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.

~~~~~

I'm linking up here this week!

Last Day for $99 Ramsign Giveaway!

Have you entered the Ramsign House Number Sign giveaway yet? Why not? Don't you like to receive free things?

Ramsign are the makers of porcelain enamel signs finished by hand, and suitable for hanging inside or outside your home. Or, think about it as one more Christmas gift crossed off your list.

Look at some of these designs:

Still interested? 

Head over to here for the details and six chances to enter. 

Remember that the giveaway ends tonight at 8pm Eastern. 

Good Luck!

Ghosts of Halloween Past

Happy Halloween!

After the success of the poop factory costume, I thought I would do a little recap of Halloween(s) past and show off my girls and their costumes. In going through the pictures I realized that we dress our dogs up a lot. A lot. For just about any occasion too, even the made up ones. I think we might be having too much fun.


This is our old dog Bailey, a dog who was up for anything. That skirt is four cheerleader pompoms looped together. There was even a coconut bra. I'm sure Bailey was glad that didn't make the shot.

She was also in our wedding. She wanted to be the bride but I said no dice.

This was supposed to be a zebra, but it looked a little too "Hannibal Lecter" for me so that idea was scrapped.

Everyone wants to be the bunny.

This was after a family party at the cottage. I think Chloe got into the liquor cabinet when no one was looking.

Mad cow. 

More like slightly disgruntled cow. Maybe because she's wearing a ladybug costume. 

Good thing she brought her sidekick along for moral support.

The year Chloe grew her hair out.

Even dog siblings have to wear hand-me-down costumes.

Sometimes you feel like plundering...

And sometimes you just want to kick back in your island jammies.

Dressing up as a Christmas tree never gets old.

Am I the horse or the cowboy?

And of course, the pièce de résistance, the poop factory, in case you've forgotten what it looks like after this seemingly endless stream of photos.

Do we have some easy-going dogs or what? I'd submit these to dog-shaming, but honestly, they don't look very ashamed, do they?

Do you dress up your pets for Halloween? I'd love to see the pictures - link up in the comments if you want to.

Please don't leave me feeling like I'm the only crazy one.

~~~~~~~

Another reminder that the Ramsign house number sign giveaway is still going on. This is for a personalized house number sign worth up to $99! The deadline for entry is Friday, November 2nd and there are multiple ways to earn an entry ballot. If I didn't mention this before, the giveaway is open to anyone as they ship worldwide! Hurry up before you miss out!