Welcome to this week’s Share Your Style #294, friends!!! Happy Wednesday to you all!
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! As always, I am glad that you are here…
I am Barbara Chapman and I’d love it if you’d follow me here and/or on my other social media sites, thank you! 🙂
Paula of Virginia Sweet Pea shared her PC (Pinterest Challenge) coffee table decor in this nature-inspired post ~ Spring Coffee Table Decor. Love this hand-carved bird!
Liz over at Howling at the Moon brings us her sweet crocheted Victoria the Swan. Just precious for any upcoming baby showers!!!
Treat and Trick shares this delicious recipe for Eggless Apple Cake. Lovely presentation… <3
Our mantel was all abloom this past weekend,so… I just had to rearrange the mantel!!!I have been studying many other design influencers’ blogsites for just how one puts together a “good vignette,” so I thought I’d share that here today as well!
This all came about from last month’s Bunny Mantel, which I realized I wasn’t quite ready for… I moved the bunnies off to our tea table, which is now over in the family room area under our television. They look nice there and I’ll share them later on.
How to layer a mantel (or any vignette, really?)
Other than the mirror at the back, there were only two layers here and I think that was bugging me! That’s one of the reasons I decided to change-up our mantel display.
There is one problem here that I cannot change: the mantel is really thin on top, so everything has to be thin, or be able to hang off. A few things are hanging off but are heavy enough to stay on regardless. 🙂
So let’s check out some arrangements for details, shall we?
So I went searching over on Follow the Yellow Brick Home for details… I love how rich Amber’s rooms always look so I’ve been studying how she does it. And it’s layers…
From back to front in each display Amber creates a mass of layers which gives each of her vignettes a really nice personality and 3-D effect.
Here in her Christmas Music Room she begins with what’s up on the wall: the garlands with a large rectangular mirror underneath.
An oval frame laid sideways infront of the mirror, then a large bust of Mozart (I think!) with a whole smattering of Christmas trees, other smaller busts, flowers in a vase and more…
Debra over at Common Ground creates her layers in this lovely photograph much the same way and she uses another technique…
Create a theme:
The china cabinet in the background creates the first layer; then the large ceramic rabbit and stacked upright platters is the second; with a third layer of spring teacups, a sweet birdie in a nest of moss and little eggs and two or three whorls of grapevines creating nest shapes; finally the fourth layer is the wooden trough itself holding all the springtime decor inside it. Of course her theme is springtime!
Another designer who I really love her religious art pieces and the way she stacks color and texture is Cindy at Edith & Evelyn. Cindy uses beautiful European soft furniture colors with whites and neutrals to great effect. She also uses gold ~ gold as a main accent on picture frames, on many of her French and European-style furniture pieces.
a nighttime photo lightened for effect…
Future projects lying on the chair… 😉 I thought you’d like to see the living room, too.
For our mantel…
I looked at how these designers put their rooms or vignettes together and went for it!
I removed everything except the two hurricane lamps, which I kept flanking the mirror on either side. then I brought over the little lying down angel ~ I like how she is relaxing! Made me think she is out relaxing under the blooming pear tree and enjoying its shade.
I played around with where the angel fit best moving left or right, and also facing more forward or not (without making her fall off the mantel).
My main elements:
cement
nature
white
greenery
heights
Cement pieces were brought in with the capital (just found at Hobby Lobby)used as a riser for the ceramic pitcher (also earthen)holding the pear tree branches. The candlestick I made a couple of years ago also has a “cement look” with its layers of grey and green chalk paint. And another smaller cement wall angel lays down by the left hand hurricane lamp.
Nature of course was front and center with the gorgeous blooming pear branches!!! I am sooo happy that I remembered to share them with you. After last weekend’s rains, I looked over and there they were saying, “See me!” I am sooo glad they called me over so I could share them with y’all. 🙂 The books are mostly gardening books, too. I love the David Austin Rose booklets the company sends out each spring for gardeners to pick their next roses to try in their yards!!!
White was brought in with books, the pitcher, the flowers themselves, a small creamer and a small white flower pot holding a moss ball.
Greenery in the flowers, of course, plus several moss balls in a couple of sizes add their spring touches.
Heights which I forgot about originally but realized added impact! I have one moss ball on the candlestick (high), a second on the white flower pot (medium), and another ball on the mantel itself (low).
These blooms put off an odd scent, too, which my husband said he though he smelled a dead rat… NOT the best way to describe beautiful blooms! But he didn’t know how else to say what he was smelling. They do have an unusual scent and my guess it is to attract bees and pollinators.
