Faded Beauties...

 

Every January my local Publix grocery store has about a week and a half 

when the store is filled with 

"Buy One, Get One Free" bouquets of roses. 

Two dozen roses for a little over $10.00!!

I've written about this before.

I posted pictures of the fresh, beautiful roses on my Instagram account.

They had every color of rose imaginable.

I put them everywhere.

Eventually they begin to fade. 

I keep them for as long as I possibly can. 

I refresh the water and trim the stems to prolong the beauty.

 Roses are worth it. 

And then the roses begin to dry and the petals become papery. 

I leave them in the vase on the counter until there isn't any moisture left in the bloom. 

There are a lot of different ways to dry roses but this works for me. 

Not every bloom dries perfectly but I usually have over half of them dry beautifully.

I snip them from the stem and arrange them in a bowl 

or on a little blue and white chinoiserie plate. 

They don't have much scent but you can take a cotton ball and put a few drops of essential oil on a cotton ball and tuck it under the blooms.

They don't last forever - when they get too fragile or the color fades you can just toss them 

and treat yourself to another bouquet of roses and dry those!

Post Holiday Refresh

There's always a LOT of discussion on social media about when it's OK to put up Christmas decorations and just as much discussion about when everyone takes it down!

We generally don't decorate for Christmas until after Thanksgiving and the take down is usually dictated by travel and weather! If I have a nice day right after Christmas I get the outside decorations down right then.

 I'm a little slower inside ( I tell myself I'm organizing and purging - whatever!! )

I always miss the 'green' of my Christmas greenery but since I use a lot of fresh magnolia and such it gets pretty crispy and just can't stay long after the big day!

So I just replace it with different types of "green" 

- I always crave fresh houseplants after the new year.

(After the Christmas decorations come down I want to fast forward to Spring!!)

This corner of the Family Room was the first spot to get a new plant and I shopped the house to switch up the table top vignette a bit. This room didn't need much because it just got a 

One Room Challenge makeover right before Thanksgiving!

The other thing I crave as an antidote to the early darkness in January is a replacement for all the twinkle lights of December. I mentioned the picture light above on my Instagram. It's so nice to have a little glow in this corner and the light has a remote and a timer so it's easy to use.

This is the picture light I ordered.

I read a review that the gold/brass finishes did not match perfectly. I thought I might need to use Rub and Buff to make it cohesive but honestly I can't tell - it's almost at the ceiling. I may make it a rainy day project one of these days but I went ahead and put it up.

It comes with the easiest hanging hardware ever - it has a built in level!!

Here it is at night - it was the only light on in the room when I took this picture!

 I plan to get another picture light for the Library. I'll be sure to show you when it arrives!

And I'm sure I'll be adding some more green plants too! 
Do you crave houseplants in January? Do you miss the twinkle lights?

Do You Do Waterlogue?

I'm not the most technically savvy gal out there but I do love the Waterlogue app! 

 (A favorite image from 2018!)

If you've never "played around with it" you are missing out on some fun. Just download it from the "app store" on your phone and start creating beautiful pictures.

Some photos from your phone library work better than others but figuring that out is part of the fun.

I often forget about it until Christmas rolls around. That's my favorite time to use the app.

And let's face it - there's time to enjoy it this year! It's a great distraction.

Just for fun I'm going to post a few of my favorite "waterlogue" pics along with the original photos I used.

 

This set up for afternoon treats was part of a fundraiser :)

  

All about my favorite new wreath and velvet ribbon here and here.

  

You can see a lot more of our Library decorated for Christmas on Instagram.

 

Isn't this fun? It's interesting to see which images 'turn out' better!

OK, I seriously need to get back to work and do a little cleaning around the house as well!! 

I'm sure you'll see more Waterlogue pics on my IG before the season is over!! 

Give it a try!