Punkins

I love fresh, natural touches for decor. For example, fresh flowers just seem to bring life to a room. I feel like pumpkins are the same way this time of year. My roomie Katie had visited a pumpkin patch with her hubs earlier last week and came home with not only a few pumpkins for the porch, but some awesome-looking star gourds. She added them to the vignette on the dining room table and it looks awesome! So when her hubs asked if I wanted to go to the pumpkin patch, I of course said yes!

The pumpkin patch is at St Richard's Episcopal Church in Round Rock. They get a new truck from New Mexico weekly! I just loved all the little punkins they had and couldn't wait to pick some out to bring home!

I pored over the star gourds for a while, looking for ones with interesting colors. I've never seen them before and they are just too cool.

I came home with 14 (yes, 14) LITTLE pumpkins! The prices are reasonable, especially for the little pumpkins: I spent less than $10. And you can donate to charity when you pay-- like getting mosquito nets for people in foreign countries. Love.

So this is how I used the lil' punkins.

 

When the hubs and Katie came home last night from a weekend youth event, they said it was like hunting Easter eggs, they just kept finding them! Love it, that's exactly what I was going for!

I highly encourage a trip to this pumpkin patch if you can!

Linking up at:

http://eighteen25.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-great-halloween-link-up-party.html

http://shabbyartboutique.blogspot.com/2012/10/shabbilicious-friday-link-party5th.html

Exciting News

I talked about my dreams a little bit in this post recently. On Monday, my favorite blogger, Miss Mustard Seed, posted encouraging us to share our dreams-- the ones we just needed to say out loud. I posted this:

The hubs and I have talked about this in the past, and also recently. I would love to have a booth some day to have a place to sell refurbished furniture, my favorite DIY projects, and even some photography. But we thought this would need to wait until I was done with school, because it would be a risk with money that we don't have a lot to spare right now, and would require more time than I have to give.

I filled him in on my "there. I said it post" and Thursday he told me he talked to the owner our fave antique store in Gtown, Divine Patina about what I want to do! We bought our gorgeous china hutch and kitchen table from them this year. She said we had a good eye and that we bought some of their best pieces this year! He even old her about my blog! :) I went in and talked to her today and she said she would be willing to sell some pieces on consignment!

I am so excited to get started! This gives me the flexibility to not have to do it so often to keep a booth stocked, and also means less financial risk! So I was up EARLY this morning to garage sale for furniture! Yay! Then I went to Austin to Mockingbird Domestics (OMG amazing store) to buy Annie Sloan Chalk Paint! I have wanted to work with this product for a while and am enthralled with the matte finish, the ease of distressing, and no need to sand or prime. Holla.

So, here we go! I'll be posting pieces and will let y'all know if they are for sale at Divine Patina or through me!

Cows Make Me Feel Better

Something you may or may not know about me is that I love photography. I don't know how evident that is from the pictures on the blog, because I actually use my phone for most of the pictures. The reason I use my phone is simply because it is easier to upload them quickly onto the website, which is important for me because I am so busy with other stuff in life right now. But I do love taking pictures and want to do that more. One of the things on my list to do after I finish school is to take a photography class.

Last year I got an awesome DSLR camera, and two tripods for my birthday recently. I am looking forward to putting them to use. But today I wanted to share with you some pictures I've taken recently. Some of the clinicals that I am doing are out in the country. Like I have to drive almost an hour and a half each way to get there. Although it is a long drive, half of it is very beautiful. The open farmland, the cows, the lush (-ish) green (/brown) pastures. The big open skies. All of these things are beautiful and are things that I don't see very often in Georgetown.

So a few weeks ago I decided to bring my camera along with me and stop to take pictures if I saw something beautiful. I did end up stopping a few times. I must have looked ridiculous in my "professional" clothing, but I didn't care!

Recently I've had something for cows. 

