Fabulous Fall Finds

dripping cyan signed print by slight clutter

Usually I am not a fan of paintings or photographs of trees or forests in fall. I sort of hate to even admit this, because I feel that it's almost inhuman or something not to appreciate the colors and beauty of autumn. I do appreciate the colors, but along with them comes a deep mourning for the loss of summer. See, I'm a sun person all the way, and invariable I wish for summer to never end. I think my attitude is usually something like, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, summer's got to end, but I don't have to be happy about it!"

All of this brings me to the stunning work of Etsy shop slightclutter (pictured above and below). The photographs are gorgeous to begin with, but they have just the right amount of artistic tweaking that makes them absolutely breathtaking! These are photos of fall that I would be proud to display all year round in my home...and that's really saying something (since in general I sort of try to ignore the fact that it's fall!).

another day, another fairytale by slightclutter

Man, I'm really swooning over this tree and its brilliant leaves. It's just so magical and surreal. I really dig it.

moss green batik napkins by margotbianca

I also kind of fell in love with these handmade batik napkins. Don't you just love that color? I've included it in this collection of fall-themed things, but it could say "spring" just as easily, I think. I'm picturing these set on a rustic table, outdoors, perhaps at a little dinner party set in an apple orchard. I actually had a lady buy a huge and gorgeous candelabra from me at my yard sale this summer, and she said she was buying it for her friend who often hosts dinners outdoors in her apple orchard. Gasp! Can you imagine anything more perfect or magical in the fall? (Or anytime for that matter?)

my fall leaves no.1 original art by artofjane

This artwork really takes my breath away, particularly because it is A) original and B) 5 x 7 size (easy to frame) and C) under $10. Yep, you read it right...$10 for original artwork that's inexpensive to frame on your own! Oh. My. Goodness. I'm really smitten with the fall leaves above. The one below is gorgeous as well. 

fall is coming original art by artofjane

 deer and butterfly cupcake wrappers by masonrabbitspaperie

And moving on to the adorably cute and clever portion of today's post. Do you see those cupcake wrappers?  Is there really anything I can say about them that can add to their cuteness? I think the only thing that could make these better is having an actual cupcake inside them! Other than that, they are so sweet, I could almost eat them on their own. Having a child's birthday this fall? Why not make it a forest theme? Complete with deer, toadstools, butterflies, pinecones...you get the idea.

 cinnamon pinecone garland by sweetsomethingdesigns

And speaking of clever, look what sweetsomethingdesigns did with cinnamon-scented pine cones! Attached them to rough twine for a really simple, woodsy-looking garland that also makes your home smell fabulous. Sometimes I get tired of the over-abundance of fake leaves you see in homes during fall (the finger's pointed at me too...my own fake leaves included!) so it's refreshing to see something like this that is so organic and beautiful at the same time.   

Okay, I think I might be a little more ready for fall now! 'Cause like it or not, it's here! So I'm doing my best to revel in its beauty after all. :-)

And speaking of celebrating, don't forget to enter my giveaway!!!

fall nesting and an identity crisis

Hi friends! Here are a few photos of my humble attempts at fall decor this year. I have jumped into domesticity with wild abandon and have been doing crazy things like organizing my pantry...organizing my linen closet...organizing my daughters' room...deep cleaning my floors...and generally planning to take over the world.

In addition to these dazzling displays of home economics, I have been introduced to the world of Mom's Shuttle Service, now that my eldest daughter is in preschool. It sorta cramps my style to have to be in the car so frequently (well, if I were shopping, that would be different) but five weeks in, I think I'm starting to get the hang of it..

Since my schedule is now so limited...due to aforementioned Mom's Shuttle Service...my poor redesign business is left on the back burner, hoping desperately for attention. The fact is, my kids are my priority right now...and there's been enough drama and separation anxiety and frenetic activity to last for a year, just packed into the last month. It just doesn't seem feasible right now to add in the frequent times needed for redesigns. Finding childcare, getting someone to pick up my daughter at school, coordinating the baby's schedule, blah blah blah.

