My life is to make everything around me beautiful.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

A Vignette Can Be Many Things

Vignettes can be anything we want them to be. The sweet photos above and below are perfect examples of this. The one above is an antique cabinet that has been stuffed to overflow with quaint old boxes, snippets of beautiful old lace, roses fabric, books, antiques, a portfolio of love letters or stationery, spools of antique rick rack and even ivy. I absolutely love this idea. Isn't it just beautiful?

Now what woman hasn't imagined her bedroom looking like this romantic one? I certainly have. Well, there is nothing wrong with "setting" our bedrooms like a stage and having this to feast our eyes upon every single day. It's a "mood" we're looking for here. A teapot, teacup, plate, even a faux pastry and a small silk plant can assure it looks like this every single day. The plethora of soft, cushy pillows add to the ambiance, of course. I plan on getting an old breakfast tray I have and "setting" it up and displaying it in my bedroom just as soon as I can today! A lovely vignette with not much work involved at all, my sweet chicks and bunnies!! Get on it now!

This tiny section of a cottage living room on the Oregon coast looks like it just wraps its arms around you and welcomes you like a nice feather bed. Ahhhhh..... Isn't it adorable? The wicker settee wrapped in a vintage rose fabric or even an old quilt that has been softened with many washings. Put books around your home on the floor. I DO!! Put them under coffee and end tables. I don't have enough book cases so I do it this way too. But you can also put the books on little stools. Hang an old pretty hat somewhere in a room. Put fresh flowers around when your garden is blooming and at other times get the beautiful silk or paper flowers that look so real and are available readily in today's world. Hang things in your window to reflect the light and throw it into your room. Be bold!!

A tiny room can double as a guest room, craft or sewing room or home office and can be beautiful as this one is. It's just a different view of the living room above but can certainly be adapted to something else. Nothing says rooms have to be used as intended. Adapt this to a little used room. Also use different kinds of shelves in a room. It gives a "flair" to a room that says you've collected through the years and not just bought the "suite" off the showroom floor. Mismatched chairs or chairs with pretty fabrics thrown over them show a creativeness. Personally, I love the look!

A small dining room such as this one can be receptive to small vignette displays. A vintage high chair would be glorious if you can find a small one. If you have a curtain that doesn't quite "fit" a window, so what? Put it up anyway. Look at the piece of old lace in each window above. It adds bravado to the room and is still in keeping with the design. Set an old teapot, a basket of napkin rings, a ceramic bunny or cat or a beautiful pot of foliage on the table.

A view such as this one should not be covered up! The sheer lace lets it show through plus they have been hung low on the door, which in itself makes a glorious statement, and then they are drawn back with a flair for drama. The other vignette is on the table. Nothing says that tables have to be kept "clean" all the time. By this I mean "swept of all adornment" but can have place settings that can be swept up for meal time. Nothing too fancy need be on, just something to draw and please the eye.

Vignettes certainly don't have to be in the house; they can be outside also, such as this one. Very simple! Just an old settee, and a few wreaths attached to the wall and voilĂ  you have it! Maybe a pretty thermometer, garden signs, old garden gate, mirror or an old clock out there. It can be anything your imagination comes up with.

Lastly, and I'm almost embarrassed to show you mine after all those beautiful ones above, it can be something as simple as your paint brushes. Since we've moved from a large home to a much smaller one, storage space - actually, just "space" - has been a problem. I'm having to be more creative so here is what I'm doing with some of my things. I just strew them about the house as adornments. This area needs some foliage and it will get it when I get time(!), but I've always been an advocate of "hiding in plain sight." This is an example - my paint brushes and our scripture markers. Placing them in beautiful cups or candleholders and just setting them on an end table (which, btw, is actually an old Marine Corps field desk that opens up to reveal old reel-to-reel tapes and stereo equipment) covered with a scrap of an old damask tablecloth. If you were to look at the back you'd see a cut edge where I used part of it for a pillow!

And The Winner Is....................

I pulled a name out of the hat and that name is "Celeste"! Congratulations, Miss Beazy's mom! Now I can send everything to you at one time, sweetpea.

Sunday, January 27, 2008

A Teacup for a Prize!


It's time for a give away! So here are the rules:
You have to leave me a comment on this post.
Then I put your name in a pretty roses teacup.
If your name is picked you WIN!
How much easier can it be than that?
Oooooh, and the prize?! Well, you're looking at it. An Old Country Roses teacup filled with pretty greenery and roses and organza ribbon attached to make it ready to hang over your kitchen sink or some place in your little romantic cottage. That's it. Just be sure and comment on THIS post. Oh, one thing more..... you have to live in the U.S. to win. I do not ship internationally.

