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Hello everyone,

Hope your weekend's off to a good start! It's raining here, so we're holed up in the house today, listening to music and poring through seed catalogs as we plan for our garden this year.

I took a moment to check my email earlier and received a note from my father-in-law that Picnik, the free (and paid, for certain features) photo editing Web site, will be closing on April 19th.

Since I don't have Photoshop, I've relied on Google's Picasa and Picnik to edit photos for Carolina Country Living from the beginning. So the news that Picnik will no longer exist in three months is a bit of a bummer to hear.

However, from now and until then, Picnik is offering all its premium photo-editing features for free!

I'll be taking advantage of this offer and I thought some of you might want to do the same!  Visit Picnik here.

And now before I resume laying on the couch by the woodstove, I wanted to share these camellias I clipped yesterday at my parents' house.  (Photos edited using Picnik!)

We're having a freakishly warm winter so far, and these camellias are in full bloom.  I placed a few in a thrifted silverplated sugar bowl in my bathroom and they are a welcome touch of color in the middle of winter.  

-Erin

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Touches of Spring in the House

First, I just wanted to say 'welcome!' to all the new readers and followers from the last several weeks.  So glad you 'came out to the country.' And thank you to everyone who keeps on returning to read this little blog. I do a mental happy dance whenever I receive an email from someone who's been kind enough to say hello and leave a comment, or see a new follower appear on the sidebar. Y'all are what make blogging so much fun for me!

Second, I was completely thrilled (and flattered) that my cane-back sofa re-do received *two* features in the last several days from two of my very favorite bloggers.

Cassie at Primitive and Proper chose it as one of her favorite projects from last week's Piece of Work Wednesday Party. And Lauren of West Furniture Revival featured it at her Revival Monday Features column. Thank you, Cassie and Lauren!

Readers, if you enjoy being completely inspired by furniture revamps, you must go visit these insanely talented ladies' blogs.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

With spring burgeoning outside, I was in the mood to bring some of its splendor inside my house last week. I'd put away the last of the winter decorations a few weeks before and the house was in need of some sprucing up. 

Besides daffodils, there really aren't any flowers in bloom around here, and it's not yet time to plant a cutting garden, much less have any fresh-cut flowers.The only other option for live flowers is the local markets, and at $10+ for a small bouquet (that will die in less than a week), that's just not in the budget.

Then I remembered Jane's fake flower fiesta on the British blog Posy that I'd read about over the winter.

Up until reading that post, I'd been a total snob about fake flowers. I drew the line at fauxliage since that seemed acceptable for fall decorating, but fake flowers?  No way! 

Seeing Jane's flowers completely changed my mind.

Posy

You can't tell it's not the real thing, can you?

Being, ahem, budget-minded, I figured there'd be no harm in checking out the local Dollar Trees for some frugal flowers.

Well, it turned out I was able to find quite a few pretty, not-particularly-fake-looking flowers!

Now, don't get me wrong, there were plenty of ugly and cheap-looking flowers, but I tried to pick blooms that were realistically colored and didn't scream "I'M FAKE" at first glance.  Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I don't think I did too bad. <grin>

And if you visited my house last week, the first thing I did was give you an overly bubbly tour of all the fake pretty flowers!  Thank goodness my family and friends are willing to humor me.  Will you do the same?

Let's take a look-see of what I put together...

Dogwood-esque blooms in an enameled pitcher in the living room. One of several birdies I made in January sits atop a 100-year-old farm and garden catalog. The silver tin contains a homemade candle.

Excuse the terrible photo and the ginormous blue ladder in the background! Springtime equals project-time at this house. :) Faux forsythia branches are intermingled with dried curly willow leftover from the fall in a bright turquoise vase. Anybody spy the chickens?

White lilac stems and periwinkle-ish flowers fill this favorite ironstone pitcher of mine on a side table between the living room and the kitchen. I picked up the vintage strawberry textile last fall at an antique fair and couldn't wait to bring it out for spring! I can't sufficiently convey my love for freshly picked strawberries.

