Christmas, Home Decor, Tablescapes, Thanksgiving

Share Your Style #410

Welcome to this week’s Share Your Style #410, dear friends! Sorry this is getting up so late. It’s been getting harder to get SYS out lately with late fall weather coming on, getting the garden prepped to sleep, work and the holidays and family visiting. I planned to take last week off but the previous week I was busy with work.

But we’re back and ready for a little Thanksgiving finale and a welcome to the Christmas holiday season! Let’s get to this week’s wonderful features, shall we? Oh! And a new opening party photo for the season… 🙂

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

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

Let it Snow! A Winter Wonderland Tablescape… ~ part of this month’s evening holiday table centerpiece with Cindy from County Road 407 and our monthly Pinterest Challenge.

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And here are this week’s featured posts…

Reindeer Hot Chocolate Cone Bags
Just as cute as can be, these fun Reindeer Hot Chocolate Cone Bags from Lois at Walking On Sunshine Recipes really hit the dessert spot! Yum!!!
National Park ornaments
Dave and Jaime from Photo Jeepers are back with this fun idea for gift giving for the camping enthusiast in your life ~ National Park Ornaments Are Festive Vacation Keepsakes. They sure are! Great stocking stuffer idea!!!
close up view of dresser after the makeover
Looking for some DIY project ideas? Look no further than this DIY Black French Provincial Dresser post by Natalie and Taylor from A Ray of Sunlight. Love this dresser’s new look!
Oh my goodness!!! I don’t know about you but I am wishing I’d seen this turkey sooner… Adorable and gorgeous!!! Sarah from Hyacinths for the Soul shared a Tribute to Tom Turkey and this gorgeous bird was part of the story. Neat story about the creator of this beaded bird! Do check her post out. <3
Penny from Penny’s Treasures brings us a treasure this week with a story called a
Christmas Open House on Meadow View Lane. Adorable scenes you will surely love!!!
I love all the holiday inspiration this week and Debra from Common Ground shares her Thanksgiving spirit in this post ~ Giving Thanks in the Holiday Cupboard. More beautiful turkeys and enchanting fall china patterns… Be still our hearts! <3
DeeDee from Clover House brings us her beautiful Christmas decor in this post ~ The Majestic 7′ King Noble Fir: A Regal Unlit Christmas Tree. I have to say I do love King of Christmas decor and bought one of their wreaths when we bought this house four years ago. Great sale going on so do swing by DeeDee’s blog.

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Thank You so much to everyone who linked up this past week. A special thank you to everyone 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 plus usually other photos from those posts to my boards. 💜  Thanks so much!!! If you are new to French Ethereal, I hope you will think about subscribing to my blog.

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Enjoy your holiday time,

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Holidays, Home Decor, Pinterest Challenge, Tablescapes

Let it Snow! A Winter Wonderland Tablescape…

Happy almost December, friends, and welcome to this month’s Pinterest Challenge hosted by my friend Cindy of County Road 407 fame. This month we are creating beautiful evening holiday tables and… Mine just happened to work out with mostly whites and golds…

If you are just coming over from Niky at The House on Silverado for the first time, welcome! I am soooo glad you are here. 🙂 Enjoy the tour today and please think about subscribing if you enjoy my site, thank you. 💜

Today’s fun nighttime holiday tablescape tour was inspired by Kelley Nan’s post Nighttime Christmas Home Tour with Magical Glowing Twinkle Lights. She has a nice large front porch, which I would love, and the home tour is totally fun! I love home tours this time of year…

Her table looks lovely in her post with its gilded candelabras, candlesticks and all the baubles set on the table. Her gold inspired me to pull out my silver for this challenge as I don’t have as many gilded candlesticks. 🙂

Kelley created the prettiest gilded table here with lots of textured sparkly ornaments, twig faux bois taper candlesticks and other gold candlesticks perfect for pillar candles. Love the Christmas tree in the background!

I love how the tree is an extension of the gilding found on the table! Isn’t candlelight just so beautiful at night?

