Family Room Refurbishing Part 4

Last post for the family room.

This corner here is where I've framed 2 pretty cards and fun-tacked 5 other cards that were sent to me for helping someone with their computer. (Just something I know a bit about and can help with sometimes.) She's a very famous painter and I'm not going to name drop.

You'll notice I am not a bit afraid of painting the mats "wild" colors. I love the vivid green and the caribbean blue I came up with after mixing several different colors with white for the 2 mats in this room. It adds a bit of a tropical feel to it with the little pink starfish on the ladder. I love color and am lavish in its use in my home.

The mantel contains some darling little birdhouse ornaments made by Rhea of sweetnshabbyroses and isn't doing very well physically right now. I added some white garland and bright pink and green balls to the mantel along with a little roses vase on the left and some more cupcakes on a rose plate on the far left. The little ballerina I made out of a matchbox and decorated with papers and garland. I had it for sell but it didn't sell so I get to keep it. I'll be making some more simply because I love having that kind of thing around my home. Beauty!

Here is the faux fireplace screen closer. (Click for a better view.) I added the paper roses, leaves and ribbons along with 2 small decals on the sides after painting the whole thing white.

On the right side I have a most unusual little tree I found at Goodwill but it is quite heavy and is done with wire. I have no clue what it was made for but I bought it home, painted it white and added little fabric covered eggs I bought last year after Easter when they were on sale. The roses in the little tin pot are my foray into coffee filter roses. Those are very labor intensive to do and hard to get them to look right. It wasn't worth the effort although I eventually did get a good looking one that you can see on the left of my sidebar.

On the left side of the mantel I have some more faux plants with little roses stuck in the middle. As I said, I don't care what other people think; I do what I like. I have to live in this house and that's what is important to me—what I and my hubby think of it. He thinks we need more model trains in it but that's beside the point. *Wink*

I made the one quilted ecru roses pillow on the left but the plaid one I got at JCPenney for a steal and the 2 blue toile I got at TJMaxx for $25.00 for the 2 of them and they're feather pillows. Squeeeeeeeal.

~*~

Greenhurst Nursery #15

I was telling Love Bunny last night that if I ever mention doing a series of posts with 335 photos again that he can just shoot me right then and there!! But I had to share this special place. However, I doubt very seriously that I'll do something for posting with this many photos again. It's taken an enormous amount of time to take them, edit them, decide which ones were worthy of showing, uploading them, writing text for most of them and then scheduling them all for future dates. This has to tell you how much I love blogging, chicks! It is another "passion" of mine.

An aside here:
My blog will always be a happy place - a place where it is safe to come and read, not much controversy as I see it, no ill feelings towards anyone, just a relaxing, calm, serene place to come. If you want things other than that I'd invite you to visit them on the internet where they certainly have them! But for me and this blog I want to lift people up and hope they have a joyous time reading what I write. I want it to show love and humor and happiness. That's my goal.

I also thank the nursery for allowing me to take the pix. They looked at me as if I was a bit nutty but they agreed. I had no control over lighting, it was what it was and there was nothing to be done about it but for the most part it was certainly adequate. I worked around the staff and customers, who were kind and gracious when noticing I was "shooting" pictures. But you might see a head in some of the pictures. I think it just adds to the festiveness of the whole shebang! They always got out of the way without me even commenting to them. That's how people generally are around here: kind, loving and gracious. That's why I love Idaho so much.

Cup of hot chocolate anyone? Nuuuuu, not real. Since this place sells candy it was sprinkled around the little kitchen area of the nursery. You could tell what was fake and what was real because the "real" candy had cellophane on it with an "ingredients" sticker on it. Most of the stuff was faux though. :-)

Cookie Jar and some "real" sweets!

Oh, be still my heeeartttt!! Chocolate cheesecake - my most favorite dessert of all desserts in all the whole world.....faux though. Hah

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, Jack Frost nipping at your nose.......(singing in my most melodious tones!) and cookies baking in the vintage oven.

Sparkly balls on stems.

Who would have ever thought of a "chocolate" tree?!??! Yesssssssss!!!

I showed these cupcakes to my ebay group and they asked me what they were made of. I don't know; I didn't pick them up. But they sure looked real and delish, chicks!!

