inspiration — pleasure in simple things

Tag: inspiration

beauty in the details

February

For me, beauty is definitely in the details.

I love William Morris’s golden rule: “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.” But, I would take that a step further since I believe anything useful can also be beautiful.

As you know, taking pleasure in simple things makes my heart sing…and I truly believe even the smallest detail in a home can (and should) be one that brings joy.

A wonderful example of this in my home is in my kitchen. Until I found a way to replace the unsightly vitamin bottles on my kitchen table, I could not be happy. I tried keeping them in the pantry and out of view, but this only succeeded in my forgetting to take them!

My solution was to find some vintage looking jars to house my vitamins right on the kitchen table – replacing the ugly plastic vitamin containers. Now my vitamins are housed in these aesthetically appealing beauties…I love to look at them!

To make my vitamin regime even easier, I marked the inside of each jar top with the contents and description of dosage on a piece of attached masking tape. If I should purchase a different mg than usual of one of the vitamins, I am sure to include that right on the tape. Convenient, right? And, no ugly labels on the jars…beautiful and useful! (Of course after writing this post I had to redo the labels under the jar tops…now they are perfectly printed….beauty in the details!)

Since I am always on the lookout for a variety of items for my home, I ended up finding these jars in three different places during my travels. The numbered jars actually came from the Christmas Tree Shops and cost 99 cents each! I just used a little sandpaper on the painted numbers to ‘rough them up’ a bit.

Have you found any super ways to put beauty in some of the little details around your home? I would love to hear about them!

Thank you so much for stopping by.

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

Sharing at City Farmhouse.

Comments Off on beauty in the details | inspiration, style

a time for renewal

January

It is sad when Christmas is over…it comes and goes so quickly!

Taking all the ornaments off the tree is a sign of another Christmas come and gone…

Today’s Friday field trip signals the end of Christmas with the last signs of the season leaving my home…

I pause to admire the tree one last time before I remove all the lights…

And put all the ornaments back into the storage boxes to be packed away until next year…

Clear the mantel of the last of the holiday decor…

And start contemplating the new year…

The start of 2014 signals an excitement of starting something new…possibilities…a renewal…

I love to learn new things and to be open to new experiences…I look forward to new challenges in the coming year, and

I wish you all the best of possibilities as you start 2014…

Thank you so much for stopping by. I look forward to sharing 2014 with you. Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

1 comment » | inspiration

monthly book giveaway for december!

December

Well, it is December and it is hard for me to believe that a month has already gone by since the last book giveaway! Things have been extremely hectic for me, but I can’t let today go by without announcing the November book giveaway winner and announcing next month’s book selection. First, I want to congratulate Nancy from New Jersey for winning a copy of Penguin and Pinecone by Salina Yoon for the November giveaway…it is a beautiful story…especially for the holiday season!

At the end of the year, we all think about fresh starts and resolutions…

So, I thought One Thousand Gifts by New York Times Bestseller Ann Voskamp would make a good book choice for December!

A beautifully practical guide to living a life of joy, One Thousand Gifts invites you to wake up to everyday blessings. As Voskamp discovered, in giving thanks for the life she already had, she found the life she’d always wanted. Just leave a comment here, or Facebook, or Twitter, or Instagram to have a chance to win this inspirational read.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

For Instagram users, please take the pleasure in simple things December Instagram challenge…use hashtag #pleasuregram to share a favorite holiday ornament…it can be one you own or one you see in your holiday travels. I will be on the lookout for woodland themed ornaments!

5 comments » | inspiration, monthly book giveaway

happy thanksgiving :)

November

This Thanksgiving week, as I pause to give thanks – I want to give a special thanks to you – for sharing pleasure in simple things with me.

Click here for a special gift from me to you...and…

Please enjoy all that is dear to you this Thanksgiving…

Peace & Love, Jackie

1 comment » | holiday, inspiration

holiday shopping trip

November

Today’s Friday field trip is a shopping trip! My woodland holiday theme has been so much fun, I thought I would share some of the great items I have come across in my travels. When I decided to put a few photos up for you to see, I never realized how much trouble I would have editing all the great things I have found!

A woodland feeling would not be complete without a cozy blanket or scarf…this one is from L.L. Bean and in a favorite color palette. And, I love the way this set of three tree candles from Crate and Barrel mixes with neutrals. The serving tray from Ballard Designs is perfect to serve ‘fruits, nuts & berries’ at your holiday gathering…make up some candied or spiced nuts to include on your cheese tray!

