Fall Vignettes

Good day y'all....
                  Today I thought I would share a few of my fall vignettes.

I love blue and orange together

and here

I placed a bunch of dried hydrangeas

with the blues and browns

along with a blue bird

and, of course

a couple of orange pumpkins.

Everything is setting on old book pillars tied with raffia.

I love these pillars and use them everywhere.

A soup tureen filled with pumpkins

and

fall nuts and pine cones.

Blue and orange together, again

Candle holders with pumpkins

and

a cork ball....

A grapevine wreath with fall flowers and cat tails

with

a orange sunflower pail and fabric pumpkins....

A close-up of the grapevine wreath.

I just stuck some silk flowers and leaves in by their stems.

Quite simple

and

makes a very nice wreath.

Our terrarium was fallized with a few colorful leaves.

Miss A placed a small dear in amongst the leaves.

A little book I made from brown paper lunch bags

and

scrapbook supplies.

Another punch of blue with the fall colors.

This is a Pinterest vase....

I just love it.

I bought a clear vase at the dollar store.

Then I painted it with Elmer's glue mixed with food coloring.

I just added enough food coloring to get the shade I wanted.

Now - these CANNOT get wet

because the glue will wash off.

But, they are so easy to do and you can change the color as often as you like.

So, these are some of my fall vignettes.

I still have a few more projects to show you in the next few days.

So stay tuned.

Get out there, create and have fun

but, most of all

enjoy your life.....

                                                                                  Lovin' my life in Carolina,

                                                                                   Cathy

Charleston

Hi there everyone....

         This week is a big week for our family -
                                                 we celebrate birthdays all week.......

                    And - for our immediate family we celebrate
                                         Miss C turning 15.

 

Does she look happy or what?

She shares 15 with her sister Miss K for exactly one month

and then

Miss K turns 16.

 

We decided to celebrate this birthday in Charleston, SC.

We love Charleston

it is such a unique city.

We enjoy all the vintage mixed with the modern....

 

 

For example

look at this pic of a

trolley, a horse drawn carriage and a car...

talk about vintage and modern

side by side.....

 

 

We visited the open air market downtown-

the girls loved it,

with its

Gullah woven baskets, original art, and all sorts of

fun eye candy they spent hours just looking.

 

 

 

 

 

Mmmm - pralines.

What's the south without pralines???

 

 

After the open air market we made our way to the park nearby.

It borders on one of the many sea inlets around Charleston.

Here the kids were able to

see dolphins playing in the waters.

They were so excited to watch them.

The waters were full of boats that day as it was a beautiful day for outdoor fun.

 

 

The dancing waters around a fountain.

Miss A was dying to get in them but Mama said no....

 

 

Sisters.....

 

 

We walked around the park for hours

and

enjoyed all the beauty.....

The pineapple water fountain.

 

 

The butterflies dancing on the flowers....

 

 

The beautiful riverboat.

 

 

The girls made a new friend with a very friendly puppy....

Then a little rest and a chat.

Then we decided to try something fun.

We had seen postcards of architecture that looked like letters

then used to spell words.

They were asking $4.00 a piece for them

and

although they were really cool

I didn't want to spend that much on a word.

So, we decided to walk around the streets of Charleston

and see if we could get our own letters from the architecture.

I think we found some pretty cool ones.

Here are a few we found....

 

 

"O"

 

 

"S"

 

 

Another "S"...

 

 

One cool looking "J"...

 

 

How about "H"...

 

 

And a big "C"

for the birthday girl.

 

What a wonderful trip we had and so much fun

spending the day in the

wonderful outside world of

Charleston...

 

How do you think we did with the letters? 

How do you celebrate your families birthdays?

 

 

Until next time

Get out there and have some fun but most of all

enjoy your life.....

 

 

                                                                          Lovin' my life in Carolina,

                                                                       Cathy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

China Cabinet

Hello everyone.....
     Today, I am continuing on with my fall decor....

This is a china cabinet that has a history here.

I bought this cabinet to paint

and

then fill with old vintage books

and

other things I like.

But, I could not find the time to paint it when we moved in.

So

I just went ahead and placed it in the living room

and

filled it up with some books and such.

Well, now the drama.

I was about to paint it but, the hubs does not want it painted.

He rarely has a thing to say about a piece and lets me do whatever I feel like doing

but,

this time he was quite adamant.

So, I am letting it ride for now and trying to persuade him that it will be all right.

And when the time is right - it will receive its

paint transformation.

For now it is filled with my new addiction

Pinterest inspired book page art.

I love the printed word on anything.

And I have fallen in love with all the book page art that can be found

around Pinterest and the Internet.

So, I will take you on a guided tour of the "unpainted" china cabinet.

Of course, I started with thrift store books.

I cut the covers off of them

and then

tied them in little bundles with raffia.

Then I placed them on the shelves

in many different ways.

Upright, lying down, stacked, askew

whatever suited me at the moment.

I love the old vintagy feel they give

and the chippy, ragged look.

I took a few pages out of a couple of books

and

decoupaged them on some Dollar Tree pumpkins.

