Christmas Front Porch 2012

Posted on December 10, 2012 by Cottage in the Oaks | The Cottage Table Experience

It’s not snowing here…but I really want some…so, I just created some! 🙂

We had fun putting our Christmas porch together this year. Our porch is one of our favorite places to be.

My old Radio Flyer sled, vintage ice skates, snow shovel…..and a vintage olive bucket from Italy with a wee little Christmas tree. {I love olive buckets! I try to grab them any time I find them.}

Adding a fun message on the porch chalkboard is alway fun……

We made the faux snow balls last year….you can find our tutorial about it with the free printable sign here.

Our bucket of mistletoe for visitors to grab as they go….it started out overflowing, but is quickly dwindling down…..

We call this part of the porch ‘The Therapy Spot’……

Each year we put out a vintage Christmas table cloth from my family and have everyone sign it as they come and go. This one is almost full….it was filled up this past weekend at our annual Christmas party.

Do you have a porch that you like to decorate for the different seasons?

Merry, Merry~

Sharing with: Tip Junkie, Between Naps on the Porch, Thrifty Decor Chick, Funky Junk Interiors, DIY Showoff, Home Stories A to Z, a.k.a. Design, Serenity Now, Savvy Southern Style, My Romantic Home, Jennifer Rizzo, The Inspired Room, Southern Hospitality Blog

A Year of Front Porches……

Posted on October 24, 2012 by Cottage in the Oaks | The Cottage Table Experience

Our porch is our favorite place to hang out….and we eat as many meals as possible on it. It’s where we sit with friends. Have long talks. Hash things out. Visit. Catch up. Read. Curl Up. Contemplate. Have quiet times. A place for lemonade and iced tea.

Last week I looked back over a year of mantels….and I thought it would be fun to look back at a year of porches. We enjoy changing our porch with the seasons….or for whatever happens to be going on at the time in our home.

So, here it is….a year of porches:

{You can click on the links and see the entire post of each porch with more pictures}

Do you have a porch? Do you enjoy changing it with the seasons?

What’s your favorite thing to do with your entryway???

On the porch~

The Porch in Autumn ::: Fall Front Porch

Posted on October 8, 2012 by Cottage in the Oaks | The Cottage Table Experience

Those of you that have been here for a while know that I love to change our porch with the seasons. And, you know how I feel about porches…last week I shared that if the kitchen is the heart of the home…then the porch is the soul.

I thought I would share our fall front porch with you guys……it was so fun to do!

I love to see how many different kinds of pumpkins we can find at the patch. Check out that crazy one behind the lantern…..I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about it. But I had never seen one like it, so it had to come home with us. Does anyone know what that kind of pumpkin is called. {And, no, the name of it is not “Weird”} 😉

The French cafe sidewalk chalkboard that Handsome made last year is another fun thing that we enjoy changing around and using in all sorts of ways.

Corn stalks….can you have fall without corn stalks?

I just got back a few hours ago from our NYC trip…..I might need to spend some time on our porch today….just staring…..into space…..with coffee…..

Blessings~

Summer Front Porch……

Posted on June 12, 2012 by Cottage in the Oaks | The Cottage Table Experience

I’ve been in a summer sprucifying mood lately…..I’m so glad summer is here! I’ve been rearranging, redecorating, and summerfying the inside and outside.

I love to change our porch, mantel, rooms, etc. with the seasons. Light and airy in the summer and warm and cozy in the winter. Anyone else like to do that?

Here’s some fun I had on the porch last week…getting it ready for summer.

Warning…tons of pictures ahead……

I can’t remember where I got this fun idea for a summer chalkboard…here’s our take on it, though…….I’ll have to look back through my Pinterest files and try to find it. I had fun drawing this one on Saturday.

Right now we have gorgeous blue hydrangeas blooming all over the yard. I wish they could last all summer….they are my favorites!