I love the neutral look, too, and that is more of the inspiration I took out of today’s challenge and where I jumped-off in my table’s vignette.

I have a number of gold and silver candelabras and candlesticks so I went for the mercury glass silver big taper candleholders as my anchoring pieces. I knew I wanted to have white as my base as I was pulling out my woodland themed animals.

From there, I added in my hand-decorated mini Christmas trees plus a few others I found decorated with little red berries, snow and a couple of glass Christmas trees thrown in the mix, too.

Like Kelley had in the background of the inspiration tablescape, I hung a Christmas wreath on the kitchen door going out into the backyard. For fun, I thought I’d wrap the two rose botanical prints this year as presents. Kinda fun!! 🙂

Adding some of our sparkly animal ornaments from our collection to my winter wonderland scene were the final touch on this nighttime holiday tablescape.

Okay, and two white linen napkins underneath it all for the “snow,” as I alluded to before. 😉

Thanks for stopping by today! I appreciate your sharing a photo or two, if you would. Lastly, please enjoy visiting Michelle from Thistle Key Lane who is up next and whose table is just lovely with holiday ornaments and fresh greenery!!!

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Holiday blessings to you and your family,

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crafts, Home Decor, Recipes, Tablescapes

Share Your Style #406

Happy Wednesday, y’all! Welcome to this week’s Share Your Style #406 and boy have we got great features this week!!! Fall weather is hitting sporadically here in North Texas and today it was a comfortable 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Love that it is still warm but definitely cooler. Let’s get to the party! 🙂

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

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

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And here are this week’s featured posts…

Eating pumpkin pie crunch cake with a fork.
Welcome to newcomer Missy of Sonata Home Design who brings us this incredibly yummy The Best Recipe for Easy Pumpkin Pie Crunch Cake. Welcome to our French Ethereal family!
Thrifted Goodies ~ Using Vintage Brown Transferware is this week’s feature from MaryJo from Master”Pieces” of My Life. Beautiful!!!
Debbie from Debbie-Dabble brings us cuteness from her yard in her post ~ Halloween Front Yard & Garden Update 2023. Fun and not too spooky! 😉
Stephanie from Steph Creates is back with this festive Easy DIY Wood Pumpkin Display: Floral Fall Decor with a Découpage Twist. Who doesn’t love a good craft?!
Halloween outdoor tablescape with a spooky tree and crows as the centerpiece. Shades of gray illuminate the table with lots of pumpkins and rusty elegance. Dishes are black and white, and the name cards are held with a skeleton hand.
Wendy from WM Design House shares this lovely Halloween Tablescape: How to Create a Spooky Elegant Table. Lovely with the pale pumpkins…
A Day at the Ditch is from Jeanie at The Marmelade Gypsy and is our final feature for this week. Beautiful!!!

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Thank You so much to everyone who linked up this past week. A special thank you to everyone 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 plus usually other photos from those posts to my boards. 💜  Thanks so much!!! If you are new to French Ethereal, I hope you will think about subscribing to my blog.

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Thank you for stopping by and please enjoy the party,

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Home Decor, Pinterest Challenge, Tablescapes

Penning a Fall Tableau…

Welcome to this month’s Pinterest Challenge, dear friends! Our friend Cindy from County Road 407 finds a photo for us to use each month as our inspiration piece. This month we have been challenged to create a beautiful fall vignette…

If you are just coming over from Carol at Bluesky at Home to French Ethereal for the first time, welcome! I am so glad you are here and hope you consider following my blog and my other media channels.

My living room is fresh and clean with the fall cleaning I began just a couple of weeks ago, and I’m happy to share a small corner of it with you today: our lovely library/tea table over by our western facing back windows which overlook our backyard. 🙂

So, let’s get to our inspiration!

Vintage inspiration

I totally love this fall-styled table from Katie Wood at The Cottage Journal magazine, who shared this vignette as part of homeowner Gloria Parker’s antique-filled home built in the 1830’s. There is sooo much autumnal goodness here!

