Five Minute Fall Decorating

I challenged myself this year to do 5 minute fall decorating projects using pretty much what I have around me.  

I love fall, but I needed to keep things simple because as most of you know, my house and farm are up for sale.  This is the first house I've lived in in 20 years that didn't have a mantel.  *sigh*  Hopefully, my next one will have a toasty fireplace with a pretty mantel for me to decorate again.  In the meantime, I'll make do with shelves.

I have 3 lanterns, so I filled them with natural stuff....Bittersweet berries, small white pumpkins and buckeyes from my friend Mary at Sweet Little Bluebird.

I love Bittersweet vine and berries and if I were going full out fall, I'd use a lot more of them.  You can read about Bittersweet that grows wild in Missouri by clicking HERE.  Cutting these vines is one of my favorite fall activities and memories of hunting Bittersweet with my Mother-in-Law are some of my favorites.  Thank you Virginia for teaching me so much about Missouri wildflowers, trees and berries!  

I've had this little glass pumpkin votive candle holder since, I think, 1979.  It was something I bought from a Home Interiors party back when I bought my first house and had very little money.  It was a splurge and I agonized over buying it.  I keep it in the box it came in and still treat it like gold every year when I bring it out and put a pumpkin spice candle in it.  Makes me smile every time.  (So do those little buckeyes in that small glass.)

I found this little cornucopia in the thrift store for a quarter.  It's perfect for a sprig of that wonderful bittersweet.  The tiny dried gourd is from my trip to the Gourd Festival in Arizona with my good friend Judy several years ago.

Oh...and that harvest moon that you see in to the right of my shelf in the first picture is really just a box lid that I loved, so, I hung it up on the wall.  Isn't he fabulous?  (I did not paint it, but I was smart enough to use it as a wall hanging instead of a box lid.)

Most of this fall decor will stick around through Thanksgiving, but some of it will be transformed a little for Halloween.  It's killing me not to go crazy for Halloween, but, I'm pretty sure it's not a good idea for your house to look like a haunted house for potential buyers.  I've been advised to be tasteful and use moderation in my Halloween decor.  Do you think I can do it??

Even though it's about to be full-blown fall here, it's spring-time in New Zealand and my good friend Natalie from NorthShore Days is over at the Inspiration Cafe today sharing a fabulous wrap recipe to kick off our new series "Soups and Sandwiches".  Perfect for fall here.  You can check it out by clicking on the pick below.

We'll be having a link party for sandwiches and/or soups at the end of this series, so if you have a favorite recipe for either or both, you have about a month to make it and post about it.

Linkin up to: