Tag Archives | home decor

Decorating with Eggs

March 29, 2014

Easter will soon be upon us along with coloring and dying Easters eggs. But for now to welcome Spring, I like to simply use and display eggs without any {or very little} adornments and in their natural pure form. Here I have filled a large white platter with an assortment of eggs with a sprinkle of feathers from my chickens as a center piece for a gathering or other entertainment.

Placing eggs in a small ceramic crate egg holder is another simple and easy display to do. Having a few eggs on the kitchen counter is a pretty sight. I love seeing the many beautiful shades of cream, brown, and green eggshells. It’s always handy to have some nearby for cooking and baking too.

To show off a particular egg {in a subtle manner}, I placed it on a white plate with a bed of green moss, a paper nest, and covered it with a glass dome. This little light brown egg with tiny dark speckles came from one my chickens. I kept the eggshell along with a few others as an inspiration for possible paint colors and for other uses. A great way to display and protect a fragile egg.

Over the years I’ve collected quite a few antique egg prints and one of the ways I like to display the collection is to group them together. This will bring attention and cohesiveness to the display wall.

Interested in collecting vintage prints, a good place to start your search is at the website, Panteek. They have a wide variety of egg prints and many other vintage prints to choose from.

{print vintage egg print 1 Here, print vintage egg print 2 Here}

Another source for egg prints and many other vintage prints is the website, Vintage Printable. All are free for you to print/dowload till your heart’s content. The two vintage egg prints above came from there. I changed the background and made it lighter and sharpened the images slightly. Feel free to use these egg prints however you like.

For an Easter table centerpiece, my friend Lynn put this together using a variety of baby lettuce plants, pansies and moss. Tuck a few eggs randomly in the centerpiece to add a touch of playfulness. After Easter, it can go outside to be enjoyed a little longer and the lettuce leaves will be a wonderful addition to a mixed green salad or a sandwich.

To add a personal touch, personalize each place setting and/or gift with an Easter tag.
Free printable Easter gift tags, Here.

I hope you enjoy decorating with eggs this Spring!

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posted by: Kay

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Simple Felt Wreath

December 14, 2013

These simple felt wreaths came about because of my two bare walls in the house that needed some Christmas decorations. In less than an hour I was able to make two large felt wreaths from the supplies I have on hand. The mini felt wreath is even easier to make. Hang it on the Christmas tree or attach it to a package.

I like the idea of hanging a wreath in front of a picture frame or a bulletin board.

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Tutorial for Felt Wreaths

Supplies

• double ring wreath forms {12″ diameter}
• felt sheets, assorted colors {9″ x 12″}
• ribbons and twine
• glue gun & glue sticks
• scissors
• simple leaf templates, print Here {approximately 2 1/2″ long by 1 1/4″ in width}

for mini felt wreath
• green cloth covered stem wire 18 gauge {18 inches long}
• strong paper tube {2 1/4″ diameter} or something similar,
to use as a tool to wrap and shape the wire into a circle – mine came from an empty ribbon paper tube

Mini Felt Wreath

Choose a felt color to be wrapped around the wire frame. Cut long one-inch wide strips from the felt sheet. There should be 9 strips total. Take one felt strip and dab a pea-size hot glue near the beginning of the felt and quickly wrap the strip once around the wire frame to secure it. Once the felt strip is attached, start wrapping it around the frame. Glue down the end of the strip and repeat the steps again until the wire frame is completely covered. It will take 7-9 felt strips.

Arrange the cut leaf pieces around the frame, but do not hot glue them down until you are satisfied with how they look on the wreath..

The finished felt wreath.

Mini Felt Wreath

step 1 & 2
Take the 18″ wire and wrap it around the paper tube.

step 3
Take the circular wire shape of the tube and twist it around itself 3-4 times to secure the circular wire shape.

step 4
arrange mini leaf shapes around the wire circle and hot glue them to the wire.

step 5
Attach twine to the felt wreath.

Have fun making these felt wreaths for Christmas.

Sources: double ring wreath forms, Main Wreath Co. ⎜ green cloth covered stem wire 18 gauge, JoAnn

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posted by: Kay

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December {getting ready for the Christmas Season}

November 30, 2013

I was a little surprised to see some retail stores decorating for Christmas in October {just a bit too early for me}. Now that December is upon us, I am ready to move forward and into the Christmas season. The first thing our family decided to do after Thanksgiving was to go and get our Noble Fir Christmas tree. It’s now in our house with lights and decorated with ornaments. Our house will be in the decorating and cleaning stage for awhile longer. Here’s a little glimps of what’s going on.

I always look forward to opening the Christmas bins and rediscovering all the things again. To see my kids find excitement and talk about what they uncovered was great to be a part of. The picture of the pine tree and a bible verse, “For unto us a Child is born” was a printable I created last year for a blog post, Christmas quotes. I reduced the size of the image to fit the matte and frame for the display. {to print, click HERE}.

A simple felt wreath. (diy, here…}

One of my favorite methods to wrap presents is by layering the gifts and using clear cello wrap to tie all of it together. The cello adds a little sparkle to the gift and gives a sneak peek of what’s inside.

The morning temperatures have been low and cold enough to put a blanket of frost outside. These beautiful little berries looked quite delicate with a layer of frost on them.

Homemade cranberry relish with pear & orange is a favorite of our family. This year I decided to preserve the relish and give it as gifts for Christmas. The packaging was easy and fast using what I already have around the house {brown lunch bags, rubber bands, double sided tape and labels printed from the computer}. continue reading…

A fun and whimsical display of a tinsel Christmas tree against black paper {or chalkboard}.

How are you preparing for the Christmas season?

