I’m a summer girl. I’ll wear flip flops with jeans and a jacket just to protest the dropping temperatures. It is easy for me to celebrate the new blooms of spring by filling my home with color — lots of bright color. Fall and winter, however, are a bit harder for me to welcome. Last week, Amy Merrick’s Outside In: Fall Foliage & Flowers post inspired me to celebrate the true beauty of fall and bring a little of it inside. By combining candles, muslin and a few autumn photographs, I have a festive new display to welcome guests when they enter my home . . . and to remind me that there is beauty outside even when I have to wear a coat. — AshleyAnn

Read the full how-to after the jump!

Materials

• muslin
• ink jet t-shirt transfer paper
• glass jars
• embroidery thread

Tools

• ink jet printer
• iron
• scissors
• embroidery needle

Instructions

1. The first step is to create the images you would like to use. Going with the autumn theme, I gathered various fall objects and foliage. I wanted a wood background for my images, so I opted to use my back porch steps. I arranged the leaves, pine cones, branches and flowers in different groupings and took several shots of each. The We Like It Wild and Weeder’s Digest columns offer great inspiration for floral arrangement ideas.

2. Measure the height and diameter of your glass containers. The measurements will help you determine the size of your image. You can print each image as an 8.5″ x 11″ onto the transfer paper and then cut to size. If you are comfortable with photo editing software, you can make the image exactly the size you want before printing it. Keep in mind that if your image has any text, you will have to “mirror” the image before printing. Print your images onto the transfer paper.

3. Measure the diameter of your largest container. You can now cut a piece of muslin to a width that’s a few inches larger than this measurement. The length of the muslin is determined by all the heights of the containers combined (see the next picture).

4. Cut out each image from the transfer paper and line them up on your muslin. Iron each one to the muslin (following the package instructions). Leave a little space between each for trimming.

5. Wrap each container with the printed muslin. Smaller containers will allow for the image to wrap completely around the jar. Larger containers will leave a white area. Once you wrap the muslin around the container, use masking tape to hold it in place. Next, stitch the two pieces together using a simple straight stitch with knots at the beginning and end.

6. Add a candle on the inside, and you are done.

The extra glow of the candlelight makes it feel a bit warmer inside.