Thursday, October 18, 2012

Farmhouse Fall Decor {Part 4}

I am finally bringing you the 4th and final installment of my Fall decor - the porch.  I don't have any overall pictures of the porch because really and truly it's sort of an awkward little porch to begin with, plus I've been lazy about the weed situation so...it doesn't make for pretty pictures.

But I'll show you the little vignette areas.


This set up is in the left corner of the porch, so it's to the left of the front of the door and just under the mailbox. I turned a $1 wooden crate up on end and topped it with my vintage watering can (bought at an estate auction years ago) and a couple of funky gourds.  Inside, I place the little orange lantern on top of an old wooden cheese box, and used some faux berries for extra interest.  Surrounding it are some gorgeous mums in a galvanized minnow bucket (I didn't color saturate these pictures, they really are that bright and beautiful!  I love 'em.)  and a friendly ol' rooster.


The only thing that was not a cheapo second hand find is the berries....well, and the gourds.  


To cover up the odd sized candle holder in the lantern, I just placed a roll of twine/jute around it.


This berry wreath hangs on the door.  I've had this for years too, only this year I added the bow.  I ended up not using the ribbon anywhere else in my decorating, but it's too cute not to use.  So, I added it to the wreath.


To the right of the door, and up onto the weirdly higher level 2nd area of the porch, I made this display.    Can you believe I only paid $4.25 each for those huge mums?!?  They are from a local greenhouse.  Plants that big would cost $15 at most other places.


I got the galvanized bucket this summer for $1, the orange tin was full of hardware that I wanted and I paid $1.50 for all of it, and the burlap sack underneath was a yard sale freebie.


The old glass jar has some faux bittersweet branches in it.  Sure wish I had the real thing.



Now, just to the right of that display and back down to ground level is this area.  More humongo mums (the red one isn't opening as quickly as the rest so it's not quite as vibrant looking).  You might remember the little ladder I found this summer for .50, and the galvanized bucket was another freebie.


Here's another area where I was wishing I had some real bittersweet branches.  I wanted to intertwine them around the ladder.


And now, a few "just for fun" pictures.




So, there ya have it!  That's the last of my Fall decor.  If you would like to see what I did with the porch last year you can see that {here}.  That post also has the overall pictures of the porch if you'd like to see it in all it's weirdness.

And with that, I have to break the news that I'm taking a bit of a blogging break.  My stash of yard sale treasures has grown quite huge while my Etsy shop inventory is dwindling.  I really need to focus some time and energy on that for a little while.  

But don't lose heart, I'll be back real soon.  And if you haven't already, be sure to become a fan of the Facebook page.  I'm sure I'll be posting a few updates there in the meantime.

** Part 1 of the Fall decor posts can be seen {here}, part 2 is {here}, and part 3 is {here}. **


                                            

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Thursday, October 11, 2012

Farmhouse Fall Decor {Part 3}

Ok, so today we're finally finishing up the Fall decor inside the house. (If you're  just now joining us, Part 1 can be seen {here} and Part 2 is {here}.) Next week I'll have one more post of the porch/outside decor and that'll do it.  The mums are about half way to being fully bloomed, so if the wind doesn't beat 'em to death first it should make for some pretty pictures.

So here we are in the kitchen.  The doorway just to the left of the fridge leads to the living room which I showed you first.


I kept it pretty simple in here this year, not making nearly the amount of changes I have in the past.

On top of the fridge, I just simplified the display (the 'before' can be seen {here}) and added a small faux pumpkin and a sprig of berries.


I had to show you this shot.  See the frowny face drawing?  My 5 year old drew that one day when she was not happy with me, but instead of telling me she was mad she drew that picture and gave it to me.  I had never seen her draw a frowning face before, they're always smiling, so this just cracked me up.  I keep it up there because it makes me smile every time I look at it.


