Welcome to my blog ~ where aesthetics are a passion, details are a priority, and pleasure in simple things is celebrated!
I invite you to share my inspirations for a creative life and a lifetime of adventures.
Thanks so much for visiting, Jackie
Last week I gave you some fall decor tips and took you to Terrain for some great inspiration on implementing them. This week, I am sharing some of my color palette for fall…neutrals, or course! And, Terrain definitely does a neutral right – so, some photos of their lovely grounds…all in neutral! Enjoy!
Thanks for stopping by! Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie
Comments Off on white pumpkins & neutrals | garden, inspiration, style
For today’s Friday field trip, I am sharing 5 easy tips to help inspire you to create great fall displays. And, even more exciting, I have included photo examples from Terrain – my favorite home and garden store! Here goes:
Highlight one unique piece. Find one really unique pumpkin or gourd and use it as a focal point. It may be a gourd with magnificent coloring, a pumpkin with many bumps, a gourd with a unique shape, or a pumpkin with a really cool twisty long stem! Put a focus on that unique piece by displaying it on its own in a basket, on a table, or under a cloche.
Stack ‘em up. A really easy way to create some drama is to stack up some pumpkins for a fall ‘topiary.’ Since this can be done on any scale, it is a great decorating idea on any budget!
Display en masse. Using any one item in multiples makes a design statement. Put multiples of a piece or plant in a basket or on a chair or bench for an easy but impactful display. The ‘odd man out’ is also a fun way to display pumpkins. Add an ‘odd man’ to a display of multiples. For example, have tons of mini white pumpkins and add one orange pumpkin – or vice versa.
Open it up. If you are displaying a bunch of items, particularly colorful ones, use an open container to give a full view of the items on display. If you look around, you probably already have something you can use – like an old tomato cage or some chicken wire!
Add a pumpkin. A very simple tip, yet an effective one, is just to add a pumpkin or two to any of your existing vignettes or plantings – indoors or out. Without much expense, a few pumpkins can go really far to transform your current arrangements for the season! Maybe add a little hay and some Spanish moss as well…easy!
I hope I have inspired you with today’s fall design tips and a visit to Terrain! Thanks for stopping by!
Have a wonderful weekend and remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie
Comments Off on 5 easy tips for fall decor | garden, inspiration, style, swag
What is better than shopping at Terrain? Attending a bridal shower at Terrain, of course!
I recently had the opportunity to do just that at Terrain’s Garden Café and today I am sharing with you on Friday field trip!
I know many of you are not lucky enough to have a Terrain located near you. With only two Terrain store locations – one outside Philadelphia, and one in Fairfield County, Connecticut – many of you can’t frequent the store regularly like me!
But, for today, everyone can enjoy the beautiful aesthetics of a Terrain event! For a detail oriented, color obsessed person like me; Terrain hits all the marks – particularly when the organizers of the party working with Terrain have incredible style as well!
Enjoy the photos!
Please note: The beautiful fern favors, Prosecco prizes, wooden spoons, and cake top were not done by Terrain – they were created by the party organizers and, as you can see, tied into the Terrain décor perfectly!
Thank you so much for stopping by and have a marvelous weekend!
Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie
The below zero temperatures here in Connecticut have caused me to have many day dreams about spring!
I thought things might start looking a little like spring at Terrain (one of my fave stores) and, on a recent visit, I was not disappointed. The winter displays are starting to be replaced with some touches of the next season. Taking a little time to visit the store with a friend is not only inspiring, but a great way to forget about the winter blahs – if only for a short time!
Here are some favorite things from my visit! Enjoy!
Thanks for stopping by! Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie
Comments Off on jonesing for spring | food & festivities, garden, inspiration, style
For Friday field trip today, I would like to share a few photos from my recent trip to Philadelphia. Every March, Philadelphia is home to the world’s longest-running and largest indoor floor show. Yes, I did go to the flower show, but this year the photos I am sharing are not actually from the show! Instead, these photos are from a couple of my favorite stops along the way!
The first few photos are from Terrain in Glen Mills, PA – for me, always a required stop on a Philly trip. One of my very favorite stores, Terrain is the ultimate in home and garden inspiration!
Next stop is Longwood Gardens! Listed as the 2nd best public garden in the nation, my other “must visit” spot on a Philly trip is Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, PA.
