fall decor — pleasure in simple things

Tag: fall decor

making chenille pumpkins

October

Now that it is October, I guess I can get really serious about my pumpkin making! You know I love making velvet pumpkins with real pumpkin stems at this time of year.

Although I love making pumpkins of velvet, in addition, each year I enjoy experimenting with a new, different fabric for pumpkins. Remember last year I tried some cashmere?

Well, this year my experiment is becoming an obsession! And you thought my obsession was about stems! Well, it is about stems – it’s always about stems lol!

But, the new fabric obsession has become repurposing a vintage material – chenille! It turned out to be convenient timing that cleaning out my linen closet happened at the start of fall. I couldn’t bear to throw out a vintage chenille spread that, in the past, has adorned both the bed of my grandmother and of my daughter. I decided to repurpose the spread into pumpkins…with real stems, of course!

I hope these photos help inspire you to create some pumpkins from a repurposed material – like a treasured keepsake!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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it’s all about the stem

September

It’s official. It is fall! I always start the season by making some velvet pumpkins. Every year I make a few more, using new shades of velvet and pumpkin stems I have collected from the year before. Each year, I like to make some pumpkins that are a little different than the year before…either in color or fabric. But, before I start my own pumpkins, I have a few pumpkins to make as gifts.

If you make velvet pumpkins, you know the personality of the pumpkin is created with the stem. And, the hardest part about making pumpkins to give as gifts is to part with the stems! It is all about the stem!

Here are a few great stems from some gifts I made this year – my first pumpkins of the season.

At a request, I created my very first red pumpkin. Look at that marvelous stem!

Thanks for stopping by! If you haven’t yet tried making a velvet pumpkin, you can look back into my archives for directions by clicking here and give it a try! You can start by collecting some fabulous stems!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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pumpkin tower urn diy

October

Today I am sharing a simple DIY. Remember my ‘ferns in urns’ project? I bought some inexpensive urns at HomeGoods and planted them with ferns for a wedding? You may remember one of those urns was transformed into a fall planter.

You may wonder what happened to the second urn. Well, it got transformed into a pumpkin tower for my mom’s house! I just love stacking pumpkins, don’t you? Pumpkins can get pretty pricy at garden stores when they are classified as ‘specialty’ pumpkins. Not true when you purchase them from Trader Joes!

I found a big selection of what would be called ‘specialty’ pumpkins at Trader Joes for just $6.99 each!

To convert the urn I used for the ferns, I purchased 3 carefully selected pumpkins from Trader Joes and a can of flat black spray paint from Home Depot.

After the sprayed urn dried, I added an old grapevine wreath and some faux greens to the rim before stacking my 3 purchased pumpkins…perfect! An easy DIY to convert one of your planters for some fall décor! Just spend a little time picking out the stackable pumpkins so they work together. Before you go to the store, measure the diameter of your container so you know what size will work for the bottom pumpkin. Either bring a ruler or measure out a strip of paper to the size you need and tuck it into your purse. For the best-looking tower, make sure your smallest pumpkin choice (top spot) has a pretty stem!

Other things you may want to add to your tower are hay, straw, Spanish moss, or green moss. Add your own personal style with the container and accessories you add! To give you some pumpkin tower inspiration, I have included in this post some photos of pumpkin towers created by Terrain in Westport, Connecticut.

If you don’t have a yard for a tower outside, it is easy to create a ‘mini’ pumpkin tower for your inside décor. Buy a pretty container, flower pot, or pedestal at HomeGoods or local garden store and create a smaller version of a pumpkin tower!

I hope I have inspired you to create a pumpkin tower of your own!

Thanks for stopping by!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

1 comment » | diy, garden, inspiration, style

velvet and cashmere pumpkins

October

Making velvet pumpkins is an annual activity for me. Each year, I save pumpkin stems (the stems are everything!) and use them the following year on my newest pumpkin creations.

Finding new fabrics keeps my pumpkin making interesting each year.

This year, I added some gray cashmeres to the mix!

If you follow the blog, you may remember I shared instructions to make these pumpkins some years back. If you want to try your hand at making some, click here for the post with the tutorial on how to create them.

Thank you for sharing my newest pumpkin creations on this week’s Friday field trip. My first few are as a gift to celebrate a friend’s new home. I hope I have inspired you to try making some yourself!

Have a wonderful weekend and remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

Sharing at Craftberry Bush.

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2017 country living fair columbus

September

If you read this blog regularly, you know I am a big fan of The Country Living Fair. I have been attending the fair in Rhinebeck, NY, only a short distance from Connecticut, annually.

The Dutchess Country Fairgrounds are picturesque and provide a beautiful venue for the fair.

Put on by Country Living Magazine, the fair is a big show and sale of antiques, vintage, handcrafted goods, art, furniture, home decor, handcrafted clothing, jewelry and more. It also includes scheduled seminars and artisan demonstrations.

Each year, The Country Living Fair provides a fabulous weekend of shopping and inspiration.

I started thinking last year, why limit this fun time to a weekend? With three other Country Living Fair locations at different times of the year, why not visit one of the others? Atlanta, Columbus, or Nashville were my choices.

After some consideration, Columbus won as a second destination choice when I discovered Ballard Designs, Frontgate, and Grandin Road all have outlet stores near Columbus!

So, many months ago, a good friend and I put together plans to brave the 10 hour car trip to Ohio!

The photos here are from the 2017 Country Living Fair in Columbus, Ohio! I will share some additional photos from the fair next Tuesday. I hope you enjoy them and are inspired to attend one of the Country Living Fairs yourself!

It is so fun to visit a new locale! Which location do you think I will visit next? ;) Nashville? Atlanta?

