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Wednesday 19 September 2012

The Start Of The Fall Decorating

This is my favourite time of year to decorate!  The autumn leaves, baskets of fruits and vegetables, rose hips and sunflowers are so vivid that they look wonderful in any arrangement you try.

I started with the front porch. ~


Since I have a seemingly endless supply of burlap that I bought at Christmas, I decided to make a swag to hang over the front door.

First, make sure you have a helpful kitty to get the ribbons right. ~


All pictures with Maeve are blurry now, as she has become camera shy.  Actually, since I became a blogger, she considers me paparazzi.  It's kind of like my family who preface everything they say with, "Don't put this in your blog!".

I've decided to work with what I have on hand.  A doubled layer of burlap is the base and I made bows from a clearance $1 roll of ribbon.  It's not  wire edged or as wide as I would like, but it will work.  A couple of feather wreaths I used at Christmas are wired onto the swag as centres for the bows.

Add some faux grapes and a bit of dollar store leaf garland. ~



Here's where you use the window dresser's special tool to gather the burlap up into bunches and secure the ribbon tails in a pretty drape.  Some people call it a stapler.  Seriously, that's how we get everything to stay right where we want it.  Staplers and floral wire are indispensable!  I'm photographing this in near gale force winds and nothing is moving.

The cornucopia I picked up last year at the Salvation Army is filled with fake pumpkins, sunflowers and grapes.  This thing is huge and almost the length of a bale of straw! ~


Luckily I have chickens and already had the straw!

I bought this pail years ago.  You could easily paint a dollar store bucket in this design. ~


I want to add some little pumpkins to the overhang on the door and trail some more leaf garland down from the top but that's as much as I could do in the cold, rain and wind for one day.

I think this is starting to pull together! ~


I'm sharing the bounty with ~
Creative Things ThursdayCottage Style Linky PartyIt's Fall Y'all Autumn Link PartySunny Simple SundaySunday's Best Par.tayShare Your Cup ThursdayCrafty Cornucopia



33 comments:

  1. So that's what you were busy doing in the rain today!!!
    Turned out fabulous Maureen - love the hay stack - can you send one down to me please!
    XOX

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  2. Oh this is so beautiful, you have a beautiful porch

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  3. YOu have a real talent for decorating. So festive and autumnal! I love the crow bucket.

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  4. It turned out so nice and now I feel 'in the know' about the stapler, lol.

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  5. It looks wonderful! I love your pretty Storm Door!

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  6. a lovely Autumn welcome. Our daughter s picking up hay bales today for her front entry. xo

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  7. What a way to welcome guests. Beautiful.

    Cynthia

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  8. Your front porch looks beautiful - all ready for the fall season.

    Judy

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  9. It all looks beautiful! I love the ends of the swag!

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  10. You decorated it beautifully! I'm lucky if I get a pumpking! Love, love that scrollwork on your front door.

    xo
    Claudia

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  11. It's lovely Maureen...when I was walking up to your house yesterday, it was giving off the feeling of "home" in waves from when it first came into view for me. Excellent creativity girlfriend!! xo wendy

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  12. Your home looks very inviting. Nice touches of fall. Linda

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  13. your black kitty may be my favorite decoration :)

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  14. stunning beautiful!!!!
    http://from-a-girls-mind.blogspot.com/2012/09/avocado-smoothie.html

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  15. Your front door looks beautiful and so inviting! The burlap seems to be just the right touch for fall.

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  16. Thanks for stopping by - I love the way you've decorated!

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  17. What a charming, lovely front porch! It's so welcoming. Happy first day of fall :)
    Cheers, Andrea

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  18. Love your Fall decorations Maureen, everything looks so inviting.
    The colours look great against the blue of your house too !

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  19. Really cute! I love the burlap swag. Kitty is so cute. I need him or is it a she to come help me decorate. I hopped over from Sunny Simple Sunday. Now a new follower.
    Hugs,
    Jann
    p.s. I have a linky party, Share Your Cup Thursday. Would love to have you hop over and link up.

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  20. Love your Fall decor but I LOVE your screen door the most!! Stunning!

    Hugs,
    Dbebie

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  21. WOW it is absolutely gorgeous! isn't fall wonderful! :)

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  22. Oh my God!! I have one of those window dressers special tools too!! LOL!! Your front porch looks wonderful! I love that burlap and the leaf garland looks splendid against it! That little bucket is darling! Glad you didn't get blown away!

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  23. And you've got the black cat to match those autumn decorations!

    Popped in from SSL's Sunny Simple Sunday.

    thriftshopcommando.blogspot.com

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  24. I never thought of adding a swag to the door!! This is lovely :)

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  25. Just wanted to hop back and say thanks so much for coming by and linking up with Share Your Cup. Hope to see you often!
    Hugs,
    Jann

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  26. Hi Maureen, coming back again to say that I will be featuring you on Share Your Cup later today.
    Hugs,
    Jann

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  27. Beautiful, love how you decorated your front porch. Love the swag on the door. Your screen front door is so pretty and fallish! Thanks for sharing your inspiration with Sunday’s Best – you helped make the party a success!

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  28. So many pretty things. Very attractive and colorful.

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  29. Hi, I really like your burlap garland - this is a great idea - thanks for sharing.

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  30. Very pretty-especially the burlap garland. Thanks for sharing at the Crafty Cornucopia Challenge.

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