Last week to this week!

Everything is still alive and well.  

We've come close to a frost but so far we're good.

The sun was back lighting the trees leaves and they look as though they are golden yellow already but it was just for a few minutes.

Today there was fog and a hint of smoke from a wood fire burning- very pretty start 

to the day!

I hope your weekend will be great! 

Our average temperatures are in the mid 60's during the day and the upper 30's at night.  

There are signs of the leaves turning and

I believe we will be in full color in the next two weeks!

Toodles!!

Fall Mantel

I added an arrangement to my large 

bowl on the mantel.

I wanted to add something dramatic

 yet keep it simple.

I actually started with a swag for a door that I stood upright and tied to the bowl and built the arrangement around it.

With my Tuscan accents in my home these fall colors are easy enough to bring into my room and mix with things I already have.

I added some parts of a dry arrangement I 
found at the store.  It was one of those you find 
in a cellophane bag- I dissected it and used 
what I wanted.

I added pumpkins, gourds, and 
leaves to fill it in.

 I will add a bit of whimsy on the mantel for 
Halloween but otherwise I'm going to leave it 
like this through Thanksgiving.

I was inspired by a mantel from the 
Nell Hill's Blog

Mary Carol's- Nell Hill's Blog

They used a box, I used a large bowl...I used
 the basics of their composition to create mine.
She had a post called Fall Makeover Mantel

I removed one candelabra to make way for the arrangement but that's all I changed!

Thanks for visiting!

I'm joining the following parties:

Between Naps on the Porch for
Metamorphosis Monday 


Debbiedoo's Magazine Copy Cat Challenge 
 

Centsational Girl for the

Autumn Mantels party

White Pumpkins and Warm Fall Tones

Last week I created my Centerpiece Harvest Basket and this week I dressed out the table to go with it!

My goal was to create a blend with the popular white look I'm seeing everywhere this year and the rich fall harvest 

tones of the season!  

Ozzie (formerly Mr. Owl) greets you!

He's a looker isn't he!!

My basket is a blend of rusty orange pumpkins, white pumpkins, gourds, faux leaves, berries and straw.

I played on the white pumpkins with my white dishes.

 

I chose these chargers because of their leaf pattern and with the rust napkins they help ground the warm fall tones!

 The white flatware balances the white plates...the stitched gold leaf patterned placemats add to the rich harvest tones!

A few adornments...and some amber colored drinkware

My cute bird on the acorn was a find at Hobby Lobby...the candle holder was from One King's Lane last winter. I like their rustic look which is ideal for these fall days.

 

Ozzie and I thank you for visiting! 

I hope you liked my blend of white and warm fall tones!  

 I'm joining Cuisine Kathleen for her

Let's Dish- Harvest Tablescape Challenge

and

BNOTP for Tablescape Thursday

PB Inspired Indian Corn Project

Today I'm joining Debbiedoo's
 

Well I saw this picture in the Pottery Barn catalog and decided I wanted to try my hand at creating it for myself.

Pottery Barn 

This project turned out to be a tad bit harder than I anticipated.  The challenge being how to get the ears of corn to stand around the base.

I started with this glass bowl. I knew I had to get the corn to affixed to the bowl somehow.  

I forgot to mention that I had decided to keep my Indian Corn natural rather than to give it the gold tone the PB had given theirs.  So I glued them on- but ran short by three.  I couldn't attach the jute twine, which may have helped to hold them in place, because I was short a few pieces of corn.  

Disaster picture...

Later that evening the corn began to fall off... insert___curse word (stop laughing)!!  I was tongue and cheek about the hot glue- but I didn't want the glue to be permanent.  The next morning I removed all of them and peeled off the hot blue.  I ran a row of that jute ribbon you see in the background around (which coincidentally happened to be the same height as the side of the bowl) and hot glued it to the bowl and overlapped it so I could hot glue it to itself- hoping it would hang on better.  My hope was that if the corn could have something else to attach to than just the glass it might stick better.

The next day I went out and found more of the mini Indian Corn.  This time I found more of the long slender versions...Note the larger ones in the upper tier...I think that was another problem....they were too heavy.  I also tied each husk with a little bit of raffia just to keep them a little more organized and not too wild.

