painted pine cones

Looking for some fall decor that fits your color scheme? This Pinterest-inspired DIY (from Torie Jayne) is super easy and inexpensive... Just paint some pine cones and and then use them to decorate! I used pine cones from the craft store that I had in my stash; if you go the free route and collect them from nature, you'll probably want to wash them first as described here.

{Sharing at The Pinterest Challenge}

magnolia leaf wreath, take two

I really loved my ombre magnolia leaf wreath, but now that it's been up for a little while, the nice vibrant colors have really faded. The leaves are still holding up well, but it just doesn't give off the same effect with the duller browns, so I decided to give it new life with some spray paint.

looking a little blah compared to the original....

shiny & new!

I had this bronze spray paint around from a previous project and thought it would be nice for fall. With a couple quick coats and the addition of a few berry sprigs (picked up at Hobby Lobby last year), I have a whole new wreath.

fabric acorns

Recently I admired these adorable velvet acorns by Plush Pumpkins that were part of a giveaway on Nesting Place.

                                                                       Source: thenester.com via Anne on Pinterest

And then when I was out walking the dog, I came across these ginormous acorn caps on the ground - and I had to try my own.

 

 

Basically, I just started with a small fabric circle, (1) did a running stitch around it (none of this has to be tidy looking at all, since it will be hidden), and then (2) cinched it up by pulling on the thread. Leave the needle attached while you (3) stuff some batting inside the little pouch, and then (4) pull it tight and put in a few stitches to keep it closed. Then just hot glue on the cap, and you have some adorable little plump acorns!

Best part about this project aside from the cute factor: completely free, since I had various fabric scraps and stuffing around... I love the huge acorn caps I found (no idea what kind of tree), but it could obviously work with regular ones and smaller fabric circles. They're nice as a vase filler or stuffed into this little shadow box frame I have from Ikea:

Linking here:

and here

fall mantel

I don't tend to go very theme-y with any seasonal decorations aside from Christmas, but I like to change up the decor feel a bit. With fall, it's all about bringing the warm and cozy back in after summer. And I don't think there's much more cozy than curling up with a good book - so when I saw this post (from last year's fall mantel link up) I had my inspiration.

                                                               Source: applevalleygirl.blogspot.com via Anne on Pinterest

My quick version:

Because of the mounted tv - which is quite helpful for the rest of the living room arrangement - I often have a little trouble figuring out what to do with the mantel. There's not a ton of space to work with, and I don't exactly want anything distracting from my view of Project Runway. So I kept it simple with some 59 cent mini pumpkins, my cork collection that fits with the warm colors, a candle for cozy lighting now that the evenings are getting shorter, and of course my books.

I arranged some books on top of the shelves on the other side of the room to match. The vintage-y keys were a Michael's $1 section find.

 

magnolia leaf wreath

My neighbors have a sort of overgrown, large magnolia tree that used to seriously get on my nerves. A chunk of it hangs over our side yard and driveway, and I was constantly picking up all these leaves that fell, cluttering my flower bed and clogging the drain at the bottom of the driveway. But then on a recent visit, my Grandma taught me to love that tree - because the collected leaves are perfect for a fall wreath! She took some home with her and gave me the idea to make my own.

Magnolia leaves are nice and thick, so they seem like they'll hold up well. At first I thought of spray painting the ones I collected to get a uniform color for my wreath, but a lot of them have a nice shine to them already, and the brown/yellow/green shades are so pretty, so it would be a shame to cover them up. 

So instead of trying to collect all one color leaf, I decided to go with an ombre effect. I sorted my leaves by color and then used a hot glue gun to attach them to a flat wooden ring.

The leaves aren't exactly bendable, so it seemed easier to use a flat ring rather than a styrofoam wreath form where I would have to cover the sides. I sort of layered the leaves a bit to give it a little more fullness and dimension.

This is some pretty darn inexpensive fall decoration too - the wreath form cost me just a couple bucks, and the leaves were of course free!

linking here and here: