EASY TABLE SCAPE

     I put together this easy tablescape last week.  It's perfect for right now --since summer is winding down and it's still a bit early for fall décor. 

I started with a lovely linen cloth that is actually upholstery fabric I got from Hobby Lobby.  Then I used two eucalyptus garlands I got a few years ago at Target-Hearth and Hand.  I pulled out almost all of my brass candle sticks.  I have a lot!  They were popular wedding gifts when we got married. I used white tapers in the candle sticks.  Last, I set the table with vintage silverplate-Adoration.  Ironstone dishes and faux wood chargers also from Hobby Lobby.  The napkins came from Belk.  

Christmas Angels

I thought I would share some of my Christmas decorations with you today.      I have been working to get our home ready for the holidays--I'll bet you've been busy, too! My mantel in our family room is one of the first areas I decorate each year.

My sister-in-law started painting several 

years ago and she now paints these beautiful angels.  

As soon as I saw her angels, I knew I would 

want to design my mantel 

decorations around her beautiful art.

I tucked the angels in among the pieces of 

greenery that I had arranged on the mantel. 

I used this carpenter's ruler to make a star.

 I added a string of white lights to the greenery.

I use a few of the red and green ornaments

 that go on our tree to complete the look.

I hope you've enjoyed my decorations!

Joining the Party:

House on the Way's Twirl and Take a Bow



Coastal Charm's Show and Share


Flower Patch Farm Girl's All Things Christmas 

Mod Vintage Life

Between Naps on the Porch"s Metamorphis Monday

The Scoop at Confessions of a Plate Addict

Savvy Southern Style Wow Wednesdays

French Country Cottage's Feathered Nest Friday

Pumpkins on the Patio

It's a beautiful fall day here in Alabama. 
That means temperatures in the 80's.  What a nice day to enjoy my terra cotta pumpkins on the porch.  It's too warm for a fire, but I'm enjoying this area of my yard without the benefit of the flames.

 There's a little breeze blowing so it's quite nice this afternoon.

 

 

I have planted a few pansies for when we have cooler weather.

 

 

I'm ready Halloween--

it will be here before we know it.

 

 

Now have you seen these at your local Wal-Mart? 

 Yes!  It's a vintage-style olive bucket planter! 

It's not as tall as my genuine olive bucket, so it is

perfect for the pot of mums that came with the bucket.

Aren't they just wonderful together?

Just right for enjoying on a fall afternoon.

 

 

I have a pot of rosemary on the table between the two chairs. 

 I love the smell of rosemary--so relaxing!

The comfy cushions are from World Market.

 

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Joining the Party at:


 

The Scoop at The Farmhouse Porch






Nifty Thrifty Tuesday with Coastal Charm


I've Joined THE CLUB

     Are you a member of a club?  You might have been in some clubs when you were growing up. You know....Girl Scouts where you were 10 years old, the Math Club in junior high,  or the Newspaper Club in high School.  But are you in any clubs now?  As an adult, I belong to several clubs.  You know, the type.  Someone writes a letter of recommendation and then the memebership votes on you.  You do community service projects and volunteer at a school.

     Well, I decided I wanted to join a club.   But, it's not like any of the clubs I mentioned above.  It's a BLOGGER CLUB.   Yep! I just put myself up for membership and gave myself permission to join.  If you're a Blogger, you might already be a member of this club.  You don't have to wait to be invited to join.  You just join. Isn't that fun?!!  You decide and then join.  So that's what I decided to do, I joined THE CLUB.

     I decided to join this club.  The Demijohn Club.  I had seen three beautiful demijohns recently at a local antique store.  One was very large and very pretty, in good condition, but too big for me.  The other two were better sizes for my purpose and both were in great condition.  I'd visited the two smaller ones several times, and then the other morning, only one small and the larger demijohn were left.  I finally decided to join THE CLUB.  So, here's  my demijohn making it's first appearance in our home.
     This is the way our great room mantel looked after clearing out Christmas. I like the new addition to the mantel. What do you think?

Here is the demijohn in it's new home.