Gloria’s table is artfully arranged with a double-handled olive oil jar, which I learned during this challenge is called a confit jar which is filled with orange winterberry vine. A stack of vintage books, a lovely autumn-colored soup tureen, plus several prettily framed portraits add to the scene! Oooh, I just noticed she copied the pot’s look in the shorter soup tureen with its double handles as I took in a second pass over her photograph. Don’t you just love “repeats” in decor?

Just brings everything together… 🙂

A bit more fall is woven into this vignette with several tiny cream pumpkins and a few fall leaves. Love the monochromatic look!

The orange winterberry branches definitely lend their fall touch to the vignette and set the color scheme. The pumpkins add a festive look and set the scene squarely around October and Halloween time, at least in my opinion.

My tableau

Our vignette begins with finding something along the lines of those winterberries…

I found faux ones at Hobby Lobby but they were a bit pricey so I opted instead for soft autumn flowers in peach and pale yellow paired with creamy pussy willows.

How to Make Your Own Fall Foliage Vase

I arranged these florals in a French vase to mimic the winterberries in the olive oil jar from our inspiration photograph.

A sheet of heavy paper packed around the stems keeps the florals upright (what the cashier wrapped these stems with). I would have used chicken wire but forgot that I had some out in the garden shed. 😉

Pieces of green moss tucked in around the top hide the paper edges and give the vase a finished look.

As you can see, creating a little area for penning a note to a loved one is really showcased with the soft fall colors in our floral bouquet!

I’ve added my signature maiden statue for added height and its soft chalkware hue, plus more whites in a vanilla-scented candle, then a creamware mug of hot tea, play up the creams of the sweetly soft pussy willows.

The little brown jug with its little friar or monk stopper is a prohibition piece which belonged to my father’s mother and father. It plays “How Dry I Am” and it still works! This jug is another nod to the beautiful olive oil jar from Katie’s stylings for the Cottage Journal.

To the other side of our library table, I’ve added a small stack of books in soft fall colors of russet, gold, cream and a pale sky blue. Two fabric pumpkins nestle into the scene just like in our inspiration piece and add more texture to this vignette.

One vintage framed card set inside a gilded frame I’ve had since high school helps complete the tableau. After I began photographing, I remembered this little pewter candle snuffer and added it to my tablescape.

I did indeed use it to put out the candle when I was done. 🙂

The rest of the story

And here is our full fall vignette ready for me to finish writing this notecard. An old favorite story about Hazel the rabbit and her many friends in Watership Down waits to be picked up and read some more. Not a bad recreation, is it? I’m happy with this fall styling.

Thanks for stopping by today, everyone! Up next is Kim from Cottage in the Mitten whose fall vignette is absolutely stunning with her signature blue books! Do stop by and check out all of the other wonderful fall tablescapes shared today… 🙂

Thank you to Cindy for gathering us all together again! Love being part of the Pinterest Challenge crew…

Past fall PC tours you might enjoy…

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Enjoy the tour, blessed friends,

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crafts, Home Decor, Tablescapes

Share Your Style #403 & a Formal Apology…

Hello, dear friends, and welcome to this week’s Share Your Style #403! For those of you who were here last week, we found out the source of the cigarette smell… My family member is vindicated and I must make a public apology. There was no hidden vaping/smoking involved.

Turns out that the new-to-me buffet must have been from a smoker’s home as it was leaching odors into our home. A combination of really high heat with temps up to 109 F. (111 F. on the heat index) and high humidity, the move from the kitchen to the living room, and two ceiling a/c vents blowing on it caused the whole mess. Made me very sick and caused me to smell smells and accuse this family member of maybe taking up vaping. I have since apologized but I need to “clear the air “with you, too. Please forgive my not trusting this sweet person and thinking the worst…

And I thought the buffet was smoke-free… (think “eye roll!”) Boy, was I wrong!!!

It is now in the garage and in the process of being revarnished and painted inside. If that doesn’t take care of the problem, I’ll have to sell it.

Bummer as I really like the buffet, just not the smoke odors.

But, I love my family more. 🙂 💜 

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

So, after all the mad cleaning, washing walls with white vinegar and baking soda (works great for taking off grease!), steaming other walls, trying to figure out why my throat burned, having eyes that were constantly watering, having a house smelled like an ashtray… Washing every object in our spare bedroom/office and cleaning massive amounts of bedding, pillows, etc. around the clock… Plus some carpet cleaning…

It took almost two weeks of wondering WHY the smell was worse in the evening than in the morning… No clue, on my part…

It finally dawned on me that it must be the buffet. As soon as Mr. Ethereal and I moved the buffet outside to begin airing out, the inside of the house became noticeably less stinky! Two days later there was no residual smell in the house. Yeah!

So, with all that, I have documented working on the buffet and some of the house cleaning. Lol, on the bright side ~ most of the fall cleaning is done! 😉 I’ll share that soon… Once I figure out if the buffet gets to stay or go. 😉

Let’s check out this week’s featured posts, shall we?

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And here are this week’s featured posts…

Our first entry this week is this lovely table created by Sandra from Dinner at Eight ~ Setting the Table for Early Autumn ~ just lovely!!
A bouquet of Halloween rice crispy treats.
Too cute!!! Perfect for all those little creatures who will be stopping by on All Hallows Eve, newcomer Ann from Ann’s Entitled Life shares these adorable munchies ~
Easy Halloween Rice Krispie Treats Recipe. Love ’em!! Welcome, Ann!
keto pumpkin bread sliced slathered with butter
Aren’t y’all ready for baking season? This Easy Keto Pumpkin Bread recipe from newcomer
Hilda from Fit to Serve looks just delicious!! Welcome, Hilda!!
The five things every collected fall home needs to have.
Jamie from Anderson + Grant shares 5 Things Your Rooms Need to Have This Fall Decorating Season. Yes!!!!
Really cool idea for fall is this Repurposed Spoon Racks idea from Lisa at Fresh Vintage by Lisa. Really fun idea!!!
Fall DIY dried  Floral arrangemnt on the wall
One last entry from Wendy at WM Design House who shares How to Make the Prettiest Dried Floral Wall Arrangement. Love this!!!

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Thank You so much to everyone who linked up this past week. A special thank you to everyone 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 plus usually other photos from those posts to my boards. 💜  Thanks so much!!! If you are new to French Ethereal, I hope you will think about subscribing to my blog.

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Enjoy the party and Happy Fall, y’all!

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Gardening, Home Decor, Tablescapes

Share Your Style #398

Welcome to this week’s Share Your Style #398, dear friends! We have so many hot features this week to match our summer weather… Let’s check ’em all out!

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

I’m back to school this week and it promises to be a good year! I love what I do working in the library and I love seeing how our students grow throughout each year. I’m excited to see what this year will bring.

Here at French Ethereal, I am excited about seeing you here every week. 🙂 This week I’ve got a forgotten post, a look at the gardens at Versailles, which I started last year but never finished. I think I published a version of it, I’m not sure, but here is the post I should have written. I hope you will stop by to read it!

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

Retourner en France: Les Jardines de Versailles

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And here are this week’s featured posts…

