the imperfect and improvised hostess gift

 Remember my weekend promise to 'embrace imperfection' ? ..... well, keeping that in mind, I found myself scrambling to muster a hostess gift for a last minute dinner invite yesterday evening.

It's a full week here, and somehow my cupboards were not flowing over with potential presents.  Of course I knew that in this season my garden is practically a flower free zone , except .... except for those lovely hellebore.  So faithful and perfect and undemanding.

So this is what my friend received as my thank you gift.  The smallest  bouquet you have ever seen, gifted in a vintage silver cup, and accompanied by a very imperfect little watercolour, bearing the one word Merci.

 

I used to  worry about painting with watercolours.  Now I don't think it matters if the result isn't perfect.  I find it's a good idea to run a damp paintbrush across the paper before starting, then work gently building up the colour as your confidence grows.  Last year I gave some ideas for painting simple images of flowers for seed packets gifts.

These two little pictures were done on the kitchen table in less than ten minutes.  It either works or it doesn't ... and if it doesn't, it's not serious .... just try again another day

home made centre piece for your christmas table

If there's a moment in the year when you can be a little more daring with your flowers on the table it has to be the holidays.

This is the moment when I like to use flowers plus .... other things.  A lot of you have told me that you are decorating with white, silver and fresh green this year, so I tried to put together an idea that may fit in, using materials that most of us have in the home already  or that are inexpensive to buy.

 To make these centrepieces, I used two urns I already had, some florists foam (either already ball shape or cut into a ball from a new brick);  wooden barbecue skewers;  a bunch of cuttings from a box hedge; a bunch of small white roses, some small Christmas baubles and a bag of  ... brussel sprouts!

Start by soaking the balls of foam in water, the wetter they are the longer your arrangement will last.  Actually you can increase the lifespan by putting these out into a cool garage each night.  Stand a straight branch in each recipient or urn, and make sure they are firm using stones, foam, even plaster if you wish.

Push each ball down onto the stick to create the hole, then take them off again to start building up the arrangement.

After you have put small lengths of box all over the ball, prepare the brussel sprouts.  I use these because I love their colour, their small tidy shape and because they last for a long time, even if the roses need changing.    Peel off any discoloured leaves, then push a short length of skewer into the base of each, position on the ball of foam.

Start building up the ball, using the sprouts, roses and baubles, with some more box if required, until the foam is completely covered and you have a nice round shape.   Push the ball back onto the 'trunk' and check the shape, then cover the base with some beautiful green moss.  Voila!


The same idea works just as well with red roses and tiny apples or lichi.  Pine cones are good too, but can be more difficult to fix to the foam.

While I was already making a mess I also popped a few white hellebore with some baby ivy into an old soup tureen and surrounded it with moss.  Doesn't look spectacular for the moment but it will grow during the holidays.

Hope you enjoyed that, I'll be back tomorrow with something else!

Today, I am loving

... this fantastic kids cloth hanger stand [but the concept is easily adaptable for a grown up too] by brilliant wood designer Katrin Arens. Simple, eco friendly, and minimalist. J'aime!

[via]

me and a tin of black paint

Black in small doses  seems to work well at the moment.  It compliments the neutrals we love so much, and tolerates the occasional loud splash of a brighter colour.

I've had fun restoring an old and very battered backgammon board found for next to nothing at a fair, and then since I had some paint left over, I tried it on a cutlery box.  What do you think?

 the box when I started - not a pretty sight!

- I replaced the main panels and painted them ... black -

- I toyed with the idea of leaving the board without any markings -

- I tried to call it stylish; my son  called me lazy -

so we compromised and I painted in the simplest board possible!

 then I moved onto a cutlery box ...

I can't sign off without thanking you for all your kind words about my pictures

this weekend - you really know how to make a girl happy!!

Thank you for reading my blog, thank you for your generosity!

Read more books!

