Oh autumn.  We all love you so.  The colors of the woods melt our hearts and we all long to bring those golden tones indoors.

I find my decorating style to get simpler each year, relying more on what’s in the worlds around me than trips to the store.  Leaves bring that perfect shade of mustard and rust that I crave, dried weeds adding a little warm brown and pumpkins to bring it all home with a perfectly lumpy charm.

This year, I stretched beyond those items.  I had a vision growing from the roadside ditches and edge of the forest.  Ferns.  They’re everywhere in Northern Michigan and boast so many unusual and subtle autumn tones as well as provide a great texture.

Then, as I was roaming my garden, I had another idea too.  The dried centers of my black eyed Susan’s were the perfect black and spooky pairing.  So instead of one autumn tablescape this year, you get two.  The problem is which to share first…

Ferns. Ferns come first.

Let’s just keep this simple.  I set my table and then added in some dollar store bread dishes that I spray painted with Design Master Ubermatte spray paint in beach (not sponsered, just really awesome spray paint).  I then made a chicken wire grid and taped it in, finally adding water.

For reference, the complete tablescape used about 1/2 of that bucket of ferns.

Next, I just started trimming from my bucket of ferns and placing then into the grid of chicken wire.  You could easily use floral foam for this as well, but I prefer chicken wire because it’s more a sustainable option.  For my table, which is about 5 feet in length, I used 3 loaf pans which when combined, made this appear almost as though it were one continuous fern garland.  I placed candles as needed and tada!  A super easy autumn centerpiece.

Now, to take this one step further and add a little Halloween vibe, I cut out a few bats from black construction paper and tucked them in.  I added them to the place settings and intermingled there wherever needed one.  The ferns have lots of little prawns (I’m not completely sure this is the official terms here) and leaves, so I didn’t need to attach bats to anything, it was as easy as just laying them in place.

I loved the way that the spooky black bats played off the sweetness of tying the napkins with a bow and how the black in both aspect made it unexpected and brought it all together – without being too over the top Halloween-y.

Fun fact, dried ferns curl up and create some amazing textures.  So leave it on your table awhile, let them dry out naturally and your tablescape will morph with the season!  And next week, I’ll share my minimal and modern Halloween tabletop – another great last minute decorating option!

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