Purple Flowers & Blue Glass

Hello everyone!

With school out and summer weather upon us, I decided to bring some blue glass into my family room for a pop of color.  I know I go back and forth with that.  But, I love the look of blue and white with purple flowers.  So, I first changed up my mantel decor (slightly).  I know I just recently did that, but this is still in keeping with glass jars and flowers moving across the mantel.  This just adds a bit more color.

I chose purple hydrangeas and purple and white lilacs.

Y'all know by now that I use "faux" flowers all the time right?  As much as I love fresh flowers, I would go broke keeping them in my house all the time.  I am careful to look for very realistic looking flowers though.

Next, I used my over sized blue bottle on my coffee table.  I love how it looks when the sun shines through it.

I brought in some more purple lilacs for a clear jar next to the sofa.

And in my kitchen, I made an arrangement for my pitcher on the counter.

I like to have a consistent color scheme when I use flowers.

So, now my house feels ready for summer.  It certainly feels like it outside too!  

Thanks for stopping by.

~ Kelly ~

A Prairie Style Wedding - Part II

Hello everyone!

I wanted to continue with part 2 of the wedding we attended last Saturday night.  Now, it's time to welcome the wedding party and bride and groom to the reception.  

The wedding party was announced and then they lined up for the bride and groom to enter.

Weren't their dresses pretty?  They were all short in a light mint green with pink and white flower bouquets.

And here comes the bride and groom!

They began dancing to their wedding song, All of Me, by John Legend.

Her dress was beautiful in all lace.  The dress was off white.  

After the dance, it was time for food.

We had a choice of chicken or salmon, steamed veggies, stuffed baked potato, fried green tomatoes and salad.

Then the bride and groom cut the cake.

Sorry, my pictures aren't so good.  I was trying to catch pictures whenever I could and they weren't always in focus.

There were toasts made with champagne and a father and daughter dance. Unfortunately, we didn't stay till the end because we had such a long drive to make to get home. So, I missed a few other things.  But, we had a great time and the bride and groom are now honeymooning on a tropical island!

As we were leaving, I caught one last pic of the tent set up for extra guests.  Isn't it pretty? 

Now, are you in the mood for a wedding?  This is the season!

Congrats to Josh & Sally Thomas!

May 24, 2014

Thanks for stopping by.

~ Kelly ~

A Prairie Style Wedding - Part I

Hello everyone!

Last night my husband and I attended a beautiful wedding.  It was for his cousin's son.  They had the most charming wedding reception I've seen in a long time.  I thought I would share some pics with you so you could enjoy it too.

The wedding took place in a church, but the reception was held in a train depot.  It was so quaint and charming.  It was decorated to look like it was plucked right out of the pages of a Shabby Chic Prairie Style Book.  

First, meet the cute couple.

This was part of a picture that the guests signed around upon entering. 

There was a spot for gifts on the other side of the door.

  There were tables reserved for the family with fresh flowers and candles.

But the MOST beautiful area was for the wedding party!

Fresh flowers and small votive candles were everywhere.  So romantic!

There was an open bar.

And a DJ.

People were walking around offering hors d'oeuvres before dinner as well.

I spied the wedding cake over in the corner!

It was placed on top of an old suitcase!

The food was waiting for us in chafing dishes.

Well there is just so much more to share!   You have to see the beautiful bride and groom dancing to their wedding song, All of Me, by John Legend!  Click HERE to listen to it.

Part 2 coming up next!

Thanks for stopping by.

~ Kelly ~

Adding Movement and Dimension to my Family Room

Hello everyone!

Remember when I told you about the new show on HGTV, called Fixer Upper?  Well, the designer, Joanna Gaines inspired me so much with the way she would furnish and accessorize a room.  So, I decided to read more about how she styles a room.  She gave some great tips that make a room come alive without using a lot of color.  I noticed a distinct pattern in many of her rooms that I was drawn to.  One of them was to add movement to a room.  This was achieved by using multiples of one item in the same place.  That way the eye doesn't just stop on each individual object, but rather sees it flow.  In this case, on the mantel.

I used glass bottles with flowering stems.

The nice thing about this is I could easily change the color of  the flower I use.  I like the way the stems add movement across the mantel.  It is simple, yet stylish.

Another thing was to add dimension to a wall by using things other than artwork.  Using found pieces that add depth are fun and interesting.    In this case, I used galvanized trays on my wall.

