Redecorating the Hall Tree Corner

I would love to have an entryway, but unfortunately my front door opens directly into my living room.  In the corner next to the door is one of my favorite pieces of furniture – my hall tree.  I wish I could say it was an antique, but it’s a reproduction of a Victorian piece. 

For quite a while, I had a summery floral arrangement in a bowl sitting on the shelf.  I decided it was definitely time for a change, so I’ve been playing around with it this week.     

Antique vase with transfer scene featuring maidens and a cherub by the artist Angelica Kauffman (1741-1807)… 

filled with an arrangement of eucalyptus and peacock feathers. 

Love, love, love peacock feathers!

The antique porcelain heart with two cherubs…  

would have held water and a small arrangement of flowers. 

Framed print “A Garland of Morning Glories” by Emile Vernon. 

For now, a crystal bowl in a silver plated holder filled with seashells and pearls.  I’ll probably change up this shelf in the next couple of days.

Some of my vintage handbags…most of these are from the 1950-60’s and were gifts from my sister.

Antique prints by Hans Zatzka in scrolling brass frames.   

Maidens…

and cherubs…my favorite type of artwork!

Container holding my grandfather’s walking cane and my grandmother’s parasol (actually it’s an umbrella…but parasol sounds so much better!  LOL)

Peacock made by a very special cousin in the 1970’s.  Love the iridescent sheen on the feathers! 

Other than changing up the bowl of shells for something else, I’ll probably leave it like this until I decorate for Halloween. 

I’m joining French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday.

Thanks for visiting with me today!  I hope to see you again soon.

DG

 

Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake

I’m so glad you’re visiting with me today!  I have the tea all brewed and I’ve baked a wonderful cake for my husband’s birthday.  I’d love to share it with you. 

Each time I make a bundt cake, I think of the scene in “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” where Ian’s mother brings one to dinner. 

(Ian’s mother) It’s a Bundt.

(Toula’s mother) It’s a bun?

(Ian’s mother) Bundt!

(Toula’s mother) A bunk?

(Ian’s mother) Bundtttttt!!!!!!

(Toula’s mother) Oh, it’s a cake!

That has to be one of my favorite scenes in the whole movie! 

 

We are celebrating my sweet husband’s birthday this week and he loves any dessert that has lemon in it.  So, for his birthday cake, I made a Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake.  The recipe can be found here at Food.com.

There is just something wonderful about lemon and blueberries…the flavors compliment each other so well when they’re combined.  The cake was moist and so delicious. 

The glaze is a “must add” to the cake.  It adds a whole new flavor dimension to the cake!  Look at those bits of lemon peel on the glaze…delish!

I’ll be joining Miz Helen for Full Plate Thursday and Designs by Gollum for Foodie Friday.  Hope to see you again soon!

DG

 

Music is the Poetry of the Air

My mother is very musically talented.  She has been playing the piano since she was about 8 years old.  She also plays the organ and accordian.  All she has to do is hear a song one time and she can play it…playing entirely by ear, she reads very little sheet music.  I always wished I could do that!  When I was a child, I wanted so badly to be able to play the piano like she did.

In 1965 when I was 4 years old, I asked for a piano for Christmas…I can remember seeing a toy piano in one of the Christmas catalogs and I wanted Santa to bring me that piano so badly!  Unfortunately, by the time “Santa” ordered it, the piano was no longer available.  None of the local shops had any pianos either.  My mother was determined though that I would have a piano for Christmas…so, look what Santa brought!

Ok, so technically Santa brought the piano to ME for Christmas, but only because my MOTHER really wanted a piano for herself.  LOL!

Here it is in my home today.  I’ve been playing around this morning with different vignettes on top of it.  Sometimes I have a hard time with vignettes because the top is so narrow.  Most items have to be basically lined up on top. 

While browsing through the thrift store Saturday, I found this wonderful gold lyre music stand.  Oh yeah…it definitely had to come home with me!  I bought it for a song!  (No pun intended – LOL!) .  I’m debating trying to antique the stand…what do you think?  Antique it or leave it as it is?

It’s now holding one of my favorite pieces of sheet music – “Fairy Kisses” – circa 1908.  This was an eBay find many years ago.  I love the graphics on the cover…the romantic Victorian lady with her Gibson-girl upsweep and tiny fairy hovering next to her!

Two of my most favorite pieces are my antique German bisque piano babies.  Both are unmarked and were made in the late 1800’s to early 1900’s. 

