Tag: decorating

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Share Your Style #331

French Ethereal

Welcome to this week’s Share Your Style #331! Happy Wednesday to you all, dear friends!!

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

Happy New Year, y’all! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas week and then New Year’s Eve with family and friends. I have really enjoyed these past two weeks at home. I finished the last bit of insulating in the shed, did a little painting, worked on laying pavers along the garden pathway, and planted some plants. Hubby began creating two small loft areas over each end of the shed for overhead storage, and that is coming along. I am back to school as of today and our kiddos show up tomorrow. Lots of concern about Covid since the Omicron is highly contagious, so hopefully all the vaccination shots do their thing!

On a happy note, my husband, after working in California since September and flying up from So. Cal to Northern California over six different weekends, Mr. Ethereal flew back one last time just after Christmas. He helped my mother-in-law meet the movers at her house and storage unit to get her household goods onto two trucks. Her house of 57 years sold and she is beginning a new chapter here in North Texas. A lot like us! 🙂

The first set of movers gets here this coming Friday. After the movers drove off, Mr. Ethereal and Mom drove the southern route to get here from the greater Sacramento area. She is staying with us until she finds a new place, but for now it’ll be cozy winter evenings watching movies and hanging out with Mr. Ethereal and Yoda and myself…

So that’s what I’ve been up to since last time! How about you? How were your Christmas and New Year’s?? Hope they were wonderful!!

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

Our Belated Christmas Home Tour ~ a little day and nighttime tour.

And here are this week’s featured posts…


Bob Baffert

Amber from The Hungry Mountaineer shared a wonderful recipe for I Can’t Believe It’s Not Full of Gluten Blueberry Breakfast Coffee Cake. Yummy!!! That’s not all she shared… Did you know Amber works in the horse racing industry?? I didn’t either. Come check out her fun (and funny) post!

Debbie from Debbie-Dabble Blog shared a Christmas visit with long-time friend in this post ~ Ann Marie’s Christmas Home Tour. Lovely china!!!
Lynne over at Thrifting Wonderland shared her beautiful thrifted trays in this festive post ~ Silver Tray Holidays… Isn’t this one gorgeous??!

new-years-ideas-decorated-gift-favor-bags
Debbee from Debbee’s Buzz shared such pretty table decor in this post ~
New Year’s Eve Tablesetting Ideas. Love this with all the golden touches!!!
Renae from Peacock Ridge Farm brings us her tips on making over her home office ~ How to Add Function, Beauty and Character to your Home Office. Love it!!!
Bridie from Heart, Hearth and Crafting shared a free pattern to make this warm and cozy Mariners Hat. Looks really easy to knit, too! Great gifting idea…💜 
Parsimonious Decor Darling shared lovely Celtic tablescapes to copy in this post ~ Traditional Tartan Twofold. Totally in love with these flow blue zoological dinner plates!
Picture
Cindy from Cindy’s Recipe Box shared an oldie but goodie for any kind of holiday fête ~ Eggnog Pudding Shots. So delicious looking!

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

Thanks again, dear friends! Let’s get this party started,

Barb 🙂

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Share Your Style #191

French Ethereal







• Barbara: 21 Rosemary Lane / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest / Google+
• Kristin: White Arrows Home / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest / Instagram

• Barbara: French Ethereal / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest / Instagram

• Meredith: Southbound / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest / Instagram


Welcome to this week’s Share Your Style #191
I am Barbara Chapman and I am honored to be your host this week.  We are so glad you are here and as always your posts will be shared on all four of our sites.

We’d love it if you’d follow us on at least one of our social media ~ we appreciate the love ~ and I’d love it if you’d subscribe to my blog, of course!  Thank you. 🙂

Here are some of the posts I have shared recently ~


Your Favorite Top Ten Posts from 2018 were a fun surprise to see which were the most popular.  I particularly enjoy going around and reading everyone’s
round up posts each year ~ fun to see what were the favorites!



Tea with the DFW Costumers Guild down at River Legacy Park in Arlington, Texas, and…




A romantic tablescape ~ originally an al fresco Thanksgiving post which could easily be adapted to a Valentine’s or spring post.  Just remove the baby boo pumpkins and add in new decorations to fit your theme!




