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Fall Decorations–Use What You’ve Got

November 15, 2010 By Colleen Jorgenson 4 Comments

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I almost said Forget It this year. I mean, I’m staying with my mother and all my decorations are packed in storage and neither Mom nor I are going to buy anything new.

It would’ve been really easy to just forget it. There’s only two more weeks and then it’ll be time to put Christmas up.

But I didn’t. And it was fun.

This is the kind of decorating we’d do for displays when I worked retail. Except we wouldn’t cut the florals apart since the goal was to sell product – at least for the store owners.

It’s super simple, and you just use what you’ve got – even if it isn’t for Fall. No painting, no glue, no sewing, nothing that requires any floral design . . . or skill, really.

I’ll show you the table today.

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Mom has this cute fall tablecloth. But she didn’t want the whole table covered.

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I just folded it into thirds and made a runner. No, I didn’t even bother to iron it.

Maybe I should call this the “Lazy Gal’s Guide to Decorating”.

I like using fabric to lay down a base of color. It just instantly transforms any space with color.

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The candles (battery operated) and bamboo plant are always on the table, so I just left them there and decided to work with them.

Then I laid out all the decorations I had to pick from.

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It looks like a lot, but it’s not. Not when you’re used to have an entire store to pick from!

Some fruit, a fall bush I clipped apart, different types of ribbon, and some beaded berries. Oh, and one little twig pumpkin.

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I started with the biggest ribbon. If you have other, larger, decorative items, I’d put those down first. But I didn’t. So I just sort of twirled the ribbon around the candles.

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This is Use What You’ve Got, so I to get some height with the ribbon I tucked it under the highest candle.

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I am a ribbon junkie. I like all kinds of colors, textures, widths, etc. That comes from working as a display designer too. Wired is great because you can shape it, but I’ll use anything.

I wrap it around my hand to get some curves into it.

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Then, just pull one end and it turns into a spiral. Sort of. You have to be willing to let the ribbon do it’s own thing. This is not a symmetrical, balanced, fussy arrangement.

Kind of like me. I’m not balanced or fussy either.

Well, certainly not balanced. I guess BBH might disagree with the ‘fussy’ part.

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Drape ribbon #2. If you have 2 or 3 short pieces, Great. Use what you’ve got.

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Ribbon #3 – a copper colored ribbon. It may seem like a lot, but I like all the textures the ribbon gives.

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Add some fruit. They’re just little Dollar Store pieces. I could’ve got some fresh fruit and used it, but this . . . I’ll say it one last time (I promise) Use What You’ve Got decorating.

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Because of all the ribbon twirls, some of the fruit is at different levels/heights, which is what I wanted.

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Finally I stuck some fall leaves here & there, using the ribbon again as the anchor. And some beaded berries. I added those last as they’re the most fragile.

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Lots of layers. Lots of textures.

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I didn’t get all of the wrinkles in the ‘runner’ covered.

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But we’re not having any guests.

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It’s just for us to enjoy for a couple weeks.

What do you do on your table? Do you decorate? Use a centerpiece? Just candles? Or just let the food be the decoration?

toolsareforwomentoo
The Girl Creative

Making Keeping It SimpleSumo Sweet Stuff mmm button

Filed Under: Floral Design, Home Decor, More Stuff, Seasonal Decorating

Comments

  1. Ann @ makethebestofthings says

    November 15, 2010 at 4:36 pm

    I love everything about this including your Use What You’ve Got philosophy. I haven’t used ribbon much in my decor and you’ve given me a kick in that direction because I love the layers and textures they add. So simple, such impact, I’ve been blind! I also decorated for the “in between” season so I would have something pretty to look at every day. So glad you did, too. You deserve it!

    Reply
  2. Farah Muzaffar says

    November 16, 2010 at 6:49 am

    Very beautiful and elgant Collen. your table runner is become my favourite. its very lovely, I am a lover of ribbons and what youhave done with ribbons, its fabalous..
    Hope you would like to have a cup of tea with my cookies at
    http://craftaworld.blogspot.com/
    Love
    Farah

    Reply
  3. Jess @ Frugal with a Flourish says

    November 16, 2010 at 12:47 pm

    Super cute! I love the idea of using what you have! Great ideas!!

    Reply
  4. glor says

    November 17, 2010 at 10:37 pm

    Beautiful! I’m going to go home and do some of that ‘Use what you’ve got’ for my own decorating. Like you, I have a ton of ribbons I seem to collect and never use. I’m pulling them out tonight!

    Oh, just passing through – found you on Met Monday at BTNOTP

    glor

    Reply

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    About Me

    Hi there! I'm Colleen, a self-taught artist, writer and blogger, among other things. You don't get to be old enough to order off the Denny's senior menu without accomplishing a few things in life. Read More…

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