musings, mutterings, and creative muddle. . .





Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Easter! Spring! Easter! Spring!

EXTREME disappointment. . . such a sunny-glorious day outside so I set up my 'mini-fountain' with Easter eggs and moved one of the garden rabbits over to join the scene.  Decided it was time for pansies.  Bright, cheerful purple pansies to go in the pot that matches the fountain.  Definitely would make that bunny smile.

 


Loaded up the dogs and off we went to our one and only florist-greenhouse around the corner.  They've been advertising 'Beautiful Pansies' in the paper and I was going to get me some.  Not. There were two lovely flats of mixed purple and yellow and orange pansies that had a 'sold' sign on them.  Oh!  So tempting.  But not to be. 

Came home empty handed even after reluctantly trudging out to the Wal-Mart garden center.  Disappointment.  No purple pansies.  In fact, Wal-mart had none.  Figures.  Sigh. . .   No instant gratification today.  Patience.  I will get some pansies!   

Will make some calls to the area greenhouses to see who is stocking what.  When you're talking a 30 minute drive to each one, and you're looking for something specific, it's best to know who has what.

On the bright side - the dogs thought I was just being a good dog owner and taking them 'bye-bye.'  To them - 'mission accomplished.'  They're always up for some road-trippin'!

How about a wee-tour around my house to see some of the Easter vignettes I've set up?

To start - I wanted to show you what I did with some little cocktail napkins I picked up while shopping last week.  They were just so sweet with their little embellishments, but needed something.  Unfortunately, I got so excited about my idea on how to make them Hop (not 'pop' - but 'hop'.) that the 'before' pics came out totally lousy and unusable. 

Regardless - the brown napkin just had three buttons randomly sewn on it.  Supposed to be Easter eggs?  Perhaps - but how about those chickens!  I moved some buttons around between the brown napkin and the smoky blue one with the basket.  Didn't they come out so entirely too cute???  I thought about adding a little something to the flower and bunny napkins - but decided I liked them in their simplicity.   What do you think?  Like them?


In the master bath.  My sister-in-law gave me the cute little white distressed iron bird feeder.  I just recently located the most perfectly colored votives to go in it and plan on adding just a sprinkly of tiny white seashells.  In the meantime, I thought the cracked egg candles looked fun - don't you?
And in my studio / office.  I love those little vintage-y eggs and tin basket!  Found them at a craft store in Lawrence - all the eggs have chick related artwork on them and are in such beautiful vintage colors.  I tucked some green spanish moss in the basket and thought it was just the right touch.  The little chick was tucked away in one of our lovely local gift shops - Jodi's Attic. 

The hand-carved wooden 'tray' is from our other wonderful local gift shop (my topmost fave!) - The Feathered Nest.  And do you see the little black bench in the background?  And the corner of what is a tall bookcase?  Those also came from The Feathered Nest.  Love them!  That's all in my 'family room' corner of my office studio - cozy and functional.  A great place to hang out!

These bunnies came from Pier One last season - aren't they interesting?  There are tiny yellow chicks peeking out of the basket of eggs.  The books are ooooooooooooold ones from family.  They are dilapidated but they make me feel good when I see them.  I can't read them as they are in Czechoslovakian, but I hold them and see my ancestor's handwriting in the margins and front covers and feel connected somehow.  This little 'scene' is on the bookcase along the wall in my studio area that acts as 'hallway' to the third floor stairs.   Just ignore the wallpaper - NOT my style and on my list of 'things to change' in this old house.

Let's go downstairs to the living room. . .

I LOVE this Jim Shore Easter Basket I found in a flower shop in western Kansas.  

Don't you love 'My Box' too?  A great $5 sidewalk sale find from another flower shop in Lawrence.  I rotate the things in My Box and it just makes me smile!              
   

Moving from the living room to the dining room. . . I think you may have already seen the bowl of eggs in my Kitties & the Tulips post yesterday - but here's a closer look.  No one can keep from playing with the tiny colored fuzzy chicks.  They are adorable!  I'm planning on putting some plastic tubs of pansies (or johnny-jump-ups) in the flower pitcher you saw yesterday.  But nothing in there right now. . . nothing to see here folks.  Let's move on.

The bunny, crock of baby's breath (I salvaged it from the rose and tulip arrangement of yesterday.), and little egg carton of chicks are on 'The Stainless' - a chef's table with shelf that we use as a buffet in front of our south windows by the dining table.  So warm in the winter when the sun is shining!


I love this bunny from Jodi's Attic.  There was another laying down - but I just really liked this guy.  Or is it a gal?  The pretty crock came from another gift shop in Western Kansas - 50% off too.  Isn't it amazing all the interesting things that are in some out of the way places?!?!?!  The chicks are kind of a shimmery fuzzy yellow and I thought it was fun (especially since I didn't have enough to fill the whole carton) to intersperse them with more of my cracked egg candles.  I bought lots and lots of those little eggs on E-bay one year for not very much.  They are just so cute!  And I like to tuck them here and there.


There's lots of other little Easter-y odds and ends poking out of places throughout the house - but I think these are my favorites. . . I'll share some of my normal 'Spring-y' decorations once I pack Easter away.  That could be awhile. . .

How do you decorate for Spring and Easter?

Have a hoppy-kind of day ~

Robin Z


2 comments:

  1. Hello Robin so lovely to meet you over the blogosphere, thank you for stoppping by Dolliedaydream and good luck in my Easter Giveaway! So excited to see you embracing Easter too on your blog! I love all your Easter goodies dotted around your lovely home, but I LOVE your fur babies even more!! Just having a read through your blog and spotted the Vizlas and your cats. So gorgeous - do they all get along ? Kisses Kitty xxx

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  2. Thanks for stopping by Kitty and for the lovely compliments on my 4-footed kids!

    Yep - incredibly the Wonder-Vizslas (Zayda and Jaz who think they are part cat) and the Amazing-Peterbalds (Fritzie and Frazer who think they are part dog) all get along famously. . .

    Sometimes a little too much so. I mean, the doggies think it's their duty to keep the kitties' bottoms lickingly clean. Ugh! Yech! Ptooey! Disgusting!

    It's just not all warm and fuzzy and cute in Furrdom, eh?

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