flowers | Karen's Up on the Hill

Well, it’s Fall.

I know this is a lot of people’s favorite season and I am excited for you to enjoy it!

I have already shared some of the seasonal touches around the inside of our house (some have been updated already, of course) and today I am showing a little outdoor porch space that’s dressed for fall too. This is actually a side porch on the house. Keeping in our style, it’s super casual.

I just pulled things from around the house, like a wooden bowl with apples and linens, as well as a lantern I recently gave a fresh coat of paint, etc….and put them on an old potting bench, I bought locally this past spring.

I also wrapped some leaves around a grapevine wreath and hung it on the door (this house was built in the 50s, that door weighs as a much as I do, and has a Dutch door behind it).

And I bought some seasonal flowers.

Done.

If you are looking for low cost, low time commitment seasonal sprucing up, then this is for you. You don’t have to be a decorator, have a ton of disposable income, or even lots of free time. Just some simple touches will do.

Happy Fall Y’all!

Oh, and this is Bubba Gump, our rescued Chihuahua.

He loves sitting on this porch & insisted on being in the pictures (even though he doesn’t like the sound of the camera).

I’m I sharing this on

The Newlywed Pilgrimage

This summer an Annabelle Hydrangea in our yard bloomed so much and was so lovely that I wanted to save some of the flowers to have in the house this winter.

If you are not familiar with Annabells, they start off green and as the bloom grows they turn white. You will have lovely large white flowers for some time and then they return back to green at the end of the season. The longer you wait to cut them, the more they change to a vintage color. I went ahead and cut some at the end of their bloom while they were the green color.

There are several suggested ways to dry your flowers, including silica gel. I decided to try the water drying technique. The concept is that they dry out slowly once they are no longer in full bloom.

I clipped the flowers (with long stems for ease of handling) and placed them in jars that were about half filled with water, per instructions. Then I placed them in a room away from sunlight to do their thing.

After about a week, the water was gone and the petals and stems were dry.

It couldn’t have been any easier. And the results? I think they look very close to when they were fresh cut. What do you think? I think It will be nice to have them around when the summer is long gone.