Sailing into Fall

Hey Yall!  It's Fall! 

I know many of you have been waiting a long time to be able to say that right?  Well now you can!  Woohoo!  Since it's officially now fall and everyone will be getting out their fall decor I'm sure your are going to be seeing lot's of festive seasonal decorating.  You've already seen many of my fall touches around the house but I haven't shown you this one yet.

It's just a tad different from the usual.  For many of you this may not even seem very fallish at all.  But to me, my fall mantle decor not only seems fallish it's reflective of our own personal lifestyle.

  Many of you already know that my husband and I have a sailboat that we keep in the water at the lake.  While most people think of sailing as a summer sport it's actually more of a fall and spring sport around here.  Our summers are incredibly hot with very little wind and not often a lot of fun on a sailboat.  We have a motor boat for the hottest times of the summer but love our sailboat so much that we even sometimes go out during the summer and tough it out.  So I am sure you can imagine how excited we get when the cooler air comes back with fall and the winds pick up a little more.  That is why I just could not remove the sailboat from my mantle decor just yet.

Here's another peek at the little sailboat I found this summer in a consignment store at the beach.  I just love how weathered it looks.  Just like our old boat!  

I decided to remove all the other summer items and bring back these bottles that I bought from work awhile back.  

I thought the colors of these bottles were just perfect for fall, don't you?

When I see these bottles I can not help but think of a few songs for some reason.  I am reminded of the songs, Time in a Bottle, by Jim Croce and Message in a bottle, by The Police.  LOL!  IDK why?  I'm kinda funny like that!

Because I had the glass bottles on the mantle I decided to add my glass pumpkin here too for just a touch of fall.  The pumpkin on the left I have had for quite some time.  After adding it to the vignette, I decided it needed just a bit more.

So I went on a search for another glass pumpkin that was just right and look what I found at Kirklands.  It's blue and green and was just perfect for my mantle.  Sold!

The floral arrangements were another lucky find at another consignment store just recently.  I just loved how they looked and thought the bamboo holders were a perfect fit for us too.

I added the fall leaves to them for a bit more color for the season.

So there you have it friends, this is how I decorated my mantle for Fall this year.  I know I had planned not to change out my mantle for the season but I just couldn't help it.  I am glad I did because it must be bringing me a little more good fortune too.  I am going to be able to be in a regatta with my husband and friends next weekend.  I can hardly wait!

 I hope to share more photos from that with you afterwards too. 

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you enjoyed seeing a glimpse of my own style for fall.

I'll be back again tomorrow with a peek at a few more traditional fall touches.

I hope you are able to get out and about and enjoy this beautiful season too!

Have a great day everyone!

Fall Decor in the Dining Room

Happy Friday everyone!  I hope your weekend is off to a great start.  Mine is all about work again but I have only one more week to go and then I'm off for a vacay.  I cannot wait!

I thought I'd brighten things up a bit by sharing a little more of my fall decorating in the dining room.  So far this year, most of my fall decor has been all about using what I already have.  Now don't read me wrong.  I did not say I haven't bought anything new this year just that I haven't shared much of that with you yet.  LOL!

Welcome to the dining room!

  The cute little sign is one I bought from work when they went on clearance.  I am thinking I may give this sign a little more aged patina if I ever get the time.  So far though, it looks just great to me as is.

Several ceramic pumpkins from last years trip to the dollar tree sit in a painted bread basket...

...next to one of my vases I had on the fireplace mantle.

  I switched those out for another great find.  I will share the fireplace mantle fall decor with you another day.  

My dining room cloche got the fall treatment too.

Do you see what I've caught under my cloche?  

Three adorable little pesky squirrels!

These two on the bottom we inherited from my FIL.  One is a wood carving from an older pastor of their church.  Don't you think they all look so mischievous?  I sure do!

I added the other vase from my fireplace mantle to the top of the dining room china cabinet.  The baskets stay on top of here year round.

I also added the boxwood wreath I made last year and just a small bit of beaded fall garland.  You can see and read the post about my wreath here.

I kind of feel like I would like just a little something else up here but not sure exactly what yet.  So for now, it's working for me.

So there you go!   Just a few more simple vignettes.

Thanks for stopping in.  And a big thank you to all of you who have inspired me to get busy on my own home and pop out the fall decor.  I am really enjoying it!

