On My Nature Table

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I’ve been admiring the touches of summer in my house all season long—along with my little nature table area by the patio door—and as summer draws to a close, I just realized that I’d never shared any of it here.

I love decorating for the seasons and surrounding myself with things and colors I like to look at, especially things that remind me of nature.  My seasonal decorating is minimalist in summer—after all, we should be spending lots of time outdoors, right?—and I take a less-is-more approach.  I felt like I made a bigger impact with less, and the few things I do have out have made me really happy to see.

Fresh flowers from the garden are everywhere—on the window sill above the kitchen sink, my nature table, the baker’s rack, the family room mantle, the dining room table and the kitchen island, if there’s room. I save honey jars to use as little vases and made my own leaf decoupage vases, too.

That’s not real basil on the right—it’s made of wool!  For a closer look on how I needle felted the leaves and knitted I-cord stems, go here.  I love saving ordinary household things for crafts, like the wrapper from store bought basil (before mine was big enough to harvest).  I never know when an idea is going to strike!  I purchased the window stars from Harvest Moon by Hand.

I had to move my nature table to higher ground when Nathan became mobile—it’s now on top of a small bookshelf by my patio door.  I took this picture (above) while it was still very sparse—I’d since added a lot more shells and rocks and thought I had taken more recent photos (sorry about that; anticlimactic, I know).  I love how the shells look so casually placed (you’ll have to take my word for it!)—it almost looks natural. 

The knitted wool vegetables are from the book Amigurumi Knits: Patterns for 20 Cute Mini Knits and are made from leftover Knit Picks Swish Worsted Superwash from Nathan’s sailboat sweater (Ravelry link).  The little plate is one of my favorite things that I made in my pottery class last spring.  My other favorite thing is this ceramic nameplate I made in my pottery class, featuring our family name:

I think it’s the best thing I added to my kitchen this summer.  I love it because it’s our family name.  And I love how the glaze sits in the letters so nicely and is so beautifully shiny.  I wish the photo could convey exactly what it’s like in person—the layering of the glaze colors makes a great, old-timey effect that I’m having trouble describing.  You just have to see it!

It’s giving me all kinds of ideas for personalized pieces I want to make when my pottery class starts up again this fall.  Fall, oh how I can’t wait for it to get here!  This time I’ll showcase my nature table and seasonal decorating much earlier in the season.  Promise.

P.S.  I shouldn't forget the steady stream of veggies from my garden.  And I love that they're still coming!