Don't Fight The Fall....

FUN FALL IDEAS 

I like Fall, I really do....I just wish it didn't lead into Winter...that's why I also hate Fall.  I am not a winter lover as you all know and it just makes me sad when I know its right around the corner.  And given the cooler temps we had in August, I'm kinda scared that winter may be here sooner than I'd like.

But I've started dragging out my fall stuff from storage and will get the house decorated a bit next week.  So I thought I'd share a few new & fabulous ideas I've seen around the web with you all...in case you needed to shake the summer sand out out of your shoes too ;)

Most of these are easy to create and inexpensive...certainly good things with all those fun fall and school activities on the calendar...oh and FOOTBALL!! (and pennant race baseball)

***********

Love this idea from Better Homes & Gardens...drill some holes in a real or faux pumpkin and fill with fresh fall blooms or silk blooms.  Would be pretty to do this with a bunch of different sized pumpkins and group them on the stoop or on a table.  Think I might try this......

www.thatswhatshesaid.net

Easy, breezy way to incorporate some fall into your home.  Buy some candles in different sizes at the Dollar Store, wrap with some scraps of burlap, faux leaves and twine...then group together on a pretty platter.

{via}

LOVE these floating cheesecloth ghosts.....easily made with some starch and bottles and wire.

Might have to try this too....stay tuned....

via BHG

{via}

Duct Tape a pumpkin in fun patterns

via beadandcord.com

Love fun decorated pumpkins outside AND inside...so many different versions to create!

Via Pinterest

I love me some Christmas trees and I LURVE the idea of this fall tree...would look fab in my dining room. And those owls are too cute....fallish but not creepish..perfect to leave up thru Thanksgiving!

Love this idea using my favorite mason jars....paint 'em up white, distress and then stencil with letters.  Easy & beautiful!

{via}

These would be SUPERcool to make...look a bit more involved but how cute are they??

{via}

Have some extra wood laying around?  These are perfect for scrap pieces of wood and so whimsical to add to your fall decor.  You could even hit up Lowes or Home Depot and ask for some scraps that they have laying around...usually a lot of them are triangular shaped too.  Then paint and distress...easy & inexpensive..nothing better.

A super easy way to decorate your doors....would be cute with FALL as well.  Hobby Lobby & other craft stores have large wooden letters pretty cheap...spray them in fall colors, wrap with twine or other ribbon and add a fun burlap bow.  Or buy it on Etsy and support a local crafter.

tutorial here

And my own DIY Metallic Pumpkins from last fall...in case you missed it!  Easy to create and use every year with faux pumpkins and some metallic spray paints!

{via}

Yup another mason jar project...I couldn't resist...how cute is this??

Perfect for a desktop or gift for a great teacher...I LOVE IT!!

Might make this for my niece who just started her first teaching job!

FYI:  MASON JAR PAINTING tutorial for the OUTSIDE if you need one here.  You can also paint them from the INSIDE, see here.

{via}

And last but not least...fall pallet signs...I love them...the more rough & distressed the better.

Don't have a pallet...attach a few boards together or pickets..distress and paint and ta-da!

HAPPY FALL Y'ALL!

DIY Vintage Inspired Florals!

This fall arrangement speaks to me all wrapped up into a vintage bundle...well I'm not vintage YET!

I love antiques, items that were well loved and used so that they now show a sense history.  I also collect vintage tins and lunch boxes...I display them all around my house & like to use them in vignettes as much as I can.

This arrangement cost me a big fat $0 LOL..everything was FREE!

So use what you have in your yard and woods and see what you can create!

I have quite a few pics in this post...feel free to scroll thru.  But I'm learning how to use my new Canon Rebel T51 and so I'm having fun with it :)  Bear with me...I'm a picture kinda girl!

This is what some of my hydrangeas look like currently in my front beds.  I clipped bunches of them already to dry in the garage for later use. Tulips and Hydrangeas are my absolute favorite flowers...I ADORE them.  And hydrangeas look beautiful dried so I always dry bunches over the winter.  And when fall comes my bright blooms turn into these beautiful soft, muted colors...perfect for fall arrangements.

And the woods behind our house are starting to turn beautiful fall colors as well.  So I went forest foraging and found some great dried branches from felled trees, delicate wheat grass and golden leaves to use.  And they were all FREE, nothing better than free!

I've gathered all the elements I want onto my countertop and get started.

My kitchen countertops get a lot use for cooking AND all my projects.

My studio is for my papercrafting mainly and hubby's garage is my spray paint & painting command center!  Next house I want a HUGE studio where I can have many different areas...hubby laughs when I say that..but a girl CAN dream right?

I use small plasticware containers inside my tins to hold water so the blooms stay fresh for awhile longer.

I liken flower arranging to how I make my cards...layers...lots and lots of layers and textures.

Not that I'm a professional floral arranger by any means...but I can do enough to get by for what I like.

I knew I would set this on my family room coffee table so I wanted some height but not too much that it blocked the TV viewing...gosh forbid anyone cannot see the TV in my house ;)  Especially during football and hockey season..I mean "c'mon man"..repeating a phrase often uttered by the boys and ESPN!

So I wanted some graphic branches, some fall leaves and something a bit delicate to add to the arrangement.

I love the fall colors of the hydrangea blooms, so soft & vintage feeling.

A view of the arrangement against the fall afternoon sky..loved the background for this!

How can you not love hydrangeas?  Lil' blooms of four leaf clovers I used to tell the kids when they were young.  They so believed me that Riley brought me a bundle one day years ago and said they were "LUCKY" and he picked them just for me...out of my garden...sweet boy that he was is ;)

Here is what it looks like on my coffee table.  Those fab glass blown pumpkin & gourd came from 

Pier One Imports...love the amber color.  The much LOVED tv is to the right in this picture.

PS--the arrangment gets put in the study at night or when no one is home...remember I have flower eating cats that see this as a great snack..arghhhh!

Playing around with the aperture on the camera a bit...and one of my ever present lit Yankee Candles o the table.  This coffee table is getting painted soon...stay tuned for that.

The ruler crate was a fun purchase from Hobby Lobby for 50% off..it holds all my current magazines that I haven't read yet and catalogs neatly.

Just something comfy and cozy about warm colors, wood, antiques, fall blooms and candle light that gives me a good feeling.  I always want my house to feel comfy and cozy and hope people feel that when they visit.

And some fun with Photoshop of course...love a middle range between sepia and black/white.

Not quite either but a nice blend for a different look.

I hope this post inspires you to look around your house, yard and woods for some elements that you can use inside this fall.  Nothing better than natural elements that cost little to nothing and put together lovingly by you!

******

I'm entering this into the following Linky Parties:

Its Fall Y'all
Or So She Says
Your Homebased Mom
What's Cooking with Ruthie
It's Overflowing-Share Your Creativity
Serenity You
Common Ground:  Be Inspired
Remododelaholic
Uncommon Designs: Monday Funday
Home Coming: The DIYers
Home Stories A to Z
A Bowl Full of Lemons- One Project at a Time
Give Me the Goods Monday
DIY Dreamer
Stone Gable - Tutorials & Tips
Centsational Girl
Thistlewood Farms