Here are some of the featured highlights from last week’s Share Your Style ~

When time is tight, getting a delicious dinner on the table for your family shouldn’t have to be a big deal. I’ve put together the perfect Easy Weeknight Dinner Idea that is simple, comforting and completely delicious!


After all of the holiday goodies and maybe a few pounds put on… here is a wonderful post featuring Progresso soups from Erin at Delightful-E-Made to help us all our diets back on track {me included!}.


what human foods can my dog eat

And to keep our four-legged buddies healthy this winter {and always ;)}
here’s a post with healthy feeding tips by Kelli of 3 Boys and a Dog.


Anita at Cedar Hill Farmhouse talks about simple touches we can add to our homes to help transition from the holidays to a warm winter decor.




Many different styles of glassware were found and featured in this post by
Sandra of Come to Dinner at 8 ~ love these beautiful swans or geese!



Mr. Ethereal and I have been checking out kitchens among other things as we house hunt for our Texas home and I like how Penny of Penny’s Vintage Home
shares a winter white look.


Floral LOVE Mini Quilt

Mr. Ethereal and I have been checking out kitchens among other things as we house hunt for our Texas home and I like how Penny of Penny’s Vintage Home
shares a winter white look.


Floral LOVE Mini Quilt
And lastly because we are heading towards that wonderful heart-filled time of year… Bev of Flamingo Toes’ cute Floral Love Quilt has to be shared.



Thank you to everyone who was featured and to all of you who stop by each week to link up your stories with Share Your Style.



Link away, friends!





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Christmas Teas with Friends New and Old

French Ethereal
Christmas is  the such a wonderful time of the year truly and I find it such a blessing to be a guest at other friends’ homes! Getting to share the season with friends and family is such a treat and today I wanted to share two special days with you all. 

Two special luncheons where friends gathered to share the Love of the season… Pour yourself a hot cup of tea or another favorite beverage as this will be a bit of a journey; however, I hope you will be truly blessed…



Two luncheons  so different in decor and style of home but very much the same… The first place we are visiting today is my friend and Bible study teacher Peggy Hayes’ home in Denton. 



We held our last study of the year where two special stories about the birth of the Christ Child were shared.

Peggy read to us from the gospel of Luke ch. 2…

The Birth of Jesus

1In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2(This was the first census that took place while a Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3And everyone went to their own town to register.

 

There was no room at the inn… 

4So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.


And an angel appeared…
8And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.10But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
A few tears ensued and smiles spread all around as we finished out study time and felt His holy presence.

Friends Peggy Luigs (L, Peggy #2), Carrie Ballard (back) and Peggy Hayes
(R, Peggy #1), our hostess.

 Our potluck menu

We moved all our study things off the table and shared our potluck luncheon of homemade chicken tortilla soup made by Peggy #1. A Raspberry Balsamic vinaigrette-topped salad with chopped pecans, mandarin oranges and ruby red Craisins and baby Roma tomatoes. There were tortilla chips for crunching on top of our soup and sides of crackers and cheeses and delicious Kosher bologna.



Now I don’t tend to “shove the Dove” as Pastor Brian used to say not to do at Calvary Chapel of Murrieta some years ago, so only a few times a year will you hear me really pour my heart out for our Creator.
Today is one of those days…
🙂

One of the many wonderful crosses in Peggy’s home.
Peggy’s home is filled with red everywhere ~ her favorite color! She also loves quilts and a casual country decor using long-loved and thrifted finds to create her loving home.  She has many beautiful crosses and Nativities, of which I’ve shared a few.

I shared a post last year about the scripture quilts which Peggy makes for friends ~ so inspirational! 

L-R:  New friend Jane, Carrie, Peggy #1, Peggy #2, and another new friend
Nancy, who is a pastor’s wife.

Food for thought

Here’s the gang! This was a wonderful day with good food of both kinds to nourish our holiday season-wearied souls. I for one am really glad that the Christmas Story was read as I needed to hear it again.

