Daily Inspiration

We spent the morning gathering greens, branches, and cones for the store. What a beautiful way to start the day!

Daily Inspiration

Sorry, everyone- we know we have been a bit distracted from our blog the past couple of days, but we are right in the thick of Christmas decorating for our upcoming Holiday Open House! We are so excited! 

But don't think that we aren't noticing the beauty of fall surrounding us. Check this out!

'Red November' Maple

Acer ginnala 'JFS-UGA'

This is such a neat tree. It grows 18' tall and 24' wide, giving it the look of the trees you see in the African plains.

(Okay, it's not EXACTLY like this...but you get the idea! It grows low and wide compared to other maples.)

'Red November' was developed to endure stress from heat- staying fresh and green all summer long- then it morphs into brilliant red in the fall. It's a zone 5, so very tough for our area. I planted one in my back yard this spring, and it is now putting on a beautiful autumn show!

Daily Inspiration

Autumn in Paris

(pictures taken by mom!)

The ease of the french country garden , and it's complete opposite, the formal french gardens of Versailles.

I love them both. I can never choose what style I like, so my garden reflects a little of each!

Daily Inspiration

There is always something to look forward to...even in winter! 

I can't wait to see snow-dusted versions of the plants I put in specifically for winter interest!

Daily Inspiration

This is the picture that inspired part of my garden! I love the formality of symmetry and balance, just as much as I love the wild beauty of cottage-style flower beds.

We are coming into a great time of year for searching and pouring through gardening magazines to get ideas and inspiration for the next gardening season!

So, on the next chilly evening, curl up with some good gardening magazines and start dreaming! That's what we plan to do!

Daily Inspiration: DIY

November Garland DIY

 You may think there isn't much difference between October and November decor, but there is at my house! My black crows, spiders, creepy moss, and anything orange and black are put away in favor of golds, reds, oranges, browns, and natural decor brought in from the outdoors (branches, leaves, cones, etc.).

This is an easy (super inexpensive) project you can do to make a beautiful table centerpiece, or a beautiful piece to drape anywhere! The best part of the project is that you can put your own spin on it. You can make it as long as you like, with whatever kind of leaves you like, and with whatever ribbon you like!

SUPPLIES NEEDED: Ribbon, Glue Gun, Scissors, Metallic Spray Paint, and Leaves! 

For my garland, I chose magnolia leaves. 

They are a nice broad shape, and boast beautiful fall colors that stay true once they have dried. 

I used a gold metallic spray, but you can use whatever metallic you like: silver, copper, etc.

Here are my two boxes of leaves- ready to go!

Next, heat up your glue gun, and cut a length of ribbon to what size you want your garland to be. You can even use twine if that's what you have on hand. I like to use something pretty; it makes nice tails at either end, and it looks nice peaking through the garland here and there.

Next, it's time to start gluing! I start a few inches from the end of my ribbon (which you can't see in the picture because my ribbon was bent...I fixed that straight away). Having ribbon at the end makes it easy to pick up and move around when the garland is done, and it's pretty!

I like to stack my leaves up according to color in my work space before gluing, making it easy and quick to rotate through them, giving my garland a nice even appearance. (*Note: If you choose a ribbon that has holes- like mine- be sure to lift it up off the counter a bit when you need to glue leaves straight to it or else you will have a mess...speaking from experience! :) At some point, you will need to start gluing your leaves in the opposite direction you started, so you will have two ends that look the same. The first picture below shows the garland right before I began my transition, and if you look closely at the next picture below, you can see where I did my transition (about 10 inches from the right end). 

And here it is, all done! I made mine about 3' long, and I haven't decided whether or not it's going to go on the table, the piano, or any other number of places it would look pretty! Maybe I need to get busy making some more!

And here's a close up...so you can see the colors!

HAVE FUN! And Happy Halloween!!!

~Laura

Daily Inspiration

If you are anything like us, you love to be surrounded by beauty the entire year...nice weather or not. What objects do you have tucked away that would look pretty in you winter landscape? 

Old pots look beautiful with branches or seed heads tucked into them! 

Take a look around your landscape now and begin planning for a beautiful winter!