Tag: decorating

Home Decor

Summertime Decorating in the Living Room + A Little Chat

French Ethereal

Bonjour, mes amies!! The soft patriotic influence is all throughout the house this season and here in the living room is no exception. I’ve brought in a light nautical look, too. Let’s explore!…

Of course, you’ve seen this patriotic decor vignette in last month’s Pinterest Challenge. I’ve kept the Americana theme light and airy adding it to this summer’s beachy nautical look.

I was with my mother-in-law at Hobby Lobby one day and I saw these chicken wire candle jars on sale… It was the inspiration for our summer coastal, beach vibe look!

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Adding seaside decor

I found little seashells for $1.99 at our local dollar store and added them here on the coffee table around the candleholder. I’ve used this white wood tray to gather everything together.

A small tealight candle sits inside the other candleholder, a round crackle-glass jar I’ve had for many years.

A tiny bouquet of dried roses, which dried a lovely deep plumy-red, adds their soft patriotic accent at one end of the tray.

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Our summer mantel

When I went to share photos from our mantel’s summertime look… I realized that I never photographed it. Eeeeek!!! It was the first thing I decorated after Mr. E rehung the mirror once the paint was fully dry.

So that’s what I did here just as I am writing. 🙂

In this photograph, the mantel is dressed up with a some patriotic color. Yes, I know the American flag is laying down on the little cherub… I tried to find a way to have the cherub hold it, which is what I was going for. Didn’t work, so it drapes.

In a way it works for remembering those fallen in battle (a fallen flag look), as we remember our soldiers who didn’t make it home every Memorial Day and really during any of our American holidays.

In previous years, I’ve had a bunch of our patriotic books up on the mantel and shared their stories. Mr. Ethereal was Captain Chapman in a previous life (about 30 years ago now) in the Marine Corps, and he collected a number of books about men and women who were true heroes.

I forgot that I started our journey in this house with our curvy mirror up above the mantel. I changed it out for the white dry-brushed one for more of a contemporary look. That mirror now hangs in my “Hall of Mirrors,” lol! (photograph above)

Here in the living room, I’ve moved some of the furniture around putting the loveseat back to the left of the fireplace. This is a good afternoon reading spot. The size of this loveseat is a good size for this room and usually it sits under the living room windows, but I wanted to put the library tea table over there for summer… 😉

When my daughter and I traveled to France last year, and we toured the castle at Versailles, I bought this book about Marie Antoinette (I think at The Louvre), and this sweet needlepoint pillow with Marie’s initial on it (found at Versailles).

I am slowly, and I do mean slowly, working my way (in French) through this book. The photographs and drawings are wonderful! I have to look up a lot of words, especially verbs, because I only studied one year in high school. I know a lot more Spanish and German. Funny side note, you should see me trying to use my very rusty American Sign Language at school with our deaf students! I know See-Sign, which is way different than ASL. 😉

Did you know you can go online to the Louvre’s website and shop their bookstore? They carry something like 19,000 volumes from around the world, one of the gift shop attendees told us as we were checking out. Amazing!

I did take a couple of first shots of the mantel with our pups’ boxes on it as I forgot to take them off. They were quickly moved off, but I had them there together since Yoda’s remains came home a week ago. Yoda’s is the one on the left and Skeeter’s is on the right. I really need to bury them in the backyard, but the boxes are so lovely…

The boxes also are reminders of how much we miss our family and friends and furry friends at their passing. I hope this doesn’t trouble you. It isn’t meant to have that affect. Just good memories. 💜 

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Add a favorite summertime photograph

I love featuring this photograph taken by my son when he and his wife went out to Oregon for a college friend’s wedding! He sent this to me for my birthday or Christmas a couple of years ago. They had taken a detour to the coast for a little mini vacation after the wedding and before driving home to South Dakota. Love this!

It reminds me of the standing rocks in faraway places like in Indonesia but here on our own North American coastline. Beautiful!

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Changes to come

Looking at our living room, it is time to begin some changes. Our furniture is very large for this space so we need to weed some out. All of it is thrift store or garage sale pieces, most of it costing $200 or less. We rarely could afford better furniture back then, plus I’ve always been thrifty! 🙂

I need to go through our bookcases, too, and let some books go that we no longer want. There are some here I haven’t read in years, and it would make it easier to reshelve books.

I did try to get our daughter to take the wing chair she wants for her future home, but they don’t have room for it right now. I thought maybe they could put it in their storage unit, but it is small and is already full. So much for trying to pawn it off last week! 😉

This arrangement works for now but is a bit crowded. I think it is time to let this easy chair go to a local thriftshop. I like the size of the barrel chair on the right side of the fireplace. It needs a new paint job and a fabric update.

