Around our Home: Fall Addition

Hi Guys!

It's been a while since I posted last so I decided to stop by today and make time to share some Fall touches around our home. 

I kept things very simple this year and really like it. I see simple becoming a new trend for me. 

Simple is easy and less cluttered and I love it.

So on to the pictures!

 Our shoe cabinet from Ikea is the perfect place for seasonal decorations.

And as for the picture frames....hopefully soon I will get pictures in them!

I love how everything turned out basically neutral with a pop of orange.

I didn't plan it that way!

 I used my Silhouette to cut scalloped circles out of thin packing paper and vintage sewing patterns to make these flowers.

 Our rusty metal pumpkin makes my heart happy :)

 And anyone who knows me knows I love chalkboards. I still have a few of these left in my shop the medium and large size.

I filled a metal lantern with mini pumpkins for a fun pop of orange.

 Our entryway all decked out. 

The dresser was my great grandmothers and was a some what recent addition to our entry. Each drawer has a specific purpose all neatly divided up and labeled. Everything has a place and that keeps us organized when we are coming and going!

 Our plate display is still going strong. I switched out summery stuff with a rooster and pumpkin and leaf shaped placemats layered up to create a runner. I bought the placemats at Walmart several year years ago. As of last year they still sold them but I haven't checked this year. They are the Better Homes and Gardens brand.

 The little tray holds out-going mail. I find it easier to quickly sort in-coming mail if it is dropped on on the kitchen island. A big no-no, I know, but it works for us. I hate piles of papers so that way I am more likely to sort through it faster.

 We picked up the fat green rooster at a flea market. He's not old or vintage or anything like that but I have a soft spot for fat roosters so he came home with us!

 My one and only vintage fan. I love it so much!

 Our armoire got a little love, too. I made the "blessed bunting" out of shipping tags and clipped some paper leaf cutouts to more twine. It's hung with a little washie tape. I might just leave it up for Christmas and just take the leaves down. Time will tell!

 The glass blown pumpkins are from MIT's glass pumpkin patch. We went one year while living in the Boston area and it was crazy but fun.

 This little vignette sits above our new laptop desk. I'll have to share pictures of that sometime. My husband built it and I did the staining and painting. Picture a stained cedar top with cedar legs painted and distressed with aqua chalk paint. It makes my heart sing!

 My little red hutch got dressed up for Fall, too.

 To make a burlap bunting, just cut some squares of burlap, make some letters out of fabric and sew or glue to burlap. String it up with twine and that's it!

That's it!

Simple....just the way I like it!

Happy Fall, Y'all!

Fall Inspiration

 Texas weather is unpredictable. Especially in the Fall and Winter seasons. One day it is warm and the next it is 30 degrees colder and we are pulling coats out and bundling up.

 For example yesterday it was 86 degrees and today it is 54 degrees. That is quite the drop in temps over night if you ask me. We love it though. We love when a cold front blows in. Especially when it literally blows in. Sometimes it is a gradual drop over night and other times the wind picks up and then temps change within minutes. It was always exciting as a child when that happened and still it as an adult. And I see it in my own kids now, that they are just as excited when the weather changes so quickly. 

It is magical!

And speaking of weather changes. It is fall and I haven't shared any of my Fall vignettes yet so here I am doing that now! I love finding inspiration on the web so i hope to inspire you today, too!

The bowl and woven "ball" vase filler are both from Ikea. The other filler surrounding the candle was stuff I already had on hand. It is BHG from Walmart. I got it a couple of years back but I imagine you can still find something similar if not the same thing. 

And as for that lovely green candle? It was a sale item at Pottery Barn. It smells like lavender and cinnimon and evergreen all mixed together. It is AMAZING.

This little collection is on the end table by the couch. I just filled a cracker jar with faux cinnamon sticks, both items that I had on hand from Target. The pumpkin is from Hobby Lobby and the vintage-looking pumpkin post card is something I came across on the web. I can't even remember where now, sorry! I stuck it in a flower frog and called it good! And those coasters? I made those. They are in my shop and in fact, the reason I opened an etsy shop in the first place. That is a story in its own!

One last close up of that sweet pumpkin.

Happy Friday, y'all! Stay warm!

Give Thanks

Hello Everyone! Hope you had a wonderful weekend. We had a busy one full of yard work and cleaning on Saturday and then very low key on Sunday, just the way we like to keep it! It finally cooled down here in our part of the country and was a chilly 58 degrees on Sunday. We broke out the mittens and hats because that is what you do here in Texas when it gets that cold. (We lived in MA for 5 years so we know cold but 58 in Texas is chilly!)

Sunday evening once the kids were in bed I was able to get in some much needed stamping time. I love rubber stamping and lately feel like there is no time to do it. I'm trying to change that and use my time more wisely so I can stamp more often. How's that plan sound? I'm on board!

Here are two Fallish cards I made. My inspiration came from here. 

They were both simple to make using what I had on hand. Sometimes I come up with my own designs but most of the time I use other people's work for inspiration. I usually don't have the exact things they used in their cards so it makes mine unique in their own.

 I don't have a leaf stamp so I used a die cut leaf and sponged the leaf to the card. A few simple layers of paper, lattice embossing  die used on the left edge, bakers twine finished with a "Thanks" stamp.

 I love how neutral this one is. Again, some lattice embossing, a leaf die, doily die cut out of dictionary paper, rustic twine and a "Give Thanks" stamp.

Now I have two Fall thank you cards to send out! (I'm a little behind on thank you's for the boys' birthday back in August! So I can now check that off the list!)

Have a wonderful Monday!

Happy Fall Y'all

When I first saw this cute owl on Pinterest, I knew I had to make it. I wanted it to be a 1st day of school gift bag for my kiddos but when that didn't happen, I decided it would be a perfect way to do a little something special to welcome Fall for my kids.

Let's get started shall we?

First things first, gather up your supplies:

 I used a 3/4" punch for the black part of the eye and a 1-3/4" punch for the white part of the eye. Since the 1-3/4" punch is my largest, I traced a salsa jar lid for the largest size circle, which happened to be about 2-1/2" in diameter.

 Gather up some pretty scrapbook paper and an old dictionary page along with orange and mustard card stock, adhesive, a paper cutter and scissors.

And an alphabet stamp set to stamp a greeting. If you don't have an alphabet stamp set, a black marker and your prettiest handwriting works great, too!

Cut the top of the brown paper sack  so it comes to a point like in the picture.

Cut a long oval shape out of your dictionary page leaving one end of the oval flat and adhere that to the bag.

 Now just start layering all of those circles starting with the scrapbook paper...

 Then the 1-3/4" white circle...

 Followed by the 3/4" black circle...

 Cut a little diamond out of the orange card stock...

 Stamp (or hand write) a greeting. Mine says "Happy Fall Y'all."

Once the bags are filled, just staple the to closed!

And that is it! Simple, huh?! I don't know exactly what I will fill the bags with but I'm thinking bubbles, a little candy, maybe some play dough stuff like that!

The first day of Fall is this Saturday!!! Are you ready?