Then, I rubbed them with

some Tim Holtz distressing ink in Vintage Photo.

I added some silk fall flowers and raffia to the tops

and

I am so in love with them......

They are so lovely sitting amongst the other pumpkins....

I had two thrift store frames that were ugly brown

so

I painted them with white craft store paint.

Then I wiped them with a rag while they were still wet

so some of the brown would show through.

Instant distressing.

Then I took a couple of old dictionary pages

and

adhered the to some cardstock.

Added some silk autumnal leaves

and

wallah... instant book page art

sprinkled amongst the pumpkins.

I love them.....

On the center of the center shelf is a paper flower wreath.

I made this several years ago

from

scrapbook paper, distressing inks, buttons, ribbons and large brads

using

my Cricut machine.

I love this wreath and think it adds just the right amount

of pop to this otherwise "white" fall decor.....

In the center of the bottom shelf

you see

the book page pillars I made several months ago.

I absolutely love these pillars

and

have added them elsewhere in the fall decor.

You can find the instructions to make these here.

And that is the

Pinterest inspired book page fall decor

in the unpainted china cabinet.

What do you think?

Have you tried any book page art?

Love it when you leave comments.

Please follow me here and on Pinterest.

Get out there and create but,

most of all

enjoy your life.

                                                                              Lovin' my life in Carolina,

                                                                    Cathy

 Sharing at

Debbie dos Newbie Party

 http://debbie-debbiedoos.com/fall-mantel-decor.html

and with

You Are Talking Too Much

Meet Me Monday Party

http://youaretalkingtoomuch.com/2012/09/meet-me-monday-party-9/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FPRHSB+%28You%27re+talking+too+much......%29

and at

PJH Designs

Totally Transformed Tuesday

http://pjhdesignsoneofakind.blogspot.com/2012/09/totally-transformed-tuesday-7.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+PjhDesigns+%28PJH+Designs%29

and at

Elizabeth and Co

Be Inspiredhttp://elizabethandco.blogspot.com/2012/09/be-inspired-features-and-link-party-38.html

                

Fall Mantle

Good Morning Everyone...

                        I am still in the midst of my fall decorating -
                                        busy cutting, gluing, painting, etc.
                                       Trying to make most of my decor from recycled items.

                        Most of my ideas and inspiration has come from PINTEREST
                                         this year.
                         I love Pinterest - it's the greatest thing since sliced bread.....
                                         or at least I think so.
            
                         I have been working on our mantle - most of the decor is
                                         Pinterest found ideas that I just had to try.

This picture is not the best - I have trouble with pics in this room

because of the lighting

and positioning of the fireplace.

But, this is our mantle this year.

I'll take all the components apart for you.

This is a book page wreath.

You can find the instructions for these all over blogland.

There are so many ways to make this

but,

everyone is quite simple.

I am a lover of script on paper, furniture, fabric - you name it.

It absolutely speaks to me.

Therefore, it was a no brainer when I saw this wreath.

I had to make one.

So, darn simple - I made mine with

a round piece cut from a packing box

and

a book I bought for $.10.

And boy what an impact this $.10 makes on that wall.

I love it....

I also fell in love with subway art.

(Again words on wood)

I had Papa cut me a board and I painted it with chalkboard paint.

Then I had planned on painting subway art

on it in white.

However, I found this transfer page I had left over from another project.

It was perfect.

Just positioned the transfer on the board and rubbed it

with the little stick that comes with it.

This one happens to be made by Karen Foster

but is several years old.

You can find ones like these in the scrapbook section of your craft store.

I love the way it turned out

and

how it looks on the mantel.

The little burlap banner was so simple to make.

I think it adds just the right touch to the rest of the mantle.

(I posted the instructions here)

 On the left side I filled a jar with potpourri

and

set it on old books tied with raffia.

It gives just the right vintage look

I am looking for.

On the right side I filled a vase

with the potpourri and a candle.

Then set it on a stack of old books.

The rest is just leaves, pumpkins and apples

filling in the space.

These pics really don't do it justice

but,

I really like it.

It's so fall-ish with all it's colors of orange, golds and browns.

And, I have Pinterest to thank for it.

What would I do without you Pinterest?

Probably have the same ole' boring mantle I had last year.

Have you started your fall decorating yet? 

Are you using any inspiration from Pinterest?

Would love to hear about what you are doing....

Get out there and create something beautiful

and

enjoy your life....

                                                                            I am lovin' my life in Carolina

                                                                         Cathy

Linking to

PJH Totally Transformed Tuesday

 http://pjhdesignsoneofakind.blogspot.com/2012/09/totally-transformed-tuesday-6.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+PjhDesigns+%28PJH+Designs%29

and at

Debbie Dos

Newbie Partyhttp://debbie-debbiedoos.com/fall-tablescapes.html

and at

Snap's

Show and Tell Linky No. 16

http://snapcreativity.com/show-and-tell-linky-091912/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed: SnapTheConference (snap the conference)

and at

Feathered Nest Friday

French Country Cottage

http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/2012/09/feathered-nest-friday_20.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed: blogspot/QoLtm (FRENCH COUNTRY COTTAGE)