Welcome to this week’sShare Your Style #319. Happy Wednesday to you all, dear friends! 🙂
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!💜
Hubby is back travelling for work and has been to Pennsylvania a month ago and to California these past few weeks. On the weekends, though, when he is home we have been working on the back fence in earnest…
Yoda keeps getting out as he really only sees light and shapes now so last weekend we worked hard getting four posts cemented in behind the shed, buying boards and planks at Home Depot, and beginning the process of building the fence. So, I haven’t put out any posts for you this time. 😉
This is what I am working on for next week’s Pinterest Challenge, though, so here is a sneak peek:
And here are this week’s featured posts…
Sandra from Dinner at Eight shared a fall meal her family enjoyed At the Bistro Table. Isn’t everyone loving the cooler fall weather? Hallelujah!
Lisa from Fresh Vintage by Lisa shared this DIY post on making these really pretty clay pots ~ Using My IOD Stamps. Great project!!!
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.💜 Thanks so much!!!
Welcome to this week’sShare Your Style #318. Happy Wednesday to you all, dear friends! 🙂
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!💜
Sorry, gang! I was adding in posts and… literally fell asleep! It was a really busy day at work. I feel better now, though. 😉 This week we are sharing a bunch of fall decor posts. Love ’em!!!
Let’s check them out…
Here’s what I shared this past week atFrench Ethereal…
A New Chandy in the Dining Room ~ I cannot tell you enough how happy I am to have this chandelier here in this spot! I have been really missing a traditional chandy in the dining room, which is what we had in our last two homes and even in our last trailer. 🙂
And here are this week’s featured posts…
Adorable baby!!! Katie from The Preppy Empty Nester is back and now living here in Dallas, Texas (Katie, we need to get all the Lone Star Girls together this fall!). She is sharing a bunch of really cool internet goodies she’s found online in this post ~ Prime Time – PS I’m Back! ~ including the dog bed (I think). This post also introduces her cute dark Golden puppy, Millie! <3 Goldens have my heart!
Gorgeous shoulder bag project for you to crochet… Tulip Bag by Melissa at Howling Liz. Love the two tone look!
Sarah at Hyacinths for the Soul shared her gorgeous MacKenzie-Childs tableware in this post ~ Colors of the Season. Love love love them all!!!
Loving the warm sunflowers and pretty soft orange color here! Debra over at Common Ground shared her awesome fall finds in this post ~ Orange Buffalo Check Pillows. Debra also has a pretty autumn Restyled Wreath post you might like!
Penny from Penny’s Treasures shared her home decorated for early fall in this post ~ Y’all Come Eat Fall Dining Room Tour. Love the cows and soft colors!!!
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.💜 Thanks so much!!!
Happy Tuesday, y’all! Fall is definitely showing a tiny bit around our little city with just a few trees putting on the tiniest bit of oranges and reds in their leaves. With those changes, I’ve felt the need for some changes indoors myself.
Just one change in the dining room is bringing me a huge burst of happiness… Getting back to who I am with a change in our dining room chandelier is a must!
Unboxing the new chandy a week ago!
Ever since we moved to our Manor Home three years ago, I’ve been iffy about the drum chandelier. It’s okay and I know transitional is “in” right now and I liked it at first, but…
It was driving me crazy!
An advertisement came across my computer one day for Lamps Plus (No, this wasn’t sponsored; I wish!), and I casually clicked over to see what was on sale… And I have been in love with Kathy Ireland chandeliers ever since visiting my friend Kathy’s home in Escondido, California during our teas.
She had one similar to this one which had a carved wooden piece in the middle on the main pillar of her chandelier, which I loved. I think the candlelight cups on the arms were also of carved wood. I have never seen another like it available at Lamps Plus since… It’s a bummer when styles change and you can’t find a particular chandelier anymore.
Here’s a little video I shot this weekend and posted on Instagram:
I finally broke down and drove down to Lamps Plus in Arlington to see this chandy and fell hard for it! I love its Shabby Chic look. In fact, when it was delivered, it wasn’t shabby enough for me on the arms and pillar pieces, so I drove over to Home Depot to get some metal sanding paper.
After a quick sanding, which took about an hour, I wiped this chandelier down and then waited a week for Hubs to put it up for me. 😀
At some point, I might change out the plastic sleeves covering the electrical connections for the candlelights as there are more realistic-looking sleeves out there.
