Harvest Take Down

It's time to say good-bye to all of the harvest decorations until next year. Wow, the time has gone by very quickly.
Autumn wasn't very pretty, in my neck of the woods. The leaves seemed to go from green, to slightly yellow, a bit of reds and oranges, quickly to dry brown, and then just lying there on the lawn and deck, looking pitiful. We left some in the plant beds and vegetable garden for protection and composting purposes, but every thing looks so bare outside. More time to focus on the inside of the house. Yippee!!!!!

That's right, time to decorate for Christmas!!!!! I really wanted to decorate the weekend before Thanksgiving, but it was just too busy and what's the point of rushing the process instead of having fun. So, in keeping with the theme of having fun, I took one day to play with my big girl camera before putting away all of the harvest decorations. I've had the camera for well over a year, but it has been very intimidating. Being a member of the point and shoot camera user group, switching to a digital DSLR has taken some getting used to. Oh yeah! I have no photography training what so ever. So it's not only becoming more familiar with the camera being used in a fully automatic mode (which by the way I have found is a little boring), but being able to use it in a fully manual mode. It's a learning process and I have a long ways to go.

The day before Thanksgiving I spent quite a bit of time walking around the house and taking pictures. This was a very fun day.

Wreath on the inside of the back door.

Funny that this wreath was made 2 years ago and it's still around. I've looked at it a few times and said it was time to change it, then I put it up and I still like it when it's hanging. I removed the colorful ribbon that was on it and put on the burlap ribbon last year. Who knows? Maybe next year I'll start with something different.

These are so versatile, I just love them.

Okay, these little candle holders are GREAT!!!!!! Bought them at a Partylite party, that I was invited to, about 8 years ago, and I can't even think of getting rid of them. Ultra versatile, they can be used as vases and candle holders separately, or together like in the picture above. They deserve a post all of their own, because I have used them in so many ways.

Photocopies of leaves.

Last year I gather some leaves from the yard and scanned them into my computer. This year I was, again, able to print them out and put them into this collage frame. It's just enough.

Neutrals and colors, it worked well together.

The bright colors with the white and black really worked for me. It was such a nice contrast in a rather boring corner of the living room. The large white pumpkin was a dirt cheap find, it's foam. I spray painted it with a textured paint. It looks like it should have some substantial weight to it, but it doesn't. Everything else was leftovers from years past, just used in different ways.

My other extremely versatile favorite.

Another Partylite party find that I purchased for less than $20 about 7 years ago, because of the great discounts you rack up when you throw a party. It was worth it. Good friends, good food, a glass of wine and...no husbands. We had fun. This should be included in the post with the other candle holders from above. One day….oh yes….one day.

Swag above the mirror in the foyer.

Swag or no swag? The mirror always looks so bare with no swag above it. I made this swag the same time that I made the wreath pictured above. If you look closely, you'll see that they match. The wreath used to reside on the front door, so the matching swag was in the foyer. I must say, the burlap ribbon is more soothing on my eyes. I'll have to change this ribbon as well, if it lasts for another year.

What's autumn without apples?

There's just something about a bucket of apples in the autumn. Okay, they're not real, but they are real cute. I also use it to disguise the bottom part of a tricky corner by the television.

In my tricky corner by the television.

And this is how I disguised the top part of the same corner. Just out of frame, there sits a television, but who wants to see that? Right?

My favorite is still the clock.

This lantern has been on the deck and back a few times. I think it's the chunkiness of it that keeps it coming back in the house. It's nice to have a few items with heft sitting around. BTW……the clock? Love my clock. It's so….so….so……classic and timeless.

A portion of my favorite corner of the house.

Dollar store pumpkins spray painted white and the adorable little sign from Hobby Lobby, which is bare when purchased. I used a dry-erase marker to write Autumn on it. You have no idea how many times I had to erase it. Good thing I didn't use a permanant marker. This area turned out so well I didn't want to take it down, but Christmas is calling and the pumpkins had to go. Sorry pumpkins. See you next year.

There you have it. Some of my decorations for fall, now all packed away as I busily decorate for Christmas. I promise not to wait until Easter to share those decorations. But, Santa's helper is a little behind and must play catch up. So off to my workshop, not that I really have a workshop, I'm really just going to clean up the swath of destruction that I've been creating. 

Have a great day!!!!