Fall is about cozy details.
This week would be a great time to gather up your soft blankets, wool scarves and felt to re-purpose them around the house! I’m not that skilled with a lot of the domestic arts, but I love ideas that make me feel like I had some “hands on” experience in creating special things for my home. So, grab your glue gun or glue sticks and get ready for 8 EASY “homespun” ideas! Fall is in the details.
- How about creating your own monogram with felt & glue? Trace and cut a monogram out of felt. Adhere it on a pretty piece of fabric and tack around an ordinary pillow. Instant personality!
- Add a strip of wool and some fringe to ready made curtains or sheets with a trusty glue gun and even I can be a seamstress!
- I loved those cute little “balls of yarn” in a bowl. These are simply strips of wool wrapped around craft Styrofoam. Such a cute fall accessory for a coffee table or entry table!
- Bundle up your summer pillows, shams and bedding with layers of coziness! Wrap existing shams with scarves, old blankets, flannel sheets, or a sweater. Tie and or tack in place for instant fall warmth.
- Make a seasonal dust ruffle with a blanket or flannel sheets. Tie loose edges with ribbon for a special detail.
- Create sweet little silhouettes of your favorite pooch to fill up an empty wall! Spray paint mismatched frames in autumn colors. Trace whatever shape you want onto black felt. Cover the frame’s cardboard insert with a flannel sheet (how cute to use hounds tooth with a hound silhouette!). Glue the felt shape on to the sheet and reassemble frame.
- Warm up a cold doorway with a no sew blanket curtain! Fold over a rod or hang from hooks. For a custom look, fold over top to create a “valance.” Looks great and can save energy if you use a warm blanket around a drafty door or window. This is something I do every year because we have old windows!
- Use plaid or autumn colored wool scarves to dress up a table or chair!
Find monogram templates here (you will probably have to shrink them down to size if you want to use them on a pillow) as well as other templates for decorating pumpkins!
Photos and ideas found at Better Homes & Gardens!
This post adapted from a post published in Fall 2008.
I think I sadly neglected to mention the winner of the awesome gilding kit from Caromal Colours…my apologies. The winner is Nicole at Our Cozy Nest! If you didn’t win the kit (ha, most of us didn’t), I strongly encourage you to check out the Caromal Colours website and perhaps make gilding one of your fall projects! Don’t forget to mention PattyH as your code when you order!
Love that checked chair and houndstooth rug! Great pics!
.-= Trish@TheOldPostRoad´s last blog ..Still Life, a Sling, and Giveaways =-.
Warm, cozy, and snuggly ideas Melissa!
Robin
All Things Heart and Home
.-= Robin All Things Heart and Home´s last blog ..New Bedding for Under a Hundred Bucks! And a new book review! =-.
Ah Fall. I think I may need to make some of those delightful balls.
.-= Suzann from The Olive Cottage´s last blog ..The Post YOU made. =-.
Great ideas all although I use woolens gleaned from thrift stores to felt and make useful things.
.-= Sandra´s last blog ..Sabbath Keeping =-.
the dog wall is adorable. Well done!
.-= The Blushing Hostess´s last blog ..What they ate: 2009 Emmy’s Governors Ball =-.
I always enjoy your posts. Living in Phoenix, it doesn’t feel like fall right now with the temperatures still high. So, I have to use a little bit of ingenuity with scented candles and autumn centerpeices for my table.
Happy Fall!
.-= Debbie´s last blog ..How To Experience Autumn in Phoenix =-.
COZY………… i love cozy !
.-= COZY KIITCHEN BY THE SEA´s last blog ..Buffalo Chicken Strips =-.
Love all these tips! I wish there were more pics of these cute ideas! Oh, and I am really loving the framed poochie idea. THAT is perfect!
.-= Amber´s last blog ..Surprise Bebe Shower =-.
as usual, fabulous
good thing i’m scottish. i have lots of wool plaid scarves laying around even though i live in florida :)
.-= Emily@remodelingthislife´s last blog ..Link Love =-.
I love the “balls of yarn” and the dog silhouettes!
.-= Sarah @ In A Dream´s last blog ..Need A Change =-.
How cute are those ideas, they are so simple and obvious, yet most of us don’t do them… Love all those kinda mags which encourage crafting… wish I had more time for it tho!
.-= Annie@A View On Design´s last blog ..Toorak Spanish Style, VIC =-.
Some interesting ideas to try – I wouldn’t have thought about using a fall scarf as a table runner but I have a couple that could actually work – and it would add a cool texture. Also loved the idea of the yarn balls; another idea with them would be to cut 1″ strips of fabric and layer and glue them in place….maybe even let the edges fray a little for the added texture.
Even though we want to cozy up for fall, we still need a bit of sparkle in our decor. Instead of ribbon on the dust ruffle maybe use a big brooch pin or maybe add a little glued on jewel to a “dog collar” in the silhouettes…….
Great ideas to get us started thinking – though it’s still too hot here in Arizona to do much more than think about it.
.-= Terrie@YourDecoratingHotline´s last blog ..Design Innovations – or are they?? =-.
