Fall Decorating!

Hi Friends:

Autumn has always been my favorite season. Nature bursts with beauty, we transition into comfort food like soups and pumpkin lattes and cool weather calls for cozy sweaters and boots. When fall arrives, as it officially does on Sunday, I get excited looking forward to the upcoming holidays. I love everything about Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas from decorating to baking to finding the perfect gift for a loved one.

At Georgia's we usher in the season with a much anticipated trip to the pumpkin patch. Must-haves include corn stalks, gourds, assorted pumpkins and apple cider donuts, of course. Here's a few decorating ideas to help you get into the spirit of the season:

Nothing is more cheerful than a bouquet of Sunflowers!

Dried gourds can be enjoyed through November. Create a centerpiece with different shapes and sizes or nestle one on a mantle, sideboard or bookshelf. 

And now for the pumpkin possibilities:

Decoupage a white pumpkin with fall foliage. Georgia's saw this idea in Country Living magazine and decided to give it a try. We used Mod Podge and newly fallen leaves, but you could easily use artificial ones - fun for all ages! 

This vintage garden chandelier looks festive adorned with mini pumpkins! 

We saw this vintage planter decked out for fall in the wee hours of the morning at the Ohio Country Living Fair. What an inspired use of straw! 

Love this stack of Cinderella Pumpkins formally known as "Rouge Vif D'Etampes." The nickname comes from the notion that they resemble the pumpkin that was transformed into a coach by Cinderella's fairy godmother. They do have "magical" appeal, don't they? 

This antique goat cart with original green paint just begs for pumpkins but would also look great filled with mums or straw and a scarecrow.

Do you have a great fall decorating idea? Share it with us; we'd love to hear from you!

Bring the Cornfield to Your Door!

Beautiful wreath made by A.J. Ackleson for Georgia's!

While meandering through Ohio this weekend, I passed through a quaint little town where the streets were lined with homes decked out in Fall finery. There were pumpkins, gourds, haystacks, cornstalks, scarecrows...it was really charming. But one house in particular caught my eye!     

This was a "stop the car!" moment for me. I just loved this wreath! The size and free form of the corn husks really appealed to me. I had to have one. I knocked on the door, but there was no answer. As I was leaving, the lady of the house walked up the sidewalk and I asked her about it. She said that she had gotten it at an antique market and that she, too, loved it's size and style. Over the next three hours of driving, as I passed cornfield after cornfield, I decided I would buy some cornstalks and try to make one. Here is what I came up with for under $20 and, if I do say so myself, it turned out great!

You need three bundles of cornstalks for this project in order to have a good selection of leafy parts.

Gather supplies: straw wreath form, twine or wire, clippers, scissors, florist greening pins and wreath hanger.

Start by determining the approximate diameter you want the finished wreath to be. This is important to know in order to determine the length of the cornstalk pieces to cut. Then, using your clippers, cut the top leafy parts of 4 to 5 stalks and tie them on the wreath form.

Continue to cut and bundle cornstalk sections attaching each bundle by wrapping tightly with twine and forming a clove hitch knot (or a knot of your choice) before adding the next bundle.

To add fluff to each bundle, pull off individual husks from the base of the stalk and add them to the 4 or 5 stalk tops. 

The wreath is starting to take shape. Beware, it gets big!

The finished product! It definitely makes a statement don't you think?

A little something for the squirrels!