Every December… the magazines, newspaper and television shows are loaded with New Year’s Resolution(s). Most of them have to do with dieting, exercise and lifestyle choices. I am one of those people who not only vow to do all my resolutions, I always manage to fall […]
I went to Italy. It was summer. Everyone says don’t go in summer. It was hot. They are having a heatwave. The heat has been likened to hell. There were millions of tourists from everywhere. It was a sea of people. Everyone said learn […]
After finishing my last blog I realized we hadn’t actually chosen a container! I think I addressed the size portion of an arrangement but now onto the choosing the container and where to find it. First things first. No, you can’t use an old FTD glass floral vase that you got roses in for Valentine’s Day last year. This arrangement is going to be part of your décor. It sets the mood for your table, it completes the look of a room and it is an expression of your home. It matters.
Take a honest look at your room and your décor. Do you love where you are with your décor? Or, “Are you ready for a change?” Change is usually progressive for most people. The only time it is all at one time is new house or total redecorating. Let’s say you want something new in a centerpiece and want update? Where to look for ideas? Magazines, catalogs and Pinterest is a good start. Look at the containers of the arrangements you like.
Florals is a good place to be a little trendy, make your look more updated and fresher. Containers fall into a few categories: Vases, Urns, Planters, Pots, Baskets and The Unique! The nice thing about silk and faux arrangements is the container doesn’t have to hold water. This is a big plus.
Urns and Vases are good for tall arrangements, Planters and pots are great for succulents and more natural arrangements. Baskets are for more casual and country arrangements. The Unique is for people who want a conversation piece. A showstopper!! I have made arrangements in soup tureens, champagne buckets, baby buggies, vintage toy trucks, grape hod (look it up!), trophies, commode bowls and even an antique bathtub Your imagination is unlimited.
Let’s say this is what you have decided on. I would probably say you would want a planter or a pot. With succulents and modern updated arrangements. the simpler the container the better. I would pick an earth tone color such as brown or green. A neutral color such as grey or cream. But if you are the “Unique” you could bring in a bright color contrast with your room too.
Grey is the new black right now. Great accent colors for grey are yellow. turquoise and red. Organics work well with succulents too. Such as containers shaped like sea shells or artistic freeform pots. Be open minded.
Sometimes people start with the container first as I stated above. It was inherited, a gift or a whimsical purchase. You need to put the container on the table and leave it there for awhile. See if it works or not. Sometimes ornate pots are better used as accent pieces than as actual containers. Meaning: Empty is better in combination with other décor.
Let’s go shopping!!
I always start at a thrift store or a consignment store. They have great containers at great prices. Did you find a container that you like the shape but not the color?
Spray paint it!! Spray paint is fabulous now. Go to Home Depot, to the paint department, they will help you. No luck? Next up Home Goods or TJ Maxx. Great prices!! And now you know you can paint just about anything. Still try craft stores. Hobby Lobby is great. Michaels has good baskets.
The thrift stores you can’t return but everyone else you can if you save your receipt. In other words, buy more than one and try it on your table. Live with it a couple of days. Then you will know if it is the right container for you.
Remember to have fun and tell a story.
Next blog:
Silk Flowers: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
Alright!! You have made the decision that you need a new centerpiece for your table. It was a tough call, but in the end that bowl of potpourri with rubber bands and candy wrappers mixed in just wasn’t cutting it anymore! Now the question is, […]
I am a bad listener at times. Especially, when I think that some action is required from me. I know. Bad listener and self serving! But, over the years, when I have been able to use the excuse, ” I don’t remember hearing that!!??” […]
I am starting my blog over again.
I have discovered I needed to change direction.
I have decided to live where I live.
No big deal. Right?
I am going to discover my life. Where I live, how I live, who I live with and what lives inside me.
I am a snob.
