Autumn Instagram

I am having fun with instagram. Here are some fall corners of my home.

 

Candles and Feathers

    Well my computer is fixed (sort of, do not ask :-O ). I wanted to share this simple vignette I did because it is that, simple. Just some candles (the kind that are battery operated. There are times when I really appreciate those battery operated candles!!) and two black feathers off an old hat. I did feel like there was a bit too much space, so I added one of my necklaces. I love to look at pictures of lush tablescapes, filled to the brim with goodness and creativity but it can leave one feeling ... well lacking. I am finding I have less and less time to create dramatic tablescapes in my home. Sometimes I just want quick, easy and simple. It does not take a lot to make ones home look beautiful xox

PS. The pretty tray is from Ikea, $9.99. It is huge too, what a deal! Got to love Ikea!

Autumn Corners

The first day of September Chloe was in a decorating mood. We had so much fun!! I went for the simple pumpkin in an urn look ;-o

Chloe went for an more abundant fall look ;-)

But I think she did a good job!!! By the way the charming needle felted mushroom and large owl below were from the talented LaVonne

Ohhh and I have to share my new sofa with you. I had been watching and watching it on Craigslist but she wanted much more than I could pay. My patients won out, finally she listed it for $100.00. I am thrilled with the sofa but I do want to paint the wood trim. I am not a plain brown wood kind of girl. One friend on facebook suggest pearl gray, another chalk black with silver highlights. Would would you paint it ??

Making Pinecone Jewelry

 

 
This is my favorite kind of craft. Using something from nature in a whole new way. I am blessed to have at lest 6 different types of pine cones on my property. But I love these little fir cones. I thought for fall it would be fun to make jewelry. This was sooo easy just cones, glue and either a ring base or for a necklace I found a big button worked great. I just took some embroidery floss and string it through a hole and glued on the cones. The hardest part was holding the cones for 5 minutes or so, until the glue firmed up. This would be a wonderful project for children and great Christmas gift for them to make!!!

PS. Auberne` made the cutest toadstool ring from fimo!!

 

 

 

 

 

A Fall Corner

 

Sorry life is a bit busy (out of town guests) and I did not get the runner post written. I will next post. But here is my favorite corner in my house right now. When you walk into the living room, this is the first thing you see. Chloe and I made a twig tree, weaving some orange lights in it, then wrapped the whole tree in wide strips of black tulle and add a spider for fun. I tell you I adore my silhouette pumpkin. I never get sick of her. The white berries are a gift from Jill along with her amazing Bittersweet soap. She makes the most luxurious soap xoxo

 

 

Beans and Rice Centerpiece

I will confess this past spring and summer, I did not do much with my house. Luckily my house is pretty and does not need a lot. I had no themes, color palettes, etc, I was too lost in Wren. But now I am coming out of my fog and getting my nest in order. Lots of deep cleaning going on (but I still have sooo much more to do, it is scary. I am slob incase you do not know that about me)  and autumn decorating. The only reason I pick a theme or colors when I decorate, is it helps me focus on what I already have. Maybe see something in a new light. This falls color theme is black, white, brown and a tiny touch of red here and there. Very neutral and a bit French feeling.

In keeping with using what I had (although I did have to buy the black tappers. Shh, do not tell anyone) I looked to my pantry for inspiration. You could use any beans and rice but these went with my color theme. The only trick was keeping the candles up, because the beans were not going to. I used my trusty tacky wax (I cannot live without that stuff) but you could use fimo, play-dough or some kind off clay. Pick something the same color as your beans stick a ball of it in your container and push the candle in it. I set the candles at different odd angels. Filled the dish with the beans and set it on  platter of wild rice. I really love the look of this centerpiece. Next time I will show you a super easy gathered runner xoxo

PS. I am looking for one person who paid $18.00 without shipping for Wren Bay. If it is you, I owe you $1.25. Please e-mail me. Thank you xoxo

Library Curtains

A note for me:

