Sharing some Love with Lavender

Hi Friends!  Since it's almost Valentines day I thought I'd share a little LOVE with you today and tell you about a few of my favorite Lavender things.   Do you like lavender?  Of course you do and I sure do too!   I love almost anything to do with Lavender.  I absolutely love everything about it!  I love the color, the aroma, the oil, the plant, the blooms, the seeds, and the texture to name just a few.   All of those previously mentioned qualities contribute to the whole calming and relaxing enjoyment I get from lavender.  Just the word alone sets my spirit right.

Somehow at some point in time I also began to associate Valentines with lavender. Maybe because when I was young I remember seeing Valentines cards with lavender on them.  Here's one I found today that is so cute!

source: Stylepinner.com

Besides being in love with the color, I really love, love, love the plant itself.  Growing Lavender here in the SC red clay that I have at my house is challenging to say the least.

 Some how I have managed to get one lone plant to survive and thrive.  This plant and another one I had in some pots on the deck for a few years before I put them in the ground.  This one loved the transfer and has thrived very well doubling in it's size.  The other one not so much.  I have tried two more additional plantings with no luck again.   I'm not giving up yet though, I'll just have to keep amending the soil until I get it right.

 I love the way Lavender looks and feels.  I especially love that you can smell the Lavender on your hands after you touch it and run your fingers though the leaves of the plant.  I have Rosemary that is the same way and smells so good on your hands.

I'm sorry I don't have any blooms to share with you today but its not quite the right season for that yet.  I can tell you if this beauty blooms like it did last year it will be stunning.    I promise to come back and share this plants beautiful purple flowers when it  does bloom.

Now if you really want to fall in love with lavender, and surely you must, because your here reading this and because I really want you too, okay?  OK!  You absolutely must try what I wanted to share most with you today.  Here's my secret for indulging in lavender.

You absolutely positively must try these lavender bath salts.  These are by far the best ever hands down!   I received these as a gift one year from my son and his girlfriend and I have been spoiled ever since.  In fact there is only one store nearby that carries it and I have to drive a little further to get this.  This brand is the only one I buy!  Aura Cacia has the best lavender aroma ever combined in a mineral salt that will sooth your spirit as well as your muscles. I've shared this brand on my blog once before in a previous post about my bathroom retreat here.   I love that it is not a bubble bath and I can turn on my jacuzzi tub without worry about bubbles overflowing everywhere.  It truly is a whirlpool of aromatherapy and a spa like indulgence right at home. 

This year I added a little something to my lavender indulgence.  I must have spent a whole afternoon searching for just the right scent of lavender soap to add to a Christmas present for my groomer.  She of course got the bath salt and some hand lotion but I also wanted her to have some soap.  I did find several wonderful homemade and organic type soaps but they were quite expensive and usually sold by the single bar only.  I kept searching and when I was at TJ Maxx I hit the mother-load of Lavender soaps.   I'm not kidding when I say I literally sat down on the floor and smelled almost every brand there was until I found what smelled like authentic lavender to me. I even had another customer who also sat down and started smelling soaps with me.  Too funny! I knew I found what I was looking for when I came across these in a beautiful box of 6.  The brand is Fiorentino, and is made in Italy. What I liked about these other then the smell was that you get more then one bar and they are just the right size.  Not too big and not too small.   I love that I can use these in the guest bath for company or in my master bath without some great big honking bar of soap that sits there forever and looses it's smell.  It feels very clean and much like a milled soap to me.  I love the cute little embossed fleur-de-lis on it.  It's so enjoyable when I go into our half bath to wash my hands that I feel like I've just given myself a little treat.  Try it, it's that good!

This morning I added more lovely lavender to the half bath with a newly embroidered hand towel.  I found this cute design online at Emblibrary and knew instantly where I would use it.  This is the last of the inexpensive hand towels I picked up to practice on from Walmart.  I think this turned out beautifully!  I do believe I am now ready to search for a few nice quality hand towels to embroider on.  I may have to make another one and do a set for in here though.  Now that I look at the picture, it looks a little lonely on that bar by itself, don't you think?

Well if I haven't convinced you yet of all the virtues of indulging in authentic lavender I've got one more small pleasure you could try.  Maybe you don't think you have a green thumb or are like me in an area where lavender is a real challenge to grow.  No problem, you could go faux!  

Last year I shared a post about this pretty little faux Lavender plant that I purchased at Michaels.  I shared it with you when I was showing what was the very beginning of my foyer makeover in a post titled Frenchy Foyer (click here to see).  These had just the right gathered look of fresh lavender.   I also picked up a few more different faux styles to scatter around the house.  I would love to find some dried Lavender that is not too expensive and made well to stay in tact. I have sometimes seen that the dried Lavender blooms tend to fall off easily if not handled carefully.  If you are good at being careful (which obviously I'm not) you may want to search for a dried version of lavender in a wreath or pretty bouquet.  I promise you won't regret it. There is something so enchanting and so old worldly about looking at lavender you can't help but fall under it's spell.

