Thanksgiving Decor

I told you about my recent finds for the sunroom.
The vintage needlepoint and the Faribo throw set the tone for some vignettes I have been working on in the sunroom.



I wanted Thanksgiving decor but I didn't want to limit the decor to just turkeys. 

I don't think the turkey necessarily makes the list of top ten attractive birds. Bless their hearts. 
(You can say almost anything unkind down here in the south as long as you say "Bless their heart." afterward. 
It's a rule or something.
 #yankeelearningtobeasouthernlady.
#newyorkerintexas
#Ihopemysouthernfriendswillstillspeaktome
 ;) 

I had some other turkeys but they were resin.
 Resin and ceramic don't mix… because I'm a little over the top about some things.



I was trying to think of some other hearth and home accoutrements to add to the mix when I remembered a
 Currier and Ives book of prints I found at the thrift the other day. 
Most of the good prints were taken out already but it contained this print.



At the time I didn't think I needed it. 
At the time I didn't think I needed it?
 Thrifting fail! 
I ran back up to the store but it was gone so I did what any spoiled, heart set on something person would do. 
I bought it off of e-Bay. 
(It cost the same as the one I failed to buy at the thrift store.) 
 But because I am impatient and now my print has to be shipped, I started thinking about other house blessing knick knacks I may have nestled (crammed) in this house.



I found a couple of houses, a early winter Currier and Ives print, and some other organic, acorny things.



I also found a circa 1984 cross stitch made by yours truly.

I popped it into a vintage Adirondack style frame and paired it with a little painting I did a few years ago.
  
I love the dish dresser like this. 



I kept the green Meakin china and majolica (some real, some reproduction).



I haven't had my birdcage out in a long time. Would you believe I found this for $1.00?

I ordered the bittersweet off of e-Bay because I don't think it grows down here.



I collect vintage postcards. 

All the searching I did for cottages somehow  

  unearthed a crazy looking spider.



I was immediately sure I had been bitten and that I could be meeting my maker at any moment. 
I'll let you know.
Katie 

Linking with,
A Stroll Thru Life  
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia  
The Scoop at White Lace Cottage   
Savvy Southern Style 
Common Ground 
French Country Cottage   
Helene's Legacy: Everyday Vintage Link Party  
Lavender Garden Cottage

Unconventional Cornucopias

I told you about my cornucopia bias. 

I am in recovery with the wacky one I made out of chicken wire and drop cloths.

I wondered if any conical shape item would work as a cornucopia.

I love them filled with dried flowers and acorns.

I saw a rusty spring in the garage and decided to use it with some dried Oak Leaf Hydrangea blooms I had from June. (This is the only kind of Hydrangea I can grow.)

It didn't work until I wrapped it with burlap.

I dying at how cute this goofy thing is. 

It balances early and late fall with my little concrete squirrel and a glammy walnut shaped box.

Who knew? 

What other cone shaped things do I have around here????

Katie   
Linking with,
Between Naps on the Porch   
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia 
The Scoop at White Lace Cottage   
A Stroll Thru Life   
Savvy Southern Style

Furniture Swap and Advice?

Hi blogger friends,

I have a question today.

Rebekah and I traded some furniture so I have a complete bedroom suite in the garage. 

It is Hepplewhite in style in a cherry finish from the 40s, I believe. 

Link

20 years ago, I would have loved to have this set but now I'm not so sure.
The dresser is very similar to the one above.

In my picking and gathering method of furnishing a home, I have had no bedroom suites.
 Part of me would love to finally have a complete matching set of bedroom furniture but I am over dark, cherry stained wood. 

I don't know if I should paint it or not.

Link
 

I have a painted furniture board over on Pinterest but is the painted furniture craze coming to a crescendo?

I don't want to be late to the party only to find that I would love this stained furniture again. 

 

Link

 

I have refinished plenty of pieces to know I don't want to do that in a few years and 

I vividly remember my mom's avocado green piano.

 

I painted Rebekah's room last night and I am styling it today.

 I lost my shabby and white space when my youngest moved back in with us this summer. 
Read about it his room before here.
It was one of my first blog posts, so be kind.
 I went with white walls because I am sick of the dark walls. I wanted to try white for a change. I've haven't painted a room pure white since our house in Lubbock in 1990.
I like is so far. 
This room has been white, Celadon, Tiffany Blue, khaki and dark Moss.
Bill came home from his trip last night and said it's green.
It is not green.
It's a mixture of Glidden and Colorplace white.
Off the shelf: pre-mixed- white. Argh!  
This house just reads green. I didn't want to buy our house when we first saw it because I was convinced the carpet was Celadon green.  My realtor called the owner and she confirmed it was gray.??! She had the original order for the carpet. Gray!
(I've had problems with all my grays reading green….) Hmmm.
 
Back to the furniture.

I love white furniture with white walls but it would be a beating to have to paint all that furniture 
and
 I have Gene to contend with…
Who is Gene?
I am so glad you asked. 

This is Gene. Gene is a family heirloom that belonged to a state Senator or Representative. It was in his office down in Austin at the capitol. Rebekah named it during her childhood.  
Rebekah hopes to have Gene in a home someday but can't take it at this time. I am ready to move Gene out of here but he has a dysfunctional leg from being moved too many times.

This is what Bekah said after she saw the room.
1. "It looks smaller."
2. It looks likes I dumped all the furniture outcasts in it.
3. "I hate the color of the washstand and the bed."

