A few weeks ago i participated in the Tablescape Inspiration DIY Challenge. I made these placemats to go on my Thanksgiving table. I promised that I would share my table with you at a later date. Well, today is that day!

Each pacesetting started with a light turquoise quilted placemat, followed by an orange charger. My hobnail white plates were a natural choice for me, as my napkins and salad plates both had white backgrounds.

The napkins are from the Pioneer Woman line. I bought them a few years ago and added a different colorful trim to each one of them.

If you look closely you will also see that I used two different pumpkin themed salad plates! I love a complimentary mis-matched table!

My turquoise goblets were a fun find a year ago in the clearance isle at Hobby Lobby! At a few dollars each they were a steal!

One of my new purchases this year was the eucalyptus greenery. Half of my family is allergic to eucalyptus, so finding a good looking faux stem or vine has been on my list for awhile.

This wooden pumpkin has been around for quite a few years, however I’m still in love with it and use it a lot during the fall season.
I dug out my brass candlesticks and added these light turquoise and gold candles.

As you can see, my Thanksgiving table is a little more simple than in years past.
While it has a ton of neutrals, it also has it’s fair share of color! Which is right up my alley!

Until next time….

           If you loved it, be sure to Pin it!

Well, it’s official. We said good-bye to Saddlewood Court and said hello Cumberland Trail.

We’ve jokingly said that we are homeless, as we still have a week before Cumberland will be ready for us to live there.

You might say that the new house is a bit of a fixer upper.

For the next week we will be having a few new renovations done before we move in.

New flooring will replace the old tile.

I have to admit that it’s been fun choosing new flooring.

Hardwoods, carpet….

And tile.

Beautiful, glorious tile.

The new house will be a little more neutral than the last.

Also, a little more bold.

Remember I said that it was a fixer upper?

There are a ton of projects that we can’t wait to start.

We are saying goodbye to a LOT of wallpaper.

Adding a new colors, textures and hopefully a bit of fun.

Lots and Lots of cabinets to paint!

Backsplashes to be replaced.

And, if I can talk The Hubs into it, new countertops to be chosen.

I’m going to share a secret.

This will be our first project.

While I love the fireplace from the mantle down, the mantle up isn’t exactly to my taste.

So The Hubs and I have a plan!

As you can see, the carpet has seen better days, hence the need for new flooring before we will move in.

One of the things that I am most excited about is my new studio.

It’s much larger than my last one and I’ve got the most fabulous desk to put in there!

So, while the floors are being replaced, the dust will be flying and I will be on the back porch.

This is my view.

So, Hello Cumberland Trail!

Until next time…..

Have you seen Christmas at Walmart? It’s soooo good. I was blown away at some of the great Christmas decor they have this year. I KNOW that most of us don’t even want to think about Christmas anytime soon, but these deals are so good that if you don’t go now, they won’t be there.

Also, let me just say that sadly Walmart is not paying me to share this with you.

Just me, being the sweet friend that I am, sharing with you. I’m good that way!

Anybody out there love retro decor?

I have to admit that I’m addicted to Shiny Brite ornaments.

Walmart has a small selection that look a whole lot like my Shiny Brites.

And you can’t beat the price!

I fell in love with this sweet reindeer!

He reminds me of the cartoon Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer when I was growing up.

These floral picks!

I’m not sure what to do with them, but I guarantee that there is a craft calling my name using them.

Don’t you love the silver tinsel?

It reminds me of those retro trees that were silver with the changing light wheel.

These trees are perfect for all of you farmhouse/traditional Christmas lovers.

Not only is the price great, but they are a decent size too!

I think these would look awesome in a kitchen or bathroom.

I’m not sure why, but I love these wooden trees!

Wouldn’t these look great on a winter themed mantle?

I’m in love with these sweet deer, too.

So stinking cute!

Last, but not least, they have a great selection of ribbon.

Not only are they great patterns, but how could you not love the texture of this ribbon?

My favorites?

The checks and the herringbone!

Christmas at Walmart has never been better.

If you liked it, be sure to PIN it!

I’ve been drooling over painted stacked pumpkins for years. I would see them everywhere I went. Each and everyone of them would scream my name. Only, there was one big problem. They all cost more than my Halloween budget allowed.

I thought that I had hit pay dirt when I saw this set of stacked pumpkins from At Home.

However, at $99.00, they still were more than I was willing to spend on Halloween decor.

Then, on a recent shopping trip, at the very back of a Marshall’s store my little eye spied a stack of pumpkins.

No, they weren’t painted in bright Halloween colors, but they were stacked and they were under $30.00.

I couldn’t get them in my basket fast enough!

I was so excited that I didn’t get a “before” picture of them. My bad.

Step 1:

The pumpkins received a few good coats of white multi-surface paint before painting the colorful designs.

Step 2:

The top pumpkin was painted with bright white and orange stripes.