Another vintage linen tops the dining room table and enhances the centerpiece. If you've been reading for a few months, this centerpiece probably looks familiar, save for the fact the cedar and pinecones have been replaced by dogwood blooms.  Hey, it's simple and it works.

Daffodils in a milk glass vase further brighten a sunny spot next to the front door. A couple of vintage books on chickens from my mom look at home atop the primitive-style table. The silver dish, a recent find, is filled with old mother-of-pearl buttons.

Speaking of the front door, let's pop outside to see the wreath. I'm making the most use of this grapevine wreath. After embellishing it with holly leaves and berries for the winter, faux forsythia inserted into the vines make it sunshiny perfect for spring.

Okay, back inside now! Moving from the living room to the hallway adjacent to my bedroom...I painted this table last year before blogging and it's been a favorite spot to decorate each season. More dogwood flowers fill a small pitcher from IKEA and a picture from one of my favorite stores--Nest--creates a simple vignette.

The pictures reads: "It's the small things after all."  I fully embrace that sentiment.

In my bedroom are sweet pink and white carnations in (yet another) milk glass vase.  I have plans for a springy/summery bedroom re-do so hopefully I can find the time to actually do it...

A few vintage postcards on my bedroom window sash...just had to throw this photo into the mix since vintage postcards always bring a smile to my face.

Are you getting tired yet? I know, I'm dragging you all over the house!  Bear with me...just a couple rooms left, I promise!

From the bedroom, let's pop our heads in the master bath. This room is difficult to photograph but there's a peek of my beloved periwinkle walls.  See, I've been reading Country Living magazine forever, and in 1998, my senior year of high school, the magazine's House of the Year had a periwinkle bathroom. I remember looking at my copy of the magazine in physics class (I was surreptitiously reading while *not* listening to the lecture) and my heart went THUNK when I saw it. Since then, I've always wanted  a periwinkle bathroom, and I got it 12 years later. :)  But, back to the flowers!  Lavender stems and white lilacs mix together nicely in a hobnail milk-glass vase to complement the periwinkle walls.

Well, since I've already taken you into one bathroom, why not another? Periwinkle blue lilacs freshen the half bath nicely.

And to round out this test of endurance tour, here's a shot of my son's favorite flowers.  He was so helpful while I flitted about the house finding containers and arranging flowers that I couldn't deny him flowers for his room.

Pink peonies in a blue Ball jar. Enough said.

So, are you a fan of fake flowers or will you only keep real ones in your home?

Happy Spring!
Erin

Sure Signs That Spring Is Here

Besides the bottles of allergy medicine and ibuprofen sitting on my bathroom counter?  Accompanied by mountains of tissues in the wastebasket? <grin>

Yes, despite the onslaught of pollen-related allergies that have plagued me this past week, I'm happy to say spring has sprung in central North Carolina! 

Daffodils--the ones I planted in January and felt certain wouldn't actually bloom this year--have opened their smiling faces in my yard!

Not to be outdone by the daffodils, the hyacinths are making their presence known, too!  They're not very tall and you should have seen me and my son on our hands and knees sniffing them today.  We were a sight.  But to smell that fragrance was worth it!

The tulips haven't bloomed yet, but judging by the greenery, they look promising...

However, the strawberries do have blooms and should be bearing ripe fruit in about 6 glorious weeks.

And the blueberry bushes have these little guys on their branches.

Finally, this gorgeous perwinkle-colored vinca comes from a plant originally cultivated by my husband's grandmother. She passed away nearly 25 years ago, but her love of gardening remains alive in our yard with this ever-growing plant.

Inside, I've been adding spring touches where I can.  Come back by on Wednesday for a peek of what I've been up to!

