Corner Table Decked for Fall!

This table has been a blessing to have at this location of the house.  I don't have many surfaces to decorate and this table allows me to shift seasons and where it's positioned it gets viewed a lot!  We have no formal entry- kind of weird- no actual front door- just a side entry that doubles as a front door and back entry.

 I loaded this strap basket with an assortment of pumpkins

I've been resisting glass pumpkins for several years but this year I broke down and picked up a couple at Pier 1.  The two handled oval tin piece is from Hobby Lobby.  It has grapes along the edges but I didn't take a good picture of it. 

I stuffed it with some pine straw that I bought last year when we were in Pennsylvania.  I poked in some fall picks from my stash of stuff and couple of other piece.

The pumpkin, candle and candle holder are also from Pier 1.  I found this demijohn style bottle at a little boutique store.  It's not an antique but it satisfied my quest for one!

 This pumpkin is an LED one that glows in the evenings and works on a timer.

I staged a few pieces in the top for height and added interest

I took this picture the night before I decided to add the pumpkins to the strap basket.

I have a fun idea for Halloween so I'll enjoy this until it gets closer to Halloween when I'll change it up but after that I can return it to this look through Thanksgiving. 

Joining
Between Naps on the Porch for
Metamorphosis Monday

Dwellings-The Heart of your Home for
Amaze Me Monday 

A Stroll Thru Life for
Inspire Me Tuesday

Our Home Away from Home for
Tuesdays at Our Home

Ivy and Elephants for
What's It Wednesday

This Week's Ramblings #14

We finally dried out after an exhausting amount of rain last week and weekend.

 We took a drive north of us and saw noticed more trees that are turning color so I snapped some pictures from the car.

 

On Monday I posted about my fall decorating on the fireplace mantel as seen "here".  

Then I posted about the plate rack I re-did for the fall that you are welcome to check out "here"  I was inspired by a picture from Williams Sonoma

I also posted about some hydrangeas I'm drying "here"

 Lastly I posted a Tablescape that I created designing it around the hydrangeas "here"

Here and there I'm starting to remove some of my annuals from their planters.  It's hard to let go of summer but up here I have to plan ahead so I'm not racing against bad weather as November nears.   We actually had our first snow fall last year in late October. 

Last weekend we went back to the Farmer's Market and I found this ginormous pumpkin with the largest stem on it that I had to have.  

We weighed it and it's 51 lbs.  It has a 3" wide stem and is 50" around!  It's from a variety called Wolf pumpkins but the grower said he had thrown other seeds out with it and it was a blend.  Wolf pumpkins are usually up to 25 lbs. according to what I've read.  I'm praying that the squirrels don't start to eat on these.
 
We've been hearing wolves howling fairly close to us in the evenings.  It's a bit eerie to hear but interesting at the same time.  There are extensive fields behind us and they have plenty of room to roam there.  I'd love to have a night vision camera mounted outside to see what comes through our yard.  Maybe I don't want to know!!

Some of my morning glories are popping out in this pinkish tone instead of blue.  The plant didn't like being waterlogged from the rain and it started turning yellow and looking rather ugly.

 Up on top they look like this.  Too bad it took so long for the vine to bloom.  I think I'll give it a shot of fertilizer and see what happens!

We're enjoying warm dry weather with plenty of sunshine and enjoying it.  Can you believe we're at the end of September already?  I don't know how this month went by so fast.

I hope to spend some time outdoors- perhaps enjoying some more evening fires on the patio and a glass of wine!

Speaking of the fire pit.  Ours is falling apart or rather blowing apart!
It's designed to look like sculpted cement but it's made of fiberglass (except the copper liner) and apparently it doesn't do well with the heat generated by the fire.  All of a sudden last weekend it blew out pieces all around it.  This happened last summer the first time when it blew out a piece on one side so I notified the company we bought it from.  They refunded me half of the money because it was past the warranty which I was grateful for but at this point I wished it had been a full refund.  We were thinking about a replacement for it and have used it numerous times since the first blowout but I never expected it to fall apart anymore. 

You can see a close up of the side where one  piece burst but is still hanging on.  Isn't it crazy!  It's an attractive piece but obviously an ill-conceived design. 
 Needless to say we will be replacing it.  I noticed they don't sell anymore of these made with the fiberglass- hmmm I wonder why!!