Maybe this will be a project for fall?

Here is a look in the corner round cabinet. I restacked a number of the teacups and rearranged some of the curios inside featuring different items on each shelf. This was fun to do after the Flag Day tea as I was putting those clean cups and saucers away!

Always a work in progress, this cabinet has come to overflowing in recent years. Do people like to give you things? Surprisingly, that is how a number of these teacups have come my way. 🙂

Here is the opposite view of our living room! 🙂 I love the clean and just simple textured look of white pillows on the sofa.

When I was painting walls in here in May and early June, I deep cleaned the bookcase and created a new vignette on top. It is the perfect place to display tall and larger items.

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As always, thank you for stopping by! A cup of tea for you. 💜 

Holidays, Home Decor

Creating an Americana Look in the China Hutch

French Ethereal

I have been on a bit of a Americana/patriotic kick this spring into summer. So, it was fitting as I was setting the table for our Flag Day Tea to also add a bit of Americana to our china hutch…

Here is the dining room table all set for a Flag Day tea! We had a lovely time visiting, eating (of course!) and just enjoying the time together.

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Decorating the Hutch

The last time I decorated our china hutch was for Valentine’s Day, so most of plates and items on the hutch have changed. I kept just a couple of the pink roses salad plates, to add their “red” to this patriotic look.

I brought in a couple of the harvest plates we have made by J. Broadhurst The Constable Series Bicentennial 1776-1976 for their pinkish red. For the blue, I looked around for other plates in our corner round cabinet.

I can’t remember if I found the hand-painted plate with blackberries on it or my mother-in-law did, but it is lovely. Blackberries are so summery to me! It is a true antique made in Austria by Imperial above a small crown, RSL below the crown, and Empire inside an oval with Austria written below all. It also has its number: 4622 24.

In California, the blackberries would ripen in late August into September, each year along the American River, in the suburbs of Sacramento and in the foothills of the Gold Rush country. When I was in college, my friend Rob was on the crew team at CSU Sacramento. We also worked togethere at Swensen’s Ice Cream factory and restaurant in Citrus Heights. So he had access to borrowing canoes and rowing boats, and we’d go gather buckets of blackberries for his mom to bake pies and for topping ice cream, etc. BUT, working at Swensen’s, we could go in and make ourselves (and everyone else working) blackberries milkshakes!!!

Oh, they were soooo good! :)’

The large blue Mason Crabtree & Evelyn teacup plate had a pretty large teacup that went with it, but it was broken soon after I bought it. So, here I’ve paired it with a realistic rose teacup from my collection, and they bring the RWB look together.

I also pulled out this Americana bread plate. It’s fun to see what works together! For our recent Pinterest Challenge we put together a patriotic themed vignette and I used a pair of Japanese-American figurines in it. Here I’ve placed my husband’s little bicentennial figurines.

I’ve shared them before and my mother-in-law has a set at her house. I think that Gini bought them for Charles and his sister Jodi back when they toured Philadelphia around 1976.

Mr. Ethereal also has a reproduction (non-working) wooden rifle from the period. Perfect back in the day for a kid to play with but also isn’t a real weapon.

Here is the whole hutch.I really love all the subtle red, white and blue displayed in it!

I had forgotten all about this sweet little blue and white kitten teapot drip catcher until I was looking underneath in the china hutch. There she was inside a small bowl just waiting to come out and play!

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Happy Independence Day!!!!

Happy 4th of July to y’all or Happy belated 4th, if you are reading this after our American Independence Day! This has been a fun summer full of patriotic posts for me this year. I don’t have a lot of red or blue chinaware but what I do have, I love to bring out for the summer holidays.

On the buffet shelf, I kept the silverplate tea tray in its tarnished state and also the croched boy which my father’s mother Rosa tatted back in the 1930’s or 1940’s, is my guess. I have quite a few of her crocheted pieces and I love them all.

Just adding a simple patriotic napkin was all that was added here, with new china pieces of course!

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And for all of my friends named Debbie/Debra/Debbee

Here is one of the few bee items I have courtesy my husband’s aunt who owned this teapot before me. It is really cute and I’d love to get a few more bee things but Mr. Ethereal wants me to pare down what is already here. 🙂

But tea towels I always need, so I’ll have to search for some bee ones! 😉

My self-imposed year of buying nothing new was 2022. The little Japanese-American figurines were about it for purchases that year.

