Decorate pumpkins with kitchen ingredients

Pumpkins aren't just for Halloween you know! A few simple and inexpensive items from your kitchen can make a plain pumpkin the centerpiece of your autumnal decor.

I apologize if the photo looks a little strange but it's a scan of a photo I took with a film camera (gasp!) two years ago.

How I did it:

I bought a white pumpkin at a local farm and glued red beans and star anise on it in a pattern. I didn't even plot out my design, I just started in the middle and worked from there. It wasn't difficult and it honestly didn't even take that long and I loved how it turned out. I'm a little embarrassed to say how long I kept this pumpkin in my living room...suffice to say it didn't get tossed until it started to rot and that was long after October had come and gone. *blush*

You can see to the right of it, I clipped a few branches off the red maple (by then the leaves had turned a gorgeous dark purply color) and stuck them in a glass vase with no water or anything! Poor little branches. But they dried and I was able to keep them around for months as well. I may be cheap but I want it to last. :)

The Lovely List

It's Living Lovely time again! The Lovely List was our challenge - what says lovely to you? Display it so it can be a constant inspiration. (If you'd like some inspiration on how to do this, I love Heidi's project and will be making one of my own soon)

When I read about this challenge I knew I wanted to post a project I did a few years ago. I took a favorite photo I took in one of my favorite camping spots:

(yes, I have a slight obsession with sunbeams in my photos. I need to join sunbeam photos anonymous or something)

I took my photo to the local print shop and had a color photocopy made to fit inside a frame I already had. I also had a favorite quote printed onto vellum - sheer enough to see a hint of the photo behind.

I mounted both to a piece of black cardstock and then covered my edges with patterned ribbon.

The quote is from Treasure Mountain by Louis L'amour - a favorite author. It sums up many of my feelings about the outdoors and the sights I've seen over the years - all things that give me a contented sigh because they are just lovely.

The (mildly condensed) quote reads:

I don't know what you are wishful for in this life, but you set down of a night and you pray to God that he'll let you walk alone across a mountain meadow when the wild flowers are blooming.
You pray he'll let you set by a mountain stream with the sunlight falling through the aspens, or that he'll let you ride across an above-timberline plateau with the strong bare peaks around you and the black thunderheads gathering around them - great, swelling rain clouds ready to turn the meadows into a swamp in a minute or two...you let him show you those things, and you'll never miss heaven if you don't make it.
There's majesty in those peaks, and grandeur in the clouds, and there's a far and wonderful beauty in the distance.

Be sure to visit Mt. Hope Chronicles for the many ways others are living lovely and making a lovely list.

Clinging to the ways of summer - desert camping

Where I live it may be dried out right now, but soon we'll be swamped with rain and things will be green and...muddy. That must be why I enjoy the family place in the desert - we enjoyed sunshine, fantastic cloud formations and the dust storms were at a minimum.

Fresh produce from my garden kept us sustained and was cooked to delicious perfection in cast iron on the camp stove.

I've never been out there this late in the year and there were so many new things to capture my attention.

Rock hounding is a favorite past time of mine and I spent several hours wandering the desert looking for anything and everything that was interesting. One rough rock, one super smooth rock, different sand textures and even a shell were some of my finds.

This tiger-striped chunk of mostly see-through obsidian was another.

The mornings were chilly! And everything was covered in a fine layer of frost.

But we warmed right up by the fire, waiting for the sun to get high enough to share the warmth.

The frost had hit the tumbleweeds and turned them a striking color - a wonderful contrast to the backdrop of sand and sky.

And despite the chill, the desert was blooming.

A lovely end to summer!

Use the Good Stuff - Living Lovely

This week's Living Lovely challenge was to "use the good stuff" - go ahead! Use it!

Both items that came to mind for me to use were made by the same woman - a woman who firmly believes that you should use everything you have and not put it away because it's too pretty to use. What good is it then?

She made me this lovely reversible apron for my birthday this year. I do use it, but am terrified I'm going to get something on it. Ironic, considering that's the whole point of an apron.





The other item was a quilt/throw she made me for a high school graduation gift - I pulled it out of storage to use at the foot of my bed in case it gets a bit chilly at night (as it has been a few nights!)

Be sure to visit Mt. Hope Chronicles to see how others are living lovely and using the good stuff.

Wedding of the century...the 18th century

Can you even believe I typed "wedding" wrong when I did my title? I should take that as a lesson to never type my blog posts late at night!
--------------------------------------------

My cousin is getting married in October and guess what he and his fiance have planned?

A pirate wedding.

My mom has been asked to make her dress (a pirate-worthy costume) and I was asked to make her jewelry so I thought I'd share what I came up with. All my supplies came from browsing the aisles at Michael's so there was no actual pirate treasure involved but I think it has the essence.

I chose antique brass for the tone and for the pendant something that looked a little exotic like something a pirate might pick up with all their travel and raiding and plundering.

To add that touch of the ocean I surrounded it with creamy white freshwater pearls. Simple design, but it feels right. Think she'll like it?

The popularity of piratey goodness kinda tickles me. Obviously I'm not opposed (you've noticed this is mollythepirate.blogspot.com, right?) but my own piratey-ness is easily explained by this post and by my profile in my etsy shop. I can't really explain the fascination for other people.

September 19th is Talk Like A Pirate Day and the Portland Pirate Festival is the 19th and 20th - if you're in the area, that is. :)