Gardening, Tablescapes

Evening Tea in the Garden

Good evening, friends! I used some comp time today and left work an hour early heading to my mother-in-law’s home to check on it while she is away. As I came out into the backyard to water, immediately I caught the scent of two large roses perfuming the entire garden …

After I finished watering all of her backyard plants (and seeing that I need to help her with a ton of prickly weed removal), I came back out with her heavy duty scissors and snipped as many stems of these soft blush roses as I could.

Previous owners planted this heavenly scented rose and its twin on the opposite side of the garden. Funny, Gramma “plays ball” with a 2-year-old boy who lives on the other side of the fence when she is home. I found a good 12 balls of many sizes and types in amongst the roses and crepe myrtle along this shared back fence!

I tossed them all back over. 😉

After a quick run through the grocery store, I came home and promptly recut all the rose stems and created this lovely arrangement. Creamy white Iceberg roses from my garden filled in the gaps…

Then it was time for tea!

I brewed a cup of Constant Comment and set two lemon Girl Scout cookies on a plate. Nothing fancy! Just a paper napkin, the tea and those cookies.

I love that the cookies have upbeat sayings on them to boost girls’ self esteem nowadays!! They made me smile. 😉

Two of our newer rose bushes in their pots, getting ready for their first blooms…

As I cleared away the dishes, I took a few shots just with my iPhone 12 Pro. It takes quality photographs and I didn’t have to mess with the lighting, which my Canon was being finicky this evening (the overblown whites in some photos, lol!).

But it was a lovely 72 degree evening, perfect for a few minutes enjoying the back gardens as the sun was going down…

A few early iris are blooming, too! Just noticed this beauty as I was snapping away… I gave them all a good feeding yesterday.

Here’s hoping for lots of blooms to come!

Thanks for visiting & sharing a cup with me,

Barb 🙂

Holidays, Home Decor

Share Your Style #383

Welcome to this week’s Share Your Style #383, dear friends! It’s Passion week and Easter is this Sunday. He is risen!! Well, let’s get to this week’s 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

No posts for me this past week since I used the one I did have for Saturday’s Share Your Style! 🙂 I spent more time pulling weeds and tiny oak trees out of the garden beds this past weekend and continued spreading mulch around.

I hope to have an early spring garden post out for you later this week. Plants are rapidly leafing out and the roses are starting to bloom, which is a happy place for me! Can’t wait to share. <3

Short and sweet this week as it wasn’t a full week and I blew it by not publishing on time (my bad!). 😉

And here are this week’s featured posts…

Our first post is from Lynne from Thrifting Wonderland and she has prepared a lovely
Tea and the Garden. Just lovely!
Amy from A Day of Small Things shared a day trip she shared with her daughter to
Sunny San Antonio Part 2. Love this photo! You’ll love all the stalactites and stalagmites!!!
Debbie from Debbie-Dabble Blog created the cutest bunny chandelier!!! Love this sooo much! Easter Tree, A Few Carrots and More Crafting in the Kitchen. Adorable decor!!!
Debbie also shared her super cool Easter/Spring Coffee Bar. Love it!! An Easter double header for you… 😉
Toilet roll table decoration
Elsa from Seizoenenblog.com (Seasons Blog) shared this super simple napkin ring craft that you will want to make for your Easter table ~ Toilet Roll Table Decoration, a Low Budget DIY. Adorable!!!
faux chocolate Easter bunny mantel styling
Our final feature for this week is Faux Chocolate Bunny Easter Mantel Styling from MaryJo from Master”Pieces” of My Life. Just adorable and you’ll love this DIY!

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.

Happy Easter to you and yours,

Barb 🙂

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Gardening, Home Decor

Share Your Style #382

Welcome to this week’s Share Your Style #382 ~ a bit late this week (I haven’t been sleeping well; taking care of our very old dog takes its toll…), so… I thought I’d get the party up here on Saturday! I am soooo looking forward to your beautiful Easter and springtime posts!

