I’m crunching through leaves as I run now, wearing sweatshirts each evening and seeing pops of gorgeous reds in the trees now. Part of me is saying “nooooooo!” and the other part of me craves the change of slightly cooler temperatures, the routine fall holds and the excitement of baking now that I don’t feel like I’ll positively melt in the kitchen.
It’s September 2nd so it’s officially okay to decorate fall-ish now. I have all these rules in my head about what’s okay and what’s not, like, no fall decorating before September 1 (I totally broke my own rule this year to be ready for this post I’m doing with the fabulous group of bloggers you’ll see below). No Christmas decorating before Thanksgiving is over, or at the very least, Thanksgiving evening. 🙂 I broke my own rule there last year too because I was so excited and couldn’t help myself.
I love fall decorating because it’s so “real”. Everything about fall is all about nature… the pumpkins, the gourds, the leaves, the acorns…. the four rocks Drew wanted to add to our display. I took the kids into the woods a few days ago on an adventure. We were going to collect anything that we loved. It could be rocks, flowers, changing leaves, pinecones, you name it. And surprisingly we came out of the woods with barely any treasures. Drew found one rock so big I had to carry it, and four little stones and I found a few branches… then we came to this spot after exiting the woods and we found plenty of pine cones.
Let me start at the beginning. See these pumpkins? When I bought them at the Dollar Tree they looked slightly different… they weren’t terrible but they weren’t inspiring me nor did they look the slightest bit real. So I painted them with Country Chic Paint in Cheesecake. It’s a gorgeous creamy color that is almost identical to what you’d find on a natural white pumpkin. I figure if you put something fake with real items there is the possibility it’ll fool the viewer into believing they are real.
To finish our display I used the frames in our back entryway and put some new family photos in them. They are gorgeous beach shots my friend Heather took last week and I just turned them into sepia so they’d look “fall-ish”. Lastly, I finished off the space with an ultra simple verse in the last frame… I don’t know about you but I find this verse from 1 Thessalonians incredibly challenging. To give thanks when your child is on the floor giving the performance of his life temper tantrum? To be thankful when you may have to replace your oil tank? To be thankful for fibromyalgia? Yes. Yes and Yes. How? I’m still learning… but what I do know is that out of each of those “bad” things come something good so I want to be on the lookout for what God’s going to show me through situations like these. You can download the printable here if you need the same daily reminder (it’s sized 5×7).
If you are coming over from any of the other blogs participating in the Fall Vignette challenge today I am thrilled you’re here. I know you’ll want to check out these fabulous blogs below to see their fall set up:
Rustic Fall Mantel Vignette by Thoughts from Alice
Autumn Glitter Vignette by The Concrete Cottage
Oak Leaf Inspired Vignette and Hand Painted Printable by Jennifer Rizzo
Grateful Heart by Making Home Base
Beautiful Glorious Fall Printable by Nest of Posies
Simple Fall Vignette by My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Fall Printable and Vignette by At The Picket Fence
Vintage Flashcard Halloween Printable by My Sweet Savannah
Hand Painted Give Thanks Wreath by Craftberry Bush
Pumpkins Pinecones Leaves by Migonis Home
Autumn Vignette and Fall Printable by AKA Design
Gather in the Kitchen Printable by Its Overflowing
I love the gourds and the measuring tape is so fabulous!
Thank you, Shannon! That’s a big compliment coming from someone who always has fabulous vignettes. 🙂
Love yours, Jen!! That’s something I want to learn as well, in absolutely everything to give thanks, we are so blessed in everything we have! Thanks for sharing and I hope your September is truly beautiful!
Thank you so much, Kendra! It’s such a hard lesson to learn, isn’t it?
The painted pumpkins are so cute! I have the urge to run to Dollar Tree now!
Well, it looks like I’ll be making a trip to Dollar Tree soon. 🙂 Love what you did with those pumpkins! I’ve been realizing lately that paint can pretty much fix anything. 🙂 Hope you have a wonderful Fall season. So glad I recently discovered you on Instagram (which also led me to your beautiful blog) 🙂
So lovely Jen! Beautiful vignette !
So pretty Jen!! One of my favorites!!
ooohhh!! I love those pumpkins! Isn’t it fantastic when you can find something for a dollar that can be made to look like it came out of the Pottery Barn catalog!?!?! Pinning!
Everything is just so pretty and the printable is just perfect!
Thank you so much, Kristin! 🙂
Jen,
LOVE this post and LOVE the measuring tape. It brings that Back to School décor I miss from teaching. Where did you find it?
Thanks for the inspirations to help a Summer girl ease into Fall.
Stephanie
Love the dollar tree gourds – the creamy white looks for pretty. Looks like I’ll be making a trip to the dollar tree.
So pretty, and totally jealous of your treasures! I have been searching and searching for some branches that have changed color but haven’t found any yet!
There were so few so I had to take the two I found. 🙂
Swirled Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bars * 6 tablespoons btteur, melted and cooled * 1 3/4 cups sugar * 3 large eggs * 1 cup canned pumpkin * 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour * 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon * 1 teaspoon baking soda * 1/2 teaspoon baking powder * 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg * 1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, at room temperaturePreparation1. In a bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat btteur and 1 1/2 cups sugar until smooth. Beat in 2 eggs, pumpkin, and 1/3 cup water until well blended, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. In another bowl, mix flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and nutmeg; stir or beat into btteur mixture until well blended. Spread batter evenly in a btteured and floured 10- by 15-inch baking pan.2. In a bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat cream cheese, remaining egg, and remaining 1/4 cup sugar until smooth.3. Drop cream cheese mixture in 24 evenly spaced 1-tablespoon portions over batter. Pull a knife tip through filling to swirl slightly into batter.4. Bake in a 350b0 oven until center of pumpkin batter (not cream cheese mixture) springs back when touched, about 30 minutes. Let cool completely in pan, then cut into 24 bars.5. Enjoy one of the BEST fall treats
What a lovely and perfect reminder!
I love it all, Jen!! Those gourds are awesome – I’ll have to see if I can track some down!