Ready for autumn decorating? I am! I know it's still technically summer for another two weeks, but in Florida we have to make our own autumn anyway, so why not get in the spirit a little early? We celebrated my birthday today (it's actually tomorrow) so I wanted to have all of my autumn decor looking gorgeous when my adult children arrived.
I had planned to update my big chalkboard in the front entryway yesterday since it still had an Americana summer theme, but I was in a rush then and only had about 10 minutes to work on it this afternoon. I may go back later and do something a little fancier. Here it is on top of an antique cabinet with some pilgrims my sister gave me.
Also in the hallway...
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| Christmas Tree Shop (just part of their autumn decor) |
So, blue notwithstanding... The table cloth, tray, bread bowl, and two orange acorn vases are all from the Christmas Tree Shop, all for a total of $20. Even at 102" long, the cloth still barely fit our huge table.
My crowning joy in the dining room? I was sort of grumbling yesterday about having to drive my daughter to a friend's house, but I stopped at the Christian Sharing Center thrift store on the way home and found this beauty...
I've been wanting a china cabinet for years but until a few weeks ago, I didn't have a place for one! I've seen so many in thrift stores that were either dinged up or totally not my style. I'm picky, even when buying used furniture. When I spotted this lighted one yesterday in the thrift store, I knew it was mine. Furniture is 30% off each Saturday so it was only $35, and well, what can I say? Sweet. So happy. I also bought another recliner, but I'll show you that some other time. Amazingly, we fit all of it into my Grand Caravan mini-van (which has seats that fold into the floor) once we realized that the china cabinet is really two pieces. Dancing a jig, I say. Dancing a jig! Now I have a place to display my pretty things like my mother's heirloom crystal!
My huge collection of company dishes (wedding china and dollar store stoneware) now have their own home in the bottom part of the cabinet instead of being stashed around the house or in high cupboards. Yay!
Ironically, even with all of our nice dishes, I chose to use paper tableware for my birthday dinner since we were having picnic style barbecue sandwiches and salads.
My youngest daughter's home school area is still in the dining room.
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The picture above is detail from the framed print. I found it at a yard sale years ago, and it has our classic table grace handed down from generations past: "Give us grateful hearts, our Father, for all Thy mercies, and make us mindful of the needs of others." I am so grateful for lovely things like a china cabinet, dishes to put in it, delicious food to put on the dishes, and family to enjoy it with. I am also mindful that others do not have these things, and I try to make a difference for them through our homeless ministry and through purchases at places like the Christian Sharing Center. It is is a one-stop service center (health care, job searches, financial aid, food, etc.) for the homeless or those living in poverty.
On to the kitchen, which I also hadn't intended to "autumnize" since I just decorated it with a butterfly theme this summer. Again, I found so many great kitchen pretties!
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| Hot pad |
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| Matching dish towel |
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| I brought the calendar in from my bedroom because it fits the fall theme better than my butterfly calendar, which is now in my bedroom. |
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| Sign over the stove was $5 at Walmart |
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| This was my mom's, with the names of all of her grandchildren on the apples. |
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| Glass cutting board that matches the tray |
And finally, a little bit of the living room! I removed most of the blue and bird decor that I put in at Easter time. The furniture and curtains are already brown, perfect for autumn. There are other decorations in here, but these are the "new" ones.
I found these antique easel frames in my grandmother's attic over 20 years ago. I created the designs yesterday on my computer but found out our printer was out of color ink so I took them to Staples to print on linen paper. The pictures in the first one are mostly from a trip my oldest daughter and two oldest grandsons and I took to see my mother and grandmother in October 2012. They have both since passed away, so these photos are extra poignant to me.
This one is my Autumn Breeze haiku:
Dear Autumn Trees, please
Give me all your gorgeous leaves
More will grow. Love, Breeze
I will switch out these pictures for something else at Christmas time.
How about that burlap lamp? Our ceiling fan and light unit isn't working and we haven't had a chance to call an electrician to fix the wiring yet. In the meantime, I bought a large blue table lamp at Salvation Army for $4 and a 15 foot roll of burlap at Hobby Lobby for about $8 after a 40% off coupon.
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| The lamp at Salvation Army |
I circled the bottom edge of the lamp with the burlap spread out around it, then fastened it on with grapevine wire. Then I pulled up the burlap around it so that the wire was on the inside. This step concealed the raw edge.
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I attached an eyelet lace bow and set the lamp on a vintage lace doily.
Since I didn't use glue, this means I can take off the burlap. I might wrap it in red for Christmas, which I can take off so we can see the original blue for the new year. Versatility!
So that is just some of my autumn decorating this year.
Oh, I also have this on the front door. I borrowed the picture from last year's post, which you can find here: Ready for Autumn Decorating?
Other autumn decorating posts:
I hope this is all an encouragement to be resourceful and creative in decorating your home!
That's enough for now!
Grace and peace,
Virginia Knowles
I just love autumn decorating. Your is lovely and I especially love your great find - your lighted china cabinet. I be dancing a jig too. Thanks for sharing.
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