Now the dining area of our home feels “like home!” And I am sooo looking forward to adding some greenery for the holidays but for now I am not rushing anything. 😉
Yesterday’s tablescape post was the first of many as I am so excited to share this chandy again and again…
Just a few crystals hanging down from this chandelier repeating the sparkle from the hurricane lamps below.
Getting back to the basics around here! Feels good. Feeling the love… This new sparkler reminds me of the chandy we hung in the RV, too.
Happy Sunday evening, friends! We had a nice weekend working outside just tidying up some of the garden, pulling weeds out on the south side, cutting back the iris leaves (which were getting really untidy!) in the bed around the backyard oak, and tidying up the front flower bed…
Afterwards, I prepped the roast…
I stopped by the grocery on Friday afternoon and the butcher was just putting out several racks of roasts, so I said to him, “I’ll be happy to alleviate you of one of those!” We talked a bit more and I mentioned that this would be a perfect dinner for the weekend.
So glad I cooked this in the oven here this afternoon! It turned out perfectly…
Aunt Nellie’s Pot Roast
Take a rump or watermelon roast, poke it all over and rub in meat tenderizer (I don’t do this anymore, I just poke it with our meat fork and shake on salt, pepper, and Mrs. Dash seasoning).
Cook in a cast iron skillet in the oven at 275 deg. F., fat side up, for 1 hour.
After an hour, add 2 1/2 cups (or more) water to the skillet (spoon over roast several times), add potatoes and onion cut up. Turn up heat to 350 degrees, and cook for about 1 1/2 hours more ~ for a 3 lb. roast. Check at 1 hour and cook to your liking.
(***Add uncooked cut up potatoes when you first turn up the heat, then add the green beans ~ or a partial bag of carrots and peas ~ during the last 45 minutes.)
Make a delicious brown gravy with the cracklings in the pan, if so desired.
Enjoy!!!
What to do with the leftovers…
I cut two slices of the roast off and cut them into pieces for soup this week. I froze the rest of the roast along with some of the potatoes and green beans with a little of the juices for a future dinner.
Yum!!! First two good days of early fall with much lower humidity ~ perfect weather for indoor cooking in the oven!
Setting the table with fall in mind
I went looking for placemats for a casual dinner for Mr. Ethereal and myself, since it’s just us two anymore. I found these cute round pumpkin mats in my stack in the laundry room closet. They are reversible and I think I found them at HomeGoods back several years ago.
Paired with my favorite white plates, antique lace and linen napkins, and the newish white-handled flatware I picked up at Judithof Botanic Bleu‘s sale last December, I love this fun dinnerware combination for our tablescape!
The soft hues of faux bittersweet pair well with the pale greens of dried panicle hydrangeas, golden wheat stems and dried roses…
The hurricane lamps were still sitting out from this spring mantel post, so I pulled them into our tablescape. I really like the soft glow they give off and the tarnished brass look of the candleholders!
I liked using them so much that I have been using them on and off the mantel all summer. Really, they have Christmas trees on them but from far away you really can’t tell. 😉
Another photograph of the little mini bouquet of dried pretties!
And as promised…
A sneak peek at the new chandy! Hubby hung it for me late this morning and suggested I run out and pick up tacos for lunch (Taco Bell is about a mile or so down the main road). So while I went by our Walmart grocery and rounded up a bag of Idaho spuds for tonight’s dinner, then went through the drive-thru for tacos…
Mr. Ethereal worked his magic taking down the more modern drum chandelier and installed this pretty more-antique-style chandy which I love so much better!
And this was our delicious pot roast dinner… Served with roasted russet potatoes and green beans cooked in the same water as the roast.
You’ll just have to come back Tuesday to see the rest of the chandelier! 😉
Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
Welcome to this week’sShare Your Style #317. Happy Wednesday to you all, dear friends! 🙂
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!💜
Happy Wednesday, y’all! The shed is coming along but not quite where I’d like it to be to be able to share the inside, so hopefully next week. 😉 Other than that, we had a quiet Labor Day weekend and just worked on getting the backyard into shape and more things moved into the shed.
I did however get out in the garden and shoot some evening plant photography! Hope you’ll stop by and check out my little garden. <3
So with that, let’s get this party started…
Here’s what I shared this past week atFrench Ethereal…
Fall is a good time for completing small projects, like this upcycled basket by MaryJo of Master “Pieces” of My Life ~ Weathered Baskets DIY. Love it!!!
