"Dressing the Nest' for Fall

How did it get to be Thursday so fast? If you remember way back on Sunday, I promised a glimpse into some of the fall decor I've been inspired to put together. In all honesty, I started this post last night and then got swept away by Glee (Emma as Audrey, simply wonderful). All inspiration credit goes to The Nester and her 31 Days to a Better Dressed Nest Series(although today's post ---fix something not particularly inspiring or maybe it's just because I like to put my head in hole and avoid those things, wonder if a call to the prop manager counts?)

The fall banner(center pic and close up on right) is what started this whole thing. Nester found it somewhere else and made one and you know it was everything I had not to rush out an buy some burlap that very minute. But I couldn't just hang a plain burlap banner ---oh no I decided I really wanted to redo the whole fireplace 'focal wall'. I've been scouting punched tin mirrors at antique stores and outside markets for a few months ---long enough to know the real deal is way out of my budget. So off to Hobby Lobby to try and find something similar, that was a no go, but mirrors were on sale so I came home with a plain black mirror. I painted the molded frame white and rubbed some silver to antique and I'm pretty happy. Banner is super easy...cut burlap into triangles, stencil letters in brown paint (I used some old BG chip letters to make the stencil) then punch 4 holes with your handy dandy crop-o-dile at the top and thread some twine or ribbon. The original poster had twine, but I'm thinking she must not have had cute brown and white polka dot ribbon, otherwise how could she resist.

The Nester is a big promoter of the 'Shop the House' theory for accessorizing and decorating, Yay for her as she has clearly spent her extra pennies on accessories at TJ Max and Ross. I shopped my house and came up with 3 types of things: clothing, craft supplies, and dead and faded dried flowers. Sadly hanging my beloved pink denim jacket on the wall just didn't look right, so I moved on to the craft supplies. Who knew mists could bring life to faded flowers? I wrapped a basic jar candle in my beloved ribbon and stuck a misted prima in the middle. Did you know burlap is super cheap? Not great if you suffer from asthma or allergies, but if you can get past it, this stuff is great for decorating for fall on the cheap. Not only did I use it on the banner, I used as table covers and runners for a bookcase, dining table, and side table. Then I stuffed an old pillow in a folded piece and stitched it up with some twine. Cute, made cuter by hot gluing some silk leaves (in the $1 spot at Target) on the front.

Even my October kit from Studio Calico got in the fun, I copied this from
one of the Tinas on the SC Design Team. Make a tree from Bo Bunny rubons, spell out Autumn with BG letter stickers, add some Cosmo Boyfriend paper, Brown cardstock and green pompom trim and you've got a festive art piece, stick it a frame from Goodwill with some silk leaves hot glued on and you've hit a home run.

I'm still on the search for the perfect pumpkin to be the centerpiece on the dining table, for now the white plastic one is filling in just fine.

How about you, how have you dressed you nest for fall?