Fall Porch Makeover for 2023

With summer coming to a close this week, it was time to get our front porch ready for fall, but I needed a change for 2023.  This was the set-up I'd done year after year and, besides the bits getting worn out, I was bored with the same old thing:

So we went from this (aka before):

To this (after):  Such an improvement!!

The best part is that is was so quick to pull it all together, I actually got my fall porch all decorated on time this year!

Back in the spring Our Tiny Nest linked up this gorgeous Easter door basket project: 

I fell in love with it and re-created my own (but never got around to doing a post about them).  The empty door baskets were a bit of a $ splurge for me, since I had to buy two, but I really loved how they looked.  I justified it by telling myself I'd re-use them for other seasons, so it was time to put my money where my mouth was for fall.

I made them over, autumn-style, for less price & effort than doing up entirely new wreaths:

I got this fall floral stem, mini pumpkin & buffalo check ribbon at Hobby Lobby - all on major sale to keep costs down:

I left the florist foam & faux greenery from my spring version in place, pulled out the bunnies & carrots and added my new items in.  I cut 49in lengths of ribbon and wrapped them around each basket.  I didn't want them to sag over time, so I attached a wire twist tie on the back for extra support.

I tied the ribbons in a double bow, fanned out the loops and curled the tails:

It's a really different look, but with minimal changes and is easy to dismantle and change up for the next season's version:

I got a big buffalo check cotton rug off Amazon and layered it with a new themed coir doormat:

I stacked my outdoor crate with a bale of straw, my trusty old foam pumpkins, potted some fresh mums, added a watering can with flowers and a new garden flag with a hint of the check print to tie it together:

It feels so good looking at our front doors and seeing things look festive and colorful.  Now I can start enjoying it and look forward to working on other fall projects!

Fun & Easy DIY Fall Sensory Bin

It's time for an Autumn Season Sensory Bin!  Fall is in full swing so it's a great time to explore the sensations of the season with the kids - pumpkins, wood, forest critters, pinecones, acorns & colorful leaves!

There are so many great sensory things about fall.  The colors and textures are really interesting and there's a lot of educational things you can do with them.  Toddlers love investigating with sensory bins and my little ones have had a ball with this bin:

 

My 4yr old even incorporated other toys to add new play options.  At one point he even stacked the logs to make a garage door and just like in our real garage, with his vehicle on one side, and, as he said, "a big pile of mess" on the other.  Touché my small friend.

In a more perfect world I'd have gone the real & found outside route with actual leaves, acorns, gourds, twigs & the like.  It would've been close to free that way, but practically speaking it's not an option with my own wild indoor animals (aka toddlers).  They have a tendency to crunch up or break those things outside, which would create more mess than I want to clean up several times a day.  And I know my 2yr old would have bitten any actual gourds because they do look like veggies I encourage them to eat.  The faux ones don't have the same "taste-me" appeal for her.  I was short on prep time so scouting out a bunch of craft stores to gather various faux items wasn't going to work either.  Instead I got a handy 166pc fall decor set on Amazon to fill most of our bin and it did not disappoint:

It has a nice assortment of real (and surprisingly strong) pinecones and faux acorns with real acorn tops:

It also came with lots of vibrantly colored silk leaves:

And a good selection of styrofoam gourds and mini pumpkins:

I found this fabulous set of forest animal figurines on Amazon too.  The assortment includes harder-to-find critters like a badger & hedgehog and the detail is top notch:

The sizes were ideal to play & hide within all the different forest elements:

I also added some Tree Block logs and rounds we already had.  They made a great textured woody section for the beaver, bear and badger to climb over:

I got a set of fine motor skill tools to add to the sensory fun:

I'm probably going to have to buy a second one because they both want to use the purple scissor-style scoop constantly.  To be fair, there is something really appealing about how it works and being able to see what's being scooped.  It's the perfect size for picking up the acorns, animals and pine cones:   

The set also came with some easy-grab tweezers and I added in some of our magnifying glasses too:

I found these little trays at the Dollar Tree, which are perfect for examining specimens and for activities like matching and counting:

There's a lot of investigative play to be had and it cleans up easily, which is always key for me.  I know we'll use all these items in other ways too, so it's become a great seasonal bin for us.  Easy fall fun = a win! 

Fabulous Fall Fabric Bundle Giveaway!

Fall is officially here, so let's celebrate the new season with a

Fall-themed Fabric Giveaway!

I've got a bundle of 6 fabulous fabrics to give to one lucky winner.  

It includes 1/2yd cuts of Fall Harvest:

Happy Fall Words:

And these coordinating Scrap Happy text prints in Light Blue, Squash, Raisin & Toast:

With 3 total yards, there's enough fabric for a quilt, table runner, pillows, bags or whatever else you can dream up!

These fabrics are all from my store, Heavenly Fabric Shop, where I'm also running a 

Fall Sale on these and lots of other fabrics & crafty items.

Enter below for a chance to win this lovely bundle:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blooming Flower Pumpkin Decoration Tutorial

I am SO into pumpkins this fall.  And all the pretty red, gold and orange flowers of the season too.  The more ways to decorate with them the better!  I had a simple idea for mixing the two and decided to give it a go this week.  My Blooming Flower Pumpkin: 



This simple project turns a basic craft foam pumpkin into a beautiful bursting blossom that adds some extra decorative color to the harvest pumpkin crate I did a few years back:



It's a fun way to bring more texture & a little something different (that is quick & easy to make too).  I added my pumpkin to my fall front porch decor. And unlike the real flowers & pumpkins, that have to be tossed out in a few short weeks, this can be enjoyed year after year:

It's especially good when you're short on time to craft, like I am, but still want to make a little something for the season:

Materials:

- Craft pumpkin

- Silk flower bunches with small, medium & large blooms

- Hot glue gun

I got several bunches of large and small silk sunflowers & mums:

Plucked them all off their stems and fired up my trusty hot glue gun:

Starting with the biggest blooms, I glued them intermittently around the pumpkin - sticking the centers in the "seams" of the pumpkin so they'd lay flatter and gluing any petal edges that still stuck up.

Then I filled in the gaps with the mums and smaller sunflowers, trying to keep the colors & styles alternating, but leaving the bottom uncovered so the pumpkin would stand flat.  That's it!

Now my pumpkin is bursting with texture & color and can be enjoyed year after year:

Happy Fall!!