French Ethereal

Welcome to this month’s $10 on the 10th, dear friends! Our theme this time is Patriotic and because it is summertime, in the USofA our summers are flanked on both ends by Memorial Day at the end of May, and Labor Day in September, with the Fourth of July tucked in the middle. So, I thought I’d make a fun blue jean recycle project for us to celebrate…

Thank you to Tammy from Patina and Paint for hosting this month and we have a treat as everyone is here for this fun patriotic event, too! Woo Hoo!!

Let’s get this party started, shall we?

How to make these Star-Spangled Placemats

My project begins with two pairs of old jeans, including a pair of my absolute faves!

(shot with my iPhone 4… Wow, phones have come a long way! Soooo blurry!)

But ever since I made this Welcome Banner out of old blue jean pockets, I knew I would be using these pockets again… (They were too cute and sparkly NOT to reuse them!)

Begin by cutting off the lower legs of the larger pants and slice them down the side. Cut off the front tops to use the rivet and front pocket detail as part of your design.

Lay out your pieces (four or more; I used just two to make two placemats today), and mark out two 12″ x 16″ pieces for the back of your Patriotic Placemats:

Since I was making these at night, you get a nice view of my dining room chandelier overhead!

Use quilters rulers, if you have them, to mark out your 12″ x 16″. I looked up the standard measurements for placemats and they can be anywhere from 12″- 16″ x 16″ – 22″. I picked 12″ x 16″ but wish I had made them 18″ wide, so really think about how you want your placemats to look before cutting them out.

I was also limited by the size of the blue jeans (especially using the front top sections) but could have cut the pieces longer. 😉

Using the American Flag

Okay, as a former Boy Scout and Girl Scout leader, I am always a bit hesitant to reuse the American flag because I was taught that you donate your old flags to the local Boy Scout troops to burn at a future ceremony.

It’s always a big deal for the kids to go through preparing the flag for burning and afterwards, the grommets are saved along with the cold ashes. Small bottles are given to each participant of the reminder of how sacred our freedom and country are.

HOWEVER, I do love the look of this flag. It never faded in the least and was still fairly new. It caught during a couple of storms on the bush outfront and began ripping upwards, so it was an easy fix to zigzag the rent…

Sew any tears in your flag. I actually want the frayed look as it kind of goes with the worn and tattered blue jean look! <3

For this flag, I could get two stars and stripes sections if I reorganized the stripes and cut out 6″ x 16″ sections.

Then it was simple to sew the 6″ x 16″ stripes to the bottom of each upper star/stripes section! Iron the seams flat and lay out this placemat “top” to the backside of the blue jean placemat “bottom,” wrong sides facing each other.

Sew about 1/4″ seam around the four edges… I found it best to sew down the two sides first, then sew across the top and bottom (the bottom fabric WILL pull towards the end of your sewing, so either pull taught…

Sew OUTWARDS from the middles, flip for the other half of the top and bottom, towards each edge (this is the actual way you are supposed to sew, which prevents this pulling; this is how I learned to sew from my instructor when sewing collars and necklines/hemlines). 😀

Lastly, sew on the blue jean sparkle pocket around the edges, leaving the top open to add silverware OR sew closed and use the actual pocket flaps opened!

Aren’t these Star-Spangled Recycled Jeans and Flag Placemats cute??

I knew this is what I wanted to create with these pockets for the past couple of years as this old favorite pair of capris were beginning to really fade and tear, so I am glad I get to share them here on $10 on the 10th with you today!

Oh! Total cost?

$0, less the cost of original materials.

Priceless!

Now let’s go check out what patriotic ideas our friends have come up with…

Ann ~ “Wine Gift Bag” ~ Apple Street Cottage

Allyson ~ “Free Printable 4th of July Fans” ~ Southern Sunflowers

Barb ~ “A Star-Spangled Blue Jean Recycle Placemat Project” ~ French Ethereal (here!)

Cindy ~ “How to Make a Grapevine Wreath” ~ Cloches and Lavender

Corine ~ “Garden Wreath” ~ Junks to Jems

Patti ~ “10 on the 10th Patriotic Ideas” ~ Pandora’s Box

Tammy ~ “Ribbon Wreath” ~ Patina and Paint

Terrie ~ “DIY Summer Wreath Inspiration” ~ Decorate and More with Tip

Enjoy the tour!

