Be Inspired #155 Hurray for September!

September is finally here and I don't have to be worried about being found out that I'm a "closet pumpkin addict" any longer...yay! I know there are a few of you out there, so no denying it. Now, we can celebrate it, instead of cropping out any accidental pumpkin shots that might unfortunately occur before September 1!! So now, let's get down to the fun of last week's party with a few great links.

Debbie from Confessions of a Plate Addict  has a way with French Inspired pillows. Here are her French Ticking Pillows with some colorful images that she recently made for her green Toile guest room. Thanks Debbie, for always sharing your creative process with a great tutorial.

This Distressed Gesso Mirror from Poppy at With a Dash of Color
started out with a "factory finish" that she wasn't thrilled with.
She's painted and tweaked it to become a focal point in her lovely entry way.

Rosemary from Villa Barnes has been sharing her projects as part of a new Painting Course from Farragoz Designs. It's a course that gives step by step instruction to create amazing paint finishes with an Old World feel. Here is her Clock Face project. You can see the aged and distressed patina is wonderful!

Sherry from No Minimalist Here is also participating in this course. Here is one of her Farragoz projects. If you're interested in finding out more about this course, just check in with either of these talented bloggers for more information.

Pat from Back Porch Musings has been decorating in preparation for Fall. This is her hurricane lamp that she uses throughout the seasons, which is setting on her coffee table. She has a sweet sentimental story about the vintage dog planter. If you haven't visited Pat lately, check out all her wonderful Fall decor ideas.

Carlene of Organized Clutter has been creating "junk pumpkins" lately and these are her latest, made from vintage Jello molds. A few weeks ago she came up with some adorable pumpkin people using Wilton Cake Pans and some hardware. These are such a cute idea for Halloween!

And here's a super easy recipe and tutorial
for "3 Ingredient Shortbread"

from Gail at Bible Love Notes

thanks gals for all the inspiration!

Today's Sponsor is Rosekraft who carries

Bohemian cottage decor, Victoriana gifts, vintage bird decor and old fashioned garden gifts. Original Victorian scrap, authentic Victorian die cuts, Victorian paper pictures and 1890's scrapbook cards - newly framed and ready to display.

thanks so much, Rose!

Thank you, everyone that joined in for my

 4th Anniversary Blogging Celebration Give Away!

(whew, what a mouthful!)

I'll announce the winners of the Pick Your Own Pillow Design

tomorrow evening.

OK, on to the party...

Be Inspired is open to all inspiration, vintage or new. We love to see your Fall Decor, DIY, recipes and inspiring ideas.  And Pretty Please With Sugar On It...remember to link back to Common Ground within your post. I came across so many great links that I want to feature, but you didn't have a link back to the party...just part of the guidelines.

Thanks so much for joining in each week!

xoxo,

Top Three from Be Inspired and an Invitation

Thanks so much for the great turnout last week at Be Inspired. We're all getting back into our routine after the Labor Day Weekend, and now we're ready for some Fall Fun. Here are the Top Three Visited Links from last week. You'll see why...take a peek!

Julia from Vintage With Laces has been working on some Fall creations and shared this wonderful fabric pumpkin. Don't you love the rusty bedspring pedestal?

Dru from The Country Farm Home gave us part 2 of her reveal of her wonderful Farm Kitchen in all it's vintage farmhouse glory.

And Tammy from My Flower Journal gave us an amazing watercolor she painted after her trip to the English Countryside. She also shares her review of one of our favorite artist and author's newest book, A Fine Romance, by Susan Branch.

If you haven't visited these talented ladies, please check out these links for more inspiration. Thanks so much Gals!

And if you're local here in SW Missouri,

 you won't want to miss the Fall Soiree Celebration at 

Robin's Vintage Suitcase .

Vintage Suitcase & Veranda Tea Room  724 S. Scenic Ave 417-224-5300 417-866-1145 for reservations

Don't miss our Fall Soiree Celebration! Friday, September 6th: 10am- 9pm Saturday, September 7th: 10am-5pm We've got tons of fabulous new Fall decor  and Halloween merchandise to debut! On Friday the Tea Room will be serving lunch from  11am- 2pm and dinner on the patio from 5pm- 8pm. On Saturday lunch will be served from 11am- 2pm.  Reservations recommended but not required.

Today's the last day to enter my 4th Anniversary Celebration Give Away

Click Here to Enter

see ya tomorrow for 

Be Inspired.

xoxo,

Easy as 1-2-3 Custom Look Wreath

It's September, and you know what I'm doing...

This last week I started decorating for Fall, and one thing I wanted to do was put together a new wreath for the Dining Room mirror. I love a lush twiggy grapevine wreath with lot's of naturals and florals, but I don't want to pay a "custom" price for it. So, no matter what the season, I have an easy method to get a custom look.