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

Last weekend I was outside working on getting a few plants in the ground plus spreading mulch to protect all the plants’ roots from summer’s coming heat. I was BEAT but it is looking good so far! I will share that post soon. 😉

Just one post from me this week, and I was busy recovering from the weekend (plus, just going to work everyday at school as you know!) so I apologize for not getting SYS on time this Wednesday! I fell asleep by 7:00/7:30pm every night this week until Friday evening. I had a hard time visiting all of the folks on the Pinterest tour, too!

I don’t know if you all know, but I get up with our Yoda every night during the night to take care of his restroom needs, save him from whatever he has got himself stuck underneath (i.e. our bed, my dresser, behind the toilet, etc. — he has Dog Alzheimers), and get his bedding laundry going. We love him and it’s just what we do for our fur babies! 💜 

So, let’s get this party started!!!

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

Two Spring Chair (Decorating) Ideas to Inspire ~ part of this month’s Pinterest Challenge hosted by Cindy of County Road 407. So fun!!!

And here are this week’s featured posts…

A Spring / Easter table setting including a nest of (candy) eggs sitting in a basket of raffia. www.redshuttercottage.com
First up this week is this fun post from newcomer Kristine from Red Shutter Cottage ~
A Whimsical Spring Tablescape ~ just adorable!!! (I’ll probably use this phrase a lot today!) Welcome, Kristine to the French Ethereal family! <3
I learned a new word today and here it is in Sandra from Dinner at Eight‘s cutest post for spring ~ A Fluffle of Bunnies! Just precious!!!
Pinterest container gardening ideas & inspo
MaryJo over at Master”Pieces” of My Life shared this lovely garden post ~
Container Gardening Ideas & Inspiration. Can’t wait for all the blooms!
Lori from Dining Delight created this beautiful post ~ Inspiration for Decorating an Easter Brunch Buffet. Simply beautiful!!!

Stephanie from Steph Creates shared this sweet DIY Dollar Tree Birdhouse Decoration post. Love little birdhouses for decorating around the home!

Lynne from Thrifting Wonderland shared a sunny tableau here in her post Cheerful Tablescape. Love how Lynne uses thrifted items in her home!
And a huge CONGRATULATIONS to DeeDee from Our Clover House on a sweet bedding line affiliation ~ My New Bedding is Named After Me! Really pretty!!

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.

Happy spring, y’all,

Barb 🙂

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Gardening, Holidays, Home Decor, Pinterest Challenge

Two Spring Chair Ideas to Inspire!

Welcome, dear friends!! This month’s Pinterest Challenge has us creating a fun Easter-time Spring Chair. Yes, a chair ~ totally fun and unexpected! Our host and friend Cindy from County Road 407 has found a really fun idea from Jamie at Anderson + Grant!

Our inspiration ~ what I see

Welcome to everyone coming over from Michelle at Thistle Key Lane for the first time! Isn’t this beautiful antique chair so pretty with this gorgeous woven harvest basket filled with tulips, a sweet rabbit scouting the scene, and a soft white afghan cascading out of the basket and over the chair Lovely!

I loved it so much that I thought It’d be fun to create a couple of spring chair ideas to inspire you in your springtime decorating.

Love Cindy’s springtime Pinterest Challenge graphic!

I shot these photos with my cell phone so they are a bit fuzzy and I apologize for that. Since then, I’ve shot only with my Canon. 🙂

My first Spring Chair & Basket

I began this sweet vignette with a Longaberger cake-carrying basket set onto a chair I bought from my longtime friend Kathy. I recovered it with fabric from a dress I wore back in the late 1980’s to one of my brother’s weddings. I filled this basket with a small glass cake plate used as a riser for Momma & Baby rabbit.

Nestled in with our rabbits, I’ve scattered some soft green shredded paper used as Easter grass, glossy bright plastic Easter eggs, and a spring bouquet of mums and other flowers my husband just bought me! He’s a keeper… 🙂

The last thing I added was a lace curtain I hang up in our bedroom every year for summertime. I love its softness plus it added dappled light. Here this curtain adds its softness and texture to the scene!