A small feeling of accomplishment

This past week (plus) has been spent priming, priming and more priming, followed by painting, painting and more painting.

And listening compulsively to Adele the whole while. ;)

This furniture set:

required THREE coats of primer *and* THREE coats of paint.

Which means I've spent so much more time on it than I ever anticipated.

Le sigh.

Next step is to get the seat cushions reupholstered in drop cloth material (to be handled by my go-to upholsterer--I'm sick of working on this set!) and then make throw pillows to amp-up the cushy factor. Delicious floral fabrics from Lecien and Tanya Whelan are en route for these envelope pillow covers that I can't wait to try!

Once the furniture is reupholstered and the throw pillows are done, I'll be so excited share the after photos! But I will say the chairs are now painted in Sherwin Williams Dover White and the settee in Behr's Gentle Rain, though mixed at Sherwin Williams.

So, my small accomplishment in all of this in-progress business?

A lovely scalloped-top side table!

I told you this was a small accomplishment. :)

Before:

And after:

This little table's about the only thing that's gone right in this particular painting escapade. Fortunately, only one coat of primer and two coats of paint were necessary, and now she's finished in the SW-mixed Gentle Rain, a lovely, very light grey. (The bead board is painted in Benjamin Moore's Linen White for point of reference.)

Since today is March 1st, and close enough to spring to officially declare it spring in my book, she got her own flower-filled photo shoot.

 

 By the way, these flowers are totally fake "artificial." Did they trick you?

Flowers and paint make everything better.

It's the little things in life, right?  

Enjoy your day,

Erin

Linking to:

Piece of Work Wednesdays at Primitive and Proper

Power of Paint Party at Domestically Speaking

Restored It Wednesday at Restore Interiors

Transformation Thursdays at The Shabby Chic Cottage

Furniture Feature Friday at Miss Mustard Seed

Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Funky Junk's Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors

Garden Dreamin'

This time of year means a fair amount of gray skies and oodles of brown grass, bare trees and general drabness.

In response to the barren surroundings, I dream of things like this...

Iowa State University Extension Office

this...

Country Living

and this.

Country Living

Or of picking flowers such as these...

Country Living

these...

Country Living

or these.

Country Living

Wildflowers and romantic cottage garden flowers hold so much appeal to me.  If there's such a thing as a garden personality, mine is surely of the laid-back variety. No particular landscaping for me, no sirree. I love beds brimming with free-growing flowers and greenery. Vines that grow as they wish? Broad bushes covered in blooms? Yes and yes, please!

How fabulous is this picture? Imagine lounging in that wonderfully chippy vintage chair next to the luscious honeysuckle vine...I can almost feel summer!

Country Living

Sadly, I don't actually have a flower garden. Yet.

My yard is fairly shaded due to the surrounding woods in the spring and summer. The front yard receives the morning sun and the back yard gets the afternoon sun. I don't know how much success I'll find planting full-sun flowers in the raised beds located in the back yard. But I'll try!

Fortunately, my dad's house is next door and it's situated in the middle of a 10-acre pasture. Since the sunshine is plentiful there, I've started weeding an old vegetable bed as another place to attempt raising flowers.

As I prepare to grow my first flowers, I picked up three large seed packets at my local co-op from Botantical Interests. The artwork on the packets hooked me and I spent way too much time ooohing and aaahing over them at the store.  I only hope they yield flowers as pretty and abundant as the ones depicted on the covers!



Now, I did plant daffodil, hyacinth, tulip and iris bulbs in <cough> early January. I'm not counting on any blooms til next spring due to the late planting, so these three packets of seeds are my real hope for flowers this year.

Eventually I would love to grow peonies, hydrangeas, honeysuckle, jasmine, lilacs and jessamine. Fragrant flowers and shrubs are simply divine!

For now, though, it's baby steps--and a lot of garden dreamin'.

What flowers do you love or grow?

Visit inspiring gardens at Sarah's English Garden Party: