HOLIDAY UNDER MY DEMIJOHN CLOCHE

 One of my favorite purchases was this half demijohn cloche with a copper edge.  It was the exact diameter to fit on to this gold washed pedestal.  During the year it holds some fruit, and in the Fall I change it up with pumpkins.  This holiday season I purchased some hand blown gold ornaments. 

DEMIJOHN WITH HAND BLOWN ORNAMENTS

I rested them on a faux olive branch garland that I purchased from Ballard Designs many years ago.

FAUX OLIVE BRANCH GARLAND

There were two reasons I convinced myself to buy these ornaments.  First, the gold color was perfect in the kitchen.  Second, was the glass applied hook.  I'd never seen anything like it before.  I removed the demijohn so you could see the unique hook for hanging.

GLASS APPLIED HOOK

Do you buy holiday decor even if you don't need it?  I do.

 If you'd like to get a notification each time I post, go to the Follow.It button in the left side bar

 on the blog web version and follow the prompts.

MY GRANDPA'S ART

I was lucky enough to grow up in western Pennsylvania in a small town north of Pittsburgh.  I was even luckier to live within walking distance of my grandparents and cousins.  I fondly remember the times spent with my siblings and cousins at my grandma and grandpa's farm.   We loved watching my grandmother can fruits and vegetables from the garden and make goat cheese.  I can still see the cheese in her colander.   I can also see the faces we made when we refused to taste it.   

My favorite farm event was the day my grandma, her sisters and her cousins got together to make pasta.  Their Italian heritage was still evident.  They added all the leaves to the table, covered it with a cloth and sprinkled it with lots of flour.  It reminded me of  a quilting bee with flour, eggs, and water instead of needles, thread, and fabric pieces.  I can still see that huge kitchen table draped with strands of fresh pasta and the fun they all had while we observed and waited for a taste.

One other memory is the day she baked bread.  We could count on her to slice it and lather it with butter while it was still fresh and steaming from the oven.  I can still feel the texture of the warm spongy bread, the crispy crust and  the taste of the melting butter.  Yum.

Grandma sometimes put us to work.  In retrospect, she probably just wanted to get a break.  She would pull out all her pots and pans and set us up at the picnic table under the yellow cherry tree and hand us Brillo pads.  We thought it was fun to scrub pots.

My grandpa was different.  He was very quiet and kept to himself.  He was a voracious reader and created his library retreat in one of the out buildings.  The walls were floor to ceiling shelves crammed with books.  The only furniture was a chair, a side table and a lamp.  It was his refuge.

What I remember most about him though was his art.  On the spur of the moment he would grab his easel and art supplies and paint.  Sometimes his spot was on the farm, other times it was a nearby countryside.   He was prolific.  We all were able to have some of his art. 

I have several of his small oil on board pieces.  If you look at the back of the art, he basically stretched canvas over a piece of cardboard.  I never framed them.  I cherish the front and the back.  They move around, but their current location is on my pair of family room bookshelves.

I mixed them in with my books and nature-inspired collectibles.

 

 

I have a large collection of trophies.  This mini loving cup is for Whist.  

 I paired it with a Whist rule book.

FIRST PLACE WHIST TROPHY 

These are two of the shelves on the other bookshelf.

Do you have family pieces that you treasure?

If you made it to the end of this long sentimental post, thank you for reading. 

 Everyone is allowed to digress from design for a bit, aren't they?

ENJOYED THIS POST? 
 Sign up to receive a notification every time I publish by clicking here.

BOHEMIAN PUMPKINS

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

One of my favorite accessories in my kitchen is my demijohn cloche.  It fits perfectly on to my gold leaf column base.  Most days I have some faux pears under the cloche, but for the Fall, I changed it up by adding some hand-painted bohemian pumpkins.  These mini pieces of art were painted by my talented friend Leila, @leiloutadesigns.

BOHEMIAN PUMPKINS UNDER MY DEMIJOHN CLOCHE

ANOTHER ANGLE

A CLOSER LOOK

I thought you'd like to see them without the cover.

UNCOVERED FOR A CLOSER LOOK

I brought one to my daughter for her mantel.

BOHO PUMPKIN ON MY DAUGHTER'S MANTEL

A CLOSER LOOK

I'm going to try to dry the mini pumpkins and save them.  

Have you ever dried a pumpkin?

SUN AND SHADOWS; BLUE AND WHITE

At the first sign of warmer weather I hurry to open our screened porch.   It's our favorite place to enjoy the Spring.  As I noticed the sun and shadows flickering over the porch,  I

had to capture the way the light was working the room.  

SUN AND SHADOWS ON THE PORCH

I changed a few things from last Spring.   I moved the small garden table to the side of the day bed and added some ginger jars.  The Thomas Paul pillow has always been in this space.  It inspired the choice of blue and white for the porch.

GINGER JARS AND THOMAS PAUL PILLOW

The cloche with coral and a mercury glass bird has also been around for a while.  It changes locations frequently, but it remains a constant in the coastal room design.

CLOCHE WITH CORAL AND MERCURY GLASS BIRD

A CLOSER LOOK AT THE CLOCHE

I added the elephant last year.  The covered bottles have been around for a while.

CHINOISERIE ELEPHANT AND VINTAGE COVERED BOTTLES

SUNLIT COVERED BOTTLES

A vintage factory cart is my coffee table.  It's the perfect solution for a room exposed to the elements.

FACTORY CART COFFEE TABLE

LOOKING DOWN ONTO FACTORY CART

What do you look forward to when the weather warms?

Last year I updated the porch by adding green to the space.  If you'd like to see that post, go here.
FYI, that post shows the other side of the screened porch.

Just A Sliver Of A Space

Have you noticed that photographs with just a sliver of the entire space are far more intriguing than the image of the entire space?  I tend to linger longer and imagine the missing parts.  I'll show you the complete space first, and then the close-up.  For me, that partial image, with only a hint of the whole,  is much more interesting and artistic.  

MY SPACE AT BUCKEYSTOWN DESIGN CO-OP MARCH SALE

JUST A HINT OF THAT SAME SPACE

@BUCKEYSTOWN DESIGN CO-OP MARCH SALE

@BUCKEYSTOWN DESIGN CO-OP MARCH SALE

@BUCKEYSTOWN DESIGN CO-OP MARCH SALE

I think I made my point.  Now, just the slivers.

Snippets of spaces or the whole shot???

Our sale starts this Friday.

Sale Dates Buckeystown Design Co-op

March 2 & 3  from 9-4

More details on our website here.

(Click on highlighted word HERE to be directed to website.)

Bird Decor

For someone who claims to not care for birds, I spy quite a few in my home.  If you've been following my blog you've already seen the mercury glass bird in a cloche on my porch.

MERCURY GLASS BIRD IN A CLOCHE ON MY PORCH

Recently I purchased collage art with an ostrich. 

 I have the art leaning against the wall while I decide if it stays in the foyer or if there's a better spot for me to put yet another nail hole into a wall.

OSTRICH COLLAGE ART

In the dining room I have a vintage hand-colored bird engraving layered over the window.

FRAMED BIRD ENGRAVING

In the upstairs hallway is a vintage Audubon print.

VINTAGE AUDUBON

There are a pair of bookcases in my family room.   I call them my nature-inspired shelves.  You'll see framed vintage bird engravings, eggs, nests, and even some transferware plates with birds in flight.

LEFT BOOKSHELF

RIGHT BOOKSHELF

Many years ago I purchased a calendar with Audubon prints.  I had my two favorite ones matted and framed.  They've been all around the house.  This week they're in the kitchen.

AUDUBON PRINTS IN THE KITCHEN

There's even a bird in the oversized art on the stair landing.

OVERSIZED ART ON THE STAIR LANDING

Last but not least, since it is Fall and I haven't done any Fall decorating, I thought I'd share a mantel I pulled together years ago when I was ambitious and changed my mantel seasonally.  You can see a brass pheasant peeking out on the right.

FALL MANTEL

What decor items to you see repeated in your home?