Home Wong Nga and Black Cty: May 2010

Monday, May 31, 2010

quick and easy headboard change

over the weekend i pulled out my stash of domino magazines. i love looking through them every now and then just to see what i can find that i haven’t noticed before. i find that as time goes by i notice different details in the articles and pictures. sometimes it’s a light fixture; other times it’s a particular color.

this time i noticed a great way to make an easy change to a headboard. domino did a article in their june/july ‘08 issue about stephen elrod, vice president of design for lee jofa, and his seaside cottage. the “new to me” element in the home was the layering of throws on top of headboards in two of the bedrooms.

although i’m not crazy about the fabrics he used i do love the idea.

i thought i’d throw out some ideas of how i would pair the two.

for an upholstered look i would pair this thomas paul print slipcovered headboard with a gray chunky tassel throw from west elm.

for a seagrass look similar to the headboard in the second photo i would pair this pier 1 headboard and a suzani overlay from wisteria.

and for a darker option i like the pier one chocolate seagrass headboard with the ws home zebra stripe throw.

another great and inexpensive way to achieve this look would be to purchase a fabric remnant at your local fabric store. once you hem the edges ~~or use stich witchery~~ then you could just drape it over your headboard.

hope you all had a great long weekend. i sure did!

LiveJournal Tags: domino,ws home,headboard,west elm,stephen elrod,thomas paul,suzani,wisteria

In the shadow of roses and scampering along the path, hardy geranium 'Rozanne' is proving to be a great performer in the garden.

My plants had a difficult start as they were nibbled so badly by rabbits that only three survived. This year, with the help of a repellent with natural ingredients, the rabbits have stayed away and the geraniums are glorious.

There is another hardy geranium in the cottage garden. 'Brookside' is edging the path beneath my azaleas. Both work well for edging the paths, but 'Rozanne' is gaining ground as my favorite.

Hardy geranium (cranesbill) 'Rozanne' is rated for full to part sun in zones 5-8 and is from Blooms of Bressingham®.

The ground-covering foliage habit is perfect for hiding the fading foliage of alliums and Dutch irises. Daylilies and coneflowers also make their way through the geraniums with no problem. The mounding habit of the perennial is covered by a lovely display of dainty blooms. The flowers should repeat until frost.

I'd love to have additional plants, but with the wonderful 36 inch width, it only takes a few 'Rozanne' geraniums to edge a path!

Words and photos by Freda Cameron, Defining Your Home, Garden and Travel. All company or product or patented names mentioned are registered trademarks/copyrights/patents owned by those respective companies or persons.

From our family to yours! Hope you had a wonderful and relaxing weekend!

See you back here tomorrow!

This is a picture of the front of my house right before we closed on it. The inspector was inside looking for issues (he found many, if you remember). To the left are our Realtors, Loretta and Fitz. Center is Mr Comforts of Home.

I showed you this picture so you could see the landscaping - or lack there of. The evergreens you see in the picture were neglected and half dead. We were able to save one and move it to the back of the house.

Here is what I have been up to. Removing dead evergreens, removing sod and planting some new plants...

Above you can see the 7 Nandina's I planted. The grow about 2 feet high and 2 feet wide, so they will fill in and be just the right height. (edited to add...a couple of comments about Nandina getting HUGE...these are a DWARF variety - see the label in pics below. In the second label pic you can see that it gets to be 2 feet tall and 1-1/2 - 2 feet wide. Perfect for the space.)

I still have to add mulch. I hope to plant spring bulbs in front of the Nandina this fall.

Below you can see the left side of the front porch. I have been enlarging it and digging up sod (like I did here in the back of the house).

So as you can see, it is raining and work outside has come to a halt for a few days.

Before I end this post, I wanted to show you a wonderful piece of garden art I have had for about 6 years. I bought it at a local art fair in the area. It is a copper hummingbird and it just keeps getting better with age.

Did you ever watch the gardening show on HGTV a few years back with Rebecca Koll? I am going to borrow her saying, that she said at the end of each show.

"Get Those Hands Dirty"

Welcome Home,

Penny

Link Love #9!

For this link party, I had over 100 links, thank you so much for your participation! I went and visited all the links but I could not leave comments to everyone of you, I am sorry!

There is something really exciting happening at Tea Rose Home, over the next several months, but I can't share the details with you yet... because of them I have been swamped with many things and deadlines (because of my procedure and recovery, I couldn't do much for a week!) I had less computer time than usual.

I chose several creations to spotlight for today's link love.

Take a look at this beautiful Butterfly Lamp. Isn't this gorgeous? Very delicate, yet very colorful and fun, I just love to look at it.

I found another craft blogger who creats beautiful things! Princy n Paris shares how to make this sweet apron for a little girl on her blog. I love the details she added.

Happiness is 5ive shared picture of her entryway she finished. I love how she used the things she already had and made the entryway such a warm and inviting space.

Kristabell Burgeoning made an amazingly cute Toddler Cardigan. I made something similar to this when my first child was born, but her's are way better than mine.

House of Smith shared her Hall Way Sign. It turned out so cute! While I was visiting her blog, I saw other parts of her house, looks like she is one talented decorater too!

Adventures in Dress Making shared this clever tutorial. Using her collection of vintage handkerchiefs and accesorized plain tank. So creative!

And...I have a special category this time...I know Tea Rose Home is more geared towards, feminine, romantic, and ruffly stuff... BUT, there are other parts of me; fun loving jokester and a mother raising two rowdy boys.

