Carrier filled for Spring

I mentioned last week, that each time I'm at the other house packing the endless number of "things", that a few of them inevitably end up in my tote bag to come over here and join the other decor tidbits. I'm careful not to be too blatant, otherwise hubbs will look at me like, "we're supposed to be packing this stuff, not playing with it." sorry, I have to play...

The pink vintage bunny planter, majolica rabbit plate, and Fitz and Floyd Berry Platter were my spoils from last weekend.

This platter has some cracks and chips,

 but I fell in love with the raised basket weave design.

so Springy.

This little guy has no markings, but I did a Google search and it appears that he's Shawnee Pottery from the 50's...old bunny, real old bunny. He's all cotton candyish sweet pink with lots of little crazing.

Last year none of my daffodils bloomed. I don't know why, but there weren't even any bloom pods, just greens... what a disappointment. And this year only a few, so I wanted to enjoy them while I could. Last year I planted a few hyacinth bulbs in the same area, that did come up. When I went to cut them, some bees were eagerly working on them, so I left a few behind for them. They make a petite bouquet in one of my small Staffordshire white Ironstone pitchers.

I've always loved the unique shape of this hexagonal soup tureen. I can't decide if it's ironstone or ceramic, but it's different. And it's small enough to decorate with. I've changed out this carrier several times since I've been at this house. I only  have a few places to "decorate", so this is doing double duty to help with my decorating addiction.

And if course, I've never met a white carrier that I didn't love.

This is a strawberry carrier, with slats in the bottom,

sitting on the small bench in front of the wicker settee. 

I didn't have enough room for my coffee table here,

 but this old tool caddy bench fit perfectly.

The weather is confused here; it thinks we're still in March. It's been so windy today and chilly. Hopefully it will be in the 70's again by the weekend; the Iris are starting to come up. Hope you're having a wonderful week!

joining in on these parties:

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style
It's a Party at DIY by Design
Blissful Whites at Timewashed

Treasure Hunt at From My Front Porch to Yours
Creative Friday at Jen Rizzo
Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage
Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home
Shabbilicious Friday at Shabby Art Boutique
Simple and Sweet Friday at Rooted in Thyme

xoxo,

Today's Sponsor

French Bleu Vintage

Be sure and check out the 50% off sale going on now!

Spring Sentiments

A few weeks ago I was feeling sort of "homesick". I guess it's more of a feeling of uncertainty in not knowing when we'll be in a permanent home, and some missing my ability to play with my decor. Living in a small house without all my "stuff" at my fingertips has me a little hampered in changing things up, and I'm certainly a person who likes to keep my surroundings changed up and "fresh".

So what do I do when I'm feeling a little lacking in inspiration and creativity? Besides checking all of you out, I like to look back through my photo gallery and blog posts to see what was going on last year or the year before. You guessed it, I was decorating for Easter and dreaming of Spring out on the sunporch.

My favorite place to "change things up" was the sunporch.

First time forcing hyacinths.

Just bought this wonderful print.

Decorating the Holiday Cupboard

Freshening up the Entry

 Attending Leola's Vintage Home and Garden,

Spring Open House

And having a visit at Robin's Vintage Suitcase.

vintage twin sofas

bunnies and tulips...looks like Spring!

oh, I just LOVE this wonderful old ladder.

shhhh...I found an old ladder in the basement clean up.

I see it painted white in the future.

(don't tell my hubby)

Thanks for letting me reminisce a little. I've been packing all my treasures, and it's a little hard knowing that they are going in a box and I don't know when I'll see them again. Some of the furniture has been sold, and knowing that Spring is around the corner I'm just wondering where I'll be come Summer, then Fall. I'm trying not to come off whiney. Just enjoying looking back and drinking up the sweet pics of preparing for Spring.

 Have a wonderful Sunday...

be blessed sweet friends.

When will it be Spring?

This last snow and ice storm threw a lot of us off kilter. Just when we had been teased with some warm days and sightings of crocus and daffodils pushing up, we got hit hard. But they, (the powers that be in the weather world) say we'll be back in the 50's by the weekend. So many people south of us had ice instead of sleet, so I'm grateful for just the cold and snow, not loosing power. Missouri is notorious for March snowstorms, heck, it snowed in May last year!

This week is my Birthday Week. Yes, I celebrate all week, especially when it's so yucky outside that no restaurants are even open! My Birthdays have been "low key" for awhile, just the way I like them. A certain sweet hubby brought me home an armful of tulips in lovely Spring colors, but I didn't even have an ironstone pitcher here to put them in, so they found their way to my little galvanized bucket. 

This was the first time I have used a flower frog. I have several vintage ones, but only one with the metal grid design. It made for a much prettier arrangement, instead of all of them falling over the sides.

