Flowers in your home decor anytime any season

Today we are talking about flowers, specifically how to use flowers in your décor.

If you've never heard of Bloom Nation before they are an organization that supports local communities by partnering with independent florists and showcasing their handcrafted arrangements in their Bloom Nation marketplace.

Check out their Pintrest Board for some real inspiration!
https://www.pinterest.com/bloomnation/home-inspiration/

I will be honest, I have a love/hate relationship with flowers.  Some make me sneeze, eyes water and
just make me miserable.  However, I LOVE the smell of lilacs and peonies (luckily these don't make me sneeze!) and I just can't get enough of some sort of plant or flower in my home year round.  Tulips are my hands down favorite flower.  I love the delicate little petals and that they come in so many different colors and shapes.  I also love green plants of all kinds and have several in my home.  I've even got a pine tree and a lemon tree (yes here in Colorado I can grow a lemon tree!).

If you have read my blog before you'll know that I use both faux and real flowers in my everyday decorating.  To me it makes an inviting home.  When I am out and visiting friends or relatives and I feel uncomfortable in the house or don't feel that the house is inviting but instead it is cold and sterile, regardless of the décor, I usually find that there are no plants or flowers about. 

So how do you incorporate flowers into your daily or seasonal décor?  I admit that some seasons lend themselves better to flowers than others but I was up for the Bloom Nation challenge! 

Now Halloween may not seem like the most opportune time to weave flowers into your decorations; I mean what really goes with shrunken heads, black cats, witches, ghosts and skeletons? 

How about this?

Meet my interpretation of Medusa!

Or possibly something like this?

With just a little outside the box thinking you too can come up with flowers for Halloween and maybe even make your décor a little more macabre. 

Let's start with Medusa.
I started with a Styrofoam head and a can of glow in the dark spray paint from the craft store.

WARNING - Styrofoam and spray paint don't play well together. Usually spray paint will eat the Styrofoam so if you want a nice even look don't spray paint use regular paint. Me, I wanted the head to look like concrete so I spray painted away. 

At the craft store I chose flowers that I thought would look like snakes.  I also chose a few striped specialty stems that I used on the Medusa head and on my dinning room table décor.  I also bought a few glow in the dark snakes and several bunches of dark red roses, some of which I glued little skulls in the centers.

I then cut the faux flowers and stuck them into the head.  I kept turning the head as I went, adding the long ones first then filling in with the roses.  I stuck the striped accent stems in and last but not least I added the glow in the dark rubber snakes for extra affect. 
I dressed my coffee table with a dark brown runner then added some black glitter maple leaf stems and other dark colored faux flowers.  I put Medusa right in the middle.

 Here you can see how the spray paint has eaten the Styrofoam.

Now you may be saying that is all well and good but I don't have that kind of time. 
My tips to best incorporate flowers into your Halloween décor are pretty easy.  Think drab, dark and possibly even dead looking.  These could be flowers, bushes, plant or even vegetables such as red cabbage or broccoli. How about tree limbs?  I've got dead tree limbs on my mantle again this year for Halloween.

TIP - For outside think about an urn or planter filled with red cabbage, broccoli and dead tree limbs with several crows attached to the tree limbs or even orange lights wrapped around the tree limbs.
Have you ever taken a tomato cage, turned it upside down and wrapped it in orange lights for Halloween?  It is a very cute effect at night.  For the day you can get some faux garland in dark fall colors or even in orange leaves and wrap it around the tomato cage. 

TIP - Think about the colors you are using in your Halloween décor, orange?  black? silver? blue? white? green? what colors do you have in your home?  Now take those colors and try to find flowers either real of faux that have those colors in them.  If you have a beige and blue house like I do look for dark colored flowers in that pallet.
If you wish to go outside of your current home or Halloween color pallet you can't go wrong with a large bundle of real dark red roses sitting next to a skeleton; so cute!

TIP - A pumpkin flower holder is an easy project that you can even get the kiddos involved in. 
Carve out your pumpkin with the center hole large enough for a can or vase.  Place the container inside the pumpkin, fill it with water and place your flowers in.  You could even carve a face on your pumpkin for an extra Halloween effect. 

Personally I like glitter; the glitterier (is that even a word?) the better!  Anything that has glitter on it I'm usually buying it.  Most of my Halloween décor is silver and black with some orange thrown in. 

I found these beauties at Michael's - 60% off right now. 
TIP - stick a few of these stems in a bouquet of real flowers to give the arrangement a Halloween look. 