 

Their little faces are so beautiful!

Featuring handpainted roses, this Victorian ewer is another favorite piece.  Many times they were found in pairs and were used as decorations on fireplace mantles.  When I play around with a new vignette on my mantle, this will probably be moved there.  I also added some of my decorative marble eggs to the piano top.

Years ago, I found this beautiful piece of vintage needlepoint for a piano bench on eBay.

I finally got it put on my bench earlier this year.  Gorgeous roses and a scrolling border…I’m totally in love with this! 

The center design is petit point and the stitches are so tiny!

Someone spent an incredible amount of time making this…she must have had great eyesight! 

I would so love to know who made it…what did she think about as she sat there stitching?

 

Was she making the piece as a gift or for herself?  Guess I’ll never know. 

My next project is going to be trying to antique the mirror hanging over the piano.  I’m not loving the bright gold!  I’ve been watching Marty at A Stroll Thru Life antique items using Mixwax and I think I’m going to give it a try.

I’m joining Marty at A Stroll Thru Life for Table Top Tuesday, Courtney at French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday and Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for Pink Saturday.

I’m so glad YOU visited me this week!  I hope you’ll come back again soon.

DG

 

My Muse Needs Some Inspiration…

As I was browsing through my favorite thrift store yesterday, I spotted this piece.  I thought it was gorgeous and I snatched it up fast before someone else spotted it. 

I know this is really for the dining table, but I want to use this on the coffee table in my living room.  However, my muse has deserted me…what to put in it?

I would love to know what YOU would put in it!  Any and all suggestions are welcome as I’m totally clueless!

I am so loving the designs in the gold frame.

The little feet are too cute!

The glass dishes are divided.

Please, if you have a minute, drop me a comment telling me what you would put in the dishes if you were using it in your living room.

Thanks for visiting with me today!  I’m joining Courtney at French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday.

DG

Pheasants and Wheat

What a wonderful week this has turned out to be!  I had my doubts earlier in the week…we were deluged by Tropical Storm Lee from Sunday morning until late Monday night.  The county where I live was under constant tornado warnings all day Monday.  Fortunately though we didn’t suffer any damage here at my little corner of Alabama.  Just lots of rain and wind.

The temperature has been wonderful since Lee came through!  Highs just in the 80’s and lows in the 50’s at night.  What a fantastic change from the triple digits we’ve had the last several months!

To celebrate the Autumn feeling in the air and since I was stuck in the house Monday, I played around with this table setting.  With the rain pouring down and the wind howling outside, Monday night was perfect for a hot bowl of chili. 

I love using shades of gold, brown and green in the Fall.  I placed a brown tasseled cloth on the table to anchor my setting.  Gold napkin rings held brown napkins at each setting.

I added a crystal vase filled with twigs and dried flowers.

Later, I thought about my pheasant feathers and added them in also.

Next I pulled out a woven tray that I found several years ago at a thrift store.  I placed the vase in the center of the tray.  I put some bay leaves around the vase…but I needed something more.  So I added in the bronzy glass pears (shhh…don’t tell anyone, but they’re actually Christmas ornaments!  LOL)

I really wish I’d had a set of bronze colored chargers, but I had to work with bright gold.  I used cream dinner plates and placed individual covered bowls for the chili on the dinner plates. 

The covered bowls are decorated with a wheat pattern.  I placed bay leaves on each plate.

I added crystal stems trimmed in gold and amber goblets to the table.  The amber goblets belong to my aunt, who was staying with me while Lee was kicking up a fuss around the Gulf Coast.

Candles were a must on the table in case we lost electricity.  We were lucky…the electricity only flickered off and on a couple of times.  Unfortunately, the only color of candles I had that would remotely work were green…hence the use of the green bay leaves in the setting (trying to add more bits of green to the setting).

I pulled out several candleholders trying to decide which to use…and my aunt wanted me to use these, so I did.  Not really what I would have ultimately chosen, but she liked the look of them.

It might have been nasty outside, but we were all cozy inside enjoying our dinner of chili and hot dogs…yep, my girls requested hot dogs to go with the chili.  While I was lighting the candles, my middle daughter said she thought candlelight was just a “little too fancy” for hot dogs…hey, who says hot dogs can’t be fancy??  LOL

I’m joining Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for another Tablescape Thursday.

Hope to see you again soon!

DG