Thank you so much for popping by today and I hope you all are having a very cozy and relaxing weekend.  I would love to hear about your love for lavender or anything about it you'd like to share.    Wishing you all a very happy Valentines day!

Hugs and Waves!

Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday

Which do you prefer?  We claimed both at our home!  This year was just a little bit different at our house.   I decided to step up our celebrations a bit and attempt to cook an actual New Orleans style meal to enjoy with my tablescape. My dinner menu of choice was Jambalaya and California Dreaming King Cake. It may not sound like much for a celebration but for the two of us it was just enough.  We definitely were feeling like it was Fat Tuesday.

Our large round family table is in the den now and is where we enjoy most of our meals these days.  I decided this would be the perfect spot to set up my Mardi Gras tablescape.

This year I stayed focused on using dishes I knew we would use with the exception of a few filler plates.  It's okay to have some just for show, especially for Mardi Gras.   I wanted to try and stay close to the traditional Mardi Gras colors, though I ended up with quite a variation in the shades. I didn't have many choices in green, gold, and purple dishware.  I also didn't want to use anything I have used in my two previous Mardi Gras tablescapes.  I will reshare those again at the end of this post, or you can revisit those posts here, 2014 and here 2012.

  My charger plate (well that's what I'm calling it) is really a terracotta dinner plate that was set just for show.  I chose this to give the whole place setting a bit more depth and width.  I used the green in keeping with Mardi Gras colors and because it complimented the salad bowls I knew we would use for dinner.   Note to self: You really need some gold chargers!

 My next choice for the stack was these square melamine salad plates.  These were to be our dessert plates for later.  They  were also chosen to bring in purple, another one of the traditional colors of Mardi Gras.  I have some lovely small round deep purple salad plates I really wanted to use but they just didn't fit with the rest of the stack.  Maybe I will share them in another tablescape soon!

 This was the dish that was so important for me to keep and the very one I worked everything around. It is a terracotta salad dish that closely resembles a bowl.  I love this dish!  It is perfect for meals like the one we had tonight when you need something in between a bowl and plate.

Finally I topped the stack of dinnerware off with a yellow bowl.  This was to catch all the shrimp tails that we had to peel off ourselves.  I used frozen shrimp for this dish and I while I saw that is was indeed peeled and deveined (time saver) the tails were still on.

Of course I had to throw in a little Mardi Gras bling to spice up the setting.

 Sparkly and bubbly silver stainless flatware and a gold rimmed wine glass brought in a few more festive touches of silver and gold.

 The most exciting elements used for this table for me were the napkins that I embroidered myself just for the occassion.  I decided they looked so cute they even deserved a combination of three napkin rings for a big bling factor.

 This design was such a cute design I found online that I knew I had to try it.  I did some slight editing as it was supposed to have the word Royalty underneath Mardi Gras.  I didn't want that, nor did I want to use the colors that were recommended which brought in Royal blue and Red.  If there are any native New Orleans families out there peeking in, I do apologize for changing up the traditional royalty colors.  I really wanted to keep this design a little more simple yet still have a bit of  bling with the crowns.

For my centerpiece I used some faux flowers I already had.  I just pulled together all the different colors I needed and it was done.  I only added a few beads, again trying to keep it more simple.  I know it's quite odd to keep things more simple for Mardi Gras but that's the way I was rolling this year. 

I didn't want to go out and purchase anything for this setting.  I already had all of these on elements on hand and I really wanted to just focus on the dinner this year.

...And focus on it I did!

Let me tell you the Jambalaya I made was soooo good!!!!  It had all the right ingredients in it to make it one of my newest favorite dishes.  I used a recipe I found here at Gimme Some Oven, with just a few slight adjustments.  I am all about saving time so when I found a frozen package of celery, bell peppers, and onions I was very happy.  I also grabbed a bag of frozen Tyson chicken chunks.  I know it's processed and maybe not the best choice but I really, really, hate to cut up chicken.  It's strange but it just bothers me.  I like to cook fresh chicken, love it, just hate to "cut" fresh chicken.  I also used frozen shrimp because the local shrimp around here is just not the best this time of year.  Remember I was going for quick and easy.  I did use almost all the other suggested ingredients and let me just say it was the bomb!

 Speaking of bombs!  This was supposed to have been the California Dreaming King Cake.   Go ahead, you can laugh out loud now.  I did.   Unfortunately, I didn't grease my bundt pan well enough and it stuck and stuck and stuck.  I tried very carefully to get it out but it would not budge.  Then I finally just gave up, dug it out and preceded to dump it all in a bowl.  It was pretty good even though it looks absolutely awful!  Hey, I know, why in the world would I show you this?  Well, I'm all about keeping it real here.  You win some, you loose some!

