Fall in the Heartland

That buffet project must have plum tuckered me out, because I have no gumption this morning.  Yesterday, I spent the day catching up on the five ten loads of laundry that I got behind on when I was focused on turning the beast into a beauty.  Does anyone else see if they can turn 10 loads into 5 by cramming the washing machine so full it gets off balance?  I do.  All the time.  You'd think I'd stop, but I don't.  At least all but 2 loads have been folded.  Put away?  Now that's another story.

I feel like I'm wasting precious time by doing things in the house when I could be outside sanding and painting away.  Before I know it, Canada will be sending us her cold north winds and I will be freezing my southern tail off.  I have plenty of time to do all the boring inside stuff for the 6 months we have winter here.  I feel like I'm a squirrel hurrying to get things accomplished with the refrain, "Winter is coming!  Winter is coming!" pushing me to try to accomplish the impossible in just a few short weeks.  Y'all still in the south don't know how good you've got it!  :)

However, I can't deny the beauty of a heartland fall.  We do get the true seasons here even if they are June, July, August, and Winter.  Although this year, we've had a beautiful indian summer.  Thank you Lord for this beautiful fall weather!

I snuck outside this morning and took a few quick shots off my back porch and even opened the window next to the computer to take a few when the rising sun on the golden corn caused me to catch my breath.  That is what I have to share with you this morning...

I count my blessings that we have such beautiful views in each direction.  I can look north and see fields that reach as far as the eye can see...

I always love gazing east in the early morning, before the fog burns off the fields.  Its like looking at a living painting...

And looking towards the south, I see rolling hills of color...

But our growing woodpile to the west reminds me that soon, I'll be seeing a different view.  One of stark blue skies and blowing white snow.

Aren't we so very blessed?

I used this shot as a backdrop to a Fall poem I found online by using Picnik.  I plan on printing it out and framing it.

I've always said that there's nothing more beautiful than the sun rising over the ocean, but this is pretty darn close.  It just makes you want to take time to take a deep breath and breath it all in before winter sends her icy cold gusts.  The heartland in the Fall is one of the most spectacular places in the country.  And while I do long for the crisp sea air and salty scents of home, I'm pretty blessed to have these views out my windows each morning.  Aren't I?

Foyer Table Reveal

I have this little table that used to sit in my Dad's foyer.  It was the first thing you saw when you walked through the front door, sitting directly across from the door.  Small, narrow and not really much good for anything but to be a clutter collector.  I pretty much set it up like he had it and left it that way.  Kind of a mini-shrine (but like, not in a weird way).

My Dad loved everything wood.  He would buy all kinds of stuff from unfinished furniture stores and stain it himself.  Needless to say, I inherited a lot of stained wood furniture - and bless his heart, they weren't always stained in a good way.  He really had a thing for orangey tones.  Uh.  No.

So, I finally talked myself into believing that he wouldn't care one bit if I made some of these pieces of furniture my own by painting them up a bit.  Yesterday was an absolutely gorgeous fall day, although you wouldn't have known by the temperatures.  Who ever heard of 80 degrees in Iowa in October?  Weird.  Since I'm never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I decided to take advantage of this last bit of fantastic weather by working on some furniture outside.

The little man had his own fun while I sanded away...

Obviously, I let him dress himself yesterday morning.  ;)
Check out those little bare feet!

Here's what I started with...

Sorry for the quality, I had to crop it from an old picture.
Sometimes I get so excited about doing something, I forget to take before shots!

And after a good sanding...

I primed her up pretty good (which I did not take pictures of) and then painted her "Chalkboard White" by Dutch Boy.  I also tried my very first attempt at glazing in a "Smooth Slate".  OMG.  Why did I think I could screw it up?!  So easy and such instant gratification!  That's my kind of DIYing!  

And here she is today...

Since she sits in our dining room (these old house don't have foyers - at least ours doesn't), I added a few simple items to match the fall decor on the table.

