9/22/09 Autumn Begins

Today marks the first day of Autumn here.

We put up the Fall decorations this weekend. I usually wait until the end of Sept., but the next two weekends are booked for DH/and or I so we're early this year (I need his help with the outside stuff). Plus I never got the Easter or Memorial/4th of July stuff up this year because of the LB, so I'm ready to dive into another holiday (I'm a holiday freak).

I thought I'd take a few pics of my fall decorations to share for those crafters out there. I love to craft so I try to add one new thing each year (and usually get rid of old tired things). Dag, I forgot the outside...I'll take one this week to share.

- Pic 1: My stairs with basket pumpkins (store bought). DS2 stepped on the big pumpkin coming down the stairs in the dark last night; crushed it in, but DH popped it back out...creases in the back LOL.

- Pic 2: The lighted garland/bows (my neighbors tell me it looks nice at night through the glass front door). Closer to Halloween we add a giant spider web that goes across the whole 2 story foyer and up to the 2nd floor...the kids love throwing hundreds of plastic spiders up into the web (they catch and dangle down) and we have some flys and rats we wrap like a cacoon.

- Pic 3: My foyer table. DS2 and I made the pumpkin flower arrangement a few years back when he was sick at home for a week. I'm not a silk flower lover, but it works for me with fall's bright colors. He grew all the gourds in his veggie garden and we dried them. Oh, and you can see my glass front door I've mentioned before in the mirror reflection.

- Pic 4: My fireplace. I've been a Homeroom Mom for all three of our kids and as an ex-art teacher I always organize the craft. I've done the pumpkins on the right with each of their classrooms over the years. For other HR moms or those with kids (I made these up, but they're easy I swear): just a block of wood with a dowel hot glued on the top pre spray painted orange/green stem and ready for the kids to "pick a pumpkin from the pumpkin patch" (set them out on the floor) to decorate....raffia bows (we premade with green pipe cleaners -Kids twist around the stem with some silk green leves and older kids can make tendrils with the ends of the pipe cleaners by wrapping over a pencil, some glue-ons (spiders, etc.- they would bring to us to hot glue where they wanted) and for the face either sharpie or black sticker paper they cut depending on the grade of the class (did the black stickers with the kindergarteners- just give them large/small squares and they can cut shapes). We made DH make the big one on the right a few years back (under many protests...he hates to do art), but it didn't look right with one from each of us in the family and not him (the kids love his- candy corn wooden glue-on eyes).

- Pic 5: Acorn trees in the Dining Room. I would suggest doing these to no one! When we moved here about 10 years ago DH collected a bucket of acorns from the backyard (our backyard is up against a large wooded hillside going down with huge oak trees). He brings them in and proudly proclaims...Here, we got these for you to do a craft with! .....Ummm thanks? No clue what to do...I got some styrofoam cone shapes, covered them with fabric and hot glued the acorns on and then sprayed them with a sealant. Well, I kept finding what looked like tiny wood shavings around them...finally figured out there were tiny acorn worms burrowing holes out of them DISGUSTING...bagged them for a year and re-sealed them really well...and every year when I get these out I still have to re-glue acorns on that fall off (have a few missing in the photo- need to get out the glue gun today)....but thanks Honey for the acorns!