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Valentine Beauty in the Hutch

Happy Valentine’s Day, dear friends! Today I thought I’d share our hutch all decorated for the holiday…💜

Going for Beauty

Decorating the hutch for Valentine’s Day this year, I looked for things in my stash which felt beautiful and ethereal. This small Japanese screen was something I had bought while in high school (for a dollhouse my father found for me) or it was a gift from my father brought back from one of his military TDY trips to Taiwan when I was a girl. I honestly forget now!

However it came into my stash, it was perfect for pairing with the French sweethearts in this cubby. Adding a handmade Valentine napkin and a vintage Limoges dessert plate finished this little vignette.

I love dollhouses and though I don’t have one right now, it’s fun to decorate small areas as if they are dollhouse rooms. 🙂

Originally, I had the hutch all decorated with winter plates and vintage Valentine cards, but I cannibalized the Valentines for the Valentine cloche I put together last week. Then, too, I decided to paint the dining room a couple of weeks ago following painting the laundry room.

So this sweet bird pair is my only Valentine in the whole redecorated hutch. I love these love birds in their rosy “birdhouse!!”

For the right side of the hutch’s lower shelf, I placed a 1990’s praying ceramic Cupid, a favorite teacup and saucer, one my size and one for little Cupid. This Villeroy & Boch Botanica coffee pot takes the place of a teapot here.

Teatime anyone?

Down on the buffet, I thought I’d set up a tea tray…

Pulling out one of my grandmother Rosa’s tatted antimacassars from the linen closet brightens the bottom of this tarnished silver tray.

A second smaller silver plate tray works great for raising the teapot.

Several of these antimacassars feature little boys on them and I wonder if Gramma Rosa didn’t think of my father as she created these!

This Royal Doulton chintz teapot, creamer and sugar are favorites of mine and pair well with the Old Country Roses china I have.

And here is the completed hutch! Dried hydrangeas nestle in the upper shelf with two teapots and a floral pitcher holding up a trio of vintage rose-strewn dinner plates. Just a nice soft look for Valentine’s Day…

Here you can see how the dining room walls are coming along. This is the only finished wall, so since the wall adjacent is still taped off, this photo is a little pinched in. 😉

I did ask y’all through my Instagram if I should go with either of two darker colors on the lower part below the chair rail. In the end, after looking through all of my Versailles travel photographs, I decided to just go with my original plan.

That plan was to paint the main wall in Comet Dust and off-the-shelf white. The lower wall naturally looks darker, which is pretty cool. 🙂

And that’s our Valentine’s hutch!

I think this will be a nice transition into spring and I might add in some greens for March but otherwise it is done for now. 💜

If you enjoyed this post, please consider subscribing. Thank you! 🙂

I hope you have a wonderful, treat-filled Valentine’s week! Enjoy!!!

Happy Valentine’s Day, y’all!

Barb 💜

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Sick at Home…

Sorry, gang! I am going to bow out of Share Your Style this evening as I am not feeling well. I have been cold at work all week, even with sweaters on. Bad head colds, Covid and flu are going around at school and in our community, so it is no surprise that finally something got me…

I hope you are all well and feeling peppy! I should be back to my usual self next week but will keep you posted.

Heading to bed…

Big hugs,

Barb 🙂

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Share Your Style #372

Welcome to this week’s Share Your Style #372, dear friends! Here we are coming up on New Year’s Eve… Boy, this year has flown by!

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! I appreciate your subscribing, also. 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

I sure have enjoyed visiting with you this year, and now here in my eighth year as a blogger, I think about what changes I should make for the upcoming year.

Do you do that?? I’d like to do more vlogging on my YouTube channel if I could learn how to string videos together and get myself in front of the camera. Talking to a camera doesn’t bother me, it’s all the technical stuff, lol! I used to sing for the kids at church a number of years ago and that got me over the fear of talking into a microphone. 😉

Well, let’s get to our party, shall we?

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

Our Christmas Table, Our Christmas Hutch and a Little Weather ~ I so enjoy having time off to really enjoy decorating for you! We sat down to a nice Christmas Eve dinner with our daughter.