Step 3:

The middle stacked pumpkin was painted a black and white check pattern with tiny gold dots at the intersections.

Step 4:

And the bottom pumpkin?

Yep, you guessed it.

I was still so excited that I didn’t get a picture of it either!

If you look closely at the photo above, you can see that the bottom pumpkin was painted black with large white and orange polk-a-dots.

Step 5:

Before I put the stacked pumpkins on my front porch, I gave the pumpkins a quick spray of clear coat and added a little raffia and ribbon to the pumpkin’s stem.

Even pumpkins need a little bling!

I love how my painted stacked pumpkins turned out!

They are definitely the star of my Halloween porch.

Was it worth the time and expense to paint my own stacked pumpkins?

Absolutely!

I don’t count the many hot minutes it took to paint the pumpkins as I love to paint.

As for the cost, the total cost of the pumpkins was under $38.00.

Definitely in my Halloween budget!

Until next time….

If you loved it, don’t forget to Pin it!

Goodbye Saddlewood Court. As I type this I have Elton John’s Goodbye Yellow Brick Road playing in my head!

I may never get rid of that ear worm.

Seriously though, if you have followed along with me for the last few months you know that we are moving.

It hasn’t been an easy process, that’s for sure. It’s been filled with ups and downs.

I’m having all the feels.

I’m sad, nostalgic, anxious, sentimental, bone dead tired, yet at the same time I’m happy, excited and optimistic.

We are leaving the home we have lived in for the past 14 years, which is the longest place we have ever lived since we were married.

14 Christmas Holidays, birthdays, Halloweens, family get togethers and Thanksgivings.

You know, all the important life events.

There are so many things that we will miss.

Saying goodbye to all of the wonderful neighbors we have made over the years will be hard.

I’ll miss the redneck pool.

And the shady spot on the partio where we sit in the spring and summer and just enjoy the evenings.

My Koi pond with the one lone fish that I have managed to keep alive will also be missed.

And my sweet studio.

She’s small, but I will miss all of the inpiration that she has giving me through the years.

Even though I’m sad, I’m also a little excited.

New house, new adventures.

I welcome the challenge of creating a new home for us.

My studio will be bigger, The Hubs will have more room for all of his woodworking and leather tools.

The new house is smaller, less to dust and is mostly one story. Which is important as we and our family age.

Luckily, there will be plenty of rooms that need a little love, new paint and are just waiting for us to put our stamp on them.

I’ll miss the nieces and nephews playing in the gameroom.

Oh, the sleepovers that this room has seen..

All the nieces and nephews fight over who’s sleeping in here.

Yes, so many things to miss, however there are also new adventures to look forward to!

So, goodbye Saddlewood Court.

Until next time….

I am so excited to announce the giveaway winner!

Congratulations Tina Robinson Paige!

Please contact me at tammy@patinaandpaint.com

or Private Message me on Facebook with your mailing address!

Until next time….

This months theme on Ten on the 10th is Pumpkins. Which I love! I mean who doesn’t love pumpkins, fall leaves, and cooler weather? Today I’m sharing an easy, low cost way to make a Buffalo Check Pumpkin.

A great big shout out to this months hostess Anne from The Apple Street Cottage. She rocks!

I found this pumpkin and these metal words at the Dollar Tree awhile back.

I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with them, but I picked them up anyway!

The pumpkin was cute, but not quite the look I was going for.

I removed the raffia and the silver leaf.

Once that was done, I flipped it over.

Then I gave it two coats of white acrylic paint.

When the white paint had dried really well, I created vertical stripes using blue tape.

Then, I applied 1 coat of black acrylic paint.

Before the paint completely dried, I gently remove the blue tape.

Once the vertical stripes had dried, it was time to create the horizontal stripes.

Tape off the stripes , then paint.

Ta Da!

Full disclosure, I had planned on covering the pumpkin with buffalo check scrapbook paper.

However, I ran short on time and decided to paint instead of going shopping.

Scrapbook paper would be a great alternative to painting!

Now I wanted a little more definition, so I dry brushed every other square using white acrylic paint.

Next, paint the stem.

I had to do a couple of coats to get great coverage.

To give it a little pop I added a little gold to the stem once it was dry.

Sorry, I thought I had a picture but no!

Once the pumpkin was painted, I added a cute bow and glued the tin “welcome” onto the bottom!

So what did my Buffalo Check pumpkin cost?

Pumpkin $1.00

Welcome sign $.33 ( it was a set of 3 for $1.00)

Paint and ribbon – free! I already had them in my stash.

Total cost: $1.33

Now please join me in visiting my fellow Ten on the 10th bloggers. They are so talented and I can’t wait to see all of their fabulous ideas!

Ann – The Apple Street Cottage
Patti – Pandora’s Box
Terrie – Decorate & More With Tip
Carol – Bluesky at Home
Kathy – Up To Date Interiors

If you liked it, be sure to Pin It!

