A Little Fall Decorating (Key Word Little)

Last fall, in the post Kopycat Fall Candle, I added fall leaves to my glass candles by copying a magazine picture. Yeah...I know. It was pretty simple and I should've thought of it myself.

I kind of like my rendition better than theirs. Here's the magazine's photo:

Country Sample Magazine Autumn 2016

Well, the other day I was trying to add some fall zing around the house and discovered there isn't much you can't "zing up" with a few fall leaves!

I stuck them in my chalkboards and found that sometimes too many is too many! After I stuck them under the bottom of the clock, I added some to the top too.

See what I mean? New decorating rule to write down: Sometimes Too Many Is Too Many!

And sometimes too many can be just right. The little pumpkins looked pretty bare before I overwhelmed them with leaves...

Adding a pile of leaves and a few more pumpkins makes the plain chalkboard look a little more cheerful! Sorry for the shadows, but I had to run over and take a picture for you even though it's night here.

So that's a little fall decorating here. Safety Tip: If you add leaves to your candle holders, be sure to use battery operated candles that won't set the leaves on fire! 

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Painted Brick At O Deer Mercantile

Do you have a red brick fireplace that you've thought about painting to lighten it up? 

Our middle daughter has often thought about painting hers. I didn't think it looked bad until I happened to see Gwen's painted fireplace over at her blog, O Deer Mercantile. 

When I ran across Gwen's post, I began to see the beauty of painting your fireplace brick white.

O Deer Mercantile

Gwen explains HERE  how she completed the job quickly with just a brush, a cloth, and watered-down paint.

Here's one of her before photos so you can see what a big job it was.

O Deer Mercantile

I hope you enjoy Gwen's post as much as I did. It seems Gwen has quite a knack for home makeovers and DIY's. 

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You Can't Always Get What You Want

Bless my heart...I was on Pinterest last week looking at one thing and ended up at another. You know that 'ole rabbit hole that's easy to get sucked into?

Anyway, I saw some beautiful table settings, which of course made me think to myself:  "Sugar, you need some of those plates!"

I went to the website to see how much a set would be. The price was $298, which was OK by me...I just wanted to check how many there were in the set. 

My hopes of setting my future fancied-up table were dashed when I realized they wanted $298 a plate! COME ON! With tax that would be almost $3000 for just a set of 8 plates. 

A few days later, I went to a Vintage Market Days event where I spotted a lovely soup tureen, with a ladle, and a price tag of $19. 

As I was gleefully paying for the soup tureen, the vendor asked if I noticed the matching bowls on the same shelf? 

I told her I didn't really need bowls, but when she said they were $2 apiece...well, back I went for them!

Sadly, when she showed me the last piece she had, a matching platter for $19, I was stupid silly enough to pass it up! I've been kicking myself ever since.

To tell you the truth, I like the blue band a lot better than the green band around that $298 one. I figure I can always throw some acorns around the table to bring in that woodsy feel!

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Rustic Decor

Are you smitten with rustic decor? I've been gathering up rustic home decor ever since I first laid eyes on Ralph Lauren's Home Fashions. 

I'll buy anything plaid or with animals when I see it. This Pottery Barn plaid throw and dog pillow were on sale this past weekend.

PotteryBarn Fall Decor 2017

I've realized lately that a lot of my rustic stuff is hidden away because I never found the right place for it. 

Here's a rusty sign when I saw it in a shop in 2011 and had to have it! I still haven't found the right spot for it, but I'm still looking.

With all the rustic decor I've collected up, I guess I'm hoping for a cabin in the mountains someday. I think North Carolina would suit me well.

I often pretend to visit a shop in Greenville NC called "We Took To The Woods" by staying on their blog and Facebook page way too long! 

I borrowed a couple of their photos to show you why I'm hooked.

We Took To The Woods on Facebook

I wouldn't even have to go into the shop (that's a lie, but pretend with me) if I could just sit outside on their lawn and stare at all their rustic curb appeal.

