Tag Archives: Gourds

Last Minute Thanksgiving Vignette!

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Even though our Canadian Thanksgiving has already come and gone, the American Thanksgiving is just around the corner… That’s why I thought that I would take the time to put together a very simple Thanksgiving Vignette to share with my American friends and family!

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My mom recently gave me this really neat candle holder that is made to sit within a wine bottle. I decided that I wanted to try to build my vignette around this… And instead of using a wine bottle, I would use one of my antique bottles from my collection! (I love my bottles, and I get really excited when I get to use them!)

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Next I decided that I would use this new serving tray that I just picked up last week. I found this beauty in the old train station in the little town of Stirling where I grew up. The trains and tracks are now long gone, but the old train station is still standing and over the last few years has been filled with beautiful antiques and collectibles, and is now one of my favorite little spots to hit up and see what I can add to The Project Pile!

This tray could be very old, or it could be vintage… I still have to do my research, but can’t wait to find out! I also still have to see if I can find a way to buff out the scratches, but we’ll save that for another day. Any suggestions?!

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The next thing that I added to my tray were the cobs of corn. I snatched these little guys off of the stalks that I have out on the front porch, and haven’t had the heart to take down yet.

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I also had some left-over mini pumpkins and gourds, so I added those to my vignette as well.

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I then played around with the placement of my antique bottles and the candle, until I came up with something that I liked.

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I didn’t want to cover the entire tray, because I just love how pretty the patina is, but I still had a lot of bare space on the tray… that’s when I remembered my little supply of bittersweet that I had stocked up on earlier this fall. I just added a few sprigs here and there… and – voila! All finished!

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It really took only about 10 minutes to throw together this Thanksgiving vignette, and I really, really like it! I hope you have enjoyed this post and feel inspired to create one of your own!

A Quick & Easy Fall Buffet Makeover!

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00This year I could not wait to start decorating for fall! And even though it’s still a little early, I just don’t care – I’m going for it!I actually started stock-piling up my fall decor in early August…. but I am just starting to organize and put it out now…. Sad in more ways than one, yes I know! 😉10

My first task of every season is always to start out by decorating my favorite antique dining room hutch – or the “Buffet”, as I like to call it.This buffet was in my parents dining room for the whole time that I was growing up in their 180-year-old farmhouse, and then was eventually banished to live in the barn for a few years. 11

Since I have always been super in love with this beautiful piece, I decided to bring it home and give it a makeover. (You can check out the entire process, including before and after photos of the makeover, here!)12

Now…. Back to decorating!

Step One: Clear off entire buffet.

Step Two: Add a pretty runner.

Step Three: Ignore the dirty mirror… for now!1

I always, always find that the best way to start decorating, is to start with a clean slate!2

After creating the perfect blank slate, the next step that I like to take, is adding my larger “background” décor pieces. And…. What I start out with is not always what I end up with, as you’ll soon see!Like my pretty runner?! I found this little guy in a super cute antique shop in Campbellford, Ontario…. I actually picked up two of them, so I have a matching one for my dining room table. Hopefully I’ll get to my fall table setting sometime soon! (If you are looking for ideas for the perfect fall table setting, check out my post on How To Create The Perfect Table Setting!)

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Again… ignore the dirty mirror – we’ll fix that guy later! 😉

Next I start dressing up my larger pieces, by adding accents and playing around with the details.4

I actually used all Dollar Store stuff to dress up this piece! Dollar Store, pinecones, flowers, and the leaves off of the flowers. I just jumbled them altogether in the baskets until I was happy with them!5

I even got the pretty fake gourds and pumpkins from the Dollar Store!1

I just dressed them up a little…. (How To Transform Dollar Store Pumpkins!)2

Once I was happy with the above piece, I started sticking in other pieces of my fall décor, and switching things out, just to see what I liked the best! As you can see below, I ended up switching out the clock for my most favorite vase ever…. A decorative tin vase that I purchased at an annual flea market for a whole five dollars!6

After I decided to use my favorite vase, I then had to find something to put in it…. It took me a few minutes to come up with the perfect thing that I have been waiting to use for a long time now!15

You see, I have this crazy monster-tree in my front flowerbed! It was only supposed to grow to 4 feet, but it’s more like 10 feet, since the pieces on the top grow straight up. The last time that I trimmed it, I thought hmm…. I’m going to utilize this monster-tree and make it work!9

The final steps for decorating my beautiful buffet for fall, were to add pumpkins, and a few pops of color! I know that neutral whites are really in this year, but I just had to add the bright orange pumpkins…. And I do love how they look!8

I also added in my lovely antique insulators…. Three of my favorite pieces!9And that’s basically it! Recap! Start with a blank slate, add a pretty runner for a backdrop…. Add in some larger background pieces, some accents, some favorite pieces, and a pop of color!