Welcome to this month’s Pinterest Challenge where my friend Cindy of County Road 407 sends a photograph to a group of us design influencers to use as inspiration to then recreate and make our own. September’s challenge is all about creating a Reading Nook! Of course, this is one of my most favorite places to be and I always have one wherever we live. Let’s jump right in…

If you are new here to French Ethereal, welcome! If you are just coming over from Michelle at Thistle Key Lane, I am happy to invite you into my home. 🌻 This time, Allison of Proverbs 31 Girl shares her beautifully renovated home with us and this reading nook in her casually cool, drop-cloth-loving, all-white style. Beautiful!

This particular post from Allison shows how her home has changed from before the renovation plus several reading areas throughout her home.

Allison hand-stenciled these drop cloth curtains!

My inspiration takeaway

a comfy chair with a drop cloth slipcover set near a window’s bright light for daytime reading
soft linen pillows for extra comfort
a nice nubby throw to snuggle under while reading
an ottoman to prop the feet on
a pretty basket with just one moss ball for decor
a standing lamp for evening reading

I do love all the textures here from nubby pillow covers and chunky knit throw blankets to creamy whites with touches of black as accents here and there!

Our home

During the summer months in our North Texas home, it is very bright and sunny in this living room now that the trees have been limbed up and some of the branches were taken out. Last year it was very dark in here hence our fall and winter project was to thin out our oak trees front and back.

It is much lighter inside now ~ perfect for enjoying the interplay of light throughout the day. Here in late summer/early fall a beautiful golden light comes in from these western windows which I love…

Iteration #1: I love to sit here with a cup of tea and while away an afternoon…The one pillow is turned sideways and is just where it needs to be for good back support.

Iteration #2: The first go-round I forgot all about having this knit throw and the pillows had been put away in our armoire. So glad I thought of them and pulled them out! Really love this spot now… You can see last month’s PC sharing a cloche here.

My reading spot and what I’ve done

slipcovers I already made dropcloth and matelassé slipcovers about six years ago for our two settees. You can find out how to make some for yourself in this five-part series beginning here.
pillows At the beginning of this year I found the nubby cream pillow (L) slipcover at a store going out of business for 75% off. Great buy!
a nubby knit throw this creamy knit throw came from the same store’s going out of business sale.
a second pillow The more patterned cream pillow with corner tassels is from Magnolia Market.
Bringing in color The bee skep pillow is from the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
basket with decor a round basket sits on our coffee table with its pop of green and pumpkin for fall.
a tall standing lamp is positioned behind the library table for evening and early morning reading.
nix the ottoman the coffee table takes the ottoman’s place and is ideal for putting one’s feet up to read or to enjoy candles or a gas fire in the fireplace.

I shot these photographs as the sun was rapidly going down so I’ve brightened some of these photos up a bit for you. I left the top one purposely darker to share the view out the back window: A bit of the garden beyond with a new garden trellis Mr. Ethereal just hung for me this past weekend ~ part of our fall house projects. Our tall lady statue is now sitting infront and can just be seen in an upcoming photo.

Past reading nooks…

Of course we have had various reading nooks over the years depending upon where we lived. In our Prairie Home (our big RV) our kitchen window sill was often a reading “library” as was a small plant stand, which was also in the trailer.

This post about creating a library in small spaces can be found here.

Under the slipcover, this is what that settee looks like.

One of my favorite photographs is of my daughter Amy as we were enjoying an evening of reading with candlelight at our last home in California. It is definitely my favorite reading spot photo! 💝

She is all grown up now and looking to buy her first house soon which makes me excited to help her decorate when she is ready!

I am last this month so swing on back up to Cindy at County Road 407 to continue our Pinterest Challenge Book Nook tour. I know you will love the reading spot she has created for you… Do check out everyone’s reading nooks and bookmark this post to come back to for future inspiration! 📚

Happy reading, dear friends,

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Share Your Style #273

September 16, 2020 French Ethereal

Welcome to this week’s Share Your Style #273! This link party is for home decor, DIY, crafts, recipes and the like, but you are more than welcome to share your family-friendly posts with us all. Please feel free to share this post and join my small but loyal band of followers.