I am just going to add this to my post. David was in a motorcycle accident yesterday on his way home from work.  He is okay. He shattered his right collarbone, dislocated a finger on his left hand and really bruised his ribs. But we are very grateful because it could have been soo much worse. So if I am not around for awhile that is why. Please be praying, David does not handle pain well, although last night he was handling it better then I thought he would. We will see how today goes !!!! On Friday he see a doctor and we will see if they will do surgery or anything. Also he has his right arm in a sling and his left hand in a splint. So he only has two finger he can use. Thank you soo much for all your love and support. I will be back as soon as I can xoxoxox

 

Good day everyone, I wanted to share my new drapes I made for my library. For my birthday my mother gave me this beautiful vintage hunting fabric that she had (I have been coveting it forever). I wanted to use it for new drapes but did not have enough, so what is a girl to do???? I found perfect taffeta for the rest of the drapes. I tied up the drapes (there is a second one I just did not take a picture) with pretty ribbon I had on hand and used a long nail as something to tie the ribbon onto. What I love most is the feathers. They are on a long wire that I bent over to make a hook and hooked it onto the knot of the ribbon. It just gives it a little some, some.

Do you like the black wicker chair ? (it now has a new coat of black paint) My sister gave me two of them. I still need to make new cushions, I think I will just use basic black twill. By the way this is my corner where you will find me working on my blog, chatting with all of you, knitting, recharging. I wish you could come have a cup of tea with me xoxoox

 

 
 

Cheap Chalkboard Trick

I am starting to decorate for fall. I decided to do a black and white in the shoe-room. I wanted it to feel a bit cleaner, not a lot of little stuff. Instead just a few larger pieces but still charming. I saw Jill's  amazing chalkboard and decided that would be perfect.

In trying to use "what I had", I use an old frame. I was planning on getting some cardboard or foam-board and paint it with chalkboard paint. I wanted it light, so it would not fall on anyone. Plus this is just something for this autumn. I am sure I will move onto some new idea by spring :-)

 

BUT I was looking at Joannes and did you know they sell foam-core in black !!!!!!!!!!!!! Perfect, no painting. You all know how I hate painting !!!!! I was not sure if I could use chalk on it, but I ws able to. The only thing is you can not fully wipe off the chalk, like a chalkboard. But it is black on both sides, so you have two boards.

As you can see the frame was wider then the foam-core, but I think it still works. I am over the moon. It was easy, cheap and I can use the other side for another use. I am really happy with the whole room. I have one more fun, cheap, easy trick to show you on my next post !!!! 

Squirrel Washcloth

Can you tell I am into squirrels lately ;-) I am really loving this squirrel washcloth. If you are new to knitting, washcloths are a great project for two reasons. One, the cotton yarn you use is easy, cheap and can handle being torn-out and re-knitted a couple of times. Two, washcloths are a small project to learn a new stitch. I would not say this is a hard pattern but also not the best for a new knitter. I highly recommend these knitting videos, if you are like me and like to see how to do a stitch xoxoxox

Caramel Apple Card

 

My good friend Kelli has opened a card shop, Seasonal Delights. She had so many charming cards, it was hard to choose. But I fell in-love with this caramel apple card. Lucky for all of us, she also had a tutorial on how to make them. I love my card Kelli, thank you sweetie xoxoxox

The Apple Does Not Fall Far From The Tree

 

Chloe's home is ready for fall. Wonderful job, sweetie. I am heading over for tea xoxoxox

Autumn Mantle

 

You would think after 15 or more years of rereading my old Victoria magazines, I would get bored with them. I mean they are hopelessly out-of-date, there is no simplicity to their vignettes, they are extremely girly, there are bouquets everywhere, piles of silver and china, gleaming candle in almost every picture    ;-) But this is the very reason I love them and quite frankly there is not much else out there that gives me the same thing. So I confess, I love the overfilling, girly, abundant, over the top pages of Victoria.