Barb 🙂

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Share Your Style #305

June 9, 2021June 9, 2021 French Ethereal

Welcome friends, to this week’s Share Your Style #304! Happy Wednesday to you all!

This link party is for home decor, DIY, crafts, recipes and the like, but you are more than welcome to share any of your family-friendly posts with us all. Please feel free to share this post too and join my small but loyal band of friends. I appreciate you!
As always, I am glad that you are here…

I am Barbara Chapman and I’d love it if you’d follow me here on my blog and on any of my other social media sites, too. Thank you!💜

French Ethereal: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest

My goodness, friends! This has been a nice two weeks off from school (summer vacation), enjoying the pretty mountainside around Pigeon Forge, Tennessee and our nephew and new niece’s wedding, and just taking a break from writing…

Other than the time we were moving out of our last house (August 2015) and I had nothing to write about (or so I thought…), I have taken very few breaks off from blogging and this was a nice break. I was originally just going to take time off from Share Your Style but it turned into a break from everything! I feel refreshed and ready to visit and share new ideas again with you! 💜

What have I been doing: Painting our master bedroom is almost completed… I am finishing up the ceiling today and am just waiting for the last of Coat 1 to dry so I can stand down below and roll a light second coat over the whole thing (ugh!). Definitely NOT professionally spray painted! WHY the last owners chose to paint EVERY ceiling coffee brown… The crown moulding and walls turned out beautifully. After almost 30 years of painting rooms, I’m getting pretty good at it. 😉

And I am back in the Craft Room (which I have really yet to share) working on making it happy! So, I’ll be sharing those posts soon. 🙂 I am excited to share all these summer inspired posts with you…

***Here’s what I shared this past week at* *French Ethereal…***

A Five Minute Picnic Basket for Two ~ Part of this month’s $10 on the 10th challenge. 😉 This was a fun post to write and really quick to put together. Looking forward to more picnics this summer and into fall…

And here are this week’s featured posts…

There is something really fun about bee-utiful table settings and this past month our friend Rachelle from My Hubbard Home joined another of our favorite friends, Debbee from Debbee’s Buzz, in a Bee Themed link party ~ Here’s Rachelle’s cute post ~ A Bee French Table Setting for Chic Themed Spring Entertaining. Love all the yellow, black and white!

Rachelle also shared this lovely post ~ How to Extend the Life of Your Peonies. Lovely! Wish mine were blooming this year…

Lisa at Fresh Vintage by Lisa shared her Trash to Treasure ~ Cast Iron Plant Stand Redo this week. Love the new look and it is soooo pretty anywhere in the yard! Nice job!!

MaryJo over at Master”Pieces” of My life shared Why You Should Have a Water Feature in Outdoor Spaces. Yes!!!

Tiffany over at Tee Diddley Dee brings us this fun DIY Rustic Wooden Serving Tray this week and it’s super fast and easy to make. Perfect project to make for summer soirees!

thrifted style, ditsy floral dress, The Thrifty Six, fashion over 40, Shelbee on the Edge

Shelbee from Shelbee on the Edge shared her post with the Thrifty Six and Back with Spring Florals. Love this fun style blog hop and I am sure you will, too!

Last up for this week is this yummy post perfect for breakfast (anytime, really!) from Claire Justine ~ Chunky Monkey Overnight Oats. Don’t you just love a little chocolate for breakfast? ;)’

A big Thank You to everyone who linked up this past week. A special thank you to y’all for always promoting Share Your Style on your blog and on your social media channels! I do see it when I stop by and I appreciate the love. 💜

If you’d like to follow my Share Your Style board on Pinterest I’d appreciate it, thank you! I do post all of the featured posts from each week’s SYS there.

Happy linking, dear friends!

Hugs, Barb 🙂

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5 Minute Picnic Basket for Two

May 25, 2021May 24, 2021 French Ethereal

Welcome friends to this month’s Pinterest Challenge hosted by my friend Cindy of County Road 407. This month we are putting together pretty baskets! If you are coming over from Laura from Everyday Edits, welcome!