I appreciate you! As always, I am glad that you are here… 💜

With fall beginning to show its lovely seasonal colors across the country, I’ve picked a smattering of fun and inspirational fall-style posts for you this week. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have picking them! 🍎 😊

My sites: French Ethereal Instagram Facebook Pinterest YouTube

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! 💜

Here’s what I shared this past week at

French Ethereal…

This past week I did manage to get one quick new post up for you sharing my mother-in-law’s collection of Rebekah Tableware while concentrating on all the things we are learning to do for teaching school this year.

Gini presented me with one place setting of this specially-made china for my Noble Grand leadership role within our Rebekah lodge (part of the International Order of Odd Fellows [IOOF], a philanthropic organization like the Masons and other groups). Normally she would have presented this as I leave the position, but… since I was home in June it was a good time to send this lovely china home! Thanks, Mom!! 💝

And here are this week’s

featured posts…

Penny of Penny’s Treasures brings us a pretty post sharing the corner shelving unit her husband made her ~ Fall Farmhouse Kitchen Shelving. Love the soft fall colors and look at those velvet pumkins!!

Liz from the blog Howling at the Moon shares her sweet kitty James in this lovely post about making this Hydrangea Wreath. Just a short post but she also shares her pretty naked cake! Do stop over to check out both…

Debbee of Debbee’s Buzz shares her wreath in this step-by-step guide on making a Wine Cork Wreath DIY Tutorial. Great idea for repurposing all those leftover corks many of us collect!

Rita over at Panoply shares her incredibly beautiful tableware in this bright and cheerful post ~ Celebrating a Fruitful Fall with St. Clement Faience Tablescape. And check out the quilted tablerunner and matching placemats!!! Rita, nice sewing!

Debbie of Debbie-Dabble Blog shared her fall cleaning and clearing out in this post ~ One Project Off My To Do List. Great title and I am sure we are all there with you, Debbie! Time for the big fall clean sweep around our homes!!

Shelbee on the Edge brings us her fun fashion of the week: Band T-Shirts and #SpreadtheKindness Link Up in this great post talking about ways we can support local entertainers during this pandemic time. Loving the shirt and great idea, Shelbee!!!

Well, that’s all the features for this week, folks. Do take some time as you link up today to visit a few of the other party-goers and enjoy their posts! Thank you, sweet friends! 💖

Thank you also 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. 💜

If you have been featured here at Share Your Style…

Here is a button to copy to your site and to share…

If you’d like to follow my Share Your Style board on Pinterest I’d sure appreciate it, thank you! I do post all of the featured posts from each week’s SYS there.

Happy almost fall, y’all!

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A Special Table Setting with Rebekah china…

September 15, 2020 French Ethereal

Friendship, Love and Truth are special words with sentimental meaning for members of the International Order of Odd Fellows Rebekahs, traditionally the women’s side of the IOOF. This year I am in the head position and my mother-in-law wanted to congratulate me for running our local Rebekah lodge. She found a set of Rebekah china online, or at the local Rebekah thrift shop, and presented it to me while I was out visiting in June. Since I’ve just returned from a second visit there, this seems an appropriate time to share this special tableware…

The Rebekahs and its big brother fraternal organization, the Odd Fellows, are philanthropic organizations but also are a place for gathering and visiting with fellow members. In past years, more potlucks and special events were held than there are today, so a special china was created for Rebekah members to use at these local and state meetings.

This set of dishes probably was made in the 1940s or 1950s and includes a 10″ dinner plate, 7″ salad plate, a cup and saucer. My mother-in-love has other serving pieces including this coffee set, below.

Often a piece or sometimes a complete set would be given to an outgoing president at the end of her state term. Moreoften, this china was kept in the local lodge and state assembly kitchen cupboards and pulled out when needed for serving at big events.

