Thinking of Fall
It’s been a busy fall at my house. I’ve been finishing the final weeks on my work’s big project and soon I’ll be moving on to a new office and new responsibilities. My husband and I took a big trip to Europe. I finally finished the Couch to 5K program and I have 2 races lined up.
That hasn’t stopped me from having some fun either. I went with some friends and family to my old high school’s Homecoming football game. My littlest brother still goes to school there and it was a big anniversary for me as well. I was most excited to see the marching band. I’m a former member and my little brother (that’s him on the 45 yard line playing the sax) has won several championships at competitions this year. I’m a proud big sister. As a bonus, the football team pulled out a win as well.
I’ve been dressing the house up for fall too. Some pumpkins and some coleus plants add a nice seasonal look with purples and oranges. I have a yellow wreath I use each year. This year I paired it with an owl hanging I found at Michaels. I love the bottlecap eyes…and the fact that it was on clearance.
Here’s a glance at the garden as of 2 weeks ago. Since then we had a tornado warning that knocked down leaves and now a frost warning that froze everything up. The garden barely survived the horrible summer. Remember how gorgeous it looked back in May? I had a hydrangea die, one just barely survived. All the dwarf rhododendron died before the end of June. We planned to replace them with more boxwoods but after a boxelder bug invasion I’m not so sure now. The regular rhododendron made it till July but then they died too. The azalea survived. My husband had bought some geraniums and added them to our house plant collection and they thrived as did our coleus plants. We’ll definitely be trying to makeover this garden again next year. We’d love to add great quality, handmade festoon by festoonlighting.com. And if you’re thinking of planting some apple trees in the garden then you must have a look at these espalier fruit trees as they are exceptional, we ordered some recently and were stunned at how good they are. I’d like to imagine this year was just a freaky year of drought but I need a low-maintenance plan that can survive drought, massive rains, hail, winds, and me.
For my October table, I wanted to use complementary colors. I know a blue and orange table isn’t traditional for October but I loved how rustic it felt. I was able to shop my house for this project, using my blue willow china and blue cobalt glasses. The matching cobalt wine bottles are from some riesling I drank and the pumpkin votive holders are from Pier1. They match last month’s design. The flowers in the basket were actually a gift holder my husband gave me years back that comes in handy every year.
The only new item I bought for the table were the mini pumpkins. I wanted to buy some napkins but I had the hardest time finding some matching blue napkins. Has anyone seen some deep blue napkins that might match my blue willow or blue cobalt? I’d love to find some before the next time I use them all on the table again.
How was your month of October?
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September Centerpiece
I’m actually on time with this month’s centerpiece! I know some people love to jump on fall themes in September but in Missouri it is often so warm that I’m not thinking about fall. This week has been quite crisp so I broke out some apples and had fun with a fall themed centerpiece.
I used a basket (previously seen in my June centerpiece) and stacked some books in the center to give it some height. Then I added in a candleholder from Pier 1 and some apples. I’ll have some apple recipes coming soon as a bonus. They’re perfect for some fall freezing.
I also dressed up the table with some new napkins from Home Goods and what else- more apples. The room sure smells very fresh and crisp, just like the weather outside.
What’s on your table this fall?
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July Centerpiece
I have some catching up to do! My job was crazy all summer so I missed posting my July centerpiece on time so here’s a quick view at what my patriotic centerpiece looked like.
For my July birthday, my mom gifted me a margarita set I’d had my eye on. When I vacationed in Mexico last year I drank out of a similar set and I really wanted to bring the fiesta home with me. So I threw some daisies in it and called it a patriotic display. Sorry Mexico, don’t hate me!
The best part of the centerpiece was having the brilliant idea to throw some sour cherry candies into the margarita glasses. The glasses worked as an easy handheld candy dish. They did not sit on the table very long. I must have looked like a crazy lady to my husband with me walking around with a margarita glass in my hand for a week (lies- a couple days) but it was just candy! Where’s the harm in that?
2012
June Centerpiece
I’ve been holding back on this month’s centerpiece till this week because it goes so nicely with my picnic week. I love this centerpiece because it used items I had on-hand. The basket is leftover from a gift packaging years back. I’ve been storing spare candles in it but my closet makeover (details coming soon!) meant the basket was now sitting empty. I lined the basket with a clean bandana, leftover from my college days.
