Gingham Sheet Set - Serena & Lily

Do you agree that one of the great simple pleasures in life is a new set of sheets?  I just love the feeling of new sheets - it's such a treat!  I've had my eyes on the Serena & Lily Gingham sheets for a while, so I was absolutely thrilled when the lovely people at Serena & Lily offered me a product to review.

Serena & Lily offers so many beautiful and timeless sheet sets, so it's hard to choose, but I really, really love the simple gingham pattern.  I choose color Fog.  I love the neutral color and it works well with my existing bedding and pillows.

The sheets are made in Portugal (love that) and are 100% cotton percale.  The cotton percale gives the sheets a nice crisp feel.

I've been using the sheets for almost a week now and am really enjoying them.  I love that the scale of the gingham on the fitted sheet is different than on the pillowcases and top sheet.

I had to throw in a few dahlia photos.  I bought these at the farmers market last weekend.  They are just so pretty.  I'm growing dahlias for the first time in my garden this year, but they must be a little behind because I've only had a few open so far. Lots of buds though, so that's a good sign!

For 20% off your first order at Serena & Lily, use this link.  Big thanks for Serena & Lily for the opportunity to review these lovely sheets!  I have a feeling I'll be enjoying these for a long time to come.

Fall Decorating - DIY Tablescape

Last weekend I worked on a Fall Tablescape.  It was a lot of fun to put together!  I started with the DIY centerpiece box I build last year (Find the easy tutorial HERE) and then filled it up with a whole bunch of fall goodness.

The white pumpkins are real, but the gold ones are inexpensive plastic ones I bought at Hobby Lobby and spray painted gold.  

The gold leaves are from last year too.  I found some oak leaves in the yard, pressed them flat for a few days in between books, and then spray painted them gold.  Quick and easy!

The green hydrangeas might just be my favorite part.  My mom cut these from her yard earlier this summer and dried them.  She brought me over a whole bunch - they are so pretty!

The purple-blue flowers are some type of thistle, I think and came in a grocery store bouquet.  They were in water, but I think they will dry really nicely here in the centerpiece.  The other bits of greenery are Lamb's Ear, a perennial we have growing in the yard.  They were  a perfect filler for the centerpiece box.

The place mats are brand new - I just bought them from Crate & Barrel.  Find them here.

I'm sharing this post with Inspire Me Tuesday at A Stroll Through Life. 

Handmade Holidays: DIY Christmas Card Holder

This year I wanted a better way to display my Christmas cards.  Normally I place them all in a basket and keep it out throughout the holidays, but they are all too pretty not to see! I love how this simple holder turned out and I'm looking forward to seeing all my cards on display this year.

Supplies:

- Wood boards (size of your choice - I used 1 x 2 boards)

- Chicken wire

- Spray paint (if desired, for chicken wire)

- Saw and miter box

- Hammer

- Wood glue

- Wire clippers / cutters

- Paint or stain (color of your choice for boards)

- Finish nails

- Sand paper

- Staple gun & staples

Directions:

1.  Use a saw and miter box to cut boards to length of your choice with 45 degree ends.  My finished card holder is 36" long x 17" h.

2.  I used finish nails and a little wood glue at each corner to attach the boards together.  I'm sure there is a better way, but this worked for me!  Use sand paper to smooth each board and prep for painting.  Paint and set aside.

3.  Use wire clippers to cut chicken wire to size.  I wanted to make the chicken wire stand out a bit and look a little fancier than the plain silver finish, so I spray painted it gold.  To do this, I attached the ends together with clothes pins, and then sprayed it.  This worked well because the chicken wire wouldn't stay flat, and also I was able to spray both sides at once.  Let dry before attaching to boards.

4.  Use a staple gun to attach the chicken wire to the back of the boards.

5.  Display and enjoy!

I just love how the gold spray paint looks on the chicken wire.  I used a few old cards from last year to test out my new holder.

I found little gold clothes pins at Michael's to attach the cards to the chicken wire.

I hope you're having a great week - can you believe that Christmas Eve is only two weeks away?!

Fall Tablescape & Centerpiece Box Tutorial

Fall officially begins this week.  I can't remember a summer flying by as quickly as this one did.  I wouldn't mind a bit more summer, but there's no stopping it!  I started Fall decorating last week with the project I worked on with the Home Depot (see it here).  Today I am back with a tutorial on the centerpiece box.  It is so easy and only took an hour to put together. 

  

Supplies for Centerpiece Box:

- (2) poplar 1 x 6 boards; 30" long (for the sides)

- (2) poplar 1 x 6 boards; 8-3/4" long (for the ends)

- (1) poplar 1 x 8 board; 30" long (for the bottom)

- Finishing nails; 1-1/2" size

- Wood glue

- Stain-able wood filler

- Sandpaper

- Stain of your choice (I used Minwax Classic Gray)

1.  Apply a small amount of wood glue to the end of the bottom piece and attach one side.  Use finishing nails to secure.

2.  Attach other side in the same way.

3.  Attach one end.

4.  Attach other end piece.

5.  Now, use a counter-sink tool and recess each finishing nail (please ignore the glue on my hand in this photo!)

6.  Using a putty knife, fill each recessed nail hole with filler.  After filler has dried, sand entire box.

7.  Now, your box is ready to finish any way you'd like.  I used Mixwax Penetrating Stain in Classic Gray, and then finished of with a touch of DecorArt's Metallic Lustre in color Champagne Ice.

That's it!  I had all my wood cut at Home Depot, so this project was super easy to put together.  Next up, filling the box.  I used floral foam blocks in the bottom of my box (not wet, just dry) to bring up the height a bit.

Then I added candles.

And then a variety of pumpkins, gourds, and squash.

And finally, greenery.  I used lamb's ears and kale, picked from my yard, and ornamental purple kale from a plant I bought at the farmer's market.

Tuck the green in all the bare spots around the box. Just keep adding greens until the box is all filled out.  Of course, if you want this to last all season, just use artificial greenery.

Here are more photos of the finished box and my Fall tablescape.

Have a great week and enjoy the official start of fall!

I've shared this post with:
- The Fall into Fall Party at DIY by Design