Making Fall Centerpieces and the big and small pleasures of life

When changing up our seasonal decor, -- let's experiment a little --  it's all for fun anyway, right? 

 Life hands us enough serious moments, doesn't it? 

Adding a little beauty to our homes is a small pleasure.  I keep it in perspective.  About this time last year my daughter was hit by a pick-up truck while riding her bike to school.  Thankfully she was okay, and only had large scrapes and lots of bruises....She is one of the giant pleasures in my life along with the rest of the people in my family.

 

PEOPLE at the big pleasures.  Decorating is a small pleasure...and yet decorations make our families smile....we are creating an atmosphere for our families....it should be filled with love...and beauty can be a small part of that.  And if the beauty that you create makes someone smile....then you, my friend, have brightened the world a little bit.

Things to consider when putting together a Fall Centerpiece:

Rule of three:

Our eyes will draw a triangle between the three objects, keeping the eyes moving over the grouping.

Height:

Vary the heights of the three objects, short, medium & tall.  Think of a straight line on a graph - boring, right? 

Now think of a line zig zagging up and down - much more interesting!

Texture:

Vary the textures.  Smooth, rough, wispy, spiky, hard, soft...think natural elements -- pine cones, berries, feathers, wheat, acorns, branches, antlers

I made these pumpkins out of a vintage silk beaded evening gown and real pumpkin stems.  They are one of a kind.  You can find them in my Etsy shop Here. The proceeds from this sale will go to help  people in the Flooded areas of Houston & surrounding towns.  The charity I will donate to is called Mercury One.  They are a disaster relief organization similar to the Red Cross.  They are local here in the Dallas area.  UPDATE:  These pumpkins have been sold & proceeds donated to Hurricane Harvey relief through MercuryOne.org.

Thank you for visiting.  Enjoy the big and small things in life.

Sharing with these fun linky parties:

Amaze Me Mondays at Dwellings
Make it Pretty Monday at The Dedicated House

Made by you Monday at Skip To My Lou

Inspire Me Monday at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Table it at Rustic and Refined

Feathered Nest Friday at http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/

The inspiration Gallery at The Craftberry Bush 

Create, Bake, and Grow Together at  http://shabbyartboutique.blogspot.com/

The Friday Flea

A Morning Cup of Joe Linky Party (Friday) at The Cottage Market

Let's Talk Vintage Party at Bella Rosa Antiques

Tweak it Tuesday at Cozy Little House

Inspire me Tuesday at A Stroll Through Life

To Granmda's House We go (tues) at Abbots At Home

Talk of the Town at Knick of Time

Cooking & Crafting with J & J at Julie's Lifestyle

The Scoop at  Confessions of a Plate Addict

Tuesdays at our Home at Our Home Away From Home

Wow us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style

Creative Inspirations (Wednesdays) at Embracing Change

Seasonal Sundays at The Tablescaper

Share Your Cup Thursday at Jann Olson

The Creative Circle (Thursday) at Seeking Lavender Lane

Home & Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life

Pin Junkie Pin Party (Thursdays) at The Pin Junkie

Celebrate your story at Celebrate & Decorate

Share your style party at The Essence of Home

 Pink Saturday at How Sweet The Sound

What to do weekends at Crafts a la mode

Snickerdoodle Sunday at Across the Boulevard

 Saturday Sparks Linky Party at Pieced Pastimes 

Happiness is Homemade at The Painted Hinge

Hauntingly Beautiful Halloween Décor Link Party at Follow the Yellow Brick Home

Decorating for Autumn

How do you decorate for Fall?  Leaves on the mantle?  A pumpkin centerpiece on your table?

Plain velvet pumpkins are all over bloggy-land...so I came up with something different...pumpkins made from vintage silk beaded evening gowns!

 Why not put a little sparkle in your Autumn??

 I always wonder who wore this evening gown?  Did she wear it to a fancy Christmas party?  On a first date?       I made this one from a wedding gown.  Did the groom cry when the bride walked down the aisle?

Or do you prefer a more colorful Autumn??  These purple pumpkins were made from a Mardi Gras Ball evening gown.

 When I saw the silk plaid dress (below), I immediately thought of the Burberry brand.  Same colors and general look.  So in my Etsy shop, I called these pumpkins inspired by Burberry.  Amazingly, the Burberry company itself sent me an email through my Etsy shop.  They explained that I could not use that term, so now I just refer to them as 'plaid'.  

Do you prefer the popular all-neutral farmhouse look of Fixer-Upper for fall? 

Or the more colorful version of Fall? 

I love both!

