Late Summer Decor and Apple Cake

Well, it's the end of August and although we still have heat that's hovering around 100 degrees here in lower Alabama, it's somehow beginning to feel a tad bit like fall is just around the corner...I'm itching to get out the fall decorations, but I'm not quite ready for pumpkins and gourds just yet.  I decided to work with some natural, muted tones and textures that would feel a little fall-ish, but for some late summer color, I went with Granny Smith apples and yellow flowers. That bright green will be good until I'm ready to pour on the orange with pumpkins galore!  I thought I would look at the apples for a week or so and then make an apple cake. 

Around September of each year I start wanting to make Southern Living's Apple Cake  by their recipe that I pulled out of the magazine a few years ago.  (They give icing options, but I always use the cream cheese one and it's delicious.)  I'll share that in a future post, but if you would like to make one, follow the link that I've provided.  It's a little hard to see, but it's the words  "Apple Cake" and it should turn blue when you hover over it so that you can click on it.  
 

To go along with the green of the apples, I added some filler around the white candle in the same bright green.  I used glass nuggets, but you could also use coffee beans, dry corn kernels (popcorn), dry beans, rice, or candy corn closer to fall.

I added a few more elements that had a natural, organic feel- antlers and feathers in a glass cylinder.  

I also still have my orange depression glass candy dish with orange slices out...I think it will stay out as long as the color works, and it does for now.

I went by the library and picked out a few books that looked like fall.  Books are always a good addition to a table-top display...they serve as another surface on which to put something special on a different level.  The colors and the titles of these books seemed appropriate for the story I was trying to tell, and they actually look like pretty good books to read! At $1 per book, they were very budget friendly additions to my "almost fall" display on the table.  I put the feathers on the books, along with a magnifying glass.

And the little vintage bottles that I got at The World's Longest Yard Sale are in the window holding pretty yellow flowers.  

I think this will do until I put out the pumpkins!  

What do you do for late summer decor?  I would love to hear from you with your ideas...

Judy

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Shared with:

A Delightsome Life- A Return to Loveliness
Simple and Sweet Fridays- Rooted in Thyme