I hope I have given you some ideas and inspired you to use flowers in your décor. 
For more ideas see the Bloom Nation Home Inspiration Pintrest board (link at the top of the post) or my Pintrest -
https://www.pinterest.com/vicdenniso/

You can check out some of my past posts to see how I've used flowers in my décor.
Thanksgiving 2013 -
http://dragonfliesandthistles.blogspot.com/2013/11/thanksgiving-decorations.html

Or the wreath I made and hung on my door last year for spring.
http://www.dragonfliesandthistles.blogspot.com/2014/04/spring-wreath.html

Last year I walked you through my Thanksgiving mantle step by step
http://www.dragonfliesandthistles.blogspot.com/2014/11/thanksgiving-mantle-step-by-step.html

Valentines Day
http://www.dragonfliesandthistles.blogspot.com/2015/01/valentines-day-door.html

This year all decorated for fall -
http://www.dragonfliesandthistles.blogspot.com/2015/09/fall-home-tour.html

And lets not forget Christmas!
http://www.dragonfliesandthistles.blogspot.com/2014/12/chrsitmas-mantle.html

I'd love to see how you incorporate flowers into your home everyday and every season! 
I challenge you to use flowers in your Halloween décor this year! 

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I truly appreciate you reading and your support.
Stop by next week when I'll be sharing my Halloween mantle (currently a work in progress but I'll get it there!). 
Until then,
Stay Safe
Victoria

Boo sign

I can't believe that it is almost October!  Where does the time go? 

Well with it almost being October I thought I'd start to share some Halloween crafts so when you see my home decorated for Halloween you'll then be able to see how I incorporated the crafts. 
So what's coming up?
A topiary made with plastic pumpkins.  I'm still working out the exact idea but I've bought 6 of those old fashioned plastic pumpkins we use for trick-or-treating.  I'm going to paint them white and black and the faces I'm going to paint with glow in the dark paint.  I've got a dowel and I'll drill holes in the pumpkins and stack them.  I then plan to put lights in them and this is where I'm torn - how to display!  Should I just stick them in the ground or use some sort of urn or planter?  I'll figure it out this week.
Also up is dollar store plastic skull heads.  My husband has a lot of nuts and bolts and other odd things laying around.  I think I'll use hot glue and glue those things to the skull and maybe some glitter....we'll see. 
And for today a wooden 'BOO' sign to hang on your door or house.

 

You will need:
1. Wooden letters.  I got mine at Walmart for .69 each.  They had 2 sizes the larger was $1.47.  You could spell out SPOOKY, HALLOWEEN, GHOST - whatever you want. 
2.  Craft/scrapbook paper.  I got mine at Hobby Lobby and because my letters were small enough I got the 5x5 sheet.  I chose 3 different kinds of paper, spider webs, ghosts and witches. 
3.  Ribbon.  I got mine at Walmart and it is just black ribbon - no wire.
4.  Something for the background.  I used thick wire mesh ribbon but you could use material or even a thicker ribbon.
5.  A button or other embelishment- to hide the safety pin
6.  Two small safety pins
7.  Pencil
8.  Hot glue gun and glue sticks
9.  Heavy duty stapler with staples
10. Scissors or an exacto knife
11. A paper plate or something to hold your Modge Podge
12. Modge Podge or a mixture of glue and water
13. Paint brush

Step 1.  Trace your letters on the back of your paper.  IMPORTANT - you want the paper to be right-side up when you glue it to the front of the letter.  This is really important if your paper has writing on it, you don't want your writing to be upside down or backwards.

 



Step 2 - Cut out your letters.  I used scissors but if you are good with an exacto knife you can use that.  DO NOT cut inside the outline - this is one project where it is okay to go bigger.

Step 3 - Pour some of your modge podge onto your paper plate.  You will want to work with the letter itself and paint a VERY thin coat of glue onto the letter using your paintbrush.

Step 4 - Position your letter's matching paper onto the glued side of your letter and press down a bit making sure you don't have large bubbles or gaps.  I just used my fingers but you could use the side of a pencil or other tool. 

Step 5 - Paint another VERY thin coat of glue over the paper. 
Do these steps for each letter.
Let them dry really well.  I let mine dry overnight.

Step 6 - You want to position your letters on your ribbon then cut the ribbon to the desired length. 
NOTE -  I left about 2 inches of ribbon at the top to make the loop for hanging.
TIP - Make a fancy cut at the bottom of your ribbon.  I folded the ribbon in half lengthwise then cut an angle to make the fancy bottom cut. 

 Now you can just use the ribbon, especially if you are using the small letters.  I put mine on a background of thick mesh as mine will be used outside. 

Step 7 - Now flip your creation over.  Make sure it is re-positioned and aligned the way you want it.

Step 8 - Using the heavy duty stapler - staple your letters to the ribbon and your background. 

Step 9 - Take the extra ribbon you left at the top and make a loop.  Then using your safety pin, pin the ribbon onto itself and through any other background material to make the loop.

Step 10 - OPTIONAL - I then took about an inch long piece of the same ribbon and fished it through the loop hole and pinned it together.  This makes a loop the opposite way from the first loop.  I thought it would be easier to hang this way.

