Feeling Berry Orange

Although I can hardly believe October has arrived, it is finally starting to feel like autumn. The leaves have begun to change, and we’ve starting working on new display decorations for our Christmas lights. I’m anxious to delve into some “fall” recipes – including a tasty looking one I found for butternut squash soup. (I’ll post pics and the recipe next week.) I love when October arrives. It is the first of three full months of themes! I love when events, etc, are themed. I already have my planner all set up with a ton of cute Halloween and autumn art projects to do this month with the little ones I’ve been watching in my daycare. I even decorated the playroom a little, just to get myself, the kids, and their families into the excitement. I made leaves for the tree using the kids hands! This week’s theme was leaves (I may repeat the theme in November, since we had such a good time with it.) I took the boys outside and we picked a bunch of leaves. I pressed them in one of my cook books overnight, and then we made wreathes using the pressed leaves, construction paper, and with a bit of sparkly glue (I watered down school glue and added some glitter – we used paint brushes to adhere the leaves to the construction paper, and brushed on extra of the glue/glitter mix to add sparkle and longevity). I think they turned out really cute! Very toddler-friendly - perfect! I enjoy looking through decoration magazines. When I see something I think I could recreate…I challenge myself to do it. With a toddler running around touching everything, trying to stick things in his mouth and up his nose, and pulling things down (he can reach the stove now – scary!!), I decided to only set out a few country-chic decorations this year. I found fall berry vines at the craft store, and they became the “theme” for all decorations in the kitchen, dining, and family rooms. Here are a couple things I came up with. The little jars of berries are set in threes all over the kitchen. They are small so I have them set out of the way and not using up counter space. The Vase with flowers and berries, etc. is on a table in the dining area. The fall basket is in the family room, and the broom I made and attached to the front door. Also – We decided to make our own Halloween decorations this year. I didn’t want to make anything scary or gruesome…so instead I came up with these. They were easy to make. I drew out the figures on plywood and Tony cut them out with a handsaw. Next I painted them using paints we already had (from our Christmas collection), and polyurethaned them so they’ll stand up to the rain and wind, and we’ll be able to use them again. We haven’t finished setting up the front yard yet…Tony is going to attach stakes to the back of these, and along with some mums, and some corn stalks…well…you’ll see once we’re all finished.