anything but yellow

May 14, 2021

On a quick trip to Scottsdale, I had the wonderful opportunity to visit the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix with some great people. During the visit, I was intrigued by a comment made by our tour guide – that most flowers in a desert garden are yellow. Of course, after hearing that, I needed to find some color beyond the yellow as I toured the space!

Today I am sharing a few of these non-yellow finds. I will share some more photos of the garden in a future post because there were plenty of amazing succulents to admire!

My first amazing find at the garden is a little bit of a cheat…they are not live plants! They are blown glass pieces by the amazing American glass sculptor, Dale Chihuly. It was such a nice surprise to discover the three pieces of large-scale sculptures gracing the entrance to the garden!

You may remember from a previous post, that I visited a large Chihuly collection when it was installed at the New York Botanical Garden. (Click here to see the post.)

Here are a few of my favorite living ‘beyond yellow’ finds!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a wonderful weekend!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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spring walk in essex

April 23, 2021

Even though I live in a shoreline town, there are plenty more in Connecticut to explore! Some towns I may not visit very often, yet others I wouldn’t miss checking out on a regular basis.

Essex is one of these ‘regular basis’ towns. It has a quiet elegance about it and is very historic – It is home to one of the oldest (since 1776) continuously operated inns in the country. I usually visit this seaport village in July, but a friend and I recently made a spring visit.

As in any visit, we took plenty of time to notice outdoor home décor and gardens. Having done a formal home tour in Essex in the past, I know there are many magnificent interiors as well!

I hope you are inspired to enjoy some walks outside of your regular neighborhood during this pretty time of year!

Thanks for stopping by!

Have a fabulous weekend and remember to enjoy pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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happy easter 2021!

April 2, 2021

It is such a great time of year…the promise of living so much life outdoors!

With all the outdoor living comes the gardening. Here in Connecticut, Mother’s Day is usually my official planting time but pansies can stand the cooler weather so I’ve already put a few in the ground.

In their typical fashion, the rabbits have already eaten all the flowers off of them! The only pansy flowers remaining right now are the ones planted in the basket hanging on the front of the house! So starts my love/hate relationship with the neighborhood pests! The bees will be next followed by a close second to the chipmunks!

I’ve been forcing branches in the house for the last couple of months, but now some of the trees have started blooming outdoors as well. So, of course, more come into the house!

The more twisted the branch, the better! A single branch with an unusual shape can make such a dramatic display!

I hope you are enjoying this time of year as much as I am!

I want to wish you a blessed Easter filled with love.

Thanks for stopping by!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things…like everything blooming around you!

xo Jackie

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topiary painted easter eggs

March 19, 2021

Yes, I was struggling for an Easter egg theme this year. They usually come so easily for me. But that wasn’t the case this year, until… I was up all night recently, working on a research project, and it just came to me! Probably because I have been thinking so much lately about how I will continue enhancing my ‘virgin’ garden this spring.

So, in the wee hours of the morning, I grabbed a marker and an egg and drew a topiary. After I had one done, I just kept going!

The next day, I added some green, gold, and brown paint accents as a final touch.

Viola! My topiary Easter egg series for 2021!

Because I always make my designs on hollowed out eggs, I keep them indefinitely. This series is sure to be on display again in the future!

Thanks for stopping by!

I hope you are inspired to decorate some eggs in a new way!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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snow beautiful

February 12, 2021

There have been so many times I have wished snow could be saved for a single day…that it would just snow on December 25^th and no other day. It’s just that snow can be so annoying. All the cancellations, delays, shoveling…not to mention it occurs during cold temperatures!

Here, in Connecticut, we have had quite a bit of snow recently.

Now that so many people are working from home and distance learning is a regular thing, I don’t think the snow has as much a negative impact on everyone’s daily lives as in the past. The term ‘snow day’ definitely must have a different meaning for all the children in school – lessons are just done remotely instead of in school. How sad to miss a day of no school because of heavy snow!

This past week there was one day when the snow came down most of the day. In the late afternoon I decided to venture outside and start some snow clearing. The views of the fresh fallen snow were so beautiful, I decided to take a walk around to admire it. Snow much fun! These photos were taken on that walk – all with my phone – no filters.

