Fallin' it Up

This time of the year is by far my favorite, and just about the only time I'm especially glad I live in the midwest.  The weather, the colors, the smell of dried leaves and bonfires... it's also great pug-weather... not too hot, not too cold :)  We've been busy busy busy the last few weeks though, so I'm just now getting around to putting up the decor.  In my ideal world, I would've melted my debit card buying all the cute odds and ends at Pottery Barn and Williams-Sonoma.  In my actual world, I didn't have that kind of budget.  So I utilized what I had, used a little DIY magic, and visited thrift stores and clearance shelves to make the house a little more fall-ish.  

For the outside, I used some lanterns I bought when I worked at Pier One a few years ago... hellooooo employee discount!  The pumpkins were only $3/each at Kroger, and the mums were less than $50 for 4 plants.  The wonderful and terrible thing about living in this house is that it has 2 doors... meaning 2 entries to the porch... meaning 2 separate areas to decorate.  It'll be easier after a few years of collecting decor, but for now it's a little sparse.  On the other set of steps (not pictured) I just have the pumpkins and mums.  It has a lot of potential though, don't you think?

 

 

I put the wreath together a couple of weeks ago.  I used one of those straw wreaths from Walmart (~$5), then I bought a yard of burlap (for 4 bucks) to cut into strips and wrap around it.  The letter is from Hobby Lobby ($3, I think)- I just spray painted it white and mounted it to the front of the wreath using fishing wire and hot glue.  The berries/leaves are also from Hobby Lobby ($1.99 each).  Because the door is so tall, I didn't want to use a traditional wreath hanger (the wreath would hang too high on the door).  Instead, I hammered a tack into the top of the door, tied some fishing wire to it, then tied the other end around the wreath.  Voila!  Less than $15 for the whole masterpiece :)

These pretty little things started randomly growing in the middle of the yard.  Will chops them down with his lawnmower, then miraculously they're back before it's time to cut again.  Sort of pretty, aren't they?

My mom bought these lanterns for us at Lowes (I think?) on clearance.  Less than 4 bucks a piece.  Boom!  Not so much fall... but I still love them!

A quick trip to a few places around town, and the mantel was set.  All the candles and the silver candle holder are previous thrift shop purchases.  I got the leaves at Walmart a few years back, and the lantern was the most expensive purchase- $12 at Marshall's.

 

I couldn't resist the owl.  It was on clearance for $10 at Target.  Our eyes met.  True love.

I thrifted the bottle-with-clamp, the corked jar, and the pear for a total of $4.  Gumballs are courtesy of our front yard :)

The cattails were another Target clearance purchase ($4).  I had the pumpkin and glass candle holder already, and the candelabra was 2 bucks at the thrift shop.  My mom bought me the freaky crow-on-skull beauty.  I'm pretty sure the top hat is essential.

I loved this milk bottle from Marshall's.  I basically made the decision to buy it before I even knew what I might do with it.  It's like the owl candleholder... eyes met... love struck... now we live together.

Not much fall decor going on here, but I think we can all agree the star of the show is in an orange wrapper.  In my opinion, Reese's and Kit Kats go together like Bert and Ernie... wine and cheese... pugs and food... any food.  Good Halloween combo, in other words.

 

Last but not least... autumn pugs!  These require a lot more maintenance than the other trimmings... the constant feeding and pooping can get annoying.  They do make some handsome porch decorations, though...