Do you ever want to go on an impromptu picnic with your sweetheart but don’t want to drag out everything like we do for camping trips? Well, my picnic basket should give you a couple of new ideas to use for your next picnic. And they are things just laying around the kitchen and home…

Here is our inspiration piece from Anderson + Grant

Jamie of Anderson + Grant is new as a blogger online to me but actually I think I’ve met her at a Design Influencers Conference! We sat together and she was really nice. I don’t remember if it was in Beverly Hills or Atlanta as I went a couple of years in a row and I am soooo excited to write her and say hello!!

In this our inspirational post, Jamie made over a broken thrift shop basket she found with a nice grey wash. It’s always fun to see what you can find at local thrift shops to refresh. Thrifting is also one of my favorite things to do while out “on the road.”

If I can find a treasure to bring home, I am a happy girl! 🙂

Well, my Longaberger basket is still in good shape and even though you can’t go to the company’s basket parties any longer, you can still find lone baskets occasionally at flea markets, and of course, thrift stores.

I chose to leave my basket natural and put together a quick 5 minute basket that you can whip up with one of your own baskets, too!

What to fill it with

I found these adorable bicycle paper plates in January at our local Costco in Lewisville, Texas, and they were $9.95 for a stack of like 250 or more. Great deal and the package comes with bicycles on one plate and a spring wildflower bouquet on the other!

Two bicycle plates went in first, then the turquoise Tupperware cups we bought the year we moved into our trailer from a friend’s party.

Then I added plastic ware leftover from local takeout and a couple of lemon napkins from a summer Pinterest Challenge last year. They are perfect with the fun paper plates and add more color to the picnic basket!

Lastly, I added a small bouquet of dried lavender from my garden and a small candle to add a little romance when spreading out the throw blanket (around the basket) for a picnic for two…

Since this basket is for a snack picnic, I’ve popped in a box of crackers and some chocolate toffee. When getting ready to leave, it’s simple to add in a small soft-sided cooler with cut up slices of Cheddar cheese, maybe some shredded chicken or turkey to top the crackers, and some red or green grapes, plus a couple of sodas and bottles of water to round out the menu…

Well thank you so much for stopping by today! Please leave me a comment and let me know what you’d put in your picnic basket… 😉

Next up we swing back up to the top to visit Cindy at County Road 407 and I know you’ll love what she has done with her basket!

Hugs,

Barb 🙂

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Share Your Style #304

May 19, 2021June 9, 2021 French Ethereal

Welcome friends, to this week’s Share Your Style #304! Happy Wednesday to you all!

I am Barbara Chapman and I’d love it if you’d follow me here on my blog and on any of my other social media sites, too. Thank you!💜

French Ethereal: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest

Well, what started out as a DIY themed and possibly a Memorial Day post has morphed into more of a summer tea and related theme! I never know what each week will bring, but it’s really fun to see what all you bring “to the table,” so to speak!

Enjoy checking out all the lovely china, tea and related posts shared by all of our friends… And one very special woo hoo post, too… <3 Time for tea, friends!!!

***Here’s what I shared this past week at* *French Ethereal…***

No tea posts for me this week but I will have some soon! Summer break is coming… 😉 Until then, here’s what I have been working on:
Backyard Garden and Shed Plans ~ an update on where we are with moving the fence and how getting a new shed is coming along.

And here are this week’s featured posts…

Ringing the Bell to Celebrate the End of Radiation Treatment — Winner winner chicken dinner!!! Let’s all send some hearty congratulations to **Paula of Virginia Sweet Pea** on finishing her radiation treatments!!! I have been blog hopping with Paula for several years now in the monthly Pinterest Challenges + in a couple of other hops here and there. So nice to hear her success story! Thank you, Lord, for this wonderful celebration for our friend Paula!!! <3

Paula also shared the story of her 100 Year Old China Cabinet… Love it!