Hugs, Catherine

Sharing with these fun linky parties:

Amaze Me Mondays at Dwellings
Make it Pretty Monday at The Dedicated House

Made by you Monday at Skip To My Lou

Inspire Me Monday at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Table it at Rustic and Refined

Feathered Nest Friday at http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/

The inspiration Gallery at The Craftberry Bush 

Create, Bake, and Grow Together at  http://shabbyartboutique.blogspot.com/

The Friday Flea

A Morning Cup of Joe Linky Party (Friday) at The Cottage Market

Let's Talk Vintage Party at Bella Rosa Antiques

Tweak it Tuesday at Cozy Little House

To Grandma's House We Go at Abbots at Home

Talk of the town at Knick of Time

Creative Inspirations (Wednesdays) at Embracing Change

Cooking & Crafting with J & J at Julie's Lifestyle

The Scoop at  Confessions of a Plate Addict

Tuesdays at our Home at Our Home Away From Home

Seasonal Sundays at The Tablescaper

Share Your Cup Thursday at Jann Olson

Home & Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life

The Creative Circle (Thursday) at Seeking Lavender Lane

Share your style party at The Essence of Home

Pin Junkie Pin Party (Thursday) at The Pin Junkie

 Pink Saturday at How Sweet The Sound

What to do weekends at Crafts a la mode

Snickerdoodle Sunday at Across the Boulevard

 Saturday Sparks Linky Party at Pieced Pastimes 

Happiness is Homemade at The Painted Hinge

Hauntingly Beautiful Halloween Décor Link Party at Follow the Yellow Brick Home

Book Spine Flags & A Trip to Napa Valley

Happy Independence Day, Everyone!

Sweet land of liberty -- of thee I sing!

So recently I got a special request....to make a book spine flag similar to another I had made a few years ago.  So I made a new flag with red, white, and blue book spines....

And the lady liked it so much that she wanted three more -- not for herself, but to give as gifts.....

....Gifts for three friends that were going to accompany her on her birthday trip to Napa Valley!  How incredibly sweet is that?  Giving gifts to your friends on your own birthday!  She must be quite a lovely lady, don't you think?  Wouldn't you like to be her friend?

These flags are backed on foam board that I covered in bible pages....the bible is from the 1800's, and the pages are quite yellowed with age.  I bought the bible at a flea market in Canton, TX....it was completely falling apart, so I have given it a new life...

Under the book spines, I added some felt to help them stand up a bit....I liked that better than the flattened book spines I used a few years ago.... (separate blog post shows that)

 

Then I used various trims and chains on the bottom of the flag...patriotic medals, keys, etc.

So here's to hoping you have a great Independence Day, Everyone!  And I hope my customer has a lovely birthday trip with her friends!

Here's what else I've been working on for the 4th of July.... a mixed media/fabric wall hanging... It is currently in my Etsy Shop along with 4th of July/USA banners made from vintage book covers.

 The ribbons on this banner are printed with all of the Constitutional Amendments....I printed them myself onto fabric, then cut them into ribbons...

Enjoy your 4th of July!

Hugs, Catherine

Sharing with these fun linky parties:

Amaze Me Mondays at Dwellings
Make it Pretty Monday at The Dedicated House

Made by you Monday at Skip To My Lou

Inspire Me Monday at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Table it at Rustic and Refined

Feathered Nest Friday at http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/

The inspiration Gallery at The Craftberry Bush 

Create, Bake, and Grow Together at  http://shabbyartboutique.blogspot.com/

The Friday Flea

Let's Talk Vintage Party at Bella Rosa Antiques

Tweak it Tuesday at Cozy Little House

Cooking & Crafting with J & J at Julie's Lifestyle

The Scoop at  Confessions of a Plate Addict

Tuesdays at our Home at Our Home Away From Home

Seasonal Sundays at The Tablescaper

Share Your Cup Thursday at Jann Olson BlogSpot

Share your style party at The Essence of Home

 Pink Saturday at How Sweet The Sound

What to do weekends at Crafts a la mode

Share it One More Time Sunday at One More Time Events

Snickerdoodle Sunday at Across the Boulevard

 Saturday Sparks Linky Party at Pieced Pastimes 

Happiness is Homemade at The Painted Hinge

Sparkly Gatsby Style Spring

What's not to love about sparkly decorations?!
Altered bottles are such versatile decorations....

I covered this one in silk beaded fabric in a lovely soft aqua....

 Then I added sparkly vintage jewelry to dress it up even more!

But it has to be pretty on both sides, right?  On this side I added a pop of bright pink vintage jewelry...

Then on the top of the bottle...I added an Easter egg to fit into the top of the bottle....something had to go on top, right?  It sits inside the top of the bottle just like a wine cork/bottle stopper.

Here's another one!

Here's how I made the bottle stopper...I used felt to make a cylinder shape to act as the stopper...

Oh so sparkly!!

 I even made a sparkly little birdie!  Hee hee!  Isn't she pretty?
 Thanks for stopping by my little blog!

