Rustic Fall Mantel 2013

 (Thank you to Creative Home Expressions, Cozy Little House, Knick of Time, Have a Daily Cup of Mrs.Olsen and Common Ground for featuring this post!)
Hi, everyone!  How's your weekend going?  We've been having some gorgeous fall weather-a little lower temps, but still sunny-now, that's my kind of fall!  So I figured that it was time to change my mantel over to a 'fall' theme.  You know my motto...keep it simple!

 I kept the chippy door that was there, just turned it around to the darker, more rustic side. (To see the lighter, summer mantel go here.)
  I hung a lid off an old wooden barrel on it.  I like the cool typography and the faded labels (one says 'Made in Italy')

I took a tiny banner and added the word 'FALL' in stickers, and placed it in a little brass hand clamp.  Then I arranged a couple of fun pumpkins, some vintage books, and a burlap pillow that says 'Fall Harvest' to make the center vignette.

On each end I left the sticks collected by my sweet hubby in the tarnished urns.

I hung this new burlap and rhinestone banner-gotta get my bling in there!

And that completes this simple fall mantel!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a fantastic day!

I'm sharing at these great blogs:    i should be mopping the floor
                                                       One More Time Events
                                                       Dwellings
                                                       Creative Home Expressions
                                                       A Stroll Thru Life
                                                       Knick of Time
                                                       White Lace Cottage (The Scoop)
                                                       Coastal Charm
                                                       Cozy Little House
                                                       Lavender Garden Cottage
                                                       Common Ground
                                                       Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olsen

Saturday Spotlight: Dawn from Creative Cain Cabin

Hi, everyone!  Myself and (Kris) Junk Chic Cottage wanted to do a regular feature on our blogs, something unique that hasn't been
 done before.   So we came up with an idea to 'spotlight the real life behind the blogger' in a more personal way.

There is so much talent and inspiration in blogland, and we thought it would be fun to bring you a closer look at the person behind the blog.

Every week on Saturday we will spotlight a blogger and have them tell us a little bit about themselves and their blogs.  You will be able to see and read about each of the bloggers on both Kris's and my blog. 

Dawn from Creative Cain Cabin is one of those bloggers whom I really admire because she is so darn good at whatever she does!  Whether it's decorating, gardening, photography or cooking, she does it well and makes it look easy!  I love her cheerful, colorful style-it's so welcoming as is her blog.

So please sit back, relax, and enjoy getting to know Dawn better!

I am so honored to be given the spotlight today by Susan and Kris. They both have beautiful blogs and I was jumping with joy when they asked me to give you all a peek into my life and home as a blogger. So lets get on with it shall we? I'm Dawn and I write at Creative Cain Cabin a blog about log home living and decorating.    I stumbled upon blogging about 4 years ago and knew it was for me. I love to take photos and found that blogging is a great way to stay creative and fulfill my shutterbug addiction.    I live in a log home with my hubby, 2 teen boys, a dog and a cat. Our home is environmentally friendly and we did all the work ourselves. It took us 5 years to build our home, I remember many sleepless night of me at the computer drawing our blueprints, and rethinking the design over and over. Building a home is so time consuming, especially when you are in on the project from the ground up. We are very proud to say we did it ourselves and paid cash for it all. We were lucky our now guest home was on the same property so we didn't have far to go when we were weary at night, just a 1/2 mile trek and we were home. The kitchen was a big deal for me, I knew it would probably be the last home we built so I wanted the kitchen the hub of the home and to be the perfect fit for me.  By this time in the build process I had, had my fill of wood and decided I needed white cabinets for a pop of color and black concrete countertops that would last for years. 5 years later I can still say it is my favorite spot in our home, there are always kids seated at the island laughing and eating, it brings joy to my heart.   We have 3 porches on our home and you can find me on one of them most any day of the year. There's just something calming about swinging, or rocking on a covered porch. It's also one of my favorite places to decorate for every season, it's truely an extension of our home and used just like any other room.    Our master bedroom is in the loft of the cabin and this room changes with the seasons also. It's big enough to have an eat in spot as well as a seating area. I love how the light streams through the windows of this room, it wakes you up in the early morning and no need for an alarm clock.   Our log home, is filled with thrifted, yard saled, and vintage finds. I love the look of all things farmhouse so I mix it all together and call it home. I did opt for slipcovered furniture, I like that the slipcover colors can be changed with the season and you can take them off to be washed. Whoever invented form fitted slipcovers was brilliant.    I decorate our home and porch with wildflowers from spring till fall. I love how alive they make a room feel and the best part is they're free. The field between our home and the guest home is littered will several varieties of wildflowers and I have been know to bring the car to a screeching halt when I find them growing on the sides of the road.  One of my favorite tools in my purse besides my camera is a set of garden nippers. You never know when a girl's gonna need them.   If you get tired of looking around the inside of the cabin, set outside and have a look around some magical sculpture and flower gardens designed by friends of mine. They were gracious enough to gift me flowers for my own landscape project this year, so the cabin is now in full bloom.   I also do down home cookin' here at the cabin, so feel free to drop by anytime and have some homemade peach crisp with a side of ice cream. You are always welcome!   Recently I started my own  custom blog graphics business, everything from a whole new blog design to something as simple as social media icons. I really enjoy making peoples blog vision come to life, if you can think it up I can create it for you. So if you are wanting a new look stop in and see me.   And just for fun, every month I have a variety of free printables for you to download and use how you see fit. Thanks again girls for having me over. I hope to meet some new people, so stop by the Cabin anytime. See ya all soon:)    