I finally got around to using my Home Goods birthday gift card! I saw this cute jack-o-lantern and knew that it would be perfect on a Halloween table!

Then, on a recent trip to Oklahoma, my sister and I stopped in Marshalls and these black and white buffalo check napkins and table runner screamed my name.

I had to take them home!

My first thought was that they would be perfect for a Thanksgiving table.

But then, when I found my jack-o-lantern, I knew that they would be perfect on a fun Halloween table.

I started with the table runner, then added my jack-o-lantern and velvet pumpkins.

Next, came what I call, the basic three.

Placemat, charger and dinner plate.

These fun salad plates are some of my favorites.

The black and white buffalo napkins, tied with a bow, finish off the place setting!

A drop of glue attached these shiny spiders to water glasses.

Worried about the glue ruining the glass?

No worries!

The glue pops right off when you are finished using it!

For a little added fun, I added mismatched candle sticks and put light up eyeballs on top of them.

I made the light up eyeballs last year. If you missed it, you can see them here.

Some black and white candles and small black and white polk-a-dot bowls hold some of my Halloween Crack Candy.

However, my favorite part of my Halloween table?

The jack-o-lantern, the eyeballs and the candles all provide a soft glow in the evening!

Putting together a Halloween table doesn’t have to cost much either.

I had most of the stuff on the table, I just picked up a couple of new things.

Definitely my kind of table!

Until next time….

If you liked my Halloween table, please don’t forget to Pin it!

I love Halloween! I know that not all of you do, however it is one of my family’s most fun holidays. Since I love it so much, I thought that I would share some Halloween pillows and a giveaway!

“The Witch Is In” pillow is from Sams and definitely one of my favorites.

What can I say? So true!

Let’s start with the basics.

I’m a firm believer of having a basic pillow or two, followed by something with a theme or a large print, on my sofa.

I wish I were one of those talented ladies that can put any pattern together and have it work for me, but that is so not me!

These black and white buffalo check pillows with poms fits the “basic” bill for me.

Plus, it’s a bonus that you can use them year round!

This Halloween truck pillow , from Kirklands, is hands down one of my favorites!

Wouldn’t this sweet black cat pillow be cute in any child’s room? So cuddly!

As a true fan of the movie Hocus Pocus, I truly believe that these should be somewhere in my house!

You know that I am the Queen, so this pillow definitely is high on my favorites list!

Next, two super fun pillows that I found at my local Market Street.

I’m not sure where I would put this pillow, but I loved the color and texture!

This one definitely represents me lately!

Well, the tired part anyway.

I know that I said that I was sharing Halloween, however this fall pumpkin pillow was too sweet not to share.

Now for the giveaway!

I am giving away this piece of Fall artwork. You can see more photos here.

The rules are simple.

1. Leave a comment on your favorite pillow here on the blog.
2. OR Head on over to my facebook page, like, follow and tag 2 friends.

We will announce the winner next Friday, October 11.

Sorry, but you must be in the United States to enter.

Good Luck!

Until next time….

I’m so excited to be a part of this months DIY Challenge Tablescape Inspiration!

Each month our hostess Terrie, from Decorate And More With Tip and more, challenges us to make a fabulous DIY project. This months challenge was to make something for our Thanksgiving table.

On a recent trip to Hobby Lobby, I saw the cutest burlap placemats that had words of gratitude printed on one end.

I was in a rush and thought that I’d come back later and pick them up for my Thanksgiving table.

Can you say bad life decision?

Of course, when I went back, they were sold out!

My solution? To make my own.

Step 1:

I found my burlap material at HobLob, for $3.88 per yard, less my 40% coupon.

Cut out a 14 x 20 rectangle from the material.

One rectangle for each placemat you plan to make.

Step 2:

Once you have your rectangles cut out, sew one half inch all the way around each placemat.

Step 3:

Once you have sewn the outer edge, start pulling strings off of the edge to give it a tiny fringe.

Sewing around the outer edge of the placemat stops your placemat from unraveling more than you want it to.

Step 4:

Now to put the words of gratitude on the placemats.

You could use any stencil you have to put the words on the end of the placemat, however I didn’t have one that would fit.

I made my own stencil using my Silhouette.

Step 5:

I knew that I probably wouldn’t use these again, so I made my stencil out of vinyl.

Simply, cut it out, then using transfer tape, peel it off and stick it onto the placemat.

Step 6:

Once that was done, it is simply a matter of adding paint.

Give each placemat 2 coats of paint.

Once the paint has dried, remove the stencil

I love that the words on the placemats are subtle.

I feel like this DIY is super simple, but has a lot of impact.

Which is my kind of DIY!

Now my Thanksgiving table is ready for the holiday.