And here are this week’s featured posts…

Chicken Sheet Pan Nachos
We start off this week with something yummy for your New Year’s Eve parties… Estelle from Homemade on a Weeknight shared these wonderful Chicken Sheet Pan Nachos. Yes!!!
3 Tips When Renovating Your Bathroom
Next we have Kathryn over at The Dedicated House sharing Creative Ideas for Bathroom Decor. Perfect for anyone looking to update theirs in 2023!!
Meagan from Decorative Inspirations shares this fun post ~ A Classy New Year’s Eve Table ~ inspiration for all of us who wish to “do it up” but can’t come up with anything fancy! (Me!)
Harking back to Christmas which was only just a few days ago now…
MaryJo from Master”Pieces” of My Life brings us sweet traditions in this post ~
A Christmas Tree Tradition Continues and Why It Is So Important. Love this!!!
Twas-night-before-Christmas-Eve-table-Johnson-Brothers-dinner-plate
Debbee from Debbee’s Buzz is back with a fun post we can store away for next season ~
Twas the Night Before Christmas Eve Table. I love all of Debbee’s table settings and this one is just adorable with the merry placemats!!!

I literally started some bibb lettuce, tomatoes and spinach in the shed/greenhouse today! It’s more of an experiment but the heating mat is underneath my domed seed tray, so… We shall see! I am getting my Monty Don on and hope to have tomatoes going year-round. ;)’

picture of seeds being started in black pods answering the question of when to start seeds
For us gardeners who really go nuts when we can’t play outside (yes, this is me!), newcomer Charlene of The Secret Life of Homesteaders shares this gardening post full of great information for indoor gardening ~ When to Start Seeds. Welcome, Charlene! Glad to have you as part of the French Ethereal community. <3
Arun from Jaipur Gardening brings us beautiful blooms from across the world in this post ~ Mild Winter in December. You’ll definitely want to check out this gorgeous post!
french toast croissant bake
Our second newcomer is Karla from The Happy Mustard Seed and she is sharing this scrumptious recipe for a Croissant French Toast Bake with Blueberries and Strawberries. Perfect for New Year’s morning!!!
30+ US Winter Hiking Ideas
Dave and Jamie from Photojeepers are back with something to help us get back in shape after snacking our way through the holidays ~ Best Winter Hiking in the US by Region. I love it!!! I have been itching to go camping, have you?
floral kimono, teal velvet boots, kimono style, thrifted fashion, Shelbee on the Edge
Shelbee from Shelbee on the Edge has THE CUTEST OUTFIT (and I love the teal boots!!!) in her post ~ It’s the End of the World as We Know It and I Teal Fine (+ Link Party #325). I love Shelbee’s fashion posts as they relate on so many levels!!! If you haven’t stopped by to check out Shelbee’s monthly “fashion follows art” posts, you should. A lot of fun and I always learn something new about an artist, a piece of artwork and about the hosts as well! 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.

And that’s it for our last SYS of the year, ladies and gents!! I hope that your family is safe, healthy and doing well. We are truly blessed here in our North Texas home and have enjoyed a good year. Many blessings to you, my friends!!!

Happy New Year 2023 to y’all!

Barb 🙂

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Share Your Style #366

Welcome to this week’s Share Your Style #366, friends! We have lots of great features to share with you.

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! I appreciate your subscribing, also. 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

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

Happy Wednesday, everyone! Sorry this is getting up later than usual; I sat down, ate dinner, then fell asleep right in the middle of writing. Does this ever happen to you? Work is fun with the students at school, but, man, I do get tired. 😉

Well, let’s check out his week’s features, shall we? I hope you had a lovely Halloween/All Souls Day weekend!!

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

Happy All Souls Day + Reeses Spider Recipe ~ just a fun little post for you!

