EASY AUTUMN LEAF VASE

Whether you’re decorating your home or for a fall wedding, here’s a quick and easy tip for creating leafy containers for your floral arrangements or votive candles.

1. Start with 2 clear glass vases that are about the same height, one wider than the other
2. Place the narrow vase inside the wider one – I put a tall cylinder bud vase inside a small fish bowl
3. Fill the wider vase with autumn leaves or even petals, whatever you like – silk or more translucent is best
4. Fill the inner vase with a bouquet of seasonal fresh flowers to create a stylish centerpiece
   
   OR
5. Place a small candle in the inner vase to create a dazzling luminaire
   

Fast – Easy – Fabulous!

FLORAL JACK-O’-LANTERN

To decorate for the upcoming Halloween festivities this year, I took a slight detour from the traditional, carved pumpkin. I created this adorable, feline, floral Jack O’ Lantern centerpiece to ward off any wandering evil spirits that might dare gate-crash my Halloween party.

These unconventional punkins are very easy to make. Start with a foam ball and cover it with sheet moss, using spray adhesive – all available at your local craft store. I stuck a bunch of cinnamon sticks into the top to create a faux pumpkin vine. Next, create your facial design – I found an inexpensive silver and black beaded bracelet, unstrung the beads, and then pinned them to my moss-covered foam ball, using multi-colored pearl pins, to create a bedazzling feline face.

Finally pin pumpkin-colored flowers to your pumpkin form. I recommend floral varieties that are long-lasting without water and dry beautifully, such as chrysanthemums, marigolds, or craspedia.

Adorable!

For the complete and fascinating history on the origins of the Jack O’Lantern, check out the History Channel’s website @ http://www.history.com/topics/jack-olantern-history.

HALLOWEEN BROOM WREATH

The crisp chill of autumn has finally set in and Halloween is fast approaching. I recently happened upon a pile of cinnamon-twig brooms and some adorable, miniature pumpkins at my local grocer and was inspired to create this glamorous witch’s broom wreath, tricked out with sumptuous floral details in an enchanting palette of harvest golds, to adorn my front door this Halloween. Whether you’re a good witch or a bad weeyotch, every girl deserves a bit o’ glamour now and then!

This wreath couldn’t be any easier to make – simply tape or tie a piece of floral oasis to a decorative broom and stuff it full of your favorite fresh or silk flowers. Don’t forget to add some mini-punkins – they’re just too super cute!