Hi there!
I hope you had a great week!
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Random Things Happening Behind the Scenes at Bricks ‘n Blooms
What a week it was!
After a great weekend visiting Shana at Ohio State, Chris and I made the long trek back to Jersey.
It was exhausting but so much fun to see her and meet all of her friends.
We were sad to leave her there but she’s actually coming home this week with a few friends for fall break.
So it will be nice to have her home too!
Early this week, IT POURED for 3 days. So I spent time pulling together my sunroom and it is coming along!
I’ve been blogging from there and filmed a few Instagram stories without sharing too much yet.
My first ebook, 15 Easy Ways to Decorate With Fresh Greens for the Holidays was released as part of the Holidays at Home Bundle that closed last night.
Did you get your bundle?
Since the bundle is now closed, I am offering my ebook at a discount to my readers who subscribe to my email.
CLICK HERE to head over to the discount page. If you are a current subscriber, just reput your information and you’ll get access to the ebook – you won’t get double the emails (and if you do, that shouldn’t happen so just let me know if there’s an issue).
In the Garden
It’s starting to look like fall here!
After the pouring rain earlier in the week, I spent A LOT of time in the gardens cleaning out the sunflower stalks, pruning things back, weeding, while planting garden mums, pansies and other fall garden flowers.
I’ve got something big happening here this week that I’m preparing for so I’m doing double time getting the gardens cleaned up and looking amazing!
I’ll share more about it next week.
There are two casualties from the extreme summer heat and drought conditions we had that I know of.
One of the evergreen trees in the side yard border completely dried up and died. And sadly, that gorgeous weeping eastern larch tree in the zen garden succumbed.
I felt horrible as I watched the needles drop off but there wasn’t much I could do to save it! It declined pretty quickly.
After reading up on them, they are zoned 2-6. And while I live in zone 6a, I think the extreme heat we had combined with the drought was too much for it.
But that’s not all.
The root ball of the tree had a layer of stone on top so I think the combination of heat, drought, and that mulch cooked the roots .
I was watering when I could but there’s a lot of plants here to care for and I didn’t think that one needed excessive babying through the heat.
I was wrong.
After the needles fell off I checked several areas of the tree for signs of life, including the trunk, and the tree was completely gone.
So my garden helper dug it out for me and as we removed the tree, we noticed it was completely strangled by wire wrapped around the metal support bar.
It was tied in two places so I think that choked this tree as well.
I had no idea it was tied like that and in hindsight, I should have checked but bad things happen sometimes and we have to move on.
So now there’s a vacancy in the zen garden that I’ll fill over the next few weeks.
I considered replanting the larch because it’s so beautiful but given the hardiness zone and location, I think I need to move on.
We may plant a japanese maple or some other specimen tree I find at the garden nursery.
Cause now is the time to buy – nurseries are selling their stock at a discounted price before winter arrives.
So if you are in the market for perennials, shrubs, or trees, run to your local nursery and grab the deals while the stock is there!
What I’m Shopping For This Week
I’m still working on decorating the sunroom, so most of my shopping this week focused on that space.
I bought these boho throw pillows and cannot wait for them to arrive!
As an aside, I’d never spend this much money on a throw pillow on my sofas because my dogs go on them, but they won’t sit on these chairs and I’m going for a vibe!
You guys are going to love this room. I am enjoying it!
I’m also hunting around for some wall baskets like these. Not sure if I’ll get this set or not. The reviews are really good and the set would fit on the wall I want to decorate.
I also love these macrame wall hangings. Truth be told, I only need one, so I may give the other to one of my daughters to use in their rooms.
In addition to decorating, I also snagged a copy of my good friend Leslie from My 100 Year Old Home’s new book, A Home to Share. It’s really good and if you haven’t gotten your copy yet, you’ll love it!
What’s Happening at Bricks ‘n Blooms
It was a fun week on the blog!
Most of the focus this week was publishing my first ebook, 15 Easy Ways to Decorate with Fresh Greens for the Holidays in the bundle. Now that we wrapped that up, it’s time to get back in the garden and focus on all things fall!
Since I just did this a week ago, I shared how to harvest sunflower seeds.
Learn how to harvest your sunflower seeds to save for next year’s garden or to roast and enjoy this year.
I had a bunch of seed heads left over that I left outside in the garden for the birds, chipmunks, and other critters to enjoy too.
Have you ever wanted to decorate for Christmas before Thanksgiving but don’t want to give up fall?
I’m totally with you on that one. Since I host for Thanksgiving each year, I NEED to hang on to fall through the big day.
Cause really, what’s Thanksgiving dinner with a bunch of glitzy holiday decor?
But as a blogger and content creator, I have to start decorating well before.
And I know lots of friends and family who like to get started before Thanksgiving too because they want it around for longer and it helps make the holiday season a little less stressful to get that out of the way.
So how can you decorate for Christmas before Thanksgiving without totally giving up fall?
Follow these simple tips to decorate for both fall and Christmas before Thanksgiving!
I know it’s been a while, but I shared my latest video where we tour my home and see all of the spaces decorated for fall.
Wait until you see the front and back porches together with some indoor spaces that have changed so much since we moved in almost a year ago!
CLICK HERE to tour my fall home tour!
Amazing Inspiration from Around the Web
I love finding cool inspiration from around the web and wanted to share some of what I’m loving right now.
You guys know how much I love decorating with textured, organic neutrals right?
Well my good friend Karianne from Thistlewood Farms shared 21 ideas of ways to use pinecones with your decor.
She’s got some great inspiration in this post that is budget-friendly and super easy to do that will spruce up your homes for autumn.
Do you look for budget-friendly ways to organize and decorate your kitchen?
Then you will love my good friend Rachel from the Ponds Farmhouse‘s post where she shares how to make a pot hanger from copper.
And it looks SO PRETTY in her home.
I’m decorating more with copper pots in my kitchen so I’m definately looking to her for some organizational tips because I lack storage space here.
Oh and by the way, she also shared her beautiful fall home tour in her latest YouTube video too. You can watch it HERE.
While I was harvesting sunflowers last week, I made a fall garden wreath for my front door. I am still working on the post to share with you all, but my good friend Jennifer from Cottage on Bunker Hill made one with the goodies from her garden too!
She makes the most beautiful wreaths and I love all of her DIY projects so hop on over to check this one out!
And here is some more inspiration you’ve got to see!
These heavenly lemon ricotta pancakes. I mean, yummo!!!!
These tailgate breakfast ideas look SO GOOD.
These pantry organization ideas.
This idea for a mismatched tablescape for fall.
This recipe for delicious pumpkin bread.
And these fall porch decor ideas.
If you enjoy these posts, you can find past Bricks ‘n Blooms Weekly posts here.
And… If you’re catching up on blog posts you may have missed, be sure to sign-up to get my newest posts via email to stay up to date with everything that’s happening here on the blog and more.
Thank you so much for following along.
Enjoy a beautiful day! xo
