"I cannot endure to waste anything as precious as Autumn sunshine by staying in the house. So I spend almost all the daylight hours in the open air."
~Nathaniel Hawthorne~
It really IS fall ya'll! I have been waiting and waiting and waiting for fall to show up here at the Quill. The heat and humidity blew away on a North wind and ushered in some cooler weather. Best of all dame Autumn has opened up her box of brilliant crayons and has begun to color the landscape with bits of red and yellow. 
She was very kind to lend me a few leaves for a decorating project. I very much enjoyed her company all day on Saturday.
After spending some time tidying up the yard I decided to spend the day out of doors decorating my front steps. After sorting through my outdoor decor I really didn't want to do the same~old same~old but I also did not want to go out and buy anything new. What's a girl to do? Listen to the advice of her grandmother who always said, "Use what the Good Lord has given you." So I looked around God's Garden to see what kind of crafting supplies He had on hand.
I have always wanted to try one of those swags over my front door and found some vine with green leaves that would fit the bill to use as a base. I had two sets of matching silk leaves that would do nicely for filler. I gathered bunches of berries, red and yellow leaves, acorns, and seed pods from darling daughters Mimosa tree to make myself some natural "floral picks".
After securing the vine across the door frame and adding the silk leaves I wired on the bunches of berries using copper wire. I used upholstery thread and a needle to stitch together the leaves and seed pods, leaving long tails to tie them to the vine, hot gluing three acorns over the stitching on each one. I tied them to the vine.
Using copper wire and leftover vine I wove a birds nest. I had to marvel over the fact that I had to use two hands, two knees, and sometimes a chin to hold everything into place and a bird can do this with one beak! (TIP: Don't use vine with thorns.) I think it came out pretty good. I filled the inside with some litter from the forest floor, bits of moss, lichen, and a tiny feather.
I wired it to the corner of the swag and added a few springs of yellow silk flowers I had on hand. It is almost complete. I did not fill it out really full because I wanted it to look loose and natural. I may have to add some bits as the green leaves wither, we'll see.
I want to add a bird but need a larger one so I guess I will be making at least one purchase after all. Somewhere I have some rusty metal letters that I want to wire in a "Welcome" message. I'll gussy up the steps a bit and then it will be a done deal. 
Next I'll be moving on to the flower bed next to our front gate. More fall decor to come!Blessings,
Miss Sandy