I hope enjoyed my DIY challenge so much that you will join me in visiting my fellow DIY Challenge bloggers.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

I’m so excited to be sharing Halloween at Market Street with you today! With our house being on the market, we get kicked out a lot for showings. Let’s face it, there is only so much shopping or errand running that you can do. A few days ago we had showings scheduled from 11:00 – 2:30. The hubs suggested we go to the coffee shop at Market Street. Well, that was fine by me because they have a fantastic gift shop too!

First off, let me start with the pumpkins!

So many styles, mediums and textures.

I’m in love.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I want to be Roxanne Spradlin when I grow up.

Her art, y’all!

These stacked pumpkins were some of my favorites.

Sorry that the photo isn’t better.

I swear I had about 10 different sales associates come by and ask if I needed help.

I’m sure they were wondering what the crazy lady was doing taking so many pictures!

Here’s is a close up of all the herringbone goodness.

Love!

The texture on this knit pumpkin was just so beautiful and cozy!

Next up, animal themed items.

I know that I said I was sharing Halloween, however I couldn’t help pick out a few Thanksgiving items to share as well!

This wooden Lab complete with Pilgrim hat and a turkey tutu had me at hello!

This squirrel in a pumpkin is so sweet.

Who wouldn’t love a felt pumpkin with a tiny little mouse peaking out?

They had several sizes and styles of these.

Moving on to random things!

I am in love with these turkeys.

Wouldn’t these be super cute as place card holders on a children’s Thanksgiving table?

There were a few items that just cracked me up!

This mug makes me think that I just might need to gift a few of these.

Maybe even keep one!

Next, this tea towel.

I may, or may not, be addicted to snarky tea towels!

Not only is this soap pretty, but it smells like my childhood Halloweens.

At first, I thought it had a hint of licorice. No…

Then, I thought maybe it smelled like those wax orange harmonicas.

Kind of, maybe?

I’m not really sure what it smells like, but I love it!

These cat glasses would be perfect for fun or as a great costume accessory.

Many different colors and super fun!

There were so many awesome things that it was hard to pick just a few.

However, all would be great as a gift, or as a treat for yourself!

Halloween at Market Street y’all.

Until next time…

If you liked it, be sure to Pin it!

Happy Fall y’all! I can’t believe that it is officially fall, especially as it is still in the 90’s here. Since it’s the beginning of fall, it’s time to start decorating with pumpkins.

There are as many ways to decorate with pumpkins as there are the different types of pumpkins themselves!

The possibilities are endless.

Today I’m going to share with you a few ways that I’m decorating with pumpkins this year, as well as a few of my favorites in the past.

Over the years, I think that I’ve used just about every pumpkin there is out there.

Here, you see a light up glitter pumpkin on my Halloween mantle.

I’ve even hung pumpkins in the trees!

I love sitting out here in the fall with these fun lanterns swinging int he breeze.

Of course, you will always find pumpkins on my front porch!

Some of my favorite pumpkins are these blue and white decoupage pumpkins!

These are super easy to make!

You all know that there will almost always be painted pumpkins here at the castle!

I can’t remember a time when my fall mantle didn’t have pumpkins of some kind on it!

These “fancy” pumpkins have a special place in my heart and I will be using them again for Halloween!

Pumpkin season here at The Castle lasts from September through mid-November.

This pumpkin was my Thanksgiving center piece a few years ago.

My hands down, all time favorite pumpkins have to be my velvet pumpkins!

As you can see my love of pumpkins is huge.

Whether the are real, faux, painted, sewn or lighted with glitter, pumpkins will always be a staple for fall here at The Castle!

So break out the pumpkins, y’all.

Fall is here!

Until next time…

If you liked this post, please Pin it!

A few weeks ago, my friend Shelli sent out a shout out on Facebook. Who would like to go to a goat milk soap class with her?

I told her that I would love to take the class with her, but wondered why would you want to use Goat Milk Soap over other soaps?

There are suppose to be many benefits of Goat Milk Soap for skin.

Goat Milk has many essential nutrients and has deep moisturizing properties. ( Which as I get older this girl needs!)

It provides a deep yet gentle cleanse, while providing anti-inflammatory and anti-aging properties.

Uh, hello? Who doesn’t need that?

Along with containing anti-bacterial properties, it also protects your skin from the sun.

The people teaching the class were Stone City Farm from Tenino, Washington.

Super helpful and friendly!

They also provided soap and soap holders for sale at the end of the class.

I couldn’t resist buying a few!

When we arrived, the instructors had everything ready for us.

We started by putting on protective eye wear, aprons and glasses.

Next, we were asked to choose an essential oil and an exfoliant to add to our soap.

I chose lavender essential oil and oatmeal.

The first thing we did after donning our aprons, gloves and protective eye wear, was mix the frozen goat milk with lye.

I won’t bore you with all the details but I will say that we spent most of our time mixing and mixing and mixing.

Once the lye and goat milk was mixed.

