~A Fall Apple-Themed Tablescape Party Idea~

Last weekend, we were in Omaha visiting my son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter, Monkey.  On Sunday, Jane (d-i-l) wanted to take us to an apple orchard for some good ol' apple pickin' before we started the trip home.

About an hour south of Omaha is a lovely town called Nebraska City where the Kimmel Orchard is located. The farm was started in the 1850s but the orchard and vineyard was established in 1925 and, over the years, has developed into a huge and impressive place.

There are acres and acres of vegetables and fruits...

enormous vineyards used to produce a variety of wines...

and fun things for the kids to do (there is also a huge pumpkin patch but I failed to take a picture of it).

 

But, since we were limited on time, we came to do this...pick apples!!  You're probably wondering...what in the world does an orchard have to do with a fall tablescape??  Well, hold your ponies.  While going up and down the many rows of apple trees, we came across this....

The most adorable apple-themed tablescape for, of all people, 2nd-graders!!  There was a woman standing nearby who had set it up and was waiting for her guests to arrive.  I didn't want to be rude by drooling and aahing over what she had created so I just snapped a few pictures.

Carafes full of apple juice waiting to refill the canning jars that were topped with lids and straws, caramel apples and caramel corn served in painted berry baskets....

 and sitting atop wooden crates were plates and plates of apple donuts.  Talk about sugar overload but who cares when you're being served these wonderful delights!!  All of these sweet treats were being sold in the apple barn, by the way, and I'm sure this is where she got all of her edibles.

 

The centerpiece was a lovely fall floral bouquet and there were smaller bouquets placed here and there down the long tables.  You can also see apples being displayed in small wooden baskets and gallon jars.

No fall party would be complete without apples for dunking!  Very thoughtful idea to hang towels on the handles of the galvanized tub for drying those dripping wet faces.

The 'entrance' to their little party was a banner made of colorful hankies.

At the other end was a pennant banner.  I didn't look closely to see how they were made nor the theme of that banner.  Now the children might not appreciate how adorable the theme and setup is for this party but I think this is a very creative idea for an adult party, fall tea or luncheon.  This is right up my decorating style and something simple to create.  Don't you agree?

 

I would have loved to stay longer but we had to hit the road for the long 7-hour drive home.  Between the three of us, we were able to gather about two bushels of apples.  We had to sample a few while picking and they were so, SO good!  Thankfully, Monkey wanted to bring her wagon along!  Yes, the sun was bright but it was a most beautiful day for gathering apples. 

 

Until next time ~

p.s.  I betcha you're wondering what I'm going to do with my bounty, huh?  First of all, I'm going to make some crockpot apple butter and then I'll probably do some canning for future apple pies and cobblers.  I also came across a recipe for apple-ring pancakes that I can't wait to try.  If they taste as good as they look, I'll share the recipe with you. ;)

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~Beautiful Fall Colors Found in Fabrics~

If I could decorate my house in Fall colors and with Fall decorations all year long, I would.  I've always been drawn to the warm and earthy colors of brick reds, rusts, eggplant purples, goldish yellows, bark-colored browns, burnt oranges ...you get the idea.  No bright, primary colors for me...no sirree.


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Several months ago, I purchased a pack of 5" square fabrics from Moda called Harvest Moon.  I was in love!  I knew that I could AND would do something with it sometime in the Fall.  Now that Fall is here, the creative light bulb finally came on and I have several things in mind that I want to make. But this little pack of fabric just wasn't going to go very far so it was time to start the hunt.  Then I hit the mother lode!! Oh my....the collection I had was designed by Kansas Troubles Quilters and, come to find out, they had designed more lovely fabrics that coordinated beautifully with what I had and was looking for.

 

 This is, by no means, the entire selection of Kansas Troubles fabrics, but I've got a pretty good start on my collection.

You may be thinking I've lost my mind when I say that this makes my heart go pitter-patter.  You're thinking that, right? 

 

Beautiful tans with touches of green, red, brown, blue....

 

Deep emerald greens and bark-colored browns....

 

Dark brick-colored reds....

 

Rich blues....

 

and some other fabrics that I already had on hand....in various shades of browns, golds, oranges and rust..

 

All shades that coincide with the rich, deep, warm, earthy and comfortable colors of Fall!!  I'm not finished collecting but I think this is a good start, don't you?  And, with the projects I have in mind, it won't take long to use them up. :/

 

I'm so smitten with these fabrics that I've been thinking....the home I currently live in is already decorated with some warm, earthy type colors but on a lighter scale.  I'm drawn to the idea of decorating our new home (all year 'round) with the same color scheme found in these fabrics.  I think that with the right balance of neutrals, I can pull it off.  What do you think?