I love anything galvanized anyway just for the country charm alone.  These trays have rope handles which adds even more texture.  

I hung them using wire.  Luckily there were holes available for the rope handles that I could tie the wire onto.

So, these are just a couple of ideas that I did in my home.  It's fun to "break the rules" when decorating.  I think that's what keeps it fun.  

Hope all of you have a nice relaxing holiday weekend.  We have a wedding to go to tomorrow and then we can relish summer break.  Today is my son's last day of school so my schedule is getting ready to do an "about face"!

Thanks for stopping by.

~ Kelly ~

More Changes to the Foyer

Hello everyone!

Well, I got the urge to make more changes to the foyer.  I know, I know, I know.  Didn't I just make changes recently? Well...............yes.  But, a girl can change her mind right?  I do that a lot!  I'm sure you already know that about me by now.  

So, here's what I did.  I moved my chest of drawers down just a little bit so it was facing the opposite room more squarely. It just seems better centered to me.  Then, I moved my lamp to the opposite side of the chest.  I added some accessories that weren't previously on the chest for a fresh new look.

Some old black books were topped with my wooden beads and cross. I kept the dog artwork propped up on the stair wall.

Then, I added some white soup tureens to brighten up the top a bit.  These came off my mantel.

I added a faux olive branch in my olive bucket.  Pretty well coordinated, don't ya think?!  

And I'm calling it done.......for now!  

But, if that wasn't enough, I made yet another change to the wall leading into our family room.  I hung my preserved boxwood wreath there.  My dog picture  (it replaced) is slowing making its rounds to another place in the house. I believe it will end up in my upstairs hallway where the wreath used to hang.  

I love making these simple changes to the house for a fresh new look.  I just shopped the house for all of these goodies.  

I may work on cleaning up my basement storage area soon and  show you where I store all of my unused pieces.  Right now, it's a complete disaster!  

Thanks for stopping by.

~ Kelly ~

My New Favorite Show on HGTV

Hello everyone!

I'm sure you've noticed lately how HGTV has more shows about selling houses than they do decorating them.  But I found a show this weekend that was about renovating a house that a couple bought and turning it into their dream home.  I was so impressed!  The show reminded me of the new American Dream Builders show with Nate Burkus and the old Extreme Makeover Home Edition show that used to be on.........only better!  

It's a new show  that just came out  last month and it's called Fixer Upper.  Have any of you seen it yet? A married couple, named Joanna and Chip Gaines have their own business called Magnolia Homes in Waco Texas.  They are SO talented and yet down to earth.  I don't know how they do all that they do with a young family of children and animals and a farm to run.  Amazing!  Anyway, here are some pictures of their work.  

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And , if that wasn't enough.  They built their own dream home recently in the same fashion.  They found some land with an old farmhouse on it that needed to be redone.  So, that's what they set out to do.  It is so pretty and full of style inside.

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So, if you've given up on HGTV, give them one more chance for this show alone.  It comes on Thursday nights at 11 pm eastern time. (I just record it.)  It's so much fun to watch.  

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Kelly ~ 

The Making of a Country Table Setting

Hello everyone!

Before my flowers die, that my sweet husband gave me for Mother's Day,  I thought it would be fun to use them as a centerpiece on a country table setting.  It's not everyday that I have fresh flowers lying around!

I wanted to set a table that you could really use.  So, it's not full of extra dishes that you may not use and it's not full of too much "bling" either.  It's really a basic table setting with some character thrown in.  

So let's get started.  I first started out with a bold color place mat to set the color scheme for my table.

The nice thing about the flowers, is that they are full of color so I don't need a lot of other colors going on elsewhere on the table.  My place mats came from Target.  They are reversible.  I chose the side with a little contrast in the center.

Next, are the dishes.  I used a simple white dinner plate, with a dish towel (found from Ikea and Walmart) that looks like an old textile. They will be used as napkins.  I placed the silverware in an X pattern on top for fun. This is not a serious table setting! 

Next, I brought in my blue ball jars to be used as drinking glasses.  I like the extra color and character they bring to the table.

And lastly, I softened the chairs by bringing in a variety of throw pillows that add even more character to the table.

But there was still one more thing that I needed.  

Let there be light!

Unfortunately, we're having a very cloudy day today.  It was hard to get the usual sunny pics that I share with you.  So, today, we're using a lot of lights in the house.  But I think this table brightened my mood a bit.  

Now, it's time to serve a country dinner here!

Thanks for stopping by.

~ Kelly ~