We took our oil and added essential oil and exfoliant.

Then we mixed the goat milk mixture with the oil mixture.

And mixed, and mixed…..

Once we had it mixed properly, we poured our soap into a mold that they provided.

Ta Da! The finished product.

Now, we wait for 2 days before taking the soap from the mold to cut it into bars.

I have to say that it was a fun class!

It helped that the class was held at a local brewery and there were libations to sample, even though I am not much of a beer drinker.

This is what the soap looked like after 2 days.

I carefully removed it from the mold.

At this point, it is still not totally set.

Then sliced it into bars, using a non-serrated knife.

Now, my soap has to sit for 6 weeks!

I’m not sure I can wait that long!

Until, next time…

On a recent trip to my sister’s house, we decided to break out her fall decor and create a fall front porch!

For those of you who haven’t seen my sister’s front porch before, it’s an old craftsman bungalow that has a ton of charm and a lot of patina!

Actually, her house is in the neighborhood that we grew up in and has large trees, big sidewalks and quaint homes.

Before we started decorating we did a little planning ,shopping and crafting.

These cute pumpkins were made out of left over fence posts.

Believe it or not, we scored some super cute outdoor pillows at WalMart!

Both were $5.00!

Our decorating vision included corn stalks tied with beautiful ribbon to the front porch posts flanked by mums and pumpkins.

Honestly, in the heart of Oklahoma you would think that it would be easy to find corn stalks, but no!

We even sent out a plea on social media asking where we could find corn stalks?

The most common answer? In a corn field.

Well, duh!

We scored big time on these HUGE mums.

They were each $10.00

Here in North Texas these mums would easily have been $25.00 or more!

These comfy rocking chairs are a new addition to the front porch.

My sister plans on painting them white sometime in the future, however for now they fit her fall theme perfectly!

We tied orange bandanas around her summer pillows for a inexpensive fall look.

The purple asters may possibly be my favorite fall flower.

So bright and pretty!

My sister’s fall front porch just yells “It’s fall, come on over and sit for awhile!”.

Honestly, we did spend quite a bit of “sitting” time on this front porch.

In fact, it was hard to do much of anything else.

Until next time….

A few years ago this was my fall mantle. Lots of rich color, a few feathers and I loved it. However, lately I’ve been wanting to go in a different direction. More of a simple fall mantle that has lighter, brighter colors.

If you’ve been following along, you know that I’ve been adding a lot of navy and orange to my house as my fall color theme.

Since my living room was already orange, navy and white it only make since to keep that theme in the living room.

I started with these cute white faux pumpkins.

While doing a little grocery shopping, I spied these faux pumpkins at my local Kroger.

They had 4 different sizes and were the perfect size to fit on my mantle.

You can’t tell, but they are a medium size pumpkin that would normally be around $15.00 to $20.00 in most stores.

However, I scored with these as they were on sale for $5.00 and $4.00 each!

Before placing them on the mantle, I placed some fall leave stems on the mantle for a base.

Then added a few berries.

Once I had the pumpkins in place, I twisted a bittersweet vine in amongst the pumpkins.

The candle sticks were some I’ve had for years from Southern Living At Home.

At this point I loved the simplicity of the mantle, but it still seemed a little bare.

Mainly because my fireplace wall is HUGE!

So I decided to make a banner.

This was a super simple project that I will share with you later!

I had these lanterns sitting on the hearth.

They’ve been empty awhile while I was looking for something other than candle to go in them.

On a whim, I placed the blue and white vases inside of them and add a cute orange and white bow to tie in the orange and blue theme of the living room.

We are really loving a simple fall mantle!

On a side note, I found these super cute tags at Hob Lob recently.

I’m in LOVE with them.

At first, I thought about making my own, but at $3.99 less 40% I couldn’t resist picking up a set.

Aren’t they cute?

It’s like adding jewelry to a little black dress!

Who doesn’t love a pumpkin that has a little bling?

I’ve enjoyed putting out my fall stuff so much that I’ve decided to head to my sisters house and help her get her fall on!

Stay tuned for that!

Until next time…..

It’s Ten on the 10th! I look forward to this day every month because we usually have ten or more super talented women get together and share super cute ideas for under $10.00! This month we are shy of ten because #life. Since September is the beginning of the fall season, I decided to share fall in a jar with you.

Before I go any further, I want to thank Patti from Pandora’s Box for hosting this month!

Our theme this month is upcyled or recycled.

So many things came to mind, however my procrastination reared it’s ugly head and eliminated a lot of things due to time.

I have a closet full of things that I have rescued, pulled out of the trash, or bought at a garage sale.

When I began sorting through my junk I found a ton of Ball mason jars.

Clearly they needed to be used!

I decided to make cute little peek-a-boo jars to give out as happy fall gifts to a few neighbors and friends!

These are super easy to make.

Cut out a vinyl maple leaf, then placed it onto the jar.