It inspired me to "Victoria'ize" my library. I went and cut a bunch of ivy, berries and whatever else caught my fancy. I piled it all on my mantle. Added some fake red leaves, feather, hydrangeas and filled in with all my deers. I am thrilled with the messy, too much, unclean look of it all.

Ohh and look at my little phone booth my father bought me. The first thing I did when I got to San Diego (truly, I had not even dropped my luggage off at my fathers house) was to go to Home Goods. I literally ran thought the store because I did not have a lot of time to look (and I would not be tempted to buy more then I could). I LOVE Home Goodies. Oh my gosh, I could have filled my suitcase with lavender silk love seat, red taffeta ruffled pillows, black roses lamp, Swedish painted wooden floor clock and oodles of china. If you are lucky enough to have a HG in your area and you have never been, go shopping for me xoxoxo

 

                                 

Autumn Welcome

 

A corner of my home. My little entryway, we call the shoe room. I was inspired by WarmPieHappyHome porch. I am ready to move in with Ruthanne xoxox

 

Squirrels and Other Fur-Bearers

 

SQUIRRELS

WALKING through the early October woods one day, I came upon a place where the ground was thickly strewn with very large unopened chestnut burrs. On examination I found that every burr had been cut square off with about an inch of the stem adhering, and not one had been left on the tree. It was not accident, then, but design. Whose design? A squirrel's. The fruit was the finest I had ever seen in the woods, and some wise squirrel had marked it for his own. The burrs were ripe, and had just begun to divide. The squirrel that had taken all this pains had evidently reasoned with himself thus: "Now, these are extremely fine chestnuts, and I want them; if I wait till the burrs open on the tree, the crows and jays will be sure to carry off a great many of the nuts before they fall; then, after the wind has rattled out what remain, there are the mice, the chipmunks, the red squirrels, the raccoons, the grouse, to say nothing of the boys and the pigs, to come in for their share; so I will forestall events a little: I will cut off the burrs when they have matured, and a few days of this dry October weather will cause every one of them to open on the ground; I shall be on hand in the nick of time to gather up my nuts." The squirrel, of course, had to take the chances of a prowler like myself coming along, but he had fairly stolen a march on his neighbors. As I proceeded to collect and open the burrs, I was half prepared to hear an audible protest from the trees about, for I constantly fancied myself watched by shy but jealous eyes. It is an interesting inquiry how the squirrel knew the burrs would open if left to lie on the ground a few days. Perhaps he did not know, but thought the experiment worth trying.

Jewled Lamp

 

It is in the small details that express the emotion of a room. Just a ribbon and a vintage pin, makes this lamp !!!!!

Cider Sauce

 

    One of the things that makes me so happy, is to take simple ingredients in my house and use them in a new way. I do not know why but I get such joy from that. This is how I feel about this cider syrup. I have made a pear sauce leftover from the roasted pear sauce I made. But really this can be make with both pear and apple juice. With the cost of maple syrup going up and up, I have been looking for ways to replace it.

     What I really love about this, is I can make several cups, fill small jars and freeze them. Then I just pull some out as I need it. Make sure you heat it up to melt butter. We love this over pancake, oatmeal and ice cream but as you can see above, I made hazelnut stuffed pears and drizzle the sauce over them. It is a good thing xox

Cider Sauce

4 cup of cider or leftover juice from the roasted pear sauce

1/2 cup of evaporated cane, rapadura or sugar 

3 TBL butter

pinch of salt

Put ingredients in a sauce pan and cook over medium-high heat, until it is reduced by half. Now taste the syrup, because all juices are not the same and your palette is different then mine. If it is too sweet add a little fresh lemon juice. If it is not sweet enough, add a little more sugar and cook a few more minutes.

You could add: a vanilla bean, ginger, orange juice and zest or spices.

Silhouette Pumpkin

Well now that I am done with my baking issue, I thought I would post a week of autumn corners, today is a silhouette pumpkin. I got a fake white pumpkin at Michel's. Also black acrylic paint and a fine-tipped paint brush.

