It's Fall Y'all!

IT'S FALL Y'ALL

Hi all...hope you are having a great Tuesday!  Thought I'd do a little catch up and share some Fall pics of my patio and a couple of my son & his girlfriend at Homecoming with you all....in case you missed some of them on Facebook ;)

This past Saturday was Homecoming for my son & his girlfriend. They decided to have dinner out on our patio because neither one likes fussy foods or crowds of people....and they asked for...wait for it.....PIZZA...hahahaha!  So I made salads and ordered the pizza they wanted but decided to make the "setting" a bit nicer.  Plus it was time to decorate the patio for fall as well.

Normally I have the dining table outside of the cabana but if its inclement weather or chilly we will move it over in front of the fireplace.  Thankfully it was fabulous weather but its always fun to change things up too.  So we moved the couch and chairs out of the way and put the table in front of the fireplace.

We like this setup for parties as well when the weather permits...spreads the furniture around into little seating groups and opens up the patio more.

A lot of my color schemes inside and outside fit well for summer and fall. In the fall I add more orange & rust tones to warm it up a bit.

A little bit of fall fun for the bar area too...I love the mini hay barrels you can find at most craft stores. I keep them OUTSIDE only because they can be messy.  I don't buy many large pumpkins anymore now that the kids are older...I have a few faux ones and get 2 for the front porch only.  I don't carve them anymore and the prices per lb have gone up so much in past 15 years too.  So I stick to the minis mostly which I love.

After the kids left, the hubs and I had homemade pizzettas and salad and then moved the furniture back around and built a roaring fire.  This is the setup we use when we have the TV out there..mostly to watch our sports of course.  But its like a second family room to us when the weather allows...you can find us out there most evenings.

And who doesn't love candlelight?  I have candles EVERYWHERE, I just love it and the warmth of the light it gives.

Paddywax Candles Apothecary Tobacco and Patchouli
 Speaking of fall candles...this is one of my faves to burn for fall...smells like an old camp fire mixed with a bit of tobacco...reminds me of fall evenings.  And its soy so it burns clean and for a long time...and the apothecary bottle is just too cool!

My son Riley who will be 17 in less than 5 months...sigh...why do they have to grow up?

But he's so handsome (says the momma) and on his way to becoming a fine, young man..I'm just so proud of him.  And he cleans up good right?  Anytime I can get him out of baseball caps & athletic wear is exciting for me LOL!

And his girlfriend Rachel (his 1st 'real' girlfriend) is just too cute for words.  She may be the female twin of my son that's for sure...she loves sports, hates fussy things, loves sweats and kicked her heels off as soon as we were done with pictures hahaha!  They had a blast at Homecoming, Riley even danced and said it was one of the best evenings of his life...so basically a success.

I get one more Homecoming before this kid is off to college....I'm not looking forward to that empty nest thing that's for sure!

Enjoy your week!!
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Entering into these fab linky parties:

Hit Me With Your Best Shot

The DIY Dreamer

The 36th Avenue

Do Tell Tuesdays

Making Monday

Wow Us Wednesdays

Recycled Fall Wreath DIY!

Its Fall Y'all!!

If you've been into any of your local craft stores you have probably seen or drooled over some of the beautiful fall wreaths hanging in the stores.  I know I have at least...but at $80+ its a bit much for me to spend.  And I'm always eyeballing things to see if its something I can easily make.  Sometimes its not worth the trouble and products you have to buy but I at least give it a thought.

And I knew I could make a fall wreath easily...I made this wreath in under 40 mins for under $15 on my kitchen counter with some new supplies and some that I already had on hand.  I used an old wreath that I had that was falling apart and I snipped out some pieces and blooms that I liked.

Wreath Recycling I like to call it!

And this is what I came up with...it will hang over my sink on my triple windows.

The grapevine wreath frame I already had as part of a "great buy" I got a year ago at JoAnns but you can buy them in different sizes and styles for under $12 with a coupon maybe even cheaper. Check around your stores and see what you can get.

I like to work in my kitchen...I have lots of counters and I can spread out...I like to be messy and lay everything out so I can see it.  Plus my studio was kinda in a mess...I was working on a papercraft project that you can see HERE...so there was no room LOL.

New Supplies I Bought:  2 Hydrangea Stems & 2 Sunflower Stems at 50% off plus a 25% coupon so it was a great price for both. Price was $12 for all 4.

What I Had On Hand:  floral wire, grapevine wreath, twine, 1 fall leaf garland, flowers from old wreath, and ribbon

RECYCLE TIP:  take apart old wreathes, bouquets or candle rings and take the parts that you want out of it..I save all these things in a large rubbermaid bin because I KNOW I will eventually use the bits & pieces..I KNOW IT :) It saves you when you want to do projects like this big time and its RECYCLING which we all know is a good thing!  Even thrift stores or yard sales are a good source for faux florals for cheap...I saw a huge candle ring floral arrangement at my thrift store for only $8 and it probably had $50 worth of flowers in it.  Or use dried flowers from your garden...I dry my hydrangeas every year in my garage and use them around the house but the ones I had clipped weren't quite ready so I resorted to these faux blooms this time.