I couldn't help but to post these two links that made me smile.

I named the category "Got Boys?"

You need to check this out, this is one cute t-shirt, don't you agree?

Monster Tissue Holder. My boys wouldn't care for my tissue holder, but I know they will definately LOVE this one.

Thank you sharing your creations and talents everyone!

In Memory

The Beaches and American Cemetary in Normandy, France.

Comments Are Turned Off Today.

A Day at the Market

I hope you all are enjoying this wonderful holiday weekend - we sure are! I just wanted to share some pictures from our trip to our local farmer's market.

Check out these hanging baskets - aren't they GORGEOUS! I would love to have one, but we don't have anywhere to hang something like that. So if you can't take one home, you might as well stop and smell the pretty flowers.

During this time of year there is very little produce available at our market. It's mostly plants, herbs, cheese, honey, bread and wine. Asparagus is in season right now, but that's about it. In a couple months the market will transform into more of a vegetable and fruit market.

Here's Miss Savannah taking a stroll through the central square - she is quite the little independent 2-year old these days.

It was gorgeous weather outside and Savannah was loving it. She is wearing a dress I made for her from the "Sienna" dress pattern by Lil Blue Boo. The dress is made entirely from recycled knit shirts and only cost $1.00!

Matilda was having fun too - this is her "I'm so happy, I might explode face". I made her a coordinating dress also!

The girls have been getting along great - I feel very blessed that Savannah has yet to show any jealousy towards her baby sister. I'm sure there will be ups and downs, but I really hope that they will grow up to be good friends! It just melts my heart when Savannah puts her arm around Matilda and says "best friend" - so sweet!

On our way home from the farmer's market we stopped at one of my favorite antique shops and here's some of the treasure I found:

A couple of vintage embroidered pillowcases (which will be made into girls pillowcase dresses) and a bunch of really beautiful vintage handkerchiefs. I've got some projects in mind for the hankies so there may be another tutorial using these in the near future.

Anyway, I just wanted to share what we've been up to this weekend.

What have you all been up to?

Anyone doing anything fun?

Gardening

I am playing in the garden today. Planting some more lavender and some Nandina.

Above is a picture from France. I couldn't believe all of the beautiful outdoor flower markets there were.

I have planted sunflowers next to my Potager and they are about 4 inches tall now.

Welcome Home,

Penny

A Deer Miss

When I came home at 10:00 pm last night, there was a herd of deer sleeping in the meadow above the flower garden. They didn't bother to get up when I drove the car down the long driveway—with headlights beaming on their sleepy little heads.

The deer must be well fed and lazy this year as they have literally given up on taking the time to even LOOK in my garden! In doing so, the deer (so far) have missed out on a luscious yellow lilly.

Of course, I didn't plant this deer candy in my deer resistant garden. There's nothing deer resistant about the lily. It was a gift from an anonymous bird who kindly planted the seeds a year ago. My feathered friend didn't provide a gift tag, and I haven't tried to identify the lily.

I'm not going to try to incorporate this lily into my garden plans. The bird did a fine job of planting the lily in the "hot colors" butterfly garden —with gaillardia, monarda 'Jacob Cline', crocosmia 'Lucifer' and an osmanthus fragrans. It's a pretty good design for a bird!

I don't want to get too attached to these beautiful flowers. As sure as I do, the deer will return—and, they won't miss the chance to nibble the lilies to nothing!

Words and photos by Freda Cameron, Defining Your Home, Garden and Travel.

Summer Fabric Rag Wreath Tutorial

I have had my spring wreath on the door since, well, the beginning of spring. I kind of felt like it was time for something new. I wanted to create a summer wreath for our front door that would be fun and cute, but would break the budget. So here's what I came up with.......

Summer Fabric Rag Wreath Tutorial

Supplies:

1 wreath form (whatever size you like)

Scraps of fabric (10-12" long)

1 piece ribbon or other material for hanging

Scissors

Directions:

This is a medium sized wreath that I bought from the dollar store, so it was only $1.00 (woohoo!!)

Pull out your scrap bin to find the fabric for your wreath. This is my "Nicey Jane" scrap bin (I like my scraps to be arranged by fabric line). I LOVE Heather Bailey's "Nicey Jane".........it just exudes summer!

Cut your fabric scraps into 10"-12" long strips for a medium wreath. The length will depend on the size wreath you have chosen. Use all different widths - I had some very skinny pieces and some pretty wide ones. I like the variety of the different widths.

Now the fun part - just tie each strip on the wreath and tie it into a knot. Push them very close to one another. Do this until your entire wreath is covered in fabric strips.

This is what the front of the wreath will look like when it is complete. Fluff all of the strips and make sure none of them got caught in the knots of the others. Give the wreath, what I like to call a "haircut" if you feel the strips are too long. Cut it down until the look is to your liking.

Here's what the back of the wreath will look like - which I think looks pretty also.

Now you will need ribbon or twill tape (which is what I used) to make the hanger for the wreath.

Cut whatever length you need depending on your door......mine was only 10" long. Loop the ribbon around the wreath and tie a knot. The knot will not be seen by all of the scraps on the wreath. Place the knot down on the wreath.

Hang your new, fun summer fabric rag wreath on your front door. Doesn't it look happy?

This is not the best picture, but you get the idea. So I hope you will use your leftover scraps of fabric to make a summer rag wreath. This really is one of the easiest projects I've ever done - no sewing, no gluing - just a little time. This is also a great project to have the kids take part in too!

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!