I really love how this mantel turned out with it’s bits of green and a little pink here and there! For once, I have the mantel just the way I like it. Busy but happy!
Here I photographed the next afternoon when we had sun again… Love the whites and this is really my favorite way to decorate ~ the ethereal effect I am usually looking for in vignettes…
Happy Wednesday, everyone!Welcome to this week’s Share Your Style #293!
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! As always, I am glad that you are here…
I am Barbara Chapman and I’d love it if you’d follow me here and/or on my other social media sites, thank you! 🙂
Well last week was a complete bust blogging-wise, wasn’t it? We had no internet from Valentine’s Day Sunday morning until late Friday or Saturday morning, I forget now. I just know that once we had internet service again, I was busy WRITING!!!
I had all of my principal photography done, I just couldn’t create any posts… But, since so many people were without power and heat, nor still some without water here in Texas (something some of our school families are experiencing right now because of major water main pipes freezing in last week’s storms), losing the internet was nothing in the scheme of things.
I do have FOUR back-to-back posts up for you this week:
This morning’s blog hop ~ A Hopping Good Spring Mantel Display, part of a new hop you will want to check out: Blogging Seasonal Inspiration with Terrie of Decorate and More With Tip and Cindy of The Crowned Goat. Do stop by and maybe look to join the fun!
Niky from The House on Silverado brings us our first feature with this easy DIY Farmhouse Coffee Mug Stand! I love how she used these hanging hooks!
Amber from Follow the Yellow Brick Home brings us this lovely Nature-Inspired February Vignette. I love old bird and botanical lithographs and prints, don’t you?
MaryJo of Master”Pieces” of My Life shared her lovely remake of some baskets she had in this DIY post ~ Weathered Baskets DIY. (Personally, I want the basket above!)
Shelbee from Shelbee on the Edge has a new series you might want to check out ~ Stay at Home Date Night! Stylish Mondays. I love fashion sites and that’s why I often include those here for you because I think we all like to see what’s new (and pre-loved vintage, too!).
I am sooo stinkin’ proud of Katie of The Preppy Empty Nester! Here is her journey through weight loss (thought this was appropriate since we just got through the holidays!) and how we can change our dietary habits, too ~ Rules and Tools of My Weight Loss Journey. Way to go!!!
Honorable Mention
Valeria of J East of Eden shared a wonderful DIY knitting post but I couldn’t pick up any of the photographs of her knitting; HOWEVER, I could pick up this gem, which was in the sidebar! (Soooo me!!! ) I cracked up when I read this and I hope you will, too. Seriously, though, do stop by and check out Valeria’s Mod Denim Knit Kitchen Towel post. All the instructions and several knitting photos are right there to follow in this “How To.”
And that’s it for this week, friends!
Thank you to everyone who linked up this past week! I appreciate you! 🙂
Welcome to another monthly Pinterest Challenge, my friends! As always, a big thank-you to Cindy of County Road 407 for bringing us all together. This month we have a bunch of bright and cheery sofa table inspirations for you featuring springtime vignettes! After the crazy-cold 100-year-snowstorm we just had here in Texas (and across much of the USA), I am ready for spring!!! How about you??
Let’s hop on over and see what everyone is creating…
A big welcome to everyone who is just coming over from Rachel of The Ponds Farmhouse; I am happy to have you here!! I LOVED all three of Rachel’s ideas for her console table… Really pretty ideas! Well, if you like what you see on my blog, please consider following along. 🙂 To all of my friends old and new, I am glad you are here, safe and well. and able to visit!
Here is our inspiration photograph
Sincerely, Marie Home
Our inspiration piece comes to us from Amanda Marie fromSincerely, Marie Home. She is a young designer whose contemporary farmhouse style is warm and inviting! I like her mix of neutrals, small green checks, brick fireplace and warm painted woods with traditional English style furniture ~ beautiful!
What strikes me about the inspiration’s sofa table
On the sofa table itself are three tidy stacks of coffee table books
A natural woven basket full of white flowers and greenery ~ this arrangement is set inside a low white bowl with two sweet brass quail adding to the feeling of nature brought indoors.
a wicker candle holder on its own white plate, a small glass mister and a small statuette
What inspires me in the rest of the room
the bleached dropcloth slipcover on the sofa
the use of greens, creams and whites in the room with a garden or botanical theme to the room
a checked wing chair across from the sofa and next to the fireplace
a beautiful antique white fireplace surround with matching hurricane lamps flanking the built-in mirror on the mantel
more books and greenery up on the mantel echoing the sofa table vignette
two botanical prints up on the wall behind the wing chair
In my sofa table rendition
I brought in a couple of stacks of interior design books in whites to freshen up my sofa table’s look and to bring in more white to my room. Our living room is naturally pretty dark with these tan walls so I like to add a lot of white to my decor.
