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A French-Inspired Garden and Home by Judith Stringham

Gold and White Pumpkin and France

Sunday, November 15, 2015


There are no words to take away the pain, confusion, and loss for our French friends who suffered devastating losses this week in Paris.  Yet, beauty and compassion help ease the pain and remind us that the vast majority of people in the world seek beauty and compassion, not mayhem and destruction.  As we continue to write our blog posts, we are voices for beauty and compassion during this time of an incomprehensible violent act.  As an American, I send condolences to France and say Americans all across the United States are standing with France.

Sharon Santoni, author of My French Country Home, has written a moving post, making sense of it all,  in response to the violent acts in Paris.



Vive la France!

Ever mindful that to do nothing is to grant victory to those whose actions oppose us, 
I am posting my regular blog post about beauty as a way to say 
we will go on, and we will not be defeated.   

Add a little glimmer to your Thanksgiving table with a pumpkin 
resting atop gold and white wild wreaths. 




Start with a Cinderella-type pumpkin,  
or transform your Fall pumpkin into the centerpiece of your Thanksgiving meal. 



Spray a grapevine wreath with a coat of metallic gold paint.  

After the gold paint dries,
 overspray the gold wreath with a light misting of white spray paint, 
and leave some of the metallic gold spots. 
To get light coverage, hold the spray can 1'-2' from the wreath 
and continually move the spray can back and forth. 


    
Use the same metallic gold spray to paint thin, wild vines with complete coverage. 
Wild honeysuckle vines are thin
and often have interesting squiggles and braided vines. 

Place the grapevine wreath on a base such as a footed cake plate.
A basket is another option as a base. 
Place the pumpkin atop the grapevine wreath. 
Then twist the gold painted thin vines around the pumpkin. 



If possible, use thin vines that still have some attached leaves, 
and paint the leaves gold, also. 




If there are no attached leaves to paint gold, 
just paint loose leaves gold to add to the arrangement.  




Adjust the thin gold vines so that some are interspersed around the grapevine wreath, 
and some of the vines are lifted above the grapevine wreath and over the pumpkin. 

VoilĂ , a gold and white Thanksgiving centerpiece. 


Thanksgiving is just days away, and then we will be decorating for Christmas. 

Mark your calendars for Christmas inspiration from all over Texas 
when over 20 Texas bloggers share a window into Christmas in Texas

Stacey at Poofing the Pillows
is hosting
December 7-11, 2015

I was thrilled when Stacey invited me to be part of this 
first-ever Christmas blog hop of over 20 Texas bloggers, and 
am honored to be on the first day line-up on 
Monday, December 7, 2015. 

Several of the bloggers have shared their plans with all of us, 
and this is going to be a great Christmas blog hop! 
You don't want to miss any of the posts 
that include decorations, crafts, recipes, and even a fashionista. 

Watch for more details in the posts to come. 

~~~~❦~~~~