**Penny of Penny’s Treasures** shared a little about her shed ~ New Look for Our Multipurpose Garden Shed. It looks very similar to what ours will look like! <3

**Lori over at Dining Delight** shares her fun transition from a winter coffee and hot chocolate bar (she lives up in British Columbia) to a cheerful summer one ~ Coffee and Tea Bar with Lemon Decor. Love the yellow!!!

Newcomer **Lynne of Thrifting Wonderland** shared this lovely table in this post ~ Afternoon Tea Setting. Love the pretty pinks and florals! Welcome, Lynne!!!

place-setting-bee-theme-table — **Debbee of Debbee’s Buzz** brings us this sweet post buzzing with beautiful bees…
French Inspired, Royal Bee Theme Table and Napkin Fold. So pretty!!!

**Chloe of Celebrate and Decorate** shares her beautiful Spring Tea Party 2 with us… Love love love the new china tea set!!! (Blinders, Barb…)

**Fabiana of Fabby’s Living** brought out some gorgeous china, too! Love her southern style post ~ Magnolias for Mother’s Day. <3

Honorable Mention

My friend Judith of Botanic Bleu shared her remodel/DIY post as she and her husband remodeled their home to add Dream Sunspace Design 1 – Exterior. Love this bump-out window addition! (Sorry I can’t add a photograph for you!)

***Just an FYI, next week is our last school week of the year and it is going to be a busy week, so… I will be taking the day off next Wednesday. I may take the following Wednesday off as well as I will be in Tennessee over that Memorial Day weekend for my nephew’s wedding. I’m scheduled for a flight home on Tuesday, but with air travel one never knows if you’ll get bumped. Going to try and visit Dollywood with my daughter and maybe my brother and his wife!

Let’s party, friends!

Barb 🙂

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Backyard Garden + Shed Plans…

May 17, 2021May 16, 2021 French Ethereal

We are coming into the home stretch with getting our Garden Shed and Fence plans approved, friends! This coming week I go in to visit with the City Planning Department and see if we can nail this thing down before summer break begins…

City Ordinances

Most of this spring, I have been sending emails back and forth about the fence and shed plans. Part of what the City needed to see was something I didn’t expect… Anyway, I will get to that in a minute, but here is a photograph of our Proposed Shed plan marked out and a 15′ line behind it (all in yellow measuring tapes).

Most of us know that in cities there are easements of land which we all take care of but we don’t actually “own.” We don’t pay taxes on that part in case the city decides to widen the roadway, dig up utility lines or put in water drainage systems underneath. For ours, that is a BIG 10′ section of land.

Whenever you wish to build or place a shed that is larger than 120 sq. ft., then a permit needs to be applied for and the city planners need to approve your plans. It’s all for safety reasons and in our case there have been concerned about wind ratings for the structure and its tie-downs since there can be Cat. 1 tornadoes and straight winds whipping through the area!

What I didn’t know is that the City also has a “No Build” area another 15′ from the property line… That’s 25′ from the main road that we aren’t supposed to build anything major on. To me, that is just silly and a waste of valuable property. I see sheds in homeowners’ sideyards all over the city so we are asking for a Variance.

In my many emails, I’ve found the City Codes for adding structures, and have addressed why we should be allowed to allowed to put the proposed shed here along the back fence but close to the side fence (which will be moving out 3′).

Here are the surveyor stakes laid out and you can see the narrowing which follows the curve of the main street, more or less. We have left all of the surveyor stakes until we begin putting in posts for the new fence.

Our Proposed Shed ~

Our Garden Shed will look very similar to this shed with the dormer windows but in a medium grey with white trim. I have gone back and forth between a white roof and charcoal. What do you think?

Here are a couple of other sheds Wolf Valley Buildings makes which have the charcoal roofs. Ours will be metal.

What we are having made is called a Cabin Shell, like the top photo. It will have upper storage inside and I am really excited about it! I’ll move the potting bench inside and we are planning on having electrical run to it. Wolf Valley is building it with electrical outlets, overhead ceiling boxes and an outside electrical box built with it.

Now if the City will approve our plans and allow us to put the shed where we would like it!

Can’t you just see the new shed down there? This would be one of the nice views towards it. It will angle towards the house and our dining room a little so it can be seen from the patio and dining room.

