• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Californians at Home
  • Home & Decor
    • Our California Remodel
    • Shop My Home
    • Lake Tahoe Cabin Style
    • Books I Adore
  • My California Closet

Northern California Style

Northern California Style

  • Home
  • About
  • Californians at Home
  • Home & Decor
    • Our California Remodel
    • Shop My Home
    • Lake Tahoe Cabin Style
    • Books I Adore
  • My California Closet
  • Shop My Home
    • Bloglovin
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter

October and Fall

How to make Succulent Pumpkins & Other October Goodness

October 25, 2020 By kimwheeler 11 Comments

This post I a sharing the very easy and fun little craft of succulent pumpkins and some October good finds with you all. I hope you are enjoying some of the beauty that October brings with all it’s amazing fall color.

I was lucky to have a lunch out for a special friend’s birthday this week, and I brought pumpkins as a little table favor. I was surprised everyone liked them so much. I made this large one and you can make them in smaller sizes for gifts and table favors..

green pumpkin with succulents and dried flowers

As they seem to be a hit, I wanted to share this fun and simple craft that seems impressive, but is actually easy and foolproof. These succulent pumpkins are a pretty and fun variation on the usual October pumpkin craft and last many months. All you need is a pumpkin, some moss, some dried flowers and snips of succulents of different varieties and a hot glue gun.

decorative pumpkins with succulents

My neighbors Kim, Becca and I, set up in my garage with our ingredients and chatted away while we worked. This is a great get-together for friends, or kids with some supervision..

pumpkins with succulents craft

We also foraged our yards for succulents to clip. The succulents on the pumpkins will actually continue to grow and can be transplanted after the pumpkin starts to go, but some can even last into the next year.

To do this yourself, you need a few succulent varieties, a mix of moss, and this bag has all types…

decorative moss

You also need some dried straw flowers like those in this mixed bag.

dried straw flowers

Those are just quick buys on Amazon and you can also used dried foraged bits from your garden like lavender or statice.

If you have succulents about, go take scissors and clip smaller sizes that will work on the pumpkins. Start with a generous amount of hot glue with the moss, take your time arranging the elements and glue in when you find the bits pleasing.

succulent pumpkin craft

We distanced in my garage with masks, but took a little photo after. It was a very hot day 99 degrees!

You can leave a stem on like my friend Becca did on her little white one, or you can cut them off. There is no wrong way and anything goes.. Have fun!

Mary Ann Pickett whose birthday lunch I attended this week styled the one I gave her on her mantle below left…

Then she went outside foraging near her home and made a unique one with berries, above right. Love it! Wouldn’t this be cute for the holidays??

Elizabeth, our Antique Goddess had her own unique way of mixing hers in her decor..

Two more good things..

This book How Not to Wear Black has been a fun read I picked up last week at my favorite Santa Cruz bookshop. It’s by the fashion editor of The London Times and it’s chock full of good ideas for mixing it up with your wardrobe, buying what looks good on your body and buying better. Many great photos and I am savoring this book!

While I was up in Corte Madera for Mary Ann’s lunch I had a chance to slip into Anthropologie there and get her this acacia and marble cheese board which I love..with these napkins. Good colors right? And they come in sets of six!

I am up in Tahoe this weekend and sharing some photos on Instagram. It’s beautiful in fall here. More on my next post!

Kim

If you’d like to get an email when I post, please subscribe to the blog here for a post in your inbox a few times a month and every Saturday for Weekend Meanderings.

Some links will generate a small commission here, which helps make this blog possible. Thanks so much for your support!

Filed Under: October and Fall Tagged With: #pumpkinstyle, #succulentpumpkins

What’s Been Happening Around These Parts…

November 7, 2016 By kimwheeler 11 Comments

Hello friends. Sorry I’ve been a little busy and I just haven’t been able to sit and write. The past few weeks have been a flurry of Halloween, get-togethers, and lots of goings on. Though we did have some unusual October rain, it’s just gorgeous right now in the Bay Area and this week we are supposed to have 70s temps!
I’ve been especially enjoying the warm afternoons and have been trying to get out to soak up some winter sun and marvel at all the pretty leaves.
This is just a smattering and some snaps of what’s been happening around these parts. 
We had some fun at our annual street pumpkin carving gathering. 

Even my college son came back for this and he and his girlfriend even dressed up as Harry Potter and Jinny. So glad they are still enjoying this stuff.
My youngest transporting pumpkins.

Another day we got to Marin County Mart. It’s a beautiful new spot with unique shops and restaurants with outdoor dining. We need more of those with our California weather!

