Fall Decor

I am finally beginning to feel settled in our new (rental) home.  Most boxes are unpacked and we have found a bit of a routine.  It has taken some time to adjust to Lincoln leaving early in the morning to catch the ferry, getting the kids off to school on my own, following a bus schedule, getting 5 kids through homework each night, eating dinner at 7:15, getting all three girls to gymnastics twice a week, getting 3 kids to the church most Wednesday nights, volunteering in three classrooms, and counseling my children through this move.  But we are starting to get it under control.  In all the craziness, I felt like Halloween really sneaked up on me.  I didn't go all out with my Halloween decor this year, just put a few things out to get us in the spirit of it.  I ended up really liking the simplicity of it.  It kind of came down to black and white.

After feeling like fall had caught me unawares, for the first time I seriously considered going straight to Christmas decorations after Halloween.  I just didn't want Christmas to sneak up on me too.  I managed to resist the urge, however, and went ahead and put up the Thanksgiving stuff.

 

I am still worried about Christmas coming too fast, but I am trying to plan well and be on top of things.  I am always excited to get in the Christmas spirit!

Fall Mantel

Boy it seems like the seasons pass quickly these days! I can't believe we're on to fall already! I'm not complaining. It happens to be my very favorite season. I guess I've probably mentioned that before, but I can't help saying it over and over each year. I've had the autumn decorations out for a couple weeks now. My kids love fall as well, and they had been begging me to get out the decorations. I thought I'd share some of them with you today and then link up to the fall mantel party going on at The Lettered Cottage.

So let's start with the piano that serves as my mantel. Let me warn you, I'm not known for my subtlety when it comes to fall decorations. OK, here goes.






Lots and lots of nature elements. Leaves, acorns, birds, berries. LOVE.

Perhaps you can imagine my husband's reaction when I asked the neighbors if I could have their old screen door when they removed it. They were happy they didn't have to haul it off somewhere, I was happy to have a nicely weathered screen door, and my husband considered calling the casting folks at Hoarders. I really love it, though, and I think he's even coming around to it.

But the piano is not the only spot to get cozied up. The front porch is still a work in progress, but here are a few bits.

The caddy on the table was a find at a local barn sale.



The big pumpkins we grew ourselves! It was my first time growing pumpkins and I'm thrilled to have something to show for it.

The large black tool box came from the barn sale as well.


And lastly, back inside, here's my hutch. The large bread bucket was my great grandmother's. The old scale I picked up at the same barn sale last fall. The rusty metal star I picked up this year at the barn sale. It's actually a tree topper, but I loved it so much I convinced myself I could start using it now!






One last thing. You may have noticed a little stinker trying to sneak into my photos. He may be a stinker, but he's a darn cute one!


Linking up to :

Fall is my Fav

So fall is in the air. I LOVE fall. Like, big ol' heart LOOVE fall. Lincoln and I got married in the fall because of our mutual adoration for the season. I've been putting out the fall decor a little at a time, though I usually do it as soon as the kids are back in school.


This year I have felt like I had a lot of stuff I wanted to get done around the house before I got it out. So as I check something off my list I let myself do a little more. But I think it's time to just get it done now. As I was getting stuff out, I came across this banner I made last fall and I thought I'd share it here.



I used yummy textural items like felt, raffia, and twine.


The cutting and stitching was a little time consuming, but I love how it turned out.

This year I decided to display it in my mudroom on my storage bench- an antique Craig's List find. I love my bench. I was looking for a storage bench for the mudroom, but I didn't want something that looked like everybody else's mudroom storage benches. I fell in love with this old piece, repurposed from an old bed, I'm assuming. I think it had been stored in a barn or something, it was pretty dirty when I got it. But I love it and love that it's one of a kind.