Decorating for Valentine's Day: Welcome to the 160th Metamorphosis Monday!

Valentine's Day is tomorrow.  I love that holiday.  How can you not love a day that's all about chocolate, romance and ♥ LOVE! ♥

It makes me smile when I remember bringing Valentine's Day cards to school.   If I close my eyes, I can still see all the colorful construction-paper folders we made and decorated.  They were strung along the wall where they patiently waited to be filled with sweet valentines.

When February 14th arrived, the classroom became a little bee's nest as we scurried around carefully placing the tiny envelopes in the correct folders.  Do you remember the night before, reading the valentines and carefully choosing just the right valentine card for each friend, especially if that friend was your classroom crush?

Oh, the excitement of opening the valentines the next day!  I always wondered what those little envelopes would hold.  Would it be candy, a message from a "secret admirer" or just a friendly valentine?  Maybe it was all those Nancy Drew books I was reading.  Whatever it was, I loved and still love the mystery and intrigue of this special day.

This Valentine's Day, my crush is you.  Will you be my Valentine?  ♥  Check: Yes √ or  No √.  ;)

The guest bedroom received a little Valentine's Day decorating.
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How to Make Music-Covered Hearts for Valentine's Day: A Tutorial

Yesterday for our Tablescape Thursday, I shared a Valentine's Day table setting with a sweet, romantic easy-to-make centerpiece.  I had been plotting thinking for some time about creating a willowy little "tree" with the River Birch branches I'm always picking up from my front yard.  

I decided to decorate my little birch tree with hearts so I checked several places online.  During my search I came across some cute, papier-machéd, music covered hearts and I loved the look, but not so much the price, especially since  I knew I would need a good many to fill my tree.    

So, I began thinking about how I could make hearts similar to those I had seen online.  I really didn't want to  papier-maché the hearts so I decided to shop the discount stores for inexpensive, small hearts for decoupaging.  I'm still sort of new to this decoupaging thing, having just tried it out for the first time back around Halloween when I decoupaged a couple of pumpkins in THIS post and THIS post.  But I figured, if you can decoupage pumpkins, why not little hearts.

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Valentine's Day Table Setting: Welcome to the 180th Tablescape Thursday!

Valentine's Day is just a few days away.   Did you forward your Valentine's Day cards to the Valentine, Texas Post Master to have them postmarked with their famous stamp?  Such a cute idea!

We've been having spring-like weather for weeks here in Georgia.  Even the daffodils are in full bloom.  The porch was calling, begging me to come out and play.   Just look at all that glorious sunshine!
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Elegant New Year's Eve Table Setting: Welcome to the 175th Tablescape Thursday!

Can you believe this is our 175th Tablescape Thursday?  Wow!  That's a lot of fabulous tablescapes when you consider how many are linked here each week.  Thank you, thank you, thank you to all you talented ladies and gents who share your amazing eye for detail and beauty.  It's so wonderful to visit your blogs.  The world just melts away for a while as I lose myself in the wonderful table settings you create.

My friend, Bonnie, graciously shared the table she created for her New Year's Eve celebration with friends.  I fell in love with it the minute I saw it.   I have this thing for clocks so this table setting is one of my faves.  The chandelier got a touch of whimsy or should I say, it's "chimerical."   (See the earlier post today.)  Do you see the pocket watch draped above?

What a festive way to welcome in 2012!  Love the black, gold and cream color scheme.

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Ummph! Martha Stewart Canceled, Again!

As you're running around today preparing for the big day tomorrow, here's a little silliness to give you a giggle.  Stop, take a few deep breaths today and know this:  It doesn't have to be perfect.  It doesn't even have to be edible.  It just has to be about gathering together with the ones we care about and love.

Dear Family & Friends,

I know that you were eager to accept our family’s invitation to Thanksgiving dinner when you found out that Martha Stewart would be joining us. However, due to a scheduling conflict, Ms. Stewart finds that she is unable to grace our table this year.

Image from Martha Stewart

With that in mind, there will be a few minor changes regarding the meal and decor, as outlined below. Please be aware of them, and adjust your appetite and dress appropriately.
Thank you…

1) Our driveway will not be lined with homemade, paper bag luminaries. After several trial runs and two visits from the fire department, it was decided that, no matter how cleverly done, rows of flaming lunch sacks do not have the desired welcoming effect.

2) Once inside, please note that the entry space will not be decorated with swags of Indian corn and fall foliage. Instead, we included our dog in decorating by having him track in colorful autumn leaves from the back yard. The mud was his idea.

3) The dining table will not be covered with expensive linens, fancy China, or crystal goblets. If possible, we will use dishes that match and everyone will get a fork. Since this is Thanksgiving, we will refrain from using the paper SpongeBob dinner plates, the leftover Halloween napkins, and our plastic cup collection.