Dawn, thanks so much for sharing with us!!  I'll be right over for that peach crisp and ice cream-yum!  :)  Please visit Dawn's blog Creative Cain Cabin, then head over to Kris's blog to read more about Sandy from For the Love of White!
Have a wonderful weekend!

A Clock Face and 2 Gourds

Happy Humpday, everyone!  A couple of days ago I found these gorgeous dried gourds at an antique shop.  I adore the patina on them...at first glance I thought they had a chippy painted surface, but that's just Mother Nature's fine work!

 I decided to 'showcase' them on a large clock face that I just got on my trip to Columbus (which you can read about here.)  The gourds themselves are pretty big, too!

I placed a vintage scale next to them...I like how the scale face echos the clock face.

On top of the scale I placed a rusty bucket (with my favorite number 3 added) filled with dried hydrangeas.

All of this is in front of my extra-large Polish flashcard...

...on top of my favorite little cabinet in the living room (which you can read about here)...

...to create another simple fall display.

All thanks to my new gourds!

Enjoy the rest of your week-thanks for stopping by!! :)

I'm sharing at these fun blogs:   No Minimalist Here
                                                  Lavender Garden Cottage
                                                  Have a Daily Cup of Mrs.Olsen
                                                  Ivy and Elephants
                                                  Rooted in Thyme
                                                  Common Ground
                                                  The Charm of Home
                                                  Sunny Simple Life

Country Living Finds

(Thanks to One More Time Events and A Stroll Thru Life for featuring this post!)
Hi, everyone!  If you missed it, I showed pictures from my trip to the Country Living Fair here.
I not only found some fun finds there, but also at some of the other little shops that my friend Suzanne and I visited the day before the fair.  Fair warning: there's lots of pics in this post!!  Ready?

I'll start with one of my favorite finds from CL...this huge silver urn! It reminds me of a loving cup/trophy, which I'm really 'loving' right now!

I filled it with a fall 'floral' arrangement, grouped it with my other 2 silver trophies on a wicker tray and added some sweet white pumpkins that I got at CL. (The 2 pumpkins on the trophies were sent to me from Kris at Junk Chic Cottage, which I posted about here.)

This vignette is on a small table in the hallway, right inside the front door.

Two more of my favorite finds are this long grain sack runner and this dough bowl!  

  I love the faded blue stripes and the heaviness of the fabric. (This is the new me, adding touches of blue here and there, remember? That post is here.)

 I'm pretty much obsessed with grain sacks right now!  I also got these red-striped ones, although I'm not sure where I'm going to put them yet.

But back to the dough bowl...I was on the hunt for one at a good price, and sure enough, I found one!  

I put it on the dining room table (for now) holding a bundle of wheat that I got at CL also.

A man set up at CL had just cut tons of bittersweet and had bundles of it drying all over his booth.

I've never bought it before, but I think it's really pretty and just says 'fall', so I got some!

 Now you know I love 'good junk', but even I have to admit that this find is pretty junky...a TRULY rusty bucket!

But I still love it, and think it looks good holding the bittersweet on my buffet.

These tiny skulls caught my eye at CL...gotta love a 'blingy' skull!

I copied an idea that I saw there and added some moss and put them in little tartlet tins.  They're that bit of unexpected whimsy that I love to add to keep my decor from looking too 'serious'!

They're currently keeping company with my ironstone in the dining room cabinet.

Here's a couple of other goodies that I picked up on this trip at a shop called Vintage Restyled. I chose these small letters to say 'nest', then at home I hooked them on a wire basket...

...and also picked out a collection of little clock faces.  Not sure what I'm gonna do with them yet, but I thought they were so fun!

Well, thanks for sticking with me through all these pictures!  I brought home even more finds, but I'll leave you with these for now.  Have a fantastic day!

On another note, one of my favorite bloggers, Kelly from Eclectically Vintage has her sunroom in an AT Room for Color contest.  I'd like to encourage you to go vote for her at http://bit.ly/16eGMGv.  Voting ends Friday at noon.  Thank you!

I'm sharing at these wonderful blogs:  Creative Home Expressions
                                                    i should be mopping the floor
                                                    Dwellings
                                                    A Stroll Thru Life
                                                    Cozy Little House
                                                    One More Time Events