I have this little journal in precious pinks and lavender.

"Very beautiful flowers".

This is a little wreath I found last year,

and a few of my old garden tools.

My tiny friend is joining us.

She thinks she's hidden in the twigs.

 I love collecting vintage embroidered tea towels. Now, in the times of disposable "everything", I admire the time and creativity that went in to decorating them.

The light here in the sitting room is northern, 

but in the morning it's just perfect.

I hope "Spring" is closeby, wherever you are...

Oh so tweet!

You can check out more wonderful tulip ideas, 

on my Pinterest Board, HERE

A Big Thank You to everyone who took the time to enter the Give Away last week. The winner of the $35.00 gift certificate to French Bleu Vintage is Cathy from My 1929 Charmer. Have fun Cathy!

I'll be joining in on these wonderful parties:

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

Inspiration Exchange at City Farmhouse
Treasure Hunt From My Front Porch to Yours
Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home
Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage
Sweet and Simple Fridays at Rooted in Thyme
Fabulously Creative Friday at Jennifer Rizzo
Inspiration Gallery at Craftberry Bush
Tweak it Tuesday at Cozy Little House
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm

Hope you're having a great week,

Easy as 1-2-3 Custom Look Wreath

It's September, and you know what I'm doing...

This last week I started decorating for Fall, and one thing I wanted to do was put together a new wreath for the Dining Room mirror. I love a lush twiggy grapevine wreath with lot's of naturals and florals, but I don't want to pay a "custom" price for it. So, no matter what the season, I have an easy method to get a custom look.

Here it is out on the Sunporch. I'll be showing you the Dining Room a little later, but for now it's on one of my old "Fall" quilts on a wicker chair.

As you can see it's pretty wild, and pretty big;

Fall berries, leaves and Hydrangeas.

I've been making my own wreaths for years, and I almost always use this quick method.  One of the best things about it, besides that it's quick, is that this method is easy to take apart, redo, refresh, or reuse at another time.

 Start with your basic grapevine twig wreath. 

The more crazy twigs the better...

I like a wild, natural, just picked look.

Since I'm a bad DIY blogger, I didn't even think to get pics until I had that wreath hanging up on the mirror, and at that point I wasn't going to take it apart again to show the steps.

sooo...

I just used a few other elements to show how easy it is..

please don't get confused because there are two different wreaths.

I know...I know....

bad blogger.

End of Season sales are a great time to pick up those basic garlands and candle rings. I think this one was a large candle ring that came from Michaels a few years ago. The basic garland ring is of just little Lady Apples. I added the sunflowers a while back so I could use it on my front door, which requires a "skinny" wreath.

Then start layering. I left the Sunflowers and Black-Eyed Susans on the basic apple wreath then added in some Hydrangeas. You can add any blossom mix you like for your season. A Spring wreath might have Tulips and Lilacs on a Forsythia garland. This one I used faux Hydrangea stems, but on my Dining Room wreath I used real dried Hydrangeas. With faux Hydrangeas I sometimes trim the large blooms down.

Now you can see we're adding layers and depth and a lot of interest

 with the Apples, Sunflowers and Hydrangeas.

This grapvine twig wreath is actually a little small for this garland, but I wanted to show you how it all goes together. Just use some gardener's twine or floral wire to secure the garland wreath to the twig wreath. 

Here's the finished product. I just randomly put this together because

I'll be taking it apart again, but you get the idea.

1. A grapevine wreath for the base.
2. A garland or large candle ring on top, just tied on with gardener's twine.
3. Florals to tuck in for added interst and depth. Sometimes I hot glue them on, other times I just tuck them inside and through the vines.

This one is a little wonky since I didn't secure all the layers... just wanted to show you how easy it is to put a wreath together. I didn't need any special tools, and it doesn't make a big mess.
So here's my original again. It's a little more "Fall", whereas the "step by step" version is a little more "Summer".

You can put together a wreath like this in about 15 minutes.

Super quick and versatile.

If you want to change up your basic wreath each season it's easily done.

Just 1-2-3!

Now, have some fun making your own!

I'll be joining in on these great weekly parties:

Whipperberry
A Stroll Thru Life
Tuesday Treasures at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
The Scoop at Cedar Hill Ranch
Tweak it Tuesday at Cozy Little House

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm

WOW Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

Inspiration Exchange at Ella Claire
DIY by Design
Homework at The Everyday Home
Stone Gable Blog
From My Front Porch to Yours
Share Your Cup Thursday
The Shabby Creek Cottage
Shabby Art Boutique
Jennifer Rizzo
French Country Cottage
The Charm of Home
Amaze Me Monday at Dwellings

xoxo,