Fall Decorations

Before I moved up to New Hampshire, the idea of decorating for fall never crossed my mind. Now that I'm up here, I can understand why everyone I work with is nuts about decorating for the season. The foliage in even the busiest cities like Nashua, Manchester, or Concord is so vibrant that you can't help but want to have that in your home as well. So I decided this year I'd break the bank a little and make my apartment a little more fall friendly.


The first thing I tackled was our dining room. All I need was some fall-related table mats with complementary napkins. I got the table runner from Marshal's, which is honestly a godsend when it comes to cheap but pretty decorations. I found these wonderful fake-wood table rings at Target on clearance, which really put the whole look together.


I finished it off by threading a fall-themed ribbon under my candlesticks and centerpiece (which was originally an antique candy dish given as a gift from my Ababa-in-law, but more on that later). This idea, I must admit, was stolen from my sister-in-law, who has been expertly decorating the Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner tables for a few seasons now.


To backtrack a little: this was originally a TV stand, a gift from one of our groomsmen. But when my brother-in-law moved to Vegas, we got his TV (and subsequently his TV stand), leaving this TV stand somewhat invalid. As a result, the former TV stand became a bit of a dining room cabinet, storing placentas, tablecloths, napkins… I purchased a table runner at Michael's meant for a 10" wide table and draped it over the TV stand.


On top of the TV stand, I put two little scarecrow people, found in Target's bargain bin area, and added a few gourds I got at Jo Anne Fabrics.


Speaking of TV stands, I garnished the newer TV with a garland of leaves, accented with a fall-themed knick-knick at each corner (to serve mostly as an actor for the garland, but it also provides a little variety on the TV stand).


Since I'm a notorious snacker, I figured I'd take a page out of Texas Roadhouse and put a tin bucket of peanuts on the coffee table. I placed a leaf-shaped candy dish for the side for the shells.


The subwoofer in the corner of my living room totally needed sprucing up! I decided to raid Michael's fake flower section and great a fall-themed flower arrangement for one of my vases (side story: my husband bought that vase for flowers he bought me, unaware it was a floor vase. Me, being uneducated in the floral world, originally didn't get that a tall vase is usually meant for the floor). I lined the vase with another garland of leaves and added two bags worth of white/clear marbles to keep the vase steady. To the right of it is a little glass leaf candle holder, from Marshal's.


The kitchen got a little accessorizing, too, with a fall leaves mat (from Target) and a few pumpkin/harvest towels (from Marshal's).


I also found this gem at Michael's. I don't know why I'm such a sucker for spoon rests, especially since I'm tempted to use a paper towel to rest my cooking utensils on, lest I get the rest messy!


I found this adorable little creamer at Marshal's, and decided that the little corner of my cabinets needed some sprucing up too…


I live off of my white board. From to-do lists to notes for my husband, I use it every single day. So why not doodle around the edges and incorporate the fall theme in as well?




I decided to adorn the doors of the crafts room and bedroom with some bows made out of extra ribbon from the living room table. The key to making bows with ribbons is doing the "bunny ears" with the ribbon (as opposed to "around the through the cave", as my parents so explained it). I snaked a few pieces of ribbon through the center and finagled a thumbtack through the lower layers of ribbon and attached it to the door.


I gave my script candles a rest for the season and placed the remaining gourds I got from Jo Anne Fabrics on the tray. To the left of the gourds is a picture from my wedding. To the right, an outtake from the 2009 Christmas picture.


I decided to decorate the top of my jewelry bureau with a vase of some more fake flowers, this time from the dollar store (honestly, this "bouquet" cost me maybe $6. Stupidly cheap, especially compared to the $40+ I spend on the bigger "bouquet" in the living room). And in the background lurks my infamous RSVP roses.


The best part about fall decorations is that they're good for a solid 3 months, right into and past Thanksgiving. Which gives me plenty of time to get ready for Christmas decorations =)

This also marks my 100th entry in this blog. Hard to believe that something I started on whim would've gone this far! Here's to the next 100 entries!