Doesn’t this bring back memories? Burning Christmas tree smelling incense from a log cabin incense burner is an old time favorite…and it helps bring the Christmas tree smell to every room in your home! This beauty can be purchased at Terrain.

In recent years, straws have been available in so many different varieties…this holiday season you can even find straws that look like birch trees! At Anthropologie, I found these lovely simulated birch bark paper straws…perfect for sipping an icy holiday beverage. No outdoor themed party would be complete without maple leaf shaped maple sugar candies…the Vermont County Store is a wonderful source to find varieties of maple candy. I had to throw in the classic plaid traveling companion! This plaid number is not just for woodland picnics…it can be used to plant small holiday trees or mosses on an entryway table or for planting some succulents or paperwhites indoors. You can purchase this classic at Orvis.

What to wear? Of course you need to coordinate what you wear with the theme! For the little one, how about this adorable handmade creation? SO CUTE! It is available on Etsy from Crochele. Not really my style though…I am planning on wearing this long forest green dress from Anthropologie. To give others to wear, I found some great handmade jewelry pieces for gifts…the bird nest necklace is available on Etsy from Alwaysabridesmade and the silver band squirrel ring is by Elizabeth Ryan and available on her website LookaJewelry.com.

These containers by Carla Peters are available at West Elm and are perfect for a single holiday bloom or…are beautiful all on their own!

Even though I plan on making my woodland themed ornaments (like my acorn ornaments :) for starters), I managed to find something available for the tree that got me excited….the perfect treetopper (at Terrain) for a woodland Christmas…isn’t he great?

I hope you enjoyed our little woodland holiday shopping trip today for Friday field trip. Here in Connecticut it has turned very cold and definitely brings with it thoughts of the holidays (of course Christmas songs playing in all the stores certainly helps this along lol!) Thanks so much for stopping by…

Have a wonderful weekend and remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

Please note: The photos in today’s post were not taken by me. They are photos from the respective websites where the products are sold.

1 comment » | field trips, holiday, inspiration

visiting brimfield

September

What’s better than socializing with friends? Socializing with friends while shopping! In this case, at the Brimfield Antique and Collectibles Shows in Brimfield, Massachusetts…this week’s Friday field trip.

My day with friends was really more about talking and sharing, but there was plenty of inspiration thrown in! And, with over 75 acres to persue, we also got in some serious exercise.

Brimfield is the largest outdoor antique show in New England with over 5,000 dealers and runs three times a year (May, July and September) for a six day period. Especially for those that may not live in New England, I thought you might enjoy joining me by sharing some of my favorites this year at Brimfield. The beauty of Brimfield is that everyone has their own favorite items…here are some of mine…

I really loved this large, distressed white frame…I had so many imagined uses for it!

My grandmother had one of these telephone benches, but it sure didn’t look like this!

In LOVE with these pendants created from old ledger pages…

I always thought I would like to create a sea glass fireplace surround…this one is so beautiful and inspires me to think about other possibilities…

One of the vendors thought this was a cute arrangement of the letters offered for sale…how about this for a Wednesday in the office?

I hope you enjoyed today’s peek at Brimfield for this week’s Friday field trip. I will post some additional photos on my facebook page over the weekend.

Have a really wonderful weekend and remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

Sharing with The Tablescaper.

5 comments » | field trips, inspiration, swag

the pace of nature

September

Although the sun did not make much of an appearance this Labor Day Weekend, it was a bright one…I spent time with some special friends in a secluded retreat amid the trees in upstate New York and, for a short patch of time, adopted the pace of nature.

We had no schedules to follow or any particular plans – the beauty of our friendship is that we didn’t need to.

Appreciating our surroundings and embracing our friendship…

as well as enjoying some new friends…made for a memorable time together.

Being in the woods makes an appreciation of nature hard to ignore.

I collected some forest treasures this weekend and look forward to using the woodland/forest inspiration as the basis for my holiday preparations this year. And, in the spirit of this weekend, I will embrace the feelings of friendship and of adopting the pace of nature in all my holiday planning…

I am excited about starting some of the projects I have imagined!

Thanks for stopping by and sharing my weekend inspiration…Did you find anything to spark your inspiration this Labor Day weekend?

pleasure in simple things

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