LOVE ... Branches in the House

Easter Gifts

Easter is such a wonderful time of year. Not only does it have significant social, historical, and religious significance, it's the first true since of spring in our region, and it makes it a perfect time to share gifts of spring with friends and family.

I'm blessed to have so many wonderful friends, near and far, but I have a special group of friends who live only footsteps away. They're the most wonderful group of women, mothers, daughters, sisters, and friends that I could ever hope to have ... and what's better - they love to decorate, garden, and shop. Heaven!

When I first met this group of wonderful ladies, I had endured a long and lonely winter. Scott was in Texas, and I was here, with Abby (as beautiful and loving as she is) alone. I hadn't found it easy to make friends when snow piled up by the foot, and people hunkered down in their homes, or made only quick trips bundeled in coat over coat in and out of stores. These ladies were a generous breath of life and joy that spring (Easter) brought to me after that long, harsh winter alone. So to commemorate our Spring time meeting a little more than 2-years ago, I put together a couple of gifts for them - and thought you might like to put together a few of them to share with your friends, too!

Things you'll need:

1. A planter/pot: plastic, terracotta, concrete, decorative, plain - doesn't matter.

2. A planters trowel, or shovel.

3. Brown paper craft/lunch bags.

4. A mixture of Miracle Grow potting soil, Miracle Grow Seed Starter Mix, and some plant and flower food.

5. Decorative Paper, Ribbon, and natural or colored burlap with jute twine.

6. A packet of seeds.

First, put an even mixture of dirt and seed starter mix into the brown paper craft/lunch bag. Fill the bag up 3/4 of the way, enough to fill an average sized 6-8" pot. Then sprinkle plant and flower fertilizer pelets into the mixture.

Next, take your burlap and cut into strips the width of the paper bag. Make them long enough (about 1 yard) to go around the bag completely and tie at the top with the jute twine. Place the bag into the pot. (The burlap will not cover the bag completely - only the widest sides, leaving the paper to be seen.)

Then use a 24" piece of ribbon to thread through the hole of the gardening trowel, or shovel, and tie at the end - so that the trowel could be hung from hooks after gardening from the ribbon. Place the trowel behind the burlap wrapped bag of soil mixture, and fill the front with seeds and instructions for planting printed on decorative paper to coordinate with your ribbon.

And there you have it - a simple, inexpensive way to greet Spring and pass along a little Easter cheer! Hope you all have a wonderful Easter!

A Lamp that Shines

Well, in my opinion, and it may just be because I was the creator of said "Shining" lamp, I am marking this a successful Artie creation.

With the base created, (4- corner discs for baseboard molding along with 1- 1/4" piece of pine) and the driftwood mounted, the only decision is what color the base should be. Stained? Painted? Upholstered? You be the judge.

I'm absolutely in-love with the finial. I created this from a cut piece of driftwood, drilled to fit the screw attached to the harp. (Don't mind that alarm clock in the corner - I quickly cleaned off the table top for these pictures!)

One of a kind, no? And do you like the openess of the base? It begs to be a different color, but what? It will belong to one of you once it's finished, so it's only natural that you have a vote. So, to paint, or to stain? that is the question!

Taming of the Vine

It's October, and the winds are changing. At night, in most areas of the country you're feeling that autumn chill, the leaves are turning ripe harvest colors of warm pumpkin, cinnamon, and honey, and the smell of homemade soups and chili's fill the air of almost every household. Yes, fall is upon us, a time for hay bale rides, fall festivals, harvest parties, mums, pumpkins, fallen leaves, trick-or-treaters, and decorating.

Confession: I have rarely decorated for fall. When we lived in Texas, there didn't seem to be a "fall" season, and even though the stores carried pumpkins, those were mostly for carving, as the temperatures could still be in the 90's, and pumpkins simply wouldn't keep.

Now that we live in New York, the change of seasons has inspired me to make a few decorating changes to the outside and inside of our 1920's bungalow, not before tending to the garden Scott and I planted in the yard this summer:

Now that everything has started to, or completely died back for the fall, I have been waiting to cut the Dahlia's and pull the bulbs, re-cut the bed, and lay hay over the root system of the new trees, all of this after I tame a wild grape vine growing in the corner.