I cut all my stems and garland into usable pieces and start tucking them into the wreath.

I like to move things around till I get them where they look best including the ribbon.

Then I flip the wreath over...very carefully...and start securing each of the stems to the back of the wreath. (pic is from phone sorry)

I wrap my floral wire around the stems very tightly and then secure them to the wreath frame the best that I can including my ribbon bow that I made myself with the Large Bow Easy.

I use wired ribbon for wreathes as its easy to ripple it and put it where you need it in a wreath...keeps its shape nicely too.

Once you have secured everything flip it back over and adjust as needed.

Then I use twine to add a hanger to the back that I can easily slip into my window seal to hang.

I find it extremely hard to take pics of things on windows...but I got a new Canon Rebel T51 from my hubby (thanks hubby) and I will be learning in my classes how to do this better.

But for now this is what I have for you...bear with me :)

The wreath hangs over my sink for fall...I don't like too much on my windows because it looks into the backyard and woods and I hate to spoil the view with lots of clutter.

And that's how easy it is....don't spend a ton of money on supplies...sniff around your supplies and garden and craft stuffs and pull it all together.  RECYCLE something!

Fall is sneaking into my decor daily...what is your favorite fall decor item in your home?
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I'm entering this into these linky parties:

No Minimalist Here
Making the World Cuter  
Give Me the Goods Monday
Monday Funday 
Get Your DIY On! (fall wreaths) 
Savvy Southern Style
A Bowl Full of Lemons
The DIY Dreamer

Fun Fall Ideas

Fall Decor & Yummies!

Fall is coming...I can't say I'm overly thrilled...I like fall but it usually means that a cold winter is directly behind it.  I don't DO the cold...I absolutely hate it...it slows me down and I don't enjoy it at all.  I'm a warm weather girl living in a 4 season state..oy LOL!

However I do enjoy fall football, Halloween, fall decor, yummy fall recipes and fires in the fireplace.

I can't deny that!

I used to go ALL out each Halloween...we did a full spooky house theme with front yard graveyard and music and the whole 9 yards.  However my kids are now teens and not interested in it so much anymore.  They don't trick-or-treat and usually hang out with friends or go to the movies nowadays.  So most of those decorations haven't come out lately (to the disappointment of the neighborhood kids but it was A LOT of work and I've run out of steam for that...shhh I'm getting old I guess)...so I've switched to a more elegant, fall decor for outside and inside.

So I'm sharing a few pins that I've pinned on Pinterest lately to get me in FALL MODE and give me some ideas of some things I want to do around my house.  These are ideas that aren't over the top, not expensive to make and make your home that much more fall-licious!

Some have links, others were google serach pics that had no links but hope

they get you in FALL mode as well!!  Enjoy!

{google}

Everything about this photo screams SPOOKY FUN!

I love each detail but especially BOO spelled out in fun metallic letters with a crooked

broom underneath...too cool!

Love these fall candle holders made with corn husks from 

Confessions of a Plate Addict

{photo courtesy of magazine Better Homes & Gardens}

Love this idea, will be trying my hand at this for sure.

I can easily cut vinyl on my Silhouette for Pumpkins for the front porch!

Now to find me a cool vintage wheelbarrow...hmmmmm!

Love this centerpiece idea and not costly either

Spray Paint your pumpkins white and then wrap a faux or real

fall vine around them, add some candles and ta-da...beautiful!

Chocolate Kiss Acorns...so cute!  Kisses, Vanilla Mini Wafers

and caramel chips! (from busymodernfamily)

How cute are these pumpkin rice krispie treats? Easy to make

and perfect for adults kids and parties!  YUMMY!

Think I may make a wreath like this for my front door.

Some faux hydrangea blooms in fall colors, some leaves, a wreath frame and some ribbon.

Beautiful!

Fall Decor the Easy Way...add a few fall branches or blooms

to a beautiful urn or pitcher and place around your house.

Fall Delight!

Tailgating Food or Football Viewing Food

Because you know I'm part of a large football watching family

(Go Skins & Ravens)

And we have people over to watch the games outside on the patio, with a blazing fire and some yummy foods.  So I'm always pinning cool recipes that can be eaten with one hand easily!

And next year I think we will be doing some tailgating at U of SC (go Gamecocks) when Alexa is attending college there ;)

Mini flatbread pizzas (google)

Mini Corndogs

Mini 7 Layer Dips

What's your favorite way to decorate for Fall?