Thursday, October 8, 2015

Embracing Fall . . . Outside

Those who know me well, know that 'my' season is summer and that fall, while beautiful, makes me sad because I know it means winter is around the corner.  However, THIS year, I am committed to 'embracing' fall (we'll talk about winter later) and seeking to enjoy the beauty of it.  I am really working on being grateful for each day and not complaining about the things I don't like.  So in keeping with that theme, I began with outdoor decorations.  My first inspiration was this beautiful porch.  Now, I have looked and looked for the source of this photo to no avail so if you know where it originated, please let me know.  I love the fact that this porch made me see fall in a new 'light'. 
In my attempt to recreate this, I began gathering what I had and filling in with pumpkins, mums and gourds.
 The chair and stand were already on the porch from summer.  I added the mums in baskets I already had, threw a fall tablecloth onto the stand and added gourds.  The battery operated lamp was a Christmas lamp. I just replaced the Christmas greenery with a silk mum.
 I put plastic bowls in the baskets so I can water these without getting the chair or table wet.
I saw this cute idea of adding bows to the pumpkins at fynesdesigns .  I really like how it adds something 'extra' to a plain pumpkin. 
 
 Did you notice how shiny my pumpkins are? I did a little research on how to keep those pesky squirrels from eating your pumpkins and spraying with hairspray seemed to be the one that most recommended so that's what I did.  Day two  . . . so far, so good!
 This old minnow can was on the porch all summer as well with the white lights in it.  I simply put a metal bowl on top of the lights inside and plopped a mum plant in!
 I didn't have a cute metal gate or crib mattress frame but I DID have a few of these fence panels that a friend gave my hubby because he KNOWS how I like all this kind of 'stuff' and he just KNEW I'd find something to do with it!  I just added a little screw and hung the welcome sign on the fence panel and propped it against the wall.
 And finally, my favorite part, the grapevine and lights! Now this took some 'thinking' to come up with a way to hang the grapevine from the soffit.  I know there are siding clips you can buy but I opted for suction cups.  Of course, they wouldn't stick to the aluminum so what did I use to attach them?  E6000 of course!  I know some people are gasping that I glued suction cups to my siding but honestly, no one will see them and I plan to use them year round to decorate the porch.

 I found these at the Dollar Tree.  I removed the hook part because I wanted to feed wire (or in my case, twist ties) through the hole and wrap around the grapevine and lights to attach.
 I added a few leaf garlands (also from Dollar Tree) and so far, it's all staying in place.
 I'm really happy with how this turned out.  It will also transition easily into Christmas with some simple changes!  I am grateful for each day, grateful that I have a home to decorate, family to share the season with and so much more so again, I am working to embrace fall!  (I'll let you know if I'm as successful with winter!).