fall — Blog - Parsley and Pom Poms

This Thanksgiving season I have spent time working through a few ideas to complete a beautiful tablescape for Turkey Thursday. A few original ideas each year can really make a difference in updating your table and making the holiday feel unique compared to the year before. The smaller details, such as napkin rings, can be the updated touch that can make each place setting feel special and new. My craving to escape the Florida sun and travel back to my northern roots, which is exactly what I am doing for the holidays, has inspired me to create napkin rings out of more fall-like, natural greens, and harvest wheat materials. The rings take little work and fit perfectly in with the warm rustic farm fresh appeal that is planned for our family's Thanksgiving table in Jersey. xo RCN

What you need:

Hot glue gun

Hot glue sticks

Faux/plastic wheat bunch (one 6" stem per ring)

Natural dried wheat bunch (one 4 inch stem per ring)

Natural dried rosemary bunch or similar natural dried green (three 2-3" stems per ring)

Natural dried bunny tails (Lagurus) bunch (two bunny tail tops with 1-2" stem per ring)

Red or green protea fresh leave bunches (three leaves per ring)

Note: All dried bunches of naturals were purchased at Michael's and natural protea leaves purchased at Whole Foods Market. The protea leaves were living when rings were crafted, and dried up after a few days of sitting out. Leaves vary in color from green to burgundy and will turn darker once they are dried out.

Take plastic wheat stem and overlap ends, one and a half inches on both sides. Hot glue overlapped ends with a small squirt of glue. Secondly, take natural wheat and attach to about 1/2 to 2/3 of the plastic ring's surface. Adhere with another small dab of hot glue on each end of the dried wheat. Press and hold dried wheat to plastic wheat firmly until glue drys (about 30 seconds or less).

On the 1/2 side not covered with natural wheat, glue the rosemary in 3 layers, overlapping each a slight amount, starting with the longest of the three and placing it towards the top. It helps to bend and make the stems flexible in order to mimic the shape of the ring.

The last two steps include glueing the bunny tail tops beside one another at an angle below the rosemary and layering the three protea leaves on the back side pointing upward between bunny tails and rosemary. Remove all extra glue hanging from rings and you are done.

Enjoy xo RCN

It is pumpkin season everyone! I love all pumpkins, but lately I have been loving white pumpkins best for a few reasons. White pumpkins look refined in any space and also provide a blank canvas to decorate them as you please.

I thought I would take on a painting craft and paint a few white pumpkins to fit perfectly in with my jungle-like living room. I picked up a few white pumpkins of various sizes from Publix grocery store and a few craft paints and brushes (1 pk of paint brushes w/ multiple sizes) from Target and got right to work.

I began with one pumpkin at a time and dipped my brush directly into the top of the acrylic paint bottle. I did not mix any water with the paint for this project so I worked straight from the bottle, less mess for clean up. I simply pulled some images of reference from my pinterest page of leaf and pattern designs I liked. I also used my imagination and painted a bit' whimsically as well when I didn't want to copy the leaves exactly. Let the brush and imagination guide your design, being off book can sometimes create the best visuals.

If you have trouble painting by referencing a picture only, it helps immensely to print out pictures of leaves you like. Then, cut the leaves out and trace them with pencil directly onto your pumpkins before beginning to paint. Click the link above to access all the leaves and patterns I love on Pinterest. Have fun!

xo RCN

Parsley and Pom Poms pattern inspiration on Pinterest: Click Here!