So snip-snip, and it's gone - well, most of it anyway. And what better use for it than in a wreath perfect for my fall decorating ideas? I pulled it all out to the driveway, and got my tools ready: an old pot, a pair of scissors, twine, and time.

Eventually, after tying knots about 22 times, I ended up with something that resembled a small, but very green wreath.

So, now what? I know - the suspense! Scott, "Margaret", Melissa and I went to the market this morning and I decided to buy my decorating pumpkins. Slightly early, I know, but I am decorating our company's new development for a meeting Monday, and I thought a fall theme would fit the bill. So after the market, I spent the early afternoon shopping for fall accessories, faux winter berry garland, cornucopias, that kind of thing! So pumpkins, mums, and pansy's, square copper pots and faux winter berry garland leads us where?

Why this of course! Our very own pumpkin topiary, or pumpkin snow-man, as a neighbor boy riding his bike called it.

"What are you takin' pictures of?" he asked.

"My fall decor" I replied.

"Why did you make it look like Snowmen?" he wondered.

I shook my head - "They're not snowmen, they're topiary!"

"What's a topiary?" he questioned.

"Ummm, it's a plant that is trained to grow on an object, or an obelisk,"

"A who?" he interrupted.

"An obelisk - you know what, ask your mom ... she'll know!"

I sure hope he pronounces it obelisk.

And here we are: the end.

Finally, the Bookcase - Revealed

Well, here it is, the "final" product. I know you're thinking, final ... in quotations?, but I am always changing things, and rarely am I ever happy with something it's first time around. Therefore, it's final for now, or "final".

Remember the beginning:

"How could you let it get like that, Artie?"

"Note to self : Buy Swiffer!"

"Channelling the inner Bob Villa"

"So Pretty in White."



"Even Prettier in Clay!"

"And the books go back, this time - in color order."

And the "final" look.

Books, Books, and more ... yes, BOOKS!

I read somewhere that being able to multi-task is not the sign of an efficient worker, rather the sign of someone who is overwhelmed by too much. I thought at the time, "Who writes this junk!?", but as I contemplate brick patio ideas while organizing books in the new bookcase by color, singing along to music from the blog, and eating dinner I wondered, maybe they were right!

When we take on too many projects, are we doomed to complete them with less accuracy, less dedication, less enthusiasm than we would otherwise?

Take the bookcases: while trying to complete the many other tasks before me, I tried to change lack-luster, (for the lack of a better word:) busted bookcases into something substantial, beautiful, custom. All the while I was working hard at my "real" job, fall cleaning the yard and house, blogging, oh and changing the lay out of the blog. (How do you like it?)

Now, I'm not complaining but I wonder if I had taken the time to work solely on the bookcases, would they be done by now? Would the crown molding have worked out better? Would ALL of the books have fit in the shelves? "... not the sign of an efficient worker". Maybe they are right.

At any route, I hope that my less efficient style gives my readers and friends joy, and as these past few blogs have been, this one is no different. For your eyes only: ANOTHER bookcase update.

I decided that it would probably be better for me to put the books in the bookcase before faux finishing the outside of the piece for two reasons. (1) I wanted to see how much of the clay color was prominent in the back of the bookcase. Had it been too much, my planned faux finish wouldn't have worked. (2) The finish is a series of finishes, and will be delicate. I don't want to risk nicking it with a book and having to re-do the entire piece because of the lighter/darker shades that would occur in fixing one spot.

I organized them by color, and I have to say, I'm a fan of the color-code organizing. There are 446 books in that unit, and it doesn't look cluttered. Well, not to me anyway.

I used some over sized kilim floor pillows we got in Turkey for the top, and books in the center. These are the books that wouldn't fit in the bookshelf because of the large opening left for the television.

I plan on painting the first glazing product on tomorrow morning before I leave for work, as it takes about 4 hours to set up. Once I get home, I'll have no problem painting over it, and then by Wednesday - as promised - I can rub on the final glaze, and then wax for the finished look. I know you're all anxious - but don't wait til' the big reveal to leave a comment. Tell me what you think about it thus far, is it better/worse than the original picture I painted?