And here are this week’s featured posts…

cranberry, orange, basil garland hanging on window
Cindy from County Road 407 shares How to Make an Easy Yet Impressive Autumn Garland with Cranberries. Soooo pretty and I can imagine its wonderful scent!!!
haunted-Halloween-owl-chandelier
Debbee from Debbee’s Buzz shares this cutie hoot-hooting about in this post ~ Spooky Spellbound Halloween Centerpiece & Table. Fun ideas to save for next year’s Halloween!
Debra from Common Ground brings out a taste of transition towards Thanksgiving in this pumpkin perfect display ~ French Cottage Kitchen Niche for Fall. Love it!!! I love the white with the orange…
Jeanie from The Marmelade Gypsy shares about her final trip for the season to the lake house and a trip to a local farmer’s market… Postcards from the Lake: A Fond Farewell and a Recipe. Come check out Jeanie’s baked squash recipe, yum!!!
And the first Christmas post of the season… from Penny of Penny’s Treasures! Penny shares a look at Creating Christmas in the Studio. This tree is soooo pretty (which is why I shared it so early!). Beautiful!!!
Oh my goodness, how cute?!!! Cheryl over at Sew Can Do brings us her two cuties in her post ~ Little Shepherd and Sheep Costumes, which includes patterns laid out on a cutting mat so you can create your own. Just perfect!!! Baby Jesus will love having these two boys attend his birth… <3
Halloween outfit, Corpse Bride meets Beetlejuice, little white dress, striped duster, Shelbee on the Edge
I am totally cracking up!!! Shelbee from Shelbee on the Edge brings out her zaniness in this fun dress-up post ~ We Heart Halloween (Tim Burton Style!) & Your Own Twist Link Up #49 (*a newer blog link party, in case you don’t know about it yet!). I love Shelbee’s fun style!!!

“Beetle, beetle something… Beetle breakfast? Beetle orange? Beetlejuice!!!”

outdoor fall tablescapes
Wendy from WM Design House brings us 10 Fall Tablescapes that are Easy and Beautiful. I would agree!! Gorgeous ways to decorate for all our fall soirées!
This image of a jack-o-lantern topped with a crow is the invitation to visit Halloween in the Baker's Rack. www.redshuttercottage.com
Newcomer Kristine from Red Shutter Cottage welcomes us to her home in this sweet and slightly spooky post ~ Halloween in the Baker’s Rack. Too cute!!! Welcome, Kristine to the French Ethereal family! <3
DeeDee over at Clover House shared her sweet chickens in this fun fall post ~ Farmhouse Thanksgiving Decor Ideas. Great ideas all!!!
Sandra from Dinner at Eight decks out her whole dining room table to share these fun ideas for Halloween in her post ~ A Tour of All-Hallows Village. It’s a spooking good time there! Love the dogs!!!

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.

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.

Happy beginning of November, everyone!

Barb 🙂

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Yoda isn’t well…

Hey everyone, I’m going to postpone Share Your Style until tomorrow. I came home to a third day of poop all over our kitchen.

Yoda just isn’t feeling well and perhaps it’s his time… Not sure but he still wants to eat and drink water. Maybe it’s the inability to process protein. His vet had been looking at that last month at his check up (proteins were elevated).

Anyway, I’ll be cleaning for a while yet. Thank you for understanding,

Hugs,

Barb 😏

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Share Your Style #359

Welcome to this week’s Share Your Style #359, friends! It’s going to be a quick one as I am helping run a statewide event for IOOF this weekend, so just a few features for this evening. 🙂

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! I appreciate your subscribing, also. 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

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

One of the salons at Versailles… can you believe how ornate it is??

Nothing from me this week; however, here is a peek at the upcoming Versailles post I am working on… Hope this small teaser piques your interest! Happy linking, y’all!

And here are this week’s featured posts…

Starting this week off is Penny of Penny’s Treasures who adds a bit of color in her post ~ Brass Adds Warmth to My All-White Kitchen for Fall. Love it!!!
Steph from Steph Creates shared this adorable bench that you can recreate for your home! Mini Wood Fall Bench ~ perfect for putting pumpkins and all our seasonal decor around!
fall-alfresco-peacock-table-setting
Debbee of Debbee’s Buzz shared this lovely autumnal table decor in her post ~
Alfresco Brunch Peacock Table and Napkin Fold. Gorgeous!!!
Meagan over at Decorative Inspirations brings us a cute new pumpkin to craft ~
How to Make [an] Adorable White Dollar Store Pumpkin. Fun new idea!!!
Fall Wreaths & Autumn Inspired Door Décor: Hydrangea Wreath-The Crowned Goat
CoCo from The Crowned Goat shared this beautiful post ~ Fall Wreaths & Autumn Inspired Door Decor. Love them all!
Baked Beignets Recipe @ http://treatntrick.blogspot.com
And lastly for this week, Trick & Treat shared this tasty recipe for Baked Beignets. Yum!!!