Where the inspiration piece had a grouping of four items on the sofa table’s right side ~ two book stacks offset with a small statue and the wicker candleholder in opposing corners, I went with a grouping of three.
My maiden statue, one stack of books, and a tall bubble glass candleholder on a vintage creamware saucer create my look.
Here I was testing out which basket I wanted to use for this challenge. I added a piece of pink granite rock brought back from Crazy Horse monument, South Dakota, to the bottom of thiswicker basket; it balances the weight all of the floral stems. I added in a balled up piece of chicken wire about 12″ x 18″ with the ends tucked under and inward after the picture was taken.
A large centerpiece of faux greenery and flowers set inside an old wicker basket, plus a second stack of books and another glass candleholder make up the left side of the sofa table arrangement.
The painted tray and the fluted creamware saucer serve as bases for both the floral arrangement and the soy candle.
A matter of scale
I didn’t have a small statue or I would have used it here. I know the scale of the statue competes with the size of the floral arrangement, but when looked at from different directions ~ the statue is sometimes the centerpiece, and from the opposite viewing direction, the florals in their woven basket stands out.
Later on I added a small wood cut underneath the floral basket giving that arrangement a little more height. I think the flowers and the statue make a good combination together!
Adding a small pewter sugar bowl topped with a moss ball takes the place of the vintage plant mister.
The florals, moss ball and later a small sheep bring nature inside to my sofa table vignette. The greenery is repeated up on our mantel with more moss balls and some pear tree branches I am forcing.
Two hurricane candlesticks mimic those in the inspiration piece and the brass candleholder pieces copy the brass elements from the original.
My mantel almost always has a framed mirror above it and the mantel is decorated for spring. I’ll share more of that another day. 🙂
Completing the scene
The wing chair with its deep green and blue plaid placed next to the fireplace and draped with a vintage white linen runner over the back, combined with this vintage print in its green chalk-painted frame copies the inspiration’s look.
Thank you for visiting today and I hope you will stop by all of my friends who are on today’s tour. Next up is Nikyfrom The House on Silverado and I know you will like her sofa table styling! Check out that cute end table’s French style… (I think it needs to come over here, lol!) Niky always creates such pretty vignettes… Swoonworthy!!!
Happy Wednesday, everyone!Welcome to this week’s Share Your Style #292!
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! As always, I am glad that you are here…
I am Barbara Chapman and I’d love it if you’d follow me here and/or on my other social media, thank you! 🙂
Happy Valentine’s Day to you all this week! I am excited to feature some great Valentines link-ups you’ve all shared. There are a number of cool crafts as well as lovely tablescapes (of which I always gather so many ideas and I am sure you do, too!) Also, if you like Mardi Gras, I’ll be sharing a post later this week with my Mardi Gras vignette!!
I forgot to add this favorite so am adding Debraof Common Ground‘s beautiful heart wreath from her Romantic Valentine Review... Love it with the old frame-now-chalkboards!!!
If you haven’t picked up these awesome vintage lithograph-type portraits from the local craft store, they are so fun to make into cards, Valentine’s ideas and more! Amber from Follow the Yellow Brick Home shares her DIY Shabby-Vintage Valentine Hearts in her post.
Thank you to everyone who linked up this past week! I appreciate you! 🙂
Welcome, friends, to this month’s $10 on the 10th!Where a group of us get together each month and create a vignette or project for under $10 on the 10th…
I’d like to thank our hostesses Ann of Apple Street Cottage and Tammy of Patina and Paint for putting together our themes for this year and gathering all of us together each month. Thank you, Ladies!! As always, we have a great group of friends who are sharing their favorite ideas with you. Be sure to check out everyone’s posts linked at the bottom of mine, thank you!
This month we are featuring Easy Crafts for you to make… If this is your first time visiting here at French Ethereal, welcome! I’d love it if you’d subscribe to my blog or to any of my other social media, thank you.
My wintertime craft can’t get much easier than making Moss Balls… Perfect for displaying any time of year (and I know there will be a few Valentine’s projects here for you this time), this craft project can get a bit messy, but otherwise creating moss balls are super easy!
