Pumpkin Village at the Dallas Arboretum

I had the opportunity to visit the Dallas Arboretum a few weeks ago and thoroughly enjoyed the pumpkin village. I was told by an employee that there are 65,000 pumpkins on display. It was very well done. I’ll let the pictures do most of the talking.

Piles and piles of pumpkins were displayed very creatively.

Many of the walkways were lined with pumpkins.

The white garden was lined with white pumpkins.

Some of the pumpkins were displayed on metal stands while others were stacked as topiaries or totems.

Even the marigolds look all festive in their fall splendor.

One section had all of the varieties labeled. This Apple Gourd looks just like a big green apple.

There were even pumpkin houses in the pumpkin village.

There was a maze of hay bales which is much more appropriate for small children.

There were several photo spots including Cinderella’s carriage and some scarecrow cut-outs.

There was a really cute scarecrow garden.

I saved my favorite for last, the swan lake display.

The “lake” was made of light green pumpkins and the “swans” were crooked neck gourds.

As you can tell, I thoroughly enjoyed my visit.

Autumn at the Dallas Arboretum runs until November 26 and admission is buy one get one free on Wednesdays. You can click this link to see the other admission discounts.

Happy fall!

I’ll be linking to Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style and to Grace at Home at Imparting Grace.

Inspiring Tabletops from the Round Top Antique Festival

Last week I was able to check an item off of my bucket list: the Round Top Antique Festival in Round Top, Texas. This post will feature some inspiring table tops from various vendor booths. I will do another post with my general observations. Unfortunately I don’t have any booth or vendor names, just a few random photos. Some of the photos are poor quality since they were made with my phone but I hope that you will still be inspired.

This one with a Christmas theme was really cute. The centerpieces were vintage ornaments and the place setting was layered: a book, a white plate, a vintage Bible, and an ornament with a beaded twig stem. Each glass also had a bottle brush tree and a beaded twig stem. There was also a  wire whisk at each place. I did get another view of this table as shown below.

Very creative to say the least!

The tabletop shown above had grapevine wreath “nests
and vintage glass domes. I’m sorry I can’t remember what the paper things were under the domes!

This setting  had brown transferware plates with ships  and a large wooden model ship for a centerpiece.

Simple pine cones look great on ironstone plates with the back of an old book sandwiched in the middle.  I also love the added texture of the centerpiece caddy made of ceiling tiles.

The photo above is not taken from the best angle but you can still get an idea of the creativity. I love the blue prints used as place mats and those chair covers are fantastic!  The centerpiece was a pumpkin nestled in a grapevine wreath. Osage oranges were used often.

The table above had an enamel pan filled with Osage oranges with a pumpkin nestled in the center, and that leopard runner is quite eye-catching too.

I had to include more than the tabletop for this shot. I love the tabletop with vintage silver trays, Osage oranges, and tree branches but I also love the vintage rug, the settees, and the plush chair covers.

I hope to have my follow-up post up soon sharing more from Round Top.

I’ll be linking to Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps on the Porch.

Heirloom Pumpkin Topiary

Recently I discovered beautiful heirloom pumpkins that I absolutely love! The unusual colors are just gorgeous. I decided to assemble them into a small topiary.

I placed the biggest one upside down in the urn so that the stem would be going down then I stacked the next one on top of it. I used a bundle of grapevines to hold the top one above the stem of the middle one.

 

They appear to be leaning in this photo but they aren’t. I added a simple burlap bow to the top.

I’ve been busy all summer completing some projects which I will be sharing soon.

I am linking this post to Wow us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style.

Thanksgiving

Preparations for Thanksgiving are in full swing around here. I have made lists, lists, and more lists and I am checking them twice. I can’t wait to taste the fruits of my labor next week. I have a set of Thanksgiving plates that we use during the fall season and I decided to do a mini tablescape to create a more festive Thanksgiving atmosphere while we prepare for other family members to come.
 
I purchased the plates on Ebay and have added to them over the last few years so that I now have about 24 in order to have enough for the whole family. I chose these because they have some fall color with pinks, mauves and greens instead of yellows and oranges. I sometimes use the rimmed soup bowls as small vegetable bowls.  The wicker chargers are from Nell Hills. As you can see in the photo above, I used three here to create somewhat of a runner and put the centerpiece on the one in the middle. The larger pumpkin is actually a fragrance burner resting on a small square pedestal that I recently picked up for $3 in the clearance section of TJ Maxx.    The silk roses and hypericum berries are some that I’ve had several years. On our large dining room table, I use them in small bouquets in silver mint julep cups.  The cranberry glasses were purchased a few years ago from a local shop and pick up the pinks in the plates. The flatware is Remembrance silver plate by Rogers Brothers. I initially purchased 8 place settings at an antique store and have added to it through Ebay and now have about 30 place settings. It is very reasonably priced and worth every dime to use when I am hosting a large group since I am not at all a fan of plastic flatware. Often when we are in a restaurant, one of my kids will ask if the flatware is up to my standards. Flatware is a small detail that makes a BIG difference. The glass pumpkin place card holders were purchased at Williams Sonoma several years ago. I hope that this has inspired you to get busy and get ready for Thanksgiving.  I will be linking to Tabletop Thursday at Between Naps on the Porch.