I hope you needed it too.
🙂

Laura’s super cute ornament display in her kitchen ~ based off the one I’m linking here!
Tea at friend Laura’s home  was the very next day and she invited three friends from her church to come hang with Cindy {who writes the blog County Road 407} and myself for the day.

Laura as you know writes the blog Decor to Adore 
and has become a good friend over this past year as has Cindy. We like a lot of the same things just as my friends in California do ~ decorating our homes for each season, thrift shopping and antiques.  And of course a heart for Jesus!

Don’t you just love this pink decorated Christmas tree in it’s little cart??!

Laura’s theme

When Laura was thinking about what colors she wanted to do this year for Christmas her daughter suggested pink {I think it was} so Laura took a look through her Christmas decorations and ornaments to see if there was enough…

Happily there was enough and a pink-and-white decor for the Christmas season enveloped their beautiful home! 

This beautiful china hutch is part of a set of antique oak pieces brought
back from their living in Germany when Mr. Decor was stationed overseas.
Love, love the villages and castles on these vintage china pieces ~ so pretty!
Which goes along with the pinkish-red transferware china Laura collects ~ another similarity we have as I found some Johnson Bros. china a couple of years ago just after we moved here to Texas.

Here is a simple Christmas vignette on this blanket chest in their foyer complete with a sweet German Bavarian-style Advent carousel on top.  Fresh greens from their trees outside complete the decorations and show the Advent piece to its best advantage.

In a hutch in her living room near their Christmas tree sits a display of white ironstone creamware decorated with silvery Christmas balls set on beds of snow. Little cottages and tiny decorated chalets sparkle in the cabinet’s light… 

And more little Christmas houses beckon over on the antique carved server in the dining room.  Soft wisps of angel hair snow cozily wrap snow drifts around the town and church…

And the Gunn’s two weenie doggies came and visited with us, too!  This little guy is now 16 years old and such a lover and so jaunty in his Christmas neckerchief…

I apologize for not getting a good shot of both of them. I did try but you know how it is with kids and dogs and photographs ~ too much excitement to sit still!

A place setting for Jesus

After much visiting and meeting new friends we brought our soup bowls into the kitchen and served up the delicious chicken, spinach and cheese tortellini soup ~ heaven in a bowl!


Love this alcove for the range and all the brick!  The copper pans and sieves
remind me of the copper pans and moulds my mother collected.


Sprinkled with little slivers of parmesan cheese and pine nuts the soup had a nice crunch that satisfied all of our palates.  

I believe this is Johnson Bros. “Friendly Village.”

The Advent wreath

As we began the meal, Laura had us each in turn light a candle as she shared the story of the Advent wreath and what each lit candle means ~ this is a wonderful tradition her family has celebrated for years!

Each part reminds us of the coming of Jesus. The circle of evergreen branches represents “eternity.”
The candle lit in the center represents Christ as the “light of the world.”  The other candles lit in turn beginning on the fourth Sunday before Christmas represent as follows:

1. “Prophecy candle” ~ traditionally a purple candle and the first lit, in remembrance of the prophets but mostly Isaiah as he foretold of the coming birth of Christ.  This candle represents “Hope.”

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14, NIV) 


2. “Bethlehem candle” ~ or the “Love candle,” symbolizing Christ’s “Manger,” and is the second purple candle lit.

“This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” (Luke 2:12, NIV)

3. “Shepherds candle” ~ which represents “Joy” as the shepherds heard the Good News and went in search of this great news.  This is the third candle lit and it is traditionally a pink or rose-colored candle.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. (Luke 2:8–11, NIV)

4. “Angels candle” ~ lit on the fourth Sunday of Advent, the Sunday before Christmas, is the third and final purple candle lit.  It represents “Peace.”

My own little scene at home…
The symbolism of the day was not lost on us and more happy tears were shed for a baby born long ago whose sole purpose was to come into this world to save us all from sin and claim us as His own.
🙂

Our next course was a lasagna Laura made and served with a light salad which was wonderful! There wasn’t much talking around the table as we were just enjoying the meal and the ambiance.

