Pumpkins Part 3

The final installment of pumpkin decor ideas is here!  These last ideas are perfect for personalizing your house and home.  I hope you've been as inspired by all of the ideas as I have!  Now on to the last bunch...

Carve out your house numbers on a stack of pumpkins.  Guests will be sure to find the right address.  

via Better Home and Gardens

Here is another example of using your house numbers.  But this time they are carved all the way through giving off a nice, warm glow.  If you're unsure of your own drawing skills, use a stencil or create your own by printing off the numbers on your computer, cutting them out and then tracing their outline onto your pumpkin before you start carving.

These amazing pumpkins are so unique and easy to make.  All you need are some nail heads!  Use them to create a design or display your house number.  

via LetsEntertain.com

The last porch idea is one I've featured before on my monograms post.  But it's definitely worthy of another mention.  Instead of creating the normal spooky characters on your pumpkins, opt for a more traditional look display your initials.  Who doesn't love a good monogram?

via Better Homes and Gardens

Off to the pumpkin patch you go!  Luckily, Jon and I have one about a block from our house that we'll be walking to on Saturday morning.  Now I just have to decide which ideas I want to use!  Decisions, decisions...

Wine of the Month Club

One of our favorite wedding presents has arrived...and will continue to for the next 11 months!  Hooray for our Wine of the Month membership! I'm convinced that "____ of the month clubs" are great gift ideas.  They are the gifts that keep on giving.  And who doesn't love getting a package filled with a new yummy treat every month?

Pumpkins Part 2

Let the pumpkin decor continue!  Today's ideas can be featured inside and outside of your home.  I hope these can get your creative juices flowing.  October is just around the corner!

Square wreaths are a great break from the norm and this leafy one, is no different.  You can bring the colorful foliage from the trees right to your front door.  And although the "pumpkin" part of this idea is minimal, it is the perfect accent to create a harvest welcome.  And it can be featured all the way through Thanksgiving!

via Better Homes and Gardens

These painted pumpkin topiaries offer another way to welcome guests and trick-or-treaters to your home.  The painted trees and punched out stars are a simple and unexpected way to dress up your pumpkins and front porch.  

via Good Housekeeping

Boo!  You can create your own spooky pumpkin message with the help of a plunger apple corer.  Who said it could only be used on apples?   

This design takes little to no effort, but look how classic and timeless the end result is!  All you need is a footed stand, a bag of moss and a pumpkin.  It can't get much easier than that.

Fall is finally here which means fall fashions are about to hit the streets as well.  Why not transfer your favorite fall patterns to your pumpkin.  After all, nothing says autumn like a little argyle and plaid.  

via Country Living

Continuing with the paint theme, check out these metallic beauties.  If plaid and argyle aren't your style, that's okay.  Let your imagination can go wild.  Even a simple polka dot has a new look when it's done with metallic paint.  For a bigger statement, showcase all of your pumpkins together.  Make a day of it and have each member of the family create their own works of pumpkin art.  When they all are put together, they're sure to make a bold statement.  

via Country Living

Pumpkins Part 1

The pumpkins are out in full force!  And if you haven't visited your local grocery or my personal favorite, a pumpkin patch, you should!  Pumpkins are one of the reasons why I love fall so much.  They are pretty inexpensive and can be used to decorate in many ways.  In fact, they can be used in so many ways that I will have to do multiple posts just to show you all of the great ideas I've been stashing away.  But enough of the talk.  Let's get to the pictures and start decorating!

If orange just doesn't do it for you, this idea is for you. Creamy whites and neutrals make up this center piece of pumpkins, gourds, wheat and candles.  Effortless and beautiful.

via Better Homes and Gardens

I've shown this picture before, but I had to show it again because I just love it.  I think it may be the cutest "Boo" I've ever seen.  Using pumpkins as a canvas for a message is a great idea. 

via Good Housekeeping

I love the little pumpkins resting on the moss and candle holders on this mantle.  But what I also really love is the fall banner.  What a simple way to add some seasonal flair to your mantle.

Similar to the idea above, the pumpkins take the place of the candles and look great on a Halloween party table.

via Good Housekeeping

A little silver spray paint, some candles and mercury glass candle holders help create this elegant table setting.

Here is the same idea but with a more color and scale due to the larger pumpkins added to the mix. 

Fall Updates

After the first pumpkin sightings and cool, crisp breezes we've had here for these last few days, I think it's time to bring fall to W. Broadway Avenue.  I know I mentioned in a previous post that we already put up some outside decor, but now we have some inside as well.

All it takes to get your home feeling like fall is a trip to your local craft store and a little rearranging.  Most of the changes I made were from things I already owned that were stored away or in other parts of our home.  

The living room and dining room are the places that I made all of the changes.  These are the rooms most seen and used by ourselves and our guests.  And because we didn't transform the whole house, we could easily pull fall inspired things from other rooms to add to these.

First, I removed all of my cool tones from the living room, including pillows, accessories and artwork. 

 

I replaced the artwork by the TV (which I moved to our bedroom) with a skyline painting featuring lots of warm tones. 

Before

After

I also got rid of the sea foam colored pitcher and replaced it with a brown ceramic pumpkin and orange glass vase filled with leaves, sticks and pine cones I purchased at Hobby Lobby. 

Then it was time for the bookcase.  Unfortunately, I don't have a good "before" shot to show you, but I can tell you all I added was some berries, a red candle and some pine cones to my already existing glass jars.  Yet another easy fix.

The dining room table was also an easy makeover.  I changed my table runner to a nice mustard yellow one I had, added my glass blown pumpkin luminaries, a fresh bouquet of flowers, and switched out my white napkins for brown ones.  