Now let’s check out our second Spring Chair out in the Garden!

Our garden

Over the past four seasons, I have worked really hard creating small planting beds around one of our backyard oak trees, under the primary bedroom window and out here along the edging of the western and southern fencing.

This spot is against our new garden shed/greenhouse (how I am using it) and faces south.

Let’s check out Chair #2!!

Since my roses aren’t in bloom yet, I brought out some dried roses and set them inside our flower girl’s basket.

This outdoor spring basket vignette has lots of texture

This chair came as a set with a small end table we picked up at last summer’s end-of-summer sales. I call it my Titanic chair…

All of the dried florals add their own special fluffiness and refinement…

The sun was rapidly going down when I came out to film after school last week. It had rained the day before so everything was fresh and clean! And here is our second chair.

One of our cement rabbits came out to play, too. A little nod to Jamie’s sweet cement rabbit! In the background, one of our David Austin climbing roses is being trained upwards on jute twine. Fingers crossed it grows more canes on the other side!

The vintage tablecloth takes the place of the white afghan in the inspiration photograph. Sorry the whites are blown out. I had some trouble getting the light balance correct while photographing.

And those are my two second chairs for today’s challenge. 🙂 I hope you’ve enjoyed both of these chair stylings! If you like what you see, please consider subscribing to my blog and following French Ethereal on my other platforms. Thank you for stopping by! <3

Up next is Niky from The House on Silverado and her green vintage chair looks absolutely adorable with its floral bouquet and sweet rabbit! Please see below for links to visit everyone on today’s tour.

Happy spring, friends!

Barb 🙂

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crafts, Home Decor, Tablescapes

Share Your Style #381

Welcome everyone to this week’s Share Your Style #381! A little bunny fun to brighten our Easter month as we check out this week’s featured posts… 😉

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

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

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

Happy St. Patty’s Day to You! And a little leprechaun story for you. <3

And here are this week’s featured posts…

First up this week we have these super cute carrot pillows as part of Debbie-Dabble Blog’s post ~ Changing Seasons and Crafting. Fun!!!
Colorful Easter Table- Karins Kottage
Karin from Karin’s Cottage brings us this cheery Colorful Easter Vintage Tablescape. Love it!!!
Is Your Home Ready for a Refresh
Katherine from The Dedicated House brings us a little spring updating idea in her post ~ Is Your Home Ready for a Refresh? Review Ideas to Consider. Love this!!!
Homemade Mother's Day Treat Ideas
Claire Justine shared this beautiful tribute for all mothers as we approach the holiday soon ~ Homemade Mother’s Day Treat Ideas. Delicious!!
Penny from Penny’s Treasures shared her sweet entryway all decked out in spring decor ~ Simple Easter Entry & 1st Spring Blooms. Soooo pretty!!! (Love pinks…)
And doing a fun double-header, here is Penny’s massive storage solution for
How I Store My Spring & Easter Decor. I am totally impressed!! Question: How many bunnies do you think she has??? Love ’em all!!! 😉
Spring Porch Tour with Hydrangeas and Spring Containers-The Crowned Goat
CoCo from The Crowned Goat wows with this festive feast of florals in her post ~
Cottage Inspired Spring Porch Tour. Look at those hydrangeas!!!
7 Simple Steps to Invite Spring Inside
Niky from The House on Silverado shared her lovely home in this
Spring Tour 2023: 7 Simple Steps to Invite Spring Inside. Lovely!!
Meagan from Decorative Inspirations shares a how-to in this DIY post ~
New Life to an Antique China Cabinet. Beautiful job!!!

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.

Hoppy party, dear friends!

Barb 🙂

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Holidays, Home Decor

A Happy St. Patty’s Day to You!

It’s that favorite day for wee leprechauns across the globe, this day is! And we are dancing a jig here to celebrate the patron saint of Ireland, St. Patrick himself… Let’s have a bit of fun in just a quick post! 😉

According to the History.com, St. Patrick wasn’t Irish but…

{St. Patrick} found his faith while being held as prisoner by a group of Irish raiders.”