We Took To The Woods on Facebook

A blogging friend who lives in North Carolina has a log cabin in the woods not far from Greenville. I envy her. Last week she showed her followers her wonderful living room with a couple of deer heads up high on the wall. I was in love! 

Of course I had to give her an idea or two...remember, rustic is my thing! 

I said if that was my room, that large deer head would be on the brick fireplace, front and center! How was I to know it would cause them so much trouble? 

Seems her husband liked the idea as much as she and I did, so off to town he went (the first of many trips) for masonry screws and such. She emailed about the all day fiasco my little suggestion caused and, while I should've felt bad, my tears were from laughing, not crying.

Seems the wall got gouged, hubs might've cursed me a time or two, and at the end of the day, the deer head still didn't get hung! I've asked her to please share the story with her readers and, when she does, I'll provide you a link.

As I read the email to Wild Bill, with a look of astonishment all he could say was..."You're giving decorating advice???" 

Well now, see...I guess he doesn't like rustic decor.

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Thrift Shopped Rabbits

These two small rabbit pictures came home with me from a local thrift shop the other day. I paid a whopping $10 for each one!

I was awed by the form of their pretty frames, thinking I would add some dark wax to them to tone down the gold a little.

The lone rabbit in the left picture I thought was particularly cute. 

Of course for $10 I accepted the fact the value was in the frames and not what I thought were reproduction prints.

The two check-out ladies were admiring the pieces of art and expressed sadness they hadn't seen them first since they were so cheap!

I didn't bother to tell them the trick is to look high and low when you're out thrift shopping. If I have time, I even walk the shop left to right and then turn around and walk it right to left. Wait...What?Obsessive? Probably so!

When I got home, I noticed a slight chip on one of the frames. I'm sure it happened after I bought it due to carelessness on my part...

I was careless because I wasn't too concerned about how the pictures were wrapped since I was planning on making the frames my next paint/wax victims. 

Wild Bill hates thrift shopping so he sits in the pickup outside and reads a book. On this hot day, he was parked up the street, and when he saw me he drove down to pick me up in a kind of Bonnie and Clyde escape.

I barely had time to throw my purchase in the back seat and jump in the truck before he was on his way!

Imagine my surprise when I got the pictures home and turned to the backs and read the tags that said they were Hand Painted by Robert Grace: 

I went on the internet to look up the artist, Robert Grace. It dawned on me I already have a larger print copy of a different one of his rabbit paintings, but that's for another day.

One of the exact rabbit paintings, with same frame, is currently for sale with a bid of $70.  Man...I done good on these two!!!

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Finish It Friday: Turkey And Basket

This week I finished two projects from my garage pile. This wooden turkey started out a dull grayish brown when I bought him at a garage sale too many years ago to remember when. 

 I finally finished his white makeover this week, just in time for the fall season. Turkey would probably be improved with a little dark wax to age him/her, but for now I'm calling Turkey done!

 See those gold pictures lurking behind Turkey? That's a new project I picked up this week at a second hand shop for dirt cheap. 

And that basket I was painting white on "White Wednesday" last week? Well...YAY! I finally finished that too...

Here's a reminder of what the basket looked like while it was getting a makeover...

I had planned to leave some of the natural brown of the basket showing, but that didn't work out very well. 

There's only a little peek of the basket's original finish showing here under the metal leaves.

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Tuesday Finds: Black And White Done Right

Black and white have become an obsession of mine, especially if there's stripes or pattern involved. 

Recently Adrienne, on her blog La Vie Quotidienne, has been making over her outdoor living spaces by sewing and painting up a storm.

First a makeover of her old covered backyard area. If you hop over to her blog you will be amazed at the "before" condition of this space.

 La Vie Quotidienne

Next her front porch got some love. Though the two spaces are far apart (one front, one backyard) she coordinated them in the same colors in a fresh new way. 

La Vie Quotidienne

I can't sew my own pillows like she did, but I think next summer I'll be shopping for striped pillows and a new rug.

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