Autumn Touches and Tablescapes

There are many fun projects to do around your home which use the beautiful autumn elements that nature provides right in your own back yard. What I enjoyed most about these projects was the actual collection process itself. I felt like a kid tromping all over my yard collecting things. When I was little, I actually used to collect rocks, scrub them with an old toothbrush, and then paint them with clear nail polish. Maybe I should not have shared that. Anyway, for this I used leaves, pine cones, acorns, and a few sweet gum balls. I think the acorns look better with their caps on and many had fallen off. I remedied that with a little glue.

Just the leaves alone can create a nice touch:

If you use them to decorate for company, lay them out fresh that day:

For a centerpiece for my kitchen table, I purchased this cool square vase at Davis Wholesale. I placed another container on the inside to use as a vase, then filled in between with pine cones, acorns, and sweet gum balls.

After playing with it a little, I opted for a vase that was more narrow because it worked better to hold the leaves in place:

Then I filled the vase with small branches of leaves. I added more pine cones to the top after adding the leaves to hold them in place. I used a few cinnamon pine cones because I love the smell. The leaves can easily be replaced every few days as needed.

The tablecloth in my kitchen is actually a twin comforter that I found at Home Goods. I think that quilted fabric looks cozy on a table and I liked the nice warm autumn colors on it. When I replace this tablecloth with a Christmas one in a few weeks, I will use the comforter on my daybed in my study.

For the table on my back porch, I used 3 clay pots. I placed votive candle holders in each and filled them with water:

Then I placed greenery in each of them This is nandina, which I absolutely love. It is great to use for Christmas, also.

I placed a cinnamon pine cone on top of each one. I found the tiny clay pots at Michael's and they were the perfect size for a votive candle:

It is amazing how simple it is to decorate for autumn. Don't you love this time of year?