I grew up in Newport Beach. I loved living there. I really never left. I love the beach. I love beach people. I love beach restaurants. I love summer. My husband moved us to Escondido (Inland) for one year, 35 years ago. I should of caught on sooner that we weren’t going back to Newport Beach. Every chance I got I would head to the coast. If I couldn’t go to Newport, I would head to Carlsbad or Del Mar or Oceanside. Lunch or Shop or Just Live! My passion is VINTAGE EVERYTHING!!! I have had 3 antique booths in recent years, all at the coast. One in Solana Beach, one in Carlsbad and one in Oceanside. Now all closed.
I live in Escondido. I have to start living in Escondido. When and where did I have this epiphany? Simple. Really simple. It happened on the 78 Eastbound at 4:00pm on a Tuesday. The traffic was going no where fast. It gave me time to reflect on some of my life choices. It took me an hour and twenty minutes to get home the exact same time it used to take me to drive to Newport. I had just finished working at my booth in Carlsbad. I wasn’t doing financially well there. It wasn’t their fault. I rarely went. I wasn’t excited. I wasn’t part of their community. I wasn’t part of any community. This isn’t home, this isn’t where I live.
I live in Escondido and I need to start living and find my community. If they
will have me. This epiphany happened right before Christmas. I made the conscious decision to do all my Christmas shopping in Escondido. I started with small independent stores and discovered all these great stores. I work in Escondido at a beautiful store called Canterbury Gardens. I worked there for 30 years. It is an independent store too. I work where I live but I never really committed to my community. This blog is going to be about everything but mostly about connecting with my surroundings, the handmade, the repurposing, the reliving, the reset button in my life.
The next step has been that I have opened a small antique booth and jewelery case at Urban Barn. I have been there about 6 weeks and I love it. The Urban Barn is fabulous and such a fun place to be. And the Urban Barn is Escondido. 5 minutes from my house I am going all the time. Talking to people. Getting involved. My husband is helping me too!! Which has been great!! And guess what?? I don’t have to worry about getting on the freeway.
Escondido doesn’t have a beach but I am really looking forward to living here.
My journey begins.
Cindy
I have been very lazy about writing my blog. I really don’t know why…. it is especially annoying because I have a lot on my mind. Tomorrow is Father’s Day. I always find Father’s Day gifts a problem for my husband, Don. We have three […]
Once upon a time, I had a very magical visit to Louisiana. It started off with going to my daughter Jackie’s college graduation from LSU and spending time with her and my two granddaughters, Kaylee age six and Farrah age ten. These are very magical […]
I have had a love affair with Easter my whole life. How is it possible not to love a holiday where you get a new dress and eat as much chocolate as you can? I am a child of the 1960’s and Easter was very differently celebrated than it is now. We actually had fun on Easter. I know it is a religious holiday and we went to church on holidays. I am not proud of this fact but it is true. Our Easter actually started the week before when school let out for Easter Break. Easter Break was always the week before Easter.
The last day of the holiday was Easter Sunday. Now, it is called Spring Break and every school celebrates it at a different time. It must be very difficult for parents to figure all of this out. It is bad enough to have to figure out when Easter falls on the calendar anyways! From my understanding, with a lot of help from Wikipedia, Easter is the first Sunday after the first full moon following the March Equinox. Sooooo, that means Easter will be somewhere between March 22 and April 25. In the world of retail we would like to put forth a fixed date like Thanksgiving and say the 3rd Sunday of April would be perfect!! We need a holiday in April. We have St. Patrick’s Day in March. March does not need Easter… The kids were just out for President’s Week in late February and so they really do not need a break yet! I really feel we were gypped as kids because we got President’s Weekend not Week? Of course, this is now called Ski Week and has nothing to do with Washington and Lincoln. I digress!! Sorry!! Easter meant coloring eggs, Easter Egg Hunts, New Clothes, Easter Baskets filled with candy, watching Judy Garland in “The Easter Parade”, Ham with Cloves, Deviled Eggs, and finally The Easter Bunny!!
