ELEPHANT DECOR

Do you ever notice that you repeat decor around your home? 

 I just noticed that I have elephants around my house.  LOL  

In our sun room I have a plaster elephant peeking around my bar cart.  I purchased it for one of the Design Houses I did.  It didn't sell, so it was all mine.  I've said this before but sometimes those items that don't sell become my favorites.

PLASTER ELEPHANT IN MY SUN ROOM

CLOSE UP OF PLASTER ELEPHANT

I have a similar plaster elephant on my screened porch.  It's much larger with a flat surface so it can serve as a small side table.

ELEPHANT SIDE TABLE ON MY PORCH

I have another Chinoiserie elephant on the railroad cart coffee table.  I mixed him in with the blue and white ginger jars.

BLUE AND WHITE CHINOISERIE

One of my favorite elephant finds is this mache elephant from Anthropologie. 

 Originally it was in my kitchen.  

MACHE ANTHROPOLOGIE ELEPHANT IN MY KITCHEN

He's since moved to the laundry/pantry.

ANTHRO ELEPHANT IN MY LAUNDRY ROOM

I'm not done yet.  I decoupaged an elephant image on some book spines.

ELEPHANT ON BOOK SPINES

One of my favorite additions to my new kitchen was the appliance garage.  You can see my elephant mugs on the top shelf.  FYI, that majolica lettuce leaf teapot is my sugar bowl.

ELEPHANT MUGS IN MY APPLIANCE GARAGE

Even though I always love the things that don't sell, there are many who get away.  This elephant bookend was one of those I wished I had kept.

ELEPHANT BOOKEND THAT GOT AWAY

What decor items do you repeat in your home?

What home decor item do you regret giving up?

 

If you're interested in seeing the the original posts for these images, simply click on the highlighted words or the images. 

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ALTERED SPINES

Before I start this post I wanted to let you know that if you follow my blog with Feedburner and like receiving an e-mail notification when I post, you"ll need to follow me with Bloglovn' instead.  Blogger/Google has deleted the Feedburner notification feature.  You can find the link to Bloglovn' on the side bar on my blog web page, or click on this link to sign up for e-mail notifications :  Bloglovn' 

Thanks.  Now, on to altered spines---on books that is.

Sometimes I'm inspired to do some creative project.  Several years ago I did just that.  I found some books that were the same height and covered them with wrapping paper, much like we did in high school with our text books.  I lined them up and decoupaged images to the spines.  The link to the blog post with the tutorial is at the end of this post.  Check it out if you feel inspired.

You know how much I love orange.  I used orange wrapping paper for these books.  The elephant is a copy of a vintage cardboard children's animal toy.  They're on the bottom shelf of my favorite bamboo side table.

ELEPHANT ON BOOK SPINES

This image of coral was from a calendar of sea life images.  I used the pages from this calendar to create a gallery wall in my daughter's apartment.

CORAL IMAGE ON BOOKS

I collect architectural prints/book plates.  I made copies from my originals and added them to books.  Currently, these books are on the brass and chrome bookshelves in my family room.

ARCHITECTURAL PRINT OF BUILDINGS WITH A SANTOS BOOKEND

This is another copy of an architectural print sandwiched between vintage faux marble bookends.

ARCHITECTURAL PRINTS BETWEEN VINTAGE FAUX MARBLE BOOKENDS

I don't know what this "building" was used for, but it's the perfect size for this image of a clock face.

IMAGE OF A CLOCK FACE INSIDE A "BUILDING"

If you'd like to see the tutorial on how I created new spines, go here.

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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.

HOW I UPDATED MY SCREENED PORCH BY ADDING GREEN AND NAVY

My screened porch has remained pretty much the same since it was photographed for a feature on Houzz several years ago.   It's a very neutral space with soft greys and some blues.  Since green has become my new favorite color, I couldn't wait to add it and some navy to the porch.  Below is how it looked before the changes.  If you want to see the less than lovely BEFORE pics, there's a link at the end of the post.

SCREENED PORCH AS FEATURED ON HOUZZ

 I kept most of the pieces on this side of the room.  I'll never tire of the day bed, the columns, or the factory cart.   I removed the bowl with shells and sea life from the factory cart and added this wonderful chinoiserie elephant and a grouping of vintage wicker-covered demijohns.

CHINOISERIE ELEPHANT AND DEMIJOHNS ON MY FACTORY CART

I also brought the garden table and chairs from the patio to the porch.   The seat cushions add the green I wanted. I introduced the color navy with the geometric poufs.  Poufs are great.  You can rest your feet on them, use them as extra seating, or, if you add a tray, they're a coffee table.

VINTAGE GARDEN CHAIRS AND TABLE

CHINOISERIE GARDEN CHAIR

I placed a demijohn cloche onto a carved pedestal and used it as the centerpiece on the table. 

DEMIJOHN AND PEDESTAL CENTERPIECE

I also brought the chinoiserie settee from the patio to the porch.  I added navy cushions and green pillows.

CHINOISERIE SETTEE

LOOKING AT THE SETTEE THROUGH THE MATCHING SIDE CHAIR

The elephant next to the settee has a flat surface.  He's our side table.

ELEPHANT SIDE TABLE

Here's the matching chinoiserie side chair.  It's very comfortable and has become my favorite spot for reading. The doorway is the entrance to my living room.

CHINOISERIE SIDE CHAIR

I was excited to find this garden seat in the perfect green.  It's seating or a place for my cup of coffee.

GREEN GARDEN SEAT

Behind the chair is a small garden table.  I placed some metal ferns, iron candleholders, and a cloche on it.  The framed ceiling tile is my "artwork" for the space.  When I have guests, I remove the decor and use it as a serving table.

GARDEN TABLETOP

CLOCHE ON MY GARDEN TABLE

Here's what the porch looks like from outside.

This porch was an absolute mess when we bought the house.  I've written a BEFORE AND AFTER post about it.  If you'd like to read that too, click on the highlighted here.

If you'd like to see my Houzz home tour, go here.

If you'd like to see my post about my patio (that's the post before I robbed all the funiture from there and put it on the screened porch) go here.

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Decoupaged Dresser

I just realized that not only do I buy and hoard too much fabric, but I also do the same with gift wrapping paper.  I'm always finding more paper that I love.  But, I don't have the heart to use it as gift wrap.  I just know that it will be torn, crumpled, and tossed.  So, I find ways to save it.
I've lined a plain tray with it, used it to cover books, or as a back drop in bookcases.
I always use it as a drawer liner.
 At the end of this post I'm sharing some of my smaller projects.  Big project first.

I've had some wrapping paper for a long time. 

 I decided to decoupage one of my long-time favorites onto a vintage dresser.

 The pattern is so pretty and it even has a name, Versailles. 

"Versailles" Wrapping Paper

I've decoupaged small pieces before, but wanted to try to add this paper to a plain dresser.

I used a crackle medium and linen white paint on the surfaces I didn't cover with paper.

Decoupaged Five-Drawer Chest

Normally, I use Mod Podge when I decoupage. 

 This time though I decided to use this archival adhesive from Michaels.

Archival Adhesive

The hardest part was lining up the pattern.  Before I got started, I numbered all the drawers on the bottom so I was sure they would be in the correct order.  I had already removed the knobs and painted them when I painted the dresser.  Next,  I placed the drawers, face up onto the floor in the same order they were in the dresser.  I started lining up the pattern with the top drawers, then continued down to the last drawer, matching each one with the drawer above it. 

Completed Drawer Fronts with Matching Pattern

  

Once I knew that the pattern was lined up correctly, I cut the paper a little larger than I needed it to be. You can trim this excess off later with a razor blade when the adhesive dries. Next, I used a sponge brush to apply some adhesive  and completely cover the drawer face.  I started  with the paper in a corner of the drawer and smoothed from side to side until the whole drawer was covered.  I used an old credit card to make sure there were no air bubbles underneath.  You have to be careful and patient.  Once  the drawers were dry, I trimmed the excess and applied several coats of adhesive on top to seal the paper.  I added extra adhesive around the edges to seal them and keep them from peeling up.  I added the knobs and put the drawers into the dresser

I even added a piece of the tassel pattern in the center of the knob.

Knob with a Piece of the Paper Pattern in the Center

Chippy Leg and Sides and Scalloped Apron

I also added the gift wrap to the sides.

Side View with Paper

The recessed panel made it very easy to measure and apply.

Recessed Side Panel with Gift Wrap Paper

You can see that I lightly distressed the painted surfaces.

Side View Close-up

You've probably seen these before, but I wanted to share my other uses for wrapping paper.

I wrapped some books in plain orange paper, then decoupaged a vintage elephant print to the spines.
Full post here.

I used paper with a zebra print to cover some books.  They're perfect risers at the store.

My chalkboard has a leopard wrapping paper border.

Animal Print Wrap on Books and Chalkboard

I always use it to line drawers.

Gift Wrap as Drawer Liner

I lined a tray with snakeskin wrap then used the extra for more books.

Snakeskin Paper on Books and in Vintage Tray

In this next image I used chevron fabric on a bookcase, but you just as easily could use gift wrap.
You can use foam core behind to support it.  To see the full post, go here.

Chevron-backed Bookshelf in My Family Room

I have one last tray to share.  I used some wrapping paper  from World Market to decoupage these marching elephants onto a plain gold tray.

Decoupaged Tray in My Daughter's Apartment

How have you used your gift wrap?
Do you rescue wrapping paper?


Kathy


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