I'VE FALLEN...FOR FALL!!!

 

Fall is my absolute favorite season...and after our long hot summers here in the South I’m always glad to see it come.  Even though it’s not “officially FALL”, I couldn’t wait a minute longer.  I’ve hit HOBBY LOBBY twice along with Dollar Tree and Dollar General (where I found very little).  Soooo...I thought I’d let my pictures do this post:)  Hope you like my style!

MY  TIERED  TRAY...I love decorating it for the seasons.

 

Got this cute mug from ETSY...love me some pumpkin spice!

                 I adore GNOMES...came from Hobby Lobby.

           All the dishes came from Wal-Mart a few years ago.

Placemats were a gift from a friend who was moving...they came from Dollar Tree (surprisingly very good quality).

 

I made the wreath with supplies from Hobby Lobby...just                      something simple (to go with my simple skills!)

The porch rocker is very old and belonged to my husband’s beloved grandmother.  Not in great shape any longer but so hard to get rid of something so old and that belonged to family.  Pillow from Wal-Mart last year; scarecrow from Hobby Lobby.

                           Scarecrow from Hobby Lobby.

              Do the sunflowers look tacky??  Tell the truth!!!

 

Can’t wait for the cooler FALL air so I can once again enjoy my front porch.

 

And one last little scarecrow...from Hobby Lobby couple years ago.  They still have lots of cute ones.

Soooo....do you decorate for FALL?  What's your favorite season?

I'M FALLING!!!!

 

 

Even though the heat index here in south GA is 105 degrees today and it’s still officially summer, I decided I was going to start FALLing!  That is, I pulled out the FALL décor today.  After all, they already have CHRISTMAS decorations in many of the stores!!!!  (I am SO NOT ready for that!)  I decided I might as well enjoy a month of FALL decorations before I have to pull out the HALLOWEEN trappings.  Then it will be time for about 3 weeks of THANKSGIVING then I’ll pull out the really big guns for the end of Nov. and the month of December.  WHEW!!!!  I’m tired just thinking about it!

 

Have you seen the two and three tiered trays that seem to be the “IN” thing in holiday décor?  I have salivated over all those I see on PINTEREST for awhile, so not too long ago HOBBY LOBBY (love that place!) had theirs on 50% off so I figured that was my SIGN…true, right???  

I had a difficult time deciding between painted metal, galvanized metal, or wood but finally went with a white metal one since so much of my kitchen is white.  I’d really like to have the galvanized or wooden one for FALL holidays, but the white one will look really good with all my gingerbread items for CHRISTMAS.  Maybe HL will have another sale and I will grab another one😊

These are all from Amazon:

So, what do you think of my first time diving into TRAY DECORATING?  I’m sort of proud of it; it actually turned out better than I thought since I am so NOT good at decorating.  The chubby little scarecrow and the squirrel came from Hobby Lobby this year and the “blessed” sign came from $TREE (altered by me), but everything else I already had.  I love the FALL pillow with the LITTLE RED TRUCK.  It came from Dollar General last year. They had some other cute one this year, too.

 

 

Here are a few other tiered trays decorated for FALL…thanks to PINTEREST.

I also pulled out my fall plates and placemats.  The placemats were a gift from my sweet neighbor when she was downsizing to move.  They also came from $TREE but are super quality and well made.  And…they are perfect for a FALL  table.  (Thanks, Lois:)  I bought the plates just a few years ago from Wal Mart but I doubt they are still available.  They are also perfect for fall…a cream color with just a tad of brown around the edges.  (You know what a “tad” is, right?  We southerners sometimes forget we have our own vocabulary, so I’m never sure who understands what I’m talking about!!!)

 

I love this pumpkin soup tureen…but it’s never seen a single drop of soup!  I just thought it was beautiful for decoration and bought it a few years ago at TJMaxx. 

 I love to decorate my porch for the seasons.  Here is my ivy “tree”.  It will look better when I have some real pumpkins to sit beside it. 

 

And here is my rocking chair with a cute  FALL pillow (from Wal Mart last year) and a cute scarecrow  from Hobby Lobby.

 I love holiday flags.  This one is new.  Got it at Dollar General the other day for $1.50!  You know I love a bargain! 

