Joy, Contentment, Home, Garden, Family, and Fun
Hello and happy first day of October! Are you looking for a super simple way to add some fall cheer to your walls or classroom? These four fall printables remind me of a peaceful farmhouse and of simpler times.
I hope you enjoy them. Let’s be thankful for the little joys in life these days. 🙂
I’m seeing amazing hanging floral orbs everywhere these days, from stylish front porches to glamorous wedding receptions. What a unique, eye-catching, and beautiful way to display your greenery and flower arrangements at your event or in your home!
These hanging decorations can be used in any way your imagination can think up. In fact, the floral orb that inspired my design was a fall decoration containing mini-pumpkins and eucalyptus. The great thing about these is everything is attached to a piece of floral foam, and everything can be re-done again and again. I plan to use my decorative orbs as a seasonal decoration, with fall flowers right now, pine boughs at Christmas, and so on.
For an added dimension, I think it would be amazing to add wired fairy lights, and I’m going to give that a try at Christmastime.
These floral orbs make fantastic wedding decor also. The DIY project is easy on your budget too!
Thanks for checking out my tutorial today! Use coupon code TAKE25 to receive $25 off your order of $200 or more at Kate Aspen!
Post contains affiliate links. Please see about page for full info. 🙂
Supplies:
2 double ring plant stakes for tomatoes/peonies/large plants
16 gauge wire and sturdy pliers for bending and cutting
½ inch wide natural rope for hanger (6 feet)
⅛ inch sheer ribbon
Floral foam brick- 9 by 4 by 3, make sure to get wet foam if using real flowers and greens.
Package of Spanish moss
Flowers, greens, and decorations
Here’s how you build the orbs. We made one large 18 inch orb and a smaller 10 inch orb using the plant stakes.
Step 1: Disassemble the rings and stakes from each other. Depending on how your stakes are put together, it can be a bit of a brain-teaser getting them apart, but they are separate pieces.
Step 2: Cut 2 24 inch segments of your 16 gauge wire
Step 3: Taking the four large rings from the plant stakes, put them together so they form an orb with equidistant segments, like an orange.
Step 4: Holding your rings steady in the way you would like them to be for the finished product, pick up a piece of wire. Fasten one end of the wire onto the hoops by wrapping it on with the pliers. . Use your pliers to take the wire up through segment 1 and down through segment 5 (see diagram). Weave the wire up through segment 6 and down through 2, up through 3 and down through 7, up through 8 and down through 4.
Step 5: Wrap the wire around the bottom, and tuck in any sharp edges with the pliers. Repeat the same weaving process with the second piece of wire at the other end of the orb.
NOTE: We made the smaller orb using the garden stakes that came with the hoops. They needed to be bent into a circular form first.
Step 6: Spray paint the entire orb. I painted mine with a coat of light pink and a very light coat of copper over top. This gave the orb a rose-gold to copper look. You could pick whatever color goes with your event or look.
Step 7: Cut off a piece of floral foam from your block. I used ¾ of a block for the large orb and ¼ for the small orb.
Step 8: Attach the piece of foam to the bottom inside of the orb using 10 greening pins. Hold the foam in place and poke the pins up from the bottom, making sure to anchor the foam to the orb frame.The advantage to attaching the foam this way instead of gluing is that you can remove the foam easily to replace it or to use the orb for something else, like lighting it up with fairy lights.
Step 9: Attach the rope for hanging. Our larger orb started with 3 feet of rope. I love the natural rope with the rosy metal. It gives the project a nice warm feel that’s really on-trend right now. We did an eye splice on both ends of our three-strand rope to give the rope a hanger and a decorative touch. You can see how to do that here, or you could hang the orb by simply knotting the rope to the top. I tied the looped rope to the orb using a tiny sheer bow.
Step 10: Using a hot glue gun, glue Spanish moss over top of the floral foam to cover it.
Step 11: Add floral elements. I started with a base of seeded eucalyptus and left some drape down. I added cream color roses for a simple and elegant display.
The orbs look great in so many different ways. I had fun playing around with a few different elements and created a pink and burgundy look. The flowers used in this arrangement are sweetheart roses, hydrangea, and sedum.
It’s hard to believe these flowery orbs started out as tomato stakes!
I hope you’ll give this a try and post a photo!
