TownGirl: Holiday Grand Plan Progress

The front porch is done, the door decoration, door mat and number project are done. The wicker furniture is in the storage shed, I'll wait until closer to winter to raise the porch swing. We have never raised our porch swing before and it's starting to show. Next spring (are seasons capitalized?) I plan on sanding and painting the porch swing.

I have never ~~stressed out~~ thought so much over a floral arrangement. The Nester recently had a P.O.O.P.I.E. party so I can never look at faux flowers the same way. I was nearly paralyzed at Hobby Lobby trying to find pretty fall flowers for my door pocket. I finally invested $1.99 in the pods and feathers you see above. Then I remembered the wheat my mom had the foresight of saving out of the field and went around my parent's yard picking up hackberry limbs that fell during Ike. I plucked the dried leaves off the hackberry limbs, trying to keep the berries intact. Then I ~~spent an hour putting~~ threw this together. I am (obviously) no floral designer and I know I need some shorter filler things in there but hey, it's done and I'm happy with it. I kept repeating "It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful" to myself. If this were going on my wall for any length of time I might obsess a little more over it, but soon I'll be changing it out for the winter and it's done. I have a tendency to be so overwhelmed by making something perfect that I just don't do it at all. Which is why the interior of my house perpetually undone. I've posted my shiny, fake geraniums that were taking up residency in my door pocket just to see what my summer decoration looked like. I know, I know, the geraniums looks fake so I'll have to come up with something new for next summer.

I have always wanted a nice, beautiful wreath hanging on my door, a la Nester. But alas, my thoughts of going with "naked" on a screen door got shot down. So I have about a 5" clearance between my front door and the storm door. I gleaned an idea from Mrs. Wilt but I can no longer find it on her website since she has moved. I dug out this wall pocket from storage and added some strong magnets to the back of it. Next I bought some wooden drawer knobs and painted them. I added a strong magnet to the back of them and hung one on the door. Then I added some ribbon to the wall pocket and gave it the appearance as though it's hanging from the knob. I think I'd like to add a picture frame to the vignette but I can't decide. When I stand back and look at the finished product it seems too small....thoughts on that? (Yes I know my curtains are hung too low, that's another post for another day, now quit peeking inside my house, focus on the door.)

I was thrilled to find a fall rug at Meijer that had my "Delft Tile" blue in it. This is the color I was painting everything this summer. I like the way it looks with our khaki trim and it was $10.00. Which is more than I wanted to pay but I was having one of those retail therapy days (you know the "I-deserve-something-new-even-if-it-costs-ten-dollars-more-than-I-have" days).

I also finished my house number project. I feel really bad but I cannot remember where I saw this idea so I cannot give proper credit. It was something I had sketched in my design notebook which means I could have seen it anywhere, a magazine, book, website, some one's house. I need to start copying down where I see it so I can give credit where it is due. I bought a simple wooden picture frame and numbers, painted them and glued them together. Then I slipped a piece of scrapbook paper into the picture frame. I bought these numbers at JoAnn Fabrics this summer. I thought they were a little funkier than the ones I found at Michael's or Hobby Lobby. And you know me, I'm all about funky. Gotta have the funk. Sorry, I digress.

We have a covered porch so I am not too concerned about the elements (I bought the cheapest frame I could find and it didn't have glass). I can change out the scrapbook paper with the seasons or my mood (or when it gets rained on, whichever comes first). It is not permanently hung yet but you get the idea. I realized when I looked at it this morning that the numbers are crooked...did I mention it doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful? The numbers are painted Valspar's "Delft Tile" from the Martha Stewart collection at Lowe's.