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.

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.

Happy Wednesday and I look forward to seeing all your ideas!

Barb 🙂

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From Summer to Fall Hanging Basket

Happy Labor Day, y’all! Wasn’t it so nice to have an extra day off this weekend? Mr. Ethereal and I worked on several projects and did a little holiday sales shopping, too. Saturday morning, though, I worked on a little changeover in the shed with refreshing our hanging door basket…

I started with cleaning out this little wicker basket I’ve had since I was 16 years old. I got two of them from Cost-Plus (now World Market) when I was a new driver and was newly working. My daughter has the second one down at her apartment in Austin. They are great for holding hair things, brushes, anything!

I had put together a spring or summer bouquet about a year ago and decided it was time to clear it out. All the greenery got a nice rinse and dry, most was packed away into its tubs. But, then I thought about the hanging basket I’d made earlier this summer for the shed…

It still looked good but it is getting to be time for something for fall, so I pulled all of its florals out and gave them a good washing. I saved the little moss balls to reuse for this fall basket and tossed the now-really-falling-apart floral foam.

Got a spider bite in the process, too. 🙁 (The swelling went down by nightfall, so all is good!)

I reused the piece of scrunched-up chicken wire that I had placed last year into the little wicker basket (along with a piece of granite to keep that basket from falling over).

For this hanging basket, I loosened this chicken wire some to fit this basket better.

Then I tucked the chicken wire inside the wire basket and began adding the lime green moss balls back in between the two wire pieces. These little moss balls work great for hiding faux greenery wires behind it and add a nice pop of color to the overall basket!

Making an impromptu bouquet…

I chose some cream toned peony stems, even though technically they aren’t a fall flower. I like them for fall mainly because of their lovely, creamy color. Next, I added in some loose faux leaves for filler, then looked through the two tubs of florals for small sunflowers bunches and the one large sunflower I still have.

After having some of these stems for several years, the fuzz comes off of the sunflowers and new ones are needed from the dollar store or one of the craft stores.

I don’t know if I ever mentioned it, but I’ve been on a self-imposed No Spending on Craft Things or Thrift Shopping this year. The only time I broke that resolution was when I went browsing and found the little Colonial Patriotic Statuettes earlier this summer when my MIL was getting her Texas driver’s license.

The morning sunlight was beautiful for taking these early fall photographs, but I wanted to clean up the dead things in the pots outside of the shed before taking final photographs for you. 😉

A Labor Day evening photograph for you!

This weekend was perfect for cleaning out planters and pots and we had a 68 degree low this morning… WHAT change from the last two months of 100 degrees or more! This past week and weekend were wonderful weather for working in the garden and I took full advantage of playing with planting some of my potted roses, plus some of the new plants I will share soon.

And that’s all there is to creating a pretty fall hanging basket using florals already on hand!

I am pleased with how this turned out and I’ll swap out the peonies later in the season with faux orange leaves, berries and add a fall ribbon to take us to Thanksgiving.

Happy creating, friends!

Barb 🙂

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Share Your Style #357

Welcome to this week’s Share Your Style #357! We have lots of great features to share with you.

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! I appreciate your subscribing, also. 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

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

Welcome to this week’s Share Your Style, friends!! I’m sorry about last week. I started to get SYS ready and because I was in the middle of visiting for Pinterest Challenge, time got away and I never finished. It had been a busy, busy day with classes coming into the library, too, so you know how tiredness just sets in during the evening… Well, SYS went by the wayside! Again, I apologize for missing last week.