With my guys at the mart which was decorated so cute for fall. I hope to get back up there soon to shop and maybe have lunch. It’s a great spot for a day trip with a girlfriend.

In other news, we added these guys to our home menagerie. My youngest decided we needed to bring back two Wooly Bear caterpillars home from a recent trip up north and so far they are surviving. 😀

Halloween is just near and dear to my heart as I have so many fond memories of my boys and all their costumes. Gosh those years went by so fast.

Loved this picture of them with plastic fangs. I had a bowl of photos with the kids in costumes through the years. Love!

I keep getting Facebook reminders like this. I try not to reshare them all, but it sure is fun to see some of these pop up from time to time.

Halloween and Thanksgiving decor seems to go well with my home. I have an (ugly) brown granite kitchen counter and a lot of black accents so just adding pumpkins and orange was easy.

I love these mums in a rust color and any tortoiseshell glass like this bowl.

Flowers were from my favorite holiday inspiration spot, Bunches Flowers in Los Gatos, where Pete the duck holds court. I caught her posing (yes she is a lady), so I couldn’t resist snapping a picture of her.


Besides all the cool jars and vases and pretty plants, I like to take a gander in here as it reminds me of visiting with my youngest in his preschool days to look for Petey. I’m nostalgic like that sometimes.

The sign and also the pumpkin man were gifts from friends. Love them!

Saturday mornings I go for a long walk with a friend and we occasionally stumble on estate sales. Last weekend I scored a pair of cane backed pecan chairs from the 1960s from a lovely old home.  I think I’ll reupholster them in a cool fabric. I also got a great dhurrie rug (above) in fabulous condition from the owners travels.

I threw some pillows on the chairs until I can figure out what to do with them. I love small scale chairs like this which are good for a game table between them, in front of a fireplace or just to fill a bedroom corner.

Estate sales are the best! Do not furnish your home in all new things. Estate sales and family heirlooms give it soul and make it uniquely yours!
Our entry hooks filled with hats and costumes from Halloween with an original Halloween painting from my artist pal, Meilei and some of my other favorites.
I got to wear one of those hats to the annual Wonderful Witchy Woman Lunch.
With fun friends and here I actually thought I was tan a bit from tennis. Not!
Hobbes the cat decided the new counter stools are his personal perch and only moves from them under force now. Does he not look determined? I added this short lamp on the counter for the winter months. I love the cozy feel lamps on kitchen counters give don’t you? They are great on dark mornings and so much warmer than the overhead lighting.

This little slate sign in my kitchen makes me happy and it’s hiding a nasty old metal phone jack that can’t be removed. You can’t tell can you? Hated that thing and I don’t know why I didn’t cover it like this before.
I’ve been using apples, pomegranates and persimmons in all my salads and as toppings on everything. Butter lettuce and red onions are good companions to any of that and a home made dressing of apple cider vinegar plus walnut oil and just a touch of maple syrup makes for a yummy fall dressing.
I’ve got my winter garden in and have peas, radishes, cauliflower, and kale growing.

 
 My dad is my garden guy. he puts it all in for me and starts many of the plants himself and transplants for me here. I could never grow anything without his help!

My dad Ray, has his birthday on November 8, election day. The first election he voted in was 1960, and he turned 21 that day and voted for John F. Kennedy.  Isn’t that pretty neat? The voting age wasn’t lowered until 1971 to 18. Love my dad!  
This whole election has been so stressful hasn’t it? I have many friends who feel serious anxiety from it. Thank goodness it’s coming to an end finally. 
My 99 year old grandma Jody (dad’s mom) has seen it all and she cast her first vote and every vote since for a man and she’s ready for a woman to be president she says. She may be one of the only people still around who has voted in every presidential election from Theodore Roosevelt to our first woman candidate, Hillary Clinton! 
I recently took her out for one of her favorite things and In and Out Burger. Isn’t she cute? She’s smart, and sharp and fun. I feel so lucky to have her in my life still!
My mother was also a big supporter of women’s rights and I have said this before, but I just wish she could be here to see the day we finally can vote for a woman president. She  would be thrilled so I am voting in honor of my mom Sue, for Hillary. I know she would be happy about it.
Okay that’s it. I’ve spilled my guts and got you all caught up. Later this week I’m going to be running some home remodel ideas by you all if your still out there.
Have a good week and hugs to you all for being here and reading. I’m feeling really hopeful that this country will rise above all the discord and be together once this election is done.
Kim

The view from our front yard this week!!

SaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSave

Filed Under: home, home decor, October and Fall, The Presidential Election

Primary Sidebar

Featured Posts

Dining Room Refresh Ideas, San Francisco Homes, and Cosmetics I’m Loving Now

Spring Colors, White Jeans, and Skin Cleansers

Fun Kitchen Styling Tips!