Then tape off the areas that you do not want to paint.

Step 2:

Next, spray paint your jar.

Make sure to do two or three light coats in order to avoid having runs.

Step 3:

Once the paint has thoroughly dried, remove the tape and vinyl from the jar.

This is what your peek-a- boo jar should look like at this point.

Step 4:

The plain silver lid looked a little too plain for me.

I cut out a circle from some burlap ribbon I had on hand and mounted it onto the lid using spray adhesive.

Step 5:

Add cute ribbon and your peek-a-boo jar is finished!

Now the the jars are finished you must be wondering what I plan to put in the jars.

Well, I have to admit I had several things in mind.

Maybe a small flicker votive in one to create a nice warm fall look?

However, I went in a different direction.

I mixed half cashews and half candy corn for a wonderful treat that tastes like a Payday candy bar!

Most people use peanuts, but we like the taste of cashews better here at the castle.

I think these jars filled with a sweet fall treat would be a perfect gift to welcome in fall!

How much did these jars cost?

The jars, ribbon, spray paint, vinyl and tape were all things that I had in my stash.

The candy and nuts cost $1.66 per jar.

Fall in a jar y’all!

Now please join me in visiting my fellow Ten on the 10th ladies!

Blue Sky at Home

The Apple Street Cottage

Pandora’s Box

Decorate and More with Tip

Remember these painted pumpkins? They were the jumping off point for my navy and orange fall porch.

I painted them to match my front door and my new doormat.

Normally, I tend to stay with black as my “neutral” color, then add all the wonderful fall colors from white to a deep orange.

But this year, I felt the need to change things up a bit.

Go with something a little unexpected.

I shared this new fall doormat with you a few weeks ago.

Have I told you how much I love it?

Sorry! But I really do!

Well, this doormat sealed the deal.

Navy and orange were officially my fall front porches colors.

I ordered a new fall garden flag to match my new colors.

Which was harder than it sounds, as not many retailers have navy as a fall color.

This picture doesn’t do this cute little flag justice.

It has lots of textures and the colors just pop off of the navy background.

I put my favorite fall sign up also.

This sign has been on our fall front porch for a few years now.

I’m debating whether or not to paint the black navy so that it will match.

What do you think?

All my fall front porch needed was a wreath on the front door.

I made few of these last month.

The Dollar Tree had these sweet happy harvest truck signs in both red and blue.

I wanted the blue, however my Dollar Tree didn’t have a blue one.

While I was disappointed, I figured that the red would still match my front porch.

Then my sweet friend Darlene called and told me that she found a blue truck for me in Dallas!

Woo hoo! That girl is just the sweetest!

My hunt for mums ended this past Saturday.

Everywhere I went I asked for mums and got “the look”.

You know the one, the one that you get a lot from guys who work at big box stores when you are wanting something outside of the box!

Yeah, that one.

Yes, I know that it’s over 100 degrees, but this girls got a blog and needs to get her mums for the front porch!

While they did not have any white ones, that’s okay.

By October, I will probably need to buy news because, yes it is 100 degrees and mums just aren’t that happy in hot weather.

My navy and orange fall porch is complete and I couldn’t be happier with it.

Until next time….

Hello! Can you believe that we are days away from September? I know not all of you are football fans, but I can’t wait for football season to start. When it’s football season it’s time to decorate for fall. At least it is here at the Castle! Going through my fall stuff I realized that my pumpkins had lost a little of their orange luster and needed an update. I decided to paint some buffalo check pumpkins!

I’ll be honest, I found this idea on one of my binge sessions on Pinterest.

Jennifer from Dimples and Tangles blog shared the cutest hot pink buffalo check pumpkins ever! She calls hers gingham check. So cute!

Step 1: Paint the pumpkins white!

To get great coverage, I did 3 light even coats of Martha Stewarts Multi-surface paint.

I loved Jennifers hot pink pumpkins, but decided that I wanted to go with blue ones.

I love how navy looks with orange!

Since you need two different colors of blue, I simply mixed white and navy together to get a lighter blue.

Step 2: Paint vertical stripes.

I would love to tell you that I mathematically figured out spacing, but we all know that my math skills are severely lacking.

Using a blue pencil, I light marked off where I thought my stripes should be, then started painting.

Once my vertical stripes had dried, I then marked where my horizontal stripes should go.

This time I did want my stripes to be the same size.

It’s hard to see, but I marked the width on a piece of plastic and used that as a guide for my spacing.

Yes, a ruler would have been my first choice, however mine seems to have gone missing!

A girls gotta do what a girls gotta do!

This is what my pumpkin looked like when I was done painting both the horizontal and the vertical stripes.

Time for step 4!

Using the navy paint, I painted the square where the horizontal and vertical lines meet.

Ta Da!!!!

My Buffalo check pumpkin was done.

Time to decorate the front porch.

