home decor Archives - Keeping With The Times

Hyacinth Print Download

April 9, 2015 by Barb 6 Comments

Just popping in with a quick note to let you know I’ll be including the full resolution file of my “Hyacinth and Tulip Fling With Spring” in my next newsletter as a free download.

It’s approximately 8″ x 8″ and I printed it on plain white photo paper using my colour laser printer. I was pretty pleased with the results.

It now brightens up the table at the entrance to our condo.

Original:

Then of course I had a bit of a play in Lightroom using Kim’s presets, and because you will have the full resolution image, you could edit it too.

How fun! I’d love to see what you do with it!

Please use it any way you want – as a framed print, card, journaling material … all I ask is that you use it for personal use only, and give credit to me if you post it online.

So, if you haven’t signed up for my newsletter and would like to have this print – check the sidebar for details!

Have a wonderful Thursday!

Barb

PS … my copyright won’t be printed on the image …

What To Do With a 10 Pound Wheel Hub?

December 10, 2013 by Barb 26 Comments

Why yes, yes I did haul home a 10 pound rusty wagon wheel hub…

who could resist such a thing?

… so, what to do with it?

well… you turn it into a vase…

Isn’t it amazing how objects can be made to look so old and rusty? The hub is authentic, the star… not so much…

I thought it looked pretty with my vintage baking powder tin (this is about as close I have gotten to baking anything this season)…

I found this cute little light spray at one of our little shops in town. Boy they can sure get you when you walk into a store and see all the pretty, sparkly displays…

… pretty… I actually have this little arrangement set up on a side table in the dining room/living room and it looks warm, so warm… but because there’s a mirror behind it, it’s impossible to photograph. I haven’t figured out how to do that yet without getting myself and and all the other reflections in the picture as well.

But, there you have it…

… that’s what you do with a 10 pound wagon wheel hub!

Update: In response to TexWisGirl who suggested I could use it as a weapon:

Yes…
It was Miss Barbara…
In the Dining Room…
With the Wheel Hub…

My Holiday Tablescape

December 9, 2013 by Barb 17 Comments

My husband and I are hosting Christmas this year and there is no group I am more excited to entertain than our family. The first thing I think about is “how am I going to set the table”? It’s a big deal to me and I always want to make it festive, elegant and family-friendly.

I recently received an email from Tiny Prints and was inspired to create a tablescape using their invite as inspiration! I’m also pretty excited to share that they are featuring my tablescape on their blog today! Check it out here at blog.tinyprints.com!

When I saw the Christmas card design, I was immediately inspired! Don’t you just love the “Merry Christmas” word art? I also love the gold snowflakes and simple gold border.

However, I wanted to use it as a menu, so I decided to create our Christmas Dinner Menu in Photoshop and then upload it just like it was a photo (in a jpeg format). I chose a simple font so as not to clash with the greeting and added tiny snowflakes between the courses to pick up on the snowflakes that were already around the edges of the card.

Did you know that you can pick a colour off the web? Yes, you can! I sampled the gold on the card at the Tiny Prints site and used it when I created the extra snowflakes and menu title.

I was having fun with the gold theme and went searching for treasures. While browsing HomeSense I came across these gold beaded chargers. I’m pretty sure they originated at Pier One… but they were 1/3 of the price. They are surprisingly heavy but as a result they lay nice and flat. How pretty and sparkly…

The gold theme made me think of this water pitcher that I inherited from my Mom. It has to be at least 60 years old – a treasure for sure.

And here is the actual Christmas card that I chose. You probably can’t read the fine print but it says “From the Lake | 2013” and that would explain the loon. It’s the quintessential northern icon and a familiar sight in our parts!

Anyway, I hope you are still with me and that you enjoyed the plethora of photos of my golden winter tablescape!

Now I’m off to get my Christmas cards written up, and in the mail…

Thank you so much for stopping by, and have a wonderful day!

Vintage Tin Jelly Mold Star Wreath

December 4, 2013 by Barb 28 Comments

Here’s the scoop on how I created this vintage tin jelly mold wreath!

Once again as I was browsing my favourite junque store, I came across a treasure! Sitting in a cupboard (I think it was hiding) sat this wonderful old tin jelly/cake mold and it was shaped like a star… a star, people! And what time of year is it?? and what could I possibly do with a star?? perhaps put it on a wreath?

vintage tin jelly mold wreath

After I got it home, it sat on the counter for a week as I pondered how I was going to make this thing work.