Sandy from Dinner at Eight shared her 2021 planting story in this post ~ The Backyard Landscape – First Phase. You’ll love Sandy’s labrador puppy! He’s very cute!! ;)’
Niky from The House on Silverado speaks my language here with this post on How to Dry Hydrangeas the Easy Way. I just successfully got a small bouquet to dry perfectly since moving here to Texas! Excited to share this post so you can learn how, too. <3
I am loving Penny of Penny’s Treasures new look in her kitchen!!! I think many of us have been cleaning and clearing out this year and Penny explains what all she has done in this post ~ Less is More Wall Decor, New Snack Bar Chairs and a Fall Tour.
I am loving this post by newcomer Sinziana from Coffee Time Classics called 365 Days of Lifestyle Photography – Week 3. Fun photos and lots of good information, plus a challenge we can all jump into! Come check it out… 🙂 And welcome, Sinziana!!
Robin over at Junk Journal shared the before (above) and after photos of this DIY project ~ Spoon Rack Display Transformation. Jump on over to see how it turned out!
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.💜 Thanks so much!!!
Happy September, friends! Just today we had a slightly cooler day of just over 90 degrees fahrenheit… Could fall finally be on the way? While we wait for real fall weather, which should be starting in just a few weeks, let’s take a tour of the backyard garden…
In these two photographs, you can see where we are working on the back fence.
Since the last time I wrote about the shed, Mr. Ethereal and I wrapped the bottom of the shed with grey plastic lattice backed with hardware cloth (welded wire with 1/2″ squares). This was applied over two weekends. Hubby also pulled boards off two of the panels to see if we could reuse them.
He’s thinking no… Luckily, the price of lumber is coming down so that’s good news! While we wait for another paycheck to be able to go pick out boards and have several pallets delivered, I’ve been cleaning things and putting them inside the shed.
sweet geraniums
The shed is fitting into the yard now and as I put some plants around its exterior, I’m liking it better in its spot.
The sideways board in the background of this photograph above is our way of keeping Yoda in the yard. He sees that open back fence as an opportunity to go on some “unauthorized walkabouts.” ;)’
A photo of Yoda in the garden this late spring.
Yoda is extra happy as we move more things into the shed and off the back porch and out of the yard. At 16 1/2 years old, his cataracts are making it hard for him to see. Our vet says that Yoda is near-sighted now. He runs into everything so it is becoming more important to keep the yard clean.
I know he sees really well towards late afternoon, when the sun is heading down. He sees light and shadow is my guess so he judges where he is at accordingly.
He is happy to still run a bit as he comes back in from doing his business! He is happy to find his way without zillions of things to avoid. 🙂
Mexican heather out in one of two Lowe’s urns in the back garden…
The nicest time in the back garden
Early evening light in the back garden is lovely… Even if it is hot outside, with the change to the whiter light of early fall, it just seems cooler!
Limelight panicle hydrangea ~ this one bought at Calloway’s Nursery.
The hydrangeas have been loving the heat whether we humans (and dogs) think the past month since August 1st have been the “dog days of summer.” As long as they get water everyday, they are happy.
Success!!!
How to dry your hydrangea heads
This is the first year since moving here to Texas that I have actually dried my own home-grown hydrangeas!!! I waited until the hydrangea heads felt “papery” (good advice from another blogger!) and then cut them stripping the leaves, split the ends up an inch or so vertically along the stem, then set them in just an inch or so of water…
The key is having papery blooms and just a small amount of water in the vase so that dries up quickly (before mold sets in on the stems). 😀
Here is how this hydrangea looked as it just leafed out in the spring.
A messy part of the garden, still in need of a brick edging to define this backside of the south garden bed (seen in the middle photograph above). The bougainvillea will go indoors once we get down to 32 degrees.
From Heritage Roses, I ordered a couple of new roses: a climbing rose, Eden, which is a lovely deep pink rose, and Mary Rose. Mary Rose is an English rose which I had at our last home in California.
A heuchera tired but making it in a small hanging basket. The other basket lost its plants to munching bugs.
One of the new roses, above left front
Not all of the garden faired well, which is why I’m not sharing everywhere (like under the master bedroom window), but these areas should bounce back with cooler temps. This is how our back garden is doing. Hope you enjoyed this little tour!
Welcome to this week’sShare Your Style #316. Happy Wednesday to you all, dear friends! 🙂
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!💜
***SYS is getting out a tiny bit late today because… A BIG box with Bright and Shiny came today!!! (Okay, really more Chippy White…)
Of course I had to snap a few pics… 😉
Can’t wait to share!!! XD
And, I am sooo inspired by all the fall posts coming out (and the fact that this weekend was just the tiniest bit cooler) that I am looking for fall posts now… If you have some fun ones in the works, do link those, too!