 And here are a few more items that found their way into my FALL decorating frenzy.

 

 

 

Now for a sneak peak at two of the cutest HALLOWEEN items I found today at Dollar General….it’s not that I’m cheap, but when you live in a small town you are excited to have dollar stores cause you don’t have much else!

I just couldn’t resist the gingham check and well, the wine one was just too cute not to get…and it was the last one they had😊

 

Is it just me, or does it bother anybody else that you walk down an aisle in a store these days and you see FALL, HALLOWEEN, AND CHRISTMAS decorations altogether?????????????  Doesn’t each holiday deserve its own special time in the spotlight??

 

I am sooooooooooooooo looking forward to when it is really FALL!  I can barely wait for the cooler weather and my first....

I can taste it now (sort of)!  Do you like PUMPKIN SPICE???  Some do, some don’t, but I’m one who DO!!

 

 

 

“ORANGE” YOU GLAD…IT’S ALMOST FALL???

Well, FALL may be only 6 days away, but it sure doesn’t feel like it here in south GA!  The temps have been horrendously hot here this summer, and they are still going strong.  I did hear it may drop into the 80s later this week…still not cool, but sure better than 105!

FALL is my favorite time of year…although I really like it better when we call it AUTUMN.  I just like the sound of that word😊  And I do love the beautiful leaves, although where we live the temperatures do not lend to changing colors, so we have to travel north if we want to see the glorious shades of yellow, gold, orange, red, and brown.

And one of my favorite things about FALL/AUTUMN are the colors….especially ORANGE!

Yep…I love ORANGE!  It’s a color I wear well.  And so…since I’ve already blogged about PURPLE and BLUE, I decided it was time for ORANGE.

According to information I found HERE…

“ORANGE triggers more reactions than any other hue. It is often associated with something strongly negative or strongly positive but is considered to be a "happy color" in many cultures, representing the aspect of joy which raises the spirits and invigorates the observer. (No wonder I like it so much!)  It's associated with joy and sunshine and represents enthusiasm, fascination, happiness, creativity, and DETERMINATION.”

In many Asian cultures, ORANGE symbolizes good luck & prosperity. But this bright, cheerful color also has some religious undertones.  According to some sources, ORANGE represents joy in Christianity… joy which is considered the catalyst of acting on faith to receive God's blessings.   (I really like that!)  

Of course, in our western culture ORANGE for many of us represents HALLOWEEN & THANKSGIVING.  And another of my favorite things for this time of year is PUMPKINS!  I am a PUMPKIN SPICE GIRL!!!

In case you are ever on JEOPARDY, here is some PUMPKIN TRIVIA for you…

*A French explorer in 1584 first called them "gros melons," which was translated into English as "pompions," according to History. It wasn't until the 17th century that they were first referred to as pumpkins.

*The original jack-o'-lanterns were made with turnips and potatoes by the Irish.

*Over 1.5 billion pounds of pumpkin are produced each year in the United States.

*The world's heaviest pumpkin weighed over 2,600 pounds. It was grown in Germany in October 2016.

*The largest pumpkin pie ever baked weighed 3,699 pounds. (My son would have gladly helped them eat it...he loves pumpkin pie.)

Since I was thinking so much about ORANGE, I decided to do some window shopping…well, at least surfing the web shopping; and here are some of my finds, in case you are interested.

I love to wear this bright color, but mostly in the fall & winter months.  Here are some sweaters that should brighten up a cold, dreary day…

This one is from NORDSTROM…$59.00

But compare that to this one from AMAZON for $17.99.  So similar but definitely difference in price.

 And this one is probably the one that I would choose, also from AMAZON and also $17.99.

I also like this one from TJMaxx...$16.99.

How about a pretty ORANGE purse for a pop of color with the browns and neutrals of cooler days?  This one is Tory Burch, but quite pricey @ $348 (and if you read my last post you know I’m a sucker for a bargain…which this is NOT!)  I would not pay this for a purse that would be limited in its use. (I do love my more neutral Dooney & Burke’s that were gifts from my husband!)

But I would definitely buy this one from Amazon for $15.51 (if I didn't already own an ORANGE purse:)…very, very similar, aren’t they!  And what a savings!