He was actually British but during his captivity in Ireland, he dreamed of converting the Irish to Christianity.

Our sweet lads and lassies are certainly happy that St. Patrick was adopted into Irish lore and are happily celebrating the day of his passing. <3

Probably, though, they are just celebrating because this year St. Patrick’s Day falls here on Friday, and it’s quittin’ time!!! Time to head to a pub for some supper and a pint…

Always good when it’s a Friday! 😉

This has been a fun month for me getting to write a few more posts and sharing this tablecloth yet again. I bought it at the Peterborough Antiques Faire back in 2005 while visiting my brother and sister-in-law and family over in England. The boys went to see an airshow and Linnea and I and our girls went antique browsing.

I have long suspected that it is an Irish piece. It has little clovers carefully wrought into its design. One wee clover can be seen just to the left of this little boy’s shoes…

via Illustroon

Here is a cute clipart I found under free stock. A bit of silliness, really… I thought you’d enjoy something lighthearted today.

Being that I am roughly 38% Irish and another 48% Scottish, it’s only natural that we should celebrate a bit on St. Patty’s Day, don’t you think? Actually, it’s only a piece of pumpkin pie with milk as I am having.

Nothing stronger, lol!

And this is my St. Patrick’s Day post! Just a quick little vignette to celebrate the day!

Hope you have a wonderful St. Patrick’s Day and weekend,

Barb 🙂

crafts, DIY Projects, Fashion, Gardening, Home Decor, Recipes

Share Your Style #380

Welcome back, friends! This week’s Share Your Style #380 is back after a two week hiatus. The first week I can’t even remember why I missed (exhaustion?), and last Wednesday I was recovering from eye surgery in the morning. So, instead of my usual photo I am sharing “Pirate Barb” with the eye patch I had to wear the first day ~ all day and night. Then I only had to wear it at nighttime. 😉

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 apologize for not letting you all know I’d be off last week. I thought I’d feel good and be able to post that evening. I was home early enough from the surgery center, but I didn’t think about the effects of anesthesia on the body. I was sleeping pretty much all afternoon and evening as soon as I got home.

So, again, I apologize for not having SYS these past two weeks, but sometimes I just need some time off. 😉 And this evening, I was out planting veg in the garden and then critter-proofing the bin with lots of hardware cloth, chickenwire until 8:00p.m.

Better late than never! Let’s get this party started!! 🙂

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

Let’s Sew! Making a Balloon Curtain for the Kitchen ~ I’m back sewing for a bit! Feels good to get back to my roots. I’ll be back painting in the family and living rooms soon.

And here are this week’s featured posts…

First up this week is this beautiful tray post from Debra of Common Ground ~
Early Spring Garden Tray with Paperwhites. Love it!!!
leprechaun-centerpiece-supplies
Can you believe it’s already St. Patrick’s Day? OH! And Happy Ides of March today… 😉 Wasn’t a good day for Caesar, though… Debbee from Debbee’s Buzz shared this fun post ~
Quick and Easy Lucky Leprechaun Centerpiece. Soooo cute!
Ann from Apple Street Cottage brings us this pretty vignette of
Birdcages and Candles.Lovely…
Jennifer from Curated by Jennifer wears this fun outfit proudly in this post
It’s My Birthday!!!
IKEA shelving hack black and white dishes
Karin from Karin’s Cottage created this great shelf in her post ~ Ikea Shelving Hack. Great job!!!
Meagan from Decorative Inspirations shared this springtime post ~
The Best Spring Cleaning Practices for the Gardens, Yards and Patios. Great tips!!
MaryJo from Master”Pieces” of My Life shared this gorgeous tablescape in this post ~
Forced Spring Bulbs Tablescape. Love the green and pewter coloring!!!
DeeDee from Clover House shared Simple Spring Vignettes. Adorable!!
A DIY Dutch tulip crate filled with assorted Spring decor. A large bunny, wood beads, a wooden Easter egg in a clay pot, and a large vintage jug holding greenery.
Lastly for this week, we welcome Leanna from Pretty DIY Home who shared this sweet post ~
How to Make a Dutch Tulip Crate for Spring. Adorable bunny and look at those large plaid carrots!
So glad you made it over, Leanna. 🙂

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.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day and Ides of March, everyone!