Thanks for checking out my blog today! Use coupon code TAKE25 to receive $25 off your order of $200 or more at Kate Aspen!
Hi there! Yes, it’s fall and we’re all looking for some DIY craft ideas! Maybe you need something a little more low key than a full-out paint, glue gun, and craft store run kind of project this week. Maybe you want to just do something relaxing and low stress. Well, you could try a little coloring!
I have always enjoyed a fun coloring page, to the extent that I actually had a really cool coloring book as a kid that I kept saving for “a special occasion” because it was too nice to just helter-skelter color all over it without taking my time to make sure everything was well-thought-out first. Guess what? I never used it at all! I guess the moral of the story is to take a little time to enjoy life today.
These free printables could be coloring pages, seasonal wall art, used for decoupage, whatever your creative mind can think up.
I love getting out a big box of sharp crayons or colored pencils and just having some fun! I hope you enjoy these fall designs as well.
Have a beautiful day, and get colorful! 🙂
The air swirls briskly and the sunlight shines brightly as I sweep the summer cobwebs off of our little brick front porch today. What a gorgeous day to get ready for a new season! No matter what else is going on, the change in weather puts me in the mood to do something new and creative with our decor.
After a little arranging and re-arranging, our front door is now ready for fall and putting it all together was a wonderful way to spend a few hours. Most of the featured objects on the porch are DIY projects from earlier this month. Please see the end of the post for links to how-tos. 🙂
We have a huge patio in the back of our house, but our front door entrance has a really tiny brick porch. The small entryway offers a unique challenge for adding seasonal decorations. Working on this project, I found that adding varying heights was key to forming a balanced display in this small of a space.
Here are some decorating tips for a small front porch design:
Since there is no space for a wide display, stack your items by placing them at varying heights. Here I have used a large urn as the background tallest element with willow twigs added to the pot for even more height, a thrifted shabby iron plant stand to hold my painted pumpkin, and pots of different sizes.
2. Limit your colors to a few harmonious shades.
In a small space, your design will have more impact and cohesiveness if you choose a harmonious color display. I decided to include shades of purple, plum, and green in my fall display with accents of blue and white.
3. Add unique and personalized touches.
I brought in my love for blue and white ceramics and decor pieces for my porch design. I hand-painted this pumpkin based on chinoiserie patterns and brought other blue and white touches including damask ribbon, other small chinoiserie pumpkins I created, and blue and white containers for plants. I also added cottage elements such as the mission style lanterns and the DIY cement leaves.
4. Add decorative elements to the wall surface or doorframe.
The doorframe itself may give you a spot to add to your seasonal display. This acorn and oak leaf plaque is a subtle and elegant addition to the porch decor. It provides some texture and adds to the autumn theme without overpowering the door wreath.
5. Make the door a focal point.
With a small porch design, the front door is definitely one of the main surfaces you have to work with. Make the most of it by choosing a wreath that fits your color scheme and the overall feel you are going for. I was going for a cozy bungalow shabby vibe, so I used the autumn hue hydrangea wreath I created recently and added a blue and white damask bow to carry through my color scheme.
Bonus tip: have someone keep you company and provide feedback on your work. 🙂
Mr. Bingley the Cavalier King Charles enjoys some fresh air between naps on the sofa.
Coppery hypertufa pumpkins post here.
Chinoiserie mini pumpkins post here.
DIY hydrangea wreath post here
I also made some leaf castings using instructions from this great blog. I painted a couple of them to go with my fall display.
What a super fun project this was, and a wonderful way to welcome in the new season! Now when I go out the front door in the morning and it’s chilly and not summer anymore, I will have some cheerful cottage decor to put a smile on my face. 🙂
Have a beautiful day, and do something creative! 🙂
Shop the Look:
Nothing says warm and welcoming like a beautiful fall wreath. A front door wreath can set the tone and the color scheme for the rest of your fall front porch design elements, so it’s a really important decision. I hopped online today for some color inspiration, and I was amazed by the variety of beautiful wreath ideas out there.
If you enjoy creating your own wreaths, these are great inspiration. If you want a beautiful wreath delivered to your door, all of these are available on Amazon!
I love how all of the wreaths contain fall elements unmistakable to the season, but they also each have an awesome color harmony with the materials that are used.
Here are a few ideas for your own color theme wreath creations.