Here it is out on the Sunporch. I'll be showing you the Dining Room a little later, but for now it's on one of my old "Fall" quilts on a wicker chair.

As you can see it's pretty wild, and pretty big;

Fall berries, leaves and Hydrangeas.

I've been making my own wreaths for years, and I almost always use this quick method.  One of the best things about it, besides that it's quick, is that this method is easy to take apart, redo, refresh, or reuse at another time.

 Start with your basic grapevine twig wreath. 

The more crazy twigs the better...

I like a wild, natural, just picked look.

Since I'm a bad DIY blogger, I didn't even think to get pics until I had that wreath hanging up on the mirror, and at that point I wasn't going to take it apart again to show the steps.

sooo...

I just used a few other elements to show how easy it is..

please don't get confused because there are two different wreaths.

I know...I know....

bad blogger.

End of Season sales are a great time to pick up those basic garlands and candle rings. I think this one was a large candle ring that came from Michaels a few years ago. The basic garland ring is of just little Lady Apples. I added the sunflowers a while back so I could use it on my front door, which requires a "skinny" wreath.

Then start layering. I left the Sunflowers and Black-Eyed Susans on the basic apple wreath then added in some Hydrangeas. You can add any blossom mix you like for your season. A Spring wreath might have Tulips and Lilacs on a Forsythia garland. This one I used faux Hydrangea stems, but on my Dining Room wreath I used real dried Hydrangeas. With faux Hydrangeas I sometimes trim the large blooms down.

Now you can see we're adding layers and depth and a lot of interest

 with the Apples, Sunflowers and Hydrangeas.

This grapvine twig wreath is actually a little small for this garland, but I wanted to show you how it all goes together. Just use some gardener's twine or floral wire to secure the garland wreath to the twig wreath. 

Here's the finished product. I just randomly put this together because

I'll be taking it apart again, but you get the idea.

1. A grapevine wreath for the base.
2. A garland or large candle ring on top, just tied on with gardener's twine.
3. Florals to tuck in for added interst and depth. Sometimes I hot glue them on, other times I just tuck them inside and through the vines.

This one is a little wonky since I didn't secure all the layers... just wanted to show you how easy it is to put a wreath together. I didn't need any special tools, and it doesn't make a big mess.
So here's my original again. It's a little more "Fall", whereas the "step by step" version is a little more "Summer".

You can put together a wreath like this in about 15 minutes.

Super quick and versatile.

If you want to change up your basic wreath each season it's easily done.

Just 1-2-3!

Now, have some fun making your own!

I'll be joining in on these great weekly parties:

Whipperberry
A Stroll Thru Life
Tuesday Treasures at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
The Scoop at Cedar Hill Ranch
Tweak it Tuesday at Cozy Little House

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm

WOW Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

Inspiration Exchange at Ella Claire
DIY by Design
Homework at The Everyday Home
Stone Gable Blog
From My Front Porch to Yours
Share Your Cup Thursday
The Shabby Creek Cottage
Shabby Art Boutique
Jennifer Rizzo
French Country Cottage
The Charm of Home
Amaze Me Monday at Dwellings

xoxo,

The Marketplace: Etsy and Online Shopping Showcase

 Welcome to The Marketplace!

Hope you had a great Holiday Weekend. Gotta love September 'cause it's the unofficial signal of all things Fall related, and our thinking starts turning toward the end of the year Holidays. Lot's of fun shopping coming up these last 4 months of the year. Let's take a look at some great links from last week.

Lace Boot Cuffs

from Primlace

Vintage Amber Atomizer

from Nostalgic Artifacts

Blue Egg Soap in Peat Pot

from General Store Soap Co.

Farmhouse Ruffled Table Runner

from Tattered Goods

Vintage Brown Scale 

from Upon a Dream Design

thanks gals for joining in!

Judy from 20 North Ora is the Featured Sponsor today and she has some really great items coming up for Christmas. Be sure and take a peek at her shop and then check back in the weeks to come to see the new handmade creations she'll be listing.

And have you entered my 

4th Anniversary Give Away?

click here

I'm giving away two wonderful pillow covers to two of my followers. 

Here are just a few of the beautiful pillow designs in the Elliott-Heath Shop.

OK, time to get this linky rolling...

You can link up to three of your shop items, with a direct link, if possible. If you have a blog post about your shop or items that's great too, but please only link up items that are FOR SALE. You don't have to have a blog to join in, but if you do it would be nice to have you grab the image below for somewhere on your sidebar. (not mandatory) but appreciated. This linky will be open all week, so check back to see new listings being added daily.

thanks so much for coming by to shop!