It’s sad to say – I’ve hardly found time to decorate my home for this cozy season. But these are fabulous ideas, and they give me some motivation to get started! Thanks!
.-= Kristen @ Beautifully Imperfect´s last blog ..Sitting in Silence =-.
Love all the fall nesting tips!! It is starting to feel a little cooler here in the desert of Eastern Oregon, and I am so happy for it! The pumpkin patch will be opening soon, and it will be time to go get those pumpkins and start decorating. I just love this time of year! :)
.-= beth´s last blog ..Back in project mode with a furniture makeover =-.
Thank you for the monogram template link and all the great ideas.
.-= London Calling´s last blog ..Tour: A Deco District Beauty =-.
Love the doggies…where did you get the great silhouettes?
I am laughing because a few years ago I accessorized my the primitive country den with those balls of fabric you have pictured. After a house-full of 20 guests, I found the balls all over the house. Apparently the nieces and nephews didn’t quite get the esthetic picture I was trying to create in my den and thought they were fair game for tag ball!
.-= Diane Costanza´s last blog ..Chair Make-Over =-.
I love those cozy details. I remember seeing that in the BHG magazine last year and was inspired at the time, I never did anything with that inspiration! Maybe now’s the time!
.-= Gina´s last blog ..Homegrown Pumpkins =-.
Love the ideas! The pics are so cozy looking. I actually made those same balls after seeing them in BH&G. Mine were a spring/summer version using tennis balls. You can see them here:
http://afinehouse.blogspot.com/2009/06/fabric-alert.html
Thanks Melissa-
Great ideas- love the bed skirt idea- I really need to get moving on “Fall” nesting. =)
Have a great day
Teresa
.-= teresa´s last blog ..Blissful today- =-.
Great ideas!! I need to make some time to ‘cozy’ up the house… and soon!!
.-= Jennifer´s last blog ..A Glimpse =-.
I’ve been thinking about blankets a lot lately. I have several in the living room and they are not very nice – they are just useful. I’ve been thinking for a few months how I should replace them with useful and PRETTY blankets. Blankets that will be functional and improve the room aesthetically.
Your post convinces me to do this – yet again.
Tracy
.-= The Crazy Suburban Mom´s last blog ..Can you hear me now upadate and another painting =-.
Great tips! I think I actually might try the “blanket curtain” idea. Super easy and will warm up my dining room.
I am so loving blog posts about fall right now, my FAVORITE time of year.
Thanks for your inspiring posts!
Tricia
.-= Tricia @ danish dessert´s last blog ..the big reveal (catherine’s finished bedroom)… =-.
Great ideas! Love the first one…felt monogram! Definetely trying that one! ~Rhonda :)
I love those doggy prints.
.-= Beach Vintage´s last blog ..It was all Yellow =-.
I second Debbie from Phoenix’s comment – as it’s a little tougher to get into the “fall mood” and layer on the blankets HOWEVER….I’m really loving that light lavender blanket in one of your pics and it’s something I wouldn’t mind using to layer anything with.
So, any house updates, dear friend? :-)
xoxo lylah
.-= lylah ledner´s last blog ..My Notebook on Living Life =-.
Love your ideas! Is there anything better than that cozy feeling you add to your home this time of year?
Kristin
.-= The Romance Chick´s last blog ..Fireproof Movie Review =-.
Melissa, I am fairly new to your blog, but I love it…I gave you a blog award, you can check it out on my blog at
http://dogmomdiva.blogspot.com/
take care,
Barb
.-= Barb Boyack´s last blog ..BEST BLOG AWARD =-.
I love the scarf idea!!
.-= Amy @ Living Locurto´s last blog ..Harry Connick Jr. – New Album Giveaway =-.
I’m afraid you lost me at blankets. I think that blankets must be my favourite things in the whole world… cashmere, lambswool, alpaca, mohair…. okay. I’m off back to bed!
.-= Passementerie´s last blog ..An Inordinate Fondess for Beetles =-.
Hi Mel,
Loving your nesting fall. It’s cool to see the profs doing and what I been doing on my nesting fall at home.
Ah! been chilly here in Sweden… so much nesting to come…
Am loving those blankets. It seems so cosy. I who have colds since a week will love laying back with all those lovely blankets. Thanks for giving me the warm feelings.
xoxo
.-= Chie´s last blog ..A chilly day! Autumn really is here to stay =-.
Melissa, I love your ideas for Fall coziness… it has been a chilly few days here in Michigan, I even broke down and fired up the furnace today! Sigh…… None the less, I think so many of us would say that this time of year is our favorite. I love the bed dust ruffle idea out of flannel sheets – brilliant!
I contacted Nicole, and her gilding kit is on its way! They were even nice enough to send off 25 sheets of each leaf color, so she gets a bonus of 75 sheets instead of 50!
Wonderfully sweet ideas for fluffing the nest for fall!
blessings
mary
.-= Mary´s last blog ..A Complete Bedroom Redo – Furniture too- for only $10.00!! =-.