Want to create a festive fall porch on a budget? With a few easy crafts, pumpkins and plants, you can welcome the autumn season.
Even though we’re well into September, the highs this week in DFW are in the low 90s and 90 percent humidity. Booooo! That’s not the Halloween kind of “boo” but the “I’m not a fan” kind of “boo.” Well, hot and muggy Texas, I’m decorating the porch for fall anyway.
Over the weekend I went up into the attic and got my box of fall decorations. Inside, I found the wreath I made last year, ears of regular and baby dried corn, ceramic and plastic pumpkins and assorted fake leaves.
Simple fall crafts
The wreath combines plain and orange burlap ribbons, my hand-painted “Happy Fall, Y’all” sign, an imperfect bow and a few fall picks. I based my bow and paint colors on candy corn. Whether you’re a fan or not, they’re fun for fall. Here is the YouTube video I followed to create my wreath. I didn’t follow her design exactly, but I used it as the basis for my own.
I enjoy making inexpensive crafts for seasonal decorations. This year, I made the “HARVEST” sign. I bought an 8-foot unfinished pine shelf at Home Depot. They cut it in half for me. I used vanilla acrylic craft paint mixed with B.B. Frosch Chalk Paint Powder to cover the sign. It’s the same powder I used to paint this end table. After it dried, I used chocolate craft paint for the stenciled letters. Oh, I just realized: vanilla and chocolate! I didn’t do that on purpose.
Then I allowed it to dry and covered the whole sign with brown antiquing wax. Honestly, I spent a lot of time trying to get most of the wax off. It was way too dark at first and is still a bit too brown for me. I should have covered the whole thing in clear wax first. That makes the dark wax easier to control. Live and learn.
I also bought autumn décor items at Target, Walmart and Kroger, spending less than $40 on some pumpkins, a half dozen plants and a new scarecrow.
My cute new scarecrow girl goes in front of the shrubs. Should I restore the old scarecrow boy so he can decorate the lawn, too? I’ll have to find him a new hat and recover his nose. I’m guessing he’s around 20 years old.
Spaces that bring joy
My goal is not to have my front porch look exactly like “Better Homes and Gardens.” I just want a space that brings me joy. Case in point, this sign my youngest daughter made when she was 7 or 8 years old. She has always been super creative. Is the sign decorator chic? No, but it makes me smile.
That should be our goal at home. Places that are rich with little stories of the people who live there.
I spent a few hours on two days this week setting out items and potting plants. While I worked, I was reminded of my June trip to Chincoteague Island, Virginia. Why? Because my porch is a favorite hangout for hundreds of mosquitoes right now. I put on jeans, a long-sleeved shirt and doused myself in DEET to do the job.
Mosquitoes and fall don’t really go together. More often than not, you’ll have to overcome some things to get stuff done.
How do you decorate for fall?