Don't Leaf Me Behind

During the school year, we have a family ritual of driving the school-going kids to school every morning, either Dave or I will walk them to their classrooms, and sometimes, we'll swing by our favorite coffee shop, The Hazelnut Tree, on our way home for coffees, hot chocolates, and yummy breakfast treats. While the staff whips up our drinks, I love to browse through the selection of candles, home decor, jewelry, and artwork for sale at the shop. We just so happened to swing by today, and lo and behold, I spied a set of gorgeous glittery leaves hanging in the front window. I'd seen them around this same time last year, but by the time I got around to stopping by to check them out, they were out of the window; they had been sold. I had been leafed out. {Get it? "Leaf"ed out?!} I was wasting no time this year; I had a gift card to The Hazelnut Tree that someone had gifted me for helping with a decorating project, and I knew these leaves were coming home with me - today!

Insert excited dance here: The leaves are in the house!

Unwrapped and ready to sparkle!


The sparkly leaves now hang in my window, not The Hazelnut Tree's! {Well, technically the same leaves still hang at The Hazelnut Tree. Mine were just taken from their supply of extras.}

Love!

I slipped some fishing line through the loops on top of the leaves and around the curtain rod above the windows so the glittery foliage seems to float. Raffia ribbon or twine could replace the fishing wire to add a pretty spin on the project, too.

Such a simple way to add a little shine to the season. Happy Fall!

I'm Falling for Fall

Open the windows wide; let that beautiful rush of fresh, cool air flood your home. Can you smell it? Fall is here. Kiddos are back to school, I'm drooling for apple crisp, and the daylight hours are dwindling. But the surest signs of the season showed up in my mailbox last week: Pottery Barn's and Restoration Hardware's Fall Catalogs.

I'm pumped for new projects and inspiration to make my home pretty for autumn.

Pottery Barn dressed up their Spire Pillar Candelabra for fall with antlers and gourds. Easy peasy!

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Restoration Hardware has me gaga over their gorgeous Orb Crystal Chandelier. I'm dying!!

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Here it is pictured in a room. The X-Large version is priced at $4495. Do you think Dave will go for that? Me, neither. But I can find my own way to add sparkle to my home on the cheap. You better believe I will.

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I might try my hand at another corn candle ring. I stole the idea from last fall's Pottery Barn catalog. You can read how to autumn-ize your own candles here.

I'm excited to wear cute boots with flirty dresses. I'm currently crushing on these boots {way outta the budget!}.

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 How adorable would they be with this dress from Anthropologie?


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I'm ready to cheer for our small town's high school football team on chilly nights with a blanket and hot chocolate {Dave and I live in the town where we grew up; we're loyal fans!} and take a trip to our favorite apple orchard. I'm ready for bonfires, hot apple cider, and comfort foods. Goodbye, summer!

It's official. I'm falling for fall.

A Corny Project? I Don't Think So.

The gurus at Pottery Barn did it again. They sent their Fall Catalog to my home, sucking me right into their perfectly decorated world. I've thumbed through the pages of each and every one of my Pottery Barn catalogs more times than I can count, admiring furniture, room arrangements, paint colors and accessories every time. One particular page that struck me was one that featured a table set for a Thanksgiving feast {or maybe just Tuesday night's dinner} and showcased a beautiful centerpiece with Indian corn and a candle aglow.



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 I knew this had to sit on our dining room table. It's on, Pottery Barn.

I wasted no time picking up some Indian Corn at a little Farmer's Market {about a dozen ears} and gathered some raffia ribbon and brown ribbon, a large glass candleholder that sits on our patio table all summer, rubber bands, and tape.

With my supplies at hand and my Pottery Barn catalog nearby for a cheat sheet, I placed a rubber band around the candleholder and started adding in ears of corn.

When the entire candleholder had been surrounded with corn, I placed a second rubber band around it for added security.

Next I cut a piece of brown ribbon to fit around the rubber bands and taped it in place. I tied a few pieces of the raffia ribbon over the brown one and called it complete.



Pretty easy! Who's bringing the turkey?

Pretty Fancy Pumpkins

Saw some fabulous ideas the other day. They were a couple of Better Homes and Gardens pumpkins gone glam crafty crafts that I fell in love with. You can find the instructions here and here.



See how fabulous?

I got myself to Michaels ASAP and picked up a few fake pumpkins, spray paint {both black and silver sparkly glitter spray}, sequins, and a fancy {yet spooky} black crow.

I took my pumpkins and my spray paint and last week's newspaper and headed outside to transform some pumpkins. My neighbors have seen me outside with spray paint so often that they probably think we own stock in Krylon.

Here are the pumpkins before, plain and nice, nothing fancy.

And here they are after their makeover.

The crow is my favorite part! A sparkly harbinger of Halloween.

Snazzy! The orange pumpkins each got a couple coats of black spray paint, and all of them received a coat of silver glitter spray. I individually adhered each rhinestone with my hot glue gun; next time I do the project, I'll definitely use some self adhesive jewels, like these.

Pretty fancy pumpkins! I love how fall just keeps creeping into my home.