 

I'm getting way ahead of myself here!  I've got to get back to work on the projects that are on my sewing table...a few tablerunners, wall hangings and pot holders that I've got to get done and in my Etsy store before the Fall season totally gets away from me.  It's never too late to start or to continue decorating for Fall, is it?  I hope to be sharing those with you by the end of next week.

 

Until next time.......

p.s.  By the way, Moda Fabrics and Kansas Troubles Quilters do not know me from Adam.  I am not being compensated in any way for sharing this fabric collection with you.
 

~Decorating for Spring~

I've had my house decorated for the Spring season for several weeks now and figured it was about time I shared with you what I have done.  Better late than never, huh?  Plus, you get to see a little  more of my home...just a little. :)  Let's get started, shall we?

 This little area is in the main hall going into the living room.  I bought this piece at an open market antique sale in Iowa (my son and his family live about an hour or so away in Nebraska).  I was told that this is called a linen press.  Funny quick story here...went all the way to Iowa to buy this and the seller lives in a small town about 30 minutes or so from my home here in Oklahoma!!

 Anyway, I was wanting something to go into this little nook and this piece is perfect.  It's also the perfect place for the grandchildren to play.  The door on the right is where the heating/air unit is housed.

 I needed something to dress up this area as well along with some lighting as it gets kinda dark in this corner.  I created this vignette with the main pieces staying up all year long and change out the greenery and flowers with the seasons.  The ivy is stapled to the picket fence and stays up during the seasons.

A small string of Christmas lights is used for back lighting.  Much better, don't you think?  I connected the lights to a timer so that they are on late in the evening and all night long as it makes a great night light.

 I love my little birds who protect their nest of eggs.  I think I got these through The Country House (one my favorite online shops) along with the picket fence and bird house.

The flower urn is used during Spring and Summer.  I push it to the back during Fall and replace it with a large pumpkin and gourds.  At Christmas, I use a small decorated Christmas tree.  The bird cage once belonged to one of my daughters.

 This is the fireplace mantle in the living room.  The upper part is an antique that I bought years ago but had no idea what I was going to do with it...until we built our house.  The middle part is a new piece that the builder created to make it look like one large piece.

 Lots of greenery and flowers make everything look so lush just like Spring is supposed to be along with my small collection of birds and birdhouses.

 I like to call this my Birdhouse Village :) and looks perfect with the picture above it that stays up all year long.  

 Ivy can be used in so many ways and I love having it hang down or going up the wall.  I used my trusty little staple gun to keep it upright around the picture.

To create the idea that a flower garden is growing on the mantle, I used a small section of floral foam and inserted different flowers and greenery that I had cut apart from several clusters that I bought and was able to use all around the house.  Well, I guess I bought a LOT of clusters.

 It was kind of tricky getting the floral arrangement from falling over so I had to make sure it was leaning securely against the wall and filled it in with more ivy.  The birdhouse helped, too.

 I love the little birdhouse condo that I bought years ago at a craft fair.  I don't remember where I got the little bird eggs and painted them white as I originally used them in a vignette with some chicken figures that I have.  I need to speckle paint them so that they will be more realistic with the birds, don't I?

 I did the same floral arrangement on the opposite end of the mantle to balance it out.

 I wasn't sure what to do with the mantle shelf until I saw several decorating ideas using ironstone and vintage crochet doilies.  Both of which I have!  So I pulled several of my ironstone pieces out of my display cabinet from the dining room and went through my collection of doilies.

 I love collecting ironstone and especially look for pieces from the Homer Laughlin collection.  You can read more about my collection here.  Several months ago, I hit the jackpot when I had the winning bid on a collection of vintage doilies and lace pieces.  You can read more about that here.  I really like how this little vignette turned out.

 I can't decide whether or not to paint the candlesticks.  What do you think?

The softness of the doilies against the crackling patina on old ironstone makes my heart go pitter patter!
Goodness!  I'm in love.

Hi Banjo!  This is my baby.  He is a Havanese; a cross between Bichon Frise and Maltese.  He's supposed to have long, beautiful hair but he has more of the Bichon in him and I think he's adorable!  The breed was created in Cuba for the aristocrats there and came to the United States when the aristocrats fled during the Cuban Revolution.

 Okay, on to the dining room.  Just a little bit of Spring going on here but I wanted to give you a quick look of this room but I plan to show and tell you more about it at a later date when I do my house tour.  The highchair on the right is over 100 years old.  I bought it at an auction and, yes, I do use it.

Here's my touch of Spring in this room.

 I got this watering can from Michael's a few years ago.  Not quite the antique look but I thought it was a great contrast against everything else.

The TV and DVD player in the corner are for the grandchildren to use when we have our family get-togethers.  So, this is how I have decorated my home for Spring this year.  I hope that you like what you see.

Spring is in full bloom in my home and it won't be too long before it will be the same outside.  Temperatures are much warmer than normal here in Oklahoma.  What's it like where you live?

Have a glorious day!

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