Autumn flowers

I recently discovered a lovely new tradition for myself and my family thanks to the lovely meme 'Fresh Cut Friday' at Rose Vignettes.

This month I took a trip to my farmers market and for $5 found these lovely Dahlias. Dahlias and Chrysanthemums are the two flowers that most remind me of Autumn. All of the lovely, oranges, reds and yellows.

I was able to capture some of the beauty of the wonderful flowers, but closer shots really gave the full effect that one can see when looking at them in person.

Visit Rose Vignettes to see more of these lovely posts.

Cute Wool Acorns

I love these little acorns! Kristi at The Speckled Dog made these darling acorns from yarn and acorn caps. If you love these as much as I do you have to see her tutorial here:  Let's Make Some Acorns, Y'all!.  



Currently on the list from:The Holiday Challenge.

Preparing for Fall and Winter

Making New Years and Holiday Travel Plans

Begin a Christmas Gift List

For a current list return to: Holiday Haven's home page and view the most recent post.

Chrysanthemum Tablescape for Autumn

Beautiful hardy mums are in bloom and plentiful in fall.

I found this pretty little pot of them for only $3.

 

 Combined them with cute leaf goblets,

 our everyday brown plates,

 and pumpkins,

to make this festive little setting.

September 28th is National Good Neighbor Day

Happy Good Neighbor Day! This is an official U.S. holiday which was passed by resolution in the U.S. Senate in July of 2003. Before that, it was celebrated on the last Sunday in September had has been around since the 1970's. It is a day to honor a great neighbor. Or, if you are like most of us, a day to get to know your neighbor better. A smile? A wave? A gift? Even a cup of coffee? How will you celebrate this holiday?

Vacation Idea #37 - Get Lost in a Corn Maze

Vacation Idea #37

Visit a Corn Maze

WISH i was on HOLIDAY

A Summer Feature on Holiday Haven

Click the Vacation ideas tab at the top of this page to see more. 

This weekend my children and I got lost in a corn maze.

Totally lost. 

It is our tradition every September.

Which path would you take?

The Maze we go to gives out little cards and has check points along the path.

At the check points there is a map. (Which doesn't help at all)

Here are my kiddos studying the map, which would end up being useless after the first time we were turned around.

Is taking a picture of the map with the phone cheating?

Someone else was marking arrows in the dirt as they went along.

We were completely surrounded by corn...

and loving it!

And thanks to these balloons near the entrance everyone did eventually make it back out again.

We have been to a couple of mazes over the years. I recommend finding one that has corn that is taller than an adult for the full "being lost" fun. Usually entrance fees are around $20 to $30 a family (depending on the farm). And often we can find coupons in the paper, or your community flier. Mazeplay.com has a collection of great mazes all over the U.S. (Just sharing the site for fun.)

A Holiday Basket from Twigs {Tutorial}

I love twig crafts, especially in autumn, combined with the brilliant colors of the season.

To make a twig basket you need a to gather a bunch of twigs cutting most of them to the same size, twine, and gardening or other heavy duty scissors. 

Lay out the twigs for the bottom of the basket.

Tie the cross sticks on with twine cutting excess as you go.

I used a crisscrossed pattern.

Cut sticks for the corners. Branched ones seemed interesting to me.

Tie them to the corners making sure they are very secure.

Add sticks to form the upper edge. And additional sticks to form the sides. I left the sides open on this basket.

Find a longer stick that is either green or dried with a curve for the handle. Tie it to the side. Secure well in two spots to keep it from moving around.

And you have a stick basket.

This one was a little plain for me,

So I added ribbon along the edges.

Which made it hard to photograph.

But it turned out well.

I  sat down to prepare my Christmas Gift List this week and I am thinking of making these as gift baskets for Christmas too. Fun baskets are always so hard to find and usually expensive, but they add so much to a gift basket. And a handmade one should be a hit with my family.

Holiday Bracelet Tutorial

A pretty little holiday bracelet that is simple and fun to make:



Start with your favorite beads. I used 2 kinds: a larger silver pearl and a smaller white pearl.

Two strands of clear stretch cord.

A beading needle with a wide opening.

String using an alternating pattern.

I tied a knot in each end and then tied the ends together. My beading magazine recommends a surgeons knot (which you can google), but I had tons of trouble with that so I just kept tying knots until I was SURE it wasn't (ever) going to come untied.

And then apply a dot of superglue to the knot for extra reassurance.

And then to hide the knot, and give this a fun look, add a ribbon bow.