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Showing posts with label Halloween. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Halloween. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

10 Simple & Affordable Ways To Liven Up Your Home: Fall Edition


Some people feel discouraged to decorate for a new season because it can be overwhelming & pricey. Having to change multiple areas in your home can add up quickly, especially if you don't already have a pre-existing inventory of seasonal decor in storage! On today's blog post I show you that it is possible to transition your seasonal decor for your entire home simply & inexpensively. For each of the 10 area listed below, I will show a before & after picture of how I initially styled it for Summer and then how I tweaked it to encompass Fall. 

For the most part, I used the following materials. Don't be fooled by how sparse the quantity may look. I used them as vase/container fillers in every room + had some left over to use for my front door wreath!  These were all purchased from Hobby Lobby & were 50% off! The top and last row were $2.50 each & the wheat bunches were $3.00.
 
 

I also used these $0.98 pumpkins from Wal*Mart. I was inspired by this DIY Pottery Barn Inspired Faux Pumpkins tutorial I found on Pinterest >> LINK HERE. I did tweak it slightly by dry brushing over the stripes of brown so that it was more washed out instead of intensely brown.
Before:
After:


I also linked corresponding tutorials in each section as a reference for any other materials that aren't shown above, which are all inexpensive as well! All in all, I spent no more than $30 on materials to decorate my entire house for Fall! Now that to me is a STEAL!!!

#1 Mantel
Easy DIY Floating Mantel UNDER $20!! LINK HERE!
Before:

After:
DIY Weathered Picket Fence LINK HERE! 
Simply secure Fall leaves & pine cones to a piece of twine and you have yourself a DIY Autumn banner!
Fill vases will different types of Fall leaves & twigs. Accent with a faux gourd & a decorative plate.
You can't go wrong with a rustic pumpkin placed atop a candle stand ;)

#2 Kitchen Bar
DIY Wood Flower Trough UNDER $2! LINK HERE!
Before:

After:
Simply switch out your Summer flowers for Fall ones! I love the color of these rich burgundy/brown hydrangeas.

Before:
 
After:
Mini pumpkins and gourds can be a little pricey at pumpkin patches & even the grocery store! This year I planned ahead and grew my own mini pumpkins in my backyard. A seed packet was only $0.75! The whole process is so much more gratifying - you get to decorate your home with things you harvested from your own garden! :)
Basket is from Michael's for only $2.50!
#3 Kitchen Island
Farmhouse-Inspired DIY Cutting Board LINK HERE! Before:


After:
The rustic, antique tin filled with wheat & golden mini flowers totally encompasses that farmhouse feel.

#4 Stovetop
5 Easy & Inexpensive Ways to Liven Up Your Kitchen: Spring Edition LINK HERE! Before:

After:
Can't go wrong with some sunflowers, wheat, & a mini pumpkin!



#5 Kitchen Counter
 Before:
After:
3 Ways: Distressed Autumn Mason Jars LINK HERE!
I had so much fun creating this Halloween inspired mason jar!

#6 Bedroom Shelf
Distressing - 4 Ways: How-to Make Anything Look Antique LINK HERE! Before:

After:
How To: *Rustic Window* Using Dollar Store Picture Frames! LINK HERE!


#7 Staircase Shelf
 Before:

After:
DIY Mini-Pumpkin Patch LINK HERE!
Who doesn't love anything mini? ;) 


#8 Front Door Wreath
Classic Fall Wreath Tutorial LINK HERE!


#9 Staircase wreath 
Colorful Aspen-Inspired Fall Wreath Tutorial LINK HERE!


#10 Bathroom
Harvest-Inspired Rustic Wheat Tin - Under $10! LINK HERE!

Friday, September 25, 2015

DIY Mini-Pumpkin Patch


Going into this Fall season, I knew I wanted to incorporate hay stacks into my seasonal decor, specifically these cute miniature size ones I found at Michael's! Since hay is synonymous with pumpkin patches, I found it fitting to 'stage' a DIY mini-pumpkin patch for my staircase shelf in my living room! This was styled more towards the neutral spectrum of color with pops of autumnal color (you know how much I love my neutrals!!), but there are so many ways you can customize this to make it your own -you can add more color, or other objects synonymous with the Fall season.  

You will need the following materials: Grand Total: 10.52!!
Metal bucket - I painted mine white (Michael's - $2.99 Full Price; $1.79 with coupon)
Hay Stacks (Michael's - $4.49 Full Price; $2.25 with coupon)
Mini-Pumpkin & Pine Cones (Hobby Lobby - $6.99 Full Price; $4.19 with discount)
Mini-Wood Crate (Michael's - $1.00 Full Price; $0.50 with coupon)
Harvest Corn (Hobby Lobby - $2.99 Full Price; $1.79 with discount)

Paint Sponge

3 paint colors of your choice I used these:

What you want to do first is turn your bucket on its side and arrange your setup to cascade out of the bucket. Stage your pumpkin patch before you paint any of the pieces. This allows you to plan out what colors you want to paint each pumpkin. Since I'm using 3 different paint colors - I made sure I didn't put the same colors near each other to ensure that the overall look would not fall flat & bland to the eye. Use 2 coats and let dry. Shown below was my initial set-up:



I felt like it was missing that little something extra, specifically color & dimension! To fix this, I added a crate to give the setup depth and height. I also added the corn for a pop of color and fullness. Simply painted the crate white and twisted off the corn from each stem.
Add acorns & pine cones, place on your shelf, & you are done!!!