Coloring Eggs
I love coloring and decorating eggs. I did this with my Mom and my Grandma Bernice and brother Brett. I carried this tradition on with my kids too. There are two types of colored eggs. The first is hard boiled eggs that are dyed and used in The Egg Hunt. Heaven knows why? Due to the fact is you do not find all the eggs they can stink to high heaven in a few days. The second type is the eggs that we blew out the raw egg and decorated them and hung them on a Easter Tree that was made out of a Manzanita branch jammed in a pot. My Mom would boil the eggs and let them cool. Mom bought a egg coloring kit that included color tablets and a wire holder and the box became the drying rack. She would make a different color in separate bowls using water, the color tablet and vinegar. Sounds simple enough. We would double dip to get different colors. Mostly, we ended up with some shade of gray from too much dipping. Sometimes the eggs were cracked and the dye bled on to the egg and my Mom used these eggs for Deviled Eggs. It never stopped anyone from eating them all up! The tree eggs were my favorite. It was hard work to blow out the eggs and we broke a lot of eggs too. but after they were colored my Grandma Bernice would bring over bits of lace and ribbons that she would have left over from her sewing projects and we would decorate the eggs and hang them from our Easter Tree. I have 4 precious eggs left from that time. I colored and decorated eggs with my kids too. I hope that they will decorate eggs with their kids too.
Easter Baskets
In our neighborhood growing up (Newport Beach), we had a Gilbert’s 5 & Dime Store. At Easter they had ready made Easter Baskets. They were glorious to behold! The baskets were always on the top shelves where they were safe from little kids hands. We would go into Gilbert’s and dream of having a store bought Easter Basket. They were so perfect. Wrapped in clear plastic with a huge blue, pink, yellow, or purple bow. Every kid dreamed of finding that Easter Basket with their name on it on Easter Morning. My younger brother Brett ruined every holiday fantasy figure for me including the Easter Bunny. So early on I knew it was my Mom who made our Easter Baskets. She recycled the baskets every year. It was hard to believe the Easter Bunny would bring the same basket every year. My Mom has a healthy no nonsense side to her. Our plastic eggs would be filled with underwear instead of jellybeans. She would give us paperback books instead chocolates galore. We always did get a solid chocolate bunny from See’s Candy. My Grandma Bernice always brought a communal basket chock full of candy to make up for the underwear….
Easter Egg Hunt
This was held at the park. Everyone contributed to the hunt. No one ever got sick except from eating too much candy. Everyone had fun. The youngest kids got a head start, followed by the next age group until everyone was running around grabbing eggs. My kids did the same thing. They had a blast too. These are important memories. I worry sometimes if we don’t give our kids enough freedom just to be kids. Our parents let us eat whatever we wanted that day. The sun was always shining on Easter and the flowers were always blooming.
Easter Dinner
My Mom sets a beautiful table. If you can’t set a beautiful table for our families, who is it for? I love a beautiful table. I am lucky that at my work I get to set many tables. Beautiful tables for every season but I love the tables that I set for my loved ones. As you all know I am a china freak. I love dishes. If I ever got to meet Martha Stewart, I would ask to see all of her dishes. Martha is a china freak too! My Easter dishes are Spode Aster which I mix with Duncan Miller fancy depression glass and a bunch of vintage accessories. I love to have bunnies and eggs on the table. Your table should tell a story, a love story for the people who sit around it. I love favors for everyone and I make them edible most of the time. I want to create memories as my Mom made for me and brother. I hope the tradition will continue with my kids. Just in case they forget we always eat ham, asparagus, scalloped potatoes, deviled eggs, jello salad (I love Jello!) and strawberry pie for dessert. Happy Easter.
PS Easter Grass
I always find Easter Grass at Christmas and Pine Needles at Easter. Funny huh??!!
I have wanted to go to the Tucson Gem Show for years. My boss and friend Al, has asked me to go every year but I have had an excuse lamer than the dog ate my homework! This year he went ahead and made […]
