It's Fall Y'All!

Ok, first, let me say a BIG THANK YOU to all my friends who reached out to me following my last blog post. I cannot even begin to tell you all how much it meant to me. This really is a hard, scary, heart-breaking, tragic, confusing, crappy time in my life, not to mention my girls. We all are struggling with the process. I am still crying everyday (except for one day the beginning of the month - not sure what happened there), eating (way too much!), and downright struggling with the reality and finality of everything. I have decided, the best way to get my new, little family through all this, is to try to keep to traditions and routines we all know and love.

That being said, Fall came to Seabreeze Dr a couple of weeks ago. Now, since our house is on the market, I chose to hold back (I know, hard for me, right??) and just put up a few touches here and there.

I love these glittery leaves I picked up at Hobby Lobby
in Ocala a couple of years ago.
I think they add a little something special to
 the chandelier. 

The girls and I are going to Asheville (with some other family members) the end of October, a trip we used to make as a family. It will be bittersweet but we are really looking forward to getting away for a few days, breathing in some cold air, looking at the gorgeous leaves, getting lost in a corn maze, and just taking our mind off of all the chaos in our lives (plus, Brevard, NC, has a restaurant that makes wicked good Grilled Pimento Cheese sandwiches and Asheville is known for their craft beers - win, win!). 

So I hope you like my little touch of Fall in the South. Switching to Halloween real soon but that will be for another post!

DIY Fall Leaf Candle Holders . .

 

Ok, so last year (or maybe it was two years ago), I came across a craft I thought my Girl Scouts would love and it would be easy - these beautiful fall leaf candle holders.  I did this before I really blogged so I don't have step-by-step photos (see, I am not good with the tutorials) but it's super easy.

First, take a lump of clay. I used Amaco Mexican Pottery Self-Hardening Clay. At the time, I couldn't find the clay I wanted in my local stores but my mom found it in her neck-of-the-woods at Hobby Lobby. Thanks Mom. So the girls rolled the clay out to about a half-inch thick. Before the meeting, I printed out outlines of maple leaves on regular paper. The girls cut the leaves out. Then they laid the cut out leaf on top of the flattened clay. They used a plastic knife to cut around the outside edges of the paper leaf and removed any excess clay. Then, before removing the leaf, the girls traced the veins of the paper leaf with a dull pencil so the impression would leave marks on the clay.

See the lines?
It makes it a little more realistic.

When that was all done, we put a candle on it to make sure the main part would be flat and hold a candle nicely. Next, the girls folded up the sides anyway they wanted it. Some girls did not want to use it as a candle holder, they wanted to hang it or just use as decoration, which was perfectly fine. For those who wanted to hang theirs, we put a hole through the top with the pencil (don't forget to sign your name and date it).

Then you let it dry, and dry, and dry. I can't really remember how long it takes to dry because our GS troop meets every week, but I want to say 24-48 hours.

Then comes more fun - painting! The key is to smear the colors together before they dry and make it look natural.

We made sure to paint all the edges but my daughter didn't want to paint the backside of the leaf so that's ok.

Don't they look great?

Another great Girl Scout project! Thanks girls!!

Needing Some Fall . . .

Ok, so fall starts this Saturday and while it doesn't fell like fall yet here in Florida, there is a nice cool A/C breeze in my house and the scent and look of fall all around.

To continue the fall tour, I just wanted to share a few more shots with you -

Here's our mantle. The pumpkins are from falls past and I glittered the heck out of them last year (or maybe it was two years ago). Since there is a big, beautiful wreath hanging above (which I have added some embellishments to over the past couple of years) I didn't want to use real candles so I thought I would see how these new flameless candles work. I found this set at Michaels (on sale and with an additional coupon) and I think they add the right color. I don't think the glow is as nice as with real candles but I don't have to worry about them burning down the house!

Here is just a fall leaf garland attached to my beautiful Parisian pediment. I love the way this garland looks and it I ever see more of them in a store, I will buy lots of them to hang everywhere!

This is the sideboard in our dining room. I hung a leaf wreath over the mirror, added some small pumpkins and leaves to the hurricane and put out a few fall photos from our trips.