Have a great day and a wonderful weekend!

A Fall Lantern

Today I am off so I have the time to pull out a few things.  The first area to get "Fallified" is my lantern.  This was quite fun.  I am so glad I bought this thing because now I feel like I now have a dedicated seasonal decor area.

Here it is all completed!

So what do you think?  I used everything I already owned in this vignette except for the ribbon.

I bought this plate last year from Marshalls.

This year my little urn to the left got a boost of  height by adding the darker grass that I used in another arrangement last year.

The willow pumpkin was my mothers that she didn't want and last year I added the orange lights.  I had it on the front porch last year but never really turned it on.  This year it's inside where I can enjoy it.  Fun!

Yep, uh huh, here's the same picture at a few more angles.  LOL!

I got this ribbon from Joanne Fabrics just the other day on my day off when I went to the new Home Goods across town.  Let me just say that was some experience.  The crowds were crazy!  You would have thought it was black Friday.  Gee! 

Here's just one thing I came home with from our new Home Goods store.  I just couldn't resist this fella, could you?  Can't wait to move him outside.  I made a few more stops that afternoon at a few more of my favorite shops on that side of town and boy did I rack up.

I'll be back to share those finds and more fall decorating with you another day.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

I hope you have a wonderful afternoon!

In the Dining Room

Hey Friends!  Nothing new here really.  Enjoying some time off and I just thought I 'd share a few photos of my dining room with you for a linky party I've been enjoying over at Cottage and Vine.

I still have not learned how to readjust my new camera settings so I hope you will forgive the quality of these photos.  I know it's a shame, but I will learn it soon.

I have quite a mix of furniture in my dining room.  It ranges from a few inherited pieces to resale store pieces and even a few Craigs list finds.  All of my pieces have been added over time.   Since it is a room we only use a few times a year it's never been a high priority for me as far as investing in furniture.  As a young mother I learned how to shift my spending quite a bit.    Even now as we are getting closer to being empty nesters I still enjoy the space I have created from mixing pieces together in this room.

I know some of you will remember me adding this china cabinet just last year.  I had to move a beautiful antique secretary out of the dining room in order to add this piece.  I think it was worth it!

I just recently moved this little cabinet in here to hold two of my silverware cabinets stacked on top of each other.

 I've kept my black sideboard (that I painted myself) in here.  I like how it is a nice size.  Not to big and not too small.

This is my most favorite piece of all.  It is a marble table that was my mother in laws.  It was made for her from her father who used to be the president of a bank downtown.  When the bank remodeled he bought all the old marble counters and had them made into tables for each of his five daughters.  

The mirror was inherited too.  I am thinking very seriously about replacing these lamps with a pair I've got my eye on at work.  They are gorgeous but a little pricey though so we will see.

I constantly say I'm going to replace these sheers but I've yet to do so.

I know they probably look a little dated but I love the whiteness of them and that they do not close in my room. I have no blinds on my dining room windows either.  We've always enjoyed being able to look out the windows during the few times we do use this room.  It's very enjoyable.

I have two of these lithograph prints I inherited from my grandmother.  They are prints from the Godey's catalog that used to come out for women to order their dresses.  I think they are pretty cool!

My chandelier is one of my most favorite pieces in this room too.  I just love it!  It came with the house and I am still trying to find a replacement glass for one that I cracked.  I've yet to find the right size bell shade with the bubble glass and so it sit's with cracked shade and all.  Please send me any info you have if you ever see these large bell shades with bubble glass!

And finally, since I'm showing you my dining room today I decided to throw out a little tablescape too.  You may remember I already had my centerpiece created as shown in previous post.

Well I couldn't very well show you a dining room without the table set now could I?

I just recently purchased these napkins.  They looks so fallish to me!

I liked how they looked with my bamboo flatware too.

 Here is my newest acquirement.  These amber colored goblets.  I've been wanting some for awhile now. I could not believe I found a set of four for only $6.00 at a resale store.  I don't know if they are worth much or what the pattern is but who cares, I love them!

Well that's my dining room as it looks today!  It's about to change up for the season very soon so I'm sure I'll be showing you this room again before too long. 

I am joining both

 Tablescape Thursday

and

Cottage and Vine

 today. 

Be sure and visit the two linky parties listed above for many more beautiful and inspirational dining rooms and settings.

Thanks for visiting with me!

Have a great day!