But the fact is, people, I NEED a creative outlet. There's got to be something I can daydream about while mopping my floors. There's got to be something fun (translated, right-brain) that I can think about while carrying out all the left-brain activities of running a household and a family. And you know, all of this would be easier to imagine if I didn't need to sleep at night. If I didn't need to sleep - imagine all the crafty, creative pursuits I could be working on while the rest of the family slept! I could have taken over the world already by now!

But I can't yet for the life of me think of what that would be. I've got my little card business idea...but do I really want to be running around filling orders all the time? The fun part is designing the cards...once they're designed...everything else is that darn left-brain again.

I've always loved the party-planning stuff, and have definitely not forgotten about it either. And the one-time nature of a party might be more up my alley these days. Hmm....

I guess what you have here, people, is a redesigning/party-planning/graphic-designing mommy with an identity crisis!

going crazy with silver paint

Okay, so I've decided to share a few of my silver paint projects with you, even though they're not done, in order to ask for your help on a couple of them. But first, here was a spur-of-the-moment project. I had this fake orange pumpkin sitting around. (Don't we all?) Now that my walls are blue, instead of yellow, somehow the orange pumpkins just don't look quite right.

BEFORE...

AFTER... I already had the silver paint out, which I had been using on the projects below, and decided to see what a silver pumpkin would look like. It was craft paint, rather than spray paint, so a fair amount of orange still showed subtly through the silver. I can't decide if I like this look or not. But, when the paint was still wet, I also showered it with a liberal coating of clear glitter. Yep, that's the one and only thing I was able to accomplish with my new glitter before the glitter incident. So now I have a silvery, glittery pumpkin. Again, not so sure if I'm in love with this or not. But at least it's not orange anymore!

Here's the real reason for the purchase of the silver paint. Yep, recently I've been extremely expired by all the cherry blossom branches I've seen on walls in magazines recently. The latest issue of Elle Decor showed designer Cynthia Rowley's dining room on the cover, with wall paper (of her own design) depicting a modern-looking version of cherry blossoms.

Inside was another story of a young designer (can't remember his name off the top of my head) and his dining room also had cherry blossoms. These two examples looked vastly different from each other, but I still loved the idea. So, since I'm planning to repaint my bathroom sometime soon anyway, I thought I'd try out the idea on my bathroom walls. There is tile wainscoting up to about 3 1/2 or 4 feet off the ground, so I'm only planning to paint the area above the wainscoting.

These branches literally took about five minutes. They were so easy. The flowers - not so much. In fact, this is where I need your help! I want to find a stamp of a cherry blossom that I can use to quickly and easily put uniform cherry blossoms on these branches.
I found this one on Etsy that would be perfect, except that it's a typical rubber stamp, intended for use on smooth paper and fabrics. I have very textured walls, which will need a stamp made out of a sponge or something similar. But this one, by Etsy seller Corrabelle (who has adorable stamps, by the way!), is the right size (about 1 1/4 inches). Any ideas where I could find something like this, but appropriate for use on walls?

...and then things got a little crazy and I started painting my fireplace screen. So, could use a stamp for this too, because those little flowers are enough to drive you nuts! As you can see, neither the walls nor the screen are finished. Still waiting for that elusive stamp. Any ideas, my genius blogging friends??

a slow beginning to Fall Nesting

Here's my one attempt at fall decor so far: the wreath on my front door. I picked this up on sale at JoAnn Fabrics the other day, and my favorite part about it is that it looks so real. The base of it is made of real branches, and the only fake part is the little blossoms with berries. I'm kind of picky about my wreaths that way - I don't want anything that looks blatantly fake. I'd like it to at least appear like I could possibly have crafted it by hand myself. (raucous laughter!) The less plastic stuff, the better.

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It still feels a little early to do much fall decorating, but I can't ignore the chill in the air in the mornings. It's sunny here in Portland, Oregon, but the light is starting to look different, and even my 3 1/2 year old daughter has been commenting on how the leaves are starting to change colors. So, today I have a rare day at home...I plan to do housework (the H-word) and as my reward, will through in some redecorating and fall nesting when I've got things cleaned up a bit. I'm hoping to have some pics for you soon. Maybe tomorrow? Recently I've been lax on my Friday's Fabulous Finds posts, and I can't decide if I should bring the post back tomorrow or wait till next week. I guess it depends on whether I have any Fall Decor Fabulousness to show you or not!