Sunday, July 26, 2015

Come Gaze at our Mid-Summer Country Style Window


It really was a whole lot different when it was my, early summer, herb garden
The plants were struggling to be their best and it was time for a change of view.

This tablescape and centerpiece were my inspirations to make some changes and bring some farmhouse style to the window.

I hung my, straw, market basket in the window and filled it with red, faux geraniums, daisies, and hydrangeas.


I always love to see pics, like this one, that show our yard in the background.


A, rustic, naked frame surrounds my tiny rooster print in an intentional lopsided manner.


I used my dad's, red windsor, chair (from when he was a toddler) to hold this country vignette.



Vintage firkins and an"egg crate," that I made from an old wooden box, are displayed to the right adding mpre farm house styling.

A white ceramic rooster proudly sits on top.

A collection of, Strawberry Fields, saucers and a potted violet are tucked inside the rustic white washed crate.


50 cents each is all I paid for eight of these. red transferware, vintage pieces!

A Pfaltzgraff bowl turned upside down is a base for my potted plant and my, white ironstone, creamer is handy for watering the last of my window plants.

The bowl is part of our dinnerware collection.

I liked the way it mimicked the colors in the basket hanging from above.


Our window has given us so much joy over the past 2 years. If  you
enter "bay window" in my search bar it will show you many posts of
each Holiday and season for you to see!

I hope that you are enjoying a wonderful summer with you family and friends...we are and I just wish that it would never end!

Thursday, July 23, 2015

Celebrating Summer with Food and Friends

Once in a blue moon I'll use paper plates or just set out dishes on place mats with flatware and paper napkins when company is coming to dinner. But most often I just can't resist the reason to create a beautiful tablescape to share with you.

 This was the result of my whim to create when we invited our, sweet friend, Carolyn and her son for dinner last week...a black and white, summer checkerboard theme.

You may have seen, or missed, my post on our lazy susan with, Emma, my sweet, barnyard pig.

I love farmhouse style.


A few little changes were made that sparked my idea to use more of the letter cubes at each place setting.

It became the perfect way to blend the centerpiece while adding everyone's name to their settings.

If I had more time I would have strung some cord or embroidery floss through the holes to unite them.

Daisy napkin rings were perfect for the theme.

Black white and green layers mimicked the center of the table.

That's me..."JP"

Refreshingly delicious cucumber, lime and mint water was served in my grandmother's rosepoint pitcher.








Since this photo was taken I made another subtle change to the centerpiece and changed out the herb garden in our window.
It was time for a change of view...my herbs were struggling to survive, so I created a mid-summer display and will share that with you next!


 Love, Hugs and Kisses,
JP
and Gucci, too!
Can you see him? He's playing "peek-a-boo!"
 
 
  Sharing this post at these great parties

craftberrybush  

onemoretimeevents  

.lifeonlakeshoredrive

thecharmofhome  

craftsalamode  

frenchcountrycottage  

rootedinthyme  

adelightsomelife  

  commonground-do

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Centerpiece Change in the Kitchen and my Pig Takes Center Stage

It was time for a new look for our centerpiece in the kitchen, time for new trim and time to my let my country pig take center stage!

She was a "piggy pink" when my honey bought her for me almost twenty years ago. I painted her to make her fit in with our decor....I don't do pink!

The centerpiece started out like this. Then I made the little changes and swapped the rattan place mat for the pair of green ones to add more green to the vignette

Here I added some fresh cut basil, from our window, to fill the vase some more.

Same exact photo? NOT!
A little secret of mine, that I use a lot is the cloning tool in Pic Monkey. It's the photo editing program that I use for every single pic that I share. 
I hate imperfections and blemishes and since I had no more perfect flowers or basil on hand I just cloned them.
I use it to hide wires and dust and cracks....anything that I didn't notice when taking my shots!

 You can see that I added a checkerboard trim to the lazy susan, to change it up again, and match the stool that I painstakingly painted. I shared it's "how to" in this post.

I shared how I, recently, re-painted it white and added Italian and English words all the way around. It was very apropo for our Italian themed dinner party that we had a few weeks back.

Then came the 4th of July. An American flag band disguised the words and made the perfect patriotic accent.

It's so easy to add any trim...I just stick it on with some "poster putty" which makes it really easy to remove.
"Emma" almost always wears her pearls!






A chicken wire wrapped jar holds some fresh cut summer flowers.....note: petals not cloned...oops!



I think she's happy being center stage, so I'll keep her happy for a while!

And now I'm itching to re-do the bay window, again, with a summer theme. I'm just holding off because I'm still in love with the herb garden look. Nothing beats the handiness of having herbs right at hand in the kitchen!

 Love, Hugs and Kisses,
JP