Penny from Penny’s Treasures shared this lovely basket in her summertime post ~
Designing a Picnic-Themed Pocket Tobacco Basket for the Front Door. Beautiful!!! And this looks so cool with all the summery pastels…
It’s a little early but that’s the life of a blogger, isn’t it? (Plus at this point, I think we are all hoping for a bit of fall weather!) DeeDee over at Clover House is sharing a sweet craft DIY ~ Revamp Your Dollar Store Pumpkin: Budget Friendly Makeover Ideas.
HUH, RVERS PUT THEIR TOILET PAPER WHERE? #rv #motorhome #camper #travel #camping #toilet #convenience #ToiletPaper #DieselPusher #TravelTrailer
Grammy Dee from Grammy’s Grid brings us this funny post called appropriately…
Huh, RVers Put Their Toilet Paper Where??! I love it! After four years living in two RVs, we went up to clean and reset our Prairie Home RV’s stabilizers a couple of weekends ago. Makes me laugh to read this!
Ephesus-Turkey-Celsus-Library-arches
If you are looking for a wonderful trip destination, check out Debbee from Debbee’s Buzz post ~ Aegean Cruise: Visiting Ancient Ephesus, Turkey. We all need places to visit, even if vicariously. 🙂
Plum Hand Pies using 2 Ingredients Dough Recipe @ treatntrick.blogspot.com
We are getting hot in the kitchen with where Trick’n’Treat shared this incredibly yummy recipe for Plum Hand Pies Using 2 Ingredients Dough. Delicious!!!
How To Make A Lemon Wreath For Front Door (Budget Friendly)
Meredith from Arts & Classy shared this really fun wreath in her post ~ Discover How to Craft a Fabulous Lemon Wreath for Your Front Door – Inexpensively! Soooo pretty!!!
Last up for this week, Sally from Within a World of My Own shared her rendition of a recent Style Imitating Art party ~ Pink & Blue Summer Outfits with a Magenta Viva Tee. Love it!!!

Thank You so much to everyone who linked up this past week. A special thank you to everyone 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 plus usually other photos from those posts to my boards. 💜  Thanks so much!!! If you are new to French Ethereal, I hope you will think about subscribing to my blog.

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Blessings to you,

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Home Decor, Recipes, Tablescapes

Share Your Style #395

Hello y’all and welcome to this week’s Share Your Style #395! Summer heat has arrived and Amazon Prime Days (in case you haven’t heard, lol!). Since we all need a bit of cooling off, let’s check out this week’s cool features… 😉

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

Oh, my goodness the weather has turned up!!! The furnace is going this afternoon and I don’t think our a/c has turned off since noon. It’s set at 78 degrees, too. Remember the good old days when we could set it at 72 degrees and that was the norm??

Mr. Ethereal and I have spent the past two weekends over at my mother-in-law’s fixing her sprinkler pipes in ground and finally getting to plant five Texas sage bushes (Barometer bush) for her. You should have seen the nasty roots winding around her sprinkler water pipes! It took Hubby literally 18-19 hours over two days to remove the set of HUGE roots from a crepe myrtle tree right up against the corner of her house. I know that tree is going to shock but it had to be done. Well, Gini’s pipes are redone and the plants are in. Gramma just needs to water daily in this nasty heat!

Let’s see what wonderful cool features we have this week!

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

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And here are this week’s featured posts…

First up this week we have Postcards from the Lake – Finally! by Jeanie from The Marmelade Gypsy. Jeanie always shares such beauty and all the wildlife, plus visits with friends, from this idyllic part of Michigan. Come for a visit!
Our friend Sandra from Come to Dinner at Eight shares a trip to see her daughter and a wonderful visit to A Tea Room, a Botanical Garden and an Emergency. Stop by and find out more!
Sandra also shared this beautiful post about receiving these gorgeous flowers… Summer Decor with Flowers! Heavenly!!!
Strawberry Eton Mess Recipe
Oooooh! Claire Justine shares a dessert to cool our fired-up days ~ Strawberry Eton Mess.
Looks soooo good!!!
DeeDee from Clover House is back with this festive patriotic post ~ Dreaming in Red, White & Blue: Patriotic Bedroom Decor. I just want to shout, “Hip, hip, hooray!”
From Common Ground, Debra brings us this refreshingly cool decor post ~
Summer French Country Wagon in the Dining Room. Love love love the yellows!!!
I also loved this other yellow-filled post by Debra appropriately named
Lovely Lemony Vintage Basket & Decor. So summery!!!
Penny from Penny’s Treasures shares a look at her Summer Backyard Tour and
Happy 4th of July!
Love her roses!!!
Our final feature this week is from Rita from Panoply who sets such an elegant table in this post ~ July Garden Update and Just Bee-Cause Tablescape. Beeutiful!!! (And more yellow!)