Barb 🙂

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Click here to enter

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.

Happy spring, y’all! Enjoy the party,

Barb 🙂

Home Decor, Sewing

Let’s Sew! Making a Balloon Curtain for the Kitchen

Happy March, everyone! This past weekend while I was recouping from eye surgery (cataract), I worked inside making this balloon curtain. Making one is super easy and here’s how to do it!

I found this inspirational fabric at Hobby Lobby (Slate “Friend” print cotton calico, #1415181) after my first follow-up appointment at the eye doctor this past Thursday. Gramma Gini was driving since I wasn’t allowed to be out driving yet, and we didn’t feel like going right home, so we went browsing for French toile fabric.

I didn’t find the fabric I was looking for but instead I found this soft brownish-grey, almost a toile, instead…

I’ve loved seeing words cut out and hung on other bloggers’ walls or sitting on their fireplace mantels, but I haven’t really got into all that… until now! This is my attempt at adding words in our kitchen. 🙂

How to make a balloon curtain

I have written this as if the reader has never sewn, so bear with me if some of this is repetitive. Feel free to jump ahead if you are more experienced! 🙂

  • I bought 3 yards of fabric for this project. When you make a balloon shade/curtain, you will need three panels of the same width and length.
  • I washed and dried my fabric, then cut the 3 yards in half crosswise to have two beginning panels the same length of 1 1/2 yards (54″).
  • Next, cut both pieces of fabric lengthwise down the center of each piece, creating four lengths of equal width fabric.
  • Choose three pieces and seam them together lengthwise: If you wish to make French seams, begin by sewing on the right-sides out ~ sewing a 2/8″ seam.
  • Iron the seam flat, then place right-sides together (the normal way one creates a seam). Sew a 3/8″ seam on the wrong side encasing the first 2/8″ seam. This closes the first seam inside the final seam so no selvage shows. Very clean! (see photo above)
  • Sew both side seams, turning under 1/4″ once, twice. Sew along the turned-under edge.
  • Make a header next by first ironing under 1/4″, then turn a second time 2 5/8″. I began with an extra 5 1/4″ of fabric to create the rod pocket and small ruffle.
  • Sew close to the turned under edge and a second seam 1 1/2″ from this lower edge. This leaves 1″ at the top for a small ruffle when the curtain is gathered along the curtain rod. To prevent “pulling,” sew from the middle outward in one direction, and sew the rest of the top-stitching from the middle outward in the opposite direction.

My sewing machine has measuring lines on either side of the metal sewing plate (see photo below) and also along slide-on table, which I slid onto my machine’s sewing arm.

  • This creates a rod pocket for a 1″ curtain rod with a 5/8″ ruffle along the very top of the curtain once run on the rod.
  • Sew a 1″ hem at the bottom of the curtain with 1/4″ ironed under first. (For a curtain without a ruffle).
  • If adding a ruffle, cut the remaining 4th panel of fabric into 5 1/2″ strips width-wise. Seam those together on the wrong side, then iron in half width-wise, right side out.
  • Sew a basting line 1/4″ from the upper edge of the ruffle and a second baste line 3/8″ from the same edge. Don’t do the “sew from the middle” here. No need as you want the pulling effect. *Sewing from the middle works really well for clothing to keep it from pulling around you, feeling uncomfortable when a garment is worn.
  • Pull the bottom threads and adjust your gathers to the fit the bottom edge of the curtain. Pin to the curtain.
  • Sew a 1/2″ seam at the bottom of the curtain after gathering the ruffle. Iron the seam flat towards the curtain. Tack the seam just to the bottom of the vertical seams, in those four locations.