There’s always a way around that, though… 😉 Enjoy!!!!

Happy Independence Day, y’all!!!!

Holidays, Home Decor

An Inspiration Challenge ~ Styling a Vintage Valentine Cloche

French Ethereal

Happy Valentine’s month, dear friends! Don’t you just love the month of February? I love wearing more pinks and reds than usual, wearing the heart-shaped diamond necklace even more than usual which Mr. Ethereal gave me for Christmas 35 years ago now, and reading everyone’s Valentine’s posts. February is such a happy month with volumes of inspiration!!!

We had an unexpected extra four days off this past week with the “Icepocolypse” hovering over the mid-west from Jan. 31-Feb. 3rd, so it has been rather like a six-day weekend. Really wonderful to have an extra week off during wintertime to get things done around the house! With it, I have been busy painting and working behind the scenes on Valentine’s posts… This is my second Valentine’s post as I guess the Valentine’s cake I made last month counts as my first. 😉

💜 My Inspiration 💜

I actually got the idea for this post from our friend Amber of Follow the Yellow Brick Home who linked up a post sharing how she decorated a large cloche she has with vintage Valentines:

I loved this post and chose it to feature it along with others at this past week’s Share Your Style, as you may recall. I love all the ephemera with antique buttons, sewing notions, the little birds and, of course, the vintage Valentines!! Amber’s cloche was part of a Pinterest Challenge which I missed last year. I think I just couldn’t get a post together in time; it happens! 😉

In revisiting Amber’s post this past week, I became inspired.

I thought, “Why don’t I do my own challenge?! Challenge myself to do something similar.

It’d be fun to create a cloche inspired by a cloche which was inspired by yet another blogger! You’ll have to check out Amber’s post to see who was her inspiration and the cloche this person created. Really cute!!! 💜

Now I knew we had done another cloche post with Cindy from County Road 407′s Pinterest Challenges! Where is it?…

Pheasant Under Glass ~ A Fall Cloche Styling — I missed the Valentine’s one from a year ago.

Found it! I thought I’d share this one along with the Christmas cloche as with just a changeout of decor items, you get an entirely different look. This pheasant cloche was the first time I’d ever used an actual cloche in decorating. My daughter and I would use our small, glass-topped marble cheese board as a cloche for little Christmas displays, but never a large cloche.

Anyway, I digress!

These challenges are all about taking an inspiration photo and taking the idea and making it yours…

How I made this Vintage Valentine Cloche my own

First, I retrieved my cloche from atop our kitchen cabinet. It has been hugging little houses since early December… I snapped a bunch of photos to try and get posts created that month, but they never materialized.

Eventually, after Christmas, I moved the cloche display up above the cabinets for a nice wintertime display (another unpublished idea; it’s been that kind of winter).

It’s nice to share these two photographs here with you today!

So leaving the three little cottages up on their cake plate village green, I cleaned the cloche and began with ideas!

The small pile of Valentine-sy books, antique and new Valentines made to look old, and vintage hand-painted rose plates were all tried but didn’t work.

The sun was going down so I worked quickly to get a few sunlit shots.

I started with a pretty painted serving tray I spray painted white when we lived in our Prairie Home trailers.

Next, I added this little book by Susan Wheeler called We Belong Together ~ a Holly Pond Hill story. It won the spot inside the cloche for its size and sweet rabbits… and their love story.

Very cute, if you’ve never read any of Susan Wheeler’s books. Her artwork is beautiful, too! Heartwarming and ethereal… Can’t get any better than that, in my humble opinion! Several of her books have been in our bookshelves since the early or late 1990’s/early 2000’s.

Rabbits are timeless!

Hardcover We Belong Together Book
Found on Thriftbooks.com

Sidenote: As a sometimes artist, when you create something which is all your own, if you believe in it, others will too. 💜

I wish I had listened to my heart way back when and studied more art, but my father told me artists starve and artwork doesn’t sell. In this country, maybe. But Europeans and others appreciate good artwork more, and nowadays we have Etsy and other places to sell our beautiful creations. (I’m preaching to myself, more than anyone else!)

It may be harder, but you’ve got to have a BFA in Art plus a BS in Business to back it up. You’ve just got to promote yourself, don’t you think so?

I look at all of your artwork and think, that is my retirement: to be the artist I dreamed of being when I was a little girl.

Thirdly, I flipped through my small stack of Valentine’s cards and leaned them, laid each one down. None of those worked. Rejected many as being too big, too small.