I took this picture with such high hopes, thinking I would have a lovely cake to show you too.   You can find the recipe I used for the cake here at The Painted Apron.  This recipe called for olive oil and wine so I just had to give it a try.  I wanted to try this cake since I had some Chardonnay on hand given to me from a friend.   I'm not really a Chardonnay kinda gal.  I like White Zin so this was to be perfect time to open it and use it.  No, I didn't drown my sorrows in it later either, though the thought did cross my mind.

Thank you so much for stepping into my home today for a visit and a chat.  I hope you enjoyed this post and I hope you'll come back again sometime.

Mardi Gras 2014

Mardi Gras 2012


  Tablescapes are just one more of the many things I enjoy sharing with all of you and I also plan to share this post with a few others at;

Tablescape Thursday

This is an action packed week for us.  We've got a 2 year old birthday coming up for this little one,

 and then a Valentines weekend too.  Whew, Good Times! 

Hope you had a wonderful Mardi Gras,

Hugs and Waves!

Anchored in Love or Romance in the Kitchen?

What's your Valentines style?  I am sure it wouldn't be to big of surprise to hear I'm a little bit of both.  Sorry friends, no true confessions or seedy love stories here today just a few pretties around the house all dressed up for Valentines. 

Yesterday while I was thumbing through Pinterest looking for more cork hearts I came across a pin for an anchor and well let's just say it was the bomb for me. You know the big OMG bomb!

I have had all these corks (minus the one bag I just about emptied on todays project) for quite some time.   I knew I would do something really cool with them eventually but had yet to find anything I was super inspired to actually try.  I have found a few really beautiful cork wreaths yet they looked so intimidating.  This project however was just right up my ally.

So last night, I lined up my corks to make the anchor and then got my work station in my craft room all ready.  This morning after coffee and my last blog post requesting help, I popped upstairs and fired up the glue gun.

 This project took so little time once the gluing began.  I was amazed at how fast it went without any issues, with the exception of one blistered thumb that got in the way of progress.    I know some of you may be thinking what's the big deal?  Well, the big deal is I didn't just pin it, or share it, or like it, I actually did it and that is a big deal!  Anyone can be an observer, but I am in action mode now days.

 I just love how cute these are!  This Valentines display is definitely one I can relate to.  Besides being sailing partners, I have always referred to my husband as my anchor here on Earth.  He is the one who keeps my feet on the ground and keeps things stable when needed.  He reassures all will be well if all is well between us.  What a blessing from God is our relationship!

 I decided to put this display on the coffee table with some faux roses I have used for Valentines many times over.  Sorry, no fancy smancy floral display in here, I like keeping things simple sometimes.   I did think the Rewine candle next to it was quite appropriate though.  I love the smell of these candles.  If you haven't tried one yet you really need too they are wonderful!

One more little small update in the den was I added a metal X and O to the Love plaque I made and have sitting on the mantle.  I found these yesterday at Michaels when I went to buy some more glue sticks.  They are part of the Mark It collection they have and are on sale this week.

 While I kept things simple in the den, I couldn't help but get a little more lavish in the kitchen.  More specifically on my tiered metal plate rack.  Love, love, love how this turned out as well.  Why have I not used this for displays more often?  Let the romance begin!

I've had this pretty metal dish rack in the kitchen for some time now. I have recently been tiring of its location and I tried moving it several times but due to the height this is the best spot.  I even thought about getting rid of it before I decided to try using it more for a display piece as opposed to a functional piece.  Sounds kinda crazy I know, to be so excited about this.  But I'm glad to have a new focus for this rack and I really enjoy putting these types of displays together.

 The first thing I knew I wanted to use was my heart plates.  These are just some inexpensive melamine salad size plates I picked up a few years ago.  They sure do make a cute display when their not serving up a whole lotta lovin!

The next things I knew I wanted to use were my cupid angels.  Aren't they so sweet?  I've had these plastic angels forever.  They are what set the tone for the rest of the display.  I think they are so romantic and somewhat Victorian looking.   After looking around the house I decided polished and tarnished silver would be a nice fit for the Victorian look and how perfectly appropriate in a romantic theme.  Yeah, see I'm really thinking it though here, the ups and downs of romance and all!

Talk about the downside of romance, this little beauty is sitting on her jar of hearts. She has quite the collection doesn't she? 

Poor dear, maybe one day she will also find someone with a heart of gold to lavish her with hugs and kisses daily.  These sweet X and O's also came from Michaels yesterday. They are quite heavy little things.  Very cute and all letters are available in the whole alphabet.

I am linking up to one party today.  I may join a few of these from time to time but taking it slow so I can be sure and check out the other party goers posts as well.  Let's see what going on for... 

Inspire Me Tuesday @ A Stroll Thru Life

Thanks so much for stopping by dreamer friends!

Hugs and Waves!