Trivets, small trinket boxes and other novelty china pieces are fairly easy to find while out “thrifting.”

I love how the teacups sit a bit wonky!

Naturally, I had to set up a little table setting with this lovely simply decorated tableware! Here is a close-up of the Rebekah place setting my mother-in-law gave me. It is simply decorated with two thin gold bands around the outer edge then an inch or so inside that. A logo of the IOOF three linked rings and a “R” sit inside the top of each plate in its own small gilded circle.

Here I paired a napkin with similar tan banding and a French flourish in its center. Both are perfect together for celebrating upcoming fall events!

And now you know a little about Rebekah china pieces! Please let me know if you have ever seen any pieces in your estate sale or thrift shop wanderings. I am enjoying having a little piece of Rebekah history to add to my tableware collection. 💝

Blessings to you,

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Share Your Style #272

September 9, 2020 French Ethereal

Welcome to this week’s Share Your Style #272! This link party is for home decor, DIY, crafts, recipes and the like, but you are more than welcome to share your family-friendly posts with us all. Please feel free to share this post and join my small but loyal band of followers. I appreciate you! As always, I am glad that you are here… 💜

Lots of fun posts from two weeks ago so I’ve packed this post full! The wedding of our young friend this past weekend was wonderful and I’ll share a little from the venue later this week for you. Great trip out to California, despite still lots of fires smoldering and smoke up and down the state…

My sites: French Ethereal Instagram Facebook Pinterest YouTube

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! 💜

Here’s what I shared this past week at

French Ethereal…

Nothing.

I thought I had but apparently not; however, while I was away at our young friend’s wedding… Mr. Ethereal was busy!!!

Charles had been secretly planning to build me a potting bench and I knew he was up to something but didn’t know what. This was a great surprise!!! I’ll get it set up and plant some pretties around it and decorate it for you over the weekend to share hopefully next week. 🌻

And here are this week’s

featured posts from 2 weeks ago…

Coco at The Crowned Goat shared this easy-to-make wreath in this post ~ A Fall Grapevine Wreath for Beginners. Pretty!!!

Cindy at Cloches and Lavender shared her fall wreath ~ Quick Fall Wreath Upcycle. With fall weather quickly coming on (Can you believe in snowed in Colorado already?? We are talking at least a month or more early…), I am fixated on fall. Maybe you are, too. 🍁

Lori at Dining Delight set up an early fall table outdoors in this post ~ Coastal Themed Tablescape in Black and White. So regal! Love the chandy, too…

Amber from Follow the Yellow Brick Home could not have shared a more aptly timed post (for me this day!) than this ~ Simple and Beautiful Things that Helped Me (Amber) Survive the First Week Back to Teaching. I will be fully reading this this evening! ❤

Gail at Purple Hues and Me shared her great fall tutorial to make this sweet pumpkin ~ Decorate a Wire Pumpkin Using a Simple Macramé Knot. So cute for wall art and/or for stuffing it with orange tissue paper… I see lots of ideas!!!

Penny of Penny’s Treasures brought out her fall decorating start with this sweet post ~ Kicking Off My Fall Decorating. Love this floral pumpkin!!

Thank you!

Happy linking,

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Cinderella, Pumpkins and Cloches… An Ethereal Fall Mantel

August 28, 2020 French Ethereal

Cinderella visits us this fair early fall day and tells a tale worthy of Shakespeare, a tale written and played out by one most beloved…

Cinderella’s Dancing Night
by Peter E. Chapman, 2013, Univ. of SD
~ an excerpt ~

Twelve O’clock, twelve o’clock,
This is the price she paid.
The night was special,
Her first masquerade.
A dance, a waltz, in three of four,
Till twelve, till twelve, all she can afford.

💝

My son wrote this poem while in his freshman year of college, if I remember correctly. As a belated Mother’s Day gift that year, when he came home that summer from his university, he and his sister made me a hand-sewn book with a collection of poems he had written and artwork drawn by my daughter.