I printed up on card-stock a 5x7 of the silhouette below (just click on picture and save). I carefully cut out the face and using double sided table, taped it to the pumpkin.With a pencil I traced around the face. Then with the fine-tipped brush, painted over the pencil line.

   

I just filled in with paint. It took about five coats, but I am thrilled with my pumpkin.

Hey, I will probably not have time to do much, but I am going to San Diego next week for a couple of days. Is there any must see shops in the area? I know were are going wine tasting in Temecula one day. Thank you for any recommendations xoxoxo

 

Autumn in a Box

 

Happy First Day of Autumn !!!!!

Chloe and I were inspired to make an autumn in a box by Bloggedy blog blog. It is a nice way to remember what we love and look forward to the season. As we find or think of things, we will add them to our box. Thank you for the idea Loopy and Saucy !!!!!

In our box we put, acorns, cinnamon sticks, tea cup (for tea), candle, straw, leaves, knitted bag, mushroom, apple, pumpkin, deer, berries, dried corn, seed pods and pine-cones.

Fall Inspiration

 

I am slowly setting out my fall decoration's and have been surfing the net for inspiration. I though I would share and hopefully you will be inspired too xoxox

 

Nesting Place fall wreath, stunning !!!

 

Bienvenue Candy corn Garland  

 

I have to make these bell jars, Watch The Wind Blow By, part one, part two

   

Also Marie has this fantastic idea for reusing a popcorn tin !!!

 

These fabric pumpkins have so many possibilities. Here is another tutorial.

 

SallyJean's list of fall inspirations.

For more inspiration go to The Inspired Room

Autumn Corners 5

Dear Abby was kind to let me share picture of her lovely home with all of you. I thought her mantel is stunning. Hopefully this will inspire all of you. Thank you Abby !!

Autumn Corner 4

Well I hope you do not mind indulging me. But one of the reasons for starting this blog was to share my English library. It is the first time I have completely striped a room and started over and this room is my favorite of the house. So I hope you do not mind me showing you every corner. Plus it is definitely the fall corner of my house. There is nothing like sitting on a rainy day with a book in my library. I hope it encourges you to create a library, even if it is just a corner of a room.

 

This room was the master bedroom. It had white carpet (which was gray in 4 years, yuck) and had bad 80's floral wallpaper. We pulled up the rug, luckily there was hardwood floor underneath. I painted over the wallpaper in this yummy shade that reminded me of maple cream. Even though I spent more on this room then I ever have I still tried to do it as cheap as I could. This map of London is actually wrapping paper.

 

This green hutch is a bit too early American for the room but it hold a lot of books. I may paint it black, we will see. The paisley quilt was my grandmothers. It is down filled and ready to fall apart any minute. But I love it, so I draped to it could be seen but not touched.

 

We have taken down the doors, hoping to strip them down to the wood. So for now I have wool suiting fabric with a men’s tie for a door to my cedar-lined closet.

 

I know in blog-land it is easy to create a rosy picture but not honest. So to be honest here is my crazy, messy closest I share with my daughter. This is the true me. I am a slob at heart and have to work really hard to keep my house clean . It is not in my nature to pick up after myself.

 

This was a free frame I was given and handkerchief I have been saving. I have another matching frame and want to put a mirror in it and hang it underneath.

 

This chandler was the big splurge. I thought it was better to just use what I had for accessories and instead put my money into paint and the light fixture. I like that it is oversized for the room and does not totally go with the room. I saw lots of light fixture that looked very library but I wanted something a bit unexpected. I like to have a few pieces in a room that does not go with the room. No total matchy-matchy for me.

 

This is a table with folding down sides table so I can open it up if I need to (I like to do puzzels in the winter here). The pillow is something I glued (literally) together and I love the New York Map tablecloth. I hope to get an England map tablecloth to replace it one day.

 

To add more storage, I took this self that was in an old trunk to hold more books. Ohh and look at all that dust.

 

My hubby is a hunter and was over the moon that I wanted to hang one of this deer racks.

