Fall, 15 minutes, and $5

So, as you know, the fall season and I are friends, simply because we have the same coloring.

It's easy for me to move into the fall season because I've always gravitated to the autumn shades in all areas (primarily because those are the colors that match my hair). I've been grabbing my mustard corduroy skirt and my tartan plaid blazer with delight this past week. It's like greeting old, loved friends in my closet in the fall. (And I remember that I look better fully clothed than in a sundress or shorts. That's just the fact of the matter.)

Last week, I ventured to IKEA and I spied these placemats. I loved that they were cork, and that they were $5. They aren't super cute on their own, but I had plans for these trees....

They were to be adorned with fall fingerprint leaves.





I bet you already have fall-colored acrylic paint in your cabinet. Brown, red, orange and yellow were all we used. And we mixed them, because leaves aren't ever a solid color, are they?

(Note the pile of leaves for jumping in on my daughter's.)



I painted our names on each placemat, along the trunk of one tree. (FYI, my spellcheck is not recognizing the word placemat and wants to change it to playmate or placenta.)



My little guy does NOT like to get his fingers messy, so he was a hard sell on this project. (I don't know ANYONE like that...??) He lasted about 7 minutes before the torture of having paint on his fingers was more than he could stand. I did get a smile out of him though. A half-hearted one.





I was happy to have the remaining two placemats to decorate my big self.



They're sorta flimsy and will probably only last this season, but I still love how they turned out! A couple fall-colored candles in my centerpiece and a white tablecloth made for a very simple and lovely table arrangement.

Five bucks.

Fifteen minutes of fingerpainty fun.

New fall decor.

That's perhaps the best time and money we spent all week.

{linking up with Paisley Jade & Finding Joy}