4) Our centerpiece will not be a tower of fresh fruit and flowers. Instead we will be proudly displaying a hedgehog-like decoration hand-crafted from the finest construction paper and pine cones. The artist assures me it is a turkey, albeit one without wings, legs, or a beak.

5 )We will be dining somewhat later than planned. However, our daughter will entertain you while you wait. I’m sure she will be happy to share every choice comment her mother made regarding Thanksgiving, pilgrims, stuffing choices, the turkey hotline, and, especially, her husband. Please remember that most of these comments were made at 7:00AM upon discovering that said husband had only remembered to pull the turkey from the freezer at 6:00 AM, and that the thing was still hard enough to cut diamonds.

6) As an accompaniment to our daughter’s recital of these events, I will play a recording of Native American tribal drumming. Curiously, the tribal drumming sounds a great deal like a frozen turkey in a clothes dryer, but that only enhances the holiday appropriateness. If our daughter should mention that we don’t own a recording of Native American tribal drumming, ignore her. She’s only nine; what does she know?

7) A dainty silver bell will not be rung to announce the start of our feast. We have chosen to keep our traditional method of assembling when the smoke alarm goes off.

8)  There will be no formal seating arrangement. When the smoke alarm sounds, please gather around the table and sit where you like. In the spirit of harmony, we will ask all the children to sit at a separate table. In a separate room. Next door. And I would like to take this opportunity to remind our younger diners that “passing the rolls” is neither a football play nor an excuse to bean your cousin in the head with bread.

9) The turkey will not be carved at the table. I know you have seen the Norman Rockwell image of one person carving a turkey in front of a crowd of appreciative onlookers. Such a scene may occur somewhere in America , but it won’t be happening at our dinner table. For safety reasons, the turkey will be carved in the kitchen at a private ceremony. I stress “private”, meaning Do not, under any circumstances, enter the kitchen to laugh at me. Do not send small, unsuspecting children, or older, helpful grandparents into the kitchen to check on my progress. I have a very large, very sharp knife. The turkey is unarmed. It stands to reason that I will eventually win the battle. When I do, we will eat

10) For the duration of the meal, we will refer to the gravy by its lesser-known name: Kraft Cheese Sauce. If a young diner questions you regarding the origins or makeup of the Kraft Cheese Sauce, smile kindly and say that you know the answer, but it’s a secret that can’t be revealed to them until they are 18.

11) Instead of offering a choice among 12 different scrumptious desserts, we will be serving the traditional pumpkin pie, garnished with whipped cream and dog tongue marks. You still have a choice: take it or leave it.

That concludes our list of alterations. Again, I apologize that Martha will not be joining us this year.

Source unknown

See you tonight for Tablescape Thursday!

Thanksgiving Turkey Napkin Fold Tutorial

Recently, for Tablescape Thursday, I posted a Thanksgiving tablescape with the little ones in mind.  It included a fun turkey napkin fold.   Today I'm sharing a tutorial showing how it's made, in case you would like to incorporate it into your Thanksgiving table this year.

To create your turkey napkin fold, besides a napkin, you'll need a pinecone and a chenille pipe cleaner.  Actually, one pipe cleaner will make the necks/heads for two turkeys, so you'll only need 2 pipe cleaners to create turkeys for four place settings.
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Front Porch Decorated for Halloween

Wow, what a fun night! I love, love, love Halloween. I have so many wonderful memories from my childhood of trick-or-treating with friends, so Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays.

I decorated the porch pretty simply for Halloween this year.

I covered the front door with the "creepy cloth" used as a tablecloth in THIS previous Halloween tablescape.  (You can see the door minus the creepy cloth in THIS post.)

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Halloween Table and Mantel...Spooky!

Happy Weekend! Are you making final preparations for all the goblins and ghouls who will soon be knocking on your door? I'll be heading out today to buy candy.  Then I'll be trying hard to not eat it all by Monday!    What's your tactic for not digging into the candy and eating it before Halloween arrives? Some folks purposely buy stuff they don't like, but where's the fun in that? lol

My friend, Bonnie, has been readying her home for the big day.  I love seeing how Bonnie decorates her dining room hutch for the seasons and holidays.  Come a bit closer and check out her spooky table setting.

Love the orange candlesticks with skeleton candles.  Even the tablecloth is covered with skeletons!

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Linzer Cookies for Halloween

Beautiful and Halloween-festive tablescapes were linked for yesterday's Tablescape Thursday. Be sure to scroll on down and check them all out. How about a little something to put on top of those table settings?

A couple of months ago I stopped by a local craft store to check out the Halloween stuff and I came across cookie cutters with a Halloween theme.  They were especially made for making Linzer cookies like these.