 I have seen really cool paintings and pictures of cows on a blog  and TV show I love. Something about it just looks really serene to me. Maybe what I like most about photographing the countryside is that I'm envious of it. My life as it is crazy and hectic right now, and I don't feel like I have much time to do the things I love to do in my free time. It reminds me of a calm, more serene, more simple life, which is something I am definitely missing right now.

While I absolutely love my school and my life, I am looking forward to the day when life gets a little bit simpler again. I'm ready for adventures and space to be creative and enjoy the things I am most passionate about.

I love how you can see the wide-open spaces of the fields these cows are grazing on.

When I passed by this sign, I knew I had to turn around to take pictures of it. I do like living in Texas. But I'm not one of those people who thinks Texas should be it's own country or thinks it is the best state in the USA. But I loved the rustic feel of the sign.

Again, I love the big blue sky behind it in the open field which says a lot about the true heart of Texas.

I don't know if you feel like I do, often a little overwhelmed by life and the responsibilities that keep us in the media-filled, air-conditioned plastic life, but I can tell you that taking half an hour out of my busy day to snap a few pictures in the countryside made me feel so much better.

What is your go-to for relaxation when life gets crazy?

Fall Table Decor and Pumpkin tutorial

Thanks for sticking with me when it is a long time between posts! Work has been busy, and school is in full swing, which does not always leave me time to blog! Another reason I haven't this past week is because I got the opportunity to take just-born photos of some friends of ours! It was such a blessing to see the family treasure a new baby they are already in love with.:)

My last fall decor post to share is our dining room table decor.

I kept the same teal table runner that is typically on it, and added a run of burlap for some warm fall color and texture. I just love burlap!

I made these pumpkins last year and love them! I didn't take pictures while I did it last year, but I'll give you the steps!

I bought these foam pumpkins from Michaels. They are for decoration- I could have just displayed them as their pretty white selves. But if you could find pumpkins that are unfinished crafting foam, or even plastic, that would work good too. I also picked up the tissue paper at Michaels. I loved the designs in the warm fall colors! Swoon.

I started by taking a plain white sheet of paper and "tracing" a "sliver" of the pumpkin. Then I cut out the tissue paper using this stencil.

Next, apply modge podge to the pumpkin and very carefully put the paper on top. Here's the thing about using tissue paper. It is beautiful since it is kinda transparent-- that's why the negative space is white on mine. But it also tears very easily. So just make sure the place you put it is where it will stay.

After it dries, you can put a layer of modge podge on top to seal it. And that's it!! So easy, and so fun!!

I then put a tall white candle with the pumpkins and that's our simple, beautiful tablescape!

You have gotten to see our awesome dining room table. I refinished it this past spring and LOVE it! I plan to (eventually) do a post about the refinishing process.If I can do it, you can too!

Do you have any fun DIY fall projects? How have you decorated your table for fall?

I'm linking up to the linky party at

Simple Home Life

http://eighteen25.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-great-halloween-link-up-party.html

http://tatertotsandjello.com/2012/10/weekend-wrap-up-party-and-project-real-life-giveaway.html

Thrifty Decor Chick.







http://www.atthepicketfence.com/?m=1

Fall Mantle Decor

More about fall. Sigh. Decorating this year has been so fun being in the new house. I love finding new places for decor, I want things to look a little different every year by mixing the items. Tonight I want to show our mantle decor for the fall. I posted about our fireplace and mantle a month ago and raved about how much I love it. While I loved the decor that was up before, I wanted to change it a little for the fall. This is what it looked like before:

Sigh. I kept the window and garland up because they are pretty neutral (really, the garland reminds me of fall/Halloween because it is coffee-stained papers. something about that seems creepy...?), but changed out the end pieces. The birds and the topiary cage went into hiding for now. I had a wicker pumpkin I scored at the Dollar Spot from Target last year to go on the mantle for some fall inspiration.