And how about this SNAKESKIN one???  Snakeskin and other animal prints are very ‘IN’ this year!  This purse is on 50% sale...$19.98!

And here are the SHOES to match from a different seller...$72.96, but again a little too pricey for me when they wouldn't go with a lot of things.  But I do REALLY like them:)

I'm seriously thinking of ordering this ORANGE plaid wrap from TJMaxx...only $9.99!!!:) Plaids are also 'IN'!

I do like to decorate some for FALL/AUTUMN but since I use so much RED in my home, it’s difficult to mix in my beloved ORANGE.  I do, however, make use of our big wrap-around porch.  I found this cute, cute pillow at Wal-Mart for only $5.96.  By the way, they had other cute fall pillows for only $5.  And…I bought a really, really cute BUFFALO CHECK one for Halloween, but I will share that later😊

Well, I guess that’s about all I have to say about ORANGE…and 

ORANGE YOU GLAD?  (tee hee!)    So how about you, do you like the color ORANGE?

PUMPKIN SPICE & EVERYTHING NICE

That’s what F A L L  is made of😊

At least to me, it’s not F A L L without the taste of pumpkin and the smell of cinnamon, nutmeg, & cloves.  And how I do love a PUMPKIN SPICE LATTE!  (Of course, right now in my neck of the woods it’s still in the high 90s and the last thing I’m thinking of is drinking something hot!)

However, I have “visions of sugarplums (pumpkins, colored leaves, scarecrows, long-sleeves, cowboy boots, & plowed-up peanut fields) dancing in my head.  I am SOOOO over summer and wishing I would wake up one morning soon with the smell & feel of 

F A L L in the air!  F A L L is definitely my favorite time of year, even though it doesn’t really get cool here until later.  But the sights & smells and just the feeling of a new FALL season sure can set my heart aflutter. 

Since I can’t really “experience” any of my autumn joys right yet, I thought I would share some things I’ve found around the net that have me drooling.  Plus…all these ideas look so easy that I think even I can pull them off! 

Mums are beginning to pop up on porches and steps around here…although I do fear the awful heat wave we’ve been having will dampen their spirits.  I plan to wait awhile before purchasing mine, but isn’t this plastic hanging-basket makeover just adorable.  It looks rather simple to make but just adds a punch and certainly looks better than plain plastic!

hometalk

I’m also thinking of FINALLY trying my hand at chalk painting Mason Jars.  And I love, love BURLAP.  Wouldn’t these be so “FALLish” on a mantle or entryway table?

homebnc

I like to decorate my (big) porch for the seasons, and these pillows would really dress up our swing.  In fact, I have some cheap inexpensive green pillows I bought at Wal-Mart awhile back, already have the burlap ribbon & leaves…so I’m set to go with this one!

movingforwardredesign

I also have most of the makings for this idea…at least as soon as I go to our church and pick up a bunch of acorns.  So easy, but again so FALLish!  And if it’s inspired by POTTERY BARN you know the original was e-x-p-e-n-s-i-v-e!

livelaughrowe

And this idea is very similar…you can buy really nice looking glass containers at the DOLLAR TREE.

momentswiththemays

“Rustic” decorating just seems (to me) to go along with F A L L and this old chair with the pumpkin would be so inviting on my side porch.  There’s nothing that says “Fall Y'all” more than PUMPKINS😊   

clipzine

I went for my yearly mammo (don’t forget to get yours😊) last week and “just happened” to drop by HOBBY LOBBY.  Their candlesticks and lanterns were on half-price (yes!!!), so of course, I couldn’t pass up a good sale. I plan to use this idea (but my lantern is waaayyy cuter!) It will look great alongside the wooden candlesticks on my mantle.

Pinterest

I could share LOTS more but don’t want this post to get too long.  Hopefully cool weather will grace us very soon and I can use all these ideas I’ve been collecting.  In the meantime, I’ll just enjoy the anticipation of things to come….

falling leaves

yellow mums

scarecrows

Halloween

apple cider

pumpkins

cool, crisp air

fall festivals

simmering spices

the smell of turned-up peanuts

& (of course)...

PUMPKIN SPICE LATTES

What is your favorite thing about FALL?