     I also joined another club a few weeks ago, but I haven't gotten to mention my membership until just now. Yes, I've joined another BLOGGER CLUB. It's the Vintage Grain Sack Club. I was in an antique/flea market in another town a few weeks ago and I found this vintage grain sack. I was SHOCKED. I mean, completely surprised. I'd seen lots of pictures of them on various blogs, but when I saw them in person, I wasn't really sure... I took a iphone picture and sent it to a blogger buddie and I even said, "I think it's a grain sack."    DUH.   I was so shocked to find a dozen of them here-- in Alabama! The prices were great $36 and I asked and received a discount at the register which made it $32. I think I did okay on my purchase. I like that this one has an initial sewn on it.

After Christmas coffee table with the runner my grandmother made.

Here is the grain sack on our coffee table. 

     I like being in these two clubs.  I'm not ready to paint my furniture or go neutral with my color scheme, but, I'm enjoying making updates that I appreciate and enjoy.  I'd recommend you to join either club.  I'll even write you a letter of recommendation.

Are you a memeber of a club?  I'd love to hear your story!

Joining the Party at:



 

WOW at Savvy Southern Style

Cowgirl Up Link Party

My Favorite Room

     I know a lot of bloggers share their favorite rooms in their homes.  I thought I would share my favorite room with you today. 

My favorite room in our home is our formal living room. I'm an old school gal, and I love our formal living room.  I love it for many reasons.  It has family pieces of furniture as well as new pieces.  It is always calm and quiet in this space.  It is ALWAYS clean.  But one of the other reasons that I love this room is that it turned out EXACTLY the way I had envisioned it in my mind.  You see, I had the room decorated in my mind BEFORE we broke ground for the house.  I had almost all the furniture for this room before we even began to build our home (family pieces).  And then, YES, I actually bought the sofa and two chairs to go there BEFORE we broke ground.  This may sound crazy to you, but it just worked out perfectly for us. 

I love to come in here and talk on the phone. 

The room is always waiting to greet company and make

 guests feel welcome to our home. 

I'm glad you're here for the tour!

Let's start the tour with the sofa table. 

I received this pair of matching cloisonne' jars for Christmas many years ago.



To the right of the sofa table is this chest.  It is new and I love it in this space. I bought the chest after we moved in.  I had admired the round mirror at a friend's home and when she prepared for a move and wanted to sell it, I was happy to make the purchase.  I selected the Blue Willow plates at an antique store.  They weren't very busy that day and the dealer had a good number of different sized pieces, so I just made arrangements on the floor using different sized plates.  These are the ones that I thought would look best in this spot with the mirror (they looked good on the floor, too).

Here is one of the two chairs that I purchased before we started building our home.

I love this picture above the fireplace.  The curved top of the frame makes this picture.  I've seen the same print in a square frame and it just didn't look quite so nice. 

An antique fireplace screen and tools that belonged to my great aunt finds their home in this room. 



The second of the two chairs along with one of two tables that I have in my home that belonged to my grandmother. 

This is the remaining vase from a pair that sat on the mantel of my aunt's home.  One day, a squirrel came down the chimney and ran around in the room and it caused the ruin of several family pieces before exiting.  The mate to this vase was lost that day (along with several other items).  I usually like squirrels......

Moving along to the next wall, you'll find this marble top table (a family piece) along with a portrait of my daughter when she was four.

Here's another view of the table.  It has ornately carved legs.

I love this hand-painted pitcher.  It was in the same room with the squirrel, but escaped injury!

I couldn't resist this little antique chair that I bought years ago.  I wish it could tell me the story of its life.  It is English, I believe, and the stories are bound to be interesting.

And now the sofa (bought prior to building) and the coffee table (I refinished the coffee table-from my great aunt's home).

The view from the sofa.

The pillow I needle pointed goes perfectly here, I think.

Here's a view of the room. 

 We don't have any window treatments except for the plantation shutters that were painted white to match the trim in the room.  I thought I would make drapes, but decided I liked the windows the way they are with just the shutters.

Thank you for taking a tour of my favorite room!
I love all the neutrals that I see in Blogland and I do appreciate them, but this room was decorated (BB) before blogs. I wonder what it would look like if I was building and decorating our home today?  I don't think I could paint my family pieces with ASCP, so
I'm glad I love this room!

Joing the party with:

Savvy Southern Style WOW

 

Tuesdays Treasures

 

Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson