A new year brings a fresh new perspective to our homes and a whole new opportunity to organize and get our spaces in order. A place that always seems to need a little more organization is our bathrooms. Today I’m going to show you a few ways to make your bathrooms more stylish and functional.
Our master bathroom is a decent size and is quite functional if a little dated. Mr. Ethereal repaired a crack in the shower that we adopted when we bought the house last spring, and until we can afford to remodel, everything works for now.
The vanity is large and has his and hers cabinets connected with a vanity space in between. Perfect for a family 24 years ago, but I personally don’t need a separate vanity for putting on makeup. When we do remodel, I’d like more cabinet space vertically in between both sides of the vanity somehow.
The original in-wall medicine cabinets were taken out sometime during the past two decades. Everything has to be stored in the two cabinets down below or in the small over-toilet cabinet in the separate water closet area.
Quick vignette and storage fix
To help create a little more “storage” I brought in two vintage silver trays to hold all of our everyday toiletry items. The photograph on the left shows Mr. Ethereal’s shaving and hair products. The righthand photo shows the tray as it is now decorated.
As I was unpacking things from our move I found this antique shaving mug I’d bought several years ago and had forgotten about. It is perfect to hold all of his newer and older shavers!
I love taking something old and updating it reusing it for its intended purpose, and Mr. E does too.
🙂
Make it pretty!
To replace a generic soap dish on the counter I like to bring in a lovely piece of vintage china. This dessert plate serves up French milled soaps in ethereal style!
Lastly, adding a lovely Limoge tray as a jewelry catch-all adds a final layer of sparkle and caché to the bath.
And here is a pretty quote I found on Pinterest from OnDecal for you…
Welcome to this month’s10 on the 10th where 10 bloggers (and often a few more!) get together and share ideas with you on the 10th of the month for under $10. This month is all about Easter ~ from adorable bunnies to lovely tablescapes and some fun Easter crafts to make!
Our cute image was created by Carol of Bluesky at Home. Love the bunny!
My name is Barbara and I am your host this month ~ I so appreciate your stopping by! We have a fun blog party planned for you today and after you’ve visited here please pop on over to see what Cindy at County Road 407is sharing ~ I know you’ll love Cindy and her fun blog!
I am sharing a first look at our new home with our dining room set for Easter. What I want to share with you today are these cool gold placemats I found after Christmas at Home Goods and they were just $6.00! I thought they were perfect for an Easter tablescape with their lovely woven nest look!
Here I’ve paired these gilded placemats with some vintage serving trays I painted white a couple of years ago. As I was unpacking china from boxes this week, it was fun looking for china which would be good to go with this tablescape that said spring and Easter!
This set came straight from England in the early 2000’s from my sister-in-law and my middle brother. They had shopped the seconds stores up in the Stoke-on-Trent potteries area. (My brother was stationed in England for four years with the USAF at RAF Molesworth, a tri-base area in northern England.) These were a gift for Christmas and my birthday one year.
My tablescape today doesn’t shout Easter with bunnies and such but is instead a gentle ode to spring ~ handmade tulip napkins; a fresh bouquet with soft yellow and white flowers; and the soft greens, blues, yellow and rust bands on Wedgwood’s Queen’s Ware “Sarah’s Garden” plates and teapot.
The teacups are fresh with their roses and florals and are part of my extensive collection of vintage china. Many are now quite old and are just used for display.
Bunnies however do make an appearance in the hutch!
Somewhere in a few last kitchen boxes are a set of creamy white eggcups from my original Villeroy and Boch “Botanica” set. When I was an exchange student to Germany as a 19 year old, I carried these eggcups home in my carry-on bag.
Guess they will make an appearance later on. Too bad as they would have been perfect with these placemats!
This tablescape would be easy to recreate in your home with simply decorated tableware you may already own ~ part of the fun of setting a beautiful table! I hope this table setting has inspired you.
🙂
Well that’s it for me for today ~ I will share more of this table photo shoot soon. I want to thank you so much for stopping by! If you have enjoyed this post, I’d love it if you’d follow me here on my blog and/or on any of my social media sites, too.
Let’s get this Easter party hopping along now with a visit to my friend CindyatCounty Road 407. Follow the links below to check out all of the wonderful posts shared by everyone in this month’s 10 on the 10th blog hop!
Welcome to Week #199 of Share Your Style! Can you believe we are almost at that 200 mark? We are proud that Share Your Style is still going strong and that you are here to help us celebrate this mini landmark! Hello, I am Barbara and it’s my turn this week to host the party. Welcome to you all and please feel free to share our party on your social media ~ we appreciate the love!
A few party rules:
*Please visit a few blogs while you are here and make a new friend or two. *Feel free to link up to three home decor, DIY, crafts and recipe posts, thanks! Backlinks would be greatly appreciated as we try to grow… *And if you would follow your hosts we would appreciate it! Check out our other social media sites, too. Plus keep in mind that Google is eliminating Google+ at the end of March if you follow me there and any of your other friends. Kristin hosts White Arrows Home on WordPress so her’s is safe.
I am sharing a trip to the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum in Walnut Grove, Minnesota. This was part of our larger visit to see my son and daughter-in-love and their new home in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. We also went to visit an apple picking farm during our trip and snapped some incredible photos in the freshly fallen first snow of the season plus their friendly sweet dogs Bandit and Luna.
This is a quiet blog week for me as I just drove 1330+ miles by myself from Texas to California to meet the movers at our two 10’x25′ storage units. Our household goods have been in storage these past 3 1/2 years and finally everything will be moving into our new Texas home! I can’t wait to share more of our home with you as we unpack and then begin work on garden design later this spring.
Kristin has a monthly book club and in this post she shares three good reads!
Now for this week’s features
Up first this week is more from Deb-bee’s Buzz‘ wonderful
Wonderland Tea Party!Table decor and the menu is shared in this whimsical tea party themed post with links to her previous.
Love the fascinators!!!
This adorable DIY Umbrella Table Planter created by Victoria at Dazzle While Frazzled had me at garden-hello!
These Easy Strawberry Oatmeal Bars by Erin at Suburban Simplicity look so delicious and the strawberries are sooogood this year! I know you’ll want to bake some of your own.
;)’
This adorable DIY Umbrella Table Planter created by Victoria at Dazzle While Frazzled had me at garden-hello!
These Easy Strawberry Oatmeal Bars by Erin at Suburban Simplicity look so delicious and the strawberries are sooogood this year! I know you’ll want to bake some of your own.
daily lives and make them better. Mr. Ethereal and I have personally been working the Dave Ramsey “live-only -on-cash” plan for over a year now ~ and it works!
Lori at Dining Delight created this fun and festive St. Patrick’s Day tablescape~ perfect as a last-minute idea to use in our own homes.
Love all the green!
Our last feature this week is from Marie who writes The Interior Frugalista and shares how to make a Box Store Table Look Expensive.
Please stop by each of our featured artists and let them know how much you like their work! Let’s party!
Welcome to week #198 of Share Your Style Link Party! I’m Kristin of White Arrows Home. My cohost Barbara and I are so glad you are joining us and love seeing what you share each week!!
We’d love to have you follow us on our blogs and social media so we can get to know you better.
I host a monthly book club on my blog and one of my February picks was Life is Good by Bert and John Jacobs. It was a great read. Read my 12 Takeaways and become a subscriber of White Arrows Home to be entered to win a copy of the book. Follow the link below.
And now on to my features for this week! Thank you to all who linked up, visited other blogs and left comments. It’s so fun to find inspiration and new blogs to follow each week!
A look back at our last home in California and the furnishing which will be making the journey in the upcoming weeks to our new home here in Texas!
I have been talking with moving companies for a week now getting quotes and sending inventories back and forth. Whew! It’s a tough nut to navigate and I still want to drive out to bring back some of the really fragile things but now I am rethinking carrying a few of the mirrors back with me…
Maybe it is better that the movers crate them…
What do you think?…
A heavy mirror I shipped back on Virgin Atlantic from England in 2005.
I’ll be leaving later this week driving cross-country and actually my Sequoia is in for servicing yesterday and today. The brakes needed some special master cyclinder-type thing as it is failing. Glad this is getting done even though 2 bills are being spent…
Don’t want to be involved in a major crash because of brake failure!
Have you ever shipped long-distance and how did your mirrors, prints and family portraits survive the move? Did the movers crate them? How about your furniture ~ how did your case goods hold up?
Thank you for your thoughts! 🙂 I am worried and I know I can’t do anything about them, plus they are just things as people say. When I moved with my parents some jewelry was swiped on two occasions and we lost a box of Christmas things, mainly my baby stocking and velvet stockings I made for Charles and myself when we were first married.
I need to remake those… 😉
Maybe this fall…
My big birthday present from 4 years ago ~ a 4’w x 5′ tall pier mirror.
We will have a quote later today from a carrier I regard as trusted ~ hope it is a good one and something we can afford. We will probably go with this moving company as they can schedule a pick up around March 6th, just when I’d like to the packing and loading done. The estimate is for 16,000 lbs.
Here is the pier mirror as I found it in the consignment shop in Citrus Heights, California.
And another gesso mirror I found in Murrieta at another consignment-antique shop several years earlier.
Here’s a link to the story I wrote about finding the pier mirror and one very similar to this dresser mirror above.
So excited to share all these lovelies with you in their new home in the upcoming year…
I am Barbara and I am your host this week along with my cohost Kristen of White Arrows Home as we bring you all the best in home decor, gardening, some foodie treats and the like.
