"Birch Bark" Painted Vase

I'm starting to wrap up my fall crafting and lean more towards Christmas. But I thought I'd sneak in one more  fall-type craft that I've been wanting to do for a long time, this "birch-bark" vase. It might not look like birch bark to everyone, but it sure does to me.

Luckily, depending on how you fill the vase, it can be used year round. In fact, it gives off a bit more of a winter vibe to me than a fall one. What say you?

I've seen this idea all over the place - check out a couple of versions here and here - and knew I had the perfect vase for it. I bought this 12" vase at one of my company yard sales, for $1 or $2 I think. Don't you love the height and the thick, heavy glass it's made of?

I liked Emily's (Merrypad) way of spray painting with shades of brown first to give a more natural bark look rather than having it be clear in the unpainted spots. I used two colours, Rustoleum's espresso and nutmeg, both in a satin finish. You know, I kind of like how the browns blend and wouldn't mind having a vase just like this.

Once it was dry I added rubber bands in a random non-pattern and then started spraying on very light coats of white. True confession time - I was so excited to get to the painting that I accidentally started spraying on the white before I put the elastics on. Thank goodness it was just a little mist in one spot when I realized what I was doing and stopped. Tom says he wished he had the camera ready because the look of horror on my face was priceless.

Several coats later I let it dry completely and then snipped off the rubber bands. The edges where the elastics met the glass were a little rough in places so I sanded them with a high-grit sandpaper. There are imperfections where the elastics were, but I think that makes it more natural. Have you ever seen a perfect tree?

There isn't a lot of foliage around to decorate with this time of year, so I snipped off some branches from our tree out front. The tree has these crazy wiggly branches and the leaves always look like they're dying for a drink. If you know what kind of tree it is, please let me know. I also added in some orange and red berries from the dollar store.

This is one of my favourite projects. I think it's the clean lines that get me. And birch trees are my absolute favourite tree in the world. In fact, we're considering pulling out the crazy, drama-queen-looking-for-a-drink-of-water tree out front and replacing it with a white birch next year.

And even though there are brown undertones, the light does still pass through the glass and give it a glow in the afternoon.

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I'm linking up here this week!

Practical Paleo

Look what showed up at my door yesterday! 

I shouldn't really be surprised since I ordered it last week and I've been hanging out by the mailbox like a crazy stalker ever since. Have you read Diane Sanfilippo's Practical Paleo?

To be honest, I was a bit hesitant to buy it just because of the price, and I already have two Paleo books, but it was recommended so highly that I went for it. And when it arrived I could see the justification for the price - look at how thick this thing is! That's a lot of eating to look forward to. It's not just a cookbook though, it's a guide to Paleo living with explanations of why it just might be right for you, and 30 day meal plans (with links to the recipes).

I've been following Paleo for about a year now, but I'm by no means an expert. I'll direct you to this link for an excellent explanation of what it is. Basically it is eating only natural, unprocessed foods that have high-nutrient value, aren't irritating to your body, and taste good!

I haven't been as stringent as I probably could sometimes (there was a jujube-hoarding incident that we won't go into), but even so I feel so much better. I kicked my potato chip addiction (still working on the sugar addiction), I don't feel bloated in the afternoon any more, and as an added bonus I've lost 30 pounds.

Okay, it's really hard to talk about Paleo without sounding like you're selling something. Let me just show off some of this book! (Though I'm afraid that my photos of her photos don't do it justice.)

bison burgers with sweet potato "buns"

chocolate truffles (yes, you can have dessert!)

food prep

tailored meal plans

Anyone out there tried Paleo or a similar lifestyle change? What did you think? Did everyone around you think you were crazy? 

(and yes, that's Ana White's The Handbuilt Home underneath. I'm saving it for the weekend!)

Fall Tabletop Centerpiece (and a giveaway winner!)

Did everyone have a great weekend? Did you take advantage of the extra hour of sleep (if you observe the time change)? We spent Saturday cooking soups and casseroles for Tom's mom (she's not feeling well and we thought she'd appreciate not having to cook), we took the dogs for a long walk, and then we crashed in front of the television for the rest of the night. Today, besides getting meals ready for the coming week (we're starting another Whole30 on Monday - wish us luck!), I managed to put together a little fall-flavoured tabletop centrepiece.

But first, before we get into how I made it, I need to make a giveaway announcement. The winner of the Ramsign house number sign giveaway is #59, Tiffany Taylor! Congratulations Tiffany! I'll pass your contact information on to Ramsign and you'll have your new sign in no time. That rhymed far too much.

For everyone else, Ramsign is holding a giveaway of their own right now - that's right, you have another chance to win a house number sign!

Okay, so back to the centerpiece. I got the idea when I was at the hospital flipping through the October issue of Style at Home magazine while I waited for my sister to get out of surgery (nothing major, she's okay now). It was called "the decorated tree" and created by managing editor Catherine Therrien.

Sorry I only have a scanned page, I couldn't find an image online.

So while we were out on our walk on Saturday I had Tom cut off a couple of tree branches that looked promising. Don't worry, I didn't trespass on anyone's property - I trespassed at the local elementary school.

I used a medium-sized flower pot from the dollar store and wrapped the sleeve of an old sweater around it for texture. I then filled it with river rocks to hold the branches in place.

I hot-glued acorns and pinecones collected on our walk in Gravenhurst on Labour Day weekend to random spots on the branches. I have some potpourri left over from other projects and glued some of the small flower petals on as leaves. Maybe they're more seed pod than flower petal, but the orange colour is perfect for fall.

I finished it off by putting a few acorns in the flower pot on top of the rocks, and then scattering more potpourri and acorns around the pot. Tom pointed out that it looks like the scattered leaves and acorns have fallen off the tree, like they would in the fall. I can't believe I didn't see that. I just put them there to add more colour to the shot. Sometimes that boy amazes me.

And now we have this sweet centerpiece. The height is something different from what I usually do. And the shades of orange and brown make me so happy. Plus, the cozy sweater keeps me thinking that it won't be that hard to ward off the freezing cold that's coming way too soon.

Are you using nature to decorate with this fall? I've been re-using my dryer vent pumpkins from last year and recovering them with natural fabrics to give a warmer look and feel.

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I'm linking up here this week!