I love how the navy pumpkin matches the blue of my front door.

It was so much fun painting the buffalo check that I decided to paint another one.

This time with orange polk-a-dots.

Hello pumpkin!

Now to decorate the rest of the porchlette!

On a side note, I am wondering why I always work on the porchlette after the sprinklers have run and the mortar is still wet making it look like icky mold?

I’m filing that under things to improve on!

Hope that you all have a wonderful weekend.

Until next time….

My name is Tammy and I am a throw pillow addict. Throw pillows, throw blankets and accessories are the first things I reach for when I’m decorating for a new season and holidays. This pillow started a search for all things fall this year. So stinkin’ cute! However, I needed more pillows to go with it. So began the search for affordable fall throw pillows.

Today I’m going to share a few of my favorites with you!

This pumpkin pillow from Pier 1 is so pretty! I love that it’s a mix of traditional fall colors with the cool blue tones.

The texture is perfect for fall also.

Now all I need is a fall scented candle and I’m ready for fall!

This could quite possibly be my all time favorite pillow.

Since our sweet black lab, Sadie, passed this summer this pillow is a great reminder of her.

Also from Pier 1 and a great price.

Remember I said that I had an addiction to throw pillows? So true.

So much so, that over time, I had created my own storage nightmare.

The heavenly choir sang the day that I found out about pillow covers!

Easy to change out, easy storage and great on price.

I’ve even made a few of my own!

These pillow covers are from Amazon and come in sets of two for under $15.00.

I know that navy might not be what most of you would consider a traditional fall color, but it is for me.

I love how crisp navy and orange look together.

And since my living room is basically blues and neutrals, these navy and white buffalo check pillow covers would be beautiful.

For you more traditional fall color lovers, they also come in a variety of colors, including black and white.

Halloween anyone?

Again, the come in sets of 2 and are under $15.00.

Don’t you love a little velvet in the fall and winter?

Soft and cuddly!

These navy velvet pillow covers are a perfect pairing with busier patterned pillows.

Again, I’m loving the navy!

Also available in many colors!

They also come in sets of 2 and are under $15.00 for the pair.

So, what did I end up with?

Why , the navy velvet, of course!

I couldn’t resist this happy fall y’all pillow. Especially since it matches my front door fall wreath.

Last week it was on sale for under $15 ( see a theme here?)

This week it is a little more, however it is totally worth it.

Even at full price, I still put this pillow in the category of affordable fall throw pillows.

I also snagged a new blue and white throw to tie it all together.

Bring on Fall y’all!

Until next time….

My BFF, Roxanne, went to Magnolia this past weekend. She found this wonderful basket in the dent and ding section and thought of me. Honestly, I am in love with it. It is HUGE! So huge it takes up almost the entire end of my dining table. Once I got it home, it was time to have some fun. I’ve spent the morning decorating a Magnolia basket!

Did I mention that she only paid $15.00 for this basket? Original it was $88.00.

What a steal!

I knew that I wanted to decorate my basket with fall decor.

In my mind, the basket would be decorated with lots of white pumpkins, some soft sage greenery and maybe some filler.

However, as I was unpacking my fall decor to see what I had and what I needed to buy , I saw that all of my velvet pumpkins matched my dining room chairs.

Since this basket was definitely going in the dining room, wouldn’t velvet pumpkins be a good fit?

So, I thought why not?

I could always try it out and if I didn’t like it, I would only be out my time.

I stacked the pumpkins in the basket and stepped back to see how it looked.

Right away, I noticed two things.

One, that white sweater pumpkin was too white to be with the rest of the pumpkins.

It had to go!

Two, it needed a little something else, besides pumpkins!

A little more texture, something to break up all of the velvet texture.

After digging through my stash, I found this simple berry vine.

And you know what?

I really like it!

Don’t get me wrong, I may still change it to the white pumpkins and sage greenery, but for today I’m loving all of the wonderful fall colors.

Decorating a Magnolia basket was a lot of fun!

So much fun that I see a lot more playing with my basket in my future!

Until next time…

Hey y’all! I have to say that it’s hot. I mean really, really hot. Like 111 degrees hot. Hotter than Hell’s basement hot. It’s so hot here at The Castle we’ve got a whole lot of nothin’ goin’ on! It’s even too hot to get in the pool.

Seriously, I’m so over this heat, I’m ready for fall to hurry it’s self up and get here!

Between the heat and our house being back on the market, yes, I said back on, we are hard pressed to do much of anything.

We did take a few days and head to Oklahoma for my niece, Beep’s, second birthday!

I can not believe that she’s already 2!

She loves flamingos, so that was the theme for her party.

As my Granny used to say, She’s so cute I just want to pinch her!

With the house on the market, I can’t do a whole lot of projects.

Especially those that take any amount of time, you never know when you’ll get a call to show the house.

So, I’ve been doing a little shopping.