Thank You so much to everyone who linked up this past week. A special thank you to everyone 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 plus usually other photos from those posts to my boards. 💜  Thanks so much!!! If you are new to French Ethereal, I hope you will think about subscribing to my blog.

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Stay cool, friends!

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Holidays, Home Decor, Tablescapes

Come to a Flag Day Tea!

Welcome, dear friends, to a Flag Day Tea! Flag Day is June 14th each year, for anyone who may not know this. I know I didn’t until moving to Texas. It wasn’t something that was celebrated much in California, I guess. Here in Texas, though. Flag Day is big deal! So, let’s celebrate with a nice tea luncheon…

The history of Flag Day

In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation that officially established June 14 as Flag Day. On August 3, 1949, National Flag Day was established by an Act of Congress. Flag Day is not an official federal holiday.

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I shared how the table was set in a previous post, so today I’d like to share my friends!

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Potluck Tea

Why a potluck tea? Well, that way the hostess don’t have to do all of the heavy lifting creating food. I am not a cook by any stretch, so this frees me up to focus on making what I bake really well!

Time for scones!

New friend Linda lives not too far away from my house and we met when she subbed in the library for my librarian (my boss) for a week. We became fast friends! Here she is coming up to the door. (I just happened to have my phone/camera in hand so snapped a quick pic!)

Here is everyone!

Linda took this photograph. From left to right, my mother-in-law Gini, myself, my boss Anna, and Heather who is our library technician. I enjoy working with everyone at school so much! The school motto is that we are a family, and I have to say it makes a HUGE difference feeling loved and appreciated where you work. 💜 

We talked about work naturally, but also what all we were doing in the future, our summer plans. It was fun to introduce my mother-in-love to some of my friends so she could make some new friends!

Lunch is served!

I’ve been using the program Canva to make Pinterest pins for a number of years now. So for this tea, I thought I’d try my hand at invitations to text everyone. It also became our menu. This was really fun for me!

I used the Johnson Bros. pinkish red china with the farmers bringing in their harvested wheat to set the table. The red fits with our patriotic theme. Little flags were scattered around the table and the little roosters were brought out to add their pretty feathers.

We had scones as our first course, and I set the smaller red transferware salad plates on top of these larger dinner plates. For fun, at the end of the scones course, the ladies looked underneath to see if they had the magic blue painter’s tape stuck on the bottom. If they did, they won a prize of a pair of patriotic star earrings or a tin of tea!

For the remaining lunch menu, we had zucchini quiche, cucumber tea sandwiches, a refreshing fruit salad with blackberries, chocolate pêtit fours, and lemon poppyseed cake served with the last of the black tea I brought back from France. Yum!!!

The napkins underneath each placesetting were gifts for everyone to take home. Everyone had a nice time and thought we should do this again!

As part of hosting, I was able to use my English teacart again, too! It is one of the pieces I picked up at at thrift shop over in Cambridgeshire when visiting my brother and his family with my kids back during Easter/spring break 2005. Gene brought it back with his household goods when they moved back Stateside later that summer. Another friend stopped by and camped at their homesite the next year and brought it back to California for me.

Friendships are a wonderful thing! I’m so glad Covid restrictions are through! It was a lovely day to share with friends.

I hope you’ve enjoyed our little tea and can use some of these ideas as inspiration for a patriotic tea of your own.

Happy tea,

Barb 🙂

Home Decor, Tablescapes

Setting a Patriotic Tea Table

Hello, friends! Today I’m sharing how I put this patriotic tea table together for our Flag Day Tea. I’ll share that post in a few days but this turned out way better than I hoped, so cute! I wanted to share this post first, in case you are getting ready for upcoming summer holidays.

Let’s prep!

Layering the table

First, I began with laying a heavy white tablecloth. I think this heavy linen was a thrift shop find; one I found in California back when I hosted a lot of teas.