Be prepared to wait

When asking for a Variance, all paperwork has to go infront of the Planning Commission for approval and this can take some time. The paperwork on the city website says 1-2 months as the commission only meets once per month.

So when I go to meet with the Planning Technicians this week, I’ll be bringing all of the paperwork I have so far and hopefully they will use the emails I have forwarded with all of the photographs, so the Planning Commission will be able to see what we are trying to do. 🙂

Prayers are much appreciated,

Barb 🙂

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Share Your Style #303

May 12, 2021May 12, 2021 French Ethereal

Welcome friends, to this week’s Share Your Style #303! Happy Wednesday to you all!

I am Barbara Chapman and I’d love it if you’d follow me here on my blog and on any of my other social media sites, too. Thank you!💜

French Ethereal: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest

***Here’s what I shared this past week at* *French Ethereal…***

Late Spring in the Garden + A Quick Garden Craft Idea ($10 on the 10th)

And here are this week’s featured posts…

Saying Goodbye to My Beautiful Garden Beds is title of **Penny’s Treasures** latest link-up with SYS and I think you’ll love the new look! Stop over and take a look… 🙂

**Debra from Common Ground** shared her Garden Room Farm Table in May. Lovely!

Transition-the-Entry-from-Spring-to-Summer-with-Pops-of-Pink-The-Crowned-Goat Spring Into Summer Entry Ideas Decorating Holidays Summer — **CoCo from The Crowned Goat** shared some easy ideas for Spring into Summer Entry Ideas.

**Renae of Peacock Ridge Farm** shared a how-to in this post ~ How to Wallpaper – A Refresh of My Master Bedroom. Lovely…

**Paula of Virginia Sweet Pea** shared this gorgeous before/after (can you believe how GORGEOUS??!) ~ Vintage Office Desk Makeover.

**Lisa of Fresh Vintage by Lisa** created a really sweet Mother’s Day present with a homemade book ~ Sharing a Sewing Themed Altered Book. Fun idea and so crafty!!

Braided Tuna Bread Recipe @ treatntrick.blogspot.com — Here’s a delicious recipe for Braided Tuna Bread linked up by **Trick’N’Treat.** So good and frankly, tuna is my absolute favorite food. :)’

Saving the cutest final two for last…

**Tiffany (Tee) of Tee Diddly Dee** shared the cutest post ~ Little Mallard Becomes a Momma. Precious!!! You’ll have to stop by to see the ducklings…

Honorable Mention

I can’t pull up any of the photos (it’s the way they are protected, and that’s fine) for the cutest kitty and her sweet pillow and new bed, but I wanted to share Julie of A Loverly Life‘s sweet post… Here is the post, linked through Pinterest:

https://www.commonground-do.com/2021/05/garden-room-farm-table-in-may.html

Happy linking everyone,

Barb 🙂

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Late Spring in the Garden + Quick Garden Craft Idea

May 10, 2021May 10, 2021 French Ethereal

Well friends, the weather is starting to heat up and that must mean it’s time to bring out the cushions, move outdoor furniture around and clean off the patio. Today is $10 on the 10th and this month our theme is Outdoors/Gardens ~ a perfect time to take you on a tour and to make a fun garden craft idea…

Grab a cup of tea or coffee, friends!

Before I begin, I’d like to give a shout-out thank you to Tammy of Patina and Paint for getting this party together for us, thanks Tammy! Now springtime in our North Texas gardens means windy days and rain, lots of it! Under our two backyard oak trees, grass doesn’t grow and we are looking into putting in artificial turf. That’ll hopefully happen next fall. So for now, I deal with wiping off dirt splashed onto every pot whenever it rains.

Actually until just recently we have had our garden furniture stacked quietly on the patio and a couple of outdoor wicker chairs stacked along our garage wall… The above photograph shares our south facing garage wall with all its “finery.” Winter was really cold this year plus Yoda can’t see as well (he is 16 years old +/-), so we need to keep the patio clear for him nowadays.

This post has been a good excuse for me to get outside and move things around, do a little cleaning. The price for all this? Absolutely free!