After visiting for a while longer, we were ready for dessert and I brought in my Victoria Sponge…




This naked cake was what I brought to share and didn’t look this pretty when it first arrived ~ LOL!

A funny story: I made a cake the day before but it completely flopped and didn’t rise.  I tried using Splenda instead of regular granulated white sugar and probably overbeat the mixture, so… Don’t do what I did when you mix your cakes, friends! 😉

These two vanilla sponge cakes came unfrosted from Wal-Mart’s bakery here in Denton, Texas and thankfully theirs were wonderful!  Put together with lemon curd in the middle and a Mock Devonshire Cream frosting topped with berries and sprigs of rosemary, since I didn’t have a sweet pine tree close by.

The Great Cookie Exchange

Laura had set up a fun cookie exchange between all her friends and each of us was gifted with a Dollar store lidded bowl for taking our loot home.  

This is Cindy and she is sooo sweet!

Here is Laura with Gerlie on the left.

Yours truly cutting us all BIG slices of the cake.
;)’

Here are Cindy who is my other blogger friend (L) who also lives close by in pink {was definitely the color of the day!} sitting next to Nancy {I think? I am terrible with names and I do apoligize and will correct as I ask forgiveness!}.  She and the other Cindy were running off soon to help feed a group of people their church supports.

And here is gang #2!  
These last photos are courtesy of Laura Ingalls Gunn of Decor to Adore
who lovingly sent the to me.
:X



Two lovely days meeting and sharing a meal in our Savior’s honor with old and new friends.
Much to be thankful for…


Sharing with
Dishing It and Digging It ~ Rustic and Refined
French Country Cottage
Sweet Inspiration
Share Your Style
WOW
Wordless Wednesday ~ Oh, My Heartsie Girl!

Christmas blessings to you,
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Share Your Style #188

French Ethereal

Good evening and welcome to our 188th SYS link party! This week your party host is Lynn, from the blog The Vintage Nest. 



We are so thrilled you all dropped by again to party with us! Christmas is just around the corner and this is definitely the place to find some amazing inspiration.  I spent hours pouring over your wonderful link posts and it was so hard to just pick a few to share this week with our readers.
Before we get started, please make sure to pay a visit to all of your SYS team members!