I thought about making a twiggy wreath, but it’s so darn cold here I couldn’t bear the thought of going out into the bush to gather branches, so I bought a fresh pine wreath instead.

To attach the star (mold), I made the quick executive decision to not bother even trying to hide the (kite) string that I used. It somehow seemed to fit.

Thinking hard about what would go with a kitcheny (kitschy) theme, I suddenly thought of all the vintage spoons I’d collected… I giggled the whole time while I was arranging them.

You see, a long time ago, I took a course in floral arrangement and I reminisced about all the effort our instructor had put into teaching us how to create pretty sprays. I wonder what she would think of this? I don’t think she had spoons in mind…

Vintage Tin Jelly Mold Wreath

I gave some poppy seed heads a very light spray of silver paint, and simply stuck them into the greenery.

Vintage Tin Jelly Mold Wreath

It now has a place of honour on our front door.

Vintage Jelly Tin Mold Wreath

Ummm, yes, on this particular day we were under a “winter storm warning”, a “heavy snowfall warning”, and a “blizzard warning”. Our forecasters covered all the bases.

Vintage Tin Jelly Mold Wreath

Isn’t she lovely?

Vintage Tin Jelly Mold Wreath

I hope you are having a wonderful season, and are having as much fun as I am!

Thank you for stopping by!

Autumn Tablescape With Warm Whites

September 29, 2013 by Barb 27 Comments

Fall is such a gorgeous time! I love the bright colours it brings; the oranges, the reds, the browns, and the golds. But there is a lighter side to it as well. This is when the soft pink Autumn Joy is blooming and I find it amazing that it comes into its own, just as the days get shorter, and the nights get colder.

I also love the white pumpkins that are so popular right now. I couldn’t find any, but I managed to snag these wonderful white, odd-shaped gourds from a farmer who was about to plow them under. He said they were just an experiment, were kind of weird, and he couldn’t see how anyone would want them! Ummm, just a minute, I’ll take a few (dozen)…

autumn, tablescape, decor, keeping with the times

For my autumn tablescape this year, the only new things I bought were the wicker chargers, and the cloth serviettes, all from Pier One. I chose a patterned serviette, and a plain one, put one on top of the other, shaped them into a loose cone, and slipped on a big silvery jewel ring. I already had the rings since I had bought them at a garage sale a few years ago for $1.00/ea.

Autumn-Tablescape 2

I’m not usually into sparkly stuff, but for some reason, these really grabbed me.

Autumn-Tablescape 3

All my other stonecrops are still growing beautifully as well. My pots are full of soft blue-green whorls, bright mossy-looking mounds, and tiny grey-green leaves. I plan to bring them all in for the winter, and I’m hopeful that they will do well in the sunny south window in my basement.

Autumn-Tablescape 4

Pink, and green, and white. Light and airy.

Autumn-Tablescape-4-copy

Hmmmm, I think that pear needs to be poached…

Autumn-Tablescape-8-copy

… but it’s so pretty…

Autumn-Tablescape-7-copy

…don’t forget a few candles…

Autumn-Tablescape-9-copy

… and a white cotton tablecloth.

Autumn-Tablescape-5-copy

My dining room has some wonderful light, and I managed to capture this sunburst off the wineglass!

Autumn-Tablescape-6-copy

I hope you liked my autumn tablescape. I don’t have any sage advice to pass on, except maybe to pile on the layers. Layers of plates, serviettes, plants, candles… use lots of stuff! I used the same concept when I created my “Pier One Inspired Tablescape” when I was in Arizona. In fact, I find that Pier One is one of the best places for inspiration!

Thank you for dropping by!

Top 12 of 2012

December 30, 2012 by Barb 20 Comments

Once again as the year ends I’ve compiled a collection of my most viewed posts. This year my Vintage Paper Trees overtook what used to be the biggest hitter – my Rustic Country Whole Grain Wreath.

Vintage Paper Trees	Dictionary Page Wreath	Recycled Paper Twiggy Tags	Handmade Christmas Globe Ornaments	Baked Caramel Popcorn
Nuts and Bolts	Flourless Chocolate Snow Mountains	Spring Mantle	Handmade Christmas Decorations	Old Dictionary Leaf Wreath
Pussy Willow Wreath – Tutorial	Christmas Table Decor

InLinkz.com

Our little get-away in Fountain Hills, AZ

October 24, 2012 by Barb 19 Comments

The view from our kitchen balcony.

Sunrise.

From the kitchen.

It’s an end unit so we have lots of windows.

