet field near our house was harvested last week and they knocked over a bunch of neighboring corn stalks in the process. Of course we were all over that.

I reused my Spring wreath from last year and just added a little $1 fall sprig leftover from last year. It works! It'll have to since I dropped the original wreath I was using and broke it. How do you break a wreath? Seriously...

 

There's that mason jar again.

 

I picked up this great doormat from Superstore when we moved in for $6. I love you, President's Choice! The brass kick plate was already there and I love how weathered and rough it looks. I couldn't make it look any better if I tried. 

 

Yup. We've still got that lovely peel 'n stick tile in here. In everywhere, actually.

 

I just got these new lanterns and I love them. 7 bucks each and they're huge! Chris and Kennedy found these giant seed pods out on one of their walks so we stuck them in with the gourds. Lesson of the day: everything looks good if you stick it in a lantern. 

 

Then I bought myself these mums and wrapped them in burlap. Why not? Did you know these are perennials and you can just plant them in the ground after you're done with them? I did not know that but it's a pretty big revelation for me, I must say. 

And that's the mudroom.

Hope you enjoyed your little tour!

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Groundbreaking Gourds

I went to the Farmer's Market.

I bought some gourds.

I put those gourds down on the dresser in the dining room until I had time to put them into a vignette on a mantle or  an entryway or such.

The gourds looked good.

I took pictures.

End o' story.

 

Disclaimer: I realize this post may or may not have been seen as groundbreaking to all. The title was intended for joke purposes only due to the simple nature of the post and the obvious lack of groundbreaking material involved there-within . Also, I'm hilarious like that.

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Stupendously Amazing Fall Flowers

Check out these beautiful Fall floral arrangements I got for myself!

I know, right?

I just love me.

I am so super nice.

Here's another!

  

Actually, they were free. I'm still nice though. 

Although this time of year we start to think of fading plants and falling leaves, if you look outside around the edges of ponds and creeks in my little corner of the world, you'll see a lot of wild flowers just coming into bloom now.

 

I mentioned back in August how our creek was sprayed with pesticides, so a lot of the native plant species aren't growing there that should. I was still able to find a few interesting plants to cut though.

Free flowers right from my own property! I love when I can be all resourceful like that. Resourcefulness is awesome. 

  

Next year, we'll be planting along the edges of the creek so it won't be accessible to the sprayermobiles, then we'll go out and collect some of the pretty native plants around here from other creeks and bring them home! 

 

Next year when I bring me flowers, I can bet I'll be even more impressed with myself and all my new varieties of free wildflowers I can put all over the house.

I just have to remember to shake all the little buggies out first...


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The September Table

I bought myself a couple of new toys the other day when I was out. Just cause I felt like I deserved it.

I had an hour or so to myself so I brought them home and started playing around with them on the dining room table, along with some junk from my "fall box". I ended up with something I thought I might like to keep around for awhile, even though I wasn't planning on coming up with anything spectacular.

My first new toy is this black chicken wire stand thing (what are these even called in the real world?). Pretty much, you throw a bunch of junk in it and it looks perfect.

I also picked up this little hanging mason jar. I know I could make it, but it was 2 bucks, so I splurged.

 

A few of you told me that fall colors would work just find with my weird turquoise walls, but I have to say I was a non-believer. I think I get it now though.

It's kind of like a clear blue sky shining over the changing leaves on frost dusted tree-tops on a crisp fall day.

I know, so poetic, right?

I'm calling this my September table, because ultimately I'd like to do something a little later in the season with pumpkins and gourds and real leaves and whatnot. Everything on this table was just stuff I had leftover from last year. (Except the apples, that would be gross.)

This is kinda harvesty with the apples and the gingham, but in a pinch, I'm sure I could keep it clear through Thanksgiving and not sweat it one little bit.

And yes those are moving boxes you can still see in the background.

Black stand thingy, mason jar, and white pitcher: Winners. White bowl and apples: Superstore. Branches, decor balls, and candles: Walmart. White star: Michael's. Pinecones: Some park. Pin It

Mason Jar Porch Light and a Little Peek

I've been working on something.

Maybe a little obsessively.

But who doesn't love a good Fall entryway?

Well, I'm sure there are plenty of people who don't care about a good entryway, but I'm not one those people.

I certainly don't not love a good Fall entryway.

Know what I mean?

I had this idea to replace the glass on our mudroom porch light with a mason jar, and it must have been a good one because within about five minutes, Chris had it done for me. All it took was a little clear hockey tape for stickyness and a few longer screws.

And what's that just beyond the light you see? Is that the makings of a super awesome Fall front door scheme thingy?

More on that soon...

*Update* See this new post from October 2012 for more info on how to make this light happen for you! I made a discovery while changing out the bulb!

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Farmer's Market Style

Reason number 8976 why I love our new home in the country: This is the land of real food.

There are fields and orchards growing just about anything you could want around here and we love to stop in at our favorite farmer's market on the way out to the beach to pick up some of that goodness.

 I always find it really beautiful and inspiring to see all that fresh produce displayed in bins and on table tops in the markets, and I wanted to bring a little of that inspiration home with me.

Nothing fancy, just produce on a counter. I used some plain bowls to display everything, so the fruits and veggies are in plain sight and they're the first thing I think of when I'm planning my meals.

Of course, you've gotta have some barn yard animals around...

Seriously, does anyone else have a cat that does this?

 

 Only the tomatoes came from our property, but we're hoping to grow all this and much much more next year. 

 

 

Maybe even a vineyard one day?

 

 That might take a few years.

For now I'll just enjoy these beautiful local grapes in my new $5 President's Choice bowl. I love this bowl! 

Life is good when the simple things make you happy...

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*Make it Work* Back to School Decorating

Tomorrow is Kennedy's first day of the first grade. Up until now, she's been in a little school/daycare with kids she's been with since she was 10 months old, but now she's starting in a real big kid school where she brings her own lunch everyday and her own school supplies and all that fun stuff.

So the lunch is packed, the supplies are bought, the clothes are set out.

Now let's talk about the important stuff: how did I decorate for such an occasion?

Just kidding. Sorta.

So, I still don't know where any of my stuff is. The house still needs so much work. We don't have a real entryway that's finished, so we're using the door off the kitchen for now. I decided to throw something festive together with what few things I could find and hope for the best.

Here's what I came up with:

This is how it looks overall. Some fally things. Some schooly things.

I tied some bright yellow pencils together with twine to make some stars, just cause I thought it would be fun.

I found these yard sticks all old and paint-splattered in our front hall closet, left by the old owners. I had a few from before too, so I'm trying to come up with a place for them to be displayed permanently.

Apples. School. It makes sense.

Considering what a junk heap this corner was before, I don't mind this little display one bit. Even if I did break the chalkboard and smudge the chalk and now I can't find the darn chalk I used for it in the first place. Just pretend you didn't notice, K? Pin It