So here it is a close up...I used a wired twine.  I thought it had a nice rustic feel to it and I was able to put some pressure on the corn in hopes that it would stay in place!  I turned the bowl upside down too so that my vase could stand on it's bottom and that worked out great.

 

The pedestal vase was something I had in storage and since it has a tapered shape I didn't have much room for filler like PB has used.  I might try something organic like lentils. The candle is from T.J.Maxx. It's scented with a wonderful cinnamon/pumpkin fragrance. 

Now I need to get my buns in gear and do a tablescape!  I've made two centerpieces in the last week...time to finish the look!

Tell me what you think!!

I will be joining the following parties!

BNOTP- Metamorphosis Monday

A Stroll Thru Life- Tabletop Tuesday

Update:

My little PB Inspired Indian Corn  Project

was featured at

Knock Off Decor

That's Amore....

Last month our son and his wife participated in an annual event that her parents, grandparents, and some aunts and uncles partake in.

  I admire the G's family and their devotion to this canning event.  It's a family tradition with them and they really make a team effort!

This is our son Ryan stirring the pot....

It was in the 90's that day.

 You have to love shots like these...

 I love seeing men involved in cooking!

They are very particular about the tomatoes they use and go to specific places for them each year.  I can attest to how good their sauce is because I've had many dishes prepared with it!

You have to love family traditions!  Respect, love and knowledge are all gained by them!

We don't have enough of it in our country these days.  Ryan married into a 100% 

Italian family....he did all right!!

He's already learned something and become involved in a long standing family tradition

and...

That's amore!!

Updated Centerpiece Harvest Basket

Well a couple of people chimed in and thought the basket looked better without the jute ribbon but I wasn't willing to give up on it.  I studied it throughout the day yesterday and decided to try gathering the ribbon up to create a swag and now I'm much happier with it! Yesterday's post showed the basket like this... 

Here it is now with a little tweak that I think made all the difference!

The sun is out briefly in between the rain we keep getting. So I took advantage and snapped a few extra shots.

This one really captures a nice glow and speaks fall!

Of course Mr. Owl had to be featured again... I am enjoying all the owls I've been seeing this year!

This is where it's residing on my formal dining table.  

Next week I plan to get a tablescape pulled together using my centerpiece!

Well I hope you agree that my little tweak was just what it needed!

I'm joining these parties:
Tablescape Thursday 
and 
Let's Dish 

Centerpiece Harvest Basket

Today I am showing you my 

Centerpiece Harvest Basket that I 

just completed.

A break down...

After a couple of cups of coffee and listening to the boring news shows I decided to get this project moving along.  Last week hubby and I took a trip to Hobby Lobby (80 miles away for us) and did a little shopping there as well at another small floral and gift shop I found in this town.  That's where I found this basket.  I kept seeing these large wooden box like containers with seasonal decorations on other blogs and this struck me as an alternative idea.  It's quite large and a bit heavy.

I had a bunch of those papers they wrap things up with at Hobby Lobby and I scrunched them up tightly to create a bed for my project.

Then I laid a heavy amount of this textured straw like filler for the base of my design.

I rummaged through my containers with faux fall picks and accessories.

See the texture of this basket.  I don't know what the material is but I liked it's woody look.  As you can see I've assembled it.

 The white pumpkins were new from 

Hobby Lobby and Mr. Owl was from JoAnn's- 

I had all the rest.

 I've been visualizing using Mr. Owl in so many places, but he finally got a home here!  My cats also thought he was a cute toy and I found it on the floor once- thank goodness they didn't ruin it!

Here's a top view of it

I never mentioned the woven jute ribbon.  I bought that at Hobby Lobby and wasn't quite sure how I was going to use it but this morning while staring at the roll near the basket it came to me to wrap the basket with it-  and create a ruffle or skirt.

I tacked it in several spots at the top to keep it from moving out of place.

I'm going to set this on my big dining table. I plan to set a nice tablescape and use this for my centerpiece!

 I hope you like it...I love hearing your thoughts!

I'm joining these parties:

Share Your Cup Thursday