What's for Dinner and Why Are You Photographing My Food?!

Okay Okay, men don't understand these things! I wanted to post my recipe for spanish rice. So being very visual I wanted a picture of it so others could see how good it is. We have this frequently because it is so good and so quick. Soooooo, I made it while hubby went to a meeting. He called to say he was on his way home so I dished it up. Then I had to photograph it, of course. DUH!! He just looked at me and asked why are you photographing my dinner? I told him it was for my recipe that I'm posting on my blog. Then he started laughing while saying, "You're posting our dinner on your blog?!" Wrong thing to say with that kind of attitude to a post menopausal woman! I made him wait until I did 10 shots of it and then said "dig in"! Hah, that'll teach him to mess with me. Hey, I don't think they truly understand about blogs, selling on ebay or WOMEN truly.

Anyhoooooo, here is a picture and my really good recipe. Dessert comes next.
*
1 cup of rice
2 tblsps of butter
1/2 pound of hamburger
1/2 onion
1/2 tsp of New Mexico chili powder
1/2 tsp of pasilla chili powder
some chopped red bell pepper
1 can of diced tomatoes with just juice - NOT the italian diced tomatoes
1 - 1/2 cups of water
*
Brown onion and hamburger in sauce pan with butter. Then put in rice and brown it a bit also. Then throw in the red bell pepper. Add 1 and 1/2 cups of water and one 15 oz can of diced tomatoes - regular with just the juice, NOT the italian spice tomatoes. Put in the chili powders (this may be adjusted to your own tastes). Stir it all together, let it boil and then simmer for about 25-30 minutes. Yummmmmm.......
One pan to clean, fast and easy!!! What more could you want? Women understand when the "one pan" and "easy" thing.


*
Strawberry shortcake was for dessert. I made the shortcake from scratch, added some luscious strawberries with whipped cream and then photographed it. He still doesn't understand why I had to photograph the dessert! Will they never learn?! DUH....you photograph the main course you have to photograph the dessert also!


For Celeste, Katie, Amy the Princess, Sharon & Vickie

Miss Katie's wish is my command. She requested that I show her picture of her old home in the city:

"This is a picture of me in front of our previous home
in the city. It was a typical tract home. I thought
Connie might like to post it here, after showing the
cottage doors. The yellow blossoms I'm standing under
are from the climbing rose called Lady Bank's Rose.
It eventually trailed up and over the entire carport
edge. Far right was my lilac bush. Living in the
country we now have about 14 lilac bushes! Katie"
***

I found these pictures in an old book and each one brought to mind a certain person in our PRH group. All beautiful and wonderful chicks if I do say so myself. ;-) Anyway, I'll tell you why below:


Here we have what I thought looked like Celeste's Miss Beasley, who follows Celeste around from morning till night and sometimes beyond! While this doesn't look anything like Celeste's bedroom, I'm sure she would appreciate the look but most assuredly the "puppy" lounging on the flower strewn bed. Yo, Miss Beasley, do ya hear us talkin' 'bout ya??!!
***


Katie is brought to my mind when I see this desert oasis above. Katie and Bob work diligently in the arid desert of Nevada to make it lush and productive. You should hear what she has planted on those 2 acres. Trees, rose bushes, flowers, vegetables, grapes, goats, cats, doves. Plus they live off a lot of the stuff. It's Katie's dream spot but they make it better and better each year.
***


While this isn't especially victorian, it "smacks" of it and another style also - shabby chic. This is for Sharon, who loves all things antique. Plus she can wear the most wonderful hats and lets those sweet cheeks smile up at ya! She is a true beauty and is married to a sweetheart of a man. We love her even though she has skin we ALL lust for!

Vickie would also love this. She has a "sofa of many different colors" that we all love also. But recently she had a catastrophe in her family and when she went to help out she became very ill. She's back with us now but not up to her usual self. We love her immensely and her sofa, of course. A real treat for us to have Vickie.
***

The rest of these pictures are for Princess Amy, our "munchkin mom of 5 boys"!! Amy is a petite thing raising 5 boys and one "football sized hubby." She's the only feminine part of that family and she loves Victoria's Secret and PINK! I KNOW she would love this bathroom to soak in a bubble bath like a princess. :-)
***


I have no doubt that she'll catch the meaning of this picture - vintage and bunnies!
***

Bunnyrose Amy would adore this kitchen also. She's a frou frou-y kinda chick!
***

Same with this living room in a cottage. She'd adore it!
***

Personally I love this room with all its sunlight, high windows and PINK. But Amy would love it also. I thought of her when I saw this one also.
*************