Accessories For The Home

We all know how much accessories can transform a room.  It is usually in the smallest details that the largest impact is made.  Placed in just the right spot with just the right amount of lighting can change the entire look of say, a mantle, tabletop, or bookshelf.  With so many options to choose from, it was hard to select just a few of what were some of my favorites.  Not that there weren't more....I could have shown pages of them!

Wooden Door Stop via Nordic House

Wire Baskets via Nordic House

French Seaside Birds via Wisteria

Pair of 1800 French Figures via French Style Authority

Books via How To Get Lucky

Terracotta Heart Box via France-Press Release

Wine Cork Candles via Retro Home Decor

French Ceramic Trays via Elle Decor

Art des Jardins via French Dressing

Porcelain Candelabra via French Dressing

Rustic Vintage Trunks via French Dressing

Bistro Boxes via French Dressing

These are just a few of the fantastic accessories that you can find via internet shops. Of course, I would love to have one of each! What type of accessories do you love?

French Models Via Les Modes cir. Novembre 1904

Nothing changes as quickly as women's clothing.  Over the years, women have come along way from corsets underpinnings to Spanx , bustles to undergarments to enhance your derriere, Floor length, midi, and mini dresses and skirts, jeans on the waist, below the waist, and lower. Tops that are long sleeved, short sleeved, tanked and mid-riff.  It is hard to keep track of how quickly the style changes unless YOU are a Fashionista!

I have an antique French magazine from Novembre 1904 called Les Modes which outlines the current styles worn in that era.  I have made black and white copies of these ladies on heavy card stock which would be suitable for framing and matting.   Here is a sample of (6) of the models.

 I have a total of 16 or so of these photos that I will be selling in the near future with other French inspired items that are handmade when I open my little online shop. These are just lovely and would make a gorgeous grouping in a foyer, bedroom or guest bedroom. What do you think?

A SNEAK PEEK.....

Bonjour,

La petite boutique de perles is the french translation for The Little Shop of Pearls, my new Etsy online shop.  Currently, I am working to bring french inspired handmade items as well as other second hand accessories that have been stored away and ready for new homes.

The history of pearls is an interesting one and in part explains why I decided to use the word pearls in the name of my new shop. Perles are formed within the soft tissue of a living shelled mollusk and is made up of calcium carbonate in minute crystalline form, which has been deposited in concentric layers. It is hard to find a perfect pearl and no one pearl has exactly the same form, just as each item that is handmade is not the same. There is something perfect in things that are not perfect, with each handmade item being unique, and surprisingly different each time it is made.

Interestingly enough, the word pearl was borrowed from the french word perle.  Because of my love of all things French and because pearls (perles) are never formed in exactly the same shape or form, like handmade items, I choose the name La petite boutique de perles for the name of my shop.

I hope that you will check back regularly for the grand opening and giveaway to kick off my new shop.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

Cheery Regards

Jardiniere

Jardinière is a French word, from the feminine form of "Gardner." Jardinière has three meanings:

1. The first meaning of jardinière is also a large stand, pot, urn, or receptacle upon which, or into which, plants may be placed. Jardinieres tend to be highly decorative. They are often used for: a garden accent element; for large plants; and for raised culinary and herb gardens
2. The second meaning of jardinière is a culinary term, meaning a dish that is cooked or served with a mixture of spring vegetables, such as peas, carrots, and green beans.
3. The third meaning of jardinière, in French, is a name for the golden ground beetle, the European Mole Cricket and other species of beetles attacking plants in kitchen gardens.

Wikipedia

With spring in the air and everyone getting their gardens ready for the summer, I thought I would post some beautiful garden urns and some very unusual stepping stones.

Tuffits are concrete stepping stones that mimic the look and charm of vintage accent pillows.  Each stone is a 13" diameter and weighs 12-14 pounds.  Pigment is mixed into the concrete so that the color won't chip to show gray concrete.

Each tuffit is hand crafted in Petaluma, CA and comes in a beautiful palette of garden colors. (I personally love the lilac one)  For more information check out their website http:www.tuffits.com.

All images of the urns are from the website New England Garden Ornaments and can be viewed here http://negarden.com/.

19th century, English cast iron urn, campana form with handles ending in masks.

Old cast stone urn and planter, well weathered and mossy. From an estate in Norfolk MA 

A magnificent urn or finial modelled after a Coade Vase circa 1780. 

Part of the Robert A.M. Stern Collection

A large, elegant tazza with elaborately interlaced ribbonwork decoration around the bowl.

Rococo urn decorated with vines terminating in two goats heads with lead horns.

These magnificent urns were designed by John van Nost, the elder, in 1700 for William lll's palace at Hampton Court.

