Using Pears in Your Home Decor

Junk Inspired pear project - warning the following post may be humorous to the real artists among us...

Still life imagery, with fruit,  is timeless (as any of the old masters paintings show us). Here is my attempt at painting a pear over a recycled canvas.

  Note:  I don't compare myself to an old master.




Pear Painting from Recycled Canvas & Frame

 

The pear painting above is hiding a secret.  Underneath the image you see is a painting of a young lady some wouldn't want to take home to mother.  My husband and I were at an auction in Texas and this canvas and frame came up for bid - lucky for me no one wanted it because the painting wasn't pretty and the frame was an ugly silver color.  I liked the hob knob detail of the wood so I started bidding and got it for $15.00.

I am not a painter by any stretch of the imagination and I painted and repainted this twice before I could live with it...but you don't have to be Picasso to come up with something for your own home; and your project can be very reasonable if you keep your eyes open for materials you can reclaim.

Here is what I used:

• White gesso over the whole canvas to cover the first painted image; I've also used Kilz interior paint with success  for other projects
• Acrylic paint in light color (from the hardware store oops department) for the background
• Acrylic paint (again an oops) for mottling over the light background - this paint was slightly darker than the background and I dabbed it randomly
• Ralph Lauren Metallic Gold Paint (another oops) in an old gold color for the 3rd mottling of the background
• Acrylic paint (you guessed it an oops) for the red in the pear
• Acrylic paint (your first background color) darkened somewhat and put on the plump part of the pear to look like sunlight is hitting it



close up of the plump part of the pear



• A variety of small bottles of acrylic paint you get at a craft store in blacks, browns, and greens for the stem and leaf

close up of the stem

After you have finished the canvas go back and paint over the frame with the same Ralph Lauren Metallic paint - several times in a variety of thicknesses to make the frame look old.

Total cost of this recycled art project was less than $20.00, including the canvas and frame, because I used paint I already had on hand or oops paints that I bought for .50 a jar at Home Depot.

Give it a try.  I get compliments on this when people visit the house.  It is a statement piece because it is large and red but I like it for its quirkiness and because it was junk inspired!

Spring in NOLA | No Foolin'

its a lovely spring day in south Louisiana...

lovin' the sunshine on this april 1st



Its Agnes...From Joni Originals

Well, looky who came to live in NOLA...Agnes from Joni Originals!

 

Joni tells me that these little angels find "big people" who are in need of a little

extra love and emotional support when needed...

How did Agnes know?

agnes - i think i'm calmer already!

Joni also tells me that these angels are very chatty, although, Anges has been quiet here

in her new surroundings...I think she just has to get used to me.

agnes and her little wings

So we are getting acquainted, Agnes and I, and Joni says to be patient. 

The dialogue will come in due time...

To see other angels by Joni Originals

visit her Etsy shop at:

http://www.rockinwrinkles.etsy.com/

A Different Angle on Framed Botanicals

We all love to use framed botanical prints...they are a staple for the walls of the hippest and chicest (is that a word) of junk inspired rooms.  I've had this book of prints (or plates or the finer prints may be referred to as lithographs) for twenty years. 

botanical print

I found the book of images in a little old book store on Mill Avenue in Tempe, Arizona. 

When we moved last summer I was looking around for something different for a couple of small bare, walls and couldn't find just the right image(s) when I remembered my botanical book of
Auricula.  Armed with two thrift store frames  and a can of black acrylic paint I spruced up my walls with very little effort.


 

thrift store frame painted black with cropped botanical



So what's the angle?  I cropped the images instead of framing them in traditional manner of leaving the roots, leaves and print title.  I wanted to add a slight contemporary feel to the rooms and I think by cropping, as shown,  my mission was accomplished!







If you can't find wooden picture frames at your local thrift store a smart alternative is to use the wooden frames from Dollar Tree.  The wood is thin, but it IS wood AND they give you glass instead of the less desirable film.

Sorry this post is short but my computer is acting very strange...I think its time to log off and give old Bessie a little rest.

Bye for now.  Green is good!

Faded Plains on Blogspot...A Very Nice Place to Visit

Faded Plains is a lovely little site that I recommend you visit next time you feel like kicking back and just enjoying life...

The best boutique blogs and online stores are those than can tell a story with just a few words and tons of dreamy pictures...and this little shop does that and then some...



ironstone covered dish | fadedplains



I collect white ironstone,  in Tea Leaf design by Meakin, so I was shopping Etsy where I found

Faded Plains.  When I stopped into the shop I was certain Grandma had just

finished baking a pie, that children were playing croquet in the yard, and

there were sheep grazing in a field in the back forty.

envelope parcel | fadedplains

Plus, it helps that I love all things vintage...faded, tattered, and even, yes, a little junky!

limoges platter | fadedplains

If you're looking to be junk inspired or want something old and lovely

take a little tour through Faded Plains...

you'll be glad you did!

Visit this little shop at:

http://www.fadedplains.etsy.com/

http://www.fadedplains.blogspot.com/

botancial project | faded plains

Its All About Fifi's Decorating Style

Fifi O'Neill has been creating unique style home interiors for many years.  Even though I am a new follower of Fifi I am eagerly reading any blog posts that are published about her.  Her design style is fresh, fun and resourceful...using found elements and displaying them as the treasures that they are.  My own terminology for styling with reclaimed vintage elements is Junk Inspired but I am hesitant to label her style as such because I would never want to discredit what Fifi does with a room.

 http://fabulousfifi.typepad.com/

Fabulous Fifi O'Neill

She is another room stylist that creates an image in your mind of a place you want to visit...soon and often...her rooms make my heart beat fast just as Rachel Ashwell's do...I want to be Fifi!  Many of her room's elements are vintage, and perhaps found at a french flea market - certainly nothing I find at garage sales even though I am constantly looking...right now I am in Paris (in my mind) and its a lovely spring day...see what her design evokes?  Hmmmmm...

