Quick fall project for you! Get back to nature

So a project that begins with a dead tree branch is one of my favorite pieces of artwork right now in our home...really! It is a simple piece that makes me smile when I think about the trip into the woods with my friend Jodi and our daughters, Kara and Sydney, searching for the perfect branch. We started out just looking for the right size. You know, something that would fit inside the bottle and not tip over once we made the table top displays.  Then we started to appreciate the shapes, the colors, the bits of lichen and tiny pine cones still attached.  It became hard to choose, and we collected so many they barely fit into her car!

Once we got home, I filled a vintage inspired bottle with popcorn to add some color and to help hold the branch in place.  I decorated the bottle with some coffee stained cheesecloth, an old chain and vintage clip on earring.  

Now I was ready to decorate. I had so much fun rummaging through all my junk looking for items to hang on my tree.  I used more vintage clip on earrings, some vintage drawer hardware and skeleton keys.  The possibilities are endless. You could try some vintage cookie cutters, spools, tins, watch parts, small bottles, little nests, flashcards...you name it.

I was in a fall mood and decided to add a few inspired words to my tree as well. I had picked up a pad of what appears to be a vintage receipt book. Perhaps for a farmer's market? I punched hearts in some and a random decorative shape in others then added words like "grace," "thanks," and "love."  Here's a close up of the paper ephemera -

I love the simplicity of this project.  The only things I had to purchase were a bottle from Ikea and the popcorn.  It is a great way to display some small pieces I had collected that were stored away in cigar boxes. And, the pieces can still be recycled for other projects. Nothing is permanently attached. You can even add odds and ends. I plan to use the tree project as a centerpiece on Thanksgiving, but it has earned a permanent place in our home.

Special thanks to Sheri Deluke Photography for photographing this project and several you see on my blog header and buttons!  I appreciate your help and advice so much! I've linked this project to SNS Funky Junk Interiors "Sticks, Twigs and Branches"   Come take a look at all the great projects.