And for the other side I used an antique jar (not a Mason! what?!) and put candy corn and a white candle inside. Although I personally do not really like candy corn, they are fun to decorate with because the colors are definitely a reminder of fall, and they are whimsical! Funny note- last night we had the high school boys bible study over and they wanted to eat them. The hubs started to let them but then told them they couldn't because I would notice if any were missing. I don't know about that... but I did notice that the jar had been slightly moved. :)

 
Recently I posted about the height issues with the topiaries on the console table, and this is where they found their way to! Since the pumpkin and jar are short and round, the topiaries provide the perfect contrast in height! Yay! I was so excited they got to stay out!

We have a chair next to the fireplace where it is nice to relax and cozy up when there is a fire (the one time that has happened so far).
 

But behind the chair there is a ledge between the living and dining room. I also switched up the decor on the ledge for fall. I used the trophy vase that was on the mantle before and filled it with pine cones. Pine cones are great to use to decorate for fall because they are easy (throw them in a cool bowl, vase, hurricane, etc. ) and inexpensive.

My roomie Katie brought out a cute little tray she painted with chalkboard paint and wrote a fun fall message.

Yes, we live in Texas. I say y'all often. So this is perfect. :)

To top it off, the hubs brought out my fave Halloween decoration this weekend because he was feeling bad for me having to work on Saturday and then do so much homework. Meet Halloween Snoopy. I actually took him from my mom's house years ago because I loved it so much.

He plays the Charlie Brown theme song when you push his hand, and the crystal ball flashes and he bounces up and down. It is a classic in my life.... just ask all my previous roomies. I don't know if they liked him as much as I do. :)

Regardless, fall is officially here and my house is ready!

Have you decorated your mantle for fall? Do you have any traditional fall or Halloween decorations? 

I will be linking up to:

Dog Silhouettes

We LOVE our dogs. I even talked all about them for a whole post. One day I was perusing Pinterest and came across this:

I thought this was so great. Our dogs are beautiful.

And yet I felt weird putting pictures of just them up in our home, so this was a way to do that in a unique, vintage, fun way!

The silhouettes are printed on encyclopedia paper. How awesome it that?! So first I went to our local thrift store to get an encyclopedia. The frames I wanted to use were 8x10 so I needed a large encyclopedia. I also wanted to find one that had entries related to the dogs that I could print the silhouette on that would be visible. So I looked through the encyclopedias trying to find pages with words related to dogs where the entries were on the outside edges-- so that when I printed the silhouette it would be visible. You will see what I mean later. :)

Next I took pictures of the dogs. It was difficult to get a profile of them, so the hubs had to hold treats for them to look at while I took the pictures.



















I then uploaded them to Photoshop Elements and figured out how to make the background disappear (magic eraser I think) and then made the silhouette image black. Then I did a few practice printing runs so I could get it the right way on the page. I printed Coop's silhouette on a page about a dog and Zoe's on a page with the love entry. The hubs had the awesome idea to put little cardboard initials I had on their respective pictures. And now they look awesome!

 I hung them on either side of our entryway shelf and smile every time I look at them.

Maybe you have a dog... or another animal? and can make this to enjoy! It is such an inexpensive, easy, and unique way to show love for the 4-legged members of our families!

Fall Home Decor: Entryway Console Table

As I type this, I am sitting in a comfy chair next to our very first fire in our fireplace! And it's September!! It has been raining for a few days now, and the temperature has cooled enough for me to create a fire to cozy up by. Granted, the windows are open. This helps it not to get too warm, but more so that I can hear the constant tinkling of the rain.

September 15 was the day I bargained with the hubs for to decorate for fall. It worked out even better due to the recent weather-- it feels like fall is here to stay! Although we know this won't last much longer, the dreary weather made the fall decorating more enjoyable. I'm going to show you the transformation of our home for fall in segments so that it is not one long post-- so I don't feel bad about writing a lot! :)

I didn't have much in my "Fall/Halloween" decor box. When I got it down from the attic, I was able to drag it down the ladder myself- that's how light it was. But, I looked at fall decorating differently this year, had a few ideas planned from Pinterest or other blogs, and did minimal shopping. I simply tried to convert pieces I already had for the season by adding small touches to them. This not only saves money, but made me happy because I love a lot of the decor pieces in our home, especially the vintage, comfortable feel. I didn't wan to replace them with gaudy, over-colored items that are not my style.