We would love it if you’d follow our blogs on all of our social media, thank you! And please link your posts back to SYS each week ~ we appreciate the love.
Date Night and How to Keep It a Priority ~ one of the best way’s I know to keep our marriages successful, for sure!{I love a good love story, don’t you?!} So glad to feature Kristen’s here. 🙂Now onto this weeksFeatured posts…
I had the best time decorating my daughter’s and son’s bedrooms
over the years (I can hardly wait for grandkids so I can create a bedroom for them to come and stay in!)
Ashely Phipps at Simply Designing shared a bedroom makeover and I love it’s simplicity and neutral greys and whites ~ very pretty! Plus with this lovely upholstered and nailhead trimmed headboard it still has that French style which I love.
These
corn pudding muffins from Julie’s Creative Lifestyle just look so delicious and soft and creamy. Can’t wait to bake some! Yummy!
Katie’s cute redo of her little van into a truck at Let’s Add Sprinkles is just perfect for spring. Part of 10 on the 10th which I was also a participant this time. 😉
What would springtime be without thinking about upcoming proms and weddings?? Well, this incredible prom bouquet made by Nicki at Sweet Parrish Place was made entirely of grocery store flowers… yeah, that beautiful!!!
I’d like to mention a few Honorable Mention posts too which aren’t necessarily in my normal decor or recipe categories, but I like them because of movies and other things… 1. Paula at Frog Prince Paperie shared the cutest Princess Bride movie t-shirts and she shares the links to where you can get the downloadable SVGS. Still not sure what an SVGS {savages? ;)} but I know your kids would enjoy wearing these! 2. Tania at Little Vintage Cottage made the sweetest miniatures scenes in walnut shells ~ just adorable! Thank you for coming over and please congratulate everyone featured here today! And thanks for the back-linking, too. We appreciate it! Now let’s party! 😉
Welcome back to another week full of inspiration! Our 196th Share Your Style Link Party is LIVE and we can’t wait to see what posts you have to share! I’m Kristin of White Arrows Home and I’m excited to be hosting this week!
Welcome back to another week full of inspiration! Our 196th Share Your Style Link Party is LIVE and we can’t wait to see what posts you have to share! I’m Kristin of White Arrows Home and I’m excited to be hosting this week!
We have just a few simple guidelines: please link up to (3) posts each week which are family friendly and related to interior design and home decor, craft ideas, DIY projects, recipes and the like.
We look forward to seeing what you are sharing this week!
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.
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.
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.
Good evening and welcome to our 187th SYS link party! This week your party host is me, Barbara, from the blog 21 Rosemary Lane.
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.
Before we get started, please make sure to pay a visit to all of your SYS team members!
Since I haven’t posted an official Christmas tour for this year, I decided to let you all in on some of what I have been up to over the past couple weeks.
The front porch is themed with a red and black buffalo check.
The entry way is sporting more red and a classic plaid.
And in the living room I went with traditional red and white. A candy cane inspired ribbon I found at Michael’s kicked off the entire look, so it went right on the tree! (And on the mirror!)
Fun right???
Gosh you just gotta love Christmas!!!
Well now it is on to…
There were so many fabulous links from last week that it was terribly difficult to choose just a few to highlight. So without further ado here were go…
First up is a gorgeous Christmas home tour from Kristy over at her beautiful blog Starfish Cottage.
Melissa from the blog Dancing Dog Cabin shared her rustic and beautifully done Christmas at the Cabin home tour.
Clean & Scentsible blogger Jen linked up her tutorial on how to make this adorable Hot Chocolate Gift Ornament.
Raquel from her corner of blogland known as Organized Island, shared an Easy Faux Eggnog recipe. It’s a no cook recipe plus it is non-alcoholic, so the kiddies can join in the fun too!
And finally from Taryn Whiteaker, a Free Geometric Christmas Printable.
And that’s a wrap! 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.
Now on to the PARTY!!!!
We would really appreciate it if you would provide a link back to our party from your blog post.
Please, don’t pin from images or thumbnails in this post. Click on the link and pin from the original source.
What an honor to be your host this week for the 183rd Share Your Style! I am so lucky to be part of such an amazing team bringing together your fabulous ideas in one Link Party! I’m Kristin of
Here are few of my posts from last week to give you ideas for Thanksgiving and a sneak peek of my Christmas decor to come! If you are new to my blog, I would love to get to know you! Come on over to read, explore and leave some feedback! Let’s connect!
Get to know my teammates, some of the most inspiring and encouraging bloggers in this community! We’d love for you to give us a follow! Remember, the link up and features are shared on all seven blogs each week!
What a wonderful week of Share Your Style we had last week! There was so much amazing inspiration shared! Thank you to all who linked up! Here are a few of my favorites.
This Lake Girl can’t get enough of this idea! And how fun for any backsplash!
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