TRANSFORMED, from broken to beautiful
These were the exact words of our stager as we began the process of de-cluttering our house to put on the market.
So while Thanksgiving banners waved gaily on our street, our house had nary a wreath upon her door. And when neighboring halls began their be-decking, our house stood naked of outward adornment. Naked yes, but confident in her own Southern charm to bring a quick sale.
…
To be sure, the bunnies overrunning my house are more prolific than my writing has been of late! We spent the first week of March in San Diego and since then I’ve spent much of my time fighting and then recuperating from an influenza virus. UGH!
“No honey, I did NOT get my flu shot this year but I’m glad you did.”
So today, my words will be few and I’ll simply share a few Spring/Easter vignettes scattered around my house.
This mama bunny cookie jar adorns my kitchen island, along with a pot of lavender and some gold leafed eggs.
Notice baby bunnies peeking out from beneath mama’s skirts.
On my kitchen counter is a tray holding another porcelain bunny.
And one of many nests scattered throughout my house.
The den has gone Green for Spring (more pics showing my bookcases HERE).
Thrifted and painted candlesticks and silver.
Dried hydrangeas from last year’s garden and a DIY moss covered cross.
I shared this photo on Instagram of a collection of vintage pocket watches and a tiny bird’s nest.
Vintage books abound in my home decor.
I found this big bunny in a thrift store last Spring and I’m still debating on whether to leave him “as is” or to paint him. I’m really loving the grey stone bunnies I’ve seen around the home decor stores.
Or maybe I’ll just paint his overalls pink and make him a her!
This is my favorite frame because I can print out seasonal pictures from The Graphics Fairy to change it up for each holiday.
I’ve added one of my tiny boxwood wreaths behind the glass to frame it.
On to my living room and another boxwood wreath hung on a lantern.
A lantern that is filled with more bunnies of course.
I bought this stuffed bunny a couple of years ago because he looks so real.
I love his little chick friends too.
In my dining room an old toolbox filled with lavender sits atop the hutch.
A Spring Bouquet in a garden urn adorns the dining table,
with another bird’s nest for good measure.
One of my favorite things to create displays in is this large cloche that I’ve filled with Spring goodies.
Vintage sheet music with another miniature bird’s nest.
A mix of decoupaged eggs and gold leafed eggs.
A faux chocolate bunny purchased at Stein Mart. This, after using a real chocolate bunny in a floral arrangement two years ago and finding it melted down into the flowers one sunny afternoon.
The weather is very Springlike and warm this week in South Carolina and the pollen is beginning to fly. Hubby and I are working on a solution for keeping the furniture on the screened porch protected from the messy pollen this year. I’ll let you know how that works out! I hope you all are well and that you are enjoying the entrance into this new Season, wherever you may live.
Blessings friends,
TheDIYShowoff, LifeOnLakeshoreDrive, NiftyThriftyThings, SilverPenniesSundays, SundaysAtHome, RusticAndRefined, Spiritual Sundays, GiveMeGrace
A brand new mini dress with psychedelic swirls of hot pink and lime green . . . my big sister “ratting” the crown of my new short haircut and sealing it in place with Aqua Net, the cement of hair sprays . . . a little bit of mascara (shhhh . . . don’t tell mom) . . . a touch of white frosted lipstick and I was out the door.
But OH, how I was shaking in my hot pink heels. You see, it was my first day of Junior High and I was so afraid that I wouldn’t be sophisticated enough to fit in.
All my worries were for naught . . . as most of our worries tend to be. I found a new best friend the very first day and went back to my normal mode of dress from that day forward, realizing that 7th graders aren’t very sophisticated after all.
THAT is one of the memories of Fall that sticks out in my mind. It is a good memory and a somewhat traumatic memory all at the same time! I think it taught me a thing or two about trying to fit in though. Flash forward to today . . . some (EEK!) 46 years later and remember . . . authenticity is always best.
So what about you dear readers? What memories do you have of Fall? What is the happiest memory you carry? What is your favorite thing about this time of year?
I don’t suppose you have to ask me what my favorite thing is because it is pretty obvious that I have a passion for decorating and making my home a welcoming place to be, each and every season. It is especially fun this year to be decorating a brand new (to me) home.
I promised you in my post A GRAND FALL PORCH that I would be back to share with you my absolute best method for creating gorgeous velvet pumpkins. I learned by trial and error so you don’t have to! So lets get started:
First of all, the Old Things New part. I hit the thrift stores last Fall and searched out velvet and velour fabrics in pretty “Fallish” colors. My pumpkins were made from old pillows, dresses and blouses. You can make a whole LOT of pumpkins out of one woman’s full length dress, which is fun because then you’ll have some to give away to friends. They will be delighted!
I created several sizes of pumpkins, using different sized plates as patterns. The smallest pumpkin was traced from a salad plate and the largest from a serving tray. I suppose you could have a REALLY big pumpkin if you traced it from something like a big aluminum snow sled! How fun would that be?!
Anyhoo, these are the “ingredients”: White beans, Poly-fil, a couple different varieties of moss and dried pumpkin stems . . .
NOTE: For the pumpkin stems, you can dry stems taken from your own pumpkins OR, if you want a lot of them (like I did), you can walk through local pumpkins fields just after harvest and pick up what’s left behind (I actually did that . . . with permission of course). The problem with that was I wanted to make velvet pumpkins . . . and I wanted to make them NOW! So while my collected pumpkin stems were drying I ended up buying stems from an Etsy shop.
