Sometime ago, I was reading how a family decided to put themselves on a spending freeze for something like 3 or 6 months. They allowed a small amount of money for fresh items for the month and that was pretty much that. It seems that they realized that they had a full pantry, and yet were still filling up their cart at the grocery store each week. The goal was to only eat what was in their pantry and freezer and not run to the store. That seems like a really good idea. I notice on Pinterest and other blogs that people are always organizing their pantries. And there seems to be a LOT of … [Read more...]
Are you waving the flag for Memorial Day? I thought it would be fun to share a super easy little project to add a little patriotism to a wall or front door. Easy Flag Ribbon Wreath & Tutorial Here's the "how to"..... One. Gather some red, white, and blue ribbon. You can see that I got mine on deep clearance a while ago. Keep your eye out for out-of-season trims for the best prices. And...really when I bought it I had no idea how I would use it. But, the colors were just right. It would be great to use three solid colors, too. Two. Use an existing wreath that is … [Read more...]
Don't you love these Snowball Viburnum blossoms? My neighbor has a huge bush of them and I was able to clip a few stems to make some floral arrangements for the house. You might remember last week I shared about Snowball blossoms in the post, Look what the wind blew in. This time, I wanted to do something that was more traditional, dressy even, for the chest in my great room. The Snowball bush's stems are not very orderly in nature and I was trying to figure out how I could arrange them in a compact, as opposed to floppy, manner. So, I went scouting through the cabinets … [Read more...]
It's hard to believe. Memorial Day celebrations begin in just a few days. It's the official weekend to kick off everything summer. One thing is for sure, many families and friends will be gathering to enjoy delicious food. With that in mind, today I wanted to share with you a few... Patriotic Tablescape Ideas It's easy for me to set a patriotic table because I have dinnerware in red, ivory, and blue. Red and white is great for Christmas and Valentine's Day. Blue and white is terrific for the snowy days of January and Hanukkah and Thanksgiving. And then, I … [Read more...]
Do you open up magazines, or scroll through Pinterest and dream of having beautiful window boxes or container gardens? Last week I teased you with some inspiring container garden possibilities. My goal today is to show you how you too, can create a magazine-worthy window box. This is a full-blown tutorial filled with planting tips, hang on!! How to Plant a Window Box Garden To make it easy I'll be sharing lots of photos and easy instructions, and "how to" tips for creating a successful, gorgeous, window box. We'll talk about plant … [Read more...]
Lovely Lunaria as a Cut Flower A corner of our backyard has the popular dried flower, Honesty. Sometimes it is also referred to as the Money Plant. It often has a weedy appearance in the garden. But, this year the color was especially stunning. You might describe it as a deep magenta purple. On a whim I decided to cut two stems and bring them inside. A small cut-crystal vintage bud vase was the chosen vessel for this loveliness. There are lots of side stems on this regal-colored plant. I cut the side shoots off the main stem and had many pretty … [Read more...]
It's been really windy around here lately. I even have to wear a cute ball cap so that I don't end up eating my hair while I take my daily constitutional. Doesn't that sound so important....daily constitutional? The wind was so strong that it kept blowing my cap off my head. My ponytail fed through the expansion hole in the back didn't even help to keep it on. My dad used to say, "The wind doesn't blow for nothing." It's a funny remark. But...whenever the wind kicks up, I'm reminded of his phrase. The wind didn't cease through the night. The next morning I woke … [Read more...]
Back in my old stomping grounds, it's tulip time. It's a fabulous celebration of tulips and things Dutch. The funny thing is, usually before or after the big shin dig I'd drive over to see the tulip displays and fields of tulips. But, I never attended the parade or any of the festivities. I have a slight regret. When you live in an area most of your adult life, you think you're going to have plenty of time to 'get there.' After all, we had built our 'forever house.' We lived in one of the loveliest places in the country, a true vacation destination, of course there would be plenty of … [Read more...]
When the weather turns warm, I can't wait to hit the greenhouses and garden centers for the most beautiful plants I can find. I make it into a challenge to get the good stuff before anyone else. I'm a competitor and my intent is to win. (But let's keep that secret between the two of us, okay?) Have you always wanted to create an extraordinary container garden? You see them at the garden centers and in magazines. Could you really create an extraordinary container garden? My resounding answer is, YES!! Why not create one this … [Read more...]