I used an old wooden cheese box as a vase, by taking a foam florist square that I had, cutting it in half and laying it in the bottom of the box.  My centerpiece for the table was dying a slow death, so I cut some of the flowers that hadn't wilted yet and pushed them into the foam.  In lieu of greenery for filler, I walked out to the cornfield that abuts our backyard, grabbed some leaves from a stalk, and shredded them.

I saw this cute idea on Pinterest, but didn't repin it, so I can't say who this came from.  If its your idea, please let me know and I will give you proper credit!  I used hemp twine instead of jute, but still got the same effect.

The bouquet on the bottom shelf is nothing more than foxtail and sticks from our backyard tied with the hemp twine.  I love how the foxtail resembles wheat in its shape and golden color.  And for the backing, I used that old metal ceiling tile that I bought a few weeks ago from "Country Collections" in Dumont.

So here's a quick recap:

I must say I'm totally in love with this table and now I think I'm ready to tackle the computer table.  Fingers crossed!

3 Little Pumpkins & A Tale of Two Costumes

I know I said I don't always decorate for the seasons because its a budget-buster for the things we want to get done around here, but when I had this little brainstorm yesterday, I just couldn't seem to hold onto my will power.  Strength of will isn't one of my finer points, if you know what I mean.

So, I kind of got into the spirit of the season when I took the Diva and the little man with me to get a few groceries from that bastion of hell super center of all things cheap.  I definitely have a love/hate relationship with walworld.  Its the closest store around (20 minutes) and I always get sucked into buying things I don't need, want, or have to have.  Somehow they just magically appear in my cart despite my fervent promise to myself I will only get FOOD.

The diva decided she wanted to be a cow girl this year.  I think, "Yay!  Super cute and super cheap.  A dollar black cowboy hat, plaid shirt, and jeans.  Braid her hair...  Give her some freckles...  Done!"  The diva - and this is EXACTLY why I call her the diva - had other plans.  The hat had to be pink.  As she very calmly and reasonably pointed out,  black and red are for BOYS.  (God forbid we have THAT.)  She wanted a skirt, not jeans.  CowBOYS wear jeans.  CowGIRLS wear skirts.  "Not when they're riding horses they don't."  I told her.  Yeah.  Didn't fly.  "I'm not going to be riding a horse.  I'm going to be trick or treating." she says.  Great.  I had no comeback for that one.

Luckily, the abyss of "low" prices and shoddy workmanship had just the thing...  With an iridescent pink cowgirl hat, no less. For $20.  Really?  Twenty bucks for a costume she's going to wear ONCE and probably won't even make it through two hours of candy hoarding?  Well, being the diva is the ONLY girl here at home, I pretty much always give in.  Besides, she's going to look so cute!  

Diva 1 - Mom 0

Of course, when we got home and she showed her Daddy, she then brought up boots.  Pink cowboy boots.  I'll give her this.  She sure knows who to ask what.  After batting her pretty little eyelashes a few times, it looks like the diva will not be sporting a pair of Nikes with her cowgirl outfit.

Diva 2 - Parents 0

The little man was a lot easier to please.  Once he started screeching, "PUPPY! PUPPY!  PUPPY!"  It was pretty much a done deal.  Have you seen these yet, in your local blackhole of "savings"?  

They're little cap and tail costumes.  Too cute!  Pair them with a sweatpants outfit and you're good to go.  They had a monkey, a pig, a dinosaur...  The little man wanted to be a puppy, so a puppy it was.  I found the sweatpants in the Girls' Department.  Do you think he'll care?  LOL!  Too bad I couldn't find a matching sweatshirt that didn't have hearts or flowers on it.  Hopefully I can find one somewhere and the plan is to hot glue (this girl don't sew) felt polk-a-dots on them.  For $3.00 each for the cap and tail, I can get excited!

Winning!

Noah on the other hand at the ripe old age of 9 has declared that costumes are for dorks.  This saddens me.  When I told him that he wouldn't be able to go trick-or-treating without a costume, he informed me that he would be going as a "person" and a "person" is a costume.  Hmmmmm...  Not quite so sure about his reasoning on that, but I've got almost a full month to work on him.