I found these sweet Halloween pillows.

Y’all know I have an addiction!

However, the skeleton will be going to my youngest’s house, so I’m not feeling too guilty.

The skeleton came from Home Goods and the Witch Is In came from Sam’s!

My house shoes bit the dust, so I was on the hunt for something cute, light weight, with a hard sole for summer.

Tall order.

Until I found these!

I know, just what you wanted to see, pictures of my feet!

These sweet things came from Amazon!

Totally impractical, but a girls gotta have some glam once in awhile.

Did you know that Bath and Body has been having sales on their Fall products?

Last week if you ordered $25.00 worth of product, you were gifted this pumpkin wall plug in with fragrance refill!

I’m on the fence about the gold leaves, but over all it’s cute .

And the smell is divine!

So what did I order?

Bath and Body Works hand soap!

Next, this may be my favorite thing I’ve purchased this month.

This adorable Fall sign!

Not only is it cute, but….

It is reversible!

One minute it’s Fall, then it’s Boo to you!

So stinkin’ cute.

Too bad it’s not nearly time to put it out.

However, until it is time I’ll be sitting here at The Castle where we’ve got a whole lot of nothin’ goin’ on!

Until next time…

Hey all! I’m back with more of my Dollar Tree haul. Today I’m sharing a Dollar Tree pumpkin makeover! As you can see they have a ton of baby pumpkins, but some are not in the colors that most of us decorate with.

Over the years, I’ve decorated, carved and painted a lot of pumpkins, but I’ve never given a makeover to a Dollar Tree pumpkin.

Shocking, I know!

However, don’t pass those deals by just because they aren’t perfect.

It’s so easy to custom make them to fit your home!

Using chalk paint, I gave my baby boos 2 coats of chalk paint.

I left those bright green stems on to have a handle while I painted.

Trust me, those will be removed later.

Once I had two good coats of paint, I removed the green stems and added a stick from my yard.

Using a craft knife, I cut a hole out of the top of my pumpkin slightly smaller than the circumference of my stick.

Once, my stick was in the pumpkin, I added a little bit of hot glue to hold it in place.

While I was waiting on the pumpkins to dry, I made a few bows to go on the top of my pumpkins.

Each is different, as I made them to go in my sisters homes as well as mine.

One sister has more of a glam style, while the other is more stream lined.

Of course, mine is somewhere in between.

This pumpkin will go in my sisters home that loves a more stream lined look.

She lives in a craftsman bungalow and all of her colors are warm earth tones.

Sister #2 likes lots of girly glam with turquoise!

I knew she would love this ribbon and for a little added glam, I added a fun old ear ring as an embellishment.

And last, but not least, my baby boos!

I wanted a more traditional, shabby chic look.

I have to admit that this Dollar Tree pumpkin makeover was super fun, easy, and took very little time.

My kind of project!

Until next time…..

Remember last week when I shared my Dollar Tree haul? I found so many good things, I couldn’t wait to get started using them. Today I’m sharing how I made a happy harvest wreath. It’s super easy, took less than 1 hour and cost under $20.00.

Here is a list of the supplies you will need:

One 18″ wire wreath – WalMart $2.77

1 1/2 rolls Burlap ribbon – Hobby Lobby $9.99 on sale 1/2 price.

Wire – free as I already had it in my studio

Ribbon for a bow – about 3.00. I bought 2 rolls of ribbon and made 3 bows.

Happy Harvest truck sign – Dollar Tree $1.00

This burlap ribbon is perfect for my wreath for a couple of reasons.

It’s a wire ribbon, which means that it will be easy to use and keep it’s shape.

Any pesky loops going the wrong way?

Simply twist it around to where you want it!

Also, I liked the lighter, more bleached out color of this ribbon.

I won’t bore you with the actual how to on this one.

However, in case you want to know how to make one, there are a ton of how to make a burlap wreath video’s on Youtube!

I found one to refresh my memory and I was surprised to see that the lady giving the tutorial said that it took about 10 minutes to make one of these wreaths.

She must be a ton speedier than I am for sure!

Honestly, I’d estimate it took me about 25 – 30 minutes to make this wreath.

While not hard to make, it is a little time consuming.

Once my wreath was made, it was time to add the embellishments.

This Happy Harvest truck sign from the Dollar Tree is definitely the star of this wreath.

I love everything about this sign with one exception.

The super shiny silver leaf that came on it.

However, that was a super easy fix.

I simply added a few coats of Martha Stewarts Multi-Purpose metallic gold paint.

To hang my sign onto my wreath I used about 12″ of light weight wire.

To give my wreath a little more color, I added this bow that has a ton of fall color.

Honestly, I love my happy harvest wreath.

I can’t wait to hang it!

Now, if it would ever get cool enough here in North Texas to feel like fall that would be awesome.

Right now it’s 105 with no end in sight.

Come on fall!

Until next time….