I've always wanted to try my hand at making Linzer cookies, but I just wasn't sure how.  This Wilton set of cookie cutters makes it really easy.
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Country Living Inspired: Découpage a Pumpkin

There is sooo much inspiration to be found in Blogland these days, the cover of a magazine has to REALLY grab me to convince me to buy the magazine.   The October issue of Country Living did just that. I loved the toile covered pumpkin on the cover. I glanced inside and saw there were directions with the "how to."  I couldn't wait to give it a try.

Another pumpkin inside was decorated using images from Pictorial Webster's: A Visual Dictionary of Curiosities

I was stunned to see this pumpkin in Country Living because this was one of the books I purchased right after I added a small library to my office, HERE.  I would love to make this one, too.  Isn't it awesome?

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Decorate Your Pumpkin with Ribbon: Welcome to the 142nd Metamorphosis Monday!

Happy Met Monday! How was your weekend? I've had a busy one. Saturday, I drove down to Macon, Georgia and attended a class for "extreme couponing" with my sister and niece. I watch so little TV, I didn't even know what extreme couponing was. It was really interesting. If you have a good size family, I can see how the savings could really add up. I'll share some of what I learned in a post sometime soon. I had no idea using coupons had become such a big thing...practically a sport!

So, there I was the other night, lying in bed and trying to envision a way I could decorate a pumpkin without cutting into it or painting it, when suddenly I had an idea.

Ribbon!

Here's a pic of my finished pumpkin out on the porch where the lighting is a bit better.  This may be the easiest pumpkin decorating idea in the history of the world of pumpkin decorating.  Seriously!  If you like easy, you're gonna love this.

I used the pumpkin I already had...the one that's visible in the background in this fall setting on the porch.

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Halloween Decorating and Party Ideas

I haven't decorated my front porch for Halloween, yet, so I decided to go through some of the pics I have stored on my computer for a little inspiration.  These are definitely some of my faves!

We decorate our front doors with garland for Christmas...why not do the same for fall?  I absolutely love this leafy garland!  I so want to make this!  Notice the scary "curtains" on the door.  Those would be easy to make from cheesecloth.

Pottery Barn

Here's another one of my favorite front porches.  Doesn't this make you want to paint your front door orange?  If it just wasn't so much trouble to change it back after fall/Halloween.

Pottery Barn

This would be such a great way to decorate for a Halloween party...and so simple.  You would have the added bonus of a little extra protection against spills on the furniture.   Love the candelabra!  So amazing how a candelabra can be made to feel elegant for a dinner party or scary for Halloween with just the addition of black candles.  I think I'd also string some spider webs on the candelabra, too.

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A Ladies Breakfast, Royal Copenhagen: Welcome to the 152nd Tablescape Thursday!

Earlier in the spring, Cornelia had a ladies breakfast in her beautiful home in Switzerland.  

It was near Easter and she created a gorgeous table setting for the event.

Cornelia said, "I had an Invitation this morning.   I invited 5 ladies for breakfast and had a Royal Copenhagen, Musselmalet tablescape. "
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Patriotic Porch for the 4th of July! Welcome to the 128th Metamorphosis Monday!

Happy Independence Day weekend! Hope your weekend has been going great! I'm having a little cookout tomorrow so I've been busy with preparations. Did you already have your 4th of July celebration or will you be celebrating tomorrow?

I'm excited to share big changes I've made out on the porch over the last week. I've been busting to decorate the porch in a patriotic vibe for the 4th of July ever since the porch was first added to my home 3-4 years ago. I wanted to do it in a budget friendly manner and up until this year, I hadn't been able to find what I needed to stay within the budget I had planned. This summer the stars all aligned (figuratively and literally) and the porch got a make-over for the holiday.

Hope you enjoy this transformation of the porch in celebration of Independence Day.

The Before:

AFTER:

Happy Independence Day!

This porch metamorphosis was done on a budget--total cost was just $155.00 for the complete transformation. Not too bad for a whole room redo. I'll break it down for you as we move through the changes.

Remember that little sewing project I mentioned I was working on? I made red covers for the pillows that are always on the swing throughout the summer months.

The blue and white spatterware pitcher was pulled from the upstairs family room. I filled it with big, beautiful sunflowers. This pitcher is very old so it leaks. I'll share the sneaky way I used if for the sunflowers in another post. Update: Shared how I used sunflowers in this vintage pitcher here.

Sunflowers were only $6 for the whole bunch from Harry's Farmer's Market.

Found the needlepoint flag pillow a couple of months back on eBay for $14.

Remember when I posted about making blue and white striped cording HERE? Now you know where it ended up. ;) I used the pillows that live on the swing during the summer, and just sewed new red covers. Only cost was for the fabric and the raw cording.

