The Beginning of Fall Decorating

Well, it's finally cooled down enough to start fall decorating here in North Carolina, high's in the mid to upper 70's.  Not what this girl from Syracuse considers fall weather but I'll take it!

The first area of our home to get all decked out for Autumn was my cute little hutch in the dining area.  

Here it is with it's Spring/Summer look

and this is what it looks like now

much more cozy and fall'ish dont'cha think?

I've had these pears in a glass jar for a while now and they were ready to chill with the vine balls in this super cool wooden bowl that I found at HomeGoods (I think that's where I found it).

I LOVE plates with wording or letters/numbers on them.  This copper vinyl is my favorite of all the colors we have.  I usually can't use it a lot around here because it just don't match our colors but it's so perfect for fall decor.  I am going to change the leaves on our branch decal in the living room to copper tomorrow.  I'll try to stop there but I may get out of control with the copper :)

Speaking of out of control, did you know that you can wrap just about anything in jute to make it fit in with your autumn decorations?  It's true!  Burlap too!  Cheap and super easy too.

(hint, jute is found in the jewelry section of the craft store, who knew?!)

I've been wrapping lots of stuff in jute!

I am loving these cute little mum topiary thingys.  I know I could have made them easy enough but they were only $3 each on sale at Michael's.

Hopefully, I will get done with fall decorating tomorrow and I'll show you more. 

Are you done with yours?

I am linking to Nester’s Fall/Table/Shelf Mantel Party

and
Julia's Fall Open House

Stop by to check out lots of great fall decorating ideas.

Baby Expo

 

We recently displayed at the Cape Fear Maternity & Baby Expo in Wilmington.  My sweet sister, Jennifer went with us to help out (thanks, Jen!) 

This was the third time we had a booth at this Expo and we always have a great time meeting people, chatting with expecting or new parents and grandparents and doing demonstrations.   James buddied up with the Chik-Fil-A cow and gave her a sticker tattoo.

 This year we were pretty excited to win the Best Exhibit award! 

Jen and I stayed up way too late the night before the Expo making these tissue paper poms.  On the last one we finally figured out how to make them look as good as Martha does.

 our poms

Martha's Poms

Oh well, we had fun making them!  Practice makes perfect and now we have it down!  Need a pom?  Let us know :)

Every Expo we do a drawing for a gift certificate and this year's winner is Naomi!  Congrats Naomi, I will be sending an email your way soon!

Chalkboard Decal Tags in a Flash

Yesterday, I was feeling like I wanted a little project.  

 (after)

I found the perfect thing, something that I have been wanting to do for a while, remake my kitchen canisters.

(Before)

I like these canisters because I love glass jars.  I have been wanting to add chalkboard labels to them and paint the tops.  The lettering I put on them about a year ago was cute but I was ready for a change &the silver metal tops were showing their age and getting a little rusty.

So I broke out the spray paint (every good project involves spray paint, right?)  I was torn between black for the tops or wedgewood blue to match the bottom cabinets.  Mikey helped me decide on the blue.  It was actually his second choice; his first choice was neon yellow!

While the paint was drying I cut the chalkboard decals on the plotter (they are available in our store) and measured out where I wanted to put them.

 

Next, I removed the backing from the decal and placed the decal on the canister.  Super easy because if you apply it crooked (and I did several times) you just lift it off and try again.

Since I discard the original packaging when I put things in the canisters I tape the cooking instructions in the canister top.

There you have it, cool canisters in minutes (not counting the time for the paint to dry).

They would look better, I think, if I had nicer handwriting.  I think I will get one of those new chalk pens and see if that makes a difference.

I have these in several spots around our house.  They are such a great way to label things.  

Where would you use these chalkboard tags?

A Trip to Southport

I just finished reading Nicholas Sparks' new book "Safe Haven".  Pretty good book.  I enjoy his books because they are easy reads, usually happy endings and most of them are based here in South Eastern North Carolina.  

 Safe Haven is based in Southport which reminded me that I never told you about our trip there over the summer. 

Since we live 800 miles from both of our families we rarely get the opportunity to go away for even a night without the kids so when my mom was here in July we decided to take advantage of the opportunity!  

We didn't want to go too far so we decided to go to Southport since it's only 45 minutes from here.  We had a great time strolling through town, checking out the cute cottages,

there are old oak trees lining every street, it's gorgeous!  We had a blast hanging out on the pier & watching huge cargo ships navigate through the narrow inlet on their way to the port in Wilmington. 

I even got James to go into a few of the many antique shops!

I kept saying "why don't we live here?"  

It's such a quaint town with so much to do and it's not overly touristy either. Definitely on my list of my favorite day trips! That is, until I can talk James into moving here :)

Find of the week!

I am so excited about what I found yesterday!  My two littlest share a room and I've been in the process of decorating it for literally four and half years!  It's one of the many things that I started, worked on a little, didn't work on a lot, worked on a little... you get the idea.  I  decided it was time to finish it up and while it wasn't perfect it was done'ish.  The only thing that was lacking was the bedspreads, which of course, are the most important things in the room.  Remember that commercial a while ago with the little girl jumping on the bed?  

Even that five year old knew "it's the comforter that really pulls the whole room together".  

 So, my little guys had this cute room with sail boats with canvas sails and starfish on their shelves that their daddy built them,

super cute red and blue organizers for their toys, 

their names on the walls made from scrapbook paper and accessories (I show you them soon, SO CUTE!) 

and mismatch comforters that we just ones we had around, so sad!

Then one day I found this comforter and knew it was so perfect for their room.

pic from Potterybarnkids.com

But, it's $149 and I need two of them. Yikes!

So I decided on this one instead because it was on sale for only $99

pic from Potterybarnkids.com

Then I forgot to order them (because I am flakey that way) and yesterday while at Home Goods I found this

How perfectly perfect!  The best part is that I like these ones so much more than my original choice.  Actually, no, I take that back, the BEST part is that they were $29 each!  Can you even take it?!  I wasn't even shopping for them, they just found me!

I think they were well worth a trip into 

Wilmington on a Sunday afternoon :)

Cool Free Stuff at One Kings Lane

The Nester just filled me in on a great giveaway!  One Kings Lane is giving every new sign up a $15 credit.

That means you could get this beautiful baking pan for only the $7.95 shipping

or spring the extra buck like I did and get this super Slate serving set for $8.95 including shipping!

All you have to do is sign up at One Kings Lane

Sweet!

Autumn Wreaths

Every morning for the past week or so, we here in Coastal NC have woken to temps in the mid 60's.  These cooler temps make me think of fall and since I adore autumn I want to start changing my decorations, purchase pumpkins, make a gourd centerpiece... that sort of thing.  But, then mid afternoon arrives and along with it temps in the high 80's, low 90's and suddenly I am not feeling the autumn decor itch!  

Guess it will have to wait a few more weeks :)

In the meantime, I wanted to share with you some gorgeous autumn wreaths that I found on Etsy.com

aren't these little berries the sweetest? 

 twoinspireyou

 I can't resist hydrangeas!

SugarBridge

What a clever idea!

SaffronColoredPony

I can think of several places I could use this beauty!

SimpleJoysPaperie

This Halloween wreath is so fun!

TheWrightWreath

Have you started your autumn decorating?

Birthday Gift for You!

Today is my birthday (28 again!)!  

To celebrate I am giving YOU a gift!  

Every order placed today on our site will receive a surprise gift 

(because I love surprises, don't you?)

You're going to love it!