Then I found these two: one is a note from a friend last year, and the young girl on the right-hand card is a true antique…

Hard to photograph through wavy, curving glass; however, she still looks sweet and ephemeral in her white dress and surrounded by roses…

The addition of a tear-shaped antimacassar my grandmother Rosa tatted almost a century ago and a Shabby Chic rose napkin ring completed this vignette. I scrunched up the antimacassar a bit in behind the book.

I am very happy with how it all turned out!

Oh, and the pink heart napkin I made, (and another set when we were living in our trailer, is a tutorial), as a little under-cloth.

There’s my challenge for myself! 😉 And now…

A Valentine’s Cloche Challenge for You

Please link up your Valentine’s cloche idea below, just for fun!! Can be old, can be new. Take a few moments later on to visit some of the folks who share theirs. 💜

The party is open as of now through February 14th at 12:00 noon, and I can send you the link for the link party in an email so you can put it on your post.

Should be a lot of fun!

My email is: french.ethereal@gmail.com

(Warning, though: I’m not great at creating parties for others to share, but if you help me when I get stuck, we should muddle through. I do have the link on Inlinkz to share with you! Really only my second attempt at a party on my own, although I put up Share Your Style all the time! Lol!!! 😉 )

Happy Valentine’s hugs,

Barb 💜

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crafts, Holidays, Tablescapes

Share Your Style #376

French Ethereal

Good evening, everyone! Welcome to this week’s Share Your Style #376. It’s officially February and all things Valentines is on repeat!! Since we have a third day off from school tomorrow, I may actually get a Valentine’s Day post out for 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

My mother-in-law made it safely home from a month in California. She has been for home for about 10 days now and we got together over the weekend. We even went to our favorite thrift shop on Saturday, but didn’t find anything. That same day, I made a crockpot full of turkey meatballs in organic tomato sauce paired with cheese raviolis, plenty of leftovers.. Turned into a wonderful dinner. Yum!!!

We did better at Lowe’s as we scored some wonderful plant starts. I’ll share a post on the the things I found soon, but for now… It is too cold to be out in the shed working on potting up plants! At least for me. 😉

Well, let’s check out this week’s features, shall we?

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

Our Laundry Room Paint Refresh ~ a new look for the new year!

And here are this week’s featured posts…

Lynne from Thrifting Wonderland brings us her yearly Valentine’s Day table rendition ~
Start With Flowers Tablescape. Lovely!
white dinner plates
Karin at Karin’s Kottage shared a sweet post ~ Pink & Red Valentine’s Day Table for Kids. Perfect for sharing with her grands!
Amber from Follow the Yellow Brick Home shared a beautiful post to inspire us ~ Easy Vintage Valentine’s Day Cloche Display. Love all the sewing goodies!!
Sandra from Dinner at Eight shared her lovely tablescape here in this post ~ Valentine’s Day — A Table Set for Tea. Gorgeous!!!
Jeanie from The Marmelade Gypsy shared her post ~ And January Goes On! ~ all about what’s been going on up in her neck of the woods in Michigan. Check out the poor deer and what happened to him… A wonderful ending! 💜
house hunting tips
Pam from An Artful Mom brings us this post for anyone looking to buy a home this year ~ Our House and Some House Hunting Tips. Great ideas!!!
Penny from Penny’s Treasures rounds out this week’s featured posts with this adorable “pocket pillow” in her post ~ Valentine Dining Room Decor, Pocket Pillow and Snow.
Love this decorating craft idea!!

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 linking, friends!

Barb 💜

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Holidays, Home Decor

Share Your Style #341

French Ethereal

Welcome to this week’s Share Your Style #340! Happy Wednesday to y’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

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 to y’all! Funny story, I heard some girls talking today at school after school and this one girl kept saying, “y’all.” It’s just so typical Texas!!! And I am definitely picking it up as part of my lexicon. 😉

Well, sorry I am super late with SYS tonight… I came home, ate my Taco Bell chicken power bowl and promptly fell asleep. I have another cold and I am also tired from visiting up north with my kids for our little grandson’s 2nd birthday. We had a great time but it’s still traveling by air (with lots of wind turbulence… Can you say stressful??) and just not being home, so I guess my body is making up for it.

But, anyway, I DID manage to get one post out this week and then let’s get onto this week’s features… It’s all about Easter, amigos y amigas!!

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

Early Springtime in the Garden ~ sharing early photos and really recent ones as the daffodils really ramped up their bloom time!

