Time for another Dose of Diy and today I’m going to show you how to create a fall centerpiece and just how easy it is to do! You don’t have to buy a bunch of new stuff, you don’t have to buy an expensive flower arrangement (although those are lots of fun too 🙂 ) and you don’t need to stress over it. I seriously created a few different centerpieces in just a few minutes. It took longer to photograph them all than it did to create them!
You can create a lovely centerpiece with elements from nature – leaves, pumpkins, antlers, and some favorite things you have in your home.
Start with a fun table.
My table and benches was a find in my Grandma’s garage.
To the center of the table add a bit of wool fabric, or a blanket, or a piece of lace, or whatever strikes you.
This piece of wool fabric has been in my stash for awhile and I haven’t been able to cut it all up. I’m glad I saved it for this 🙂
If you want, add some layers for height and texture.
I used 3 cedar wood logs my husband recently cut for me. You could use books, or cake plates, or bread boards, or whatever you have in your cupboard or in your decor stash.
Add some fun elements. I had this scale sitting in my living room and grabbed it on a whim when I was setting up for this shoot. The little vintage broom I’ve had for a few years and it seems like a fall decor thing so I grabbed it too. I use the antlers in my decor year round but somehow they take center stage more in the fall.
I liked how this was coming together but it seemed just a bit blah – I needed something else.
So I added some colorful leaves.
A little tip for setting up a table in the outdoors – where it can be breezy. If the wind is blowing your leaves away before you can even finish the centerpiece display, grab some tape and tape the leaves down! I used some washi tape (my kids take all the scotch tape so I never have any) and rolled it together to form a double-sided tape. If you actually had double sided tape on hand that would be the berries for this. (My double-sided tape goes the way of the scotch tape – thus I never have any.)
Not all of my leaves are taped down. The ones in the crevices and crannies were coerced into staying put and just a few actually needed taped. The wind would die down enough I could get my photos so it was all good 😀
I like it. And that is what is important when creating a centerpiece – work with what you have and arrange till you like it. Often it doesn’t take much at all to pull a great centerpiece together. I think this is especially true in the fall – there are so many natural elements to pull from to add the bit of extra when you think it ‘just needs a little something’.
Even simpler, quicker, and easier just stack a couple pretty pumpkins and tuck some pretty leaves around them. You wouldn’t even have to have the stack of wood or anything under them.
Another option if you don’t have a wool blanket or fabric and you really want a runner of some kind you could create one with book pages taped together (and to the table if it’s windy 😀 ) or ever newspaper torn along the edges to give it a fun look. Anything goes if you love it and use it in a fun creative way!
Here I replaced the old scale with the orange pumpkin. I liked this look a lot too.
For a couple shots I added some wood arrows that my husband made back in the summer. I kept these two for me because the wood is yellow and I think that’s cool.
One single pumpkin would create a lovely centerpiece all by itself if you don’t have time to pull anything else together. None of these fall centerpieces took much time at all and I had fun doing it.
I put these together and photographed them while I was waiting on my cider and apples to arrive for my Fall Picnic photo shoot. I like to multitask like that.
A few years ago I created this fall display with items from nature and my rope knots and hung it on the wall! To see more of this wall it hung on and other ways I used natural elements go here.
Another year I added sticks to my hydrangea and created this arrangement in my dining room nook. I shared it again recently along with other tips for fall decor and you can see more of it here.
And now – check out my friends posts – I know they came up with some fun centerpieces too!
Jill
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Perfect! I love the variety as well. Sometimes I get a little bored with things if they’ve been out too long. It’s so simple to change it out a little every now and again.
I so agree! I love to change things around – and that’s when my house gets cleaned the best – when I’m rearranging and fluffing the decor!
I love all of them…Love the idea of taping down the leaves great tip!
Thanks Tammy – and you know how we bloggers are – gotta get just the right shot so you pull out all the tricks – even if it means taping stuff in place – LOL!
Great tutorial for making a centerpiece Jill. I love that you recycled and used what you had on hand. Sometimes simple is so much more and all these are so lovely. Cathy
Thanks Cathy! I had fun with this one 🙂
I am in serious envy over your cedar wood logs. Love them!
Aren’t they great!?!! I love them! That log lay in the fence row of beside our house for YEARS! Finally have it cut into the pieces I wanted.
Jill These are beautiful, and such great tips for creating a centerpiece. Sometimes I struggle with what pieces to use, I am pinning this for next time I create one. Thank you!
Thank you Sarah! I find it easier to pull a centerpiece together when I use elements from nature for some reason! Maybe because they are beautiful all by themselves and I don’t have to do a whole lot?!
Jill this is really original and beautiful. I especially love the unexpected surprise of the scale. It is true what you said, it takes longer to actually photograph and edit than to set it up. So goes the life of the blogger. The use of double sided tape was ingenius. You are so funny having your kids steal your tape. I have the same problem but also with my paint stash.
Thanks Mary! Yes, as bloggers we do some crazy time-consuming stuff don’t we!?! But it’s fun and we love it 🙂
So I haven’t been to your blog in forever because I just never take the time. But I’ve been dreaming of your Winan’s caramel apples and am going to have to go over there today, I think. Love all the changes you’ve made over here – the pops of color & font change. Great job, friend. When I’m rich I’m going to pay you to come fluff my house. It’s such a joke right now. My goal for the weekend is to take down my spring wreath (you think I jest?) and put some fall touches out. I’ll report back. 🙂
Haha! The only reason my decor changes up is because of this blog and the bloggers I’ve teamed up with – they keep me on track! And the fact that I do love to decorate I guess. But if it weren’t for the blog and needing to get it done to blog about I’m afraid the wholesale end of my biz would wipe the decor completely off the map!
I love them all! I think something small to scatter, like the leaves is often the final touch! But perhaps that’s just my taste. I’m always wanting to scatter something!!
Your wall art with the monkey knots is phenomenal. I do not remember it!
Thanks! That wall art was way back when my ‘real’ camera was pretty new I think. And I had just got those rope knots too and wanted to do something unique and fun with them. I should do it again cause I still love it!