• Lynn: The Vintage Nest / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest / Google+ 
• Barbara: 21 Rosemary Lane / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest / Google+ 
• Kristin: White Arrows Home / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest / Instagram 
• Barbara: French Ethereal / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest / Instagram
• Meredith: Southbound / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest / Instagram


~~~~ A few of my Favorites ~~~~

Orphans with Makeup gives us an excellent tutorial on making some handmade “vintage” ornaments.  These are just gorgeous!  thank you Mary for this inspiration.



Rever en Couleur (Dream in Color) shares her kitchen brick wall transformation and it’s beautiful.  Years ago, I whitewashed my brick fireplace and have never regretted and get so many compliments.  If you have been thinking of doing it…..Just do it!


Marty, a long long time friend on blogger, puts a spin on Christmas decor with her gorgeous rusty orange theme.  She explains how she did it very inexpensively.  Click on over to see this non-traditional theme at her blog A Stroll Thru Life.

Are you looking for a last minute, easy, inexpensive, personalized gift? The blog H2O Bungalow shares her tutorial on how to add words to a candle.  These are just so charming.


Finally, this post really really captured my heart.  When my children were little, a holiday tradition was the making of the gingerbread house and on New Year’s Eve, they got to “destroy” it and eat wasn’t what as hard as a brick.  They thought that was the grandest thing!  The blog Home Cooking Memories shares with us what could easily become a new tradition.  How fun and delicious is this?  A gingerbread house milkshake recipe.

 Congratulations to all of this week’s featured bloggers. If you have been featured please make sure to grab our cute feature button to proudly display on your blog.

  We wish you all a very happy holiday and we’ll see you next week. 

Now on to the PARTY!!!!

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    An All Hallow’s Eve Post…

    French Ethereal
    Every year  in place of a Halloween story I share an All Hallow’s Eve night time photo of one of The Girls and this year it is our little French maiden who lives indoors with us…

      
    This is  as spooky as we get around here ~ just a bit of night photography taken with maybe a
    candle or two.
    😉

    The outdoor Girls masquerading around the front yard ~ *edited out
    light to hide indoor lighting from our Prairie Home in the background
    plus also lightened blacks a bit in Lightroom.
    I have been wanting to shoot some photos in just candlelight for a while but usually I am taking photos right around sundown or like a few I recently took for an Instagram post when it was dark and cloudy outside.

    Last year I shared this series of photographs also 
    featuring our French maiden.  In that post I talked about past All Hallow’s Eves like when we were in Tombstone, Arizona quite literally on November 1st and did visit the graveyard there at Boot Hill.

    The Jewish Cemetery and Memorial at Boot Hill, Tombstone, Arizona.
    This was all when we were moving to Texas and I had just finished making about 32 soft fabric pumpkins to give as gifts to all of my friends and coworkers.



    Of course I do enjoy cute fall decorations on front porches and this sweet little pumpkin I snapped just recently while up visiting my son and daughter-in-love in Sioux Falls, South Dakota!

    I had just heard of stacking Cinderella pumpkins…
    And I just found this photograph from 2014 of our front porch at our Big House in California.

    So it was nice to finally get around to taking a few photographs in just candlelight ~ and although these are completely *unedited and I could have softened the light from the candle itself, sometimes it’s nice to just leave well enough alone.
    😉

    What do you like to do for your All Hallow’s Eve?


    Sharing with
    Waste Not Wednesday ~ Faeries and Fauna
    Thursday Favorite Things ~ Follow the Yellow Brick Home
    WOW ~ Savvy Southern Style
    Feathered Nest Friday ~ French Country Cottage



    Happy All Hallow’s Eve to you,
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    Welcome to French Ethereal Design Blog!

    French Ethereal

    Happy Friday, Everyone!

    My name is Barbara, but I go by Barb most of the time.  I am married and have two children in college.

    My daughter is studying art and my son is studying 

    broadcasting and journalism.

    Me?  I work in the local school district as a classroom aide working with students in a Special Education classroom.  Aside from that, I enjoy designing things, creating crafts and decorating around the home when I am home.  I’m glad you are here and hope you’ll come along as we explore decorating and garden ideas, create some fun crafts and DIY projects, and share a little of my faith in our Great Creator.

     

     

    Continue reading “Welcome to French Ethereal Design Blog!” →

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    Share Your Style #177

    French Ethereal