As for myself, I’ve moved more garden items into the shed and have been cleaning everything before it gets in there. Three mice were living on the hutch, so it was sprayed and wiped down with disinfectant before it ever got carried in last week. Now it’s just wiping all the other things. 😉 And I tweaked the SYS logo pic just a bit for fall… Still loving the dried roses in the background.
Here’s what I shared this past week atFrench Ethereal…
With fall weddings in the works, I just had to share this fun post by Michelle at her new blog Wedding Soirées Blog by K’Mich. My son and daughter-in-love had their first dog in their wedding photos… Luna loved being with them and I think she knew it was special… (So doggone adorable, don’t you think?!!) Dogs in Your Wedding Doesn’t Have to Be Hard
I love Sargent’s work and have several of my own from others who painted in this style. This group of painters were called The Pre-Raphaelites. Here is The Soul of a Rose, my personal favorite print bought on my birthday one year, and one I have as a greeting card ~ which was taped up as “art” when we were living in our trailers, you may recall. Love love love this ethereal style of art they captured in these paintings!!!
Thrifting Wonderland is back with this pretty apple post ~ Fall’s Almost Here Table Setting. Love the apple plates and of course I love the silverplate!!! I have the same Rogers Bros. pattern. <3
Newcomer Jennifer of Curated by Jennifer shares her fun fashion find in this post ~ Floral Set by Faithfull the Brand. Love it!!! Welcome, Jennifer!
Lynn over at My Journey Back shared this adventurous post on finding a good dog park in her post ~ The Dog Days of Summer. Cool post! And isn’t her Staffordshire terrier cute??!
And because we all love a good find… Tara from Stilettos and Shiplap went looking for a nightstand and… came home with these!!! {Be still our French-antiques-loving-hearts!} ~ French Vintage Friday: It All Started With a Nightstand…
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.💜 Thanks so much!!!
Pumpkins will grow in Texas, friends! I accidentally proved this in our consistently rainy North Texas springtime weather this year. Here’s our white Cinderella pumpkin growing on the vine in March…
Early this spring, I chucked last fall’s pumpkins into our compost pile thinking they would just squish down and eventually turn into dirt. Well… One of the Connecticut field pumpkins sprouted and so did a couple of Cinderella pumpkins!
I did nothing other than keep adding grass clippings (okay, Mr. Ethereal did!) and forking over the compost once to aerate the whole pile. I left the three pumpkins vines alone to grow…
The fall rudbeckia I picked up in Oklahoma to plant outfront.
I guess I never took any photos of them growing! I meant to but every time I went to photograph them, I was in the middle of taking other photos and thought, “I don’t want them to show in those pictures.”
I was saving the pumpkins to feature by themselves, but really, they were ready to harvest in early June…
Three made it full term and the other flowers never matured. It just got too hot here in July! I left the three on the vine… Well, because I was still giving them water (to keep the vines alive and hopefully get more pumpkins), the nice Connecticut Field rotted on the vine from just too much moisture on its underside… :(((
Then, I harvested the two remaining: one pale orange Cinderella and the creamy white Cinderella… I brought them inside to sit on the nice cool dining room tile flooring. THAT would keep them nice and cool! Or so I thought…
Then there was a weird smell…
I thought it was the new dryer in its plastic packaging that I was smelling. It smelled like someone was smoking pot! Awful… REALLY awful!
Well, once I noticed the pumpkins (about two days later), I FINALLY I took a look at them and the orange Cinderella was water and mush all over the floor. I shoveled it into the trash can and took that mess outside, cleaned the floor, turned on the kitchen fan, and eventually the yucky smell went away.
Love this shot with our little Fair Maiden “looking” at her pumpkin… Future golden coach, perhaps??
Only the white Cinderella made it…
It is nice and dry and no mold spots on it. I think I will try growing pumpkins again next year since three did grow. I’ll do it the same way and make sure to rotate them and get them off the ground this next season.
So that’s the story of our Texas pumpkins! And if you haven’t seen this month’s Pinterest Challenge post about decorating an early fall mantel, you can find that here.