Simple ovoid bowl on square base.

Large Adam Urn

A very elegant Georgian urn with formal floral and lion-head decoration. Haddonstone was commissioned to restore the original urns at Margam Orangery, South Wales, as part of the British project for the 1975 European Architectural Heritage Year.

Goes well with the Ribbon pedestal, nicely proportioned

Large plain bowl also suitable as a fountain.

I love all of these and would have a very difficult time selecting a favorite.  Each urn has a perfect place in someone's garden.  How about you, which one would you take home?

Hydrangeas

I love hydrangeas and I especially love them after they are preserved.  I have found a tried and true method of drying them.  There are several ways which this can be done.  I never had much luck with air drying them...removing the leaves along the stem bundling 5 or 6 of them together and hanging them in a cool, dry place.  Or, drying them upright in a vase with a few inches of water, out of direct sunlight waiting until the water has evaporated then adding more water, repeating the process until you feel the blooms are sufficiently dry.

The method I prefer and had very good luck with was with glycerin and water. This process makes the blooms more soft and supple to the touch, and it helps to preserve the shape of the bloom longer.

By following these easy steps you will have a gorgeous dried hydrangea:

1.  Gather the hydrangeas blooms keeping in mind that the length of the stems
     need to be about 18 inches or under and while it is tempting to try to dry
     those full, lushly colored hydrangea blooms mid-summer, it is best to allow
     them to mature on the shrub before you cut them.  Fresh blooms tend to wilt
     and turn brown ( this is what happened to me, bummer)!

2.  You can tell that they are ready because as they age, they will turn either
     green/pink in warm climates, or blue/purple in colder areas, and their texture
     is paper-like rather than soft.  (I should have taken a photo of how they look
     when they are picked too early)  Cut the stems at a right angle and crush the
     ends with a hammer.  This will help with the uptake of the solution.

3.  In a vase mix a solution of 2 parts water and 1 part glycerin.  You can find
    glycerin at Walmart in the pharmacy or your local pharmacy.  Now the way this
    works is that the water and the glycerin are drawn through the stem of the
    plant and the water evaporates through the petals leaving the glycerin.  Glycerin
    will turn the petals a rich, golden brown which is a more natural look but you
    can add a small drop of dye to the solution.  Add your hydrangeas to the vase
    and in two to three weeks you will have a beautiful bouquet of summer
    hydrangeas to enjoy through the fall and winter.

Info from: P. Allen Smith Garden Home-edibles Berry, The Berry family of nurseries.

Now Reading

I am currently reading The New Eighteenth-Century Style - Rediscovering a French Decor. The text is by Michele LaLande and the photographs by Gilles Trillard.  I have to say that this is by far one of the best books on French design that I have come across AND I am always on the lookout for a great design book especially on French or Swedish design.

I will be doing a book review on this book very soon for Fifi Flowers blog, Reading is Fashionable. If you are interested in further books to consider for your summer reading please stop by and pay Reading is Fashionable a visit. Wonderful reviews on books, great author interviews, giveaways AND books with handpainted bookmarks by Fifi are sold via Fifi Flowers in her Etsy Shop AND she is having a fabUlous sale going on right now. http://www.etsy.com/shop/fififlowers

Stay tuned!

Manda's Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

I don't know who Manda is BUT she sure knows how to whip up a fabUlous batch of peanut butter chocolate chip cookies.  I found this recipe under Cooks.com.  I love the combination of peanut butter and chocolate together. The saltiness of the peanuts and the sweet taste of bittersweet chocolate chips (72% cacao).  This is the first time using this recipe and from the looks of it going to be a favorite, according to my grandkids who loved the batter.  The recipe is very easy and the batter is yummy.

2 1/4 cups of flour

1 Teaspoon baking soda

1 Teaspoon salt

3/4 Cups of butter (softened)

1/4 Cup of peanut butter (Jiffy's the best according the recipe and I concur

3/4 Cup sugar

3/4 Cup brown sugar

1 Teaspoon vanilla extract

2 Eggs

1 Cup chocolate chips  ( I used a premium brand of E. Guittard bittersweet chocolate 72% cacao but the usual chips are what the recipe calls for)



Preheat oven at 350 degrees



Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl and set aside.



Bat butter, sugar, brown sugar, peanut butter and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl until creamy.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition



Gradually add flour mixture.  Stir in Chocolate Chips



Cookies bake for 11 to 13 minutes.

Bars 20 to 25 minutes



This time I decided to make bar cookies and you can decide for yourself if they aren't the best looking bar cookies you EVER saw.  Well, that's a wrap for today's cooking 101.



What's your favorite cookie?