Little tarts........uhhhh, the desserts, not you, my little cherubs! And little chocolate and red sparkly "peppermint" drops.......

Okay okay, so you've seen the snowman apron in another post, adjust and live with it! This is just a close up of his sweet face and mitten-hand pockets.

Ice cream cone hanging ornies, ribbon candy, banana splits, tarts and candy garlands! More to coooooooome!! Hehehe and hohohoho.......

Frosty gum drops..........

I want this clock more than you can ever imagine. It may be mine when we go back there this weekend.

Ice cream sundae hanging ornies........

Ummmmm.......wonder if this would fit around hubs' neck and I could bite it every once in a while. LOL Yep, it's a real one - cellophane and ingredient sticker, remember???? ;-)

Looks like a peppermint sweet candy but it's a pedestal cake plate.

Another pedestal cake plate, just a tad different from one above. And some bon-bons, faux, under a cloche.

Dive right in my sweets!

Lemon meringue pie hanging ornies, cupcakes, cherry pie and chocolate cake! Whoooooa......like a kid in a candy store.

This cone looks more like a yogurt instead of ice cream and then there's the pink and yellow faux cupcakes!!! Yummmm

Well, that's it for today, but I'm telling ya I'm saving the pièce de resistance for the last. However, there are more things coming with the next couple of posts that I doubt you've seen anywhere else. You think the above stuff can't be topped???? Au contraire, mes amis, oui, il peut!! Just you wait. This is the 15th in the series and there are a total of 18 so only 3 more to go after this one. It ain't over yet, my little chickees......

Greenhurst Nursery #9

We'll still be looking at some halloween stuff here. Hey, it takes a long time to go through all the pictures, edit them and make up a blog post, ya know, so just sit back and enjoy! It's gonna get to some really special stuff soon, chicks. :-)

Look at these gorgeous bulbs. I've truly never seen so many different kinds of bulbs anywhere in one place. I'm sure there are Christmas stores but none around here.

Does this say it all or what?!?!?! CHOCOLATE.......yeaaaaahhhhhhhh!!

Candy and truffles. My absolutely fav candy - TRUFFLES.

Huge cookies, too........

Another scrumptious display during the transitional period in the store.

Strawberry door mats.

A "witchy" cake or cupcake plate! Cute.....

I never knew they had "halloween" bulbs for Christmas! I guess if your fav color is orange then these are for YOU.

If course, who in the world could pass up these pink and brown stripe boxes.

I kinda like the orange, pink and purple together. I could deal with that one for a time. Orange is my least fav color though.

Okay, till next time.................... SMILE cuz I love ya chicks!! ;-)

Vignettes Can Be a Lot of Different Things

People think vignettes have to be a book and a vase of roses or something similar. Not necessarily true, chicks, although that can be quite stunning and original if taken the time to think it out "creatively." It can be anything you want it to be as long as you assemble items in one particular space - a little space with items that evoke emotion is what works best for me. Something pleasing to the eye. I've gone around my home and just photographed some little descriptive vignettes to show as examples.

A pedestal rose plate with bars of fragrant soaps - some hand painted - and some little fizzie bath hearts given to me. They are absolutely sweet smelling and fragrance my guest bathroom.

A stack of white towels in a little pink wire basket. They are in there for guest's immediate pleasure and convenience so as not to have to go rummaging around underneath the cabinets. Just a thought to the comfort of my guests and family. ;-) I have a friend with a teenage boy who is meticulous in his personal grooming and will not use a towel after someone else. So I decided to do this with him in mind. Always a fresh and scented one for that young man. He steals my heart with being so well groomed.

Some little birdhouses on my mantel - one I made and three my friend, Rhea, made. Hers are stunning and I have a lot of items from her - so many, in fact, that I may have to dedicate a room to her! ;-)

Some old vintage rusty finials on my mantel also. I love the patina and rust of these old iron objects. These don't have much verdigris on them but I especially love the verdigris on old copper objects. And, of course, the proverbial "rose" to add to their beauty. If you knew how many roses I have in this house you'd faint. I have several hundred ribbon roses, many silk roses, dozens of paper roses, millinery roses and porcelain roses. I should call this the Rose House. Well, actually some of my friends do call it that.

Starfish that I spray painted pink and sprinkled on german glass glitter. I just love the look of them on the mantle. I love "fluff" everywhere I can arrange to have it.

