Fall Trimmings~FREE Home Decor

Around this time of year most of us do a fall cleanup in our yards, right?  Maybe?  Even if you don’t the plants start to change and usually die or fall off anywhere, so why not embrace their beauty in every stage?  So beyond twigs and leaves, look at the other foliage and see how it dries out.

  

These are my pretty bushes.  If this was a gardening blog I might be able to tell you the type, but it’s not, and I can’t. ;)  I have quite a few around my yard and it the summer they have a pretty little purple flower on them, but I even love how they are drying out,  so I snipped a few off and brought them indoors for a  beautiful accent.

        

I also made this…

Into this…

And let’s not forget these…

So we have all ‘shopped’ our homes,

                                                    but when is the last time you‘shopped’ your Yard?

Bring it in for some free & fabulous home accents.

{10 minute} Fall Mantel

I put up a little fall on the mantel in our family room.  It is so easy to make simple changes to bring in the new seasons without spending a lot of time or money. 

 

Start to finish really took me about 10 minutes and I just shopped my house. 

First off, I flanked either side of the TV with garage sale shutters. They add dimension and another layer to my decor, but also work to hide the unsightly cords.  I changed out the eggs in my little trellis planter you might remember from my Spring Vignette.  Just put in some fall pears and added ribbon on top.   I have always loved using books in my decor so I stacked a few garage sale finds and put the pears on top.  I then took this little ceramic pitcher and filled it with wispy grasses and tied a jute ribbon on the handle.

I Brought out a fall garland from last year and stuck  a few pine cones in for some additional texture and interest.  Next added my little light and a pine planter I wrapped with ribbon. I added the little Harvest sign in the middle to maybe help distract from the black hole in the center. ;)

  Speaking of the blackness in the center of the mantel, I am sure you have heard me whine about it before.  As I mentioned last Christmas, I love mantels and fireplaces but our home set up for a traditional mantel.  I am grateful for what I have, it’s just from a decorating standpoint, it’s not the best.  (I know, waa-waa ;)Had we built this home I would have done it differently and I plan to work on it, but in the mean time just picture my mantel looking more like this…

Even with my extremely super poor editing job of pasting this beautiful mirror in, I think it looks lovely!   Sorry flat screen, this mirror is way prettier than you.

Functional & Fashionable

My paper towel holder had seen better days.  I have grown tired of looking at it everyday in it’s not so pretty state.  I have been looking for a new one that A. I like and B. wasn’t too pricey.  Then I had a fab idea.

Here is a quick  {seriously, like 15 min} update that is sooo simple.

  

See the poor gal in her before state.  Tired, worn and used probably 20+ times a day for 6 years.  I had this extra curtain rod finial floating around and decided it would make a perfect topper.  I just Gorilla Glued it onto the existing top. This way we can still unscrew it to put the roll of paper towels on.*  I love the shape and how it adds some character to a utilitarian item.

*This may be common sense to you, but I could just see myself gluing it to the wood part and then not being able to put the roll of towels on.  Needless to say, I am a little proud that I was using the old noggin…  Today anyway. 

So here is why I love spray paint… 

Just a couple coats of this easy-to-apply-magic-in-a-can, and you give a combination of different finishes and colors a totally uniform look.  No one would ever know that I didn’t purchase it this way.  In less than 15 minutes I  gave it a high end look for fa-REE!

 

Gettin linky with it…

Creating Some Height

  
I am changing a few things in my kitchen dinette.  We have a computer armoire in the corner of my photo wall.  My ceilings are quite high, so I like to add some height in this corner and I am growing a little bored of the way it is now. (could it be the fact that there is still a tree up there from Christmas that I carried out through winter? nah. ;)  So, I decided to get crafty and make an tall twig thingy.  Into the craft abyss I ventured…
  
I needed something with some weight for my base.  I found this super lovely Halloween votive holder and filled it with rocks from my yard.  I then covered it in, da da ta da… MOSS!  Next, I took some birch twigs I had and placed them evenly around the moss base with hot glue. 

Once in place I tried some ribbon around the base.  This adds more support for the twigs and some pretty.

I then stuck some more moss inside on top of the rocks and even bits of moss up on a few of  the twigs.  This was easy, fast and FREE.  Can’t wait to show you where it ends up. :) 
I made another one with curly willow that I will share with ya  later.  I hope y’all have a fantabulous weekend!
Check out these links…

http://decormamma.blogspot.com/2010/05/frugalicious-friday-giveawaythirty-one.html
 
 







 

Keys To My Heart

Over the holidays, my wonderful Grandma gifted me her mother's piano!  It is amazing how things work out.  My daughter is very musical and I wanted to get her in lessons and I would love to brush up on my piano skills (inallmysparetime) plus, I think pianos are pretty. ;)  I have been looking to get a piano for months now.  I didn't want spend a ton of money and I love things with character so I was looking at a lot of older pianos.  Nothing really worked out and then one fine day my Grandma called and asked if I wanted my Great Grandma's piano.  Well, um yeah, I guess I will take it off your hands!  Are you kidding?  I was sooo excited!  Not only do I get a FREE piano (this always makes Mr. Husband happy), but I get one that belonged to my Grandma who I loved so dearly with all it's character and sentimental value!

My Great-Granparents purchased it in the 1950's.  It's beautiful mahogany wood with real ivory keys.  My grandmother learned to play on it and once she had kids it was in her home so my Mom learned to play on it...aaannnd, when I first started taking lessons we did not have a piano, so I learned to play on it as well!  How's that for sentimental value?!

It could definitely use some refinishing and I will touch it up a bit, but I don't want to lose any of it's charm.  Call me crazy (Mr. Husband does)  but I LOVE all it's little imperfections and "history". Sure it needs a new knob and it is missing it's bench, there are some dings and dents, but I love the story it tells.

This beautiful mark here?.... When my mom was little she left the piano lamp on, it tipped over and almost burnt the house down.  Love it!

I love the angles the curves and all of the amazing details as well.

What makes a house a home?  To me it is filling it with warm and interesting pieces that make you feel good.  I want my home to tell a story.  The story of a family and a life.  I want it to be comfortable and inviting, a place my kids feel they can be themselves.  A retreat from the crazy world out there. Some may look at this piano and think it is a piece of crap.  But, that doesn't matter to me.  Surround yourself with things you love and do what makes you, YOU.

I love that this piano is now in our house.  I love what it represents and I love that it will fill our home with beautiful music.  And every time I hear a note I can hopefully be reminded of my Great Grandma, Grandma and Mom and the amazing women they were and are.  That makes me happy. :)

Feeling inspired so I'm linking up...