    Welcome Everyone to this week’s ShareYourStyle #177!   This is Barb Chapman of the blog French Ethereal and I’ll be your hostess this week.  When you link to our party, your blog will be shown on all seven of our blogs shown below.  We are happy that you are here.
    🙂
    We would love to have you follow us, if you don’t already:

    • Lynn:  The Vintage Nest / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest / Google+
    • Barbara Curran:  21 Rosemary Lane / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest / Google+
    • Kristin:  White Arrows Home / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest / Instagram
    • Barb Chapman:  French Ethereal / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest / Instagram 
    • Meredith:  Southbound / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest / Instagram

     As always, we would love it if you could include a link back to Share Your Style somewhere in your blog post. Also, please be sure to check out some of the other party goers links and possibly make some new friends, thanks!

    Recently on French Ethereal, I shared:

    Chalk Paint Message Board How-To
    Lost Photos, Happy Memories and a Craft

    Places to Visit ~ The Historic St. Anthony Hotel





    And now it is on to…
    Maura of Happy Deal Happy Day shared this easy photo transfer process done with a laser printer to create awesome gifts for friends and family.  My kind of gift ~ so simple to make with loads of heart.

    Laura of Laura Bloomquist shared some easy ways to update
    a vintage chandelier and one was with decorate papers on the candle sleeves ~ lovely!
    Erin of Suburban Simplicity shared these adorable bat treats.
    A super fun craft to create with your kids and grandkids.

    For the gardener in me, Yvonne of Stone Gable shared some
    great fall styling tips for your small yard spaces.


    Lastly I wanted to share a beautiful mirror and mantel decorated for fall by Debbie of Debbie Goes Shabby.  The computer wouldn’t let me import the photograph so I thought I’d share it as an honorable mention.  Debbie glued gorgeous French toile de Jouy fabric behind an old mottled mirror and it beautiful!
     Follow the link in her blog name to see it. 


    Congratulations to all our featured bloggers!
      Be sure to grab our Share Your Style button to share on your blog.

    Just a reminder again, we’d love it if you could provide a link back to our party on your blog post.  Please, no repeats for one year.  Thank you to everyone who linked up and visited last week!
    🙂


    NOW LET’S PARTY!

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    Fall Elegantly into the Autumn Season in Your Decorating

    French Ethereal

    Fall is  such a lovely time of year!  I love to pull out all of the stops and decorate with lots of pumpkins ~ real and faux.
    This year I have plans for decorating the outside and I am anxiously awaiting for pumpkins to arrive.  While waiting for those great gourds to show up at our local grocery stores and pumpkin patches I thought I’d share a few past pumpkin photos plus maybe a few new ones from this season with you.  🙂

    Here is  our dining room and part of the living room decorated for late summer and just a touch of fall with these sweet velvety leaved acorns.  Love these!  They will be perfect with the small velvet pumpkins I picked up on sale at Cracker Barrel and Jo-Ann’s last year at the end of the season.

    Velvet anything is really big right now which is sooo nice as velvet just has that nice sheen to it and feels so good on your fingers when touched ~ the best!  I still remember back when my daughter was in Brownie Girl Scouts and we went to see a play in San Diego with our troop.
    Amy wore her beautiful deep burgundy red velvet dress and dressed her American Girl in her matching dress with black Mary Jane shoes.  Another friend also named Amy brought along her American Girl and together we all went to the play and it was a lovely flashbulb memory for this mom!  


    Here is another tablesetting I created last year when I made this little faux pumpkin vase to brighten up our fall table.

    Super easy to create you can watch my YouTube post or if you prefer photographs to follow then here is the post that went with along with the video.  This pumpkin vase was created out of a styrofoam pumpkin found at Walmart ~ I like this because it can be reused from year to year and can also use it to hold candy on Halloween night if you like to pass treats out to your neighborhood kids!

    😉



    The fun part of any decorating and especially in the fall is getting to move things around and our little maiden moves around quite a bit.
    I like dressing this maiden with my inexpensive necklaces as here in our Prairie Home I don’t have a dedicated place to hang up my necklaces.
    We did just purchase a hanging wall piece that has hooks which can be pulled out or pushed in flush but I still like to hang baubles on this girl! 

    If you have some favorite pieces you like to decorate with think of different ways you can use your piece.  Here I’ve added a linen napkin found at Ikea underneath along with some feathers found out on daily walks with our dog.  Adding in a few favorite teacups just for fun finishes the look.

