Autumn

All posts tagged Autumn

Halloween on Cavender

Posted by James on October 20, 2013
Posted in: New Home, Projects. Tagged: , , , , , . 25 Comments

Ahhh Autumn.

Finally you have arrived, (it was in the 40’s on the morning that I wrote this) too bad the trees in Dallas don’t register the change of seasons until about late November.

No worries, I have a plan to bring a little Autumn to our front porch.

With a Halloween/Autumn garland.

I start with screws into the molding on all four corners of my door, then I run a cord from screw to screw.

Like so….

String Surounding the Front Door to make a Garland on

Sure, it’s white….but if you do this right, no one will ever see the white cord.

Green paddle wire from the craft store is all I need to wire branches to the string….

I just cut 4-5 inch pieces…..

Paddel Wire and Snips to Attach the Leaves

…….and wire live oak branches, from the front yard, wherever they need it.

Start by Attaching Oak branches with Wire as a Base

This layer is my base, because these branches were free.

The Oak Branches Surrounding the Front Door

Since the trees in Dallas don’t turn colors….I had to buy colored leaves.

Preserved Fall Leaves from the Craft Store

Usually the craft stores carry them, but this year none of the children working at ours had ever heard of preserved natural leaves.

Found them at our grocery store in the floral department.

4 bucks a bag – 3 bucks with my “Reward Card” – I bought 10.

They look much better when they are unbagged and fluffed.

Preserved Natural Leaves from the Craft Store

Using even more wire, I added in the colored leaves as a top layer.

I just keep adding leaves ’till I can’t see that white rope anymore.

The Autumn Garland with Preserved Leaves Wired in

Not too bad, Right?

Now the fun part.

I picked up some Halloween flicker lights from the Target. 3 boxes……I think that’s 30 lights total.

Flicker Flame Bulbs from the Target

…and these orange b-lights  (also from Target) we still had from last October when we filled the Indian Hawthorn bushes with them.

Orange B-Lights from Target

Can’t repeat that this year, since we no longer have bushes…….just cacti.

I never get rid of anything……so in the garland they will go as well.

I start with the flicker flame lights and pull them through the leaves leaving all my cords behind the garland. (HATE to see the cords)

Pull the Lights Through the Back of Your Garland

The b-lights I weave back and forth in a zig-zag motion hiding the cord under leaves as I go.

Weave the B-Lights in a Zig-Zag Motion Hiding all the Cords

Almost there.

We headed to the Dallas Farmer’s Market to buy a few pumpkins.

Autumn Farmers Market Collage.jpg

Autumn Farmers Market Collage2.jpg

Yeah, they had some beauties…….

And another charming front porch at the Cavender house…….

The Cavender Front Door with Fall Leaf Garland

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Pumpkins in the Whisky Barrel

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The Cavender Front Porch for Halloween 2013

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Fall Leaf Garland and Pottery Barn Sconce

When the sun goes down it looks even better…….

The Cavender Front Door with Orange Leaf Garland

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Close Up of the Cavender Front Door with Leaf Garland

The Square Leaf Wreath I made a few years ago.

And the Orange Glass Ikea Lantern was a pretty simple project as well.

Check them out…..

Ohhhhh, and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Creating Autumn Outside Our House

Posted by James on October 7, 2012
Posted in: New Home. Tagged: , , , . 3 Comments

Yesterday it was 50 degrees when we woke up…..

Pretty unusual for early October in Dallas.

So it set our minds to FALL……and pumpkins. Where’s the best place to find pumpkins in Dallas?

Why the Dallas Farmer’s Market of course.

AHHHH, ……Yeah, …….they had a few pumpkins.

And Mini pumpkins…….of all sizes and colors. Aren’t these green/white striped the coolest ever?

and oodles of gourds…..

Chrysanthemums the size of Galapagos tortoise.

How beautiful are these 4 foot strings of chili peppers?

Back to the pumpkins….

…because that’s what we came for.

We loaded the car with perfect pumpkins, some “pimply” looking squash, and a few rusty-orange mums.

Now back home to make the front of our house look like “Autumn has Arrived”.

Wanna know the secret to beautiful shiny pumpkins? Wipe them off real well to remove the surface dirt…then spritz them with leafshine.

I borrowed ours from our dear friend the event planner.

You can buy it on Amazon. Pretty cheap.

Last year I thought I’d be clever and use Pam cooking spray. Don’t, it attracts ants……lots of ants.

Everyone has seen white B-lights for Christmas. But how about orange? We got these at Target last years for 70% off the retail price after Halloween. They are NOT LED, LED B-lights are the work of Satan himself and will never be allowed near this house.

That little glow of orange is just what our bushes needed. The trick with lights is to weave them into the bushes in a zig-zag shape…..hiding the cords as you go.

When the electricians installed the under eaves lights 2 years ago, we had them put an outlet on each side of the house……just for holiday lighting. BEST DECISION we made. There are no cords running along the patio, and both outlets are controlled with one switch. So simple.

We reused the square leaf wreath we made last fall. It was laying flat in the attic all year. I just added a few new leaves to fill in where the old ones had dried and separated. It doesn’t hurt to have an orange front door. Jamie thinks that he may paint it red for Christmas.

Remember the Ikea galvanized lanterns that we added orange gels to a few months ago? Told ya they’d be perfect for Fall.

 

We want the excitement of Halloween, without the commitment of removing everything on November first. This way, we can enjoy everything just as it is until Thanksgiving.

That’s when we change to Christmas….I can hardly wait.