entertaining

november 97

We are collectors. Whether we travel a few miles from home or across a continent, we stuff our cars and suitcases with "found objects" that appeal as a whimsy or add to a serious collection. These treasures collected and displayed bring a uniqueness to our home, offering a warm welcome to all who visit.

November is a family time of intimate occasions and large celebrations that particularly lends itself to decorating with these "found objects." It's also the time after the harvest so there is an abundance of nature's bounty waiting in flower markets, grocery stores, farm stands, or the nearby woods.

You can begin with a simple front door dress-up made from items found at a florist's supply shop. Start with stems of wheat (in the wreath shows, there are 34) tied with raffia. Using florist's wire, fasten colorful fall leaves. You can preserve the leaves by spraying them lightly on both sides with hair spray while they are still freshly picked. By poking a hole in an artificial pear, you can push a piece of florist wire through it and wire it to the wreath. Add a bunch of dark-colored grapes, coils of seed-covered and paper-covered wire, and a wire-edged silk ribbon tied in a double bow that trails down into the wreath.

Fill a rustic basket with sphagnum moss, surrounding three small real or artificial pumpkins. We used artificial pumpkins from the same florist's supply house so that our arrangement will stay fresh from year to year.

The more rustic the basket, the better.

For a dining table arrangement, fill a basket with small gourds, small artificial pumpkins, silk wild flowers, silk freesia, artificial fall leaves, pine cones, clusters of tiny berries, a sprig of silver dollar eucalyptus, and dried baby's breath. Remember that an arrangement for a dining table should be low so as not to obstruct the view of the people around the table. You can extend the look down the table by scattering some nuts, ears of Indian corn, and a few additional small pumpkins or gourds.

A fireplace mantel is the perfect place for an arrangement of fall leaves, gourds, Indian corn, tiny pumpkins, squash, and other found objects. Dried or late-blooming sunflowers (fresh sunflowers will need a florist's water vial) add a colorful contrast.

A simple basket of apples sitting near the front door offers a warm welcome to all who visit.

Finally, you can fill a collection of "found objects" -- a lacquered box, sterling compote, hand-painted china dish, tea cup, silver bowl, a piece of pottery, or an antique goblet with potpourri to enhance every room in the house. You can buy potpourri in your favorite fragrance or gather the last of your summer garden and mix your own blend using the recipes in Barbara Milo Ohrbach's The Scented Room (look for this fabulous book in our Book Store under Other Books of Interest).