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Thursday, October 24, 2013

Fall Home Tour 2013

Hello and Happy Fall! 

As usual, I am once again, late to the party.

I like to arrive fashionably late. 

...Yeah, that's it. It was totally planned. And thoughtfully executed. 

I meant to wait this long. 

Really. 

Ok, not really. 

I am sorry. Sometimes my life feels overwhelming, and I just have to put the brakes on. 

Plus, we just got back from a really lovely family trip to Switzerland and England. 

I promise to share more about that soon!

So, I have been decorating for fall for weeks now, but have not gotten around to showing you any of it.

...Until today. :-)

Prepare for photo overload!

I have been buying pumpkins, gathering leaves, and pinecones, and adding fluffy pillows, lots of cozy 

blankets to snuggle under, and flannel sheets on the beds. 

I decorated my mantel ages ago. I made my own Autumn Banner and gathered things that I already 

had on hand. I like to keep my decorating simple.


I don't do a lot outside for fall, as the winds in Southern California this time of year can be extreme, and I don't want to decorate with lots of little cute things, only to have them blow away!

Inside my house, I only put a few things up for Halloween, and I normally do it just a few days prior. 

I like to have Autumn decor that will last from early fall, through Thanksgiving. 

The day after Thanksgiving, and sometimes even turkey day itself, all of the Christmas stuff is pulled out, and holiday preparations are in full swing!

So for fall, I don't buy a lot of new things. I just gather all my pinecones, twigs, feathers and gourds, and fill and fluff until I have something that makes me smile.



Now prepare for a few in bad light...



View from the dining room back towards the living room. See what I mean about my lousy photos? 
The light in here is just never conducive. But then again, I was using my iPhone here. Lol!


 My little reading nook got a few ears of indian corn.

I bought nothing new for the dining room table, I just used a cloth napkin I had, and some cotton stuffing, a rubberband and a ribbon to create this fabric pumpkin. The stem is REAL! I found a whole bunch on the ground at the pumpkin farm last year, so I picked them up in hopes of making fancy fabric pumpkins. 

But, turns out I'm a tad lazy. ;-) 
So I cheated. 


I had some burlap that I received at the Haven conference, and I used that instead of placemats, for a rustic feel. 

I gathered my ironstone dishes, and layered in some green plates for color. 

 I also used some satin ribbon in brown, and I just layered it on top of the burlap. Across the table lengthwise, I layered a thicker sheer amber ribbon with an oak leaf print. 


My sweet little Quail mom and baby I found thrifting...


And a few random odds and ends thrown together. Somehow it all makes sense to me! That stem of pods fell from one of my palms, and the copper acorn tag was found at my local flea market. 

I have no idea why I like the ripped old book page liner, but I just do.


I added thrift store ironstone cups that I could not seem to walk away from, to a wreath in my dining room. I LOVE how it turned out, and will be sharing more about it this soon! 


The living room and dining room have 11 windows between them, so these two rooms get TONS of light, making them quite a challenge to photograph well. 

So I usually dont. 
Photograph them well, that is...


It doesn't seem to stop me from taking ten thousand pictures. ;-)


I love the vignette on the buffet, but I am still looking for something else to go in the center of that charger. A cool plate maybe? 

Or, maybe I will take that down and do something else. Ya neva know! 


In my kitchen, I have a rustic farm table with grey legs. 

I added some wheat bundles that I already had, and set the table with my pretty everyday dishes...






I love that I did not have to buy anything to make it look festive!


The above is a sneak peek at an upcoming post. But it is how my mantle looks now, and how it will stay until the day after Thanksgiving. I made the Book Page Wreath from an old dictionary, and the banner I made this year too!

I love to decorate for the seasons, but as you may notice, I don't feel that it's necessary to spend a lot, or even ANY money to accomplish the look that I want.

I hope you enjoyed a little look at some of my fall decor. 

Happy Fall! 
Please come back and visit again soon! 
I've missed you!


Thanks for stopping by!
xo-Lisa

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Autumn Banner How To...

Hi! 
Thanks for stopping by!


Today I want to show you a little project that took 4 things to make,
 and literally just 6 minutes from start to finish!

I was at Michael's Crafts earlier this week, and they had these muslin covered cardboard pieces on sale for a dollar!

Well, I knew I wanted to make some type of fall banner like the ones I've seen in the Pottery Barn catalog, so using that as my inspiration, I made my own version. 

All I used were the fabric covered banner "boards", a sharpie, some letter stencils, and a spool of black ribbon.

Ok, I'll show you how...

 I used some Martha Stewart stencils that I had in my craft supplies...

 Mine came two letters per card, so I cut them in half because they are much easier to work 
with that way.

 As usual, I just eyeballed it. 

Seriously, I never. measure. anything.

 Traced the outline with a Sharpie, and filled them in. 

Easy peasy, lemon squeezie!


Then I laid them all out and used a spool of back ribbon to string them all together. 


 I didn't have a pumpkin stencil, so I just free-handed the pumpkins with vines and leaves. 

They turned out better than I expected. 


 The ribbon I used had a tiny wire in it, so I curled it around my Sharpie at the ends.

I will give you one blurry shot of it hanging on the mantel, but I am still in the process of changing that out for fall, so I will so a mantel post with close ups when it's finished!

Have a great day!! 

xo-Lisa

Linking to the following...

Home{work} Wednesday at The Everyday Home

Monday, August 26, 2013

My Cute New Ugg Tennis Shoes...And the End of Summer Happenings.

Hi friends!

Happy Monday!! 

This is the last week of summer, and the little guy heads back to school next Tuesday. 

We have another week of swim lessons, and a few more fun things to do before then. 

We had a really nice 2 days at Disneyland. 

We like to splurge and stay at the Grand Californian.


...Even though we live close enough to drive...technically. 

It just makes it so much more enjoyable! 

It is Craftsman Style in Architecture.
There is a massive stone fireplace in the lobby, with comfy rocking chairs around it.
I know, because I sunk into one after dinner. Ahhhh.


The next morning we were up and running!

It is the happiest place on earth for sure!

The little guy's top 3 are...

The Buzz Lightyear Ride.

The Lego store at Downtown Disney.

and

The Radiator Springs Ride in Cars Land.
(Seriously, so awesome!!!)


Now, back to those shoes...


I saw these at Nordstrom months ago, and I keep thinking about them...

I am not really a tennis shoe girl.

I mean, I have great workout Nike shoes,
but I don't really wear tennis shoes on a regular basis.

Maybe because I like to look a little more...
I don't know.

I guess I like cute sandals or boots or wedges, something a little more fun!

Tennis shoes are just not normally my thing.

But THESE, I can do!!


Come to mama!

I broke down and ordered them today.

And, thanks to Amazon Prime, I will be sporting them very soon!

Hope you have a fantastic week!!

Thanks for stopping by!

xo-Lisa