Step 11 - Using your hot glue gun - glue a button or other embellishment to the top of your sign.  You are hiding the pin that made the original loop.  You could make a bow or use a Halloween themed embellishment like a skull ring etc.  I used a button.

Step 12 - Now hang your sign!

Sorry for the glare - I had just washed my front door glass and the sun was shinning on it making it a crazy glare.  You can at least see our lovely neighbors yard... lovely. 

Thanks for stopping by! 
You can follow me on Pintrest -
https://www.pinterest.com/vicdenniso/

You should really look at my Halloween and Fall boards right now.  So many great ideas out there!

I'm also on Facebook -
https://www.facebook.com/Dragonflies-and-Thistles-491393717621010/timeline/?ref=hl

Coming soon!
Instagram! 

Please stop by next week to see the topiaries.  Hopefully I'll figure out how to display them.  They look great in my head so we'll see how it translates to the real world. 

Until then, stay safe
Victoria

Fall Home Tour

Welcome!
Come on in, have a seat and make yourself comfortable.  Would you like a glass of wine or a cup of tea?  How about some lemon bars, they are delicious and doesn't lemon always make you think low fat?  I know it does to me! 
There are a lot of photo's coming your way so grab your drink and hang on.

I hope you enjoy what I've done to my home for fall.  I do tend to go all out this time of the year.  My little 70's ranch just seems to excel in the fall.  At night I love to turn off all the electrical lights and light the candles, jars and lanterns.  It makes it so cozy like a big blanket enveloping you and keeping you safe an warm.  Our neighbors say that sometimes our house looks like a ship in the night.  When it is dark and I've got all the candles lit inside and out our house takes on a lovely inviting glow. 

To see the front of the house check out last weeks post.
http://www.dragonfliesandthistles.blogspot.com/2015/09/fall-front-porch.html

Despite my reservations it still looks the same this week.  Heck this is all coming down in another 2 weeks and I'll put up all different decorations for Halloween.  Then crazy me, I get it all out again in November and re-decorate for Thanksgiving.  Embrace the madness folks. 

Got your wine? (you may need it!!)

When you first come in the front door you are greeted by my little table.  This time of the year it has a fall picture of the Grand Teton's and a small fall tea light.  The candle melt from Yankee is filled with fall scents now.  If you haven't seen one of these they are amazing.  The scent packs are large and hold their smell for a long time.  Mine is electric and I just switch it on and leave it go.  If you don't like candles this may be a good option for you. 

 The entry opens up into a larger room which is the living/dinning room combo.  It is an L shaped room with a large overpowering wood burning fireplace that I have a love/hate relationship with.  Right now it is LOVE. 

If you've been here before you know that I switch my living and dinning rooms around in June and don't move them back until the end of September.
Here in Colorado we can actually eat outside until mid October sometime and other times we'll have snow in September so it just depends.  This year it is still warm so we are currently eating outside. 

The mantle in my house is very rustic so it lends itself to a great display in the fall.

To the left of the mantle is my sideboard.  I still haven't had the courage to paint it but I have decided on a gray/blue and leaving the top dark wood. 

 

I got the deer candle holder at Walmart.  Those large jars I filled with pinecones and dollar store leaves then added battery operated lights.  The link for making those is at the end of the post. 

The mason jars just look great don't they!  If you missed that post I'll add the link at the end.  Super easy and inexpensive to do. 





  The dinning table is also all decked out for fall.

 I just love these cute fat little owl salt and pepper shakers. 

I also have fox S&P shakers - both from Walmart.

The mason jars running down the middle of the table are from Kirkland's.  The leaf dish is from Macy's - Martha Stewart. 

Where the dinning room normally is I now have my loveseat and chair.  I decorated the coffee table very sweetly.

The mason jars are the one's I made a few weeks ago along with the large jars.  That link will be at the end with the large glass jars.

I hid the battery packs with other objects.  A sweet owl...

 



And a piece of rock I collected from Canyonlands National Park.

 

And a sweet fox laying on a piece of marble.  

 

In the center I elevated a candle.  The holder is from Bed Bath and Bodyworks.  The shade is from Home Interiors (I got it years ago).





 I found this beauty at Kirkland's it was $12.00 and really looks great on my side table in the living room.  The dragonfly plate was a Christmas present from my daughter.

The living room is rounded out by the china cabinet.  On the top I added a vase and put a large bunch of faux flowers in it. 

 

 I also decorate my kitchen a bit for fall. These blocks that I made last year sit on the window ledge between the kitchen and living/dinning room.  I'll add the link to the blocks at the end of the post as well.   

On my kitchen counter I have a gold tray that I found at Home Goods in the clearance isle for $5.00 last year.  I added my wire fruit basket and some other trinkets.  The ceramic pumpkin is from Hobby Lobby and I made the 'Autumn' candle. 