Gene, the washstand and the bed are all the same color so what is she going to do about Gene if she doesn't like the color?

Yikes. 

So I am conflicted.
Scrap it all and start over? 

Help?
I think I better stock up on disposable paint brushes.
 Katie  

Purple and Brown for a Thanksgiving Scheme.

I found this adorable needlepoint at some point this summer. I stuffed it in the fabric closet until I was ready for some brown again. 
I had a severe brown overdose after being obsessed with it for a few years. I gave most of my chocolate stuff away and only kept my favorite things.

I made it into this pillow last week and knew that my brown hiatus was over. 
Smitten is a word that comes to mind. 
I decided to do some Thanksgiving decorating in browns and purples out here in the sunroom. 
I had two Hydrangeas from Kroger. 
The blooms were dead on the plant but they had dried perfectly. They were a lovely shade of dusty purple. 
I have tried and tried to dry Hydrangeas myself to no avail. 
These were super cheap, well, because they were dead. 
:)

My intent was to snip off the blooms but I decided to just leave them in the pot and make a drop cloth pot cover.

I told you about my thrifty finds last week. I found two plaid throws. I love plaid at the holidays. I couldn't believe I a saw a vintage Faribo throw in brown, purple and yellow. 
Well, I knew just had to have it to throw in the chair. 
I dropped it off at the cleaners on my way home. 



I stole Bill's papasan stool and spray painted it white. 
It was in his office but he isn't here during the week. 
Oh well!

  

The librarian at work was cleaning out her closet. This little microscope box was slated for the trash.

 I grabbed it and painted it with CeCe Caldwell chalk paint in Vintage White. 
I have a confession to make. I told you I didn't like chalk paint. 
But…

I have grown to love it for small projects like this microscope box. I am about to get some more but it's pricey at $37.00 a quart. 

I did some re-potting and trimming to get my little sunroom plants ready for winter. 
I've corralled them in the box.

Love it. Maybe it will keep all the dribbling contained. 
I have been working on bringing more brown into this room.
I've also been tweaking the vignettes in here with 
a few vintage, Thanksgiving related collectables.  
 I'll keep you posted. 
Katie   
Feathered Nest Friday   
The Charm Of Home

Craft Night

Twas the night before Halloween 
and all through the house.
Three creatures were stirring 
but 
totally not a mouse.
The crafters were crafting
all dressed in their sweats
with visions of banners 
stuck in their heads.

The glue gun was heating,
the stencils were primed.
The drop cloths were ready,
the paints all alined.

When up on the island 
their arose such a commotion.
The dog was antsy,
"What is this pre-conceived notion?"
"Why are we crafting for holidays ahead,
when the trick or treaters haven't even gone to bed?"

"Be ready, we must, for when the last door bell rings."
Black cats disappear, Thanksgiving begins!

Sometimes a craft night is in order. 

When I lamented about being home alone so much in the evenings my friend, Sara, had an idea.  

She wanted to make some banners.

You can see how to make them in this post.

She wanted some sewing tips but she already knows how to sew. She just needed a push to get the old machine out again and brush up on the old bobbin tension. 

Anyway,

we made a Give Thanks banner and a Jingle pillow.
The Jingle pillow is a Pottery Barn copy cat.  

Again all you need for these projects:

Drop cloths-Blue Hawk brand is my fav.

Stencils

Paints

Twine

Scissors and a glue gun. 

(Sewing machine and batting and rusty, crusty jingle bells if you are making the pillow.)

Katie
Linking with,   
Between Naps on the Porch   
A Stroll Thru Life   
The Scoop  
 My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia 
Savvy Southern Style

White Cornucopia

I know at one point I had a little wicker cornucopia but 

it hardly held a thing so I gave it away.

I didn't really care to have orange pumpkins hanging around for any length of time after Halloween. Pumpkins and gourds spilling all over the counter seemed annoying to me.

I saw this image on Pinterest and followed the link.

The original came from the At Second Street blog. 

I decided that a white and shabby drop cloth cornucopia would be perfect to get me over my cornucopia bias. 

I had the chicken wire behind the shed. 

(Scary because my exterminator said I had field rats under the shed. 

Nothing up-sells a gal faster than telling her she has rats in the backyard. Cha-ching)

 

Anyway,

I wrapped and pinched the cornucopia shape.

I didn't have a pattern. I didn't precut.

I just looped enough around until I had the opening as big as I wanted and then I started trimming it down to the end with tin snips. 

I kept wrapping and pinching the wires until I got to the end of the cone. 

Once I was pretty happy with it, I covered it with drop cloth fabric.

I blame my failure to do well in geometry as the reason I don't have a plan for most of my projects. 

I just mess with stuff until it looks okay.

(Really, I get geometry from a just winging it, visual standpoint but I couldn't memorize all those ridiculous theorems.)

Finally, I wrapped a little grapevine around the outside.

My neighbor, Jane, gave me oodles of this stuff.

You can bend it into almost any shape while it is fresh. It's harder to bend once it is dry. 

I plunked a few of my white pumpkins inside and sprinkled some pinecones and acorns around it.

I love it- crazy mis-shappen mess that it is.

 I like that I can still see the chicken wire. 

Now, I just have to keep my brothers away so they don't make fun of it. 

Wisely my husband kept his mouth shut. 

Zip it….

Katie   
Linking with,
Between Naps on the Porch    
A Stroll Thru Life   
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia  
Savvy Southern Style 
Ivy and Elephants