Welcome to this week’sShare Your Style #315. Happy Wednesday to you all, dear friends! 🙂
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!💜
We finished up the shed this past weekend and began moving gardening things inside, so I’ll be getting that post out for you soon. So ready to have the yard and patio looking good and everything NOT such a chaotic mess! Ready for a fall tour as soon as those things are cleaned up. 🙂
Let’s get to the party…
Here’s what I shared this past week atFrench Ethereal…
It’s time again for our monthly Pinterest Challenge and this month it’s all about mantels ~ An Early Fall Mantel Refresh… Certainly brightened my spirit while creating these vignettes!!
And here are this week’s featured posts…
Tara at Stilettos and Shiplap created this mantelscape and don’t you just love it with her tile surround and all the Shabby Chic/Farmhouse look of the mantel and the gorgeous picture frames?!! I shared one of her photos last week but THIS is the one I should have shared. <3 So… I am resharing! A Late Summer Mantel Refresh.
MaryJo from Master”Pieces” of My Life shared this fun fall crafting post ~ 5 Easy Ways to DIY Pumpkins. Really fun ideas and who doesn’t love to have a few more faux pumpkins in our stash?!!
Melissa from Howling Liz Blogspot shared this sweet Daisy Crochet Bandana in her latest link up for all of your crochet folks!! Love how cute this is!!! <3
Renae from Peacock Ridge is back with this crafty post ~ How to Make Velvet Pumpkins. I made some a couple of years ago and they are super easy to make. 🙂
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.💜 Thanks so much!!!
Welcome to another great Pinterest Challenge, friends! This month won’t disappoint with its Fall Mantel theme… I think we are all a bit ready for the heat of summer to end and some fall crispness to blow our way…
Thank you to Cindy of County Road 407 for gathering us all together again for this month’s challenge. We all love creating our Pinterest Challenge posts for you and hope you enjoy them as much as we love creating them!
Our homegrown Cinderella pumpkin ~ one of three which grew this summer.
If you are just visiting for the first time from Laura‘s place, Everyday Edits, don’t you love how she decorated her mantel? She has such great taste!
Our inspiration photo
This fall mantel vignette comes to us from Janelle Trinette and her post Fall Tour 2020. I love that she has used:
a large glass container for fall branches
a framed quote about fall
several sizes of wood candlesticks; in fact, LOTS of wood in the mantel and in the decor
small orange and white Baby Boo pumpkins
a pretty burnished brass lantern
and fall leaves scattered about the mantel top
Love this fall vignette and mantel styling by Janelle Trinette over at the blog of the same name!
Using my favorite grey-greens and even a set of grey-blue-washed prayer beads mimics the circle of wooden beads around the large wooden and iron trivet in the inspiration photograph. A few sprigs of wheat saved from fall 2020 bring in the wheat look from Janelle’s post, too.
My interpretation
Oddly enough, I have very few natural or stained wood elements in our home. Except for some monkey pod plates my husband mailed back home as he passed through the Philippines on his way to or from the Gulf War in the early 1990’s, and a few pieces of furniture, that’s it. Over the years, I’ve tended to paint everything white, or lately, layered-on paint for an antique look when it comes to either home decor or furniture.
So my interpretation of this mantel full of wooden items has more of a French Country painted and gilded look, and less of a farmhouse country look.
Just a hint of fall on the mantel ~ no bright oranges and browns here! Love this musical piece!!
The mirror I have on the mantel is the right size as our large inspiration quote and it is paired with a print for something written. This really cool matted musical print I found at a local thrift shop in my favorite grey-green color.
I used three of my painted wooden candlesticks (How to Create Candlesticks from Old Lamps) to mirror our inspiration wood pieces, plus I added two round wood slices to add height underneath the woven lantern and the glass vase.
For fall leaves, I opted to layer in these resin glass-like glitter leaves I found a couple of years ago. I don’t remember where I found them but they are really Christmas ornaments.
Real pumpkins are pretty scarce right now so I used two velvet pumpkins I made plus a cute sweater pumpkin I found at Joann Fabrics last year.
The glass vase on the left holds a spray of leaves and mini velvet pumpkins stacked up inside.
“Hooozit goin?” says our little feathered friend.
The woven plastic faux candle lantern on the right side of the mantel carries on the painted grey-green theme. I found it on clearance at Menards in South Dakota on our trip up to see our newly born grandson during the summer of 2020.
The little owl was a gift from a friend when we lived up in Sanger in our Prairie Home (our RV) and he brings in some more of the fall browns and oranges.
And that’s my mantel interpretation! Now let’s hop on over to Cindy‘s at County Road 407 and see her beautiful mantel. If you like to hop around, the full list is here at the bottom for you, too!