Asian Noodles & Other Main Dish Salads

Loving Rattan and Serena & Lily

Tennis Style -Your Guide to the BNP & Indian Wells

Get My Posts by Email!

Find Me on Facebook

Northern California Style

Archives

Categories

Footer

Don’t Forget to Follow!

Blogger, writer and explorer sharing about my native California, and parts farther afield. Join me here where I chat about things to love in the worlds of design, fashion, home, travel and culture.

Currently Pinning

  • Have you tried smashed potatoes? | Most Lovely Things
  • Signature Style- Resort Looks and Packing Tips
  • Signature Style- Resort Looks and Packing Tips
  • Signature Style- Resort Looks and Packing Tips
  • Signature Style- Resort Looks and Packing Tips
  • Creative Wall Decor Part 1: Art and Gallery Walls
  • Why We Love Our New Solo Stove | Most Lovely Things
  • Weekend – Cool Readers, Spring Things, J Crew’s New Direction & More
  • Weekend – Cool Readers, Spring Things, J Crew’s New Direction & More
  • Weekend – Cool Readers, Spring Things, J Crew’s New Direction & More
A little spring in the kitchen while another storm A little spring in the kitchen while another storm rages. Met a friend downtown and we had to dash as the storm hit and power was out minutes later. Stay safe everyone!
I thought I’d reshare our pool bath/powder room I thought I’d reshare our pool bath/powder room today as my builder @mikemccloudconstruction shared it too. I still love the way it came out! I had saved many inspiration pictures of how I wanted this to look. I was lucky Mike helped me make this happen. A good builder who listens and has ideas as well, helps so much. I’m sharing some of  the extra details up close. 

I loved this blue sort of organic watery tile for a pool bath. I also knew I wanted an open shelf for all the pool towels so people could grab them on the way out the door. The @serenaandlily mirror definitely has that nautical almost porthole, sort of look and picked up the unfinished oak color. I used an RH pendant light and the sink is Victoria and Albert. The counter is from a slab of @vadaraquartz that I spilt and used in the laundry as well as the boy’s bath. I choose an inexpensive cement tile for this space and the connecting laundry/mud room which works with drippy pool feet!  It’s been almost four years and all still looking great! 

DM me if anyone wants details I left out! I thought I did a post on this, but maybe not! I need to do that with all the baths. 

Hope you all have a good week and get some nature in the first day of spring! 

#californiaremodel #poolbath #poolbathroom #powderroom #serenaandlily #mikemccloudconstruction #northerncalstyle #lunabaytile #vadaraquartz
On the Weekend post.. Do you love toile? I adore i On the Weekend post.. Do you love toile? I adore it and I am sharing some pretty toile pieces, beautiful woven leather bags in fun colors, cute sweatshirts, a trench coat that stands out, the new book about the story of J.Crew, and more! 

Juliet and Elizabeth have great things to dive into this weekend too…

Stop on by our blogs- links as always, in our bios or stories:
@northerncalstyle 
@makemineaspritzer 
@pineconesandacorns

Have a great weekend! Hope you got a little sun while it was out. ☀️

#weekendpost #bayareablogger #paloalto #evereve #toile #cos #madewell #jcrewbook #northerncalifornia #californiastyle #trenchcoat
Do you stress about what to pack for getaways and Do you stress about what to pack for getaways and resort vacations? This month’s Signature Style is for you! Cindy and I are sharing our tips and favorite sources for warm weather looks.  You need a few good pieces like a great linen jacket, a swimsuit you love, a couple of coverups, and a pretty dress and you’re nearly ready. More ideas and suggestions on our blogs! 

Hope there is a sunny getaway in your future!☀️
As always links are in our bios and stories..
@northerncalstyle 
@cindyhattersley

#resortwear #resortdress #resortpacking #whattowearresort
Just a little clip of some of the stylish looks se Just a little clip of some of the stylish looks seen at the @bnpparibasopen . I always love to see how people mix it up including the guys! Nice to see so many cute looks and cool hats. Loved the Day Glo brights and florals the best. Hope you get some ideas if you are going to this tournament or doing something fun in the sun soon! ☀️

Thank you to all the sweet people who kindly let me share their looks ! 

Also, due to weather..the Signature Style resort dressing post with Cindy is postponed until tomorrow. Sorry I had no Internet here in Los Gatos yesterday and 89 mile an hour winds so I have been unable to work! Back at it today. Hope you all are doing okay after yesterday’s storm! 

