Yee Haw! And Ya Hooooo! It’s finally fall y’all!  Well, thank you dear Sugar Pie for coming to visit me for my Harvest Home Fall Tour! Before I show ya around, I have some very exciting news…

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As you may or may not already know, Fall is such a magical time for me. It’s time to pull out our cozy scarves and cute boots. It’s time to gather our favorite recipes for hearty soups, casseroles, crock pot meals and yummy baked treats! It’s time to gather God’s bountiful goodness of this autumn season to deck the halls and festoon our mantles and tables!

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When we brighten the corner where we are, we light up the hearts of those we love. A heart that is lit with love is a heart that is warmed. Our goal as homemakers should be to create a place where our family feels safe, loved, comforted and joyful. And fall is the perfect time to do just that…to cozy up our homes!

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So today I’m launching 2 NEW Video Bundles just in time for Fall!

The first bundle is called…

~ Let’s Decorate for Fall Y’all! ~

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Original Price: $20
Sale Price: $10
buy-now-fall
I just love the beauty of fall and I love making my home all warm and cozy for my family. I love decorating with lots of farmy things like fresh-picked pumpkins, baskets of fall leaves, old rakes, chippy barn shutters and gates, vintage orchard ladders and candles glowing in fruit jars. In Let’s Decorate for Fall Y’all I do just that!

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In this batch of videos I’m so excited to show you lots of ways to festoon your home with the glorious beauty of fall.

Here’s what you’ll get:

  1. In Video #1 I’ll take you out to my pumpkin patch for a fun little chat and then harvest my cute little pumpkins that I’ve been growing all summer long. Then once back inside I’ll decorate a festive fall table, perfect for Thanksgiving!
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  2. In Video #2 I’ll show you how I decorate my front entry-way including 2 chalkboard art design ideas!
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  3. In Video #3 We’ll have our Cup & Saucer Chat at my baking center!
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  4. You’ll get a PDF supply list  to print out of the decorating ideas I’ll be showing you.
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Original Price: $20
Sale Price: $10
buy-now-fall
After you get your home feelin’ all cozy and cute, it’s time to get your tummy to say yee haw with my second video bundle called…

~ Sweet Fall Fixin’s ~

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Original Price: $20
Sale Price: $10
buy-now-fall
For me there’s nothing like a brisk, chill in the air and the blustery winds of fall to make me want cozy up my home by baking some scrumptious treats for family and friends. They say that the kitchen is the heart of the home and I think that’s true because there’s a lot of lovin’ that comes from the oven!

In this batch of videos I’m taking you right into my kitchen to show you how I prepare some Sweet Fall Fixin’s…a couple of my favorite recipes!

Here’s what you’ll get…

  1. In Video # 1… the doorbell will ring and I’ll be there to welcome sweet, wonderful, you! We’ll go into my kitchen and mix up a batch of Hot Caramel Apple Cider!
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  2. In Video # 2… I’ll show you how I make my favorite Butter Crunch Pumpkin Pie Bars, along with some stories, tips, and lots of giggles!
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  3. In Video #3…We’ll get snug and cozy inside my pantry for our Cup & Saucer Chat!
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  4. A PDF of the recipes will be provided for you to print out.
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I would love to share with you my happy home tips with you dear darlin’! Let me show you how I keep the “sweet”  in my Home Sweet Home! I do believe joy-bells will ring in the hearts of your loved ones when you prepare these scrumptious and Sweet Fall Fixin’s!

Original Price: $20
Sale Price: $10
buy-now-fall
So if you LOVE fall like I do then I think you’re really gonna like these videos!

 

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Now on to my Fall Home Tour for 2014!

COUNTRY WOMAN MAG.

I want to give Country Woman Magazine a shout out and a  big Ol’ THANK YOU for featuring my kitchen in their latest issue (October/ November 2014). I’ve been enjoying Country Woman Magazine for years! It’s jam packed with great articles about country life such as decorating, down-home recipes, gardening, health information, nostalgic stories, and so much more! I’m so thankful and thrilled for this opportunity! Be sure to check out their website and magazine!

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Well, welcome to my Harvest Home! Here in my entry way my little pig, Jim-Ed, has found himself a feast of pumpkins spilling out of the bucket…that’s some good eatin’ right there I tell ya!

Right above him I’ve draped a string of what I call “Barn Dance lights” (frosted globe string lights) they add a festive, golden glow to my fall vignette.


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 I’ve had my pig for probably 20 years and still love him! I change his name and his location from time to time…just for the fun of it. Sometimes he’s Billy Bob or Arnold Ziffel from the old TV show Green Acres!

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I tied rag bows between the light bulbs for a cheerful pop of color and homespun charm.  I just love the warm and cozy ambiance of these Barn Dance lights especially with the Lamp Dimmer I use with it. The Lamp Dimmer will dim the lightbulbs so the light is more soft and golden instead of bright and harsh.

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Here is the  Lamp Dimmer that I use. (Affiliate link) I use it for other lamps in the house too.

 You can adjust the brightness with the little slide button and turn it on and off too.

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“Autumn Is Here”

Pumpkins in the cornfields
Gold among the brown
Leaves of rust and scarlet
Trembling slowly down
Birds that travel southward
Lovely time to play
Nothing is as pleasant
As an autumn day!

~ John Muir

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Little autumn trees tied with rag bows torn from some muslin fabric I had.

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I turned them into my “thankful” trees by adding these paper cut-outs that I stamped with some of the things our family is thankful for.

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I made these paper ornaments a few years ago and needed to fill-in my little trees with something so I brought them out again.