I filled the basket with some cheap wine, my cobalt blue glasses, and some French bread. I added some grapes I’d been munching on to complete the tablescape. I know it’s only June but I wanted to start introducing some patriotic colors into this month’s centerpiece. Hey, June has Flag Day so I’m not too far off on my color scheme.
I will confess that the bread and grapes didn’t sit out like this all month. I might have raided them the evening this photo was taken. We had an Italian feast this past week and all the perishables and the wine were victims of the raid. The basket is still a great centerpiece item though, it’s perfect for filling with fresh flowers or breadsticks with our dinners this month.
Don’t forget to view all my centerpieces for the year by clicking here
Pin ItMay Centerpiece
I realized just today that I haven’t shown my May centerpiece and tablescape to you all yet. I went simple this month since our table seems to be taken over by projects these day. April showers bring May flowers so my table is covered in bright flowers.
Check out my napkin rings. Can you guess the secret item I used to make them?
Shower curtain rings! For $1.50 I bought 10 shower curtain rings and used them as the base for these napkin rings. Throw in a $1 set of flowers on sale at Michaels and some floral tape leftover from another project and I have a cheap napkin ring with plenty of leftover supplies for another month.
To make these super easy napkin rings, you’ll want to cut off your silk flower’s stem and wrap it around the shower curtain ring. Wrap the floral tape around the stem to secure it and continue your way around the entire shower curtain ring. Then just slide your napkin inside your ring and enjoy your work!
Pin ItApril Centerpiece
This month’s centerpiece theme is based around Easter. I’m loving purples and greens this year for Easter so I painted some dollar store Easter eggs with some Krylon Make It Stone spray paint. Then I topped them off with some acrylic paints and some watered down paints I misted on for a watercolor effect.
Then I took a flat wreath base and covered it with a mossy green yarn following this technique so I looked like I had a nice grassy base to hide some eggs. Then I plopped eggs all around and inside of my favorite scalloped bowl from Pier 1 for this super simple look.
For an added bonus, I folded up my napkins to look like little bunnies popping out of my dinner mugs. I got the technique from Better Homes and Gardens
Tomorrow I’ll show you a perfect breakfast treat in the week and later on I’ll show you my favorite carrot cake recipe. If you want to try either of these dishes, the first requires yeast, an orange, and baking raisins in addition to the usual baking items. The second dish requires carrots, crushed pineapple, coconut, walnuts, cream cheese, and powdered sugar.
What will be on your table for Easter weekend?
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In like a lion
For my March centerpiece I wanted to imply some movement. The zig zag lollies in these centerpieces remind me of pinwheels and windy days. Missouri is really seeing March come in like a lion. Yesterday we had crazy storms, tornadoes to our south and east and the winds keep gusting between 50-60 miles an hour. I’m just thankful we’ve been safe so far and I hope the rest of spring isn’t had like last year.
To make this centerpieces I primed and painted some garden pots in silver. Michaels is having a sale on them this week if you want some of your own. I mixed and matched some papers leftover from my lollies and cut it to fit around the rim of each pot, applying it with mod podge. At the dollar store I found some floral foam and some marbles. I plopped the foam into each pot, added some spray painted kabob sticks attached to my lollies (instructions in yesterday’s post) and covered up the base with marbles.
It looks like spring to me! What have you been working on for March?
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Paper Lollies
Last week I showed you how to make some cute flower centerpieces. In one of the photos I had included a paper lolly in the centerpiece at a bridal shower. Today I’m here to show you how to make your own.
Supplies
- 1 piece of 12″ x 12″ paper
- 1 piece of contrasting 6″x6″ paper
- Paper cutter (I use this one by Cricut
)
- Paper scoring tools (I use the Scor-Pal
but Martha Stewart has one and a bone folder will work)
- Decoration for centerpiece (button, hole-punched circle)
- Double sided tape
- Hot glue
Start by cutting your 12″x12″ piece of paper into 4-6″x6″ pieces of paper with two cuts down the center of each side. Place one of the small pieces on the scoring board and evenly score your paper every 1/2 inch. Repeat with each piece until you have 4 scored pieces. Now zig-zag fold along the score marks.
Fold each piece in half and tape the two halves to each other, forming a fan. Repeat on all the pieces.
Now take 2 of the fans and open them up and tape the two halves together.
