~ Faux Fall ~

This year I added to my collection of fake fall ... food.  As in pears and pumpkins.

I loved these glittery green pears from Home Goods.  They will be an addition to Christmas decor as well.

 

This sparkly white beauty sits in the living room.

On the opposite side sit these ones which are a couple of decades old.
And this is why I buy the fake ones.
The real ones rarely last the first decade.

These guys are indeed the real deal.  Purchased at Albertson's.

They will (hopefully) last through Thanksgiving.
Of this year.

There is so much fall going on around here that I have also broken out the down comforter.

I really love fall.

~ What's Black and White and Crimson All Over? ~

So ... it's Autumn.  Has been for a week or so.
Tell that to the SoCal temperatures that were still in the 90's yesterday.
True Story.

I generally like to break out the fall decor on October 1st, but I just couldn't bring myself to this year.
Little by little I dipped into my treasure trove this weekend to try and will the autumnal temperatures to my front porch.

It worked.

Today starts the downturn of heat this will result in some chilly rain later this week.
Yay!

In the meantime, I added some splended black and white to my door.  I bought these precious (very inexpensive) numbers at a store in Mission Viejo called The Daisy Shoppe. I hooked them to the back of my wreath with some stretched out paper clips.

I am SO ready for this!

~ BOO!: A Pattern GiveAway ~

While I was on a lovely end-of-summer trip, the entire (creative) world turned its collective head to
Autumn.

Fine by me.

Last year I designed this small wall hanging that spoke to Autumn ... but in a lovelier, beachier kind of way.

I called her "BOO on the Beach".

I have a pattern for this (27"w x 23" h) little beauty on my Etsy Shop.
Today I would like to GIVE one of these patterns away.

Just leave me a comment and I will pick the winner next Wednesday, September 11.

In the meantime I will sit around and wait for the view from my front porch to look like this.
However ... I won't actually sit on the front porch as it will be in the high 90's here in SoCal again today.
Sigh.

Happy Autumn!!

~ Ode on an Orange Leaf ~

 

 

 

I figure we have one week left of autumn and then it's time to deck the halls with abandon.

Here's to the beautiful colors from my porch.

#nofiltersorphotoshopping

~ Simple Apple Cake ~

                                               

My heart is getting deep into holiday mode here, so I am really trying to eke out some Autumn while I can.  I made this Apple Cake a couple of weeks ago and what with all the sewing and giveaway winning, I haven't had a chance to give this cake her due. 

I actually froze half and then thawed it (sooner than I expected I would ... and not just for myself.) It was still delicious.

3 C flour                  1 C chopped pecans
2 C sugar                 1 T vanilla extract
1 t salt                      3/4 C oil
2 T cinnamon            3 eggs, beaten
1 T baking soda       Garnish: powdered sugar
3 apples, peeled, cored and diced

Mix flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon and baking soda in a large bowl.  In a separate bowl, mix apples with pecans and combine with four mixture.  In a small bowl, mix vanilla, oil and eggs together; add to flour mixture.  Place in a lightly greased and floured Bundt pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for one hour or until tested done.  Let cool for 10 minutes and invert onto a serving plate.  After it's cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Bake, eat, enjoy.

Enjoy this season.
                             

~ Gourd-geous ~

 

 

 

For my island centerpiece, I went with some simple gourds.
Ninety-five cents a pop at Albertsons.

Sorry, Michaels ... nature really does it best.

Will they last until the end of Thanksgiving? I don't want to find out the hard way that they don't. 

~ Harvest ~

Big news people.
I have officially turned off my A/C.

I have retrieved this wreath from the garage to hang on my front door.
Other fall decor to follow.

I have this beautiful harvest painting in my home that finally has her time to shine.
My bestest friend Kelley painted it with pastels. She is over-the-top talented.

I found some fall leaves on this tiered server.

I found some on my canisters.

Baking with pumpkin is just around the corner.

I'm very excited about Autumn.
And you?

~ The Autumn Seashore ~

Here is my design wall this morning.

The temps will still hit the 90s this week here in southern Cal ...

... but I am officially declaring it autumn.

In trying to decide just how I would merge this season with the sea, I chose to light up some jack o'lanterns with sea life. Then while in the process of drawing said pumpkins, I remembered that I had drawn pumpkins before.
In another life, under another (pattern) name, I had published a pattern for a 90s era folk-art fall wall hanging.  I have long since grown weary of the fabrics in it, but I decided that since I had drawn the pumpkins in the first place ... I could copy my own design.




Then ... I started thinking ... why not copy the whole dang thing?
I knew I wanted calmer sea colors and I wanted to add some light to the pumpkins, but it seemed a good idea not to try and reinvent this particular wheel.

So I got out my pattern and I followed it.
  

Having recently been to the beach and become fond of all the lovely lavender, I knew what color the flowers would be.

I kept my print palette to dots, stripes and solids.

I vow to have this pattern up on my Etsy Shop ...
not next week, but the week after.

Next week I will be immersed in a class taught by this master quilter.

I feel cooler already!

~ The Color (Day): Purple ~

I didn't even realize I had anything from my home to post in this color range until I realized that I just keep seeing it ... outside ... and that it warms my heart every single time.

The lovely blossom above is  from a walk very near my home.

As I perused my beach pictures, I realized there was an abundance of purple:
  

 I love how it is heightened by all the blue.

Yum.

More deliciousness ... surrounded by white ... surrounded by green.

Always wanting to bring a bit of the beach into my home, I picked these lavender lovelies when I repotted some things on my porch a couple of weeks ago.

And then this weekend as I was starting yet another sea quilt ... and yet wanting it to have a hint of autumn ... I found myself in my stack of purples. 

I'm very excited.

Now, if we could just have some autumn temperatures around here, I could really be happy!