Even my craft paints and paint swatches from a paint store can be a vignette when arranged on a vintage old shelf with snippets of leftover lace tacked on the shelf. I think you'll have to agree it adds "color" to the place!

As simple as some vintage salt and pepper shakers painted pink and set on the shelf with paints.

Even little sachets scented with fragrance oils lined along another shelf can add not only beauty but a wonderful scent to enjoy in any room. Yes, I actually do this in every single room - living room, family room, baths, office, bedroom......every room. And these certainly add beauty to the room.

And then there are the tops of book cases that aren't really conducive to hold actual book on the top so I just put some vintage sewing drawers with CDs or DVDs in them and little boxes I've tried selling but didn't. So buyers loss is my room's gain! LOL

One of my favorite vignettes is artist paint brushes. I just love seeing all the brushes in a pretty vase or container. These are mine and I would NOT call my self an artist. I call myself a BEGINNER!! ;-)

I have a bowl on my coffee table that has some pink sea shells (I painted them pink) and I love the juxtaposition of them with the roses and faux desserts I have on there. This one below is not in my home but I think it's stunning. Just simple everyday things gathered together in one spot for a lovely vignette. Rocks in a vintage yellow bowl, starfish and old ephemera.

The roses, sea shells, starfish, a wicker basket leaning against a wall, attractive statues, a container of nails and a plate of fruit.

I liked this room when I first saw it and was drawn back to it because of the table vignette near the dormer. I also stack pictures on the floor leaning up against a baseboard. I just love the look of "high" and "low" pictures. Most people hang their pictures too high on a wall. That's fine if there are other pictures below it but the room looks out of whack if all pictures are at one level in a room and that level is 6 feet up the wall. Lower your pictures so that the lowest part of the frame is no more than 46 - 48" from the floor. It will make quite a cozy difference in the look.

More Practice Photos #3

Again, if you enlarge you can see the yarns - texture - much more clearly.

Exact same thing here. You can see each stitch more intimately. It's very difficult to get a very close up picture with a flash and especially on white. But I'll tell you a little secret that definitely helps. A filter, which can be expensive, or a piece of white clear plastic OR a piece of Scotch tape - the invisible type. Yep, that's what I've been using for a couple of days and it really does cut down on the glare of the flash. I'm soooooooo into cheap where this kind of thing is concerned. But look, it works as per my photos here. I used a piece of invisible tape and voilà, here it is without the glare and I was VERY close up.

Here too.

And here. You might have to adjust your lighting but that's easy. We'll talk about that tomorrow though.

Tad bit of glare on the ribbon but ribbon is notoriously hard to capture since it is so shiny. But as soon as I've solved that one, I'll post it here if anyone is interested. AND if I solve it!! LOL

Now, here I've "un-straightened" the picture. This I did in my iPhoto but I'm sure you have something in your photo editing program that straightens a photo. I use it all the time, but here I did just the opposite. A slight slant in the photo of this little cottage is of visual interest also.

I'm not in the least bit shy about posting my "mistakes" either. This was way too close and I didn't give the camera time to adjust as can be heard with the "whir" of the mechanism inside. Terrible picture.

This was a tad better but again the shiny satin ribbon reflects too badly.

But it worked here on the white of the clock face. I see a spot of light on the faux cookie though that I didn't catch on the iPhoto before I went to the PhotoShop Elements editing. :-(

No glare on this white plate though and those are very difficult to photograph.

I love the shabby little faux cupcakes with the vintage elegant roses plate. Then the cheap wood I painted white adds a touch of country elegance to the photo.

I am absolutely NOT a professional photographer in any way, shape or form, chickadees. I don't even pretend to be. I just want to have fun with it. I make many, many mistakes but I love doing it for blogging and selling on ebay and the selling blog. It's a hobby and not one I spend a huge amount of time in, but I believe people want to see nice clear photos when viewing photos. I think the biggest problem I see on ebay photos is that they are soooooo dark. I sometimes have to drag them to my desktop and edit them to view them properly if I want to see what I might buy.

So pull out that instruction manual and read it a little bit and maybe just on the essential things you'll be using at first. It really is very easy, chickees. Have fun with it and play around with close ups and slants!! Give it a try and you'll see a world of difference in your photos. :-)