Most Lovely Things

Something green for the table…

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Yesterday I saw these adorable pots of moss in whimsical animal containers on Design Mom’s Art Pinterest board. Although I didn’t have containers as fun, I knew I could do something with this idea…and with all the moss I have growing on my property. We have so many varieties of moss growing on our rock walls and in shady spots throughout our yard. It was easy to gather moss with just a kitchen spoon to loosen it and replant the moss in a few silver bowls and dishes. All they need is a mist of water every few days to stay looking bright green. As an alternative to fresh flowers on the table for a dinner party? What has inspired you on Pinterest lately?

DIY Father’s Day Gift Wrap idea

Thursday, June 6, 2013

Ever since I discovered how easy and inexpensive it was to use the Engineer prints from Staples I keep trying to come up with reasons to use them. My kids are 18 and 14 so I kind of feel like we’ve done everything for Father’s Day…twice. But using engineer prints for wrapping paper was super easy and new, at least for us. You can upload photos from home to the staples website and have them shipped to you or select your store and pick them up a few hours later.

I chose photos from a recent trip we took to France and one from a trip to Amelia Island, Florida when the kids were little. Amelia Island is one of our favorite spots and we have so many wonderful memories. He’ll love the packages even before he opens them. I purposely selected photos that were from the back. I love photos taken this way and when I came across two photos from vacations that had a similar quality…I knew these were the ones. The two prints were less than $5 and we just tied orange curling ribbon and used orange washi tape, his favorite color. This post is featured on A Subtle Revelry today…Thank you Victoria!

pink peonies

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Enjoying every last peony in my garden and a few that my lovely neighbor brought over!

Lillian August + Flagship store, Norwalk, CT

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Since moving back to Connecticut I’ve visited the Lillian August flagship store in Norwalk, CT quite a few times. It’s between my home in New Canaan and Westport, a town I frequent often. Each time I go in I really am amazed that there is this one huge (60,000 square feet) store that has so many amazing things from every part of the world. As a collector I am never one to think I could ever furnish an entire house in just one shop, but truly if I had to pick one place to do that….it would be Lillian August.These candelabras from Dunes and Duchess stop me in my tracks every time. I love them in any color. They’ve been at the top of my wish list ever since I first saw them. This was my Lillian August purchase and it was a sales associate that had the idea to plant herbs. I layered pebbles in the bottom because I did not want to drill drainage holes like I normally would. I plan to use it indoors for my Christmas tree this year.

A rainy monday and simple DIY gift tags

Monday, June 3, 2013

It’s Monday. It’s raining. And like everyone else, I have a million things to do that didn’t get done over the weekend. So of course I make watercolor gift tags. My $6 watercolor set from Michaels and my Fiskars Paper cutter (also from Michaels) makes it super easy to create one of a kind gift tags. Perfect to attach to a gift or a bottle of wine.After I cut them I used pink and yellow hi-lighter markers on the edges to add a touch of neon.

Gardens and flower arrangments

Friday, May 31, 2013

Walking at Waveny Park near my home is beautiful in any season, but right now the gardens are in bloom and are really amazing. It inspired me to redo a bed in our tiny yard with many of the same plantings. The one thing I love is to be able to make garden arrangements from things right outside my door. It will be quite a while before my garden looks like this one, but even today I was able to make a small arrangement for a friend and clip one yellow peony for the bottle we found at a Paris flea market last month.

photos that a tell a story

Sunday, May 26, 2013

The other day I was passing through my friend’s mud room and I couldn’t help but notice all of their boots. There’s just something about things in large numbers and in perfect order. She has five beautiful girls and all of them, including their mom ride horses. We took their riding boots and lined them up in front of a door at the Carriage Barn at Waveny. She’s going to enlarge it and give it to her husband as a father’s day present. I love photos that tell a story.

Deconstructing a flower arrangment

Monday, May 20, 2013

Flower arranging from arrangements…if that makes sense. I love nothing more than answering the door to a gorgeous bouquet of flowers, but after several days a few start to look a little less than perfect, while some are just blooming into perfection. So that’s when I take a part a beautiful arrangement and make several for around the house. My two bouquets provided quite a few. I used Ina Garten’s rule which is to stick with one color. I had plenty of flowers and used an assortment of vessels.

lilacs in the house

Sunday, May 19, 2013

In the past I never paid that much attention to the season of Lilacs. I guess you could say I took them for granted. But, after living in Southern California for three years and then moving back where they grow in abundance in every yard I am definitely taking notice and enjoying the six week season. They are quite fragrant, but somehow I can’t resist bringing them indoors.

identical twins

Friday, May 17, 2013

Happy birthday to my twin sister Lynn! I adore that we share our birthday and of course we wish we were in the same city/state so we could celebrate together. A while back I saw this print on Design Mom. Gabrielle finds the greatest stuff from all over the world. The illustrator, Judy Kauffman is from Barcelona and when I mentioned that I am an identical twin, she sent me two! One for me and one for Lynn! How cool is that?Now we have been asked if we are for sure identical twins. I guess some people need proof. Here was our proof…not that we ever really doubted it. When Lynn’s son was about 2 years old I was visiting from St. Louis. Lynn had an early morning meeting and since I was in in town staying with them I stayed to be with Ryan when he woke up. When he did wake up we had breakfast and I read to him and we played with his train set. A few hours later Lynn walked in the door. He looked up from the book we were reading and then looked at me, then his mom…he could not believe it. He thought this entire morning that he was just hanging out with his mom. He was surprised and a little bewildered. It never occurred to me that he thought I was his mom and not his aunt. Flash forward 19 years and I’m helping him move out of his apartment at Fordham. And the elevator is broken. And he’s on the sixth floor. But that’s what twins do for each other. and their kids. Happy birthday Lynnie!