SYS is back this week, yeah! 😀

I am trying a new tactic and getting the post mostly ready in the early mornings before school or on the weekends (which I had previously been doing). Sometimes, you know how it is, you get stuck doing a bunch of things on the weekend which interfere, but this week it is just me here! Mr. Ethereal is out in California helping a warehouse get organized so I have evenings to myself…

So, let’s get this party started…

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

Let’s Decorate Pretty Fall Baskets with Pumpkins and Roses ~ this month’s Pinterest Challenge features baskets decorated for fall. Hope you will stop by and check out my post and the others’ touring this month!!

And here are this week’s featured posts…

Jean over at Delightful Repast shared how she’s kept off weight and how we can, too ~ Intermittent Fasting: Four and a Half Years Later. Great job, Jean!! I need to do this more. 🙂

Sally over at Within a World of My Own brings us this unique and fun story-post I thought you’d really enjoy from a group of friends ~ Where Bloggers Live: Last Child in the Woods (Her story) and their topic this month is: Childhood. Very sweet memories! Do check this one out… 🙂
Stephanie from Steph Creates brings us this fun and easy fall craft to get us in the mood for fall ~ Upcycled Glass Jar Autumn Decoration. Love it!!!
I am pretty sure DeeDee from Clover House told me she had a really cool door post to piggyback off the door I shared a few weeks ago. Totally love it!!!
Check out: How to Use a Vintage Door for a Head Board.
Terrie from Decorate and More with Tip is back with this festive fall craft idea ~
so pretty!!! ~ Fall Garland with Dollar Tree Items. Love the macramé tablerunner… Perfection!!!
Newcomer Meagan from Decorative Inspirations has an upcycled project to create ~
A Great Thrifted Hanging Basket with Added Tassel Trim. Perfect for fall and can’t you see it with little elves in red suits leaning out at Christmas??! Welcome, Meagan!!!
Lori from Dining Delight brings us the most beautiful summery-into-fall tablescape… sigh… Such a beautiful treat!
Pretty Peach Alfresco Tablescape
.
harvest tablescape with swagged Edison lights draped from vintage porch posts on either side of the table
Lynn of Living Large in a Small House shares her gorgeous backyard and this lovely table setting in her post ~ How to Dine Alfresco with Fall Decor. Love the vintage posts as light holders!!!
urban-rooftop-garden-cabbage-plant
Debbee from Debbee’s Buzz is out and about visiting this spectacular garden…Philadelphia Row House Rooftop Garden. What a bounty!!!

Honorable Mention

function of beauty
Jennifer from Curated by Jennifer shares this scary story about losing hair due to this dangerous hair product! Check it out so you don’t get scammed… Function of Beauty Hair Loss. Glad you are on the mend, Jennifer! <3

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.

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.

Happy almost September (and fall!!!),

Barb 🙂

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter
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Share Your Style #354

Welcome to this week’s Share Your Style #354! We have lots of great features to share with you.

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! I appreciate your subscribing, also. 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

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

Friends, I am sorry about last week! I got home late last Wednesday afternoon from flying in from Paris, and because of the time zone changes, I just had no energy to get Share Your Style up. But, I am back and feel mostly back to normal so this week is a go. 🙂

Paris was a lot of fun! Everywhere you look within the city, it’s like watching a movie!! I started back to school today and I think it is going to be a great year, of which I am grateful. <3

A young lady who has a presence on YouTube shared this film crew’s actors in period costume (1930’s/1940’s). I am guessing it is the same group since they were in front of the the same building!

Amy and I did actually see a film company’s lighting crew walking around with equipment and vans parked here, across the street (Rue du Rivoli, I think) from the mayor’s office building.

If you were part of your local city council, wouldn’t you want to work here?!

I’ll try and find that photo and add it here to this post for you… (That’s it, above).

Now, let’s get to this week’s features!

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

Bonjour de Paris! ~ a first look around the city on the first day we were there.
So beautiful!
A Quick and Easy Summer Peach Cobbler in Tupperware’s Vintage Stack Cooker ~ part of this month’s Pinterest Challenge was to create a recipe using summer’s best fruit!
Let’s Visit the Musée du Louvre! (Épisode Un) ~ a first look around the museum and seeing some incredible architecture and gorgeous Roman antiquities.