Red: berries, fall leaves, peppers, mums, fruit
Orange: berries, fall leaves, mini pumpkins, gourds
Yellow: wheat, sunflowers, strawflower, pears, mums
Green: lamb’s ear, eucalyptus, bay leaves, green apples, cotton
Blue/Indigo: asters, lamb’s ear, statice, hydrangea
Violet: berries, cabbage, kale, mums, succulents
I’m still working on my little front porch ideas, but these gorgeous wreaths get me motivated!
Click on each photo for information about each wreath. (contains affiliate links)
Have a beautiful evening and enjoy some Fall colors! 🙂
Okay so I have a long, long love affair with Asian style design, art, and porcelain pieces. Hence my blog name. And my overflowing china cabinets. 🙂 Chinoiserie Chic is a huge trend right now in home decor, and honestly it’s enough to make me want to redo my whole house.
But for today, I’m going to settle for four mini pumpkins. I love creative projects, and I have to say, this one really brought me joy to work on and I’m so happy with the results. Even with their imperfections, the pumpkins are unique works of art that were created by me.
This is a super low-stress project. Just get a few pumpkins, some really good fine tip permanent markers, some inspiration from your china dishes or a quick google search of chinoiserie prints, and spend a couple of hours creating. So de-stressing and relaxing! The only downside to my pumpkins is I made mine out of real mini white pumpkins and now I’m wishing I had used artificial white pumpkins so I could have kept these through Thanksgiving and for next year!
If you want to try this project, I recommend you consider buying some small pumpkins, spray painting them with chalk paint, doing your marker design, and then sealing them. That way you will have them for years to come, unlike me who will have to say goodbye to my little pumpkins in a few weeks.
Here are the step by step instructions for creating these little beauties.
This post does contain affiliate links at no cost to you. Please see about page for full details and thank you very much for reading my post.
Supply List
Bic Ultra Fine Tip Permanent Markers
Churchhill Blue Willow Dishware
4. Using a fine tip marker in a color you would like to have throughout your design, draw the basic elements. I used this wonderful set of fine tip markers which gave me a huge variety of colors to work with. The great thing about the Asian motifs I used is that they are fairly simple–geomentric shapes, curved lines, flowers, and leaves. I used a brown marker for the outlines on two of them and the black for the blossom branch design. For the blue willow design I only used a couple of the shades of blue.
5. Once you have a rough outline, go back and fill in with the colors you want in your design.
6. Look back over the design and see where it could use some depth. Use another color to add a bit to some sections. For example, on some of my light green leaves, I added some purple.
7. Spray the pumpkins with a light coat of sealer.
That’s it! Such a fun project! Easier than I thought and great results! I hope you will give it a try and let me know how yours turned out and post your picture!
Hydrangea is such a beautiful flower! I keep adding more and more of them to my home landscape! Several years ago we traveled to Maine for a family vacation, and I came back inspired to add even more after viewing so many charming New England homes surrounded by the striking shrubs. Now, I have my own supply of hydrangea blossoms that are terrific for preserving and using in crafts. If you have some too, give it a try! The dried flowers can last for a year, so the effort to DIY a pretty wreath or arrangement is definitely worth it!
I have used two methods for drying hydrangea stems. The first is air drying in bunches and the second is drying in a vase with some water. Either way, you should cut the hydrangea stem with about 8-12 inches of stem and remove the leaves.
For air drying, tie the branches singly or in small bunches and hang them upside down in a dry place, like an attic. For my wreath, I just got a bunch of my dried flowers out of the attic, and they were ready to go.
Another option is to put the flowers in a vase with water halfway up the stems. Simply let the water evaporate and the flowers will be dry. This will take about two weeks or so.
Supplies Used For Project:
Dried Flowers
Pink, Purple, Copper, and Green Spray Paint
Many of my flowers were dried from last year and mainly looked golden brown, so I decided to spray paint some of them to get the color tones I wanted. This was very easy. I just spread the flowers out on some cardboard and gave them a fine mist of paint (outdoors for ventilation) to give them some subtle color. I used pink, purple, copper, and green.
You will need a grapevine wreath base for this project. Once your flowers are dry, start at one position on the circle and begin filling in with flowers. The stems of hydrangeas are pretty tough, and if you have long enough stems, you can just weave them through the vine. That’s how I attached a lot of the flowers. They can be secured with florist wire where needed. Just gently wrap some wire around the stem being careful not to break the flower, and use the wire to help hold the flower in place. I had a few flowers that broke off the stems, so I just affixed them with a glue gun. That’s another method that works, too.
