I love fall with a passion! I love the crisp feel in the air, pumpkins and hay all around, the candy, the costumes, the laughter of children, Thanksgiving dinners, sweaters and the beautiful leaves. The best part of fall is the cozy feel outside, and I enjoy the inside of the home feeling cozy as well. Decorating your home for fall can be expensive if you go buy all new décor, but there are simple and inexpensive ways to add a touch of fall on the inside of the home.
One way to decorate without spending any money is to take advantage of all that Mother Nature offers us during this season. Take a walk and gather items that represent autumn that you can use on the inside of your home. Gather acorns and put them in a dish on a table. Stick a few bare branches inside a large vase. Place colorful leaves in a picture frame you already have. Pick some of the beautiful wildflowers growing in the fields, or cut off some colorful leafy branches and put them in a vase. Look around you!
Using a mix of smaller or larger pumpkins sparsely throughout your home will add to the fall feel. Use gold brads to add a touch of elegance. Push the brads into the natural lines of the pumpkin or try spray-painting the pumpkins a color that will continue with your décor: white pumpkins with painted polka dots are a fun way to display a pumpkin. Just be creative and use whatever you have on hand. It is always worth a quick Google search to see where family pumpkin farms are around in the area; they tend to have cheaper pumpkins prices, and it makes a great family outing.
You can also decoupage pumpkins, which can be inexpensive, depending on the price of the pumpkin. If the pumpkins are real, you will only be able to use them for one year obviously, however if you buy fake pumpkins for a couple dollars less, then spray paint them to whatever background color you prefer; they will last for years to come.
To decoupage, find pieces of scrapbook paper of the design you want for the pumpkins. Since scrapbook paper is so thick, a scanned copy of the scrapbook paper needs to be printed onto regular computer paper. Make sure you adjust any colors, and allow enough of the print to cover the pumpkin.
Cut out any prints that are not going to cover the entire pumpkin, position them on the pumpkin, and cover in Mod Podge.
If the print covers the entire pumpkin then cut the paper into strips to make it easier to work with when pasting it to the pumpkin with the Mod Podge. Work a little slower and smooth out as many wrinkles as possible. Finish with a full coat of Mod Podge on the entire pumpkin.
Another low-cost option is to purchase half yards of different fall fabrics and use them to make no-sew pumpkins. Purchase a newspaper for stuffing, and wad pieces up into balls. With the fabric lying flat start pulling up the sides while stuffing the inside to create a round circle to the fullness you prefer. Use twine to tie off the top, lastly run the twine down the sides to create pumpkin lines. This is very easy to achieve, and it’s pretty and inexpensive. You can use an array of sticks, gathered, cut off at the ends, and tied down into the top of the pumpkin for a stem; or for a scent inspired stem use cinnamon sticks, yum!
Make a wreath! Wreaths are a classic and timeless way to add to the front door decor. I always keep my eye out at garage sales and Goodwill for great prices on wreaths. Wreath rings are expensive, especially the wooden ones. I found a wooden wreath base the other day for$2 and purchased a long strand of fall flowers at Hobby Lobby that were 40 percent off, and now I can make a new fall wreath for less than $10.
Using items around the yard and around the home makes it possible to create the perfect autumn feel in the home. Open your mind, get creative, and enjoy this beautiful weather! It’s fall y’all!
April Sherrill is a staff writer for the Hamilton County Herald. Contact her at april@dailydata.com.