And here are this week’s featured posts…

First up this week is from Debra from Common Ground, a lovely post featuring seashells from her collection ~ Seashell Decor and More. Love them!!!
Newcomer Wendy from The Inspired Eater shares this lovely tablescape and tips for losing weight for all of us over-50 ~ How an Innocent Bag of M&M’s Will Likely Save Your Marriage and My Go-To Summer Dinner. Perfect for this yoyo girl!! Welcome to you, Wendy!! 🙂
I have to share Jeanie from The Marmelade Gypsy’s post (since it is all about Paris!!!) ~ Paris in July: My Favorite Guidebooks! Yep… Got a few books while we were there. ;),
Salisbury Steak - Classic Comfort Food / www.delightfulrepast.com
Jean from Delightful Repast shared this mouthwatering recipe for
Salisbury Steak… OMGosh! I’m making it for Mr. Ethereal this weekend!!!
Heaven on a plate!
sustainable summer dresses
Jennifer from Curated by Jennifer shared her super comfy collection of
Sustainable Summer Dresses ~ very cool and perfect since this year is wickedly hot…
meditation mala, crochet mini dress, kimono style, summer outfit, gladiator sandals, straw hat, Shelbee on the Edge
Shelby from Shelby on the Edge brings us this fun post with a jewelry slant ~ How to Wear Meditation Beads and #SpreadTheKindness Link-up party #284. Really pretty!!!
DeeDee from (Our) Clover House shared easy tips for The Easiest Way to Hang a Shelf. Good stuff! And isn’t this dining room just the cutest?!!
Our second newcomer Steph from Steph Creates (Things DIY Home & Crafts) shared this beautiful
DIY Wood Crate Floral Design! Love how she styled it with roses… Yes! Welcome, Steph!!! 🙂
From K’Mich and her Wedding Soiree by K’Mich blog, this very cool DIY post totally Repurpose Sewing Machines. Wait until you see all the cool things she found!
What’s In Your Curio? Part 2 is this week’s feature from Debbie at Debbie-Dabble Blog. Gorgeous pieces!!!
Last up for this week is this post ~ How Our Yard is Holding up under the Summer Heat ~ from Penny from Penny’s Treasures. Gorgeous pink phlox!!!

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.

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.

Happy Wednesday, everyone,

Barb 🙂

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Let’s Visit the Musée du Louvre! (Épisode Un)

Thinking what it was going to be like to go to The Louvre in Paris, I never in my wildest imagination thought how magnificent everything would be…

Hang on to your hats, grab something cool to drink and let’s take a tour! I promise not to share all 300+ photos today but just some highlights. I’ll share more later but just the outside of the museum is enough for just one post!

The inner courtyard of the Musée du Louvre

The Louvre palace was begun by King Francis I in 1546 on the site of a 12th-century fortress built by King Philip II. Francis was a great art collector, and the Louvre was to serve as his royal residence. “

History.com

Grand Extraordinaire

The sheer immensity of the buildings which make up the Louvre just doesn’t show in anyone’s photographs! You really need to experience it…

One of the reasons I am sooooo glad I was able to finally visit Paris and to see it with my daughter Amy. This was her big bucket list item to see while we were there in France and it just kept on giving…

My desire was to see the Tulleries out back, and I had walked a bit through them the night we tried to go up into the Eiffel Tower (didn’t happen, long story!).

Looking left
Looking forward as we walked more forward

We tried to get tickets but they were sold out. I had paid for as much of our trip in cash as I could before we left, setting up our hotels/AirBnB’s. I just had no more money to set up our two big sightseeing trips to Versailles and the Louvre, so we just walked over and “took a chance” on getting in…

Incredible statues of famous people from Roman, Greek, and French cultures surround the courtyard.

Correct me if I am wrong, but most of these statues are to show the citizens of the time who these famous figures were. We decided not to pay for the headphones and went on our own guided tour just taking our time and browsing through the rooms we really wanted to see.

Amy had read on the Louvre website that upwards of 30,000 visitors come through the entrance here underneath the pyramid to tour each day.

Covid be damned! We were going!! Some people wore masks but it was a good 90+ degrees and we just decided to forego masks; too hot. We never wore masks after the airplane ride. Very few people coughed. Paris was having an increase in Covid cases but those were locals, from what we learned from a waitress at one of the cafés we ate at.