A Bookcase Update, Part Duex

This weekend was very nice, a time to reflect and relax. I didn't push to get too much done, but took time to enjoy the things I did do. It's not often that I do that. In fact, my weekends are usually filled with double-booked appointments; an attempt to do all that I can't do during the week.

This weekend however, I was challenged by my good friend Margaret to let go of the date book, and go with her to market. So, I did. Margaret, Melissa, Dorothy and I ventured to the Farmers Market early Saturday morning, coffee in hand. I had never been to anything like it. Food and wares: fruit, vegetables, mums and pumpkins, bread and apples, cider and wine. It was fantastic! I borrowed a little bag from Melissa and passed vendor by vendor until I gathered my bounty:

Sweet white fleshed plums, garlic, (for Scott's recipes) Asian pears, mixed color sweet peppers, eggplant, yellow squash and green onions. I also picked up fresh apple cider and strawberries. I meant to take pictures at market, but that proved difficult as I dropped my camera in the fumble to get everything ready before we left. Since, all pictures have been a little blurred.

The rest of the day I played with faux finish selections for the bookcase. After choosing one, I went home to take a nap and get ready for a play Margaret and I had tickets for later in the evening. Needless to say, there wasn't much time at all spent on the bookcase Saturday.

I did work on it all day today, though, and I think you'll be happy with the progress! I attached the crown molding - quite the struggle, and then primed most of the piece:



The larger opening in the center is for a television. As a rule, I wouldn't normally worry about having a television in the guest room, but Scott often has a hard time staying asleep, and will lay in the guest room with the television on so as not to disturb me.

When I first started working with the idea of moving the bookshelves to the bedroom, and creating this "library bookcase" I talked to Gollum about paint color. Her dining room, Porter's Rich Clay is a beautiful color that I simply adore. Together, she and I thought that it would be a great color to use on the bookcase.

Thankfully Gollum was nice enough to give me the code from the top of her paint can, since we have no Porter's or Porter's distributor here. I had the color mixed in a Ralph Lauren paint at Home Depot.


Beautiful, no? I've been a fan of all of the uses Gollum found for her Clay color throughout her lovely home, and I decided to be a bit of a copy cat. Thank you Gollum!

So, as a reminder of where we started:



And where we are:

Now, the piece won't stay like this. Well, not all of it anyway. I have plans for faux finishing which will start to take place tomorrow, and will hopefully be finished late tomorrow evening. Then I'll begin sorting books and by Wednesday, I hope that I can share with you the finished product!

And Congratulations JessicaTaryn, our Calico Corners Contest Winner! Jessica will be the recipient of the $200 Gift Certificate Code, redeemable Online. Thank you everyone who participated. I was overjoyed by the response to the contest, and the entries were just wonderful! I look forward to several more contests like this one, so keep your eye out!

A Bookcase Update

Many of you have left comments wondering about the status on the bookcases, some even hoping that they were finished. I'm sorry to report, they are in the same condition as where we left them when we closed the first post about them.

Life, health, and work got in my way, so I've had a bit of a hard time getting in there to finish them up. You'll be happy to know, however, that the primer and filler was purchased last night, and I plan on working on them most of the day Saturday, with a hopeful finish of the painting (faux and all) by Monday.

In the mean time, I thought you might like to take a peak at my research on bookshelf organization. I read somewhere, possibly a blog some time ago, that organizing books in a color order is the "new" or "latest" craze. Although it would certainly take some time, after finding these clever and colorful examples, I'm rather intrigued.

I have to admit that I'm not a great fan of this particular bookshelf, but the organization of it is really nicely done, don't you think? The castle 3rd shelf down is interesting.

This looks too decorated to me. Unlike the image above, this doesn't look natural. It's almost as if all of these books were purchased to make this wall the rainbow that it is. It is beautiful, don't get me wrong, but in a forced, and rather awkward sort of way. The pink baby on the second shelf doesn't really help.

