Looking ahead to Spring!

Despite the fact that it is only November, I am already planning ahead for Spring. Well, in my garden at least. I'm a planner by nature and every year around August/September when the bulbs start coming out I like to go around to all of the stores and take stock. I take lots of pictures of all of the flowers that I like and then try to whittle it down from there. I would spend all my money on flowers if I could!

This year I tried really hard not to go crazy and I only bought four new packs of bulbs. I usually tend to go a little overboard and get in over my head. Then I have to race against the clock to get them all planted and I end up getting a little resentful that I purchased so many bulbs. My four packs still equaled out to over 100 bulbs that I had to get in the ground. I didn't want a repeat of last year when I ran out of Muscari to edge the border of my creekside garden, so I made sure to purchase plenty to finally finish it off this year. I can't wait to see it!

Muscari and Daffodils are among my most favorite flowers and I had been wanting some Irises for a long time.

I got two packs of Muscari to finish off the border of my garden. I absolutely love their blue color. There were even a few bulbs left over that I planted in my peony garden where I noticed, much to my dismay, that it looked like my peonies were pushing up again! I don't remember that happening before, so I hope they will be okay. Crazy Indiana weather!

Daffodils are probably my most favorite of all flowers. I saw these gorgeous double daffodils and just had to get them. I hope I got a good mix of all three planted together!

I planted the daffodils in five clumps of five bulbs through out my garden that runs along the creek-I call it the "creekside garden." This is how I decide where to plant them for the best placement.

Here they are nestled in their new home.

I planted these beauties in clumps of five in a few places in the front of my house. They will look great with my existing daffodils and purple hyacinths! We are always looking to add more pops of color in the front yard. I had a few bulbs left over that I ended up planting in a new bed that I am just starting on the side of my garage too.

I also decided it was time to plant this gorgeous deep red mum (well, it was deep red when I originally bought it.) It went into my creekside garden as well, the first of many in the years to come. I like to take my time planting gardens-if I did it all at once, what would I have to look forward to?

These were the only bulbs that I really wanted but did not get a chance to purchase. I think it may be too late because the first frost finally hit last night. Next year!

I woke up to this. The dreaded first frost!

Frost on my beloved limelight hydrangea. This is just the beginning of things to come!

The Apple Festival!

Last month, we went to the Apple Festival in Kendallville. It was a beautiful fall day, warm and sunny with just the slightest chill in the air.

I had never been to the Apple Festival before. Normally, I go to the Johnny Appleseed Festival in Fort Wayne, which is pretty much the official kick off of fall in this area. Since I was unable to go to Johnny Appleseed this year, I thought I'd try something new.

There was a lot of yummy looking food, much of it featuring apples, of course. We ended up getting some ham and beans with cornbread, one of my faves. I also picked up some small, decorative pumpkins and some more ceramic mushrooms to add to my collection!

Perfect fall day for a festival! A country road somewhere around Kendallville.

Beautiful mums and pumpkins at a farmer's market area.

I really liked the cute little vendor shacks they had.

Another cute shack selling apple pie! Love their set up with all the pumpkins, gourds, and hay!

Look at all those pumpkins!

Fall Leaf Pillow

I love a good pillow! This year, I was inspired by several really cool looking fall leaf pillows that I found on Pinterest. (Which, by the way-I have a Sweet Home Indiana Pinterest page that you should really check out!)

Originally, I had thought about cutting out my own leaf shapes from felt, but I then I found some beautiful fall felt leaves at Hobby Lobby. They were perfect for what I had in mind! I also got a 16x16 linen-esque pillowcase and pillow insert from Hobby Lobby. I am all about making it easy! I am also all about making it cheap as I had to go back on three separate occasions so I use coupons on them. When you are a baller on a budget, you do what you gotta do!

I was unsure of what to use to attach the leaves to the pillowcase. The leaves are actually pretty thick and sewing them on just didn't seem like it would work. I decided to glue them and started researching what would be the best glue to use when gluing fabric to fabric. After doing quite a bit of of research, I settled on Aleene's Fabric Fusion. It said it was permanent fabric adhesive, which was exactly what I wanted.

How could you not love these leaves!

My cleaned and pressed pillow case along with the leaves and glue.

I used a cardboard insert from a box of kleenex to make sure that the glue would not bleed through the pillowcase and end up gluing it shut. You learn things like this from trial and error!

First things first, I arranged the leaves in the design that I liked best so I knew where to glue them. Also, notice that I put the zipper on the bottom of the pillow design. There's nothing worse than getting finished and realizing you put everything on upside down! Again, trial and error!

I put a moderate amount of glue all over the leaves and pushed them down with my hand for about a minute to get the glue to start setting before I went on to the next. I also started putting heavy books on top of the glued leaves once I got down the line, so it would help them set up as well.

After letting the heavy books sit on top of the pillow overnight so that everything would really stick, I was so excited to see the finished product! I lifted the pillowcase up to admire my work and a leaf fell off. Of course, that lead to me picking on the others and a few more fell off. I have to admit, I was pretty devastated. I had such high hopes! It was supposed to work perfectly! I have no idea why after all this time crafting and doing other home projects, I always think that everything is going to go smoothly and turn out perfectly. It rarely does!

Never one to give up easily, I re-glued the leaves while cursing Aleene and her stupid glue. I made sure to push down even harder and put even more glue on. After letting them dry, I checked it out again. Success! No leaves fell off this time. I forgive you, Aleene. Excitedly, I jammed the pillow insert into the case and thought, "Hmmm...this looks different than I had imagined."

The finished product. It really does look good. I just had not anticipated that the leaves would be so....not in the middle? Busting at the seams? The middle looked very plain to me and the leaves were further on the edges than I thought they would be when I designed the pillow. But that is life, it rarely turns out how you imagine.

Looking good on my antique rocking chair. I actually love how it ended up turning out. It looks pretty awesome if I do say so myself!