It is times like these that I really appreciate the four seasons we have here in the East and could not imagine living anywhere else.

Thanks for stopping by!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things – like the beauty of a fresh fallen snow, Jackie

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antique swan planter diy

January 22, 2021

I love Annie Sloan and Annie Sloan products and the proof is in my passion to paint everything with Annie Sloan paint! Those of you who follow me have seen previous blog projects that have included furniture, painted planters and pots as well as vases from plastic bottles using paint and dark wax. One thing I have not done is incorporate Plaster of Paris into a paint project.

That is exactly what one of my favorite Instagrammers, Kathy (@r.house_) did on a project she posted to her Instagram stories. She incorporated Plaster of Paris while painting a plastic planter from Christmas Tree Shops and I knew I needed to try the technique with my Annie Sloan! She was simulating an antique cement piece and it came out fabulous! I had planned to try it on a plastic trophy shaped planter, but I couldn’t find the container I had in mind.

While I was on a Christmas Tree Shops stop, (I go there occasionally to pick up Rao’s sauce.) I noticed the same plastic swan planters Kathy used for her project. I picked up a small one (they come in two sizes) to use for my experiment. I planned on just following along with Kathy’s instructions. You can do the same thing by looking at Kathy’s highlights on her Instagram feed or you can follow the instructions here where I show my results using Kathy’s method.

Original small swan planter.

The only difference with my process was that I used all Annie Sloan paints. I used leftover paint colors I had from other projects so my colors aren’t the same as the one’s Kathy used, but I did use a gray and a white.

When I purchased the small swan, it did not have a drainage hole and since I planned on using it for a planter, I made a hole by driving a nail into the bottom. A layer of small pebbles on the bottom of the container can be used as an alternative method for drainage.

Planter painted with gray base coat.

For this project, you will need flat gray paint, flat white paint, Plaster of Paris, (if you don’t have it, borrow it from a crafter – you won’t need much) and the plastic container you plan on painting – in this case, a plastic swan planter from Christmas Tree Shops. I used a paper bowl for paint mixing, a wide paint brush, and a pair of plastic gloves. For those of you who didn’t take any art classes, Plaster of Paris is a white powder that hardens when moistened and allowed to dry. It can be used to make homemade chalk paint, but in this case, we are using it to add texture to our project.

Mixing white paint and Plaster of Paris.

Here are the steps to create a simulated aged cement swan planter:

Paint the swan with a gray chalk paint base coat (or any flat gray paint) and let dry
Mix Plaster of Paris liberally into white chalk paint (or any flat white paint) in a disposable bowl – it should be thick and lumpy
Paint the white paint mixture onto the swan – it was more like rubbing it on for me
Let dry completely
Dab dark wax (I used Annie Sloan dark wax) on some of the raised areas

White paint and plaster coat on the planter.

Doesn’t the Plaster of Paris add a great realism to the piece? I love that it is a nice light weight plastic piece since I am using it as an indoor planter, but looks like cement.

Final planter with dark wax added.

Thanks Kathy!

If you don’t already, be sure to follow Kathy on Instagram. She has a fabulous home and wonderful taste and she is sure to inspire some creativity!

Thanks for stopping by!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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target flower diy

January 8, 2021

Who couldn’t use a little bit of spring about now? I thought a touch of flowers would be the perfect addition to my newly renovated bathroom (yes, new bathroom post to come soon) to evoke a sense of spring and I set out to find some artificial ones. (I would much prefer real flowers on a regular basis, but unfortunately, I don’t have the budget for that and there will be no garden flowers till spring!)

Of course, if you know me, it is no surprise that I wanted white flowers! Any of the white artificial flowers I found at the craft stores that look at all realistic were way too expense! And, when I checked to see what was available at the Dollar Store, I did not see any varieties of flowers I liked at all.

Then, unexpectedly, to my surprise on a regular trip to Target, I found artificial flowers in the low-price bins at the front of the store! The white ranunculus was perfect for what I wanted and I certainly couldn’t beat the price!

