Happy Fall, Y'all!

Math is not my best subject, but here is an equation I know by heart:

football+cool weather+pumpkins= FALL

I will never leave or forsake summer as my favorite season of all, but fall is near and dear to my stomach. As much as I adore summer for the weather, I love fall for the food and sports. Plain and simple.

Winning my affection is as effortless as turning on ESPN and opening a can of pumpkin. Then I will be joyful forevermore.

Oh, and one more thing I love about fall: decorating!

This next sentiment might be a little bit blasphemous, but here goes...I love decorating for fall even  more than I love decorating for Christmas.

There, I said it.

Not sure why, but there is something so peaceful about autumn and something terribly frenzied about Christmas. (Except for the laid-back Santa I saw yesterday at Big Lots who was wearing a bathing suit, sitting in a hammock, and lip-syncing to "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere." Really. Things like that should be OUTLAWED.)

The first thing I always do is get out Old Faithful:

After many, many years, I still love her to pieces. My precious wreath has proudly hung at four homes, survived three moves, and is older than my children.

My aunt helped me make her with my glue gun and the best artificial gourds Hobby Lobby had to offer in the late 90's. Truly, she is the Audrey Hepburn of wreaths.

I always like to mix in a little new with the old, so I scanned through some blogs, caught some inspiration, and made this for my front porch (next to Old Faithful):

I am a big fan of Funkins because I love both fun and pumpkins.

The girl whose idea I shamelessly borrowed found her pumpkins pre-lettered at a little shop. I, however, turned to my black Sharpie and drew the letters. Not perfect, but still cute. And using pots instead of candlesticks allowed me to camouflage the dead geraniums that graced our front porch the last few weeks.

Next year I might go for the candlestick version, but for now, this works.

Now here is Old Faithful II:

The basket o' fall is another standby that I've had for looooonnng time. My same Crafty Aunt (the Wreath Goddess) helped me throw this together. She is the knowledgeable and wise Yoda of decor and I am the (formerly) Young Jedi who is easily tempted by the dark side.

My favorite thing about the b.o.f. is that it's easily transportable. As much as we'd all love to just make a centerpiece and set it on the table, that's not really practical unless you don't actually use the table.

The other NKOTB this year is my prized collection of chocolate:

Candy corns don't even register with my tastebuds, but the dark chocolate M&M's, peanut M&M's, Reese's peanut butter cups, and Hershey's mini's are pretty much a food group unto themselves.

It's probably dangerous to have such goodness readily available, but the clear jars hold me accountable.

Those containers, by the way, are priceless. Like Old Faithfuls I & II, I've had them for ages, but constantly change their ribbons and fillings.

There are a couple other fall vignettes that still need some tweaking, so maybe I'll post pictures when I'm done.

Of course, I kept saying that all summer while I mistreated my bedroom windows, the kids' bathroom, playroom, and some other little areas. I also planned to highlight some extra-fabulous garage sale finds. But it didn't happen. My bad.

Anyway, tonight I am going to make my friend, Jen's broccoly cheesy corny potatoey chowdery soup, chase it with peanut M&M's, and watch football.

Life is good.