Yep, read more books : not only are they good for you, but they're also great for your interior! We've already approached the power of books in interior design in a previous post but I had to share these pics with you. Books not only replace furniture, playing the role of original side tables when piled, but they instantly add character and depth to a room. Also greatly in love with the faux book pile pillow spotted on the delicious hvvit blog. What about you, do you use books in an original way in your interior?

Sanctuary

hviit

Konfetti

Trendenser

Varpunen

Ideas to Steal

Photo Nicolas Matheus

Photo Vincent Leroux/ Temps Machine

Today I am loving...

Totally in love with this original idea of window treatment in a bedroom... Instead of the usual curtains, the owner used panels of skaï - or synthetic leather - that are simply attached on top sides with grommets, one side stays locked, while the other side locks and unlocks in position to filter the light. Not sure this would work for an everyday bedroom [i.e. doing the lock/unlock maneuver every night would drive me nuts] but great for a guest room or a room where you occasionally need light filtering, like a media room. Brilliant if you ask me!

via

Today, I am loving...

Today, I'm loving this curtain holder made out of a palm leaf. What a brilliant [and cheap] option, and what a great way to celebrate nature! Très chic!

via

Today, I am loving...

Today I'm loving this DIY mobile photo display : paint it in a bright color, lay it against a wall, and change its position whenever you feel like it. Brilliant!

via

garden favours

The first show of annuals is fading away in the garden, leaving behind their seed pods and making space for the next wave.

This is a good time to make some very personal favours, gifts to special friends, thank-you's to a dinner hostess.  I've found an idea that seems to please, costs nothing and takes less time than required to write this post !!

 To make these little packets of home grown seeds, you'll need some greaseproof or waxed paper, a sewing machine, paints and ......  some seeds.  Here I chose seeds from a pink lupin.

To create a tiny and very simple watercolour, don't get ambitious, keep it simple, naive even.  You're not looking for a botanical print - unless you're clever enough to do that, then just go for it !! - For the lupins, I first painted in some rough lines showing the position of the lupin heads and some foliage beneath.

Next I dotted in some of the lupin colour, blotting with kitchen paper as I went to keep everything soft.

I painted in the name of the flower, again as simply as possible

To make the seed sachet, I simply folded a piece of waxed paper in half and machine sewed each of the long upright sides, making a sachet open at the top.

I popped the seeds into the sachet, you don't need very many, and sewed the little painted paper onto the top of the sachet to seal the seeds inside.  Voila !  I told you, it was quicker than this post to finish !

Oh yes, and just for fun I added the words 'de mon jardin'  -  from my garden.

Any flowers will do for this,  providing they are easy to draw - Nigella is good because they are so vague and fluffy!  Have fun!

new bed makeover and cushions for the fair

Preparing for the fair, I knew I needed a bed to show the linens, but wouldn't have the space to take a huge double bed.  I found a pair of vintage single beds and reworked them.  Here's the before and after, an easy project that anyone could handle.  And old beds like this can be found world wide, usually going for a song.

 I wanted to use the slight recess on the head and foot of the bed to put an upholstered panel.  So after painting the beds, I cut pieces of wood to size, and covered them with padding and an old piece of vintage ticking.  My staple gun came into its own again here.

On the head panel I wanted three buttons.  I had pre-pierced holes in the right place before covering.  Now I just had to sew through the wood and attach the buttons.  For extra strength I  placed a thin flat button on the back as well.

My only solution for putting the panels into place was glue, quick and easy!

I really planned to show you  the two beds set up in the garden covered with some of the cushions I've been making for the fair, but we are having alot of showers today, and I didn't have a long enough dry moment to put it all together.  I'm sure you get the picture.

I'm sure loads of you have already done this sort of project, I'd love to hear about it.


PS  I seem to have lost the 'follow' buttons on my blogs -
anyone have any bright ideas about retrieving them?!
I'd be grateful to hear if this has happened to you to
Thank you