So, I got all caught up in the Halloween spirit and bought myself some goodies too.  Three pumpkins, some spray primer, white spray paint, ribbon, and a few buttons.  I decided I would "do" Fall on my own terms and with my own style...  Autumn colors just aren't my thing. So, a little sum-sum to dress up the office.  (I know, I know - am I ever going to get started on the west wall.  Soon!  Promise!)

And this is my non-traditional take on Fall:

And I think I've got the perfect spot for them...

Happy Fall everyone!

DIY. . . Changing Seasons Placemats & Tutorial

A huge reason why I don't change my decor with each season is because it seems like a waste of money to change things every couple of months.  Don't get me wrong ,I used to have decorations for each season - Summer, Fall, Halloween, Christmas, Winter, Easter, Spring, 4th of July. . .  That was six kids and what seems like a lifetime ago.  Now, I pretty much stick with Christmas.  Its just more budget-friendly that way.

Looking all over blogland, I see tons of way cute ideas to dress up your home for Autumn.  And I'm jealous.  Being there is so much work to be done on this little big house, I can't really justify going out and purchasing items to decorate my home for two and a half months.  And since its been YEARS since I've really bought anything Fall-ish, my seasonal decor is sorely depleted.

So last night, while I was trying to figure out a DIY craft I could blog about today, I hit on this idea.  What if I made something that not only would work for Fall, but also for every other season too?  That way, I wouldn't feel so guilty about spending money that could be better spent on home improvement projects!
WIN, WIN!

This is what I came up with. . .

Changing Season Placemats.

And better yet, it cost me $2.00.  Woo-hoo!  I found the placemats at a local thrift store for $0.50 each.

Materials:

4 Placemats

Chalkboard Paint

Painter's Tape

Burlap Fabric

Cotton Fabric

Glue Gun

Seasonal Decorations 

First, I taped off all the edges of the placemats.

Then I coated it well with black Chalkboard paint.

To speed up the drying process, I hung them on the line to dry.

While waiting for them to dry, I made fabric rosettes out of some burlap that I bought for another project, as well as an old white bedskirt.

When the paint had dried, I attached the rosettes to the placemat on the upper left-hand corner.

And in the spirit of the season, I tucked some faux Autumn leaves in amongst the rosettes.  Instant Fall placemat!

The thing I love about this craft is that you can change out the wording and the seasonal decoration that you tuck into with the rosettes.  Just don't glue them down and change the word that you write in chalk.

So now you have placemats for Fall. . .

For Christmas . . .

For Spring . . .

and for Summer .

Now, I can have my dining room decked out for Fall and not feel a bit of guilt over any money that I've spent.  :)

Each placemat says a different word - Fall, Autumn, Leaves, and Harvest.

In the interest of full disclosure, the only thing I would probably do differently is use either a tighter weave or attach a thin, flat board to the top of the placemat and paint that instead of painting directly on the mat.  One, the weave absorbs a lot of the chalkboard paint and that stuff ain't cheap.  Plus, this particular weave makes it difficult to write on with the chalk.  But oh well, I used what I had and I think it turned out pretty swell!

Speaking of harvest, its getting to be that time again.  Here's a couple of pictures I took from the upper deck on the back of our house.  There's nothing prettier than Fall in the heartland (except maybe summer in the heartland).  What a view, huh?

Its almost enough to make me forget that the plumbing guy delivered the news today that we have to get a new hot water heater...  Yeah, the one we just bought brand new four years ago.  So, no hot water for tonight.  Errrrr...  Five kids, no bath.  Grrrrreat.
At least Marathon carries a lifetime warranty, so its just an inconvenience until it can be replaced.  Hopefully, soon!

Until then, I'll just enjoy my DIY Fall Decor.  And that makes me happy!

 I'm linking this craft up to:
The Vintage Farmhouse: Creative Things Thursday