Simple St. Patricks day Vignette

 Hi Again! I really do enjoy St. Patrick's day, I really do y'all!  But, I'm not gonna lie, decorating for St. Patrick's day is a bit a challenge for me.  It's one of those holidays that for me does not require I decorate the entire home. Because it falls in between when I would typically be pulling out spring décor and prepping for Easter décor so I struggle. I am still debating if I will create a St.Pattys day tablescape to enjoy this year.  I have a lot going on right now so if I do it may look rather simple.  But sometimes simple is simply fine, right?  I think so!

This year when I pulled out my St. Patty's day décor I noticed one thing.  I have woefully a very small amount.  Most of what I have is centered around tablescaping.  I have adorable placemats, napkins, and embroidered towels.  But not much as far as knick knacks go.  This is fine with me because I prefer less knick knacks these days.

This year I decided to focus on my kitchen shelves where I enjoy changing out the décor for different holidays and seasons. I had already brought out my greenery with burlap covered pots. I love those little plants bought years ago.  When originally purchased they did not have the burlap on them.  I added that years ago and still love, love, love the look.  When setting up my vignette I decided I really like having this new cutting board on the middle shelf so it stayed as well as the metal container with flowers on top.  These two pictures above are what I thought I would share.  When creating this post I noticed that the top shelf looked so unportioned to the rest of display.  It didn't look quite that off when looking at in person but in a picture it looked so off to me so I added a few dishes to balance the look.

So there you go!  Much better now right?  I think so.  I've had these cute little cabbage leaf plates for awhile now but always seem to forget about them when the perfect season rolls around to use them.  I love how the brown background trim works well with the cutting board below.

The adorable little leprechauns are actually floral picks and I would definitely say they are vintage.  I say that because I have owned them for a very long time, and they are chipping their paint color but I still love them! 

I just picked up this cute little wooden shamrock yesterday at Joann's. I was there for some fabric and saw their St.Patrick's day décor was 60% off so I browsed a bit.  I also purchased the glittery floral pick with the three open shamrocks.  I think I may have a thing for floral picks.  They are inexpensive and work great when you just want a small touch of  seasonal whimsey. 

On the top of my hutch, I decided to display this adorable glass tray I've owned for quite some time. It rarely gets used but I love it!  I'm not sure why but for me it's one of those feel good pieces that just makes me smile.  So why not display?  

Finally, this little bunch of Hydrangea greens is another old trick that I've used for several years now.  Still works for me to celebrate this holiday.  I'm not hitting it out of the park I know, but guess what, it makes me smile to see this crazy green collection of stuff I already own.  Isn't that what decorating should be all about, enjoying the things you love?  I think so!

Thanks so much for popping by! Hope you enjoyed the little leprechauns smiling at you like I do. Mostly I wanted to share the idea to always use what you love, and what you brings you joy!

Have a great Friday!

Mary

My Fruit table Redo

 Hi All!  I have owned this narrow side table for several years now.  It is just an inexpensive little table that I picked up for a deal from Ross one year.  I love that is narrow in depth which allows me to have it placed on walls where I do not want a deeper piece of furniture to get in the way. This is why it is placed here in my den near our everyday dining table. Having a table here allows us to have an extra light because there is no hanging light here in our den only pot lots.  Anyway, back to my table, it's very shabbily painted with a fruit motif on the top that I have had a bit of a love/hate relationship with for some time.  It's always had a blah look to it to me, yet every time I have considered repainting the table to something else, like a solid color, I have wavered to be rid of the fruit. 

 

The two pictures above show that the table was originally painted with a an olive type green trim and very muted olive/golden colored leaves as well as very muted plum and blue grapes.  The basket painted in the middle was a brownish gold color.   Nothing was painted with super fine detail which is what I liked yet it just seemed to lack something.   I have toyed multiple times with the idea of painting this table all black, gold, turquoise or green.  But as I've said previously everytime I think I'm going to do it I waver.  This weekend it finally came to me why not just brighten up the fruit on the table and bring in colors that will pop a little more.  I decided the worst thing that could happen was I wouldn't like it and it would then be time to paint the whole table a solid color.  So I got out my acrylics and went to work. 

I couldn't be more pleased with how my table has turned out so far!  The only thing I may eventually do is change the gold trim around the top to black to match the black trim I added to the legs and the bottom edge of the table.  That I am still deciding on but feel happy enough to wait on that decision.  I would love your opinion on that if you have one.  

The first thing I did was change out the colors of the blue and plum grapes to a more vivid blue and purple. I started with the edge on the front of the table and then moved to the top.  I also decided rather then having green vines and stems to go with a dark greenish grey.  I literally mixed up some colors to get that combination.  Next I decided I wanted all the leaves to have a more Kelly green color as opposed to the muted olive greens.  I left all the fruit in the basket and in front of the basket alone and kept their original colors.  I did however change out the color of the basket to black so it would coordinate more with the trim on the legs and and the front of the table. 

So much brighter and adorable now, don't you think?  I have a lot of black in my den and now this table works well with the rest of the furniture in the room.  Just a few weeks ago, I found the tall black lamp  at an antique store for a great price.  I knew I wanted it to go here in my den on this table but it just wasn't working with the colors the table was originally painted. Now with the legs, trim and black basket it works so much better.  The next change was on the wall.  I love my lighthouse print but it seemed a bit off with the newly vibrant fruit table underneath so I knew I was going to change that.  After sharing my project with a group of FB blogger friends the comment was made to maybe add a fruit still life above.  I was thrilled with that comment because I actually had a picture I had painted many years ago for the kitchen in my old home.  I've had it above the stove in this house many years ago but eventually moved it to the hall upstairs. So I went upstairs, grabbed it and hung it up.

This is my original painting and I was quite pleased how well it worked.  I had been worried it might be too much fruit to add above the table.  Turns out I liked it more then I thought I would, but it seemed just a bit to dark to me.  That darker brown just had to go!

Good thing I hadn't put up all my paints yet.  So I pulled out a little linen color and went to town on the brown table. After I finished with that, I stood back and decided the wine decanter was quite dark as well and could use a pop of purple to lighten it up as well.   Lastly I stood back and looked at it one more time and then added a little coastal blue to the top half of the backdrop. Subtle bits of light totally gave it the lighter look I was wanting.  Now it's got a much fresher look to me!

I certainly wasn't expecting to do this much touch up painting this weekend but I am so glad I did.  I especially love that I already had everything I needed to make these changes.  The wrought iron scroll was upstairs just sitting there waiting for a new home and coordinates very well with some sconces I recently added above my fireplace.  

My basket under the table is temporary to hold the surround sound speakers until I find a better solution.  There's always something more to be done isn't it?  Like decorating for the holidays!  Should I focus on Easter now or just spring.  Oh, and of course there's St.Patricks day too! 

Regardless, I'm so glad to have tackled and finished this little project this weekend.  It makes this little corner of the den so inviting now.  No more drabby little fruit table.  And the big bonus is I get to enjoy and old painting of mine once again.

I am so grateful for all those ladies who offered their advice in the FB group to help me wrap this up.  It is so true how sharing ideas can spark new ideas as well.   That's what friends are for, even online friends too!

Thank you so much for visiting!  I hope you are having a wonderful weekend!

Take care,

Mary