FALL PORCH REVEAL

One of the best ways to get into Fall is doing a little outside decorating. Since we're living in an apartment until the house is completed, I thought there would be rules that wouldn't allow decorating of our patios or front porches. But when we returned home this weekend there was a flyer attached to our door that read....October 2015 Patio & Front Door Halloween Contest....October 30th. The winner is awarded a $25.00 gift card. That's all I needed to read. I got busy!

Decorating my porch for Fall is one of my favorites.The air in the north is crisp and cool. The summer flowers have lost their luster and it's time for a new burst of color in the form Mums, Cruciferous plants and grasses. It creates such a beautiful new palette that only Fall can bring.

The palette I chose this year is rust, golden yellow, purple, bright orange and steel gray with hints of purple. 

I added a couple of Mums, a clump of purple Prairie grass, one Ornamental Kale plant, and a few of the branches from my wreath sprigs. A small pumpkin nestled in the Kale gives the pot some great contrast. As my plants open more and more color will explode into a Fall like wonder.

This year it's time to bring back the straw wreath. Straw makes a great base, doesn't scratch your door and is always fall like. (in my eyes anyway) Continuing with the same
color palette, I made at trip to Hobby Lobby and loaded up with sprigs, a straw wreath and a burlap black stripe spool of ribbon.

All you need is a glue gun to assemble the wreath.

Since all of my planters are in storage I found the urn at Wal-Mart. It was perfect size
and shape for the apartment porch. I also picked up the Welcome mat at Wal-mart.

Here's the final look.........

The straw actually looks great with the Texas stone too. I'd like to say I planned it 

that way, but I was just lucky! I can't wait till the plants grow and the pot is 
bursting with Fall color!

Wishing you a wonderful Fall day!

Kathleen 

Just a quick note:  While I was planting my urn, Texas temps were 93 degrees, 
and beautifully sunny!

DIY-- Halloween Decor

As I was thinking about Halloween quickly approaching I thought I had better get busy, get my wreath made for the front door, and get my porch decorated. Oh gosh, I had just decorated it for FALL.....wasn't there a way I could do a presto-chango and have my Fall porch change to my Halloween porch?  Actually I started channeling Samantha from Bewitched for a little help and she obliged...........

This is my 2013 FALL WREATH.

   

  This is my 2013 Halloween Wreath.

I ran to JoAnn Fabric and picked up a paper mache' hat, ($1.59) spray painted it black, and stapled it
to the existing leaves on the wreath. I purchased THE WITCH IS IN placque ($3.89) from JoAnn also and attached it with a bit of wire to the bottom of the wreath. Everything was 70% off making my grand total to change my wreath less than $5.50!!

Adding my favorite Houston gauze ghost to the corn stalks worked well with the existing mums, pumpkins and gourds.

I added stick figure ghosts that I bought at a craft show many years ago in Ohio, on the other side....giving another touch for Halloween.

Last year in Home Depot I found black twigs with tiny purple battery operated lights on them. I stuck them into the existing planters on my porch and added a few leaves to the already planted baby cabbage plants in the pots. These little purple lights give an eerie look in the darkness on Halloween night. Last year my husband monogrammed the white pumpkin for me, and the real pumpkin on the right side my husband carves the night before Halloween. We still love the old fashioned carved pumpkin with a candle.......remember the smell of the candle burning the lid of the pumpkin?

My Halloween porch is finished. I added corn stalks and skeletons to the mix for some added spookiness! For just a few dollars and a little help from "Samantha" we are now ready for our little goblins!!

Happy Halloween to all..........

ENJOY!
K