southern fried gal

I had the good fortune to get together with two groups of Southern Living at HOME sisters over the weekend. I attended both of the September Seminars offered in my area. I am blessed to have such sweet friends AND they are stylish and creative to boot! I thought I would run a few posts with the ideas we shared there (as I prepare my home for a fall nesting party). It has been gloomy in Arkansas so the photos are a little dark but you will get the idea, hopefully!

Today’s post is centered on our Galveston Footed Hurricane. We now have two sizes! All the ideas featured today are styled using the smaller size which is one of our best sellers! Simple, cheap, and elegant! I WILL be copying this idea in the future!

This was created by our Star Director, Sue. She not only used beautiful fresh flowers from her own garden – she went for even bigger impact by flipping the iron piece upside down and putting the glass cylinder on top. LOVE it!

My dear friend and sister director, Kimberly crafted this sweet (pun intended) look. Are you noticing how inexpensive the filler items are in each of these looks?

I crafted this one using several ideas from magazines and last year’s blogosphere. There were too many individual inspirations for me to remember! If you see your idea claim it in the comments and I will update this post! I started with a bag of nuts (nuts that I have had for a while – I just keep using them for decor) and a few sticks. I think you could stop there. OR I even contemplated spraying my sticks with oil-rubbed-bronze paint – but I resisted! I twisted on a few silk leaves that I had on hand. You could leave the look like that for now. Add an owl or crow on one of the stems in October to add a little spook to the look. Then come November, find some pretty paper, a pen, and some raffia to create a thanksgiving tree. Be sure to get the family involved as well as any guests that stop over during the season! Make it a new tradition!

I have a few more ideas for Christmas that I will share as we get closer. For now to show off simple (did I mention cheap) elegance, we just added a few red and green glass balls.

And if you have been around this blog very long you probably saw what I did with it in early spring. As we got closer to Easter I removed the paper, plopped in those eggs (along with a few more), and kept the same sticks. Then in summer it was filled with white sand, small sea shells we collected over the years and a candle.

So as you can see this piece is an investment that will keep giving with each season. We covered all four here and then some! Its uses are endless! In fact I would love to hear how you might style this beauty – you all always have the best ideas! If you have pictures let me know! I would love to link up or add to a future post!

~Southern Fried Gal