Farmhouse Fall Porch Decor

Welcome to fall on the farmhouse porch! I realized as I was taking these photos that a year ago, we still didn't have a lawn or landcaping so it's especially fun to decorate the porch for its very first fall this year.

French Country Fall Mantel: Neutrals, Naturals and Metallics

This year, I decided to keep my fall mantel decorating neutral and to combine elements from nature like pine cones, oak leaves, grape vine and white pumpkins (both real and faux) with spray painted metallic pumpkins for accents.

Fall Harvest Porch Decor with Reclaimed Wood Sign

In the middle of the renovation, I'm still decorating for fall.  In fact, all decorating is in full swing here at the farmhouse. The porch is dressed with mums and pumpkins and a sign that I made from reclaimed paneling that I removed when renovated the fireplace in the dining room. If you cup your hands around your eyes and look only at my front entry (ignoring the fact that there's no other landscaping at all because it has been cut down for construction) you might be tempted to think that the outside of my house is nice.....

                                                                                                        ....don't believe it. It's all a mirage.

DIY Horseshoe Shaped Natural Wheat Fall Wreath

I started decorating the farmhouse for fall this week.  Yeah, I know. I can hear some of you groaning...

                                                                                                                     even through the computer.

Now that my youngest is back at college, it feels like fall to me. When you take the fact that I'm back to being an empty-nest'er and add to it the chance that I won't have a front door or a front porch to decorate by the time the season actually rolls around, it makes perfect sense that I made a  horseshoe shaped wheat wreath and hung it on my door today.

                                                                                                                 It does, doesn't it?!

Fresh Peach Galette (Rustic Peach Tart)

I love French food.  There's something about the sound of the words that makes everything sound fancy...and delicious. Take for example, today's recipe: Peach Galette. It's made with Pate Brisee. Yep...it's French.  Doesn't it sound fancy and like it would take some special culinary skill to make it?

                                                                                                                     Well, it 's not...and it doesn't.

Vintage Farm Style Wedding: Haley and Mitch

Don't you just love weddings?
                                                                     I do.
 I mean it. I'm the kind of girl who gets teary-eyed watching television commercials of complete strangers getting married.

Fall Porch and Urn Decorations

I did some decorating on the front porch of the French Farmhouse last week.  To be completely transparent, I did it so that the neighbors can tell that someone actually lives here now and that it's safe for children to come to the door to sell things. Take for example, things like Girl Scout Cookies...

Nellie's Barn Sale Recap: Fall, 2013

Oh my gosh, I had an amazing weekend!  I spent Friday and Saturday in Roscoe, Illinois with a group of my junk-loving  friends and vendors at the twice yearly extravaganza known as NELLIE's BARN SALE (link here).

Inside The French Farmhouse: Fall Decorating with Pumpkins, Pinecones and Bittersweet

Fall decorating continues this week at The French Farmhouse. I used a few more faux mushrooms (left over from my rustic fall grapevine mushroom wreath HERE to fill my vintage wood dough trough along with natural elements like moss and pine cones that I gathered from beneath one of the trees in my front yard.

Farmhouse Style Fall Decorating

Fall has arrived in Illinois. The days are sunny, the skies clear and blue and the leaves are just beginning to change.  Last weekend was one of those perfect fall weekends....the temperatures were in the 70's and I was alone at the French Farm House....it was a perfect day for a road trip.

Rustic Natural Fall Grapevine Wreath: Mushrooms, Pinecones and Moss

Since it is officially "Autumn" and I've finally located the boxes with the decorating supplies in the attic, this week I  made time to do a little Fall decorating.

Burlap and Tulle Wreath Tutorial

This post is going to be short and (hopefully) sweet.  It's been a whirlwind weekend here.

Actually, whirlwind is probably a bit mild. It's been a "queue the flying monkeys" tornado, crazy-busy, weekend that included removing screens, washing windows, a round trip visit to see my son at UIUC, and a very special meeting on Sunday evening that I'll tell you more about in the coming weeks.

 In the mean time,  a few weeks ago,  when I wrote my ombre glitter pumpkin post,  I posted a photograph of a burlap and tulle Halloween wreath that I made. A couple of you asked me for a tutorial.

Old Fashioned Applesauce

My youngest and I were having a conversation tonight as I was preparing dinner.  It's fun to chat while I'm chopping or slicing or browning and he generally sets the table while I'm doing it.

After my usual inquiries as to how school went today, I casually asked him,

"Hey, do you think that I'm old fashioned?"

He shot me a quizzical look.

(Insert long, thoughtful, pause here.)

Fall Pumpkin Planter - A Cinderella Story

Did you read the story of Cinderella as a child?

Or, for that matter, do you still read Cinderella as an adult?  I do.

In fact, I seem to have a fixation with that story. If you don't believe me, see Exhibit A.

I've got to admit that, any time I read a story that involves a handsome guy with money rescuing a kind, hard

working,  girl from a life of cooking and cleaning, I think to myself,

"Really?  Sign me up!" 

Pallet Wood Sign, A Year of Blogging, and My Fall Mantel

It's hard to imagine that it's been a year since I started down the road to "blogger-hood".  Yep. 365 days. One entire trip around the sun.

Pumpkins, Ironstone and Copper - Fall Hutch

I'm happy to say that I'm finally getting a little fall decorating done around my house but,  you know,

decorating with Martha Stewart just isn't what it used to be

                               You've got to remember that while I do live with Martha Stewart, she's 14 now. In

yellow lab years, I think that's ninety-two. Unlike her namesake, she doesn't really have an opinion when it

comes to decorating. 

                                         Heck, she's only awake for about four hours a day.
                     

Fall Planters and Urns: What I DIDN'T do this Sunday

 I'll bet that you thought that you'd be reading about my fall outside decorations today, didn't you?

You probably thought that you'd be seeing photos of  beautiful urns like these two that I did for my neighbor, right?

Styrofoam Pumpkin Treat Container: Making Halloween Candy Less Scary

 

 Have you ever reached a point where you've decided that your Halloween "treat container" looks more gruesome than most of the children who would be reaching into it this year?

Truly...
                  so bad that you can't figure out why you didn't just throw it away last year?

Birch tree and burlap and roadside "weeds"...an event "theme" is born!

A few photos of the event staging that "Nellie" and I did at her home/barn last weekend in preparation for her semi-annual Barn Sale event October 14th and 15th. I didn't have my camera with me when we stopped at Na.Da. Farm for their fall event but you can check the Na.Da blog for photos...it was amazing, as always!

The front of the barn.