Reserve the other 2 6″x6″ pieces for another lolly or use them to make your current lolly two-sided.
Repeat this process using your contrasting 6″x6″ paper to form a middle piece for your lolly. You’ll want to start with 3″x3″ sections to score and attach 3 of those fans in a circle. Then hot glue the two layers on top of each other and add a decorative center piece.
You can see this lolly technique on the chicken wire frame I made or come back tomorrow to see how I used them in my March centerpiece.
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Tissue Paper Flowers
This handy little craft project came in useful when I was coming up with centerpieces for a bridal shower. I wanted spring colored flowers for blue mason jars without all the price. I had heard of tissue paper flowers but I wasn’t convinced how easy they would be but I was convinced I could do a decent job. Plus, I could get all my supplies from the Dollar Store so if I failed I wouldn’t be out a ton of money.
Supplies
- 3 packs of tissue paper – $1 each (I chose 2 in fuchsia and 1 in soft pink)
- 1 pack green pipe cleaners- $1 each
- Package of floral tape (optional)- $1
- Paperclips (optional)
- Scissors
- Vase or jars
- Total=$5 + jars
Prep Work
Before beginning, you’ll want to prep all your equipment. Line up 8 pieces of tissue paper of one color and tape together along the edges every few inches. Take a cup and draw a small circle on the top piece of tissue paper with a pen or a marker. I chose a 2 1/2″ wide cup to trace. I managed to get around a dozen circles onto the tissue paper. Then I cut through all 8 pieces of paper for each circle. A paperclip will be very handy to hold these circles together while you cut out all the pieces. Each vase will hold about 7 groups of those 8 circles so do some simple multiplication to see how many packs of tissue paper you’ll need and how many circles you’ll want to cut out.
Assembling the Flowers
Step 1: Make sure all your circles are cut and placed in stacks of 8.
Step 2: Use the metal part of the pipe cleaner to poke through the stack of tissue paper, just off-center. You’ll want about 1 1/2 inches to come through.
Step 3: Loop the pipe cleaner back through the tissue paper using the metal part and just off-center again. If the pipe cleaner has trouble ripping the paper use a needle to pierce the paper before putting the pipe cleaner through.
Step 4: Wrap the extra end of the pipe cleaner around itself.
Step 5: If you want a more flower-like look, wrap the pipe cleaner in floral tape. This is best if you are using a clear jar or vase. The floral tape sticks to itself so just wrap it tightly on an angle.
Step 6: Repeat on all the other circles and set aside till all are ready.
Shaping
Step 7: Crinkle the innermost layer of tissue paper up very tightly. Don’t worry about making it look perfect, just make sure it covers the green of your pipe cleaner. Repeat on layer 2.
Step 8: For layers 3-6 crinkle a little looser focusing more on making a puffy shape than a flower.
Step 9: For layers 7 and 8 you’ll just want to crinkle the tissue paper.
Step 10: Now starting from the outside in gently unfold the tissue paper layers and loosen them until they start looking like a flower.
Just plop 7 of these beauties in a jar and you’ll have a gorgeous centerpiece. Here I’m displaying mine in my votive holders that I’m using as a vase.
I think these would be beautiful with yellow and white or in a centerpiece for spring or Easter or you could use them for a bridal shower like I did. For less than 10 cents a stem this is an easy way to decorate without wasting your money.
How would you use these flowers?
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Valentine’s Centerpiece
Now that I have a table and a complete dining room, I find myself wanting a monthly centerpiece. I’m still in the honeymoon phase with my dining room so consider my centerpiece the equivalent of me taking my dining room out for dinner and a movie.
As you can see my centerpiece has some romance for Valentine’s Day. I’ve got candles, flowers, chocolates, and plenty of shiny things.
I managed to keep this centerpiece very affordable. I used some dessert dishes that the original homeowner had left in the house, a vase from a Valentine’s Day years ago, heart shaped dishes I got in Target’s Dollar spot a few years back, candle holders I made myself, a $5 bouquet of baby’s breath, and chocolates I would have bought anyway. Plus, I’ve convinced my husband that I don’t need flowers for Valentine’s Day since I bought these and that’s a savings in itself. My favorite part (other than the chocolate) is how nice it looks at night.
That’s worth the full $5 I spent right there and definitely cheaper than taking my dining room to dinner and a movie.
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