Hugs, Catherine

Sharing with these fun parties:

Sharing with these fun linky parties:

 Project Inspired at  Extraordinary Day
Amaze Me Mondays at Dwellings
Monday Social at Botanic Bleu

Make it Pretty Monday at The Dedicated House

Made by you Monday at Skip To My Lou

Inspire Me Monday at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Table it at Rustic and Refined

Feathered Nest Friday at http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/

The inspiration Gallery at The Craftberry Bush 

Create, Bake, and Grow Together at  http://shabbyartboutique.blogspot.com/

The Friday Flea

Let's Talk Vintage Party at Bella Rosa Antiques

Tweak it Tuesday at Cozy Little House

Cooking & Crafting with J & J at Julie's Lifestyle

The Scoop at  Confessions of a Plate Addict

Tuesdays at our Home at Our Home Away From Home

Seasonal Sundays at The Tablescaper

Share Your Cup Thursday at Jann Olson BlogSpot

Share your style party at The Essence of Home

 Pink Saturday at How Sweet The Sound

What to do weekends at Crafts a la mode

Share it One More Time Sunday at One More Time Events

Snickerdoodle Sunday at Across the Boulevard

 Saturday Sparks Linky Party at Pieced Pastimes 

Kitchen Remodel

Ready for a kitchen remodel?  Ha ha, no one likes the process, but we all love it when it's done!

After

Before

            

See that arch over the remodeled window?  It looked so pretty in my head, but I could not convince my husband or the carpenter that it would look this pretty.   The carpenter thought that "it would look terrible"......  So.....I drew it out/cut it out/ on a life-size sheet of tissue paper and taped it up between the old cabinets.  Then my husband got the idea, and gave a few size/shape opinions.  I re-drew it and we taped it up again.  Then he actually liked the idea.  See the decorative appliques and corbels?  Since I had a life-size piece of paper taped up to the wall, I printed the decorative pieces from an online shop, architectural depot, and taped them on to the tissue paper and lived with them for a few days.  Next time the carpenter came, he could see my idea.  He still tried to convince me not to leave the open area behind the arch.  He wanted to close it in with wood.  But I wanted to hang a chandelier there.  Finally he shrugged his shoulders and said he'd build it the way I wanted it.  He actually took the life-size drawing on the tissue paper to his carpentry shop to help with cutting out the shape! 

I knew I wanted red curtains, but that no one would have what I had in mind.  So, I knew I would have to make them myself.  I found the red embroidered fabric and the glass bead trim at Fabric Factory in Dallas.  I made Roman blinds - I had made them for the kitchen about 15 years before in a green color, so I used the shape/size of the old curtains to make the new ones.

See the corbels and the decorative appliques on the island?  I asked the carpenter for size info, and then set to work finding the right size online.  Ordered them, and gave them to the carpenter to install.

The most agonizing decision was the tile backsplash!  So many choices - my head was spinning!  The tile guy suggested installing the granite window sill instead of keeping the wooden window sill.  I took his suggestion, and think it looks quite nice!

Oh those chandeliers!  Hubby did not want them!  He was convinced they would hang too low (9 foot ceilings) and not provide enough light.  So again, I made a basic chandelier shape in poster paper and hung two of them from the ceiling.  A 20 inch wide and a 15 inch wide.  Then played with how low to hang them.  I showed him that we could walk under them and not hit our heads!!  Really!!  He finally gave in.  I ordered the chandeliers online and hubby installed them and added the can lights since he was worried the chandeliers would not provide quite enough light.  (You can see here I have only put the crystals on one chandelier so far.)

Loving that gothic arch!! : )

I primed and painted the walls after taking down all of the wall paper. (We borrowed a steamer, which worked fairly well.)  Hubby put joint compound on all the spots where the wallpaper removal had ripped off part of the sheetrock.  Then he sanded and sanded and sanded... 

Here is a before photo.  I took this photo at my daughter's fashion show birthday party...you can see photos on that here.

Here's a photo of a Christmas party after the kitchen was finished.  You can see the rest of that party here.

  Hope you enjoyed this tour of my kitchen remodel.

Hugs, Catherine

Sharing with these fun linky parties:

Inspire Me Monday at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Feathered Nest Friday at http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/

Simple and Sweet Fridays http://rootedinthyme.blogspot.com/

Home Sweet Home at  The Charm of Home

The inspiration Gallery at The Craftberry Bush 

Shabbylicious Friday at Shabby Art Boutique

Talk of the Town (Tuesdays) at My Salvaged Treasures

Simply Neutral Tuesday at Apple Apricot

Show and Share at Coastal Charm 

The Scoop at  Confessions of a Plate Addict

Share Your Cup Thursday at Jann Olson BlogSpot

Share your style party at The Essence of Home