This pencil holder is a recent little project I did.  I used to keep a pen hanging next to the magnetic list on a string that I had rigged up with a magnet.  It wasn't pretty, and it was aggravating getting it on and off the string, but it worked.  Then one day I came across this idea, via Pinterest of course, and thought, "Hey! I have a whole stash of mustard tins that someone gave me.  I could totally do this."  So I did.  I just glued a magnet on the back that I had saved off of the previous magnetic paper pad, and voila!  A much handier and cuter pencil/pen holder.


Let me just apologize ahead of time for the lighting in these next several pictures.  It's not that great.  I had to just fit picture taking time in wherever I could this week and the light wasn't so good.  Especially trying to get a shot up under the cabinets.

Anyways, I changed up the little arrangement on top of my crate canister holder.  
("Before" can be seen {here})


Now, I don't decorate for Halloween.  Never have and most likely never will.  But this little arrangement unintentionally took on a dark, understated "Halloweenish" look (in my opinion anyways), so...using one of the new Halloween overlays from PicMonkey, here's my one and only nod to Halloween.


Boo.

Just a quick note here - that poultry medicine bottle belonged to my grandparents.  My dad just recently brought it to me when they visited.  Can you see the price down there on the bottom?  One whole dollar.  : )


On this shelf above the table I just changed out the towel for a Fall colored one and added a candle and some berries.  Usually, I take everything off and put up a completely different display of just Fall stuff.  But...I wanted it more simple this year.


I found the cute little rusty pumpkin candle holder at Goodwill for .79.


Some other touches of Autumn in here are a different sign above the stove, a "new" bucket to hold the utensils, and a warm colored rug and towel.


I've had this sign for a few years now and it's one of my favorites, I just love it.


And lastly, I have this little arrangement on the table.  A plaid placemat that I adore, a set of leaf salt and pepper shakers (given to me by a friend a few years ago), another cozy candle, and an old wooden box as a napkin holder.


Isn't it lovely?  I got it at a garage sale this summer for $1.50.


Here's another repurposed item that I've never showed you.  My mom gave me this little retro sprinkles bottle for Christmas a few years ago, and ever since I've used it as a toothpick holder.  The holes in the lid are the perfect size for shaking out a "pick-tooth" after dinner.  Which, by the way, apparently the British do NOT do!  My sister married a man from England and the first time he came over for a big family meal we started passing around the toothpicks after dinner.  He took one, but out of the corner of my eye I could see him holding it like some foreign object and discreetly looking around trying to figure out what in the world these uncivilized Americans were doing with these things!  LOL!  That still makes me laugh even 7 years later.  : )

Well, that's it for this week.  Unless I find some great things at a rummage sale I'm hitting up tomorrow, then I'll share that with you.  If not, I'll see ya right back here next week with my rustic farmhouse porch decor.

                                              

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Friday, October 5, 2012

Farmhouse Fall Decor (Part 2)

Ok, so where did we leave off after part 1?  Oh yes, I only showed you the couch and coffee table area.  So today we'll move on around the rest of the living room.


On one end of the couch is my crate side table. 
 (Cue the heart-sickening story - When I got my new iPhone I set it up so that my email account for the blog and Etsy shop are on my phone and had it notify me when I received new mail.  That way, I didn't have to constantly be signing in and out to switch between my personal email and blog email to check them.  Well, one day recently it dawned on me that it had been quite awhile since my "smart" phone had alerted me to any new mail.  So I checked it...just in case.  Lo and behold there were 18 new emails that I never knew about and one of them was from an online magazine requesting permission to use a photo of my crate table in an upcoming article!!  I immediately emailed them back, but down in my heart I knew it was already too late.  And it was.  They said they would keep me in mind for future articles, but you know how that goes.  Oh, was I ever sick over that! But...life goes on and nothing changed in my world because of it, so I got over it and decided to just keep doing what I've been doing.  If more opportunities come along, great!  If not, that's ok.  I'll live.)


I changed it up a bit and added a little divided drawer turned on its side.


I had to show you an updated picture of my Edison lamp.  One of my awesome readers sent me that Edison bulb just for this lamp.  She found it at a yard sale and thought of me and was kind enough to send it to me, along with a few other goodies.  That made my week, let me tell ya!  Thanks Jackie!


