A Vintage Farmhouse Fall Vignette

I'm so excited y'all!!  Tomorrow I'll be taking off for a few days of R&R in beautiful Pigeon Forge, TN!  I can't wait!  My mom and her sisters get together every year for a few days for a Sister's Retreat, and this year they rented a snug little cabin for 3.5 days.  I invited myself along.  : )  The kiddos are spending the week with my husband's parents, Hubby is fending for himself, and I am SO looking forward to a few days without responsibilities.  And nice chilly weather.  And hopefully some beautiful fall foliage.  And maybe even some hot chocolate.

But....I didn't want to leave you hanging for the whole week without something from me, SO....to make your life feel complete I'm treating you to some fall decor pics while I'm away.  : )

Today we'll be focusing on this little corner of the living room in between the two couches.

I've created a cozy little vignette on top of my crate I rescued from the curb.

I replaced the cheery and colorful red and yellow lamp with a black one.  Black pairs so nicely with fall colors and helps tone them down a bit so your eye doesn't get overwhelmed.  It gives your eye a place to rest so to speak.

Typically with vignettes you always want to work with odd numbers.  Things always look better grouped in 3's or 5's and so on.  Evenly paired groups never look quite right.  When I first started putting this little grouping together I didn't have the old mirror underneath and it didn't look right because the lamp made the 4th item.  I liked the grouping though, and didn't want to get rid of anything.  So, by placing the mirror underneath the other items it gives them their own boundary and the lamp is no longer part of the grouping.  The eye sees it as a separate thing.

I love how the mirror takes the place of a tray that you would usually see used in this sort of a display.

For the other items in the group, I placed some faux bittersweet in a thrifted pitcher that's sitting on top of a an old book with its cover removed.  I also added a vintage Bingo card under there for added interest.  Even though technically the book and the pitcher are two items, because they're stacked together they become one in the vignette. 

There's also a little chicken wire basket I found in the craft section at Walmart.  I added a candle and some hickory nuts to it.  I love using real gourds in my decorating and this little splotchy one with its curvy stem was just perfect here.  They make for an added expense each year, this is true, BUT at the end of the season they're ready to be pitched and I don't have to take up valuable storage space finding a place to keep them.

Tucked in the back there is my old orange grove ladder that I've had for 13 years now.  I love changing out the quilt on it from season to season.  During the summer months you might remember I had the red and white penny square quilt here.  Now I've replaced that with one that has a more warmer and more subdued color palette.  

I absolutely love this little corner and am really happy with how it turned out.

As you can see, I'm not one who loves the all neutral fall style.  I still love the warmth and coziness of the reds and yellows and orange.

Even though I'll be away from the computer for a few days, I have a post scheduled for later in the week, on Thursday, so check back for that.  If you follow me over on Facebook then you know I've been hinting at a sewing project I've been working on.  I'll finally be sharing what that was all about.  

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Savvy Southern Style - Wow Us Wednesdays #245

A New Addition to the Kitchen

Something new has been added to the kitchen. 

 Can you spot it?

Remember, below is what it looked like before. 

 (This is on top of the fridge by the way.)

Rustic Nativity with Crates

Here's my "junky" version of the Nativity scene done with repurposed rustic crates.  It's almost identical to how I did it last year.  I tried to think up a new way to display it, but I couldn't think of anything I liked better than this so I just did it the same again.  We've had so many new followers lately that it might be brand new to some of you.

I've had this Nativity set since Hubby and I got married 10 years ago.  I got a great deal on it at a going-out-of-business sale.

Plain Crate Turned Shipping Crate

A few months back I shared this photo and hinted at an upcoming project.  

Well, I'm happy to tell you that it finally happened!  Yay me! It's been forever since I've completed any projects so I'm feeling quite proud of myself.  Hubby, a bit sarcastically, said now I can take the rest of the year off.

So, here's the story.  I rescued this {heavy} wooden crate from the side of the road.....my side of the road.....as in my next door neighbor's bit of the road.  I looked out my window one morning and there it was, all dirty and covered in cobwebs and mud.  I think my heart skipped a beat.

I shouI'd have taken the picture with the opening on top so that you could see it's a crate, but I'm just now remembering that I planned on doing that.....and promptly forgot in my excitement of actually completing a project.

Funny thing is, about 6 months previous to this I saw about 6 of these things on his porch and was coveting them.  Ok, not quite coveting 'cause that's a sin, but I really really wished they were sitting on MY porch instead.  So on this morning, here sits one.  I didn't dare wait for the cover of night, I did not want someone coming along and taking it for firewood or some other such travesty.  I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it, so I put on my big girl panties brave face and quickly ran out and scooped it up.

Then it sat.  In the shed.  For months.  And months.  Seriously.

Ugh, I'm terrible about procrastinating!

But this week I finally did it.

My vision was to add some basic lettering and numbers to make it seem like a shipping crate.  I found the stencils at Hobby Lobby.....months ago.  I decided to use a permanent marker because I didn't think I'd have a steady enough hand to use paint on those little letters.  Plus, I didn't want to wait for the paint to dry.  I'm incredibly patient like that.

Here it is with the lettering finished, but still looking too new and "perfect."

(All the wording, location, and numbers have special meaning to me, but I don't want to bore you with more details.)

I took my trusty little sander to it.

And finally had a finished product.

I used the "gritty" setting for the above photo.
This is what it looks like in reality.

This thing is pretty big, probably 2.5 feet by 2.5 feet or so.  I think it could be used in many different ways.

As an end table.

An old metal coffee can lid as a coaster.

Or maybe as a coffee table.

Or, you could even throw a cushion on it and make it into a seat.

So here's the before again...

And after.

Right now at this point I'm leaning towards using it as an end table, but I'm sure it will have many different uses in it's rustic lifetime.

And, lest you get the wrong impression that my home is perfectly kept and straightened up, here's a shot of what was going on just outside the edges of these pictures.

My daughter has very colorful taste in clothing!  : )

So, what do you think?  

Would you use a roadkill rescue crate in your home?  How would you choose to use it?

                                                                

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Saturday Nite Special #161 - Funky Junk Interiors