Love this book and my kids! 💞

From: Valentine’s Tablesetting ~ Ethereal in Pink

Fairytale Stories

This fall I am excited to keep our Fairy Tale stories going, continuing a theme begun a few years ago… Earlier this week I shared making a French-styled Cinderella slipper out of a cardboard shoe insert.

For late summer-early fall, I decorated the mantel a few weeks ago with soft velvet pumpkins, little gilded acorns and Baby Boos and our little lady statue. The large clock face brought back from California has been up on the mantel since we arrived home in early summer, so the idea of Cinderella began there with “Cindy” running out of time…

Etherealness

An ethereal look is what I was going for in this year’s early fall look. I love the idea of attending a ball so I asked Mr. Ethereal if he would bring down our fall boxes when he was up there. Inside those boxes, the soft pumpkins and white sparkle pumpkins are what spoke to me.

As per Wikipedia, the French version of Cinderella was written by Charles Perrault ~ Cendrillon, ou la Petite Pantoufle de Verre, with the thought that the original version is “Rhodopis,” an Egyptian tale “recorded by Strabo, a Greek historian, in the first century.”

Of course, many of us remember Julie Andrews first-ever movie role as Cinderella in Rogers and Hammerstein’s musical adaptation created for television, and first shown in 1957 (also linked to the French version, above).

Of course, I love Disney’s animated version of Cinderella! Who doesn’t?!! In the classic fairytale, Cinderella’s coach is magically created from a pumpkin. I submit a few homemade pumpkins for your approval…

Make Your Own Velvet Pumpkins

I forgot to create a new scene under the new glass cloche but it is a perfect vehicle for future Cinderella scenes under its glass dome!

Pheasant Under Glass ~ A Fall Cloche Styling

I did remember to create a few glass slipper photos near the glass cloche…

A little of Amy’s artwork and Peter’s poem covered over

(to prevent theft)…

The whole ethereal fall mantel for you… How are you decorating your mantel and home this fall? Loving Cinderella’s mantel…

Sharing with

All About Home ~ Follow the Yellow Brick Home

An Enchanted Evening,

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How to Make Cinderella’s Glass Slipper

August 27, 2020 French Ethereal

Continuing with our Fairy Tale theme as we head into fall,Cinderella’s Glass Slipper and How to Make It is up next on the list after our Magical Summer Evening outside. Let’s make this lovely French-style slipper together, shall we?…

How to Begin

This How-To is fairly straight forward beginning with a simple shoe insert from a pair of sandals I picked up this summer. There was only one in the box, and as I was going to throw it away… when… Inspiration struck!

Supplies you will need

shoe insert that looks like an antique shoe last, that a cobbler would use to create his shoes on.
fabrics for stretching over the shoe insert
glue gun and hot glue
something to make a heel for your shoe. This could be a lamp finial, a saved thread spool, anything that catches your eye!
trims for decoration

I had this pretty antique gold finial from a lamp leftover from taking donations to Salvation Army earlier this summer. My brain somehow put 2 + 2 together when I thought of the shoe insert… and I immediately saw that this finial could become a “heel.” (This is how my brain works — probably why I fit in well with Special Ed, lol!). 😆

Instructions

Cut off some pretty fabric and gently stretch it over the front of the shoe insert. Glue in place underneath. *This insert is completely open underneath so this was easy to do.

Glue on the finial or other object being used for a “heel.” Add extra glue in layers, drying in between, to create a nice rounded heel. *I had to do this with this shoe insert, seen above.

Play around with your fabrics to see “what works” and what doesn’t. I realized I wanted a slipper/mule-look and not a boot-look. This photograph illustrates playing around with the boot idea.

The Crowning Glory

Watch a good movie on the tele while you are make your glass slipper! I happened to begin a second round of The Crown on Netflix. (Not sponsored but I sure wouldn’t mind!!! 👑)

Here is the shoe almost finished, warts and all. There are a few wrinkles but Cinderella’s clothes were often tattered and wrinkled as well. I don’t think she would mind…

I added the gold trim around the shoe top separately in several spots (since this isn’t a real shoe to be worn) cut off from parts of this wide French ribbon’s edging.