Even on a day when the hemlocks are dripping with ice and the weather prohibits walking the extensive grounds of the gardens, Longwood does not disappoint. Even the bad weather doesn’t prevent a quick walk past the topiary garden.
At this time of year, the Conservatory sports an amazing display of orchids. But, this trip, these were my favorite flowers.
And for me, the winter is a wonderful time to admire favorite indoor spaces that do not get as much attention when the weather makes the outdoor spaces at Longwood more inviting – like the children’s garden. Here are some of the great water features in the children’s garden (Did you see the video of the nest and bird fountain on my Instagram?)
As I leave, I see a suggestion of what is coming in the better weather ahead – this will be filled with roses in bloom before you know it!
Thanks for sharing a few photos from my (snowy and icy) trip to Philadelphia on today’s Friday field trip. Have a wonderful weekend!
Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie
Sharing with French Country Cottage and The Shabby Nest.
Comments Off on a winter trip to the flower show | field trips, garden, inspiration
If you read this blog, you know how much I love Terrain. I also enjoy taking you on a visit to this beautiful garden store from time to time since there are only two stores (CT and PA) and not everyone is as lucky as I am…I frequent them both!
Today, for Friday field trip, we are visiting the Westport, Connecticut store to see how they are preparing for fall…
I hope you will enjoy sharing a few photos…
I am sure we will make another trip sometime soon ;)
Especially since I decided on a woodland theme for my holiday decor this year…I will need some supplies. :)
This particular trip was special for me since I had a chance to talk to Joe…he is one of the creative visual team at the store – busy at work when I stopped by.
Every trip to the store is an adventure…I can’t wait to see what Joe is creating! Maybe I will stop by over the weekend to enjoy some s’mores by their fire and check out the latest inspiration!
Terrain also happens to be the store that helps satisfy my white pumpkin obsession…
Thank you so much for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend!
Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie
Sharing at The Tablescaper.
April 22nd is Earth Day…in the spirit of the day, I am repurposing the brown bags I have accumulated from my Terrain purchases to use them in some fun and beautiful ways. If you aren’t lucky enough to have a Terrain near you, any brown bag will do! The Terrain bags have one up on the traditional brown bag since they are embellished with some beautiful floral designs. You may have other stores you frequent that use brown bags with some type of design that would make your creations more interesting…Trader Joe’s, as an example.
Once I got started with this, I realized I could create a number of posts…I had so many ideas! But, I limited my creations to seven. Here is the bag I started with:
This first item I made is a place card. I used a piece of cardboard from the bottom of the bag and glued some of the bag onto the front and back. Then, I rounded the corners and stamped a name onto the front of the card. Anchoring it into a piece of driftwood gave it the perfect finishing touch!
Wrapping paper is an obvious use for the bags and here I used a bag as wrapping… in combination with some pretty forest green ribbon and a natural twig pencil (both from Terrain):
Cutting a bag into strips and weaving the strips together suggests a wealth of possible items…here, I created a basket with some woven strips. I also used the handle of the Terrain bag as an accent on the edges and shredded (in my home shredder) some of the tissue to create the filling. I was even able to utilize a piece of Terrain ribbon that was used on one of the bags I received from the store.
For the next use, I created a pretty utensil holder using a bag, a bag handle, and a paper punch:
If you read my Valentine post, you know I made Valentine treat containers…I love to make treat containers for any occasion. Here, I printed this beautiful vintage rabbit image I found on The Graphics Fairy onto the bag…I cut a piece of the bag and fed it through my home printer. Then, I used my sewing machine to create a beautiful treat container. This one contains jelly beans…the container needs to be ripped open to discover the contents! Fun, right?
Here is another Terrain bag…notice the green stitching on the bottom of the bag and the cut out handle…
I was able to utilize the stitching and the flower description on the back of the bag in creating a couple different variations of a bookmark. The one with the stitching also utilized the handle from another bag:
I embraced the style of bag for the dry erase board I created. I simply framed the bag. I love how the opening for the handle serves as a place to write ‘notes.’
So, these are some of my creations made from repurposed brown bags…a great way to serve the environment. I hope you will be inspired to create some repurposed projects of your own :)
Thanks for visiting!
Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie
I am sharing at Little Red House, Pinch of Joy, Craftberry Bush, Common Ground, The Shabby Nest, and Coastal Charm.
Today, Friday field trip is a visit to my friend’s house. Her name is Phyllis, and we are getting together for what she affectionately refers to as “a playdate.” On this occasion, we are making terrariums. We had recently picked up some terrarium plants and supplies at Terrain and we were very anxious to start creating! I am sure we will have future field trips to Phyllis’s home since it is amazing! I have so much inspiration I could share with you…her decor, her gardens, her handcrafted jewelry…well, everything! But, for today, I will limit my sharing to our terrarium creations.
When I got to Phyllis’s house we started right in…covering her large kitchen island with newspaper and taking out all our various supplies. In addition, her entire dining room table was covered with assorted containers and possible decorative terrarium items. She showed me the terrarium she had already completed. Wow! It is so beautiful…a little watering can!…and a hanging plant! Isn’t it great?
Because Phyllis already knew all the terrarium basics, I didn’t have to worry about doing alot of research. She explained about the rocks for drainage on the bottom (I think I would have figured that out) and a layer of activated charcoal (I would not have figured that out) before the layer of soil. So, after a quick lesson on how to proceed, I needed to decide exactly what I wanted to put into the terrarium.
I figured I had two ways to go. I could do an Easter/spring theme and use eggs and nests OR I could do my standard (coastal/beach) theme. I decided to go with a ‘beachy’ theme and got some possible items assembled. The interesting thing about putting a terrarium together is that you don’t really need as many plants or decorative items as you may think. Less is really more. So, I decided my main decorative item would be a sand castle.
From there, I would use some rocks, shells, sea glass, and moss that reminded me of the beach. For the plant? Phyllis and I had both fell in love with a plant called Breynia Snow Bush that we found at Terrain and that would serve as the highlighted plant in my creation.
And…this is what I came up with…what do you think? I love it! Isn’t the little colored gravel so great? I think it is sold as fish tank decor. I had some old glass ‘bubbles’ that were used many years ago with floating candles that lent themselves perfectly to the ‘beachy’ terrarium.
Adorable, don’t you think?
You are probably wondering what Phyllis was working on…wait until you see! Phyllis and I had both been intrigued by the ‘pussy willow teepees’ we saw in some of the terrariums at Terrain…like the one on this bunny arrangement. So, Phyllis decided to create one in a pretty metal container she had on hand.
This beautiful arrangement is what she came up with! So gorgeous!
She created the “teepee” from stalks of pussy willow. She attached them on top by putting an elastic band around a piece of moss she harvested from her yard. So beautiful…and with the pussy willow and the addition of some real quail eggs from Terrain, the perfect Easter arrangement! You can see in this closeup that the elastic is not even visible once it is put into the moss.
Playdate successful!
Consider ‘shopping’ your basement and garage for possible terrarium containers and decorative items…Terrain has some really cool terrarium items if you want to purchase some or supplement what you can find around your house. Miniatures from train sets or Christmas villages can also be used. The sand castle I used was actually a repurposed photo holder – I just trimmed off the wire stand. Just remember to use soil appropriate to the plants you select.
I hope you enjoyed my Friday field trip to create terrariums. Special thanks to my partner in crime! I forgot to mention the homemade golden pea soup I had for lunch (so yummy!) or the eggplant and famous key lime pie (heaven!) from The Pantry in Fairfield…ahhh..the perks of the playdate! Thank you so much for stopping by!
Have a fabulous weekend, Jackie
I am sharing at Little Red House, Serenity Saturday, The Inspiration Gallery, Craftionary, Common Ground, Give Me the Goods Monday, and The Well Crafted Home.
It is no secret, whether I am in Connecticut or Pennsylvania, one of my favorite stores to visit is Terrain. If you are a frequent visitor to pleasure in simple things, you have shared quite a few visits with me to the Connecticut store since its opening in Westport, Connecticut last spring.
Friday field trip this week is to Terrain to check out a demonstration on planting orchids. Not knowing very much about orchids, I was intrigued watching Mary Ann from Terrain demonstrate how easy an orchid can be planted and also to learn that their care is not that difficult. This particular weekend, Matthew, the Terrain landscape designer from the Pennsylvania store, was also on hand. It was great to have the opportunity to speak with him. He is a great resource for design questions – pertaining to landscapes or to interiors.
I watched Mary Ann carefully remove an orchid from its pot, removing as much of the moss as she could. She trimmed away any rotten or blackened roots (with the really pretty scissors they sell at Terrain!) This particular orchid was put into a container Mary Ann had crafted from birch bark and made to hang.