While visiting the Louvre, we met a lot of nice people and enjoyed visiting with staff members who sit in each room. They are there for you to ask questions and by doing this, we kept them from total boredom. 🙂 Okay, and they make sure you don’t sneak off with “some souvenir,” too!

An iconic view… Reminds me of a shot from one of Tom Hanks’ movies ~ The Da Vinci Code. Fun movie if you haven’t seen it!

We only waited about an hour as the security staff who checked bags and let tour groups inside were gracious enough to NOT just let in tour groups. They would go back and forth letting people queue up to enter.

It took about an hour, which we thought wasn’t bad. Better than Disneyland!

I was blown away by the incredible detail on the outsides of each building… This roof was de rigueur in its time ~ a masterpiece made of lead. We noticed that several chimneys had to be supported with cables to prevent them falling off. Wise decision!

Let’s go inside!

Our first stop was the restrooms (of course) followed by a trip to the counters for a map. Amy guided us through each floor and we began with the Greek and Roman section.

This was some kind of list of grain sales, I believe. Amy read out the description.

We took our time but moved quickly since we wanted to see most of the museum. My goal was to see Napoleon’s quarters, and Amy wanted to study all the Roman antiquities.

Really cool statuettes and bronze mirror!

I am not good with Roman and Greek mythology but my daughter amazed me with all of her knowledge and happily was my personal tour guide! She knows a massive amount about what was going on during each time period; she could be a commentator on a historical program.

If you haven’t seen any old episodes of Odyssey – Ancient History Documentaries and the original name Time Team on YouTube, you should check it out! Off the air since 2012, the British archeologists on the show’s 20-year run are brilliant at finding and sharing archeological finds and often very funny! Great show for seeing how people used to live back in Neolithic, Medieval and other times through digs all within the “three-days-to-do-it” motto. Filmed all within the United Kingdom with a few specials across Europe.

Look up!

The ceilings within the museum were massive and entire rooms were moved and reset within the museum or were there since the time of the Louises and Napoleon and later up to Louis XVIII.

The paintings, many for propaganda purposes to impress visitors, were scenes of famous mythological battles. I think it was in 1789, after the French Revolution was over and life had settled down, the Louvre became the place to house France’s treasures. Much of what was held within all six museums in Paris, the best was brought to the Louvre to become the main museum of France and one of the finest in the world.

Thankfully, not everything was destroyed during the fires and stripping of France’s castles during that time period. Some pieces were taken as souvenirs, some were taken by royalists to preserve and protect them.

After Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette lost their heads, Napoleon added a lot of treasures to the Louvre from his travels to Egypt and beyond.

Venus de Milo
Same lady from the rear. 😉

Venus de Milo was really one of the few super famous pieces we saw last Monday (just a week ago now). We couldn’t get near the Mona Lisa… We snapped from afar.

Venus with different hair styles.

Amazing detail in each statue! The stone just sparkles in the sunlight and some statues were luminescent!!

We were blown away by the musculature which shows through many of the statues. How did the carvers “see” this within each piece of stone?

Another of Venus’ gorgeous hairstyles!
Monsieur Paris ~ Many of the male figures were missing an important part of their anatomy… We guessed that perhaps that these statues were broken during shipping from wherever they found.

After a while, we knew we needed the tags with each statue or piece we photographed so we could identify them when we got home. So here is Paris’ info.!

“Off with her head!”

We learned from hearing some guides that often statues were made in pieces and pieced together. This woman’s upper body (head cavity) showed how the head bust would have been added on after the main body was in situ. Her arm was also missing but I didn’t get a close-up of that area.

Well, I would love to keep going with this post but I think this is a good place to stop for now. I will get more ready for the weekend for you.

Amy and I enjoyed a good six hours there at the Louvre wandering up and down the long corridors. We ate lunch at a cute restaurant and met another Amy (Emi) at our table. We also visited the gift shops and brought home some loot!

Thank you for pinning! 🙂

I hope you have enjoyed this post and please leave a comment about what you enjoyed when you toured the Louvre!

A bientôt,

Barb 🙂