Autumn Home: pumpkins at the door

Oh yes! Pumpkin pies, lattes, ales, decor, candles, creams ... the list goes on. Over the next few days I'll be sharing some ideas you can replicate at home so when you go to the pumpkin patch you'll already know what to do with your gourds.

Today pumpkins issue a warm welcome to your autumnal home.

Gourd Lanterns

(from Hometalk)

Bountiful Wheelbarrel

(from Folded Gingham)

Pumpkin Bear

(from Parents)

Autumn Home: Door Wreaths

It's a very American look - the door wreath declaring a seasonal welcome and evoking expectation of delights inside. We have a plain heart shaped wreath on our front door year round which I change up for the season with ribbons and other decorations.

Here are some wreath decorating ideas that I'd love to try this fall to embellish or change out our door decoration.

 Fall Hydrangea Wreath

(from twoinspireyou on Etsy)

 

A Ribbon Wreath

(from I Heart Naptime)

 

Acorn Wreath

(from Little Things Bring Smiles)

Autumn Home: smells like fall, must be fall

Smell has an incredible ability to evoke good and bad memories, so how our homes smell is as important as how they look, feel, sound and taste. How Stuff Works gives a layman's explanation:

" A smell can bring on a flood of memories, influence people's moods and even affect their work performance. Because the olfactory bulb is part of the brain's limbic system, an area so closely associated with memory and feeling it's sometimes called the "emotional brain," smell can call up memories and powerful responses almost instantaneously.

The olfactory bulb has intimate access to the amygdala, which processes emotion, and the hippocampus, which is responsible for associative learning. Despite the tight wiring, however, smells would not trigger memories if it weren't for conditioned responses. When you first smell a new scent, you link it to an event, a person, a thing or even a moment. Your brain forges a link between the smell and a memory -- associating the smell of chlorine with summers at the pool or lilies with a funeral. When you encounter the smell again, the link is already there, ready to elicit a memory or a mood. Chlorine might call up a specific pool-related memory or simply make you feel content. Lilies might agitate you without your knowing why. This is part of the reason why not everyone likes the same smells. "

Here are some stovetop concoctions which will help your home smell just like fall. In each case you can adjust the combinations to evoke your favorite autumn memories.