Welcome to the final day of our fabulous celebration! All week we've been talking about friendship in some form or another. We even broke bread together the other day. And everyone wanted the recipe, so I provided the Best Banana Bread Recipe, ever. To wrap up our Five Days of Giveaways I wanted to give you something, too. Something I created special for you...and I'm giving away something from my Longaberger collection. I hope you like both. Free Friendship Printable Recently I was creating a book page runner...which you might see in upcoming posts. As I was removing … [Read more...]
Do you have a framed print that you like, but the mat needs to be refreshed? Several people have commented about this wall art which makes an appearance whenever I share a new vignette on my piano. This is the latest iteration. Today I'm going to show you an Easy DIY Book Page Mat Tutorial. Last year I picked up a typical pink floral print with a mauve mat in a gold frame from the thrift store. It screamed early 90's and I had no idea what I was going to do with it. So it sat in my studio whispering my name. By now, you must know that I am smitten with book pages. Is it because … [Read more...]
There isn't anything prettier than streets lined with Bradford Pear Trees in early spring. One of my good friends in Western New York lived on one of those streets. I would drive out of my way just to see the glory of all those flowering pear branches sporting their stunning white blossoms. Ahhhh....the beauty. My small town is not lined with them, but the few along the tree line bring brilliance to Main Street. We haven't lived in our current house very long. Last year was our first spring here and we were more about trimming the jungle in our yard than in reveling in the beauty. This … [Read more...]
I did it again! Seriously I am having too much fun playing in my sun room. Since we painted the trim white, I have so enjoyed dressing the sun room for the seasons! And now that it's warming up I'll enjoy spending lots of time out there too. Here's my latest iteration... A Sunny Yellow Table Setting for Two Do you recognize the cheerful vintage yellow crocus pot? It's a 1940's piece of pottery that looks amazingly contemporary. Gotta love that! For Easter I had blue and white eggs in each of the surrounding planting holes with the same daffodils in the middle. This time … [Read more...]
I'm loving this dramatic moment on my cabinet. It's a simple tulip wreath DIY project anyone can do. And by now, you must know I love quick and easy DIY projects. What is it about spring? Are we so staved for color after a long cold gray winter that we are more than willing to put together such a glorious mix of colors? I surely am. In my sun room, anyway. Do you gravitate towards color in the spring, too? Summer...that's a different story. Though many plant reds and yellows together in the summer garden, mine will usually be filled with white, purple, pink, blue, and a dash of soft yellow. … [Read more...]
Spring! Where art thou? How would you like to bring a bit of spring into your home without it breaking the bank? Yes, please!! Patience, please. I'll get there in a minute. If you've been a reader for a while you may remember that I stuck branches up in my sunroom this winter for Christmas and hung red snowflakes from them. It was part of transforming my sunroom into a Swedish Christmas room. I loved those snowflakes and left them up all winter. After I cut the snowflakes down I was left with these bare branches. Oh my...they couldn't stay like that. I had a choice...either take … [Read more...]
I love the word metamorphosis. You too? This weekend, I had a sun room metamorphosis of sorts, as I notched up my spring decor. You'll remember I talked about it last week here. And before that, I decorated it with red and snowflakes for winter here, and for Valentine's Day here, and for Christmas here. The biggest change is the addition of flowering branches. Do you see them? They were so. very. difficult to photograph. Seriously impossible. In my quest for decent pictures I took photos on multiple days. You'll notice that some of the … [Read more...]
Easter... Eggs. Baskets. Candy. Flowers. Blessings. Easter is the most meaningful holiday our family celebrates. And though we enjoy the traditions of eggs, baskets, candy, flowers, and blessings....for us....it's all about the cross. Friday we remembered the ultimate sacrifice by a Father and His Son....because of their amazing love for each of us. The best part is that the story doesn't end there...Sunday is a 'comin'! While we are sandwiched between those two extraordinary days, preparing for the most important celebration of the year... I thought I'd take a moment and share a quick … [Read more...]