Supplies you will need
styrofoam balls in various sizes
Elmer’s-type glue and a paint brush or…
glue sticks and a glue gun (recommended)
sheets of sphagnum moss or loose moss
scissors ~ to cut out the moss as needed
Directions for creating moss balls
***Set up a bowl and pour some Elmer’s type glue in it/prep your glue gun with glue stick(s) as needed.
I found that the Elmer’s glue didn’t work well for me and that the glue gun worked better, but since it was how I originally photographed, I thought I’d include it for you. 🙂
Cut out pieces of sphagnum moss from a sheet and peel off moss. If using a glue gun and glue sticks, quickly add glue to an area on your styrofoam ball and lay on the moss, pressing gently (so as not to burn your fingers). Overlap moss as needed and fill in bald areas as needed.
Continue adding moss in sections until the whole styrofoam ball is covered, let dry thoroughly.
Total costs? About $4.00 for a package of styrofoam balls and up to $9.00 for a package of sphagnum sheet moss. With a 40% off coupon from Hobby Lobby, the moss comes in at $5.39. Total for both? Just under $10! 🙂
I found some sheet moss online here. (not sponsored)
*** I tried using a blender to chop the moss finer, but that didn’t work well either. I found the press-and-glue method with melted glue from glue sticks worked the best.
This photograph above shows a couple of moss balls in with other raffia balls as part of last year’s post about upcycling a basket.
Edith & Evelyn Vintage
Then I found this photograph over on Cindy’s blog, Edith and Evelyn… I just adore how she used altarsticks (tall candlesticks once used in a church) on her dining room table topped with moss balls!
Recently I used several moss balls in decorating a Wintertime Mantel. They add a lot of texture, color and personality to any vignette and I can hardly wait to get decorating with them for spring!
In this springtime post I wrote a couple of years ago, I used sheet moss to create “grass” for our big rabbit ~ “Some Bunny Loves Me.” The leftover moss is what I used to make these moss balls.
An easy craft project of which you can make several moss balls in the course of an hour. I hope you’ve enjoyed this craft project and here is the list of everyone on today’s $10 on the 10th tour…
Valentine’s Day table settings for me by far are the prettiest to create. Soft and romantic, these tablescapes set with the airiest of bone china pieces is always the way to go for pure beauty. Today I’ve brought out all of my beautifully decorated French Haviland & Co Limoges pieces to share with you…
Statuary
For this table setting, I brought in my little resting angel to add to our decor. After a good bath and a little touch up paint he rests comfortably in the table’s middle. Along with a small bouquet of grocery store florals, the two create a nice low off-set centerpiece along the table.
I actually got the idea from an older post I did back at our Big House in California…
This was one of the first teas I photographed when my blog was still very new ~ a Peacock and Roses Tea. The script writing I loved to use now causes problems when reading the post so the text is wonky but the photos are still good. 😉
I had saved up these little notepads from Joann’s or Michael’s for a year until it was my time to host a tea, then I brought in our angel and strew peacock tail feathers along the table with him. I think these are Mary roses, an English rose I had growing out in the garden there.
Close close all night
By Elizabeth Bishop
Close close all night the lovers keep.
They turn together in their sleep,
Close as two papers in a book
that read each other in the dark.
Each knows all the other knows,
learnt by heart from head to toes.
Recently I found these creamware mugs (not sponsored) while looking for after-Christmas sales at At Home, a home goods retailer close by in Lewisville, Texas (just east of Denton). They are a nice addition to the other creamware pieces I’ve collected over the years from HomeGoods, Marshall’s and other shops.
How I set this table
I began setting this table with a snowflake patterned tablecloth I have had for years. I love its lacy texture and the way it drapes off the table ends is very pretty and ethereal. Over the years it has shrunk with washing and accidental drying (from when I first began having teas with friends) so now it is more of a runner.
This worked perfectly as I was able to use the fall placemats I shared in this fall tablescape just upside-down, which adds even more texture and pattern to our table setting!
Bring in the pink
My go-to color is always pink! I had fun with last month’s Blue and White in the Cupboard but pink and white is my absolute favorite combination for any tablescape. This time I’ve pulled out four now-vintage Shabby Chic napkins I’ve had since the early 2000’s when Target used to carry a lot of Rachel Ashwell Simply Shabby Chic table linens.
Paired with the new white-handled silverware I picked up at Judith Stringham’s Christmas sales event in December plus a sweet silk rose napkin ring, the Haviland china looks delicate and sweet. Bone china is pretty tough, actually. It’s stoneware that bangs and chips more readily, surprisingly!
Since we are still officially in winter ~ even if the plants outside say spring is coming soon! ~ I kept the pine and pinecone garland up on the chandelier and added a few more crystal and mercury glass ornaments to it for fun. Here is the other heart wreath I didn’t use in this month’s Pinterest Challenge wreath makeover.
