Bittersweet, Pumpkins, Mums and more.

Have you noticed?  The maple trees are starting to change and the dogwoods are well on their way to red.  I love this time of year when the sky is a startling blue, the leaves are beginning to show off their colorful displays, and jackets are a part of our morning routines once again.  This means it’s time – time to add some fall touches to your home decor.  Here are some ideas to get your creative juices running:

Bittersweet is one of our favorites here at SBP.  Both my family and Elizabeth’s know that fall means bittersweet around the house.

Just a little bittersweet adds instant "autumn" to Elizabeth's mantle.

Bittersweet was used recently for this lovely table display at a friend's birthday luncheon.

I used Bittersweet here with some limelight hydrangeas and some branches from a Japanese maple tree.

This is how I used bittersweet last year. I'd love to say that hole in my ceiling has been covered, but my life is just like yours - busy - and it's still there.

I’m about to talk about pumpkins, so here are my segue photos!

This picture is from last year. Now, I have enormous mums in these same urns. You'll see the current picture later in the post.

I LOVE this design. It's by a New Haven, CT florist, Chrysalis. I've included a link to their gorgeous designs below.

www.chrysalis-designs.com

So, let’s move on to pumpkins.  If you want to see an impressive display, try to go by Whole Foods:

If you don't have time for picture at a pumpkin patch, Whole Foods provides a pretty easy place to plop your kids down. I took this picture last year - on my phone - and truly captured the essence of this relationship between my middle daughter and my son. But, really, this is a photo op waiting for you! The lighting is best in the morning.

This display is on my front porch coffee table. It's so pretty lit up at night.

Add some faux fall leaves to your outdoor urns to further embrace the beauty of the season.

SBP reader Julie Davidson has this cute pumpkin on her front porch. She said since she is pretty limited this year on money for decorations, that her sweet sister gave her this gift to cheer her up! She can re-use it each year! This was bought at Harmony Home in Franklin, TN.

While spring, summer and fall are all seasons to celebrate hydrangeas, fall showcases dried hydrangeas and limelight hydrangeas the best:

Dried Hydrangeas courtesy of SBP reader Helen Curnuttes.

Limelight hydrangeas will dry right in the vase looking just as fresh as when they were alive. They will brown instantly with the first freeze - so be sure to cut yours this month! Elizabeth has them beautifully displayed here.

Sunflowers, cabbages and mums round out my favorite autumn flowers:

Sunflowers with Asparagus Fern

purple and white cabbages with sunflowers make a long lasting floral display

Sunflowers and Magnolia make an easy fall floral arrangement.

Mums – Can you believe I got these ENORMOUS mums for only $10?  I bought them across from the Green Hills Post Office at Johnny Howell’s farm stand.

For perspective, that front door mat is five feet across. Those mums are huge!

While I was at Import Flowers, on Murphy Rd, buying many of the flowers pictured in this post, I saw these gorgeous flower bouquets being made for a function at Vanderbilt:

Aren't these gorgeous?

Import Flowers will arrange flowers for you, which I did not know.  The above consists of 5 bouquets per bucket and you can pretty much tell where each bucket ends in the picture.  That first heap of flowers is one bucket!  Anyhow, Vanderbilt ordered 48 bouquets and asked for teal, plum, and yellow – with an autumn theme – and a budget of $10 per bouquet.  So, for $50 per bucket, this could be yours!  The bouquets start around $8 and you need to order at least 5, a bucket full, for Import Flowers to take the order.  I know I will definitely be taking advantage of this service in the future!

I hope you all are inspired to embrace fall and all of its bounty.

Happy Monday!

(Did you see our giveaway this week?  A $350 gift certificate to Lumen Lamps!  Check out all of our fun discounts and happenings in the THIS WEEK section!)