Note: Here I’ve added the gathering rings. The lowest rings were too far down (shown in the photograph) and I removed them and moved them up two inches higher so the ruffle could be seen when the curtain is hanging.

I am getting a little ahead of myself but you’ll see more of these rings below. 😉

My inspiration

Years ago I found these pink rose curtains at Mervyn’s department store (went out of business sometime during the 1990’s, during a recession), and hung them at my first home in California.

I remember buying them one or two panels at a time as I couldn’t afford to buy them all at once! I think each panel cost $14.00 at the time. Maybe they were more, but I’d wait for a sale. 😉

These balloon curtain panels came with these slotted rings to gather up each row of rings making gathering each balloon curtain soooo much easier than adding strings and trying to pull them all correctly.

I tried looking at Joann Fabrics but found none of these special rings. I brought home little lobster claws to try but they were too tiny to gather four rings into each claw. They will go back to the store.

So, I “borrowed” four of these slotted rings from my inspiration panel to gather my freshly created Friend curtain.

In my stash of things, I had leftover large and small rings from when I made a blue calico balloon curtain for our USMC Camp Pendleton, California duplex we lived in when Mr. Ethereal was promoted to Captain. We lived on base for two years in that nice duplex! (1989-1991)

This is how I know about pulling the strings and trying to get them equally pulled across the curtain… ugh! You had to tie the bunch of strings off to one side to a hook thing mounted on the wall.

It was crazy…

Reshowing for reference 😉
  • For this curtain, I needed 16 rings for the whole curtain, with four across and four down. Begin them at the bottom of the header rod pocket and sew them to each of the side seams and middle French seams.
  • Sew the second, third and fourth rows, spacing evenly apart. My panel ended up being 48″ from the header hem to the ruffle seam (Sorry, I forgot to show!). Fix the bottom row of rings as needed to make a curtain ruffle show when hung in the window.

I am really pleased with how this balloon curtain turned out! Mr. Ethereal helped by hanging the curtain rod hangers on the wall about four or five inches above the window opening (maybe higher).

I wanted to let in a lot of light yet still have a lot of drape to the curtain, hence why we hung them so high on the wall. With balloon curtains, you can hook up all of the rings or less, depending upon the look you desire!

Love how this balloon curtain dresses up this window! Jewelry for the finished kitchen and its new paint job!!

Let me know if you’ve ever made balloon curtains before and if you have found these special slit rings. I’d love to know a good source and what they are actually called. Gini thought that I might find some at an upholstery shop. I might go searching as we have this week off from school.

Happy spring!!!

Happy sewing, dear friends,

Barb 🙂

Home Decor

An Early Spring Tea Tray & Tea

Welcome to my Spring Teatime on a Tray, dear friends! I was joining a wonderful group of ladies who are sharing their beautiful spring tea trays with you… But, I blew it, so I thought I’d share this double-header post with you nevertheless. 😉

My Inspiration

{Sophie’s tea tray}

I began my spring tea tray with ironing a tatted tablecloth I purchased in 2005 from an antiques faire in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. My kids and I were visiting my brother and his family over spring break that year.

I love its vines and Morning Glories!

Next, I picked out a metal tray I painted white back when I was in a tea group in California (see 2014 posts) , a choice of two different dessert plates, chintz tea pot and accoutrements.

Last week I whipped up some mock Devonshire cream, so this was a perfect time to bring the remainder out for this tea tray. This sweet double pot is wonderful to fill with jams and honey or lemon curd.

I enjoyed looking in the linen closet and choosing these sweet napkins… I found these at another antiques and crafts fair.

And here is the beginning of my spring tea tray…

Here is a first look at our freshly painted dining room. It has gone from coffee-colored to a soft French grey.

Perfect to share this first tea tray and table!

And then I realized I had forgotten the teacups (it’s been a week, friends!)…

A lovely table but still needs those cups. 😉 I brought out some leftover heart-shaped scones, too.