Happy Wednesday, everyone!Welcome to this week’s Share Your Style #290!
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! 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!💜
I forgot to add this favorite so am adding Debraof Common Ground‘s beautiful heart wreath from her Romantic Valentine Review... Love it with the old frame-now-chalkboards!!!
If you haven’t picked up these awesome vintage lithograph-type portraits from the local craft store, they are so fun to make into cards, Valentine’s ideas and more! Amber from Follow the Yellow Brick Home shares her DIY Shabby-Vintage Valentine Hearts in her post.
Thank you to everyone who linked up this past week! I appreciate you! 🙂
***Sorry about that, everybody!I was REALLY TIRED when I sat down to do my usual going back and forth from last week’s SYS post (partly how I create the “usual wording”) and…
I messed up and somehow combined both posts (I had both open, #289 and #290). This was right about 6:00p.m., so I thought I had deleted the last week’s Features out of this week’s Features, and then I took away some I DID want, and you know it just went haywire from there… It’s all good now and I think I fixed the five features correctly. I had 10 from last week.
Let’s just say between the full moon popping in and waking me at 3:00am and my normal insomnia… It has been a very tiring week. 😉 I’ve fallen asleep at 7:00p.m for four days straight (Hubby got a really ugly pic of me last night, of which will NOT be published, lol!) ;)’
Happy Wednesday, everyone!Welcome to this week’s Share Your Style #289!
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! 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 sites! Thank you, sweet friends!!!
Can you believe that Valentine’s Day is only a short 3 weeks away?? I always think that, “Wasn’t it just Christmas??” My Christmas tree is still up… I did manage to take down all the ornaments yesterday when I got home from work, but the tree won’t get put up until this weekend. Lol! Valentine’s wreaths are up on the doors, though… 😉
Lots of good things to share this week as we begin putting up a few Valentine’s posts for you! Not in any certain order but all fun, here are this week’s features:
Naush over at Doodle Buddies shared these cool high-end sculptures in her DIY post ~ High End Home Decor Dupes on a Budget. So cool and these remind me of a DIY show from about 10 years ago: Design on a Dime. Remember that show? Always love good reproduction projects!!!
Blue and white is such a popular color combination for many of us during the winter, and for others it is a favorite decorating style with all year long. Carol at Bluesky at Home shared her beautiful bedroom in this homey post ~ Beautiful Blue and White Winter Master Bedroom.
CoCo over at The Crowned Goat brings us her recycled and updated crate in her post ~ DIY Farmhouse Tool Caddy. I love it! Really nice with the beautiful French transferware in it. (Of course I am partial, lol!)
Amber from Follow the Yellow Brick Home has some exciting news to share in her fun DIY post including her adorable Valentine’s Day gnomes… Soooo cute! Ten Adorable Valentine’s Day Ideas (and a Feature…). You’ll just have to head on over to find out more. 😉
And to finish up our Baker’s Dozen today… This second post also by Amber of Follow the Yellow Brick Home sharing Winter Decorating with Paperwhites… For the gardener in all of us!
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. 💜
Thank you to everyone who linked up this past week! I appreciate you! 🙂
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.
I like wintertimejust after Christmas when we still have vacation time away from work and we can sit back and truly relax. This wintertime mantel vignette reflects this special quiet time…
I have wanted to do a layering vignette for a while with different picture frames. Our mantel top is fairly narrow so I can’t put too many pieces up there but I am pretty pleased with this arrangement. I channeled my inner Amber from Follow the Yellow Brick Home for this mantel who is always decorating with empty picture frames and mirrors!
Here is one of her recent layerings:
Collecting and Decorating: Antique and Vintage Frames
Since I pulled out a bunch of white ironstone and creamware pieces paired with blue and white china in the hutch in the dining room for winter, I thought I’d go the other way with pink and white vintage Haviland Limoges pieces up here.
This chalk-painted frame came from a local thriftshop here in Denton, TX with this lovely print of a vintage colorized photograph. I love the older French-European style clothing of this mother and child and their sweet cuddles. Were they immigrants coming to a New World? Were they still living in their native European land?
To me, everything on this mantel speaks of another time when life was simpler and loveliness and beautiful items were things one wished to share with others when friends and family came to call…
Winter whites with just small florals and a bit of greenery in the little moss topiaries is all that is needed…
A bit of Grace and Peace to you this Sunday evening!
Youth fades; love droops; the leaves of friendship falls. A mother’s secret love outlives them all.”