#bnp #bnpparibasopen #tennisparadise #whattowearbnp #tennis #tournamentlooks #indianwells #northerncalstyle
How beautiful is this? We are the embodiment of lo How beautiful is this? We are the embodiment of love in our actions.  This is a wonderful account and @yung_pueblo ‘s book ‘Lighter’ is top of the NYTimes list too. 

Happy Monday. 💛
Are you watching the @bnpparibasopen ? I just got Are you watching the @bnpparibasopen ? I just got back from three whirlwind days with pals and we had a ball. It was so good to be in the sun and and warmth -with snow capped California mountains as a backdrop.  We went in the beginning part of the tournament which we always do, and got to see Andy Murray, Sabalenka, Zverev, Raducanu, and so many fantastic other players. We basically eat, slept and breathe tennis for two days straight and we loved it!  You can still catch play on the @tennischannel 🎾

I will share another Reel of all the stylish people.. Something about tennis brings out the sharpest dressers and there was excellent people watching. 

If you love tennis, this is a bucket list tournament. They call the fifth slam and it’s getting crazy popular so plan a year ahead of you want to go. We reserved our hotel that was walking distance a year ago. More tips on my BNP post that I update each year. 
Link in bio! 

#tennisparadise #bnpparibasopen #indianwellstennisgarden #bnp #bnptips  #andymurray #zverev #raducanu #sabalenka #tennis #californiatennis #discoverpage #tennislove #tennisgirl
I separated the sectional and sort of like it apar I separated the sectional and sort of like it apart. This RH couch is a LOT of maintenance and can look pretty deflated after a weekend of hanging out. In hindsight, I’d buy a couch that does not require so much fluffing and cushion alternating. I snapped this pic because it was one of the times I had the pillows looking nice on it. You also need a lot of pillows to not get swallowed up by it. I call it the great white.

The local RH actually has a cleaning team that steams and fluffs their couch and I’ve seen them before the shop opens. I found it hard to get reviews on this couch before buying because RH does not have them online and if you notice they don’t do social media… so I’m just putting it out there. I will share what I love here,but I think it helps to be transparent about what is a disappointment too. 

#rhcloud #whitecouches #livingroom #californiahomestyle #thecaliforniahouse #cloudcouch #restorationhardware
The weekend post is up and I’m sharing things on The weekend post is up and I’m sharing things on my radar this week -like cute ballet flats and a darling spring bag, an eye brightner with sunscreen, and cool readers. Also the new head of design at J.Crew @olympiamarie and her fun account with styling inspiration and vintage J. Crew gems. Plus what to do with those tangelos, and lemon almond scones.

It’s all on the blog! 

Don’t forget to stop by Juliet and Elizabeth’s..our blogs- links as always, in our bios or stories:
@northerncalstyle 
@makemineaspritzer 
@pineconesandacorns
Have you ever made a rustic style scone? These are Have you ever made a rustic style scone? These are the only kind I’ve ever made and it all started when I had one in Paris at the @rosebakeryparis years ago. My sweet mom later bought me their cookbook. I was thrilled and have made scones with their fantastic recipe ever since. 

I was missing my mom and thinking about her as today is her birthday, (actually tomorrow she was a Leap Year baby) and made these yesterday.  She also loved lemon so I tried a variation adding Meyer Lemon zest and juice and lots of almonds and it was SO good!  These are a great treat for a rainy afternoon with tea. ☕️ Recipe is on my story.. and I’ll add it to my cookery highlight. The Breakfast Lunch Tea book from Rose Bakery is a treasure if you can still get it with many delicious recipes using whole grains and healthy ingredients. 

It’s raining cats here! Def scone weather!

#sconeday #sconerecipe #rosebakeryparis #breakfastlunchtea #teatime #sconehome #lemonalmondscones
Daffodils.. so much spring packed into a tiny flow Daffodils.. so much spring packed into a tiny flower. Loving these $1.99 bunches at @traderjoes and seeing the little guys on my walks too. 💛 

We have more storms this week! Winter 2023 is feeling very long to this Californian.
On the weekend blog.. I’ve got spring on the bra On the weekend blog.. I’ve got spring on the brain even though we are freezing here in California! 

Hoping warmer days will be here soon and I’ll be ready. On this post I shared some great home books to inspire, a new foundation I am loving, a pretty blouse, the cutest lamp - a great blog post to read and more!

Don’t forget to stop by Elizabeth and Juliet’s blogs too.

Stay cozy and think spring thoughts! 💛

 Links as always, in our bios or stories:
@northerncalstyle 
@makemineaspritzer 
@pineconesandacorns

Copyright © 2023 · Northern California Style· Blog Design by Little Blue Deer