Fall Home Decorating

"I am grateful for the lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning, and floors that need waxing because it means I have a home."  ~Author Unknown

******

       I will look for just about any excuse to decorate my house and hit up the Dollar Tree. Now that it's fall, I have an excuse! I have to tell y'all, I don't know where I would be if not for the Dollar Tree. It's amazing the things they put out for the changing seasons and holidays. And guess what? Everything is seriously a dollar a piece. But if you're a mom, I'm sure I'm not telling you anything new. The Dollar Tree is the busy, frugal mom's Garden of Eden. Last weekend, in light of organizing and ridding my house of all things dirt, I made my daily exodus to my Dollar Tree. Oh...My...Goodness! They have A LOT of fall inspired decor! I am the type of person who likes to coordinate everything with the season and this also includes dinnerware. My Dollar Tree (merchandise probably varies from store to store) is carrying fall inspired plates, wine glasses, and various types of beverage receptacles. And they are not some cheapy, gonna-explode-into-tiny-pieces-if-they-clank-against-other-dishes-in-your-dishwasher kind of dinnerware, either. The plates are really thick and heavy. 

       So on with the decorating ideas, right? This is one of the things I love about blogging: getting to share ideas that I get totally excited about!

WREATHS

Wreaths are super festive and actually a lot easier to construct than one might think. I have taken a few ideas out of my collection to pass on to y'all. Wreaths are the epitome of instant-festive:

Sources: http://makingitfeellikehome.blogspot.com, http://www.reneweduponadream.com, http://themagicofordinarythings.blogspot.com, http://nesthandmade.com/, Pinterest

                                                                        

  

Wanna make this? Click here!

Really simple! Click here for instructions!

Adorable! Click here for ideas on how to make this one!

Check out my "Autumn" Pinterest board for more fall wreath ideas:

PORCH DECOR

Spiffing up the porch and lawn with seasonal/holiday decor is probably one of my favorite ways to give my house a festive feel. I like for people to ride past my house and think "Now there's a girl who knows how to DECORATE!" I wanna be that house that everyone knows to ride by whenever it's decorating-excuses season. I don't think I've been that girl yet, but hopefully that will change this year! :) Click the links below for some great ideas that I'm going to do myself this fall!

Sources:  shelterness.com, homestoriesatoz.com, inspiringpretty.com, Pinterest

1. Great garland and pumpkin topiary ideas! 

2. Use pumpkins to greet visitors!

3. Use bundled corn stalks and fall colored mums to decorate!

INTERIOR DECOR

There's nothing more cozy than coming home to a autumn-decorated home. All fall long, I burn apple, cinnamon, or orange fragrance oils in my oil burners. You can get these burners and the oil pretty cheap at Wal-Mart. I always get the ceramic burners for around $4.00 a piece. The oil is anywhere between $.97 and $3.00, depending on the size and the brand ( I don't recommend the cheaper oils because they burn super fast and leave a weird woodsy after-smell that isn't very pretty). You can also get these oils at Bath and Body Works. They are definitely better quality but a little more expensive. And then all you need are some tea lights candles and you're all set. Tea lights are pretty cheap at Wal-Mart, too. I always buy the bag of 50 for $2.00.

Now with that said, we Southern Belles also know another trick to making your house smell cozy for the fall and winter months. Here's a good recipe I found on... you guessed it! Pinterest!

Cozy Fall Smell:

-Gather a BUNCH of orange peels

-Throw in a 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

-Boil over medium heat

The smell that permeates from this concoction is FANTASTIC!

Here's a cute idea for some fall-inspired candle holders:

Source: homefurnishings.com[

Love this!

I would probably bunch 3 different sized ones together on every table in the house! 

Great idea for indoors or outdoors!

Here's some good fall mantle decorating ideas. Unfortunately, I am lacking in the fireplace mantle department, but God didn't give me such creative talent for nothing! I may just have to construct one for these fabulous ideas! Source: blogs.babble.com, Pinterest

Beautiful, classy mantle decor: Click here! 

The mantle above is one of my favorite ideas! Now remember, you don't have to construct your decor EXACTLY like the ideas that I've presented. I mean, it IS you're house after all and some of the components may not complement your taste. I recommend using these ideas and pictures as guides, and then adding your own personal twist to them! Even if you're not particularly creative, once you have a "template", so to speak, you can do some little tweaking to make the design all your own!

And in the event that people STILL don't know it's fall after walking into your beautifully decorated home, you can always make this as back-up:

There were no instructions for this but I think all you would need is some ribbon, a drill, 4 wooden tiles, scrapbooking paper, modge podge, and wooden letters you can get on the cheap-cheap at any craft store! Use the pic as a template!

******

And there we have some of my favorite decorating ideas! I'm so excited to get started on this and wow my neighbors. Maybe if they can stop shooting at each other long enough (story for another time about my crazy 'hood), they will be warmed by hard work at trying to impress them! Don't forget to subscribe to my blog (via RSS or the email box to your right) for updated posts, and please send photos of YOUR decorating handiwork. I would love to see it!

-XoXo Jess