Fall decorating Archives - The Weekend Country Girl

Coldspring, Country living, Fall decorating, land scapimg, new home

Me Maw’s Garden Shed

October 4, 2013October 4, 2013 Karen

My friend, The Social Planner, Tanis also has another name. Me Maw. She has three precious grand babies who call her that. One of the things that Tanis has wanted to get started at the Rockin F was a garden. She started her gardening in container gardens growing herbs. She also has quite a few potted plants. The big garden will be coming once the land is cleared of roots and stumps. Here is what the land looked like 8 months ago: Rocking F

Living in the country like this couple does means that they had to put in a well. The well needed to be covered so a well house was built.

Isn’t it great? They built the pump building large enough to store things that are needed around the house but not attractive.

The Social Planner, AKA Me Maw, looked at that building and thought instantly that a shed should be added on for her gardening. Her husband recruited help and got busy. Step one was to add a roof and support beams to the shed.

Larry got his recently retired friend, Rex to help with this part.

Step two was to add in some counters to use as work space.

Larry’s brother in law, Ted helped with this part.

Step three was to add a gravel floor and walkway. Finally, Tanis got to move in. She added her personality to the shed.

Here is the back wall of the finished shed. This area is most protected from the elements.

Tanis added a little bit of whimsy here in the potting shed. I love that she is using an old rake to hang things.

She found interesting shelving and waterproof containers to keep items in.

Sign is courtesy of her daughter in law, Lauren with hand prints by the kiddos.

It looks like she is ready to pick berries or flowers.

My all time favorite part of the shed is the sink. We saw this done two years ago at Round Top, Texas. It inspired us both so much that we both came home and bought old sinks. Sadly, mine is still sitting in the Garagemahal waiting for a counter. ( Hint, Hint… it sure would be awesome in our new back yard!)

Love that view out her re-purposed window. The sink hooks to a water hose when needed so that you have real running water out there.

She found this water faucet towel ring and soap dish that I LOVE! It looks perfect out in the shed.

The business side of the shed is the potting bench.

It is a place to pot plants without making a mess. The dirt falls right through the wire mesh to be reused.

She found a burlap sack to serve as a trash container. I especially like the holder that she found. I so want one of these.

Tanis put up two screen doors to serve as a visual divide at the corner.

The shed has a gravel floor with paving stones to stand on. If you are wondering why I didn’t get any outside shots, it was open house weekend and the place was crawling with people. It was also pouring rain. I got to stand in the shed and listen to the rain on the tin roof. It was so very relaxing. I will be back to get some additional shots but I wanted to share her progress. I will try not to be too jealous of the finished shed! 🙂 I think my buddy did a great job!

How To Plant An Urban Garden (proplants.com)
How to Choose Gardening Tools (iwanzzzz.wordpress.com)
Planting A Fall Garden The Easy Way (thesleuthjournal.com)
Porch Gardens (homeandgardengifts.wordpress.com)

burlap, Fall decorating, home decorating, moving, Rubbish Rescue

Fall Front Yard

October 4, 2013October 4, 2013 Karen

Have I told you how much I love fall? I love the color, the cooler weather, and spending more time outside. We got busy cleaning up the yard and putting up a little fall decor. Life on the cul de sac is great and the neighbors are known for their Halloween parties so we had to make our house look presentable. The large pumpkins were cut out from left over fencing when we put in the reclaimed wood wall.

DIY HERE for Reclaimed wood pumpkin.
The flower bed is cleaned up, some mums are planted, and the pumpkins are out.

I really did take the stickers off the pumpkins. Not sure why this is the only photo from this angle I saved.

The reclaimed pumpkins add a rustic charm to the front yard of our Austin stone and red brick home.

Here is a close up of the bow.

I really do like the asymmetrical shapes.

Welcome fall!

I left the zinnas that are still blooming so they got to stay. The others are now in the compost.

burlap, Country Style, Decorating, DIY, Fall decorating, Thrifting, Thrifty Art

Semi- Homemade Pumpkin

September 19, 2013September 19, 2013 Karen

I learned something years a ago from my dad. Everything in retail is potentially up for negotiation. May dad will go tool shopping at Sears, and he will ask…”Is this your best price?” When the answer is yes, that is our best price, he asks about floor models, then he asks to speak to the manager. Rarely does he pay the listed price. On anything. I am not as brave as he is, but occasionally I do ask.
Recently I was in Kirklands. It was a 5 day sale and they had some really cute things on sale. I spotted a big wall pumpkin. Regular price was $24.99 but it was on sale for $16.00. I loved the size and the shape but I wasn’t so crazy about the bow.
Here it is online:

When I saw one that had the bow torn loose I worked up my courage and took fit to the register. I asked the nice lady at the register if I could take the torn one at a reduced price. Guess what? Instead of $16.00, she sold it to me for $10.00.

I brought home the pumpkin then got busy.

A new burlap bow, and a cheap fall floral pick later I ended up with a super cute wall decoration. Doesn’t it look cute? I had Hubby hang the window under our covered front walk because it is going to serve as a seasonal backdrop for decorating.

This is a great semi-homemade quick project. I guess Dad knew what he was doing!

burlap, crafting, DIY, Fall decorating, Thrifty Art

Reclaimed Wood Pumpkin

September 9, 2013September 9, 2013 Karen

Sometimes a girl just wants a pumpkin. Sometimes a guy is tired and doesn’t want to cooperate. What is a girl to do? Make that pumpkin herself!

Hubby declared this weekend a no work weekend. I tried to cooperate. I promise. But, the armoire needed glazing, the bench needed building, the yard needed mowing and there was scrap wood lying around from the wood wall just crying out to be used.

It was not a “no-work” weekend.

