~dropcloth, burlap and hydrangea fall wreath~

Well that wonderful warm weather I was bragging about came to an abrupt halt and so we are now well and truly in fall mode! Nesting mode. Make a new wreath mode.

I had been wanting to put together a new wreath for fall, something a little more neutral and natural. When I saw one over at Craftberry Bush I knew that was the direction I was headed.

But first I needed dried hydrangea blooms. Preferably greens and browns for fall, but my bush was pink. 

Or was it. 

Here’s the interesting thing, when I went out there the blooms had all turned green in the fall, I had never noticed that before. Maybe the warm dry weather helped. 

So I picked tons of blooms!

If you’ve never dried hydrangeas before it is dead easy, you just cut the blooms, plunk them in water and leave them to dry out. I have pitchers of hydrangeas all over the house, from my yard and a friend’s.

I’m still undecided on how I feel about dried flowers, I have tended to steer away from dried flower arrangements, but pitchers of green and brown hydrangeas feel very fresh and fallish in the home.

So, moving on to the wreath, I made it just using what I had on hand, and it honestly took less than an hour. 

I used strips of dropcloth and burlap, as well as hydrangea blooms and dried white roses. 

I tied 3 or 4 dropcloth strips for every burlap strip.

Here’s a close up of the fabric strips tied around the wreath.

The white roses mostly disintegrated when I tried to handle them! Less is more definitely applied here!

 I just hot-glued on a couple buds and petals as best I could.

Lucy over at Craftberry Bush gives a great tutorial on making this wreath, so hop on over there and take a peek.

If I were to make this again there are a couple things I would do differently.

 I would use a larger wreath form, mine was a little small for all that fabric and my big front door!

I also wouldn’t knot the fabric, just a single loop is enough {like the first tie you make on a shoelace}. That way it is less bulky.

Though my wreath could use a little tweaking at least it is up, and I am happy with a finished project for now

Happy Fall!

Tracey

I love the contrast of the neutral colours against the black, and the slightly messy look of the fabric ties.

~making fabric pumpkins~

Well, our unseasonably warm and dry fall continues up north, and as much as I am enjoying my beachy coastal decor, it’s time for some pumpkins don’t you think?

Or "punkins" as our Grade Ones insist on calling them

"pump" as in "jump"

~pumpkin~

yes, they say, punkin!

sigh, they are so cute!!

This year I have enjoyed making some fabric pumpkins, they are not very difficult to make and are a really fun project. 

What I love is that you can pretty much use the supplies you have on hand : fabric, stuffing, bits of lace and ribbon and a glue gun. 

{Hint: you also need a good, strong needle to stitch the bottom up.}

And there is something very fallish about going out looking for the perfect sticks to make pumpkin stalks!

I used a tan chenille for this pumpkin, prettied it up with lace and wrinkly seam binding ribbon, jute and a vintage earring. 

Isn’t this such pretty vintage lace! This pumpkin has a pearl earring glued on.

I love the rustic touch the twig stalk gives the pumpkin.

I also made some smaller pumpkins out of natural osnaburg. Really you can be as creative as you like decorating these pumpkins. This one I “segmented" with jute.

Added a few pretty pearls…

Give it a try! If you don't find a clear enough tutorial let me know and I'll post some directions. 

Right, I’m off to make pecan pie ready for our Thanksgiving dinner! 

Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian readers!

Tracey

linking up at these fun parties:
 We did it! Wednesday @ Sew Much Ado
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday @ Coastal Charm
Primp your Stuff Wednesday @ Primp 
The Inspiration Board @ Homework 
Whatever Goes Wednesday @ Someday Crafts 
the 36th Ave party 
Show and Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home 
Fabulously Creative Friday @ Jennifer Rizzo 
Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage 
Air your laundry Friday @ Freckled Laundry
SNS @ Funky Junk Interiors

~as promised, my simple beachy party post~

Hello friends,

Well here we are with fall nipping at our heels and I still want to show you a couple photos from that little beachy party we had in the summer, as promised!

 As we are having the most gorgeous dry and sunny fall up north I am going to go right ahead, and perhaps my southern hemisphere friends will appreciate it too as you head into summer!

So here goes, kept it super simple and mostly used what I had on hand:  wicker vases, white pitchers, mason jars, white sand and tealights.

Oh, and a bunch of baby's breath, one of my favourite flowers to decorate with, a bunch goes a long way.

Simple, that is, except for these jolly tissue pom-poms. Word of advice : don’t leave them until the night before. Like I did. I don’t generally consider myself a craft-challenged gal but these pom-poms got the better of me! Especially the big ones, which ended up piled in the corner of my farmhouse table and no one was any the wiser that they had big holes underneath!

Here’s a close up, aren’t the ruffley layers pretty!

Another word of advice : you can order them online and just fluff them out!

I also hung some up high from the gazebo outside with a couple paper lanterns, with a bit of fluffing they are quite forgiving:-)

The smaller ones turned out much better and I tossed a couple on the tables here and there.

So I used a white cotton tablecloth with a wide burlap runner down the middle, and an assortment of candles, starfish, blue mason jars, and accents. 

~Simple~

I laid a similar table outside with a few different accessories, and strung up twinkling fairy lights. So sorry I didn't get any photos of the other table!

Scattered starfish along the tables.

The white shells looked so pretty piled in a blue mason jar.

I am so in love with vintage paper straws, they not only look cute they are sturdy and so versatile in decorating and they photograph so well.

I ordered them in a couple different colours, but just used the blue ones here.

So there you have it! It was simple to put together but looked so fresh and beachy! 

As beachy coastal was loosely the theme I went with this summer in my living room it was fun to extend that through the house for the party! 

You can read more about my beachy coastal living room here and here.

Hope you enjoyed a peek into the party!

Tracey