I was trying to think if I have bought anything new for outdoors recently, and I haven’t. I have bought a lot of garden soil for potting up plants and for in-ground planting this year, though! Each of those bags cost between $2.95 – $10/ bag, depending upon size. Gardening is not an inexpensive hobby, friends!!

The transformation of the backyard will be sooo worth it! We just received approval to move our fence out, so we will beginning that project soon. The cost of lumber has skyrocketed because of the housing boom and people remodeling this year (and not enough supplies), so we may have to reuse most of the fencing that is already here. It’s in okay shape and we could replace it next year as prices come back down (fingers crossed!).

But let’s get back into the backyard garden, shall we? Here’s how it looked when I wrote a post last month called Finding Ladybugs While at an English Spring Tea in the Garden. I finished the last few bricks which needed to be laid and added the mortar sand just afterwards. This side of the garden is now done and I have been planting since late fall (December).

Nepeta or catmint is one of the plants I put in for its full-grown height of 24″. It is busy filling in and enjoying the late spring sunshine!

In the back flowerbed, David Austin rose Sceptre d’Isle is beginning to put out its spring blooms! It has a nice light scent and is so pretty when in full flower.

The petals start out darker pink, like the first photograph, then fade to a pale blush with almost white petals in the outermost layers… Rains at the wrong time as it was in bud caused the discolorations, but it is still beautiful…

Up near the patio, the new orange tree is doing well! Consistent rains and watering (but not too much) is making this a happy tree!

These were the original pots I thought about using; however, they were too small to hold the flowers. I found really pretty turquoise blue pots at Lowe’s which were bright and cheerful!

A garden gift-giving craft idea

Recently I got together with three friends (and more of their friends!) whom I knew from when we all lived at Wagon Master RV Park and Alpaca Farm. As a gift, I put together three pots and gave them each a pretty flowering plant so they could each have fun making a mini garden! I thought you might like to do something similar for when you get together with friends whom you may not have seen over this past year due to self-quarantining. This also would be fun to do as a planting party!

This is how I had each of the flowers and their dirt/fertilizer put together before purchasing the decorative plastic pots at the store. The ladies loved their gifts!!!

Supplies you will need:

small plastic pots (1 for each person on your list)
plastic zipper baggies (2 for each pot)
potting soil
fertilizer (I gave each of my friends a little Bio-Tone Starter Fertilizer for planting up their plants)
pretty flowering plant for the current season

Super easy gifting ~ Just fill up two zipper baggies: (#1) with enough potting soil to fill plastic pot, (#2) with a small amount of granular fertilizer, to help the plant establish good roots. Next, just stack your baggies into a pretty plastic pot, then top with your small potted flower. Wrap the pot with cellophane and a pretty ribbon, or set everything into a gift bag!

Basically, I went to Lowe’s and picked up three pretty plastic pots and they cost less than $10 for all three. The potted flowers I already had as well as the other items, so the cost for each potting gift was about $5.00. Such an easy gift to give and fun for the recipient to enjoy!

And that’s my idea for a garden project for this time, everyone! I hope you have enjoyed this tour of my garden and seeing what’s in bloom. I know you will enjoy visiting everyone’s posts and seeing what they have put together for you!!

Patti ~ Pandora’s Box

Cindy ~ Cloches and Lavender

Tammy ~ Patina and Paint

Terrie ~ Decorate and More with Tip

Allyson ~ Southern Sunflowers

Ann ~ Apple Street Cottage

Barbara ~ French Ethereal (you are here!)

Happy springtime,

Barb 🙂

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Adding Farmhouse Style to the China Hutch

May 7, 2021May 6, 2021 French Ethereal

“The Chickens Come Out to Roost” was my other thought for a title, but then I thought, “Maybe that thought is completely wrong?” Y’all will have to tell me if chickens do come out to roost, or, do they go in to roost? It’s probably that they go inside… 😉

Happily, this farmhouse style post only has these cute faux roosters I found at Buc-Ees around Christmas time and no real chickens to worry about! You may recall that I mentioned before that all Buc-Ees gas stations have nice gift shops. They sell all kinds of kitchen goodies and you can also find meat smokers, camping and fishing stuff, some hunting gear (no weapons!), lots of t-shirts and Buc-Ees clothing with beavers on it (their logo), as well as Lodge cookware, Southern style cookbooks for the cook in your family, leather purses and even cowhides (about $175 each, I think)!!