I think Cinderella would be proud to wear a pair of these shoes to the ball.

Since there is only one shoe here, um… I mean slipper left… I guess now she is waiting for her Prince Charming to come sweep her off her feet!

💖👸

If you enjoyed this little Fairy Tale story, here are others I have shared over the few years:

Beauty and the Beast Fairy Ta{b}le

The Beast{s} ~ The Alpacas of Wagon Master Farm

Valentine’s Tablesetting ~ Ethereal in Pink

Sunday Sentiments ~ How “The Girls” Came to Be and a Cinderella Story

Coming later this week I’ll share our latest mantel dressed up for fall and Cinderella’s ball…

Sharing with

It’s September at All About Home ~ Common Ground

Bonsoir,mes amies!

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Share Your Style #270

August 26, 2020 French Ethereal

Welcome to this week’s Share Your Style #270! This link party is for home decor, DIY, crafts, recipes and the like, but you are more than welcome to share your family-friendly posts with us all. Please feel free to share this post and join my small but loyal band of followers. I appreciate you! As always, I am glad that you are here… 💜

I am feeling a bit fall-ish and I bet you are, too! This happens every August as I tire of the heat of summer and especially on days when there is just a hint of autumn in the air… So, with that we will have a few fall ideas featured this week.

This month is also my blog-iversary for becoming a member of Share Your Style, almost 100 SYS’s ago (#173). I became the sole writing of SYS in January 2019 as the other contributors went onto other things. I enjoy getting to see all that you share each week and it is my honor to be your host!

My sites: French Ethereal Instagram Facebook Pinterest YouTube

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! 💜

Here’s what I shared this past week at

French Ethereal…

This month’s Pinterest Challenge is perfect for kicking off a bit of early fall decor ~ Pheasant Under Glass — A Fall Cloche Styling. I hope you will stop by and check out this fun monthly blog hop and see what everyone has created for you!

This week I shared a Magical Summer Evening Entertaining Out-of-Doors in the Garden, a post that was an off-shoot from our July Pinterest Challenge. I love setting a table in the garden and I hope to do many more as we move into fall and when the weather is good in winter.

And here are this week’s

featured posts…

Up first this week is Rita of Panoply with a fun roundup of all the Vintage and Antique Finds Rita and her sisters found while estate sale and thriftshopping throughout this year pre- and post-COVID-19 lockdown. Enjoy all the neat things they found!

Kristi over at French Creek Farmhouse shared this cool post on Hanging Antique Windows on a Wall. Don’t you just love old windows??! Love the chicken wire look!

MaryJo over at Master”Pieces” of My Life shared some of her lovely silver collection in this post titled Greenery in Silver. Love the gorgeous polished look with the green!!!

Debbee of Debbee’s Buzz shared this beary beary adorable

Back to School Table just in time for the 2020-2021 school year!

**I have to say, our first in-class day went well! Our teacher created back-up plans for when online parents and students couldn’t get online, just in case. 📚 Our district’s main program for teaching elementary students did crash but was fixed by 10:00 a.m. 💻

Debra over at Common Ground shared this fun fall set of apple canisters as part of Scenes from the Late Summer Baker’s Rack. Love vintage family pieces!!!

Trick and Treat shared this wonderful recipe for Fresh Strawberry Crostata, a type of free-form tart. Doesn’t it make your mouth water??! A wonderful treat for end-of-summer strawberries.

1930's vintage art decor chalkware lamp two ladies chalkware lamp twins chalkware lamp mid-century lamp

The title says it all… A Stunning Vintage Art Deco Chalkware Lamp is stunning in this vignette created and shared by Amber at Follow the Yellow Brick Home. Beautiful!!!

