EAB Designs

Fall Front Porch

 

 

It's always a joy to search for the perfect pumpkins for our seasonal decor. With the official arrival of fall, I've happily started to decorate our front porch. 

Once we bring home our pumpkins, I would normally remove the summer flowers in our urns to create pumpkin topiaries. However, even with chilly evenings, the flowers continue to thrive so I decided to keep them for a while longer. Flowering cabbage and mums were nestled in here and there for a touch of fall.

I love how the sweet potato vines make the pumpkins look like they are still growing in a patch.

As in previous years, I disguised the mums' plastic containers with some burlap wrapped with jute twine. They'll add a great pop of fall color once they bloom.

Welcome Fall ~ I'm so happy you have arrived!

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Fall Container Planting

With a touch of fall in the air, I've made a jump start on changing over some of the plantings in our garden and front porch containers.  I'm keeping it simple this year with the same plantings in a favorite combination of mine.

 

Flowering kale and black scallop bugleweed with mini white pumpkins nestled in.

 

 

Did you notice my twin white pumpkin in this container sharing the same stem?  As soon as I spotted it at our local farm stand, I knew it was coming home with me.

 

Preserved Boxwood Wreaths - New to the Shop

 

I'm happy to announce preserved boxwood wreaths are now available in my EAB Designs shop. Each wreath comes with a beautiful deep bronze, double faced satin ribbon.

The ribbon can be easily removed if you prefer to place your wreath on a mantel or among a favorite vignette in your home.

You can also nestle them in small urns or baskets.

I love to hang them on the backs of our chairs during the holidays.

As each one is handmade, there is a limited quantity available during this introductory period.  So, if you're interested hurry on over to the shop for further details.

Place Cards & Party Favors In One

When flowers from the garden are in abundance, I love incorporating them into petite bouquets which serve not only as place cards for our guests, but also as gifts to bring home at the end of the evening.

 

I love white ink on kraft colored card stock.  If you're happy with your handwriting skills, you can simply cut a tag from your cardstock and write the guests names on it.  For those who prefer to use their computer, simply insert a box with the colored background you prefer (in this case kraft color), insert a text box with your guest's name, change the font color to white, and print. From there you can proceed with cutting your tags out.

 

 

Punch a whole through the end of the tag and attach a bit of jute string, or ribbon, and tuck the ends into the bouquet.

 

 

I look for end of season sales, or clearance items throughout the year, to stock up on little vases for the bouquets.  Tea light candle holders also work great and are an inexpensive alternative.

 

 

English Garden Roses

 

Our English garden roses are blooming now and, as always,

they are just beautiful!

 

Little bouquets are popping up all over the house. 

 

 

 

Even our sweet little gerbils, Holly and Ivy, took time out to smell the roses.

A Visit to our Local Botanical Gardens

 

We love visiting the botanical gardens located just a few minutes drive from our home. With over 100 hundred acres, the gardens feature a native Virginia tree collection, wetland and walking trails with extensive shade and wildflower gardens.  This past weekend the tulips were in full bloom.

There's plenty of benches along the paths and spacious gazebos to sit and enjoy all the beauty around you.

You'll discover sculptures, a Korean bell garden and even the remains of an old springhouse (far right photo) which served the occupants of the original farm from the 18th through early 20th centuries.

The property also features three ponds with fountains.  Large catfish and turtles are abundant and fun to spot when gazing into the pond from the gazebo.

  

Throughout the year, you can enjoy seasonal blooms such as peonies and irises.  During our visit, the wisteria arbor was also in full bloom.  The peony garden was filled with buds and I can't wait to return to enjoy them.

Now Blooming...

Good Things Come to Those Who Wait

A couple of months ago, I was walking by a favorite store and spied this beautiful, hand-thrown, pedestal bowl through the window. I fell in love with its creamy white crackle glaze and was instantly smitten.  I took a photo with my iPhone and then checked the price.  At $100, I decided to wait for it to go on sale.

A couple of weeks ago, I checked on-line and the price was reduced to $58.  I meant to purchase it (as an early birthday present) but was interrupted and forgot. Then I caught the dreaded flu before Easter and was in bed for about ten days. Sometime during this time, the bowl was reduced again to $38 and was now sold out.  Darn!  Still recovering from the flu, my sweet husband drove to the store after discovering they had one last bowl in their inventory and he brought it home for me!

Here it is in its new home on our coffee table.  Now that I'm feeling better, I'm already thinking about all the wonderful things I will fill it with throughout the coming seasons.  Almost makes getting the flu worth it.  (Definitely not ... but I love my new bowl!)