This, to me, is a better representation of color organizing in a true and natural form. These books were obviously preexisting and organized, rather than purchased to make the bookcase a feature. I'm curious though, should I shove baby toys in with the books and pretties? See the bear in the 3rd left shelf. A reoccurring theme? Castles and Baby dolls and bears - Oh MY!

My favorite of the color-coded shelves. This is chic, and sophisticated. I am a fan of the stacked book along side of the standing. The art inside of the shelves is lovely, and the little vignettes of objects (like the pitcher and vases on the bottom shelf half covered by the lovely danish modern bench, and the glass ball paperweight atop the books on the 3rd shelf). These shelves are obviously deep, and this cabinet obviously built in - but I would really love to emulate this particular look in regard to organization.

Another color coded set of shelves. I won't lie - I hate the vases of palm frawns on the top shelf. I think it's too much. Maybe if the one in the center hadn't been haphazardly placed - I don't know, this to me, looks way too showroom. But the books - here again we have the stacked book along side the standing. I'm a fan of this concept/style, and you'll certainly have that to look forward to when I post the "grand reveal"!

Now, bookcases don't have to be color coordinated to look beautiful. Recently, I've noticed a number of bookshelves where art was hung directly on the case, as if it were a wall in the room. I think the first time I saw this was on a television show - and I remember thinking, "How silly is that?! They can't access the books that way!" It hit me then that you wouldn't need to. It's for show and not function. My bookcases have to be functional, so I'd rather stick to art inside of the shelves. Here are a few of my favorite examples of art hung on bookcases:

I'm in love with this, although it would never quite work in my guest room. This french inspired room is lovely with it's checked fabric and seagrass rugs, bamboo tea table and feather reed trunks with french detail (writing). But the art on the bookshelves is what we're focusing on. I'm a fan of the triptych hanging of the shadow boxes. It looks like something sealike, maybe coral. Either way, not terribly useful, but beautiful to boot!

I don't know what it is about square shelving units - but I'm not a big fan. Maybe they are to reminiscent of the cubes I had to store my backpack, coat, and lunch bag in while I was in grade school. No matter - these are beautiful, and the art hung on them is just enough. The prints are wonderful too, no? And that sofa looks like a very cozy place to pick up a book and read a chapter or two.

Again, another not so useful design, but beautiful for sure. Remember my Will & Grace inspiration post where I thought about using bookshelves behind the bed? This is a better photo of that example. Though I find every book in the picture to be inaccessible due to the headboard, side tables, art or lamps, the look is impressive - inspiring even.

Ah, and the quintessential red lacquer bookcases. This reads more library to me with the round table and leather seated chairs. A formal room, beautiful, but stuffy. The art is wonderful, beautiful and interesting. It's age matches the "old" feeling of the room. I'm a fan of all red lacquer furniture, so this photo had to make it into the line up.

Now, I will have what I like to call "Dead Space" above the bookcases. Even beefing it up with crown molding doesn't help mask the fact that there is almost 3 feet from top of shelf to ceiling. Sometimes, in this case, what's on top of the bookcase is as important as what's in them. At least for a decorating state of mind. This happens a lot of times in kitchens, where there is a void space between the tops of upper cabinets and ceilings. So I went searching for ideas, and found a few:

Quite possibly my dream kitchen (get an eye full of that island and breakfast room chandelier), the china hutch in the attached breakfast room which looks out over the antique brick patio and outdoor fireplace boasts a basket with a spray of silk greenery. It's beautiful, not all together interesting or unexpected, but an idea.

This is a little more interesting, though very country. Atop the old Hoosier cabinet they have stacked wooden boxes and a wooden bowl. Beautiful, country, the Christmas lights have to go. Maybe I can modify this somehow?

My random thoughts of accessory items: old kilim pillows (I have so many), leather suitcases stacked upon each other, empty decorative frames, amber glass vases, even more books. Of course, editing is important. None of this would be all together. Your ideas are of course encouraged and appreciated. It may take playing to get it right, but I know it will be perfect once we work it out. Looking forward to the fun part ...