Next, I layered on four adorable Texas flag terry kitchen towels I found somewhere this winter, maybe Home Goods??

They were perfect to go with the Patriotic Blue Jean Placemats I made a couple of years ago! OH! Do you give out tea towels as gifts? If you don’t, try it. I’ve been finding really fun toweling over the years and it seems I might be the only person out there who gives out tea towels, and we always need new ones. 🙂

Flowers!

As you set your table, don’t forget to pick up some flowers ~ either gathered from a field, from the grocery store (like these!), or cut from your own gardens.

I have been on a massive cleaning streak since school let out just before Memorial Day weekend, so while cleaning off the tops of window sills and the top of the book cases, I re-found the tall French-style ceramic pot to used here as a vase.

I picked up two of the same bouquets from Winco, our favorite grocery store, to make a really full bunch of flowers. I’m slow to the party, but I remember Courtney from French Country Cottage talking about using a double bouquet in a vase. It sure makes a bouquet look really full!!

Decorations

Looking around the house, I pulled out all of the RWB things I own to set this patriotic tablescape. I have these cute roosters I found at Buc-Ees gas station/convenience store emporium (they still carry them!) last year, so I pulled them out. They give this table the Texas farmhouse vibe I was going for.

I found these little body stickers, too, at Winco. Fun!!!

I added some flag picks to the table, also, plus a cute sign I found at Hobby Lobby.

Silverware and glassware

I thought about putting out short clear glassware that we have but then opted for my favorite Old Country Roses stemmed glasses instead. They have a large bowl and hold a good amount of water. Since our temps are in the mid-90’s now, I knew everyone coming to the tea would want water and lots of it!

Tea was on the menu (of course!) so I chose cups and saucers fitting the patriotic theme. I have just a few to choose from… 😉

I used a mix of Rogers Bros. silverplate (at my place setting) and pretty white handled stainless at the other four places.

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Final prepping

And that’s pretty much all there is to set and prep an easy Patriotic Tea Table! I did add small plates on top of the dinner plates the next day plus small pots filled with condiments.

I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing how I set up this tablesetting. Stay tuned to see the actual Flag Day Tea coming up!

Enjoy,

Barb 🙂

Home Decor, Tablescapes

Share Your Style #390

Hello, dear friends! Welcome back to Share Your Style #390!! My cataract eye surgery went well and I am a week out now. I went to the 2nd post-op yesterday and the right eye is doing well. The incision is healed and I am seeing very well already.

As you may know, I chose to go with multi-focal lenses, and even with the quirky “seeing the lens rings” around halogen lights, the rest of the vision is so exceptional, it’s fine. What I mean is that the eye actually “sees” a reflection of the lens’ circular configuration. I also see light refracting off the lens when light comes in sideways. You get used to it. So, if you are looking to have cataract surgery soon, I highly recommend the multi-focal lenses for vision like you had as a kid! It’s worth the extra money… 🙂

I see only one moon again and stars look normal ~ no more long tails and starbursts around them! Yeah!!! Driving at night is great and now I don’t have to wear glasses. There is a bit of scarring on my left eye, the first eye done, so that will be lasered off at the end of June.

***This is the Mayor of Paris’ office building ~ part of last year’s wonderful trip to France with my daughter. 🙂

Well, I literally took two full weeks off from all blogging, so no posts this week for me. Instead, you get a little insight as to WHY I haven’t blogged much this year. My biggest news is that my husband will be moving to a new position with a new company after the July 4th holiday.

We have known since two weeks before Christmas (really great timing!) that the entire division of 90 people would be “softly laid off.” The company is moving the Reverse Logistics group from Texas to California (go figure!). Hubby doesn’t want to move back, nor could we afford it anymore (we weren’t doing well financially there, as it was anyway). On Zillow, our first and second homes show at $513,000 and $620,000, respectively. (Now if we could have sold at either of those prices…)

A bit devastating to me, since the last time Hubby was out of work, he was out of his usual work for two full years. He continued coaching pole vault and the final year he also was the head coach at our grown children’s high school. We had to sell our second home, but as it turned out living at Lake Skinner for a year as a camp host turned out to be a wonderful way to slowly say goodbye to our “hometown” of Murrieta, California. This linked post shares some of that last home and a little of Riverside County Parks – Lake Skinner, Winchester, California.