If you are ever out in Central and North Texas, stop by a Buc-Ees off the freeway for a fill-up, come inside and grab a BBQ brisket or pulled-pork sandwich, enjoy super clean restrooms (NOT in that order! lol!! 😉 ) and check out the goods… (not sponsored but I sure was in love with Buc-Ees the first time we stopped at one five years ago!)

Finding these cute chickens gave me an idea to bring out some of my farmyard friends ~ most are salt and pepper shakers, some are just little ceramic birdies and an old rabbit (it was a sandwich spreader).

I love farmhouse style and was really hopeful we were going to find a farmhouse to buy, like I’d seen six or seven years ago when we were still living in California on the then-brand-new Fixer-Upper television program.

But even though we didn’t find our dream farmhouse with white shiplap walls, we did find a really cute brick English cottage style home! And I can bring out my farmhouse goodies any time I want to liven up the place.

In our china hutch, I cleared most everything out from its winter and early spring looks, and added in all the little farmyard friends I could find. Down on the lower shelf, we have a white ceramic cat my daughter Amy made for me when she was in high school. It sits next to a little Spaniel we found for £1 at a flea market or antiques faire in England. The tea towel is also from Buc-Ees. Mooooo!!!

I love the china hutch’s new late spring/early summertime look! The cute chicken plates are paper plates I found at Cavender’s, a local boot store which also carries clothing and some housewares. The new boots I’ve been wearing on IG out in the garden, they came from there over Christmas…

This little goat reminds me of Ophelia and Sashay, my Nubian goats I raised in high school. The transferware creamer is definitely all about farming!

And that’s our china hutch with its sweet chickens and farmyard friends!

The little goat and pig name card holders came from Cracker Barrel a year or so ago. 🙂 And another pig I found right after we moved to Texas is a little toothpick holder which matches my favorite white plates, some small bowls and two platters. Love its little swirls!

I didn’t edit these photos at all today because… I am painting in the master bathroom and we are loving the change from taupe to a beautiful soft grey!!! So, this is what it really looks like in our dining room; it is DARK. Sometime this summer I will be repainting in here and making it much lighter. Yeah!

So, that’s it for this post, friends. What have you been up to lately??

Happy weekend to you all,

Hugs, Barb 🙂

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Share Your Style #302

May 5, 2021May 9, 2021 French Ethereal

Welcome friends, to this week’s Share Your Style #302! Happy Wednesday to you all!

Cutting in around the commode ~ first with Kilz and now with Valspar Comet Dust, a pale soft grey.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

And a Happy Mother’s Day this coming Sunday!! Hopefully this is my last week at home on leave for a broken tailbone (four weeks total). It feels weird to be home as I feel like I should be at work… While home I have relaxed and taken it easy (the first couple of weeks I was really careful to not move wrong and to not sit for hours, per doctor’s instructions), walked progressively farther and longer as things felt better/less painful, done some gardening, and now some painting in our master bathroom.

Figured it was good to try and get back to normal since this is “week six” since the accident. Tailbone feels good and doesn’t hurt to touch, so I should be released back to normal work at my appointment this Friday.

Actually, there are only three more weeks of school for this 2020-2021 school year, and next year I will be working with a Pre-K class. I was sad to be leaving PABS at first, but now I am kind of excited for the upcoming school year. A new challenge and a new school. So that will be something fun to look forward to this next school year!

Meanwhile, we received the permit to move our fence! We can only move it out by 3 feet, since the curve of our property line at its closest is 3′ away from the current fence, but it will still add more visual space to the sideyard and 240 sq. feet to the yard for gardening… Time to get digging post holes!

I am Barbara Chapman and I’d love it if you’d follow me here on my blog and on any of my other social media sites, too. Thank you!💜

French Ethereal: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest

***Here’s what I shared this past week at* *French Ethereal…***

And here are this week’s featured posts…

Mother's Day Wood Art Gift Cards — **Rachelle from My Hubbard Home** brings us a wonderful last minute idea to make ~ Wood Art Gift Cards for Mother’s Day (Easy DIY Craft). Love ’em!!!

