the first snow

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It snowed yesterday and it was magical. And I may or may not be playing Christmas music when I'm in the car with my kids, who happen to love it just as much, if not more than I do. As usual, I wish everything my daughter wears came in my size. #sigh

sources // dress Gap, no longer available, similar / tights Gap / boots Old Navy / bow Etsy / hat H&M, found in-store / coat Zara, last year, similar / sweater Target, last year

sweater weather - finally!

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I guess Mother Nature heard me say we were enjoying warm weather because the temperature quickly dropped 20 degrees.  But I love it!  We get to wear cozy sweaters and socks now and it actually feels like Fall.

Welcome Fall

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Today is the first day of Fall!  I'm so excited and in honor of this wonderful season, I thought I would put together a list of my favorite DIY fall decor projects.  Today I hung our Fall wreath, you may remember it from last year. *click images for links*

Twine Napkin Rings

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These napkin rings would be a great addition to a rustic fall tablescape for Thanksgiving.

These are really simple and you might even have all the supplies on hand and ready to go.

Supplies:
twine
masking tape
hot glue gun and glue
wax paper
empty toilet paper roll

I have a roll of twine that's been used here and there for little things, but I wanted to actually make something with it.  I thought that twine napkin rings could be really cute and I noticed that a toilet paper roll was the right size for a napkin ring.  So, I got to work.

First, wrap a piece of wax paper around your toilet paper roll.  Tape it in place with masking tape.  After making my first one, I found out that hot glue will come off masking tape after it's cooled.  So, I put another piece of tape on the exact opposite side of the roll from the first piece of tape.

Put a small dab of glue on the tape and place your twine on top.

Wrap the twine around, gluing it down to the piece wrapped next to it each time you come around full circle.  I only worried about gluing this first side and then I went back for the other side after.

When you're done gluing the first side, go to the other side with the masking tape and put little dabs of glue in between each piece of twine, squeezing them together as you go.  Once the glue has cooled, pull the wax paper off the toilet paper roll and pull the napkin ring away from the wax paper.

Here's one side so you can see how it looks.  I figure no one will be examining them super closely and unless you do look super close, you can't see the glue.

Now go and make a whole bunch of them to use for your next dinner party.

"Give Thanks" Garland

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This craft gives a simple, festive touch for this season of gratitude.  I'm thinking of including a pine cone garland with it, to help dress it up a little bit more.  I can't decide between these, these, these, or these.  Any thoughts?

Supplies:
craft punch (I used a 3" square punch and a maple leaf punch)
twine
card stock
hot glue gun
scissors
metallic gold paint pen

Punch out squares from your card stock and cut little V's out of the bottom to create a pennant.  For the pennants with leaves, simply center it inside your craft punch, just like the picture.

Decide how you want your letters to look (I went with cursive to give it a little more elegance) and use your paint pen to write out "give thanks."

I glued some leaf punches to the first and last pennants of each word.  I doodled with the paint pen before punching them out so that they'd have a little gold design on them.

Before gluing the pennants to the twine, I measured how much twine I would need to center it on our mantle, and then I laid it out on the counter.  With the ends taped down, I placed each card where I wanted them to be when they were glued.  With it set up this way, I glued them into place.

Then I glued on the accent leaves and hung it up on our mantle.

Fall foliage

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On Saturday, we drove up the canyon to see the leaves in all their autumn glory.  It was absolutely beautiful, with leaves in vibrant yellows, oranges, and reds, mixed in with some brown and the stark green contrast of the pine trees, or Christmas trees as our son calls them.  There were snow-capped mountain peaks in the backdrop and it truly felt like we were driving in a painting.  My father-in-law was kind enough to lend us his DSLR.  Here are a few of the images I captured on our drive.

DIY Fall Wreath

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We currently live with my in-laws, so I don't get to do any decorating because, well, what's the point?  But I decided I wanted to make something to make our home a little more festive during my favorite season of the year.  So I came up with this very simple, yet adorable fall wreath.  I love that it's for all of fall, so I can have it up from September through November.  I am so happy with how it turned out and I'm excited to share it with you today. 

To get started, here's what you'll need:

• 1 straw wreath - mine is 14", but you can use whatever size you want
• faux leaves - I bought two different kinds to add interest
• embellishments - I used faux pumpkins and beads, but you could use acorns, mini squash, Indian corn, really the sky's the limit
• twine and fabric for pennant banner - I used some linen I had on hand
• a paint pen
• hot glue gun and glue

OK, to start off, you layer the leaves.  They don't have to be perfect, in fact, the messier the better because it will look more natural, like the leaves just fell that way.

I also didn't bother to cover up the inside or outside of the wreath too much.  I think the straw fits in perfectly with the fall theme, so I wanted a little bit of it to peak out.

 

When you're done, add your embellishments.  I was going for a little more simple, so I did a cluster of 3 faux pumpkins with some beading and called it good. 

Then create your bunting.  I hot glued the fabric to the twine, tied knots on the ends and then hot glued it to the wreath, right underneath the knots.

To hang my wreath, I wrapped a long strand of twine around the top and tied a double-knotted bow at the end.  Then I looped it around a command hook hung upside down on the inside of our front door.  I love doing it this way because I can adjust the height of the wreath so it hangs exactly where I want it too.  With a window on the door, an over-the-door hanger would have it too high up and it would just look funny.

And there you go!  A very simple, inexpensive Fall wreath.  This cost me just under $20 to make.  While I was at the craft store, I looked at the premade wreaths they were selling; I didn't love them and they were upwards of $200!  So this was definitely a better route for me to go.  If you make one and share it on your blog or site, link to it in the comments.  I would love to see your finished products!