3 Autumn DIY Entertaining Ideas You Will Love
Hi dear decor8 readers! How has your month of October been so far? A golden one – is what I hope! As for me it caught me again, the joy of decorating with autumnal colors such as ochre and amber. This is Anke with my monthly column around tabletop settings. So have a look at the one I decorated some days ago if you like!
Last week, I welcomed my girlfriends with whom I meet for regularly for cooking dinner together for many years. For our ladies gathering I combined flowers in warm yellow shades and pale pink nuances, accompanied by autumn leafs, pink cloud berry and eucalyptus branches.
1) MENU CANDLES. Usually my brainstorming for a table decoration begins with thinking about which flowers I would like on my table. Not this time! When browsing through Holly & Leslie's brand-new book "DECORATE for a PARTY", the Calligraphy Candles (on page 43 made by Canadian Artist and Calligrapher Kate Campbell for the book) were love at first sight! As I've never tried calligraphy before (but wish to do so soon) I thought about a version easy to DIY. Result: I chose a calligraphy-like font and printed the menu on transparent bright white paper (100g/m2) and wrapped it around a candle glass. Happy me, as the candles I found at amazon look precisely like the ones in the book. I like the clean style so much!
You could also write/ print the names of your guests or a beautiful quote, that would be lovely too, what do you think?
2. EMBELLISHED FRAMES. On the wall next to our dining table, which I mostly decorate when having guests or shooting for my blog and this column, you will find a small autumnal mood board. I created a tiny graphic design by using photoshop, a chrysanthemum illustration and the color palette of my bouquets.
This was a very good occasion to hang up my MOEBE frame for the first time. I first heard about these gorgeous frames by Copenhagen-based brand MOEBE when Holly introduced them in this post after finding them at the Blickfang fair in Hamburg. Those of you living in Germany can order the frames online at Petite Catrin like I did.
In addition, I embellished a simple white frame with flowers. I did this the same way I make wreaths, which means I tied tiny bouquets overlapping to the frame. I used raffia but floral tape might be a better idea! And patience! A little patience is useful also!
3. DELISH COCKTAIL. As an aperitif I offered a Sage Ginger Prosecco Cocktail. Here is the recipe below by Beth Kirby who blogged it on Front & Main. I modified the recipe to add thin slices of pear as a garnish. Cheers!
STORE LIST 2 cups water 2 cups sugar 2 bunches of fresh sage leaves chopped or one bundle dried sage (about 1 cup or 1/2 a cup respectively) 2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger Bottle of Prosecco or Champagne
1. In a saucepan bring water and sugar to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Once the simple syrup, which is what you now have, reaches a boil remove it from the heat and stir in the sage and ginger. Cover and let the syrup steep until it’s completely cooled to room temperature, 2-3 hours. Refrigerate after making.
2. To make cocktails, simply pour an ounce or two of syrup into a champagne flute depending on how sweet you like it and top with prosecco! Garnish with sage.
Enjoy autumn with all its blessings and see you again here on decor8 in November dear blog readers! Also, I will be in Hannover at Holly's Book Party on 19 November at Kukkamari so if you are coming, I would love to meet you - say hello to me! You can attend her party by RSVP'ing here.
And also... thank you so much for your lovely words in the comments on my last post! Your comments made me happy! - Anke
(Text, photography and styling: Anke Illner)