 

This is my port bar (I see you smiling Tina) that hubby made me. You can see our big ugly (free) TV. Hubby made a wooden shelf that rest on the TV and has room for the DVD player. This turned out perfect.

 

Also this is a free poster that I hadfrom a unit about George Washington. I wanted to show it because I have not had the money to frame both the posters so I just taped the to the wall, till I can frame them right. So do the best you can, when decorating and think out of the box. The only vision I had when I started was a very English looking libary. I took it one step at a time. I knew I wanted lots of black, dark wood, deep tan walls and a small bit of deep red. And it grew from there. now I am working on my bedroom, one day you will see it !!!

Autumn Corner 3 part 2

 

 

 

    Thank you Joanne for sharing these wonderful pictures of the autumn corners of your home. Just beautiful, as usual !! Apple night was fun. All though we could not see the moon, it was foggy. This year we sat around a big bon-fire and grilled sausages and read books till it got too dark. Another tradition is to read Apple Star story by Madge Bigham. There are several versions out there but I particularly love this one. Maybe because I love Ms. Bigham and collect her books. After you read the story you half to cut the apple into two, across the apple (not length wise) and see the star!

 

 

The Story of How the Apples Got Stars Within
by Madge Bigham

    There was once a tiny seed sleeping in its blanket of earth all winter long until one early spring morning when Father Sun began to shine. The little seed awoke and began to stretch and yawn and stretch until its legs pushed deeper into the earth and its arms finally stretched up above the earth. Then, with one last stretch, the little seed poked its head up and looked around at the wide, wide world.

    After all those long winter months in its brown earth bed, the little sprout thought it had never seen anything so beautiful as grass and flowers, and it gazed in wide-eyed wonder at the world. All day the little sprout listened to the music of the birds and the breezes and was full of wonder. She watched the clouds sail by in the blue sky and then saw the sky turn golden as Father Sun sank into his bed. And then, as everything grew dark again, the little sprout saw a wonderful sight: up in the sky diamond-stars were twinkling! She wished so much to touch one that she stretched and stretched to reach the sky. But she couldn't touch the sparkling stars. And finally she began to cry.

    Suddenly, there appeared a fairy, wearing a crown a just those sparkling stars. "Why do you weep?" asked the fairy. "Because I so want such a star for my very own," answered the little sprout. "Ah, some day your wish shall be granted," said the fairy. "But first you have much work to do. You must grow strong and tall and full of love." And then the fairy vanished.

    The little sprout worked hard to grow tall and strong and after some time she became a young sapling. King Storm came with his winds and rains and beat her down almost to the earth. But each time she struggled to stand tall again, and grew stronger and stronger. And after some time she was no longer afraid of him for she knew he helped her to grow.

    After many visits from King Storm, one morning the little tree awoke to find her branches covered with pink blossoms. "Oh, how lovely!" she cried, and she took great care of them, day after day, until one day tiny seed babies appeared. Now the little tree was becoming a mother, and she was so busy caring for her tiny apple-children that she forgot all about her wish to the fairy. Summer came, and her children grew golden and green, and the little fairies came and kissed each little apple until it blushed bright red.

    The little apple tree was so proud of her children -- she felt she could not be happier. Then suddenly the fairy with the crown of stars appeared beside her. "I have come to grant your wish," she said, "to bring you a star from heaven for your very own." "Oh," said the little apple tree, "I no longer need a star. I am quite happy with my apple children." "Well then," said the fairy, "I shall give my basket of stars to your apple children. But I will hide them deep inside where only the Earth-Children can find them." And so she did. And that's where you will find a star waiting for you: inside each apple, guarding the little seed babies for you to plant in the earth again.

 

 

 

We also carved out apples, put tea candles in them and made lanterns out of them. Lastly I made apple-sauce ice cream. This was soooooo good. All I did was warm up some of the apple sauce we had made that day, mix it with softened vanilla ice-cream and to gild the lily added some warm pear caramel sauce. If you do not have any caramel sauce would be yummy or cinnamon sauce. It was lovely day. Although I think we my all be a bit apple'd out now !

