When you’re looking for fall decorating ideas with a rustic, country charm, Liz Fourez’s family ...

1. Fall Decorating Ideas: Curb Appeal and a Harvest Bonfire
Party
When you’re looking for fall decorating ideas with a rustic, country charm, Liz
Fourez’s family farm is an especially good place to start.ÂÂ
We sent several of our favorite design bloggers mystery boxes of Home Depot fall decorations to see
what fabulous decorating ideas the bloggers would come up with for our Halloween and Harvest
Style Challenge. Liz is the author of the DIY and lifestyle blog Love Grows Wild, and
these ideas for decorating her home for fall are her contribution to the Style Challenge. ÂÂ
Liz covers a lot of territory. She shows us how she boosted her home’s curb appeal, she
carves a pumpkin, and she styles a fall harvest bonfire party for her family. As a bonus, she also has
a short tutorial for her easy DIY mason jar lanterns.ÂÂ
Welcome to our harvest party! There are so many things I love about this time of year…
watching the leaves change colors, visiting the pumpkin patch with the kids, baking all kinds of
yummy fall treats, and of course, football season. But this time of year is also special to my family for
another reason… it’s harvest time! Our family farms corn and soybeans here in Indiana
and Illinois, so fall is a very busy time for us. There are plenty of long days and late nights spent in
the field, and when we finish harvesting our crop for the year, it’s time to celebrate!
So I’ve been busy getting the house ready for a big harvest bonfire, and the front of our
house was the first project I tackled.

2. We have some pretty shrubs along the front of our house, but the cheap, plastic edging that runs the
length of the house has definitely seen better days. Now that the heat of summer is over, we decided
it would be the perfect time to replace the edging with stone blocks, which added a ton of curb
appeal to our home.

3. Our home is older and has some really interesting details around the front door, so I couldn’t
wait to dress it up for fall. I started with some beautiful white mums and a simple orange wreath
that looks gorgeous against my dark blue door.

4. I flanked the front door with two tall, black planters and added some tree branches for height and
some mini pumpkins for color.
The other day, my husband found a random vine of these mini pumpkins in the corner of our field

5. where we had tossed last year’s pumpkins. I had no idea they were hiding there, so it was a
fun surprise!

6. As part of Home Depot’s Halloween and Harvest Style Challenge, I received a
couple foam pumpkins and a Dremel pumpkin carving kit. The Dremel tool was perfect for
cutting designs into the foam, and I cannot wait to try it out on some real pumpkins soon!

7. We have two big trees in our front yard that are just about to start changing colors, and I had the
idea to create some hanging lanterns out of mason jars to help illuminate the yard for our bonfire.

8. To make them, I just picked up some small chain from Home Depot and a case of pint size mason
jars. I cut the chain into 2-ft. sections, which would hang the lanterns low enough on the branch that
a candle couldn’t light the leaves on fire. Safety first! I suggest taking a mason jar outside to
see exactly how far you want them to hang down before cutting. Then I wrapped some thick wire
around the mason jar, just under the lip, and slid the chain onto the wire before securing. To secure
the wire, I used a pair of needle nose pliers to carefully twist the wire ends together.
Then I poured some popcorn kernels into each mason jar and added a white votive candle. The
popcorn kernels add some weight so the lanterns don’t blow too much in the wind and also
keeps the candle in place. As a bonus, they look very pretty for fall too, don’t you think?

9. I love the look of old rope swings, so we made a simple one out of some scrap wood and white rope
that we also found at The Home Depot. The kids already love swinging on it, and it’s the
perfect place to set a pumpkin in the fall or some potted flowers in the spring.

10. After I spruced up the front yard, it was time to get our party set up in the backyard! My family loves
a good bonfire, so this little fire pit is the perfect setting for a party.

11. Working on a farm, there’s never a shortage of straw bales around, so my husband grabbed a
few for easy seating around the fire. I knew I needed some kind of a table for food and drinks, so I
stacked a couple bales and used an old door from our recent renovation as a tabletop. It was easy,
free, and full of rustic country charm!

13. Every party needs some tasty treats, so I set up a s’mores station, complete with graham
crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate, along with a bowl of homemade caramel corn and some
candy apples.

14. Fall evenings get chilly here in the Midwest, so hot chocolate is also a must have.

16. I set these lanterns from Home Decorators Collection on the table and added candles in one and a
pile of acorns in the other. The candles added just the right amount of light once the sun went down
so we could keep making those yummy s’mores!

18. I set out a few blankets to keep our guests warm into the night and added a few pumpkins and
flowers as accessories.

19. This cozy red blanket from Home Decorators Collection happens to be my favorite to cuddle up with.
And white pumpkins… they’re my weakness!

21. As the sun went down, we lit our first fall bonfire, and the boys watched closely as the flames grew.

22. After the excitement of the fire wore off, they found their way to the snack table and filled their
bellies with all the yummy fall treats.

23. I love this beautiful, inexpensive, festive space we created for our family to enjoy this fall, and I
can’t wait to have lots of bonfires together!

24. “Hey Wyatt, your marshmallow’s on fire!”

25. A big thank you to The Home Depot and Home Decorators Collection for helping me create this
beautiful space!
Liz Fourez is the author of Love Grows Wild, a creative home and lifestyle blog that focuses on

26. stylish home decor and unique DIY projects. Liz grew up near the suburbs of Chicago, but now lives
on a fourth-generation farm in Indiana with her husband and two little boys. She says she
couldn’t imagine life any other way.
The mystery shipment of fall harvest decorations The Home Depot sent to Liz included these items:
For more DIY Thanksgiving and fall decorating ideas, see other articles in our Halloween and
Harvest Style Challenge series, and follow our Fall Harvest pinboard on Pinterest.
Visit The Home Depot’s online Holiday Decorations Department for everything you
need to decorate your home for fall, Thanksgiving and Christmas.ÂÂ
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