Styling by Fifi O'Neill



The Fifi O'Neill Special Touch

 Can you just smell the camellias?  Well, you get the idea.  I love Fifi O'Neill.  I'll probably blog about her again because I just can't get enough of her unique reclaimed style!

What is Your Junk Design Style?

If you're Junk Inspired, like me, chances are your home decorating style falls somewhere between County Living and Shabby Chic, or similar to Country Cottage or Farmhouse Style...or perhaps Romantic Prairie (I think my style is Junky Romantic Traditional but I am not certain.)  It used to be that junk decorating meant you used metal TV trays and  you sat on a sofa without feet but nowadays to decorate with recycled, refurbished, up cycled decor means having a lovely home and is something of a status symbol or at the very least something to brag about.  Going "green" in our decorating is good for our earth and it is good for our souls.  I know I feel good whenever I am able to create something usable from another persons junk.  And about decorating with metal TV trays and a sofa without feet...I can guarantee you that some resourceful decorator out there has used both of them and pulled it off with style.

Dreamy Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic Bedroom

There are many famous designers and decorators who have become well known for their junk inspired decorating.  The first who comes to mind is Rachel Ashwell of Shabby Chic fame.  Her signature is to take traditional elements, paint everything creamy white,  use faded floral fabrics and throw exquisite lace table cloths, bed skirts, etc. over furniture. Add some Limoges porcelain pitchers and vintage botanical prints and you have started a Shabby Chic room.    In my mind she was one of the first to explore decorating using found elements - junk - and she is one of the best!  To see her style visit  http://rachelashwellshabbychic.blogspot.com/




Rachel Ashwell's Blog ( Front Page Photo )

  Just looking at this image makes my heart beat fast...I love her rooms.  They are easy, homey and sweet but with an air of sophistication.  This is a style I aspire to all the time.


Of course, she has her own line of fabric and furniture created to look like its vintage.  I don't know, in her own life, how much she uses real vintage elements but she is still the queen of home decorating (using junk) in my little book.



The next home designer that I like is Carol Bolton.  I first learned about her when I visited my sister in Fredericksburg, Texas, and found the Homestead Stores.  Her style tends to be darker, and she uses heavier fabrics such as brocades...and tons of trim and braiding.  Very often Carol will leave wood furniture in its original color and she's quick to mix wood tones.  She will hang scrim on a wire and call it a curtain...or will trim a piece of glass with stained fabric tape and call it a picture frame.  And she does this all with panache.








Carol Bolton's Barn Interior Design

     
























When I first toured the Homestead stores in Fredericksburg, Texas, there were several boutiques...all eye candy for the vintage style decorator...but she has sold Homestead to another group and it has been moved to Hico, Texas.  Still yummy I'm sure.


Carol Bolton, too, has her own line of home decor including wonderful Victorian Inspired furniture and light fixtures. The chandeliers she sold at Homestead were really (I mean really, really) wonderful and they looked like they were removed from grandma's old Victorian house.  But alas, they are were a little too expensive for me...so I just looked at them with awe.  My description of her style is Bawdy, Prairie Victorian.  She is unique and one of a kind.

Tomorrow I'll discuss Fifi O'Neill a truly gifted (and fabulous)
Junk Inspired Designer.  I just learned of her but I love her unique
design style!

This Doll is a Family Treasure...No Junk Here

Yes, we all have heard the saying..."one woman's junk is another woman's treasure" and that couldn't be more true when speaking of Ophelia my wonderful little cloth doll that belonged to my mother, Hazel.  Ophelia was mother's first doll and was made by the wife of a hired hand who worked for my grandfather.

Mother and Ophelia Circa 1915

Mother was born in '13 and in the photograph she looks to be about 16 months so that means Ophelia is pushing 100.  Her clothes have yellowed a little but overall I would say shes pretty spry for her age. The worksmanship of her garments is folk and maybe the colors don't match but Ophelia is the cutest, raggedly cloth doll I have ever seen. 



Ophelia - Our Family's Treasure


Ophelia's body was constructed from an old black sock, her dress and slip were made of scraps of flannel, and her priceless little sweater vest was made of green yarn in a single type
stitch - not sure if it was all knit or all pearl but its just cute.  Her eyes are two buttons and she does have a little red mouth that you can barely see.  When holding Opehlia you can see she was well loved, however, my mother took good care of her long after she was too old to play with dolls so her overall composition is still good.

Her little sweater vest is made of green yarn

If you have a family treasure (cloth doll, baby clothing, quilt, wedding dress, etc.) that you want to preserve for future family members some quick tips are:

• store away from the light (sunlight will fade and also help to break down the fibers)
• store in acid free container (acid free cardboard box, acid free tissue paper, etc.)
• store where your family heirloom will be dry so mildew will not grow on the fibers
• store away from other fibers that might break down - nylon, elastic, etc.  Don't stuff your doll in old hosery because the hosery will decompose

Opehlia slept in my mother's chest of drawers in her bedroom for years...and only came out to visit when one of us (my sisters and me) wanted to hold (not play with) her.  Because this doll was treated with the utmost respect she has held up very well.  Now that Opehlia lives with me she is displayed in a display case but is NOT anywhere near direct sunlight and is protected from direct air flow from the air conditioner.  Hopefully she will last another 100 years.

So someone looking at this doll, without any sentimental feelings attached, may see nothing more than junk but for our family she is a treasure...just as she is!  Once I am done with her Ophelia will be passed to one of my nieces who will take pride in owning this little bit of family history.