Some Simple {frugal} Autumn Decorating

I had some grand ideas on sewing, embroidering and crafting loads of wonderful autumnal knick knacks to decorate my home this season. The reality of a homeschooling mama though, is that our days are not free to do this. Our days are purposed for teaching our beautiful children, for spending time laughing and sharing moments with them. A very small window of time is available to us (although we do need to carve this window of time out - it is important) to craft. Most of my knitting is done at night with my family around me ;o) To haul out the sewing machine is to have to set aside a whole afternoon, they are a rare thing what with having to keep home after educating hours ;o)

Yesterday I realised that the saying, 'The best things in life are free,' is indeed true. I can still bring autumn into the home by utilizing the best 'decor' of all - straight from mother nature herself. As I walked along the way with the children while on our nature walk, I thought how pretty a couple of sprays of autumn leaves would look in a vase. I had also read on some very creative lady's blog (I can't find it now for the life of me!) that she had made an autumn leaf collage years ago, and the trick to keeping those vibrant colors was to pick a whole branch of them, bring them inside and allow the leaves to dry on the branch. Picking the leaves off the branch eventually results in brown leaves - the russet colors lost forever.

So here it is, a simple spray of autumn color placed on a window-sill. It's so pretty and brings a smile to my heart every time it catches my eye.

I also receive the Woodland Trust newsletter - delivered to my email box. It keeps me in the loop as to what is going on in nature in England. (Why not visit Woodland Trust website and join up for their free newsletter?) They often have wonderful freebies and neat ideas to incorporate into our seasonal living. Yesterday was Woodland Trust newsletter day, I was so delighted with the little (simple) autumn project they shared that I just had to share it with you...

Picture from the Vistwoods Website

Look at that! Little autumn oak leaves to knit. Aren't they just so sweet? I shouldn't imagine they would take long to knit and you could probably rustle up quite a few in a couple of evenings. Imagine displaying this little collection in a little wooden bowl. Please visit the Vistwoods website for the pattern.

Autumn Blessings All...