Do take some time as you link up today to visit a few other party-goers and enjoy their posts! Thank you, sweet friends! 💖

Thank you to everyone who linked up this past week. A special thank you to y’all for sharing 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 have been featured here at Share Your Style…

Here is a button to copy to your site and to share…

If you’d like to follow my Share Your Style board on Pinterest I’d sure appreciate it, thank you! I do post the all of the featured posts from each week’s SYS there.

Enjoy the party, 😊

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Pheasant Under Glass ~ A Fall Cloche Styling

August 25, 2020 French Ethereal

Welcome to this month’s Pinterest Challenge hosted by my friend Cindy of County Road 407. Each month Cindy sends out an inspiration photograph for all of us to get ideas from and make into our own. This is one of my absolute favorite times of the month ~ creating these Pinterest Challenges ~ and this month it’s all about decorating a Fall Cloche. Let’s take a look, shall we?…

If you are new to French Ethereal, welcome! How’d you like Julie’s cloche styling? Pretty cool with those sweet white acorns, huh?!
I love everything Julie creates for her home!! 🌰

This photograph above is part of my inspiration for this month’s cloche styling. It is from a Thanksgiving post I wrote a couple of years ago when we were still living in our Prairie Home, our 41′ Heartland Charleston Landmark fifth-wheel trailer.

My style is definitely an elegant French country style and for this fall our little prairie chicken, vis-a-vis this little gilded partridge or quail, and another birdie friend are featured.

Now let’s take a look at our main inspiration photograph…

This soft fall colors cloche styling is by Beth Hunter of Home Stories A to Z. I love her warm farmhouse style with lots of whites and neutrals… Sooo pretty!

Beth used mini faux Baby Boo pumpkins, dried hydrangea blooms both inside and outside of her cloche and other free fall garden gifts of acorns and pinecones to complete her cloche’s main look. I love how her vignette uses so much foliage and material straight from nature! Soft colors and I like the rope which makes the cloche look like a bell…

I didn’t have a glass cloche before thinking about putting together this post. So I was thrilled when I found this one at an early fall sale at Hobby Lobby a few weeks ago for 50% off! I have wanted one for a number of years but just hadn’t found one I liked or for a good price. This was $22.50 with the sale price; a bargain in my book!!

For this “pheasant under glass” vignette ~ a gilded quail, really ~ I looked through my stash of platters, cutting boards and such for something round to sit the cloche on, finally choosing this thrifted silverplate serving tray. I wanted a round wood cutting board but didn’t have one so the wood idea was out.

The silver tray turned out to be the perfect size and it set the tone for a more formal look. To it, I added the small gilded acorns (which look a bit like small pumpkins), the gilded “pheasant” and this jeweled berry pick which was a White Elephant gift from my Bible study teacher a couple of years ago.

Loving this look!

I was shooting for mimicking the “pumpkin look” of our inspiration photo under the glass with these golden acorns, and then I added my larger velvety pumpkins outside the cloche, since they wouldn’t fit underneath and are bigger than those in the inspiration piece.

I looked for grasses to put underneath next to my bird but found only very expensive dried wheat ($29.00/bunch at Hobby Lobby). I ended up snipping some grass fronds from an obliging field and added in a few extra pics. I love the warm fall colors in this part of the room!

Setting my father’s retirement carved American goldfinch on some books brings in more natural elements, as do the actual pheasant feathers (part of my bird feather collection). The books used as risers are National Audubon Society books on bird watching from the 1960’s, my parents’ book collection.

Creating the pheasant and finch vignette with the cloche and other fall goodies sparked a whole refresh around the living room! I brought out the late summer/early fall pillows and spruced up the coffee table with one of my large Cinderella pumpkins, a candle and faux flowers in a creamy ironstone creamer.

Thanks for stopping by today and if you are following everyone in order, please check out Michelle’s post from Thistle Key Lane, which I know you’ll love the way she used her cloche and her fun raffia pumpkins!