And here are this week’s featured posts…

Debra from Common Ground has the cutest Easter Picket Fence Centerpiece to share with us all! Loving the sweet rabbit and his carrots…
Lisa from Fresh Vintage by Lisa shared this adorable and easy post ~ How to Make Vintage Hankie Bunnies.
Hop on over to make some for your home!
surprise easter carrot on vintage tabacco leaf china plate
Love these!!! Elizabeth from Pinecones and Acorns shared her sweet
DIY Terrain-Inspired Easter Carrot Favors! Fun to make and to pop…
Sunday dinner with a split chicken breast, roasted potatoes and spring greens with homemade ranch dressing
Lynn from Living Large in a Small House brings us some spring greens in her post ~ Spring Salad Greens with Homemade Ranch Dressing. Yum!!!
CoCo from The Crowned Goat has a new dog story to tell along with her beautiful post, so do stop by and hear about “Piper” in Spring Home Tour!!
Sounds like a “pet project,” pun intended. She will be fine soon. :)’
Simply sweet violets spring decorating with violets
Amber from Follow the Yellow Brick Home shared her sweet purple-y post ~
Small Spring Pleasures: Simply Sweet Violets… Reminds me of a song my mother used to sing…
Okay, not necessarily about bunnies or for Easter, but Larry the Yoga Frog just caught my attention. From Lynne at Thrifting Wonderland. Cute!
Lynne also shared a beautiful Easter Table in Black and White ~ just lovely!
Sandra from Come to Dinner at Eight rounds out our shares for this week with
A Field of Tulips on a Spring Table. Soooo 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.

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 weekend to you! And even if there are no posts about Jesus here, it is a wonderful time to remember the reason for the season and that He died on a cross for us all… 💜 

Happy linking, y’all,

Barb 🙂

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Home Decor, Tablescapes

Share Your Style #337

French Ethereal

Welcome to this week’s Share Your Style #337! Happy Wednesday to y’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

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, everybody! Some of you may already know this, but mother-in-law found a house a week ago. Since it was a cash offer, she literally closed on the property a week later, which was this Monday! (yeah!!!) She is really happy that she found a home she can love and has been busy updating her address, getting her Texas driver’s license and new car tags. A great week!

This coming weekend we will begin helping her get her things moved out of storage and into her new home. Should be a busy weekend. 😉

Again, I know I wrote about missing last week’s SYS in my post on Sunday, but again I would like to apologize for missing due to exhaustion from work. This is a better week and this students are behaving better.

This week we have a smattering of really pretty features: tablescapes, recipes, home decor, furniture updates and bits of porcelain…

So let’s get to this week’s features, shall we?

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

Sunday Sentiments: Planting Roses and Late Winter Garden Clean-up

And here are this week’s featured posts…

Let’s begin this party with an entry from Debra of Common Ground and her post about Using Vintage Chairs for Decorating. Love this slip!!!
Lynne from Thrifting Wonderland shared a Flower and Herb Table Setting. Lovely!!!
Lynne also shared this adorable doll’s bed in this post ~ An Unusual Treasure from the Thrift Store. So cute!!!
Penny from Penny’s Treasures brings us her sunny sunroom with a fun
Bed & Breakfast Theme on the Water Trough Buffet. Really fun idea!!
Hot Virginia Dip
Paula from Virginia Sweet Pea shared her family’s recipe for
Hot Virginia Dip ~ I’m sure it was out for Super Bowl this year!!!
candy St. Patrick's Day board
Carol of Bluesky at Home shared this fun post for the wearin’ of the green ~
21 Great St. Patrick’s Day Party Ideas. Top o’ the morning to ya!
Maya from Little Treasures shared this sweet crochet Valentine’s idea
(but really, who doesn’t love hearts all year long??) ~ Happy Valentine’s Day!
Vintage French Porcelain Figural Lamp Vintage German Porcelain couple figural lamp
Amber from Follow the Yellow Brick Home shared her beautiful thrifted finds in this post (as a follow-up to Debra’s from last time!) ~ Vintage French & German Porcelain Figural Couple Lamps. Trés belle!

Daniella (Dani) from Sweetly Dreaming of the Past shared this wonderful post about
Regency Dessert Recipes for Your Tea. Perfect for all of us Jane Austen-ites!!!
And also this one (a tug after my own heart!) as Dani shares her orangerie ~ Sheltered for Winter.
A Beginners Guide to Chair Upholstery-French Linen Vanity and French Country Chair-The Crowned Goat
Last up for this week is this post about A Beginner’s Guide to Chair Upholstery by Coco from The Crowned Goat. With a visit to her parent’s home, Loblolly Manor. Fun!!!

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.

Enjoy the party!

Barb 🙂

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Click here to enter
Uncategorized

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

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!

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.

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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