Miss Mustard Seed~ A special guest

Hello Everyone,

I have a special guest today...

The talented Marian from the blog, Miss Mustard Seed is here.

Marian always shares the best tutorials on her blog.... 

Thank you Marian, for sharing one of your fun tutorials on my blog today.

I will let Marian take it from here......

I am so excited to "have the floor" on Maria's lovely blog.  I was hooked on Dreamy Whites the first time I stopped by, so it's a pleasure to be a guest here, today. 

When Maria first asked me to share a fall decorating idea, I wasn't sure what I was going to do.  I generally don't decorate for fall.  I might put a few pumpkins, gourds and pine cones out, but I rarely make anything.    Using lumina pumpkins seemed like a no-brainer to me.  (This is for Dream Whites, after all.)  This led me to the idea of making a "grain sack" pumpkin.   

It's very simple and was under $10 for two pumpkins. 

First of all, wash and dry the pumpkins.  Apply a piece of low-tack painter's tape around the "equator" of the pumpkin.  

Using the tape as a guide, paint a thin stripe above and below it.  I used acrylic paint (midnight mixed with burnt umber), but you can use any paint you have on hand. 

With a 2.0 liner brush, paint initials, a date, or a seasonal word above the top line.  As a nod to "The Headless Horseman", I painted Ichabod on one and 10.31 (the date of Halloween) on the other.  If you're not comfortable with a brush, use a paint pen or Sharpie marker.  You could also use graphite transfer paper to trace text printed from a computer.

The look is subtle and sophistcated and it took me only about fifteen minutes for both.

I propped it on a pedestal and surrounded it by a small wreath of bittersweet. 

I hope this inspires you to get creative with your fall decor.  For more DIY and decorating inspiration, visit my blog. 

Thanks again for this opportunity, Maria!

Don't you just love her...

Thank you Marian!

I just want to share a few things with you about the talented Marian....

 Marian owns a successful antiques and home decor business called Mustard Seed Interiors.

Marian just moved some of her wonderful creations into a new store in Walkersville, Maryland.  

The store is filled with all kinds of treasures.

She is always sharing ways to transform a simple piece of furniture into a piece of art on her blog.

We will soon see Marian sharing her tutorials over at HGTV.com...

Congratulations Marian...

You are an inspiration to us all.

Miss Mustard Seed

Gli speciali di Casa Chic

Hello Everyone

I hope you all had a great weekend.

I wanted to say thank you to Annarita Triarico, a journalist and editor for Lotus Publishing's Interior Decorating Magazines.  Annarita wrote a feature on my home for an Italian magazine called Gli speciali di Casa Chic. 

My friend, Tracey, (French Larkspur) was also featured in the same issue.

Thank you Annarita, Tracey and I are honored to be featured in  Gli speciali di Casa Chic.

This magazine is published only in Italy.

Hope you all have a great week.

Take Care,

Maria

French Farmhouse Antiques~fall decorating

Fall is one of my favorite seasons of the year...

Since I haven't found my favorite type of pumpkins yet,

I thought I would share a way of bringing the season into your home without using pumpkins.

I brought together my favorite french antiques.....

I displayed some pears in an antique compote.

I put a few apples in  my antique french metal basket....

I was using it to display rolls of linen.

I like how the bright red apples look against the dark metal.

I usually display bottles on my french drying rack, I took those off and added these little terra cotta pots from France.   I am a sucker for these little terra cotta pots.

If you are trying to add some fall colors to your home, but don't want to use pumpkins, these pots are an inexpensive way to bring in some fall colors to your home.

This little french farmhouse table, has an old french newspaper stuck to the top of it.

I was so excited when I found this table.

I wish I knew how to can....Then my canning jars wouldn't always be empty....

I am obsessed with lavender.

Do you have a favorite way to decorate for fall?

Do you like to use pumpkins in your fall decorating?

I hope you all have a great week.

Take Care,

Maria

Sofies Haus~

photo by me

Hello Everyone!

I had planned to do a post about my clock today, and was going to answer a few questions... but I haven't had time to get that post done yet.... sorry.

So I thought I would do a quick post and share a blog with you, that I love....

I have received a lot of emails asking how to decorate a home that has mostly white interiors for fall....
As soon as we get pumpkins in the stores here.... I will share a few of my ideas with you...
until then....I wanted to share a blog that seems to know how to add the right amount of fall decor to her home....

I think you will feel inspired to add a few pumpkins to your home after visiting Sofies Haus....

Her photography, styling, and decorating are beautiful, and she just did an inspiring post on
  apple pie.....

Sofies Haus


I also wanted to say thank you to my friend, Federica, who emailed me this morning, and told me that she did a feature about my home for an Italian E-Magazine~ 
Idee dalla rete
Thank you Federica!


I promise I will be posting answers to your questions very soon!


Have a great day!
Take Care,
Maria