This is not the best shot of a photo in a frame, but I wanted to share this photo with you. It is one of my ALL-TIME FAVES! I took this in Virginia while we were hiking a trail in the Shenodoah National Park. The girls were holding hands with my husband and I let them get a little ahead of me. They were on a quest to find more chipmunks and I just love that my oldest is wearing her Forest Ranger hat! I also really like all the colors and the way the trees line up. Unfortunately, the original photo is currently on some disk somewhere (or at least I hope it is) so I had to take a picture of the picture!

The floral arrangement in this photo is from Wal-Mart years ago. They had two left and were on a big clearance! Technically, I think they are some kind of orchid but I just love having them out for fall. I think they give off great color.

So that's it for the major rooms. I do have some fall decor in the guest bath, in the craft room and miscellaneous pumpkins stuck here and there, but this is the bulk of it.

I do still want to share some fall vacation photos and a great fall craft my Girl Scouts made a couple of years ago, but that is for another post!

What Do I Smell - Fall??

Ok, let's be honest. I live in Florida and it is freaking hot right now. I know it is hot around the rest of the country but remember, in Florida, it's the humidity that will get ya!!

So in order for me to survive what I deem - THE most annoying month of the year (my apologies to those born this month, Presley, I mean you!) - I have to think ahead to beautiful red, orange and yellow leaves (not palm fronds), crisp, cool air (not your clothes sticking to you the minute you walk out the door), and pumpkin picking (not mosquito swatting). The best way for this Florida girl to do that is to turn her house in a beautiful Fall setting. Please bear in mind, I have a retail background so getting an early jump on the holidays is something that is in my blood.

That's why, this Sunday, August 19, the day before school starts, my husband will be bringing all the Fall boxes out of storage and I will begin decorating!! Can't wait! Can't wait! Can't wait!! (TMI Note: I would totally be jumping up and down if I was wearing a workout bra right now!) I would actually start sooner but we are having company this Saturday and I didn't want to look too silly!!

In addition to all my gorgeous decorations (at least I think they are), I also plan to make a couple of items that have been on my radar for sometime. Again, I defer to Pinterest (all original posts can be found on my Pinterest account):

1. I plan on reworking my front doors (lucky me, I have 2) and making some great wreaths. Usually I use these beaded-wreathy things I bought at Home Goods years ago and the wooden beads keep falling off and it has a funny odor. Real pleasant when you knock on my door. I also have a falling down chalkboard. It's a real eyesore and needs a total revamping.

2. Back to the front door area, I think something like this would be nice. Of course living in Florida, we can't carve our pumpkins until the night before Halloween or they will be filled with mildew (eeewww!). However, wouldn't a fake pumpkin be great? You would probably have to remove the mum to water it or maybe drill holes in the pumpkin but I am going to give it a shot. Stay tuned on this!

3. I have just bought a set of these bad boys, they light up with batteries!! They are due to arrive later this week. Not sure how they will look but hoping they will look as good in person, as they do in my head!

4. You have seen this picture before and it IS going to happen. I was going to have my Go To Guy do it for me but then I had to have a bunch of wood siding on my house replaced by him and that took care of any budget I had! I can do this myself, but it is just a matter of me getting the wood because I don't think I have much laying around my house. Maybe if I cleaned out the garage, I might find some. Needless to say, one way or another, this is happening!!!

Don't even get me started on Fall foods. I have a whole board on Pinterest just for that!! So I am off to finish organizing my craft room so I feel crafty enough to get my craft on but that is for another post!

Can't Wait!!

Ok, so in 30 minutes I am heading off to Asheville, North Carolina!! Very excited. My family usually takes a fall trip in October. We have really hit the East coast hard and will move more out west in the next couple of years.  However this year, we wanted to go back to one of our faves . . . this is probably our 4th time to North Carolina. We have also visited Vermont, Williamsburg, Jamestown,Virginia and Montreal. They all have beautiful leaves but nothing is like driving through the Blue Ridge Parkway.

So we are off to drop the dog off with her grandparents, pick up one niece and head to Savannah tonight. We are going to eat at Lady & Sons for lunch and then on to Asheville for apple picking, a corn maze, hiking and picnicking on the Blue Ridge Parkway. I hope you are having fall fun this weekend and I will fill you in on my trip but that will be for another post!