Fall Touches On a Budget

With the exception of Christmas, Fall will forever be my favorite time of year. I don't think there is anything more beautiful than big full trees with leaves that are bright yellow, red, and orange. 

I grew up in Pennsylvania, so I was never wanting or lacking beautiful foliage. It's one of the perks of growing up in a rural area. Even the smells of Fall make me happy as does the ability to wear big sweaters and comfy boots all season long. 

But what also really makes me happy is when I can come home from a long day at work and unwind in my apartment while being surrounded by fall aromas and bright fall colors. However, achieving that can cost a pretty penny and at my age, when student loans and rent are my main financial priority, I can't be spending hundreds on beautiful decorations. Instead I have to get creative -- which I love!

This year I spent just about $103 on fall decorations and fall candles. It was a little high because I am a stickler for candlers and will only buy Bath and Body Works candles. (I blame that on my 4 year stint of working there.)

Back to the money and being frugal. Yes I spent just about $100, BUT, I got a huge orange decorative vase, a fall garland, supplies to make a fall banner, 3 mason jars, 2 large 3 wick candles, 2 candle holders, a small ceramic pumpkin candy jar, a medium-sized glass pumpkin, a Fall word canvas, and 5 different miniature small fall decor pieces.

Let's start with this photo. this is my living room. The focal point is obvious, it's the fireplace. Since it's the natural focal point, I decided to spend most of my money and time on fall decor for the fireplace. As you can see, it's bright and very fall like. For a more in depth discussion on this you can visit my blog post, Let the Fall DIY Decorating Begin!: Fall DIY Banner. As my earlier blog post explains, I made the "FALL" banner that hangs on the fire place. The rest of the decor is frugal finds that I mixed and matched to get the desired look I personally wanted. I also used mason jars on my coffee table to help tie in the fall theme. The medium sized mason jar has the same pauperie that is in the large jar on the mantle and the smallest mason jar is holding a small fall tea light candle. It's all about the small, simple details -- they really make a difference and bring a room together.

This next photo is a small display on my bookcase next to my fireplace. It includes 2 fall candles and 2 fall candle holders from Bath and Body Works as well as the medium-sized glass pumpkin that I mentioned before. It's a simple staging. And it also expands the fall theme throughout my living room. I also use it to hide my cable box that is peeking through in this photo. 

This final photo is of my dining room table. The orange plaid runner is actually a hand towel that was part of a set of 3 that my fiance's mom gave us. That was my inspiration for the center piece. The above center piece is actually 3 different pieces. The two sparkly, orange leaves on either side are something I added to give it more texture and of course bling! Each leaf was $1.19! And the main piece with the red sunflower, pine cone, and berries cost me $4.29! Add it all up and you have a pretty fall center piece for about $6.50. You can't beat that! And as I am sure you have noticed, I prefer simpler styles for my own home so it was the perfect combination and fix for my table.

I enjoy purchasing home decor and I enjoy following the trends of decorating but that doesn't mean that to do you, you or I have to break our budgets or spend hundreds of dollars. I spent $100 and I was able to thoroughly decorate my living room, decorate my dining room table, and even add some small fall accents in my kitchen. The key is to be patient and be CREATIVE. Sometimes things that are cheap and sold individually can actually look gorgeous and expensive when mixed together. 

If you have any frugal fall decorating tips I would love to hear them! Feel free to share below or send me an email. If you want your fall decorating tips to be featured  please send me an email with your tips and tricks and a photo or two of them on display. 

BIG NEWS TO SHARE!

If you've visited Houses to Homes before  you may notice that we now have this nice orange circle added to our home page. That's because we just recently were acknowledged for being one of the Best of 2015 for home services in Alexandria, VA! 

For most of you bloggers out there, I am sure you are laughing at this "award" and I am perfectly okay with that. But this is a big milestone for K&B Houses to Homes even if it is a small award. We only started in July and I will openly admit that we started this business without really knowing what we were doing. 

We read a lot of articles and did a lot of research and tried to prepare but how do you truly prepare to start a business that you've never ran before or better yet how to do you start any business when you have never started any kind of business in your whole life?!