This antique watering jar/bell is used everyday to water the pots on the porch.

I found these vintage French crates a few weeks ago….and couldn’t wait to put them to use somewhere fun.

We’ve been finding nests all over the yard the past few weeks…….

We eat on this table everyday….breakfast and dinner…until it gets unbearably hot. And even then we enjoy it…we just bring a big fan out on the porch.

I love the lanterns lit at night…..so magical!

What have you been sprucifying lately?

Sharing with: Skip to My Lou, Tip Junkie, Today’s Creative Blog, Not JUST a Housewife, Blue Cricket Design, The Shabby Creek Cottage, Whipperberry, The Idea Room, Between Naps on the Porch, French Country Cottage, The Lettered Cottage, Thrifty Decor Chick, Funky Junk Interiors, At the Picket Fence, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Common Ground, DIY Showoff, Home Stories A to Z, a.k.a. Design, Someday Crafts, Organize and Decorate Everything, Making the World Cuter, Craftomaniac, Carolyns Homework, Tatertots & Jello, Serenity Now, No Minimalist Here, Savvy Southern Style, Coastal Charm, My Romantic Home, Redoux, We Are That Family, The Charm of Home, Delightsome Life, Anything Goes, Rooted in Thyme, Positively Splendid, Cedar Hill Ranch, Elizabeth & Co., Domestically Speaking, The Power of Paint, Faded Charm Cottage, Michele Raven Designs, Junk in Their Trunk, Gingersnap Crafts, The Vintage Farmhouse, My Repurposed Life, The Rooster & the Hen, Shabby Nest, Finding Fabulous, Thrifty Handmade Days, Blue Cricket Design, Very Merry Vintage, JAQ Studio, The 36th Avenue, Southern Hospitality, Beneath My Heart

Spring Front Porch

Posted on March 27, 2012 by Cottage in the Oaks | The Cottage Table Experience

Everything here is covered in pollen…

how is it where you are?

We had a fun few days in the garden

last week….Handsome took a couple of days off

and we got a lot accomplished.

Pressure washing, weeding, planting….etc.

We also springified the front porch.

You can’t help but love pansies….they look like little happy faces.

AND, they are GREAT on salads.

We add them to our salads for a little

peppery kick. {They also look lovely, too!}

The two-dove sculpture was left on my porch

as a present from a friend a few weeks ago.

Don’t you just love fun surprises….

especially when someone knows you so well????

We have a lot of fun with our French Cafe Sidewalk

Chalkboard that Handsome made.

We’ve found so many fun uses for it…..

We just reused our branches from Christmas and winter…

and hung some paper mache Easter eggs on them.

Our front porch is our therapy spot.

We eat meals on the dining table we have out there,

hang out in the porch swing and read, talk, drink

lemonade or our beloved sweet tea.

We made a list of what we would have to have in a house if we ever moved…..

Number one is always a big front porch

and Number two is always a wood-burning fireplace.

The front porch was what first drew us to Oak Cottage.

Before we even had a realtor show it to us we would come

and sit on the front porch swing trying to decide

if this was definitely the cottage for us.

{No one lived here…it was basically abandoned.}

For almost 17 years now we have sat in that same

porch swing knowing that it was.

Do you have a porch that you enjoy?

Sharing with: Skip to My Lou, Tip Junkie, Today’s Creative Blog, Not JUST a Housewife, Blue Cricket Design, The Shabby Creek Cottage, Whipperberry, The Idea Room, Between Naps on the Porch, French Country Cottage, The Lettered Cottage, Thrifty Decor Chick, Funky Junk Interiors, At the Picket Fence, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Common Ground, DIY Showoff, Home Stories A to Z, a.k.a. Design, Someday Crafts, Organize and Decorate Everything, 2805, Making the World Cuter, The Girl Creative, Craftomaniac, Carolyns Homework, Fingerprints on the Fridge, Tatertots & Jello, Serenity Now, No Minimalist Here, Savvy Southern Style, Coastal Charm, My Romantic Home, Redoux, 504 Main, 733 Blog, We Are That Family, Creating Really Awesome Free Things, The Charm of Home, Delightsome Life, Anything Goes, Rooted in Thyme, Positively Splendid, Southern Hospitality, Jennifer Rizzo