I started by getting out the box of decor I had. I surveyed what was in there and considered what I wanted to do. Then I looked around the house and considered our space. In reality, I didn't need a lot to make it feel more like fall-- no need to go crazy. I wanted it to stay simple, meaning just replacing or altering decor that was already in a space, not making things more cluttered. Like I said, I looked at fall decor differently this year. I wanted a natural, rustic, simple look, to remind us of the outdoors that put on a beautiful show this time of year.

I will start with discussing the console table decor because it is what you see when you first walk in the house. I recently posted about the artificial topiaries that typically adorn the table, but you won't see them here now. I'll explain why later. 

I don't think I have talked much about this table until now. This table is awesome. It was given to us by my husband's step-brother and his at-the-time-gf-now-fiancée. It was theirs and they no longer had use for it, so gave it to us! Holla! It is a beautiful dark wood with a simple, yet elegant, shape, including slightly concave legs. It has three little drawers that we keep random small things in like batteries, candles, chalk, etc.. In our apartment before this, our microwave sat on the console table in the kitchen-area, but I longed for it to be used for its true purpose, as it is now. 

For the fall decor on the console table, I started with a hurricane I already had and filled it with pinecones (no, we don't have pine trees here, they were bought in-store). I then nestled a white candle on top of the pinecones. I used smaller, thinner pinecones around the candle to fill the rest of the hurricane.

I love the look of this. It feels rustic and natural with the pinecones, but refined by the curves of the glass and cleanliness of the white candle. Perfect.

I originally just removed the frame that was between the topiaries and put the hurricane in its place. But the height of the three were too similar. I like to vary the height when creating a vignette, so I moved the topiaries. Don't worry, you will see them again soon! My roomie Katie and I went shopping, after inventorying and before decorating, for fall decor. I gave myself a budget of $10. Yup, $10. We were going to go to a local second hand store, but it was already closed. So we went to Target. "Target?!" You may say. "No way you can only spend $10 there." In fact, I only spent $5 on fall decor! Last year I had gotten a few things from the Dollar Spot, and hoped to be as fortunate again.

They did not fail us. There were a lot of cute things, many even ended up in my hand basket. But, with consideration to how much I would actually use them (felt napkin rings) and if it would just get covered up (felt placemat used under a centerpiece), we landed on two owl lanterns and a picket sign for the front yard.

Whoops! The picket is a little crooked! darn rain...

Out of 4 options, I chose this picket because the bright color is easily visible, it is useful for several months (as opposed to a Thanksgiving-themed one), and it has an owl. I like owls, as this shopping trip shows. Actually, these are my first owl purchases. But you know my love for birds... must be something about the avian line of animals.

At $2.50 each (we each bought one) these lanterns are adorable! Perfect for fall with dark warm metal and an owl di-cut. Adorable! And they are the perfect height to go on either side of the hurricane on the console table.

After I had it all on there, the lanterns looked too dark against the wood of the table. But the height worked so well I took a minute to consider my options. Then I remembered I had some scraps of burlap from other projects, cut a length of the natural tan, and made it a runner. This helped to brighten up the table and make the lanterns more visible, all while maintaining the rustic, natural, fall look I was going for.

Katie had several fall-inspired candles, so I used 2 orange pumpkin-scented ones between the hurricane and lanterns for a bit of color. Now it not only looks great, it smells great too!!

I love the instant burst of fall you get when walking into our home. It perfectly achieved my hopes for the decor-- it is natural, simple, beautiful, and cheap. A gentle reminder of the beautiful season where nature comes alive again with color!

Have you started decorating for fall yet? Where do you get inspiration from? Any great finds when shopping? I would love to hear about it in a comment!