Below that I tucked in a canning jar filled with dried bittersweet, and some crochet thread pumpkins.  If you follow me on Facebook, then you might have seen my update where I said I was channeling Mamie Jane.  Well this is what I was talking about. I saw these on her blog last year and thought they were A-dorable!  


Mamie Jane is a fabulously creative lady and I love love love her blog.  Sadly, her husband recently passed away and she has taken an extended break from blogging.  I hope she'll be able to return again someday.  But, she has left her blog up for anyone wanting to reference her ideas.  So, you can see her originals {here.}


I tucked in my recently purchased pulley on this little jutted out corner.


Under here I just removed the greenery from the tin cup and replaced the rusty horseshoe with a little Fall doo-dad.


On the other end of the couch I made a new suitcase table.


All of these were purchased this summer at garage sales for a whoppin' total of $5 for all of them.


On top of them, I displayed my vintage globe (also just recently thrifted).  It's sitting on top of an old wooden socket set box.  A little gourd, some dried bittersweet, and a couple of old books finish it off.


So here's the overall view of that side of the living room.


Moving around the room to the right is this view.  I thought about moving the basket of toys and improving the way the video storage looks down there, but then I decided to just keep it real.  I have kids, they have toys, deal with it.  : )


I changed out the two center pictures in this wall display.


The old pumpkin truck picture was my Pawpaw's and it has a lot of special meaning to me.  It goes up somewhere every year.


The old radio has another framed magazine page, and a cozy candle.  


Moving on around the room we come to the big picture window (complete with the kid's window clings {bought on clearance last year for .25} and no, they normally don't look that "arranged.")  Did you notice that you can see a hint of my porch decor? 

The little table and chairs were separate garage sale purchases, but they go together beautifully and the kids love to use them.  They sometimes eat lunch here (if it's something simple and not too messy), they like to color or read books here, too.  And sometimes a lot of the time they use the chairs as diving boards and the couches as their swimming pools.


For the centerpiece I tucked a candle and some faux foliage into a crusty old metal bowl. 
 (For those of you who may be questioning the intelligence of putting a candle on a kid's table - it's usually not lit when they're playing in here, but even if it was, they have been taught from a very young age that candles are strictly off limits.)


To the right of that, we come to the recliner and another crate end table.


My sister made the cute little Fall themed frame for me a few years ago, and I filled both frames with pictures I took of the kids Fall of last year.  The candle holder under the pumpkin was a thrift store find and used to be a horrible orangey brass color.  You can see it's transformation {here.}


Here's another overall view of the living room.  I stood on the stairs to get this picture.


So then standing in the living room looking towards the stairs is the cabinet we use for CD and DVD storage, which I would love to redo someday.  I think something like {this} from Donna at FJI would be amazing.


I'm glad I have photographic proof that it can be this clean, because it never is.  The door to the garage is just to the left of the stairs and it's the one we use the most so the top of this cabinet becomes a catchall for our phones, keys, Hubby's wallet, etc.

Ok, so I have just two more pictures to share with you.  Lest you think that all this change took place instantly by some sprinkling of magic scarecrow dust, here is what our living room looked like off and on for over a week while I worked on getting everything placed.


Just keepin' it real y'all.

And here's what I discovered my kiddos were up to one afternoon while I was hunkered down trying to navigate my way through that mess.


Oh yes they did. 
 Ah well...I can't fault them too much, they were having an absolute blast out there!


I thought I could do this in 3 parts, but I think you've had all the Fall decor your eyeballs can stand for one sitting, so I'll do another post on some changes I made in the kitchen.  It's nothing huge, just a few small things.  And since I'm still waiting on the mums to open up, that'll give me a little more time before I post the porch decor.

I hope you have a great weekend!

** Part 1 of the living room can be seen {here} and part 3 (kitchen) is {here}, and the "junky" porch decor is {here}.  Think, ladders, buckets, and more crates! **

                                             

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