Here is the finished spring tea tray! My favorite colors are shared here ~ pinks and whites.

With the finished tea table… Finally with teacups! I am really pleased with this table.

Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope you will check out Katherine from Katherine’s Corner and the main tea tray tour!

Wednesday Tea ~ Peacocks & Pink Roses — one of the first teas I shared here on my blog (2014)

I love how this table and tea tray turned out. It’s nice to come full-circle back to where French Ethereal started ~ with tea tables and tea trays.

Spring blessings to you,

Barb 🙂

Gardening, Home Decor, Pinterest Challenge, Tablescapes

A Spring Garden Lantern + A Little Story…

Hoppy 4th Tuesday, dear friends! Our friend Cindy of County Road 407 has challenged us to create a Spring Lantern for this month’s Pinterest Challenge, and boy do we have cuteness inspiration ideas on overload for you…

Welcome, everyone! If you are coming over from Carol at Bluesky at Home for the first time, an extra big welcome!! For anyone who has never been to one of our Pinterest Challenges, Cindy finds a photograph for us to recreate in our own way, and we run with the idea.

Ann from On Sutton Place has created our inspiration tablescape this time. She has used a couple of white lanterns filled with coconut fiber bunnies, some easter grass, and a sweet pitcher of pussywillows. I personally love all the white!

How did I begin my Spring Lantern?

I began by sorting through my box of spring decor, of course! I looked at everything and pulled some things out and put others back.

I went to Hobby Lobby looking for an new lantern but they weren’t on sale, and I just didn’t want to spend a lot. So, I pulled out the lantern I used in a previous Pinterest Challenge to use again. 🙂

I didn’t come home with a new lantern from the store; however, I DID come home with these cute flower-strewn Easter eggs, some fun paper carrots, and a new vintage-looking sign!

Love ’em!!!

So, I set down this grey tobacco basket and began tucking in shredded green grass, then I added a tree cut as a base for my lantern, and picked a bunny and the whole lot of Easter Eggs to put inside the lantern…

That’s when a story popped into my head:

The Story ~ BunBun’s Jam

BunBun, our sweet little girl, busied herself bringing in Easter eggs to fill her glass lantern garden greenhouse. She worked diligently and swiftly prepping for the year’s early morning Easter delivery of eggs to good little girls and boys of the town.

She was so busy bringing in all of these freshly painted eggs, tucking them here and there inside that lantern greenhouse, she didn’t think about how she was going to get herself back out the door again once those eggs were all indoors…

All of a sudden, BunBun realized that she was stuck! Poor little bunny…

What was she going to do? She’d really gotten herself in a pickle this time.

Meanwhile, her friends were busy outside…

Ducky and Princess Chicky-Poo were busy with spring gardening. They were planting more carrot seeds, seeing that the fall-planted ones had grown so well (and they were still picking those delicious carrots to eat!).

The rabbits were busy setting out spinach starts, a few chive seeds, as well as some daisy and Texas bluebonnet seeds for future picking! The rabbits especially love purple flowers for their dining table bouquets!!!

Looking up and hearing BunBun’s muffled voice and seeing her tap-tapping on the glass, they quickly realized her predicament. The group thought swiftly and hatched a plan. They would lift one corner of the glass lantern so their friend could slip underneath without disturbing the carefully placed eggs.

“Okay, on three!” shouted Ducky to the others. “One, two, three!!!” Everyone grunted a bit while paws and palmate feet slowly lifted the lantern side skyward.

As the glass house was tilted up, BunBun slid down and underneath. She was free! Cheers arose from this gaggle of friends! Everyone hugged BunBun, and she hugged and thanked each friend in turn.

They celebrated BunBun’s release with a cream tea and, of course,…

a slice of carrot cake. :)’

*****

Thanks for stopping by, friends! If you haven’t subscribed to FE, I’d love it if you do. We swing back up to Cindy at County Road 407 next and I know you will love her lantern idea!! And please stop by all of our friends and check out what everyone has created for you.

Big spring hugs from North Texas,

Barb 🙂

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