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To make them, I copied pages from a very old cookbook, stamped my words and burnished the edges with a brown sponge stamp ink pad . Then I punched a hole and strung a rust colored ribbon through it to hang.

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I’m always on the look-out for architectural pieces or random embellishments from vintage furniture. The piece behind the pumpkins is probably from an old dresser. I love the simple carving and scalloped edge! I believe it’s an Eastlake design from the late 1800’s.

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Come ye thankful people come,
Raise the song of harvest home!
All is safely gathered in,
Ere the winter storms begin;
God our Maker, doth provide
For our wants to be supplied:
Come to God’s own temple, come,
Raise the song of harvest home.

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Autumn breeze
changing leaves
colors red and gold
Autumn sounds
All around
Beauty to behold.

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A jolly white pumpkin on a bed of hay is sure to catch the eye of that fancy cow!

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“And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus,

giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” Colossians 3:17

Taking good care of my home and family is my gift to them and to the Lord. My heart’s desire is to bless my family through the words that I speak and the things I do to make home a happy place. I don’t want to do things half-heartedly or carelessly. We only live once so I want to give it all I’ve got. The best that I can. Because my family is worth it. I want them to know how loved and cherished they are. Many times I fail miserably, but I remind myself that the “joy of the Lord is my strength”, then I pick myself up by my cute cowgirl bootstraps and keep going. Keeping a thankful heart unto the Lord truly is the key to my joy.

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Celebrating the seasons brings such cheerfulness into our homes…and I can get a little carried away because it’s so much fun for me. But you know what? If all I did was fill this old enamel farmhouse washpan with soft and fragrant hay and a pumpkin, I would be happy. Simplicity is beautiful!

“A home decorated with love will be forever beautiful” ~unknown 

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This is our mud room, the hallway we walk through from the garage. I don’t think I’ve ever posted a picture of it. I bought this dresser years ago and have intended to paint it white. One of these days!

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I found this old tin popcorn can at a flea market for a couple dollars right here in the Ozarks (Branson, Missouri). I’m sure it was used for target practice at one point because there are a few bullet holes in it! I love it ‘cuz it’s so hillbilly! YEE HaW!

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I mentioned in my last blog post that when I build my little white farmhouse I’m gonna name it Dinner Bell Farm…I already have a sign for it!

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My little vintage pie safe (probably crafted by a cute farmer in overalls named Henry for his dear, sweet wife Ruby Mae, who’s the best pie maker in all of Turkey Creek!) is filled with a fresh loaf of bread, candy apples, pumpkin pie and home churned butter. All faux of course, but fun to look at! Hee hee!

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Pie safes were used before iceboxes came into use. They kept pies, breads, and meats “safe” from insects and critters.

“The pie safe was considered an important part of the American household starting in the 1700s and continuing through the 1800s.”  ~ Ken Haedrich

If this pie safe could talk I’d love to know about all of the goodies that were kept in it!

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When all the leaves are off the boughs,

And nuts and apples gathered in,

and cornstalks waiting for the cows,

And pumpkins safe in barn and bin,

Then Mother says, “My children dear,

The fields are brown, and autumn flies;

Thanksgiving Day is near,

And we must make our pumpkin pies!”

~Author Unknown

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 My kitchen baking center & pass-through from the pantry

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I love displaying my cookbooks…they inspire me! The one shown is called The Southern Pie Book from Southern Living. I love it!!!

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The photography and the lay-out is absolutely charming! And the recipes looks so amazing! I can’t wait to start baking from The Southern Pie Book!

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Just a simple pumpkin on a nest of raffia sitting on a cake plate.

(The Cake Plate is from the Martha Stewart Collection)

 

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 My little mini vintage child’s hutch…one of my favorite finds from last year. Perfectly chippy and well loved.

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My hubby’s grandma is pictured in the oval frame…little Miss Naomi Agatha Madsen, born in Kenmer, North Dakota.

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My farmhouse screen door leads into my pantry. I’ve had it for about 12 years and it’s been in  3 different houses…and it will come with me to my next house someday! The little orange mini pumpkins are part of the harvest from my own little pumpkin patch…Yippeeee! I think I’m a farmgirl now! :D hee hee!

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Part of cozying up my home for fall involves gathering up all of my delightful and cherished Autumn and Harvest time Gooseberry Patch cookbooks! They are so charming and homey! I read them like novels. Along with the wonderful recipes, they’re filled with nostalgic stories, tips, memories, craft and decorating ideas with endearing illustrations! They just make me feel so warm and cozy! Do check out the Gooseberry Patch Web site for lots of recipes and tips!

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“Autumn Days”

by A.D. Ponsonby

Autumn day, autumn day,
God gives richest gifts today.
Look on every side and see
Pleasant things for you and me.
Apples red and apples yellow,
Round and juicy sweet and mellow.
Load the trees `till they bend over
And their branches brush the clover.
Child, be glad with all that lives,
But forget not God, who gives.

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I love using lighted branches in my seasonal decorating. In the past I’ve put them in buckets with bare branches but this year I decided to drape them across the mantle spilling over the sides. I tucked in some raffia for a “straw in the hayloft” look then added some plump pumpkins on top.

“Thus simply as a little child, we learn a home is made from love.

Warm as the golden hearth-fire on the floor.” ~Anonymous

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To achieve the “straw in the hayloft” look without too much mess I tied little bunches of the raffia in knots and tucked them behind and underneath the pumpkins.

Well Sugar, I hope you were able to gather some ideas and tips!

Happy Fall Y’all!

God Bless your darlin’ heart!

Aunt Ruthie

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