Hold your wreath up to see if the fullness is pretty equal all around, and add more flowers where needed. With the materials being natural, it’s never going to be perfect, but that’s what makes your own creation unique.
Twist a loop of wire on the back of the wreath to form a hanger.
That’s all there is to it! What a beautiful and rewarding project! I can’t wait to get everything together for my Fall front door display this year, and see how everything comes together!
Aren’t outdoor sculptures so striking? The effect of a well-chosen outdoor accent can really add to the beauty and charm of outdoor spaces. I have been wanting to try some concrete projects for years, but I finally decided to give it a try this week. Creating something out of hypertufa, a mix of concrete, perlite, and peat moss, turned out to be a cool project with some pretty nice results. Since this was my first try, I definitely want to play around with it and see what else I can come up with and refine the technique a little.
For this project, I made a set of coppery pumpkins. They’re a cute little accent and you could use them indoors, on your porch, patio, or front steps. The fun part is deciding whether to leave them as-is or decorate them!
Supplies:
Portland Cement
Perlite
Peat Moss
Water
Trowel
Rubber bands
Tights or pantyhose
Dust mask
If painting copper-
Spray paint (I used Krylon fusion copper metallic)
For verdigris highlights: acrylic paints in green, gray, and antique gold
Wear a dust mask. Mix equal parts portland cement, perlite, and peat moss in a large bucket. Gradually add water, possibly up to one equal part. Mix in very slowly so you are controlling the consistency. It should not be crumbly but it cannot be too watery. It should be like a moldable mud texture.
For the smaller one, I added some shading for a verdigris effect. I used folk art acrylic paints in dark green and gray, mixed together for various shading, and also added some antique metallic gold.
I’m going to be trying some more cement projects, so I’ll let you know how they turn out. The possibilities for making your own decorative pieces with this stuff are endless!
Time to get ready for fall festivities! Whether you plan to cook a meal at your home or are looking to have something to drop off at grandma’s, this is a fun DIY project. When finished, the vase has a hand-painted look because of the combination of paint and decoupage. Kids can help with the acrylic paint and decoupage steps.
Supplies:
Glass cylinder vase
Acrylic Craft Paint, various colors
Acrylic craft paint, metallic to match spray paint
Step 1- Make sure the glass vase is clean and dry
Step 2- Spray paint the vase according to instructions on the paint can. Only do this outdoors or in a well-ventilated area.
Step 3- Choose a seasonal napkin. I always have a bunch of fun napkins around because I just like to change up the table for the season. I chose a Spode woodland turkey napkin because it went with the look I was going for, but you could use anything. Make sure you are only working with one layer. Carefully affix the napkin where you would like it placed using modge podge or polyurethane.
Step 4- Paint a decorative folk-art inspired border around the top. I did a simple vine and bud design in colors that coordinated with the napkin illustration. Once I had the basic design, I went back and added a little gray to places to make it look slightly shaded.
Step 5- add highlights with metallic paint. I added some small gold highlights here and there on the turkey design napkins. I also painted some blue over top of parts of the decoupage to add to the folk art hand-painted look.
Step 6- coat with polyurethane. I coated the whole thing with spray-on clear poly (outdoors) to give it all a unified texture.
The great thing about this project is it doesn’t need to look perfect! I wanted a folk art look, so I’m happy with the primitive style painting. If the decoupage isn’t perfect, it’s also getting some paint and poly.
This was an easy, fun project.
Oh, vintage teacups! I can never resist them! My mom had a collection of pretty, old teacups on shelves in our dining room, and to me they were like a colorful flower garden at every mealtime. Yellow roses, delicate lily of the valley, and red holly berries joined in a kaleidoscope of cheer.
To this day I love old dishes and am always trying to find a use for them. Today I’m making a vintage teacup into a cute hanging planter. I think a whole group of these planted with succulents or trailing greenery would be spectacular at an event like a bridal shower, wedding, or themed birthday. This little treasure could also hold goodies for your backyard birds!
To make a teacup hanging planter, you will need:
Vintage teacup
Plant hanging kit (chains, S hook) sold in a package in hardware for about $3
Clamps for gluing
Beads for decoration if desired
Steps:
Blue Willow Lane 