Fall Continues Around the House: Living Room

Continuing the Fall Tour from the entry (yesterday), we head to the living room which is really part of the entry, so once again, color is kept to a minimum.

Candles in a milk bottle holder with acorns and white mini pumpkin

gives just a hint of color.

On the table under the window, hydrangeas from the garden

sit in a pale blue bowl with more acorns.

 The mantle holds most of the decorations

starting with a "thankful" banner

 Ironstone pitcher filled with wheat

 Wooden rooster and church birdhouses

Finials, acorns,

and a paper garland of large leafs cut from sheet music.

Books about the Pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving

and thankful pillows add to the overall look.

Moving Fall Into the House!

Fall moves into the entry:

keeping color to a minimum

 

to accent, not compete with, the decor

 

fleur-de-lis finials and acorns

leafs cut from pretty scrapbook paper

candles set in an old maple sugar mold from
Country Living Fair

dried pomegranates in mercury vase 

Early Fall Mantel

I usually look forward to doing a fall mantel, but this year I just wasn't ready to take down my summer one.

I really love it!

But we are having a "gathering" here this weekend, so I thought I would go ahead and put up at least some fall decorations. I think I need to move that turquoise frame!

I kept the old window but changed the blue tin piece for a green one.

Kept the old fleur-de-lis finials but added a little church and acorn garlands.

Love this old tattered suitcase!

Instead of flowers, I added wheat to my white pitcher.

Little details.

The whole enchilada (minus the giant frame!).

The other side of the room, which is the entrance.

Just some tarnished silver and sprig of fall berries added to the pear candlesticks.

In the dining room, I just added a burlap runner and white cyclamen

plus a "thankful" banner.

 I thought it looked a little bare,

so I added some paper leaves.
Now it will do until Thanksgiving!

The Thanksgiving Tree

Okay, one more Fall Decorating post (you had to know it was coming)!

This is something that shows up on Pinterest from time to time and I always think, "That's a good idea, I should make one of those".

Well, today I was feeling a little sorry for myself, missing my grandbabies and thinking about my daughter moving soon, so I started to "count my blessings" to remind myself how many things I have to be thankful for.

And then I remembered the Thanksgiving Tree idea.

It's a really easy project and only took about an hour.

First, I gathered the materials: 

a container, branches from the backyard, burlap and scrapbook paper, floral foam,

scissors and glue, Spanish Moss

Next, I prettied up the container Husband found at a garage sale by pulling off the beautiful red and gold trim and adding a burlap sash and a sign that says "Give Thanks". I just glued everything with plain old white glue.

Then I stuffed the floral thingy into the bottom of the container and pushed the branches into it so they would stay in place. I covered it all with Spanish Moss.

 Be sure to use a lot of branches.

                 At first it seemed like I had enough, but when I saw it in a picture, it looked pretty sparse.

I made a simple leaf pattern and began cutting it out of different papers. 

One tip: use cardstock so it will be pretty on both sides and thick enough not to let light fade out your thankful words and phrases.

I poked a hole in each leaf, threaded some string through, and began writing down things I am thankful for.

Then I hung them on the tree.

I also made up a bunch more leaves and left them next to the tree with a pen to make it easy for me to add something every day and for others as well.

By Thanksgiving, the branches will be full of leaves!

This is a really good project to do with kids. Even the little ones can tell you something they are thankful for and you can write it down for them.

And don't forget to date the leaves so years from now, you can recall all of the wonderful memories!

Seasonal Decorating: Porch, Entry, and Other Miscellaneous Spaces

This is my last post on fall decorating.

I think.

But then, you never know, I might make some changes between now and Thanksgiving.

Front door.
 I kept my copper cone-shaped-flower-holder-thing, but took out the white flowers and added branches and leaves from the tree in my front yard.

I pulled the "fall" banner out of the entry and added paper leaves.

That left a void in the entry, so I brought in a tin ceiling panel and added a colorful rooster.

Here it is from a distance. Hard to tell, but the photos were taken by my daughter at Gettysburg in the fall. Lovely reminder of a fun trip.

For a change of pace, since the family room is a lot of white and pale blue, I didn't want to overwhelm it with traditional fall colors, so I just added a brown wool runner and white pumpkins.

Plus a couple pillows just for fall.

The whole picture.

Closeup of the pumpkins in a glass jar with a burlap bow.

All done.

I think!