Lastly don’t forget the E6000, the absolute best crafting glue I’ve found . . . and I think they should pay me for saying that!
Begin by hand basting around the edges of your fabric circle with some extra strength thread. Then pull the thread to gather the edges together, leaving just enough room to add the filler.
Now for my tried and true tips:
Tip number 1: Add some beans to the bottom of the pumpkin, filling it about one third of the way. This will give your pumpkin stability so it won’t tip over.
Tip number 2: Be careful not to stuff your pumpkin too much. Add polyester filler until your pumpkin is about three-quarters full, then pull your basting thread tight and tie it off. Stuffing the pumpkin too full will make the pumpkin stems will look like they are sitting on top of the velvet pumpkin, rather than growing from it.
Tip number 3: THIS tip is why I call this the BEST way to make velvet pumpkins. Attach the stems with E6000 and then scrunch the pumpkin up around the stem and rubber band it in place until it dries. Overnight is best. Remove the rubber bands and voila . . . gorgeous velvet pumpkin!
But what if you have a mess up and it doesn’t look so gorgeous . . . like if you accidentally glop glue on top of the velvet, or you stuff it a bit too much and the stem doesn’t sit down inside the velvet nicely, or if your stitching shows, or whatever . . . ?
Simply add a little moss to cover up the goofs!
And here you have it . . . a pumpkin redeemed!
I like grouping my pumpkins together, some with moss and some without.
I also like mixing them in with real pumpkins and gourds.
One of my most viewed posts was this display of pumpkins contained in my junky chicken wire cloche. To see more pics and to view the cloche tutorial you can link back HERE
Finally, another cloche filled with pumpkins. The Chevron patterned one was made from an old pillow cover and the little pumpkin on top was made from drop cloth fabric. Aren’t they darling? These pumpkins have a whole different look and were shared in a tutorial by the amazing Shannon over at AKA Design. Head on over to her place to see the “how to” and while you’re there check out the rest of her blog. It is packed with creative and inspirational goodness!
An added NOTE: Jonni at Minnie’s Milestones made some of her own velvet pumpkins after reading this post and she has come up with a few extra tips that are extremely helpful. Head on over to her blog to see her pretty pumpkins and get some additional ideas!
So what’s next? So far I’ve shown you the front porch of my new house. Next I’ll be taking you inside where I’ve added a little more Fall decor. I hope you’ll come back and join me. I’m off now to find a Starbucks so I can savor one of my other favorite things about Fall, Pumpkin Spice Lattes!
Blessings,
I love Spring with all of it’s fresh and colorful decorations that speak of new life . . . new beginnings . . .
. . . new purchases?
Yes, I splurged and bought a little something new to enhance my Easter decor. This was a total impulse buy but really, how could I help myself when I saw THIS little guy over at Little Brags?
Isn’t he the most darling Easter bunny you’ve ever seen?
But no, I didn’t go out and buy myself a real bunny but I found something almost as adorable.
How could I resist right? I found this little guy at Drees, one of our local Olympia stores. I’m on their mailing list and when I received their Easter email and saw a picture of their very real looking bunnies I was smitten.
And then, how could I let him sit in his Easter basket all alone? You’re right, I simply couldn’t!
So I bought him a couple of little chicks to keep him company.
Drees had several different styles of these hand sewn bunnies to choose from and I had a very difficult time making a choice. Black tails, lops, jack rabbits, pure white bunnies . . . hmmm . . . I wonder if they’ll be on sale after Easter?
So that’s my big splurge! Thank you Christine for the inspiration. Mr. OTN thanks you too (wink, wink)!
Remembering Good Friday today and The Cross. A sad day to recall but we know the outcome as death is swallowed up in victory!
Blessings,
Aw . . . ’tis St. Patrick’s Day. What a lovely excuse for a wee party, a bit ‘o singin’ and a dancin’. That’s what my Irish father would have said in answer to my childhood plea, “Speak Irish for us dad!” I used to love hearing my father put on his Irish brogue to entertain me and my friends. He might also say, “I’ll whip your bloody behind if ye don’t behave!,” which always caused squeals of delight.
St. Patrick’s Day decorations are a nice way to transition into Spring. I’ve removed the snowy winter display from my coffee table cloche and replaced it with this happy Irish leprechaun.
He even has his own pot of gold!
Is this a leprechaun or an Irish Priest? Either way he’s a sparkly addition to St. Pat’s.
And this fun little frame-within-a-frame can be changed out with each holiday.
I have a whole set of different holiday pictures, courtesy of The Graphics Fairy of course!
This little guy can be seen around my house the whole year round.
You never know where he might pop up . . . kind of like The Elf on the Shelf.
Last year on St. Patrick’s Day I wrote about our family tradition where each grandchild received their own personal leprechaun from my father. You can read more about that tradition HERE.
Right now he is hanging out on the bookshelf beside my Irish Papa’s picture.
Sooo . . . this is where the “shenanigans” part of this post comes in! Sasha is all dressed up and ready for another holiday.
She looks so very patient but can you see the pleading look in her eyes as she longs for the treat in the bottom of her mug? “Can we eat now mom, can we, can we?”
“Ohhh, that was delicious . . . but WAIT . . . is that a piece of cookie I see on the table?”
“Should I do it? Do I dare?”
“Got it!”
“SASHA!!!”
“I’m sorry mom but I really couldn’t help myself. Besides, do you see what the sign says?”
“Is there anything more holy than a table covered in cookie crumbs?”
Happy St. Patrick’s Day and an Irish blessing to you too,
I’ve been known to link up to the following great parties!!!