County Road 407 / Stone Gable Blog / Postcards from the Ridge /

Decor to Adore / Virginia Sweet Pea / White Arrows Home /

The Ponds Farmhouse / First Day of Home / My Wee Abode /

French Ethereal / Thistle Key Lane / Let’s Add Sprinkles /

Everyday Edits / Eye Love Knots / Bluesky at Home

Sharing with

Thursday Favorite Things ~ Katherine’s Corner

Happy touring!

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Magical Summer Evening Entertaining Out-of-Doors in the Garden…

August 22, 2020 French Ethereal

Entertaining out-of-doors in summer is one of the best things about summertime! Here in the DFW area of Texas, nights cool off into the 80’s and are perfect for having friends and family over for cookouts, pizza pies baked in outdoor ovens, and for toasting marshmallows over campfires. On this night, our library table was brought from inside and set with dining ease in mind…

You may recall that earlier this summer I shared this post about easy party ideas as part of a Pinterest Challenge. This tablescape was fun to photograph as I went for simplicity with just a few snacks, just a few items on the dining table, and a simple pot of flowers plopped on the table, straight from the nursery.

Simple chargers made of painted tin add their elegance underneath festive paper plates. And those plates cost $2.99 for a pack of 24, I think. Perfect for outdoor entertaining with kids or adults! Cloth napkins and real water glasses were the only “upgrades” here.

Lighting is simple with the addition of Edison lights strung together and zip-tied to tree limbs, a couple of tealights on the table and a few candles in metal holders in the garden flowerbed nearby…

*Special note: make sure to square knot each connection from one light string to the next. I didn’t do that at first, and the long swag from tree to tree came undone… I had to replace six lightbulbs and it was good that each of the sets came with extras!

Sorry about the soft blur in some of these photographs… My camera is just a basic DSLR and not really meant for low light. I hope to upgrade one of these days.

I like how these pics came out anyhow. The candlelight in these outdoor stands is magical… 💝

Soft and romantic, the addition of a couple of indoor chairs combined with the French café chairs makes for a nice combination.

A nice contrast ~ wide -vs- narrow view

We had just had a hard summer rain so the limestone bricks are in their usual muddy state but this just adds to the casual garden scene. Our plans include putting in artificial turf back here where grass doesn’t grow well below the shade provided by these two oak trees with pavers staggered between the real and artificial grasses.

Framing the view

The central bed of boxwood and holly balls are filling in nicely with the addition of this spring’s transplanted iris. I plan to add in more annuals for color next spring.

I love looking back on the house and it looks particularly pretty at night! I think when all the pavers are set for potted areas and more plants are brought in, and the sprinklers are converted from tall park-style sprayers for watering grass to lines of drip irrigation for garden beds, this will be especially nice for entertaining… and it will be easier and mean less hand-watering.

This year our visits have been just a few friends stopping by to switch-out borrowed books or for me to sign a check for our philanthropic group (IOOF). Next year as vaccines become available we hope to have friends over a lot more often.

My favorite photograph… Still love the Martha Stewart pale yellow linen drapery fabric used to create these chair cushions. These cushions are reversible with a deep red paisley on the other side. I made them with summer and winter in mind.

Tonight’s virtual visit will have to do for now… 🙂 Enjoy the rest of your summer! I felt the first kiss of fall this week with a 66 degree morning…

Happy summer evenings, friends!

Tag: home decor

Come Sit a Spell! ~ Create a Reading Nook

My inspiration takeaway

Our home

My reading spot and what I’ve done

Past reading nooks…

A Special Table Setting with Rebekah china…

Here’s what I shared this past week at

Cinderella, Pumpkins and Cloches… An Ethereal Fall Mantel

Fairytale Stories

Etherealness

How to Make Cinderella’s Glass Slipper

How to Begin

Supplies you will need

Instructions

The Crowning Glory

Here’s what I shared this past week at

Pheasant Under Glass ~ A Fall Cloche Styling

Magical Summer Evening Entertaining Out-of-Doors in the Garden…

Framing the view