 I also decorate the back deck.  We spend a lot of time out there and I decorate it for each season.  For fall I add faux flowers in a vase and pumpkins to wicker shelves and the bar cart. 

 

 I also placed a bunch of pinecones in a wood container and added that to the outdoor coffee table.

For the table I filled a lantern with faux fall filler from Kirkland's and a cornucopia that I stuffed with more faux flowers. 

Heading back inside lets go downstairs.  This is where our family room is and where we spend our TV time (limited in our house).  But I still do a bit of decorating here as well.

  A nice smelling candle (Mulled Cider from Walmart - smells amazing) with a small wreath around it on the coffee table.  

Then some knick-knacks in the book/DVD shelf. 

WHEW! 

That is it!  Thanks for sticking with all these pictures but I really do love my home decorated for fall.

 

Here are some tips.

 

TIPS - Do what you love and use what you love

 

Don't forget rooms other than your living/dining room - they deserve a little fall too!

 

Buy at the end of the season or when things are on sale.

 

Here are some links to projects mentioned above.

 

Large jar/mason jar with lights -

 

http://www.dragonfliesandthistles.blogspot.com/2015/08/lighted-fall-vase.html

 

Painted mason jars -

http://www.dragonfliesandthistles.blogspot.com/2015/08/painted-mason-jars.html

 

 



 Fall blocks -
http://www.dragonfliesandthistles.blogspot.com/2014/08/pintrest-inspired-craft.html

You can also look back on last years fall house tour with links to 2013 as well -
http://www.dragonfliesandthistles.blogspot.com/2014/09/fall-mantel.html


Thank you so much for stopping by.  If you have any questions on any of the crafts please comment and I'll answer back as quickly as I can. 

I appreciate you reading!  Next week I will have my first Halloween craft to share with you.  Until then, Stay Safe!
Victoria

You can always follow me on Pintrest -
https://www.pinterest.com/vicdenniso/

Facebook -
https://www.facebook.com/Dragonflies-and-Thistles-491393717621010/timeline/?ref=hl

Or right here on the blog!
www.dragonfliesandthistles.blogspot.com

Fall front porch

I wonder if anyone else out there is like me...
Hi, my name is Victoria and I have decorating A.D.D.

Whew, glad that is over. 

I can't decide on a style of decorating nor can I decide on how I want things decorated.   I am constantly moving things around and changing things up.  Heck last Christmas I redecorated my mantle Christmas morning... yep I'm THAT girl. 

Now I tell myself that great ideas come to those who wait or that if I live with something for a while it will 'grow' on me or even the; I move things around a lot because the décor gets better and better with each transition. 

Yes I lie to myself to make myself feel better about being well... decorating deficient. 

So here we are finally in September and well I need to decorate my front porch. It is small as front porches go but it looks nice when decorated.  I am ashamed to say that it has been naked all summer.  Only a wreath for décor... sad bad blogger! 

In late August I made a list of things I'd need for fall and Thanksgiving decorating.  Then I shared my secret - I take pictures of everything so if I run into something in a store that I just love I'll know if it will go with what I've already got!  So I bought Mum's; 2 large and several small ones.  I put the 2 large ones each in a set of buckets that I've had for years.  The small ones I planted in my front garden to give it a little pop for the fall. 

Now to decorate.  This is where I usually falter because I can't decide. 

I started with some bales of hay that I lovingly wrap up each November and carefully put away.  Yes you read that correctly; I wrap up $5.00 bales of hay like they are precious glass. 
I move them around and put them on angles or I lean one or two.  Then I get our my scarecrows and place them around the bales and add my flowers. 

I do have several wreathes that I use in my outdoor fall scene and I put them up next along with some faux garland.  I made the one on the door last year - check out how to make it here...
http://www.dragonfliesandthistles.blogspot.com/2014/10/multidimensional-fall-wreath.html

Last year I put several scarecrows in the yard but they are in bad shape so I didn't put any out this year.  Broken, sad or just faded outdoor décor just makes everything look bad. 

I live with that for a while.... a while.  This is what the front originally looked like.

Sad.  But then I changed things up a bit.

I added a table from my back porch and shifted things around a bit.  The candle lanterns I got at Kirkland's really cheap, like $5.00 a piece!  They look really nice lit up at night and it makes the house look very inviting.

I like this so far but don't count on it being the same by the end of September!  I still think it needs something else... possibly a chair?  hmmm. 

Stop back and see if things stay the same for next week!  

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I really appreciate your support.
Next week I'll be sharing my fall home tour.  Until then, stay safe!
Victoria

You can follow me on Pintrest -
https://www.pinterest.com/vicdenniso/

I'm on Facebook as well -
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dragonflies-and-Thistles/491393717621010?ref=hl

Or you can follow me right here on the blog!
www.dragonfliesandthistles.BlogSpot.com