Winter Front Porch

Posted on January 17, 2012 by Cottage in the Oaks | The Cottage Table Experience

When it was time to take down Christmas decorations

I realized that so many of the things we had used on our

front porch for Christmas could still be fun for the rest of winter.

Our live, evergreen wreath still looked great….

so I just put a burlap bow on it and left it in place.

The little metal plaque that is above the wreath reads:

“By wisdom a house is built. And through understanding it is established.

By knowledge its rooms are filled with

precious and beautiful treasures.”

Proverbs 24:3

Even though this scripture isn’t referring to a literal ‘house’…..

I like having it on our literal house as a reminder, a picture of what it is speaking about.

As I have fun decorating and filling our literal house with lovely things…it reminds me

that I need to be doing to same, even more so, with my spiritual ‘house’.

I loved the branches that we stuck in a large pot of dirt….

so, I just took off the glittered pinecones and left the pots of branches in place.

The skis, sled, and ice skates still work for winter, too!

{We are all still hoping for ‘wintery weather’ around here; but I don’t think we will be having any this year.}

Handsome made this fun, double-sided French cafe sign for me a while back;

and we love using it in different spots.

The front porch is my favorite place to use it.

I drew this New Year’s greeting on it for at least January…..

it can easily be changed for different occasions.

The old, wooden ladder holds vintage grain sacks that are too stained to use

for things like pillows, etc……perfect for outside, though.

And we just put our faux snow balls on the table….

still hoping for real ones! 🙂

{That wood peeking into the bottom corner of the picture?? That’s the wood that Handsome

is using to build the new sideboard in the dining room with….woohoo! Yippee!}

It was fun using all these things over again for the new season.

I love taking what you already have and using it with a different twist.

Did you repurpose any of your Christmas decorations for

the winter season?

*******

Even though we aren’t getting any snow…..

it’s freezing here in Eastern NC!

Staying Warm~

Sharing with: Skip to My Lou, Sumo’s Sweet Stuff, Tip Junkie,Today’s Creative Blog, Not JUST a Housewife, Blue Cricket Design, The Shabby Creek Cottage, Whipperberry, The Idea Room, Between Naps on the Porch, French Country Cottage, The Lettered Cottage, Thrifty Decor Chick, House of Hepworth’s, Remodelaholic, Funky Junk Interiors, At the Picket Fence, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Stuff and Nonsense, Common Ground, DIY Showoff, Home Stories A to Z, a.k.a. Design, Someday Crafts, Creations by Kara, Yesterday on Tuesday, Organize and Decorate Everything, 2805, Making the World Cuter, The Girl Creative, Craftomaniac, Carolyns Homework, Fireflies & Jellybeans, Fingerprints on the Fridge, Tatertots & Jello, Be Different Act Normal, I Heart Naptime, Beneath My Heart

Christmas Front Porch…Done!

Posted on December 5, 2011 by Cottage in the Oaks | The Cottage Table Experience

OK….the porch is done. It hit me this weekend: I can’t take all these piles waiting for me any longer!

I knew it would take me a bit longer this year to accomplish all the decorating….now we are just enjoying.

Our annual Christmas Party is this weekend….I can’t wait.

We’ve been hosting this party for over 17 years, and look forward to it all year. Woohoo!

This was our porch last year…..we have to put out the Radio Flyer. It was mine growing up and has so many fun memories packed into it.

This year we still put out the Radio Flyer and vintage ice skates….but also included our vintage skis; along with two fun winter arrangements on either side of the door. These were fun to do….and completely FREE!