So it is definitely a huge God thing, a wonderful blessing!, that we won’t have to sell another home under duress. (We have only been here in Texas 6 1/2 years!) Hubby will get to use his coaching talents in a new way. This was something one of the interviewers was interested in as Mr. Ethereal coached for eight years while working his other jobs as well.

So, happily, I can truly relax this summer, and get back to wandering about, photographing life, and to blogging… Posts coming soon! 🙂

Let’s get to your wonderful posts!!

***

And here are this week’s featured posts…

Sequoia-National-Park-vacation-Debbee-Sentinel-tree

First up this week we have Debbee of Debbee’s Buzz who shared a trip worthy of a lifetime ~ a visit to Sequoia National Park: Land of [America’s] Giants. Do check out her post! The trees are MASSIVE! <3

(*America added for our overseas friends!*)

It has been a few weeks now since Mother’s Day… I know you will tear up as you read this lovely post from Sujatha from Crystal Grandeur who reminisces about her mother ~ so heartfelt! Please enjoy this lovely table from her home in India ~ Mother’s Day Table with Lotus Flowers.
Published on Mother’s Day, this lovely tribute to the beauty of birds by Debra from Common Ground strikes a soft spot in my heart ~ Cottage Review: Vintage Birds. Lovely!
Recent newcomer Sandi from Old New Green Redo brings us this fun gardening post aptly named Midwest Gardening 2023: Way Back When ~ Ivy Tomato Cage Topiary. (I had a couple, too! Ivy grows great on them. 😉 )

Enchilada Casserole - Enchilada Cazuela / www.delightfulrepast.com
Longtime friend Jean from Delightful Repast shares her recipe for this mouthwatering dish ~ Enchilada Cazuela. Yes!!! Dinner tomorrow… :)’
Coco from The Crowned Goat brings us this easy peasy craft idea ~ How to Whitewash Terra Cotta Pots with Chalk Paint. Perfect for summer decorating, friends!
Tips and Tricks for Elevating Your Morning Routine-The Crowned Goat

For a double-header this week, CoCo also brings us this perfect-way-to-relax post ~ Simple Ways to Elevate Your Morning, part of her Celebrating Life series.

Wildflowers in a field
Last up this week we have DIY Wildflower Floral Arrangements ~ No Florist Needed by Wendy at WM Design House. Yes and yes!!!

Honorable Mention

Longtime blogger Amber from The Hungry Mountaineer shared this fun post about Bohemian Fashion Treasure-Hunting via Yucca Valley Thrifting. Love thrift shops!!! You get the best things there!!!

***Sorry this wouldn’t post up! The photos are fun and Yucca Valley is beautiful and warm during the day in January/February for camping/hiking. If you get the chance to visit, please enjoy!

Thank You so much to everyone who linked up this past week. A special thank you to everyone 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 plus usually other photos from those posts to my boards. 💜  Thanks so much!!! If you are new to French Ethereal, I hope you will think about subscribing to my blog.

I had no idea how emotional I was going to get writing this SYS post for you today… I have said to Charles several times that I just couldn’t go through losing another home… I loved the four years we lived in our two RV’s, but the walls are very thin and RV’s move in the wind and storms. There is something about a solid house which I personally need. It’s a deep longing and may have a lot to do with being a military child and living in 42 different homes over the years. Funny how this didn’t hit me until I was long grown!

It has taken a while but I have fallen in love with our little brick home, our manor house. <3

Thanks again, friends, for hanging in there with me! I truly appreciate your friendship and I do hope we can meet in person one day…

Love and hugs,

Barb 🙂

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