Ok I've rambled on enough!

Have yourselves a beautiful weekend!

Sun Filled Fall Hydrangea Setting

I set up my tablescape to go with my hydrangeas so I centered my attention to draw on the natural colors found in them.   

I posted about them "here" just yesterday.

Gold, green, ivory and purple

The purple stemware pulls on a color from the dishes.

  You don't notice the purple without looking for it very closely.

I used the green bowls that match the dishes on my plate rack that I recently posted about as seen "here". 

These golden leaf embroidered placemats offered a good base of autumnal tone and the napkins shared the same coloring.  I tried green napkins but it became too dominant.  The rattan chargers were chosen to keep the look casual.   The green bowl offered just enough color to work with the dishes and the hydrangeas.  The napkin rings were selected to add to the leaf and floral design and I liked that their muted tone didn't compete with anything.

This picture captures the overall colors the best.

Chasing the sun for pictures can be challenging!  There are no do-overs once it's moved away!  Currently the sun hits my kitchen area around 9 a.m.!  I like how it highlights things I just wish it wasn't so early!

 I'll be joining

Between Naps on the Porch for

Tablescape Thursday

Tablescape elements:

Park Designs napkins

Green Bowls- Park Designs Village Collection

Dinner plate- Sugar Plum by Noble Excellence (Dillard's)

Purple Stemware- T.J. Maxx

Placemats- Bed Bath & Beyond

Napkin rings- Pier 1

Flatware- Sophia from Horchow 

Early Fall Hydrangeas in the Morning Sun!

The hydrangeas are plentiful around here this year. 

 I've cut them for arrangements and given some to others when they were fresh and now I'm going to keep some that I'm drying.

 The trick is to wait until they are older and are starting to change their looks.  They develop an almost papery texture and they shift coloring.  These are Limelight Hydrangeas that start out white, shift to a soft green then to this rose tone.  Eventually the ones still on the shrub will darken into a deeper rose tone and then shift to brown when they are finally done.

 I caught these while they still have some green mixed in with the soft rose tones that they finish off with.  They have been without water for a few days but the little green leaves still look fresh.  I'm going to cut some more of these as they get darker. 

Early Fall Hydrangeas in the Morning Sun!

Williams Sonoma- Pottery Barn inspired Plate Rack

So the next fall decorating spot I chose to tackle was the plate rack in the kitchen dining area.

I was browsing through a Williams Sonoma catalog and spotted this picture and I was immediately inspired as to what I was going to do with mine!

A little while ago I got these dishes from Pottery Barn with the water colored pumpkins design but I only had the salad plate size.  I already had the green dishes in my dish closet so used them for a backdrop. 

I really like the green and white I've been seeing this year to break up the predominate orange tones.  I do love the colors of fall but sometimes we can get over saturated with them.

I didn't have the coppery colored stemware like the picture but I did have these candle votives that gave me a similar affect.  I layered a napkin under the pumpkin which I also got the idea from the picture too!

I popped in a wooden candle holder and put a pumpkin on top for height and to play out the pumpkin theme a bit more.

So here's my Williams Sonoma Pottery Barn inspired fall plate rack!

 I did not intend to replicate the WS picture but I was grateful for the inspiration I got from it.  Subtle things like adding the cloth napkin and the interspersing of solid color pieces gave a better balance and helped play up the pattern on the dishes.  

I topped the plate rack off with an arrangement of pumpkins, again mixing in some solid tones and getting more of the white in there.

I wanted to keep this simple and I was happy that only the pumpkin plates were new and I already had everything else.  When I look at the catalogs and magazines I study the entire picture and look for inspiration.  Often times in the background I'll see something very subtle but it may just be the right little something I needed!

Of course I had to re-do my tin wall pocket. Combining a natural element like the Indian corn (I saved from last year) with the silk florals seemed to work well. 

I managed to get a little pop of green and ivory in there too!

Fall is on in my home!

(Teddy photo-bombed me- See him on the chair on the left side!)

A Stroll Thru Life for
Inspire Me Tuesday

Ivy and Elephants for

What's It Wednesday