The red, white and blue patch-work pillows in the white wicker chairs are what really inspired and kicked off this porch transformation. I had a gift certificate for HomeGoods and when I spotted those pillows in the spring, I just loved them and knew I had the starting point for my 4th of July porch. (Tutorial for the patriotic "sundae" by the lamp is, HERE.)

I really lucked out on the white seat cushions for the swing and settee. When I bought those exact same cushions in green for the porch 3-4 years ago, I thought I did really well finding them on sale for $40 each at Pier 1. They are normally $60 each. They are heavy, super comfortable and beautifully made with a great fabric that isn't scratchy feeling like most outdoor cushions. I really like how they are tailored and finished with cording.

This year, after finding the patch-work pillows at HomeGoods, I came across the white cushions at Pier 1 and they were marked down from $60 to $15 each! I couldn't believe it! Even the sales clerk was shocked when she rang them up. She looked at me and asked, "$15???" I smiled and said, "Yep." That's when I knew the porch metamorphosis was definitely on for this year!

I already had the large striped pillows. They are the same ones I use on the swing in the fall, but just turned around to show the other side. The small red pillow is from Garden Ridge and was $6. I already had the needlepoint pillow with the harbor/patriotic scene...snagged it from the window seat in the upstairs family room.

I paid more for the smaller red chair cushions than I did the big white ones from Pier 1. They were the only solid red ones I could find and were $19 each from Garden Ridge.

I love how the sunflowers look surrounded in a sea of red, white and blue. The other plants are from the deck. The red geranium that normally lives on the shabby, white chair wasn't blooming. Fortunately, another one I had that is a deeper burgundy-ish red was blooming. The lanterns you see scattered around on the porch came from Old Time Pottery a year or two back. You may remember when I used them in 4th of July table setting.

I challenged myself to keep the color scheme on the porch strictly red, white and blue. The only items on the porch that are not in the red/white/blue color scheme are the sunflowers and the hutch. And y'all, I'm just not repainting that hutch for the weekend. ;)  (You'll find pics and info about the original painting of the hutch HERE.

Plate is from Hobby Lobby and was 50% off. I actually bought it earlier in the season before I knew I'd be re-doing the porch.

Stars were added to the Summer Breeze sign that's always on the porch. You can find a sign just like this by Googling "Summer Breeze Makes Me Feel Fine Sign." I found mine years ago at A Classy Flea, a local antique/thrift store.

This tablescape is a blend of two previous tablescapes posted for different Tablescape Thursdays HERE and HERE. You'll find the tutorial for the patriotic napkin rings, HERE.




Yesterday, I constructed the flag out of wood "sign" stakes from the Home Depot. A bundle was only $5.98. I painted the flag with acrylic paint from Michael's. I'm not sure yet if I'm going to "age" it, or leave it, as is. I wanted to let the paint cure before I did anything. I was inspired by a flag I saw in the Pottery Barn catalog for $129.

Mine isn't as big as the PB one, but it only cost $14 to make. Well, $14 and a whole days worth of labor.  Totally worth it, though.

The hutch was decked out with the china I used in this patriotic tablescape.

The little teddy bear was one of my son's when he was small. I couldn't resist adding him to the porch since he is dressed for the holiday.

I'll be happy to post a tutorial showing how I made the flag, if anyone is interested. Just leave a comment letting me know if that is something you would like to see. I took pics during the making of it in case it was something you would be interested in. Update:  You'll find the flag making tutorial HERE.

The large star on the wall near the swing came from Garden Ridge and was $20. Actually it was a little less than that but I'm rounding all the prices up for simplicity.

Another view

An evening view...

A little candlelight...

Hope you enjoyed this patriotic porch metamorphosis.

The budget breakdown:

White seat cushions for swing and sette: Pier 1, $30 ($15 each)
Red seat cushions in chairs: Garden Ridge, $40($20 each)
Needlepoint "flag" pillow on swing: eBay, $14
Large red pillows on swing: Sewed new covers, $12
Multicolored pillows on chairs: HomeGoods, Free with Gift Certificate
Small red pillow on settee: Garden Ridge $6
Needlepoint "harbor scene" pillow on sette: already had in upstairs family room
Lanterns: Old Time Pottery, already had
Large Star on wall: Garden Ridge, $20
Small stars on Summer Breeze sign: Michaels, $3 for both at 50% off
Wood flag above hutch:  Made on Saturday with sign stakes, $14
Large plate on oval wicker table: Hobby Lobby, $10 at 50% off
China on table: (Already had) Click HERE and HERE for details
Flowers: Harry's Farmer's Market, $6
China and decorations on hutch and table: Already had
Total spent: $155

Looking forward to seeing what you've been up to this week!



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