In nature, these plants thrive in strong light (but not direct late afternoon sun); high humidity; air flow around roots; regular periods of drying, alternating with drenching rains; and in temperatures between 50 degrees and 85 degrees. So, the closer you replicate nature, the more success you will have in growing orchids.
At Terrain, the orchids are watered infrequently, but misted on a regular basis. In the summer orchids need to be watered weekly, but in the winter, closer to once a month.
Did you know in nature, orchids are epiphytes? That means they grow on other objects, clinging to rough bark or even stone. Here, Mary Ann has created an orchid planting very much embracing the way an orchid would grow in nature. After covering the roots of the plant in moss, she tied it to a piece of a white birch log. Terrain actually sells pieces of white birch logs so that if you wanted to create one of these plantings yourself, you could do so. A screw eye, picked up at Home Depot, is easy to attach to the top of the birch log for hanging. Or, you could have Mary Ann create one for you! Either way, it makes for a beautiful hanging.
I had fun admiring many other beautiful orchids in varying colors and varieties throughout the store.
I think this deeply hued hanging orchid would make a wonderfully romantic Valentine’s Day gift!
I have a new appreciation for orchids after my visit to Terrain…I also feel a little less intimidated about trying to repot some plants myself! This field trip definitely made me yearn for spring though!! How many more days!?
I hope you enjoyed our Friday field trip to Terrain to discover orchids…maybe it inspired you to create a planting of your own? Or, to give one as a gift?
Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend, Jackie
Comments Off on discovering orchids at terrain | field trips, garden
Today’s Friday field trip is a visit to one of my favorite places, Terrain, to attend a cooking class. This class is different than others I have attended, because it focuses on recipes from a specific area of the U.S. rather than those made with a specific ingredient. The area is Brooklyn, NY. The inspiration for the class is a book titled The New Brooklyn Cookbook.
If you are like me, the last thing you want to focus on after all the holiday eating is to eat! So, just sit back and enjoy looking at the photos!
The first thing we created together during class was some pizza…you really can’t think of any New York food without thinking of pizza! Even though I have made pizza many times before, I enjoyed the discussion as our instructor, Jen, led the class. How can you not have a fun time when you are kneading pizza dough!
A photo of our Terrain cooking class instructor. The Westport store offers a fun variety of cooking and craft classes. Here the instructor is creating Brooklyn style pizza.
Of course, an added bonus while taking any class at Terrain is to check out all the beautiful products they have in the store…
Here is a perfect example… I fell in love with this beautiful measuring vessel that our ice water was served in!
Another product at the store that we used during the class was the white truffle salt…a great addition to one of our pizzas!
The freshest ingredients are always on hand for the classes at Terrain…
And, in this particular case, since we were checking out all things Brooklyn…
The pizza was a really fun thing to create, and even more fun to eat!
We had alot of fun with it. But, as I mentioned, I have made pizza before…The real “lightbulb” moment recipe for me was the next one we tried out from the book…
I was pretty much a ‘beet virgin’ …beets were always a staple at my grandmother’s table when I was growing up, but they have never been a part of my kitchen. The roasted beet salad recipe that we tried out from the Brooklyn cookbook totally opened up my mind to beets!
The salad we created was incredible…
The cooking class was a really fun time. I’ve had a couple Brooklyn eateries on my list of places to visit for quite some time…this class may have just given me a little more motivation to follow through on my Brooklyn visit. I was told the cookbook that provided the
recipes we used during the class is no longer available in print. I looked on Amazon and found that they have a digital copy, if you are interested in obtaining The New Brooklyn Cookbook. It is a great collection of recipes from some wonderful restaurants in Brooklyn.
If, like me, you are interested in exploring more recipes using beets, I am currently trying some interesting ones…For those of us new to beets, Angela, on the blog Oh She Glows has really great, clear instructions on how to create a Citrus Beet Salad with Creamy Avacado Lime Dressing. Chef Martin Kouprie from Toronto creates a beet salad using chocolate! I love to see inventive uses for chocolate…his recipe is like a kitchen stadium creation!
Do you have a favorite beet salad recipe? I would love to hear about it!
I hope you enjoyed this peek into a Terrain cooking class…maybe it will spark a trip to Brooklyn…or, trying a new beet recipe! If you live anywhere near one of the two Terrain locations, I would recommend trying one of the classes.
Have a wonderful weekend as 2012 comes to its close.
Thanks so much for visiting, Jackie