Decorating with String Lights

On a recent trip to IKEA I was thrilled to discover their flower string lights were finally in stock.   I've wanted to purchase these for quite some time and began to fear they were only offered in Europe.  Truly, I couldn't put them in our cart fast enough. The girls love adding a string or two of Christmas lights to their rooms during the holidays, but why not enjoy something year round. They create such a cozy, magical and inviting space.  The girls are headed home for spring break this weekend and I can't wait to surprise them.

Decking our Halls with Boughs of Holly

 

 

Our dining room chandelier dressed up for the season.

 

 

Love these mercury glass vases filled with fresh boxwood.  I place the boxwood cuttings in mason jars filled with water and then place the jars into the vases. 

 

 

Our deep raspberry red living room needs only a touch of fresh greens and vintage ornaments to make it festive.  We have lots of windows in each room and from each one hangs a little boxwood wreath.

 

 

Stockings hung by the chimney with care.  These are the original stockings I made when we were first married and when our girls were born.  I've sewed burlap and linen ones for us in the past, but the girls prefer these to all the others.   I've shared before that my husband designed and built our mantel that we love so much.  He's actually added every piece of molding, baseboard or woodwork you see in our home.  We're blessed house projects happen to be his favorite hobby.

 

 

Copper and mercury glass ornaments fill our apothecary jars.

 

 

I gave this custom subway art to my husband last Christmas as a surprise.  He's from NYC and the stops are many of the ones he used on his daily commute to high school and college as well as places he liked to visit.  Fresh cedar is tucked in amongst some favorite family photos.

We place our fraser fir Christmas tree in our family room each year.  With the girls away at college, this is the first year my husband and I ventured out to pick out a tree without them. Thank goodness for iphones because we were taking pictures and sending them to the girls.  We have the tree outside and will bring it in to decorate once the girls are home.  So I'll share pictures of our family room and tree then.  Thanks for stopping by and sharing in our little holiday tour.  As always, if you'd like the sources for anything you've seen, just let me know.

Christmas Swag - Silver & Fresh Greens

 

The weather was beautiful today so I spent some time outdoors creating holiday swags for our front door, mailbox and gates.

I love mixing silver & mercury glass with fresh evergreens, so when I came across a photo (from Stacy Nash of Primitive Designs), showing her addition of a vintage creamer and sugar bowl to her holiday swag, I was inspired to add this whimsical touch as well. (I purchased my vintage sugar and creamer set from Sandi at Wayside Treasures on Etsy. You can visit Sandi's beautiful blog where she shares many of her wonderful French inspired creations.)

 

For our front door swag, I used a mix of fresh cedar, noble fir and holly.  While living in California, our Christmas tree was always a beautiful noble fir.  We miss being able to have a noble fir here on the east coast, so finding a few cuttings of this at a local nursery was a welcomed surprise.

Helpful Tips in Creating Evergreen Swags

Florist paddle wire is perfect for constructing and securing the greens together.  I find that 24 gauge works best.  Rather than cutting lengths of wire, secure the end and then hold the paddle in your hand and tighlty wrap it around the greens cutting the wire after the bunch is secured.  I secure each type of evergreen together first, and then wire them into one swag.  To hang the swag, I use a double piece of wire which I insert into the wrapped wires on the back of the swag and form it into a circle which can then be hung from a hook.

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Paperwhites & Boxwood

 

 

During the holidays, I love filling our home with fresh greens. We have an abundance of beautiful boxwood, holly and cedar trees on our property that allow me to gather whatever I need.  Since we spend a lot of time in our kitchen, it's the first room I always decorate.  In the urns by the sink, I stacked some petite apples and mixed in cuttings of English boxwood.

 

 

The large oversized window, by the sink, lets in lots of light - the perfect place to force paperwhites.  I just nestle the bulbs in some pebbles, with no soil, and they seem to grow by the minute.  We're lucky to have a few days of warm temperatures ahead, so tomorrow I'll be outdoors adding a few white lights to our front holly bushes and creating a swag for the front door which I'll share with you then.

We kicked off the holiday season by attending an evening performance of the U.S. Army Band "Pershing's Own" annual holiday festival at the historic Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Constitution Hall.  It was a wonderful show, as always, and here is a peek at the stage.

On our walk to DAR Hall, we passed the Old Executive Office Building, also an historical landmark.  It's charming architecture was enhanced with a bit of holiday decor as well.  Hope you all enjoyed a fun filled weekend!