Our living room.

Looking towards the front windows.

Our ‘office’ area… a work in progress…

Our little kitchen table.

Reclaimed wood furniture.

The breeze was softly blowing my (home-made) curtains – so pretty!

A little peek into our kitchen.

Santa Fe style furniture.

So light and airy.

Beauty!

Heading upstairs and some of our new paint ‘Sedona Sunset’

This morning I woke up thinking about our new condo in Fountain Hills. There’s a pretty good reason for that – we plan to head down there for two weeks!

We took possession of it last November and have since re-done a lot of the interior. We had it painted from ceilings to baseboards and everything in between. We removed carpets and had new flooring installed upstairs. We replaced all the blinds and then had the windows washed – that was my brilliant idea – it would have been impossible for me to do – especially upstairs. We had some electrical re-wiring of lights and installed new fixtures. As well, there was a lot of maintenance to be done but nothing major – good thing hubby is a handyman extraordinaire!

Last year, the first two weeks we were in Arizona, we saw nothing but the interior of Lowes – but let me say they have a pretty amazing view of the mountains from their parking lot …. ;)

This time we’ll have a bit more time to explore and experience AZ. To start off, we’re going to a football game on Monday night – a dream-come-true for hubby!

I’m looking forward to some new photo ops, perhaps a bit of shopping, dining out, and watching the sun come up from our living room couch.

Autumn tablescape 2012

September 17, 2012 by Barb 15 Comments

I love to host Thanksgiving! All the gorgeous colours and textures are so inspiring!

I love to set a pretty table but I don’t want to spend a lot of money and I try to use what I have on hand. I already had the perfect dishes (I got them at Costco quite a few years ago), so the only things I had to buy for this table setting were the little blocks that say “give thanks”, and the pumpkins.

I was pretty happy with my centrepiece. I used a glass tray that has two ‘levels’ and put the candles on the top level. After I had it arranged, I sprinkled green rocks over everything and added a few willow balls for extra texture.

Autumn Tablescape

Can you believe that I found these beautiful wild purple asters growing in the ditch! Love that!

autumn tablescape

So perfect with the purple dishes…

autumn tablescape

Purple, green, gold…

autumn tablescape

… burgundy…

autumn tablescape

… leaves cut from scrapbook papers…

autumn tablescape

… same for the serviette holders… with a spring of fresh thyme…

autumn tablescape

So much to give thanks for!

autumn tablescape

Thank you for dropping by, and checking out my tablescape!

autumn tablescape, purple asters, thanksgiving, keeping with the times

Valentine hearts topiary

February 1, 2012 by Barb 30 Comments

my lovely Valentine topiary

brightening up a corner in my dining room

gracing my nesting tables

love . . .

love . . . love . . .

I wanted to make something for Valentine’s Day but just didn’t want it to be a lot of work or cost too much. Coming up with the idea is what took the most time since I was feeling less than inspired. Luckily, I had to run into town to get some batteries (that’s my story and I’m sticking to it . . .) and as I was browsing around, I saw some packages of these creamy paper-looking flowers. They were with all the pot-pourri items and were very inexpensive. I scooped up a couple of boxes and sped home, ideas forming as I drove.

It was time to re-purpose my Victorian Inspired Topiary that I had made about 15 years ago! Oh the dust that flew as I tore it apart! What satisfaction! I saved the pot, the stem, and the styrofoam all in one piece and simply hot-glued the white flowers onto the styrofoam until it was completely covered. However, when I was finished I wasn’t completely blown away (to say the least).

It needed something ‘Valentine-y’.

Hearts. Little tiny punched paper hearts strung on a piece of thin twine and wrapped around and around. OK, now I’m getting somewhere! For the finishing touch I put some pot-pourri inside the pot. Looks pretty and smells pretty too!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Vintage paper trees

November 30, 2011 by Barb 76 Comments

I first saw these frilly little trees from hgtv (Pinterest) and knew I had to have one (or three). They are super simple to make and have such a delicate presence sitting there on my little china cabinet.

Speaking of my china cabinet – I gave the top a new look this year. It started when I saw this old window frame with the mirrors in the panes. I was casually shopping around at The Country Pumpkin for little ornaments when I turned around and saw it. I was smitten . . . I felt dizzy . . . I needed air . . . When I came around I made the decision to leave the store for an hour or so to think about it – how responsible is that! Anyway, you can see here that the rest is history. It’s home with me where it belongs, sigh . . .

Dictionary Paper Trees, vintage, christmas