    Adding a lovely bowl of fruit is another nice way to add in some fall color in beautiful reds and oranges.  Also bring out a few woven baskets that might have been put away and forgotten about since last year as they add in their own warmth to our decorating.

    And as  you finish putting out just a few fall touches to spruce up your early autumn decor sit back, relax and have a nice cup of tea and a treat of your own.
    😉

    Sharing with
    Sweet Inspiration ~ The Boondock’s Blog
    Thursday Favorite Things ~ Follow the Yellow Brick Home
    Style Showcase ~ Shabbyfufu
    Friday Features ~ Oh, My Heartsie Girl!
    Make It Pretty ~ The Dedicated House



    Let the fall decorating begin,
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    A Little Bit of Paris Aujourd’hui

    French Ethereal

    Paris is a dream… 

     I often think of Paris and how I missed an opportunity to go and
    visit The City of Lights when I was an exchange student to Germany back as a young 19 year old and new to college
    and to life…


    Paris  is still on my bucket list of places to visit with its
    Arc de Triomphe, all the bridges leading over water into
    the heart of the city, and let’s talk about the architectural
    detailing and wrought iron railings on balconies!
    🙂


    So while  I may never have been to Paris or to any city in France ~ a girl can dream… and create a home while waiting that has a little French charm in it instead.
    😉

    Bring in some lovely wicker and woven baskets and find
    a long baguette basket or two at your local thriftshop
    to give your kitchen some Parisian flair.
    Here I’ve added this small square basket to hold our napkins
    and it is often dressed up with various linens to make it
    even prettier.


    Beautiful  soaps on display still in their wrapper-jackets
    tucked in a lightly gilded Haviland Limoge dish will add a
    friendly European touch dressing up
    one’s powder room.

    I also like to display gifts around my home as in these small
    jars of bath salts.
    When left open they add a lovely scent to the room
    infusing a bit of roses to clean the air.
    The one jar displaying Handmade with Love was created by
    Laura Ingalls Gunn who writes the blog Decor to Adore.
    Here is the link to her post about creating these
    sweet rose scented bath salts.


    And speaking of roses…

    Go anywhere in France and rose gardens will be found!
    This rose garden was one I visited last fall while out visiting
    Biltmore Estate.
    Truly a remarkable take on a garden worthy of King Louis XV and Versaille or Malmaison and filled with David Austin roses which
    were breathtakingly beautiful in their cooler weather
    October bloom.

    A French style garden wouldn’t be complete without somewhere
    comfortable to sit while admiring those roses so be sure
    to bring in a pretty metal bench.
    My inspiration were those benches seen in the movies
    that fill the parks in Paris and in New York City’s
    Central Garden.

    Turning our attention back indoors

    What speaks to me of Paris are caned back chairs and twinkling chandeliers with their brilliant pendants casting their sparkling rainbows on floors and walls.
    Outdoor cafés have the cutest caned chairs dressed in haute couture
    black and white weavings.
    While we can’t always change out our furniture whenever
    we feel the urge to do so
    we can take what we have and give our chairs a makeover
    with some paint and a fabric cover refresh.

    Mirrors

    The City of Lights also includes fantastic mirrors in every chateau or estate and this beauty {currently with our storage in California} came home with me from Northern to Southern California
    for my birthday one year.

    Pier mirrors which are fairly tall mirrors are very Parisian and
    so de rigueur. 
    Gilded mirrors like this one at 4 1/2 feet tall really help bring
    that French European feel to a room.
    Plus they are quintessential to adding light to darker rooms
    hallways and to areas that just need a bit more sparkle.
    🙂

    A tablesetting out of doors set for Valentine’s Day this past winter.

    Lighting

    Chandeliers and table candelabras are truly something we
    can all find inexpensively at our local thriftstores and add such French drama to our homes.

    In our current home ~ our 41′ fifth wheel travel trailer
    which I call our Prairie Home ~
    we have hung up a chandelier as I needed some sparkle
    and “pretty” where there was none before.


    Just a little bling in any home whether small or grand definitely reminds one of Paris and its grand chateaus with their
    spectacular lighting…


    Furnishings

    Although right now this lovely armoire is sitting in storage
    it used to grace our upstairs hallway in our Big House.
    With its large beveled mirror and carved “mermaid” along its bonnet top, an armoire is a perfect piece of furniture for holding large amounts of bed linens, quilts and the like.