Before

After

As I mentioned, we switched out things in the living room with things from other rooms of our house.  So in turn, our bedroom got a mini makeover as well.  The gold throw we had on our bed with replaced with the blue throw we had in the living room, instantly making the room feel cool and calm.  The only other change in this picture is the flower arrangement (from green to pink).  I thought it was interesting to see what a difference 2 little changes can make in a room. 

The dresser before was lacking a little something, but now that the artwork that was hanging in the living room is in our room, the dresser seems complete again.  And the blues in the picture work well with the new blue throw.  

 

Do you see some changes in your home that you can make to bring Autumn inside?

Tailgating Ideas

It's officially fall and that means it's time for football!  One of my readers and friends has asked me to write an entry on my ideas for a football/tailgating party.  Even if you're not someone who loves football, this can still be a great way to support your husband and throw a party :) So let the fun begin...

First you'll need to dress up the table for your party.  Pick a tablecloth in one of your team's colors and layer a grass table runner on top.  You need a field for football, right?  If you want to buy a real grass runner like this one, you can spend around $50 dollars.  If you want almost the exact same look for less, pick up a couple of moss table runners at Michaels for around $15.

Now for the part that everyone loves...the food!  You can still use the normal desserts like these store bought brownies, but add a little team spirit by garnishing your treats with your team's colors.  In this case, m&m's as seen on Porterhousedesigns.com.  I also loved the framed "Touch-down!" quote shown in the photo.  You could place different quotes like these all around your table.

If you're longing for something a little more challenging, try these cupcake wrappers featured on Celebrations.com.  The football paper is another thing you can pick up on your trip to Michaels.  

Here are the step-by-step directions.

• Make a pattern for the cupcake wrap by wrapping white paper (or cardstock) around the cupcake and trimming it to fit.
• Place the cupcake wrap pattern on the football paper and cut it out.
• Cut 4 vertical slits into the front of the cupcake wrap for the laces. Make 2 slits on top and 2 slits on the bottom as in the picture.
• Insert the shoelace tip into a top slit from the backside of the cupcake wrap and gently pull it through to the front (think sewing!). Pull the lace almost to the end leaving about an inch tail.
• Then, insert the shoelace tip from the front-side of the cupcake wrap into the other top slit that is horizontally across from the first slit and pull the lace through.
• Repeat the lacing that you just did for the remaining 2 bottom slits. Then bring the lace under the wrap to the front and thread the lace under the horizontal laces that are on the cupcake wrap so it resembles a football.
• Bring the excess lace over the top rim of the wrap and tape all lace ends into place on the backside of the cupcake wrap. Trim off the excess lace. (Tip: Use the shoelace tip as if it were a needle as the slits can be tricky to thread. If you accidentally cut off the tip, just wrap scotch tape around the shoelace to make the lacing process easier.)
• Wrap the cupcake in the football wrap and tape the back to keep it closed.

For some more team spirit, purchase a cookie cutter in your team's logo.  Depending on its shape, you can use it for a multitude of purposes-cookies, brownies and even sandwiches. 

If you love deviled eggs as much as my husband, you'll enjoy these as well. Use your own recipe and make the laces with cut chives.  Simple and festive.

Another favorite is the oversized pigs in a blanket.  No assembly is required.  Great for tailgating!

Then there's the spinach dip in a bread bowl (reminiscent of a stadium don't you think?)

Some other food favorites of mine are sausage balls (great for a morning games too), chicken and pepper kabobs and chili (Hormel with no beans) and cream cheese dip served warm with Fritos.

And if it's an early tailgate, I must mention my beloved Krispy Kreme doughnuts again.  Doughnuts and football...what's not to love?

Sliders are so in right now and a favorite of my inquiring friend.  I couldn't agree with her more.  And the good news is you don't have to spend time cutting up a ton of dinner rolls anymore.  Just head down to your local Target and pick up some Pepperidge Farms slider buns.  Yes!  They actually make them now.  For a more personal touch, I would make mini toothpick pennants (like you see on cupcakes) to hold each burger together.  

Picture via Ruffledblog.com (yet another wedding blog full of great ideas)

The pennants can be cut from scrapbook paper or designed on your computer.  Create a horizontal diamond shape design, using the imaginary line splitting it in the middle as the fold line to go around the toothpick.  

And of course I would like to plug the awesome DIY ribbon and letter banners that I mentioned in the baby shower post as well. But to switch it up a bit, I'd change the cutout shape from a circle to a football.

Lastly, once you have all of your goodies in place, create creative name tags for them using your team or opponents name, or football terms.  I'm use my team, Alabama, as an example, "Sack 'em Sliders," "Roll Tide Red Salsa," "Hogs (our opponent this weekend) in Blanket" etc.  

Have fun cheering on your favorite team!

Princess Ball

Today marks our 5 month wedding anniversary!  Unfortunately, we will both be working late though.  For once, I think Jon will even beat me home.

Yep, that's right.  I have my first big event tonight, the Princess Ball.  I'm very excited about it but wish I wouldn't be getting home so late.  Jon and I have both been working like crazy this week, and unfortunately, we will be this weekend too.  I have the second night of the Princess Ball tomorrow, and Jon will be flying all weekend.  I'm looking forward to next weekend when we can both relax!

As promised, here are a few Princess Ball sneak peek pictures showing what I've been working on these past few days!

Some of the 25 arrangements I did.

Close-up of the beautiful flowers

Finished centerpiece minus the sticks

Please ignore the metal folding chairs.  If there was one thing I could change out the space it would be those.  I think it should be the law that every event facility have chiavari chairs.  Don't you?  What a different it would make!  But I do love my lights shining up on the brick walls though.  It adds some much needed drama I think.

Happy Friday!  I will be posting on tailgating parties/food tomorrow!