Well I still don't quite have the answers to those questions. All that I can say is, take a deep breathe and take the leap. My fiance and I are still working our full time jobs and things have certainly slowed down for the business now that it's fall and our jobs have gotten crazy. But we at least have started! And that's the hardest part. 

I hope that this award is the first of many to come. I know this blog is still in it's early stages and all of you pro-bloggers see me as a dreamer. But I do truly hope to one day use this blog and my business as a full time job. I would love to help people make their houses, apartments, studios, or what have you into beautiful places that they can call home.

Here's to the future. And here's to hoping that the slow and steady turtle will eventually win this race! 

Thank you to all of you who have been reading Houses to Homes and who have hired us! We look forward to working with many more of you in the future! 

Let the Fall DIY Decorating Begin!: Fall Banner DIY

Now that the Labor Day festivities have finished and we’ve officially settled into September. It’s time to think about FALL! At least for me it is. Fall is my favorite season. I love the bright colors, the crisp air, and warm bonfires. It’s such a cozy and beautiful time of year. 

I live in Virginia, which means that even though it's September it's still about 90 degrees during the day. But I am originally from PA where fall really did begin in September. I can remember going pumpkin picking in sweaters by mid-September when I was younger but that's no longer the case here in VA. 

Regardless of the temperature, in my world once we pass Labor Day it's time to break out the fall decorations and begin making fall festival plans! This year I finally have a mantle to decorate so I spent this weekend getting the decorations ready. 

The fireplace banner has become popular the last year or so and while you can buy gorgeous pre-made ones in the store, they are usually pricey and I get more satisfaction out of decorations that I can make myself or add my personal touch to. 

So here is how you can make your very own fall fireplace banner.

First you will need to gather your supplies. You will need:

• Burlap (I bought fall themed burlap at Michaels -- it was about $5 for 9 feet)
• Scissors
• Twine
• Stapler or craft glue (I prefer a stapler)
• Measuring Tape
• Fabric Marker or decorative paint

Next you will have to measure your fireplace and mantel and decide how many space you want your banner to take up. Once you have done that you then can decide on the size of your squares or rectangles.

I created rectangles because of the look I wanted. They are 6 inches high and 5 inches wide. I then proceeded to cut 4 rectangles that were the exact same size.

Once your squares or rectangles are cut, you want to lay them out flat on the counter. You want to measure out the length of your twine. I used about 3.5 feet of twine. I planned to have 2 inches of space in between my rectangles when  they were hanging. But the distance is completely up to you -- use your own digression. Now that you've gotten your twine ready, you want to grab your craft glue or stapler. 

You want to flip your burlap over so that the side you want facing out is facing down on the counter. My burlap has pumpkins and gourds printed on it but you can use any kind, including plain burlap. Once your squares or rectangles are flipped over you want to either glue or staple the flap down. If you're using glue you want to be careful to only put it at the bottom of the flap so that you can still thread your twine through the flap. If you're using a stapler then you can just thread the twine through or put the twine under the flap before stapling because it will still be able to slide through for space adjustments. Once all of your pieces have their flaps glued or stapled down it's time to thread the twine through if you haven't already. Don't worry about the length on either end of the banner, you can adjust that and cut off any extra after you hang it.

Now that your banner is assembled it's time to add your letters. I spelled out Fall but you could spell our autumn or leaves or whatever you may like, just make sure each letter has it's own square, I used a fabric marker that I got from Rite Aid to create my letters. I liked how thick it was and I had more control over it than a paint brush. But if you have a steadier hand than me go ahead and use the paint! I went over my letters a few times with the marker to get it as dark as I wanted. Burlap isn't easy to color on! Once your letters are on your squares let it dry a few minutes. Then you are ready to hang it!

Above is my mantle with my fall banner. I also used a leaf and acorn fall garland that I found for $10 at a local fabric store. The rest of my mantel is from Home Goods. I simply took a large clear jar and put fall pauperie in it. I placed a ceramic jar by it. And on the other side is an orange vase I also found at Home Goods with decorative sticks in, I use those sticks with my normal blue vases but they also fit this decor so I used them for my fall mantel as well. Feel free to mix and match your fall banner with any and all of your mantel decorations.

And as always ENJOY! :)