Autumn Corner 3 part 1

One of the reasons I started the blog was to do a post on our Apple Day. I am hoping to start a trend of everyone having an apple day (I need to make tee-shirts  ;- ) and I hope it will be as popular as Christmas and Thanksgiving. First I have to give you a little history. When Aubern'e was little Willow Brook Farm on Bainbridge Island opened. Now if Martha was to open a farm on the island it would be Willow Brook. It has beautiful garden. They grow heirloom varieties of apples and pumpkins and a very large herb garden. They have miniatures horses. Sadly they have closed and only have a B&B. But they were the only farm in Kitsap County to make fresh cider. They had well over 20 different types of apples. We would buy different varies and have a sampling night. From there Apple Night has grown. We will set out different apples all labeled. Several different hunks of cheese. There is always a piece of sage cheddar. Cider, bread and different sausages. We sit by the woodstove and read all our fall/harvest picture books. One rule of apple night no lights. So after I get all prep-work done, it is only candles the rest of the night. The one exception is I keep a crockpot of hot cider.

Now there really is not one way to do Apple Night. As the years have gone by I have more and more friends who do Apple Night and each family does it a different way. Here are some ideas go apple picking, make apple sauce, butter, cider, ect. Make apple prints, apple dolls, have an outdoor bonfire, make donuts. Here is a list of some of our favorite fall book.

Pumpkin Moonshine by Tasha Tudor

Cranberry Autumn By Wende and Harry Devlin

Apple Cake By Nienke Van Hichtum

Goody O'Grumpity By Carol Ryrie Brink

When I Was Young In The Mountains By Cynthia Rylant

Yonder By Tony Johnston

Harvest Song By Ron Hirschi

When Will The Snow Trees Grow By Ben shecter

Ox-Cart Man By Hall Cooney

Children Of The Forest By Elsa Beskow

Woody, Hazel and Little Pip By Elsa Beskow

Mr. Apple's Family By Jean Mc Devitt

 

Also thank you Cherry at Tales From Pixie Wood for sharing your photo at top. I hope you do not mind me using it for Apple day. I will have some pictures, story and recipe tomarrow.

Autumn Corner 2

 

 

 

    One of my favorite things that make me think of fall is nuts: acorns, chestnuts, hazelnuts, ect. Here is a collection of autumn ideas all with the same theme. If anyone would like to contribute a post, a picture, an idea to autumn corners please let me know and I will post it. For example dear Joanne can I post your pictures of your autumn corners. Please, pretty please with caramel on top !!

 

 

    I stitched up this acorn pincushon with a tag, needle holder last year. The one above is the one I made for my mother. The one at top is the one I made for me. It is from Crabapple Hill Studio. I want to make everything from Crabapple. I just love Meg's things and wish I could meet her becuase I know just looking at her patterns, I would love her.

I love the childrens book Miss Hickory by Carolyn Sherwin Bailey.

 

"Miss Hickory, a country woman whose body was an applewood twig and whose head was a hickory nut, must find a way to survive the fierce New Hampshire winter when her human caretaker leaves to spend the season in Boston"

1890 crochet acorn pincushion pattern

 

Wills cigarette card series: 1924 flowering

A chestnut coloring page

Honey nut squares

Autumn Corners #1

 

   

   

Well it is time for Autumn Corners. For some fall inspirations I am going to start this week with my mother's living room. Which she just did up for the fall. It looks so inviting and wonderful. Well done Mother !!!!

   

I have been seeing all these wonderful garland around the net and decided to make one myself for my entryway. I am sharing it with you. Just click on the picture and it will be bigger. You can save it and print it up. I just cut out the ovals, then an an oval a bit bigger in pretty paper (on card stock) and glue the smaller one on top. One trick I did (and was glad), was to cut slits on the sides. Then I ran the ribbon thru it. I used a very long ribbon. Then I could slide the letters around. If I decided next year to use in in a different bigger place I can move the letters out. Enjoy