    In our next home it will either live in our master bedroom
    and be used for holding clothing ~ as probably was its
    original intention ~ or may hold a smaller television and
    equipment inside and live in our future dining/living room.


    Plus if the one you find is in rough shape and the marquetry
    and veneers can’t be fixed ~ it’s an easy job to sand it
    and paint it from top to bottom.

    However a fabulous armoire is used, it is a magnificent
    French addition to one’s home and equal to any task
    beset before it.

    Lastly  to add a little Parisian-French flair to your rooms
    bring in some Old World styled paintings.
    This cutie was found while thriftshopping in England about
    10 years ago and with its pheasant scene
    and antiqued gilding
    this little painting brings in more of that je ne sais quoi
    that speaks to
    our French-loving hearts.



    Sharing with
    Paris in July ~ Thyme for Tea
    Wonderful/Wordless Wednesday ~ Oh, My Heartsie Girl!
    Style Showcase ~ Shabbyfufu
    Feathered Nest Friday
    Sweet Inspiration
    Thursday Favorite Things ~ Follow the Yellow Brick Home
    Keep in Touch ~ Let’s Add Sprinkles
    Friday at the Fire Station ~ A Fireman’s Wife

    *An update ~ this post was featured at
    Feathered Nest Friday ~ French Country Cottage
    Thank you Courtney!
    😀


    How do you bring a bit of Paris home?

    A bientôt,
    Uncategorized

    Decorating Ideas ~ How to Make a Rose Ornament

    French Ethereal
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    Sorry  I haven’t written much except a little on Instagram this past week ~ I’ve been battling a really bad head cold and I’m
    just beginning to feel better.
    With that  I looked back to some older posts I had written and
    I came across this photograph in a post that I had written
    about a peacock tea party at our home in California.

    I had wanted to share a tutorial on how to make this sweet
    little rose ornament and found that I never did
    so…
    Here we are to remedy that today!
    🙂







    How to make a Rose Ornament

    Supplies you’ll need

    faux silk roses for the top piece and leaves
    sewing thread or embroidery floss
    a large doll needle
    styrofoam balls in size for your project
    decorative ribbon for trimming
    small tassels found on decorative trims
    fabric scraps
    hot glue gun and glue

    Directions

    Glue fabric scrap over one-half of the styrofoam ball.

    Glue on fancy lace or any ribbon trim with dangles

    around the middle of your decoration.

    Glue leaves over the other half of ball facing down.

    Glue a silk rose or other flowers centered on top
    of the leaves.

    Attach a hanger made of embroidery thread or a saved
    ribbon or hanger from previously purchased clothes
    using the long doll needle ~ run up through the bottom
    of the ball through the flower.
    *This is a great way to repurpose and recycle those cute hanging tags we get
    from purchased clothes at a big box club store or from a department store.*
    🙂
    Add a hanging ornament, crystal or tassel to the bottom
    of your ornament if so desired.
    *This can be done at the same time as attaching the hanger
    as I’ve done with these small ornaments ~ just make
    string long enough to tie on the hanging decoration
    plus enough to to through the flower and
    create the hanger.

    ***


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    I made  many of these in various sizes and with
    sunflowers, blue violets and other flowers as tops then
    gave them away as favors at a tea and also as
    gifts at Christmas time.

    These are pretty and festive and can be adapted
    for any occasion ~ these little ornaments would be
    super cute hanging off the backs of chairs at a
    bridal shower, a wedding, or at a Mother’s Day luncheon.
    Just think how cute they would be hanging on
    a mobile at a baby shower with little pink or blue ribbons
    and coordinating flowers.
    🙂


    Sharing with
    Beautifully Made ~ My Husband Has Too Many Hobbies
    Inspire Me Monday ~ Create with Joy
    Really Crafty Link Party ~ Keeping It Real
    Snickerdoodle Create Bake Make ~ Blue Willow House
    Keep in Touch ~ Let’s Add Sprinkles
    Really Crafty Linky Party ~ Keeping It Real
    Make It Pretty ~ The Dedicated House
    Create Link Inspire ~ Between Naps on the Porch
    Inspire me Tuesday ~ A Stroll through Life
    Talk of the Town ~ Love My Simple Home
    Wow Us Wednesday ~ Savvy Southern Style
    Feathered Nest Friday ~ French Country Cottage
    Sew It Cook It Craft It ~ Sew Historically
    Friday Features ~ Oh, My Heartsie Girl!
    Vintage Charm ~ The Blue Willow House
    Share Your Style ~ The Red Painted Cottage
    Thursday Favorite Things ~ Katherine’s Corner
    Sweet Inspiration ~ The Boondock’s Blog
    No Rules Weekend Blog ~ Sincerely Paula
    Friday at the Fire Station ~ A Fireman’s Wife
    Saturday Sparks ~ Pieced Pastimes
    Dishing It and Digging It ~ Rustic and Refined
    Over the Moon ~ Gwingal


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    Happy crafting,