There ought to be a way to combine “autumn” and “morning” into one word, the combination of the two is special enough to be its own entity.
-Terri Guillemets

That is precisely how I felt when I stepped out of my back door this morning. It was a gorgeous day here in Houston and one which I reluctantly spent inside my office.

A few weeks ago, I made what was to be a small trip to Jo-Ann’s fabrics for some simple notions. I printed up a 20% off coupon from my email and took off. A few hours later, I ended up coming home with quite a hulking bunch of faux fall foliage. (say that last part 3 times fast) The good news is that all of their fall floral was 50% off plus I got to take an extra 20% off with my coupon. That’s right… cha-ching! Super great bargain! Even better, I was able to get some foliage in Plums and Greens.

I have decided, after writing my recent post about these two fun hues, that I will be using this color combo as my late summer/early fall décor. So many times in the deep south it just feels like a falsehood to put out tons of pumpkins and leaves when it is still so hot and humid!

So I would like to share with you some of the results.

Here is the floral arrangement that I generally have on the top of our entertainment center.

Our townhome does not have a fireplace a.k.a. no mantle so the top of the entertainment center is as good as it gets for now. The silver vase was given to me by a friend. The green apothecary, which my husband not so affectionately calls “the baby bottle”, was an item from our wedding and houses well wishes from friends and family.

Generally, I keep these simple branches in almost year round. And here is what I was able to do with my fabulous new flora.

I added a white pumpkin from Hobby Lobby to make an odd number in the grouping. As you may know, the eye loves odds when it comes to groupings and vignettes.

Here is a more close up view of the components.

I kept in the berry branches from my year round arrangement and added plum and green elements. For the life of me, I cannot remember the name of the large purple flowers shown… I love that they are an ode to the last throws of summer while still embodying the deep colors of fall.

One of my most favorite parts of the arrangement is the burlap leaves that I stumbled upon. This picture doesn’t do them justice… they have great texture. Needless to say, I bought all 3 of the remaining stems. My other favorite is the cluster of acorns. They are a beautiful ebony plum and add that extra bit of autumn.

The next arrangement was in my kitchen… I failed to get a before of that arrangement, but it is usually just a few berry branches. I had also grabbed an adorable silver pumpkin on my last Hobby Lobby run and decided to pair it here with another pumpkin that I painted gold.

The other two burlap leaf stems were used here along with more acorns and this time a beautiful aubergine orchid.

I am delighted with the outcome and especially pleased with the steal of a deal I managed to get away with. There was quite a bit of the fall floral still left, but I have decided to use them in a bit later. Possibly post Halloween and through Thanksgiving.

More on that later!

-Corinne