Thanks for stopping by! Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

1 comment » | garden, inspiration, style, travel

mini lantern with pumpkins

September

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend! I spent a recent weekend in the woods visiting a friend – and, one cool evening by a fire, my thoughts turned towards the fall season.

When I got back home and was thinking about fall (and, of course white pumpkins), I went into my closet and pulled out all the velvet pumpkins I have made over the years. Like every other year, I will make a few new ones in neutral shades this year to add to my collection! I started thinking about what new fabrics I will use for the current year…

While I was contemplating the pumpkin box and fabrics, I noticed a little misplaced holiday lantern that didn’t make it into one of the Christmas storage boxes – seeing it immediately inspired me to use it for fall!

Inside the lantern, I added a couple of the smaller pumpkins I have made, a little Spanish moss, some of my DIY bleached mini pine cones and a couple acorns I had painted.

Instantly, my holiday lantern is transformed into fall décor! Maybe, as the days get shorter, I will add a few white fairy lights. So, just like that, fall décor has sneaked up on me…and, you know how that goes…now I am all in! To add fuel to the fire – my favorite garden store starts selling white pumpkins this week!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope I have inspired you to repurpose something from another season for your fall decor!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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white pumpkins & neutrals

October

Last week I gave you some fall decor tips and took you to Terrain for some great inspiration on implementing them. This week, I am sharing some of my color palette for fall…neutrals, or course! And, Terrain definitely does a neutral right – so, some photos of their lovely grounds…all in neutral! Enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by! Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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celebrate fall with flowers in a pumpkin

September

It has been somewhat of a tradition for me to use the end of the season flowers from my garden for a flower display in a pumpkin. Each year, once fall arrives, I use the few flowers left in my garden to create an arrangement in a white pumpkin.

I guess it is my way of admitting it is, in fact, fall! Usually, the only blooms left in my garden are a few burgundy mums – planted to match the color of my front door – in the front yard and a few small white accent flowers in a couple of my potted arrangements.

This year I used a mini pumpkin for my arrangement since there are so few flowers left! I just hollowed out a mini boo and added an old flower frog for the flowers. If you create one, just remember that pumpkins are not always water tight. It is a good idea to trim a disposable plastic cup to line the inside of the pumpkin as a safe guard, before adding any water. The flowers can be added directly in the plastic cup or, some flower foam can be added and saturated inside the cup first.

An easy and fun way to celebrate the start of the new season!

Thanks for stopping by for Friday field trip!

Have a fabulous weekend! Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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painting acorns

September

For Friday field trip today, I am painting some acorns! This is my last ‘neutralizing fall’ element. After completing some pine cones and some leaves, the acorns are my final painting project.

These little fall icons are very easy to paint and they can be painted to match any décor. I don’t use paint brushes any more when painting these small pieces; I much prefer paint pens.

For this year’s fall display, I first painted the bottoms of all the acorns with white paint pens. After the paint was good and dry, I used a little piece of a clean rag to rub the white paint with gold metallic paint.

For the tops of the acorns, I used a cotton swab to add some clear paint glitter to give them a little bling!

That’s it! Now the acorns have been painted to match the rest of my ‘neutralized’ elements! I will team these elements up with some of my hand crafted velvet pumpkins and will add some white pumpkins of varying sizes throughout my home.

Thanks for stopping by for Friday field trip! Have a fabulous weekend and remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

P.S. If you prefer velvet acorns, click here for a tutorial from my archives…enjoy!

Sharing at French Country Cottage.

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plaster of paris leaves

September

Last week I talked about ‘neutralizing’ fall and I demonstrated how to get started with some pine cones and bleach. This week, I am continuing on my quest to ‘neutralize’ natural elements for my fall décor.

Today, I am ‘neutralizing’ leaves! Actually, in this instance, the leaves are not natural elements – I am using super inexpensive fabric leaves. The way I ‘neutralize’ them is super easy and super messy! I use plaster of Paris to add a porcelain-like look to the leaves.

Plaster of Paris is one of those things every crafter should have in their workshop. There are so many uses for it and it is very inexpensive. Plaster of Paris is a dry powder that is mixed with water to create a mixture that hardens. It can also be mixed with paint to create homemade chalk paint.

To make the leaves, I simply mix up some of the plaster (2 parts plaster of Paris to 1 part water) and use it to cover the leaves. I use a disposable plastic cup as a measure and stir the mixture with a paint stirrer or plastic spoon in a disposable container. Believe me, you don’t want to keep any utensils you use for this project – it gets very messy! The plaster gets thick pretty quickly, so I don’t waste a lot of time as I dip each leaf to coat, one at a time, into the mixture. I also keep an inexpensive paint brush handy to add extra plaster as needed.

Once the leaves are covered, they are left on wax paper or parchment paper overnight to harden completely. A leaf can be draped over a plastic cup to dry with a curve, if desired.

The plaster leaves, once dry, can be enhanced with paint or glitter. I like to use metallic gold paint to paint the edges or create a ‘dipped in paint’ look.

These plaster leaves look great on a table, in a bowl, or as part of a fall display. Adding a name to a single leaf with a paint pen turns it into a great looking and unique place card! I use gold thread to make a garland of leaves for a window. (A hole can be added for hanging the leaf, but this must be done as a first step – before the plaster is added! )

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Tag: fall decor

making chenille pumpkins

it’s all about the stem

pumpkin tower urn diy

velvet and cashmere pumpkins

2017 country living fair columbus

mini lantern with pumpkins

white pumpkins & neutrals

celebrate fall with flowers in a pumpkin

painting acorns

plaster of paris leaves