I changed them only in one slight way. The flowers looked way too “one color” for me to look real. They needed subtle variations of white to look true to nature. So, all I did was to use a little spray paint and spray some of the edges of the petals. I used a plastic bag taped around the stems and leaves to protect them from the spray paint. Perfect! Some subtle color variations! I also got rid of a lot of the leaves since I don’t include many leaves when I put fresh ranunculus into a vase.That’s it! That little upgrade made my great find perfect!

If you are at Target and want some artificial flowers, you can also check the ones in the Magnolia line – they are priced almost as good. Not all the varieties look realistic, but I think the cosmos look really good! (I put up photos of the two varieties I thought looked great on my Instagram stories today.)

Thanks for stopping by!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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diy holiday paperwhites

November 20, 2020

Paperwhites are great for the holidays! All that white flower goodness and it just requires a simple procedure of putting the bulbs in some water and waiting for them to bloom! It takes 4-6 weeks for them to burst into flower, so planting some now will probably provide a Christmas week bloom!

A few stones in the bottom of a container help keep the bulb from laying directly on the water and rotting.

Here, I have included some of the bulb plantings created by Terrain in Westport. I hope it serves as some inspiration for you to design some plantings of your own! Choosing a pretty container for the holidays is certainly half the fun! With the cost of a paperwhite bulb under $2. a piece, you can have plenty of creative fun for very little cost.

The one annoyance of paperwhites is that they grow quite tall and all their weight is on the top. To avoid this, you can stunt the growth of the paperwhites height by using alcohol!

By using this method, the bulb will only grow 1/3 to 1/2 its normal height, but the flowers remain normal size!

After planting your paperwhites, the same as you usually would, you make a watering switch after the roots begin growing and the green shoot is 1-2 inches tall. At this time, pour off the existing water and replace it with a solution of water and alcohol. You can either use vodka and water (7 parts water to one-part vodka) or rubbing alcohol and water (13 parts water to one-part 70% rubbing alcohol). Then, just use whichever solution you have made to water the bulb for the remaining time.

I hope you are inspired to plant some paperwhites this week! Check your local garden store for some individual bulbs for sale.

Thanks for stopping by!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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diy pumpkins with foraged materials

October 13, 2020

When I was young, I would love to save colorful fall leaves by using a hot iron to preserve them between two pieces of wax paper. Do children still do this?

I used a similar technique recently to save some leaves I admired. Instead of wax paper, I used Mod Podge as a preservative and added them to mini baby boo pumpkins.

I had foraged some items that caught my eye on a morning walk and I really wanted to use them in some way. So, I decided to incorporate the items I found, as well as some small pine cones (I had previously bleached) and acorns (I had previously painted), as ornamentation on white baby boos pumpkins.

This is such an easy DIY that anyone can do. There are so many possibilities! All you need are some foraged items from outdoors, a glue gun, Mod Podge and some pumpkins. Mod Podge isn’t even necessary, but I used it to glue down some of the leaves and also to preserve them. I brushed the Mod Podge on both sides of each leaf and glued some of the leaves to the surface of the pumpkin.

Using found materials and a 69-cent pumpkin (from Trader Joe’s), this DIY is super affordable!

I hope I have inspired you to create some of your own pumpkin creations from foraged materials!

Thanks for stopping by.

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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dahlias at white flower farm

October 9, 2020

Garden relatives to the sunflower, chrysanthemum and zinnia, dahlias are really gorgeous perennials!

They are native to warmer climates – Mexico and Central America. To keep them blooming here, the tubers need to be dug up in the fall, stored over the winter, and then planted again the following spring. (If they were in their native warm climate, they would re-sprout from their underground tubers to bloom each year.)

The idea of digging up the tubers every year has kept me from planting any in my own garden. There are just so many beautiful flowers to choose from – why choose one that requires so much work! I just don’t want to add another thing to my fall garden ‘to do’ list!

But, seeing the gorgeous dahlia display at White Flower Farm this year, I have to say I thought twice about changing my mind about planting some dahlias!

I visited the flower farm when the blooms were at peak and it was a drizzly day. I always love a garden on a rainy day – the colors are so much more impactful than on a sunny day!