Friday, November 15, 2013

Brown Bottle Fall Centerpiece



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It's the middle of November and we've been incredible lucky to have 3 weeks of Indian Summer here in beautiful Romania. The weekends were warm and sunny and we had a picnic every Sunday. I got home with a lot of fall clippings and wild herbs. Their colors are amazing: silver grey, soft honey brown and subtle lavender - so I decided to use them in a Fall centerpiece.



Let's take a normal look at the dining room table. That's better... The light colors of my clipped herbs needed some contrast, so I put them in brown bottles. The earth tones arrangement goes so well with the glowing Autumn light! I reached into my cupboards for the perfect companions: small brandy glasses in tinted hues, traditional pottery from my country and a tiny brown apothecary jar filled with spices.



Of course, an all-neutral-decor is too much for me to handle. I just can't do it. It may be classic, timeless, effortless and perfectly elegant, but it just isn't my style. So I added a little twist to my brown bottle centerpiece: a kiss made of pink and orange felt letters. Now we're talking!



This little DIY can be made and re-made in so many ways! For my friends in the USA, the letters could say "THANKS" - it would make a great centerpiece for Thanksgiving! For my European friends, you could spell "AUTUNNO" or something similar. Spot the differences in the 2 images from above! You can leave the bottles standing solo, as well as decorate with additional items - either way, the centerpiece still looks great.



Styling tip: play a little with the height of the bottles. Make the arrangement more interesting and invite the eye to travel across the table by assorting slightly different items. As you can see, I used 3 different sizes. Also, play with the height and dimensions of the flowers / fall clippings. You can create the WOW! effect if you vary the bouquets (some larger, some taller, some smaller) instead of repeating the same bunch of flowers in every bottle. 



Brown bottle centerpiece tutorial:
1. Choose your felt in one o more colors. Trace the outline of your letters, using a marker. The thicker the marker the better (felt is not easy to draw on!).
2. Cut the felt letters with a sharp tool. Make sure that the marker outline is not visible on the final letters. 
3. Use a needle & thread to make a chain around each bottle, each one holding a letter. You can also glue the felt letters directly on the bottles, but I like the thread better, because it looks more loose (and I can simply re-use the brown bottles later).
4. Stick the fall clippings in the bottles and enjoy your Fall centerpiece!



38 comments:

  1. XOXO to you, too!
    great bottles (beer, right?) with great dry flowers, great centerpiece, indeed :)

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    1. Beer bottles, yes :))))
      And the flowers were already dried like that on the top of the hill, when I picked them. I'm gonna make a Christmas wreath because they are too beautiful to throw away :)

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  2. Lovely pictures thanks for your sweet comment on my blog! Nice evening:)

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  3. Wow this is a beautiful center piece(s)! Those flowers/herbs are beautiful too! I love how the brown bottles make them pop!

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    1. Thanks a million, Adele! The herbs are looking great even now, after 2 weeks, so I'm keeping the brown bottles on the table!

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  4. I love that you chose to spell XOXO! Your glasses have amazing colours.

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    1. I almost wrote "FALL" on the orange felt, but after a few seconds I decided that this is too much English in my Romanian flat, so "XOXO" it was :)

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  5. HI Meeha is a beautiful center pie es ,, i love xoxo in orange and pink

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  6. Meeha you are a creative one :), this looks lovely, I like the bottles, remind me of bottles found on the bottom of the ocean and makes me think of the summer :). Have a good Sunday!

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    1. Dana, you are the second friend to write me that they associate brown bottles with a season different from late Autumn (which was always the picture in my mind...) Thanks for the inspiration, I'm writing down a new brown bottle DIY idea for the next summer :)

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  7. I adore brown bottles and would never have thought to place them with Thanksgiving - but they are perfect for that. love what you did with them!

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    1. Thank you so much, Patty! For some reason, I've always associated brown bottles with November, perhaps because of the deep earth tones...

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  8. Ha! I thought you were going to spray paint those neutral colored clippings and herbs! They are gorgeous and i love that you can use the bottles for something else! Nice job girl!

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    1. Thank you, Danni! Lately I find myself trying to stay away from paint as much as possible - I'm trying to explore the humble, natural beauty of all things :)

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  9. Gorgeous with the brown bottles with the "plants". Very decorative with the letters on! :) Great pictures!

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    1. Thank you, Lisa! I will keep adding letters to other projects, because I like the look very much!

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  10. The understated flowers in the centerpiece are so delicate. And, of course you spiced it up with a sense of humor. I love the xoxo detail! :)

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    1. Thank you, Erica! Now I'm inclined to put a little XOXO on all my projects, it looks so sweet :))

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  11. So pretty. Just pinned this for next Fall ... or I may try to do something with it after the Christmas holiday ...

    (Stopping by from Our Sunday Best ...)

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    1. Thank you so much for visiting, Shana! In my opnion, you can make the brown bottle centerpiece for any occasion - just add seasonal flowers!

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  12. Such lovely and great inspiration Michaela! Love your table decoration - Ahhh sounds with your warm degrees and mild weather, so lucky! Hope you're enjoying the splendid weather and November, Big hug Mette

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    1. Thank you, Mette! It is the first time I work with wild herbs - but I've got lots of them left so I'm getting ready to make my first Christmas wreath :)

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  13. Such a cute fall centerpiece! So simple and yet so clever. You are very creative! I will have to try something like this for my table. Thank you for sharing!
    Linking up from "Salt Tree Social". Following via Bloglovin.
    Have a great day :)
    Bismah @
    http://simplemamaathome.blogspot.com/

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    1. Thank you so much for visiting and for the beautiful words, Bismah! Following you back on Bloglovin :)

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  14. Oh I love this idea, how gorgeous is this. Thanks so much for linking to Inspire Me and I hope you and your family have a very Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving. Hugs, Marty

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    1. Thank you so much, Marty, have a blessed Thanksgiving with your family!

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  15. This is sooo preeetty!!!! I really will try this!!! Thanks for the inspiration!! ;)
    ....Romania... one of my wish places to visit.... Hopefully one day soon!

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    1. Thank you so much for visiting and for the great comment! If you ever plan to visit Romania, let me know :)

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  16. I love to see the simplicity of everyday items put together so beautifully. It was a pleasure to visit your blog!

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    1. Thank you so much for visiting and for the kind words, Jeannie!

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  17. What a great way to use such simple things with such impact. You have quite an eye!

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  18. Wow - I LOVE, Love, Love this!! Thanks for linking up at Take it on Tuesday. Hope to see you this week!

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  19. The Brown Bottle Fall Centerpiece is so cool. Featured you on Creative Wine Bottle Centerpieces

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