Thrifty Acres - fall decor

Hello! I just have a couple of fall decor scenes to show off today, but both demonstrate how secondhand shopping can be easy on the wallet and pleasing to the eye. 

For example, this planter:

I love the design and the rich dark mustard yellow glaze. Very fall-like, I think, especially filled with ornamental squashes. Outdoor shoot is just for lighting purposes; it actually sits atop our dining room table.

The bottom of the planter identifies it as Haeger. I don't know its exact age but similar pieces online were listed as being from the 50's. It's not ultra-valuable, but this piece is certainly worth more than the 50c I paid for it!

I purchased it at a garage sale last year run by a sweet older couple who lived just a few blocks away. I noticed piles of fur pieces for sale - I'm talking silver fox, mink and the like. Turns out that the man had been a furrier and had had a shop on the south side of Chicago - as a matter of fact, just down the street from the Sears store that had employed my father-in-law for decades. My father-in-law managed the menswear department there, so I'd like to think that surely he'd waited on the furrier at least once - the man said he had frequented that Sears store often. Small world. My father-in-law is deceased so I wasn't able to ask him if he remembered the fur shop.

I wasn't in the market for fur pieces, so instead I bought some odds and ends, including the Haeger planter. I happened to notice last week that an estate sale at the same location was being advertised for this weekend. I'm guessing that an estate sale service will be handling this event, so prices are bound to be much higher than what I encountered at the garage sale. I may check it out anyway if I have the time.

The second scene is courtesy of the Salvation Army - and Mother Nature!

My favorite corner of the backyard; I love the ornamental crabtree that someone had put in. I built the park-style bench beneath it this spring from a kit. I had pondered painting the bench in some sort of funky design but haven't been motivated to do so thus far. So I figured I could buy or make some pillows or a throw to put on the bench instead to dress it up. 

Didn't do anything about that all summer, but then last week I came across a small quilt at a Salvation Army thrift store. Here's a close-up:

I liked the colors and the price - $2.99. I'm guessing the fabrics are from the 60's or 70's. I will bring it in soon for the winter, but of course with subsequent outdoor use it will eventually deteriorate. No matter - there's plenty more decorative textiles waiting in the wings at thrift stores! Or who knows - maybe I'll get around to painting that bench sometime.