**Debbie from Debbie-Dabble** shares her lovely miniature home in this post ~
A True Work of Art: My Craft Room Miniature Room Box. I love miniatures, don’t you? Soooo Sweet!!! Debbie also shared her yard and garden in this post!

***I learned after fully reading Debbie’s post that she didn’t make this incredible Sewing Room, but her friend Angela created it! Angela has a Facebook page and I know you will enjoy checking out the beautiful things she created for sale.

**Carol of Bluesky at Home** brings us updates to her gorgeous kitchen in this post ~ How to Freshen Up Your Kitchen for Spring. Love the all the colors!!!

double tie dye, tie dye kimono, tie dye pants, thrifted style, clogs, fashion over 40, Shelbee on the Edge — **Shelbee of Shelbee on the Edge** has another fun fashion post for us with such a fun title: The Magnificent 8 in our Fancy Pants. Love ’em!!

Cranberry Bread Recipe @ treatntrick.blogspot.com — **Trick N Treat** brings us her best Cranberry Bread Recipe this week in her post… Yum!!!

Quick-and-Easy-Make-at-Home-Lavender-Gardners-Hand-Scrub-Recipe-The-Crowned-Goat Make at Home Lavender Gardener’s Hand Scrub Crafts DIY Spring Summer — **Cindy at The Crowned Goat** shares this recipe for Make at Home Lavender Hand Scrub for the gardeners (and painters!) who need some extra TLC for our hands. Gotta try this!

**Liz over at Howling at the Moon** shared this neat technique that I’ve never heard of and maybe you aren’t familiar with it, either… Pyrographied Charcuterie Board. Great idea and I guess this is the new way of wood burning?!!

Old fashioned rhubarb custard pie — Last up for this week is this delicious Old Fashioned Rhubarb Custard Pie from **Niky at The House on Silverado.**

Happy Wednesday, dear friends!

Hugs, Barb 🙂

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Beautiful Inspiration ~ An Ethereal Mother’s Day Table

May 3, 2021May 3, 2021 French Ethereal

For Mother’s Day this year, I wanted to set a really soft and ethereal looking table in remembrance of my mother and for all of our mothers, really. A table which began with a delicate lace tablecloth, clear glass candleholders and a beautiful bouquet of springtime flowers straight out of the garden…

After going out for a nice hour-long walk with my friend Torrance in her neighborhood this past week, as I was leaving she cut a couple of pink tea roses from her front flowerbed for me. I set them immediately in the last of the water I had in my water bottle, and off they went bobbing their twin many-petaled pink heads as we went down the road.

This Mother’s Day table setting…

I had been thinking of using this tablecloth for a light and airy feel for this table. From a now discontinued Simply Shabby Chic line at Target, this “tablecloth” is really a lace curtain. I bought a few panels when we were living in our trailer knowing I would eventually use them in our next home. I love it for a tablecloth, though!

Do you use unusual things as tablecloths? Long ago, I had a deep purple top sheet that I used as a tablecloth. It worked perfectly and hung over the table really well.

Setting a simple tablescape

For a light and ethereal table, I thought I would bring out my favorite Haviland-Limoges vintage dinner plates. These plates all have delicate roses and vines in their transferware patterns and I thought these pieces would be perfect to celebrate our mothers.

It was then a simple matter of choosing some pretty stemware and adding in clear glass votives and a few bubble glass candleholders set randomly at both table ends.

The day was a rainy one as I shot all of these photographs, and as it went into evening, I thought it would be fun to dim the lights and take a few more photos… This is my ooops! shot with the tripod in the background. 😉

These two are almost the same shot but not quite. I love how the roses photographed… I added a few red Knockout roses as well as the pinkish-white hydrangeas. So excited to add a few more hydrangeas to the garden since they grow really well here in Texas!

So how will you be setting your Mother’s Day table this year? Are you making a special meal? My mother-in-law Gini will be driving out with my sister-in-law Jodi this coming June so I am sure I can recreate this table for them for one of our dinners.