Here are the very simple steps to making the pumpkin.

Collect the reclaimed wood and lay them out side by side on a table top.
Connect the wood together with screws and a drill. I used strips we cut from cutting the sides of each board on the table saw but any wood will work even a whole fence board would have done the job. I drilled a pilot hole then screwed in the screws so that I did not crack the small strips of wood.

Take a marker and draw out a pumpkin shape. I plan on making some bigger ones for the yard next weekend. I like them to look irregular.

Use a jigsaw to follow the shape. I used clamps to hold it in place while I cut. Don’t be scared. I had to make some funny cuts because of the curves.

Here she is naked:

And with a bow:

Tie a burlap bow and silk leaves on the finished product. Ta Dah!

Here is a sneak peek at the armoire. Revival Mahogany, Powdered Snow, and glaze, I am so happy with the results.

Fall decorating, family

Decorating the Mudroom Bench for Fall

September 4, 2013September 8, 2013 Karen

I really like fall.

I like the cooler weather- we live in south east Texas which is sometimes like walking on the face of the sun and other times like being in the Amazon jungle- depending on the humidity.
I seem to naturally gravitate toward warmer colors. My homes have always had a touch of red in them- even when country blue and mauve were all the rage. ( Who, beside me, out there is old enough to have had a duck with welcome friends painted on it? )
I work in education and I really like my job so it makes me happy to know that a new school year is starting. This year is especially exciting because I am opening a new school.
Fall means that family will be gathering, bonfires, smores, Thanksgiving, and cool evenings at the lake house. Yay.

Oh, and I love fall decorating. Probably for the reasons above.

This year I am trying to use a lot of what I have collected along with some new things. I am using a lot of orange, teal and antique white. I am having fun getting everything out and deciding what will make the cut. Do you do this? Do you have to have everything out in one place before you know what you will use or is it just me?

I have the mudroom bench safely in place and the first thing that will be decorated will be this area. The orange round pillows usually sit on my brown burlap chairs in the family room, but they wanted to join in the orange and green party this year.

The wreath has been around a few years. It has held up amazingly well hanging out in the attic and even survived the move.

I purchased two croton plants from Home Depot- They were 3 for $9.00 so I really bought three and gave one to a friend.

I found the clay pots at the 99 Cent Only store to cover the black plastic pot along with a clear drip pan for each. I am going to plant them in large pots for outside but for now they look great.

Hubby hung two matching windows (out of my stash of windows) on either side of the mudroom bench and I moved two plant stands in to go under the windows. The two stands are not the same height so I stacked books under one of the pots to make the plants about the same height.

I love that our new home has really tall ceilings. There is plenty of room on top of the mudroom bench for me to decorate. I have a feeling that this is going to be a favorite decorating spot. On top of the bench I things collected around the house along like a wooden Coke crate, a cheesy Pumpkins sign, old snuff jars. a big lantern and some faux and ceramic pumpkins . I am sure that some things will be added and subtracted as the season gets rolling but I like having a space at the front door to decorate.

Coldspring, Fall decorating, Star Hill

Decorating for Fall

September 24, 2012December 13, 2012 Karen

It is officially fall at Star Hill.

DIY pumpkins from wood blocks, Fall decorating, Thrifty Art, Thrifty decorating

Making Pumpkins from Scrap Wood

September 17, 2012December 13, 2012 Karen

I worked on this today at the hospital. My dad is getting ready for surgery tomorrow.

This was a move slow, do not start anything complicated weekend. We did have some scrap wood laying around though and I thought that they might make some pumpkins for the farmhouse table. It took me all of 15 minutes to cut the wood into various lengths.

I looked at them and decided that they needed a little rounding. I tried cutting the edges with the chop saw, but I really didn’t like it. I ended up getting out another of Hubby’s tools. The belt sander.

This thing scares me, but less than sanding each of the blocks by hand would. I did it all by myself!

I sanded the edges of each block then got out some left over paint.

I got Hubby to drill a hole in the top of each block then I found sticks to put in the hole and wood glued them together. The sticks look something like a stem. I also had some twine covered wire from the country wedding that I twisted into corkscrew shapes and glued to the block. I had some left over burlap from the wreath project that became leaves.

I think it turned out great. Hubby said they looked like blocks with sticks in the top. Let me know what you think.

I used dark glaze on some. I left in on a while so that it would soak in and look rustic.

I painted this one coral then the cinnamon glaze color then sanded lightly to let the coral show through.

I love that you can see the hill in the background of this shot.

I think they look great on the farmhouse table.

burlap, Fall decorating, Thrifty decorating, wreath

Making a Burlap Wreath- Easy DIY

September 16, 2012December 13, 2012 Karen

This weekend was all about taking it slow. I did not move to fast or do very much but I did get a few easy to do projects completed. One of the easiest things I have done this fall is make a wreath out of an old coffee sack. I have several of these that I got free when we were in Round Top. Long story- but my dumpster diving does pay off.

I am posting twice this evening because I will be out of pocket the next few days.

I totally copied the idea from one of the blogs I follow: Classy Clutter.

I am going to change out the elements of the wreath this fall so what you are going to see is the Plain Jane version.

Step one:
Untwist a metal hangar like you are roasting marshmallows.

Step two: cut burlap into about two inch strips.

Step three:
Sting the burlap onto the wire. Keep stinging it on until you can’t put any more on. It took almost the entire coffee sack to get it as full as I wanted.

Step four:
Form the straight wire into a circle and re-twist the top. I left the hook part of the hanger in place when I straighted the wire. It made a great wreath hanger.

Step five:
Decorate like you would any wreath. I added a denim ribbon to mine and will be adding fall elements next time I am at Star Hill.

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