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posted by: Kay

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It’s Pumpkin {Squash} Season

October 12, 2013

Pumpkins are here! Every year there is a temptation to buy just one more pumpkin and add it to the growing collection at home. And I give in, one too many times! There are many varieties to choose from at the grocery stores and local markets. At this time of year, the local farms are bursting with fresh fruits, vegetables, and pumpkins. Out in the fields is where I love to go in search of pumpkins and squash, especially when they are still attached to the vines and ready for picking.

This beautiful Cinderella pumpkin {Rouge Vif d’Etampes} peaked out from beneath the vines and dead leaves to reveal its bright orange/red color.

What a sight to see, Green Goblin Pumpkins {Marina Di Chioggia} with knobby skin are quite a unique squash with yellow/orange sweet flesh. They are great for baking and a source of vitamin A.

Have you ever seen a yellow pumpkin as bright as this one!

The Blue Hubbarb Squash is teardrop-shaped with a hard outer shell and orange sweet flesh. They are great for pies, and soups.

Fairytale Pumpkins {Musque de Provence} originated from France, they will start out green and gradually turn brown/copper in color when ripe.

The striped pumpkin {Kakai} is popular for hull-less deep green seeds. The seeds have a wonderful nutty taste for snacking and for oil to be used in cooking.

A field full of orange pumpkins is a sight I never get tired of at this time of year.

Arrival of the fall season brings with it pumpkins. Place them outside at the front door {see it here…} or scatter them throughout the house. A large bright pumpkin could stand alone as the center piece of the table or on a mantle. Group similar color/size pumpkins together in a bowl, platter or other containers to brighten a room. Here I’ve gathered some simple and easy ideas to decorate with pumpkins.

Kim at Simply Domestic used little white and striped pumpkins to decorate her kitchen and dinning room . {see more…}

A few orange pumpkins placed in the middle of the kitchen island gave this neutral kitchen a nice pop of color.

A collection of pumpkins and squash with other items of similar green color brought cohesiveness to the display on the shelves.

This large wooden cake stand with two pumpkins stacked together created a wonderful display.

Have fun finding pumpkins and decorating with them!

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posted by: Kay

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Welcome Autumn . . .{with Ree Drummond & Brad Paisley}

September 21, 2013

Autumn!

When a season ends another begins and as always I want it to last a little longer. But it wasn’t until I began compiling pictures for this post that I realized how ready I have been for the change in season. I’ve thought about soups, FOOTBALL, pumpkins, squash recipes, blankets, candles, and often times gravitated to orange things without much thought as to why {i.e pics above and below}. The night before the above picture was taken, a big rain storm came through overnight and took down my beautiful large marigold plant. Not wanting to leave the broken stems scattered on the ground, I gathered them up and arranged the cut flowers into a large white bowl to be enjoyed for awhile longer. {thinking of autumn?!!}

{pumpkins: Cinderella-bottom, Musquee de Provence-center, jack o lantern-top}

Wanting to welcome autumn, but keeping it simple and a little rustic by stacking a variety of pumpkins in a pot to greet visitors at the front door. The green leaves on this freshly made wreath will slowly change to brown through the season.

The weather was gray and cloudy with rain on and off while vacationing with Bill and the kids. Each vacation day was full of busy activities outside. But when it was quiet time in the house, the kids got out their phones, iPad, watched a movie or played on the Xbox and checked out for awhile. My quiet time was spent next to the gas fireplace on an ex-large and ex-comfortable sofa where I read, had coffee, listened to music and moistened my extremely dry lips. Complete contentment …..until one of the kids yelled from upstairs for me to turn off the gas fire because they were roasting. .

Autumn Cottage Magazine

Anyway, here are some favorite pictures from the Autumn Cottage magazine to awaken the autumn spirit in you.

Autumn picnic.

Decorating the house/table in the colors orange, yellow, brown and red.

Simple packaging ideas using twine, jars and brown paper bags.

The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels, A Love Story

The thought of bringing a book and having time to sit and read it on vacation NEVER occurred to me because my time was often filled with entertaining the kids, feeding them and doing laundry {kinda like being back at home}. This vacation was a turning point, they are older and didn’t need my help as much, “What am I to do with my time… me time?”. The house we stayed at had a small selection of books to read and the one that got my attention was {the orange book}, “The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels-A Love Story”. I know who Ree Drummond is from having enjoyed making regular visites to her website, The Pioneer Woman. I wanted something light-hearted and maybe funny too and this was perfect. In the story, Ree took us into her first encounter then the “juicy” details of dating Marlboro Man as she often referred to Ladd Drummond and finished off the second half of the book chronicling their first year experiences of marriage and living out in the country. A beautiful love story with twists and turns, unexpected events and sometimes funny would grab my attention and take my mind off to a different place and time. Other times her emotions would spark memories of young love and how it felt when Bill and I were dating {20+ years ago}. It was a joy to read this book.

For more information and excerpts from the book, click on the links below:

The first time Ree cooked for Marboro Man. He later revealed to her and said,
“I really hated it. But I really liked you.” {continue Here…}
Why Ree Drummond wrote “Black Heels to Tractor Wheels” {continue Here…}
Ree mentioned Marbora Man’s house often in the book, see pictures
{Then: continue Here…} {Now:continue Here…}
Read a few chapters from the book or purchase it {continue Here… }

This Is Country Music, by Brad Paisley

To make my ‘quiet time’ a little sweeter, Brad Paisley’s songs were playing in the background. Here are two songs from the CD I was listening to {music videos: This Is Country Music & Remind Me}.

Samples of other songs from Brad Paisley’s CD, “This is Country Music” {Here}.