How to Decorate Your Home This Fall

PEKIN, Ill.,–– Now that the fall season is here to stay, it's time to decorate! Give your home maximum curb appeal from the inside out with our handy guide on fall decorating. You'll learn how to decorate your home this fall in no time with these easy and affordable decorating tips. Give your home a cozy, warm feel to match the changing temperatures. Decorate with pumpkins, mums, string lights, and more this autumn!

DIY Pumpkin Vase

Need a centerpiece for your table? This DIY pumpkin vase is perfect for both the Halloween and Thanksgiving season. Using a faux pumpkin and a little bit of creativity, you can turn a pumpkin of any shape, size, and color into a beautiful vase for your fall flowers!

Happy Fall Wreath

Greet your guests with a stylish, vibrant, and creative wreath this year. With twigs from your own yard and a personalized greeting, you'll have a "happy fall" wreath in no time!

Fall Leaf Art

Want to give your home a warm and cozy fall feel? This fall leaf art project only takes a few minutes and can be put together with the leaves in your backyard. It's the perfect touch to any home this fall!

Maple Leaf Mason Jars

For a natural and warm look this season, try out these maple leaf mason jars! These lights are perfect for fall evenings spent by a bonfire or even cozied up on the couch.

Flannel Coasters

Another quick and easy DIY project, these flannel coasters will add a cozy touch to any home. They only take a couple of minutes to make and will be perfect for both the fall and winter seasons!

Pumpkin Pie Garland

For something sweet, try making this pumpkin pie garland! It doesn't require much time and gives a unique appeal rather than traditional fall decorations.

Mason Jar Scone

Give your old mason jars a new home with this easy mason jar scone DIY project! Paint them white and pair them with vibrant flowers to make them really stand out. This decoration is perfect for dining rooms and fall festivities!

Patterned Pumpkins

Want an easy project for you and your entire family? Instead of carving your pumpkins this year, try a new look by painting them with fun designs! Using tape and a foam brush, the possibilities are endless!

Whether you love bonfires, apple cider, or hayrides, giving your home a festive and fall look will make it feel cozy, warm, and welcoming! Now that you know how to decorate your home this fall, let the festivities begin. If you're looking for more fall inspiration, follow our Pinterest page for recipes, DIY projects, and much more! Are you in the market to purchase a new vehicle? Find out the benefits of owning a CPO vehicle, whether or not it's right for you, and browse our Certified Pre-Owned inventory today!

At Velde Ford, we're committed to providing our customers with an unbeatable level of service and a great car buying experience. Stop by the dealership located at 2200 North 8th Street, Pekin, IL 61554 or visit our website: VeldeFordPekin.com for more information.

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How to Drive Safely on Halloween Night

PEKIN, Ill. –– On Halloween, kids will swarm neighborhoods to participate in a sugar-fueled frenzy of door-to-door trick-or-treating. While this is an invigorating event for most kids, parents’ reactions to this ghoulish night usually consist of some measure of anxiety over their kids’ safety. Fortunately, there are plenty of Halloween safety tips for parents to give their kids before they hit the streets and morph into candy goblins.

Keeping kids safe on Halloween should also be considered a community effort that includes parents, neighbors, and even drivers. If you’re planning on hitting the road on Oct. 31, make sure you know how to drive safely on Halloween night during the time kids are trick-or-treating. Here are a few cautionary steps you can take to keep neighborhoods safe.

Try to avoid neighborhood streets.

Unless you’re heading to work or a Halloween party, it’s a good idea to keep your car off residential streets during trick-or-treating hours. Keeping cars off of neighborhood streets on Halloween night greatly decreases the hazard formed when energetic kids in costumes are crossing streets cars are driving down.

Don’t speed through neighborhoods.

If you absolutely have to head out on Halloween night, make sure you drive slower than usual through your neighborhood. While legally you may not be required to drive slower on Halloween, it’s a good idea because, again, it’s likely your neighborhood will be flooded with hyped up kids who aren’t paying much attention to a set of headlights a block away. By driving slowly, it gives you more time to react if a group of goblins, vampires, or ghosts decide to run across an intersection before looking both ways.

Use your floodlights in darker areas.

While most neighborhoods streets are lined with streetlights these days, some residential areas choose not to implement them. These streets can get extremely dark at night, especially on Halloween when the only noticeable light is coming from a few porches with candlelit pumpkins.

Make complete stops at stop signs.

Let’s be honest, it’s more than likely that you roll through a majority of the stop signs in your neighborhood, as most drivers do. While you should always come to complete stops at stop signs, it’s especially important on a night like Halloween. Most kids that are out trick-or-treating won’t think about looking before they run across an intersection. By you coming to a complete stop you can take time to look for these kids before proceeding.

Slow down at intersections without signs.

Even if there aren’t any signs telling you to stop or yield at an intersection, it’s a good idea to slow down as you pass through them. Again, this will give you a chance to spot any trick-or-treaters who aren’t paying close attention to the vehicles driving through their neighborhood.

As a driver on Halloween, it’s your responsibility to help the community keep kids who are out trick-or-treating safe. You can do a lot by choosing not to drive during trick-or-treat times, but if you have to, our used car dealer near Peoria Heights, IL, wants to make sure you know how to drive safely on Halloween night. We share tips like these because we care about our community, but another way we try to keep our neighbors safe is by providing them with quality used cars and trucks they know they can rely on. Visit us for a test-drive and you’ll see what we mean.

At Velde Ford, we're committed to providing our customers with an unbeatable level of service and a great car buying experience. Feel free to visit Velde Ford located at 2200 North 8th Street, Pekin, IL 61554.

Visit our website: VeldeFordPekin.com

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Creative Ways to Decorate Your Pumpkin for Halloween

PEKIN, Illi - All right, we already covered how to add apples and pumpkins into your menu this fall, but with Halloween in sight, we quickly remembered another fun fall activity –– pumpkin decorating! While many people like to stick to their traditional jack-o-lantern carvings, why not take a shot at one of these creative ways to decorate your pumpkin for Halloween? All of these ideas are super simple and are sure to be great at-home projects to do with the kids!

Creative Ways to Decorate Your Pumpkin for Halloween

There definitely isn't a shortage of candy this time of year, so why not put it to good use? Glue some of your favorite candies onto your pumpkin to make a silly face or a unique design!

Thumbtacks can be used for more than just hanging notes on your cork board! Use the pins to write out a message or create a decorative pattern on your pumpkin. 

A little Mod Podge and some festive fabric can turn your pumpkin into a real piece of art! Fabric-covered pumpkins also make for adorable centerpieces! 

Paint your pumpkin in chalkboard paint to turn into your personal message board!

Carving a pumpkin has never been so easy! Kids can pick out their favorite cookie cutters and, with your help, of course, use a mallet to pound the cookie cutter all the way through the pumpkin's shell. Using a knife, parents can easily carve out their perfectly shaped design and ta-da!

Painting your pumpkin is not only a hassle-free project, it's also a great way for the kids to get creative all on their own! Whether they decide to use stencils or paint free-hand, the possibilities are endless!

Prepare your vehicle for whatever fall has in store for us with help from our Ford dealer near Peoria Heights. At Velde Autos, we are committed to providing our customers with an unbeatable level of service and a great car buying experience. Feel free to visit either of our dealerships, Velde Ford located at 2200 North 8th Street, Pekin, IL 61554.

Visit our website: VeldeFordPekin.com

Follow us on: Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, Instagram