Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Fall Vignettes

It was questionable, back in October, if any of our Halloween and fall decorations would see the light of day this year.  I might have mentioned it before that the container was buried waaaaay in the back of the storage space under the stairs and I wasn't sure it was worth it.  But, Justin came through and went to the trouble to take it out.  In addition to the usual Halloween decorations I decided to try something different this year after being inspired by a blog from the 31 Day Challenge.  The woman who started it all writes a blog called The Nesting Place about home décor.  For her 31 days she did 31 days of vignettes.  By vignettes, she meant decorative arrangements around the house.  I love a good vignette myself, and alas, since summer of 2012, when Ben really mobilized, my surroundings have been lacking in the vignette department because every decorative surface could be reached, climbed, or shaken.  We had to tie the end tables to the couches with twine because he would drag them around the room by the lets.  Now we are in the middle of Tessa's most destructive months.  She has started taking a few steps here and there (I will give a full update on her in the next week or two because it's almost her first birthday!) and her favorite thing to do is stand by the end tables in the living room, sweep her hands around as far as she can reach to throw whatever she can reach on the floor, and then ram the tables into the walls repeatedly while yelling "Gaaagaaagaaa!" triumphantly. 
 
I decided I wanted a few small areas to look pretty in the all encompassing kid zone that we live in so I bought some fall foliage branches at Hobby Lobby for my favorite vases and set up some vignettes. 
 
 
Pumpkins, berries, and globes.  How lovely!

 
One of those branches has pine cones to transition to Christmas.  Last year I kept meaning to buy real pine branches at a Christmas tree lot for vases but it never happened so I bought some fake ones while I was shopping.  The Halloween picture of Ben has now been replaced with a cornucopia. 

 
Of course it can't be Halloween and Thanksgiving season without gourds!  That bowl is a big hunk of carved wood.  It is what Justin brought me from Alaska. 

 
And finally, there is this cute little plush pumpkin that I found in the $ aisle at Target.  It is behind a glass door because some cat couldn't leave it alone and wanted to tear out the stuffing. 
 
It's hard to believe November is here and also another election day.  Justin is in Montana until tomorrow so I knew I was going to have to get to the polls with both kids by myself.  I pulled it off this morning!  I planned ahead so I didn't have to read any of the measures beyond the numbers and could just quickly fill in the bubbles so I could get my three ring circus, including stroller and two year old with various tractors saying "play with kiiiiids!" over and over because he though we were going to the Y, out of there quickly.  It was OK though.  The retired people who volunteer at the polls always seem to get a kick out of kids voting with their parents as long as the kids aren't destroying anything.  Only a few more hours before I can plant myself in front of the TV for a few hours and watch the results show up.  I have enjoyed election night coverage, even in non presidential years, ever since staying up until two in the morning waiting to see who would be President in 2000 when I was 17 and in the middle of senior Government class.  That was a fun year to be taking Government class.

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