Artificial French lavender (lavande) in a reproduction French market basket evokes scenes from an earlier era in France and provides authentic vintage French style for a French-inspired garden and home in Texas. 

You see French market baskets on wheels all over France as shoppers actually do use them to cart home their daily grocery purchases. You may even see a bouquet of flowers sitting on top, perhaps a large spray of lavender stems. 

However, most modern-day French market baskets are just that, modern. Light weight, sleek open metal design, rectangularly shaped, state-of-the-art wheels built for traveling on sidewalks, up-and-down stairs, carted onto the metro, and folded up for storing once the contents are emptied. 

To find a reproduction French market rattan basket with wheels fires my romantic fantasies of how France was in another era. 

Spring Baskets Ceiling Display

{Disclosure: If you purchase items from Botanic Bleu Square Market, I receive compensation for your purchase. See my Disclosure and Privacy Policy for more information.} 

The backyard garden shed is filled with Spring inspiration, and the ceiling has a display of Spring baskets hanging from ribbons. 

What was my inspiration to hang baskets from the ceiling? When I was thinking about what represents this season of the year, my mind began to think of Easter which led to Easter baskets. 

Christmas French Market Basket

Get your Christmas decorating organized by gathering supplies into one place, like a French market basket. 

Every little bit of organization in the busy, busy, busy, busiest season of the year helps your day go well and helps you get more done just when you need more time. 

The number one organization tip that helps me the most, at any time of the year, is to gather supplies I will be using for a project into one spot where I can find everything quickly. 

French Wire Baskets | Moss

M O S S 

the unsung hero of French wire baskets 

An inexpensive fresh flower arrangement can always be made from 4-inch starter plants from the local nursery. Need a quick, easy arrangement as a table centerpiece for a party, birthday, or luncheon that you and your guests will absolutely love?  

French Country Floral Bunny Basket

E A S T E R   B A S K E T S  

are not just for children

As a child I loved getting an Easter basket filled with candies and toys every year. Now, as an adult I continue to love having baskets all decorated for the Easter season. Why give up a joyous experience just because you get older? Bring out your baskets and celebrate the season with a special basket on your dining table. 

French Country Floral Bunny Basket 

You will not be the only one enjoying a basket decorated for the season. Grown children who no longer live at home and who are coming over to visit will enjoy seeing a lapin (bunny) basket which will bring back many happy memories of their childhoods. Chances are a basket will spark conversations and stories among them of their own favorite baskets as children.

Wheat Grass Basket with French Script Ribbon

Pretty centerpieces should not be created only for company. 

Living each day with joy calls for enjoying beauty in the everyday, 

not waiting for something special to happen to enjoy the moment. 

Instead, enjoying the everyday moments makes something special happen. 

Laughter... smiles...feeling good...

The French refer to enjoying life as joie de vivre, 

the joy of living.  

While shopping for groceries recently, I spotted 

fresh wheat grass growing in small square plastic pots 

in the fresh produce section, 

and immediately placed one in my shopping cart. 

Did I know how I was going to use the grass? 

NO. 

I knew I was NOT going to eat the grass or cook with the grass. 

Do people eat and/or cook with wheat grass? 

My cats love eating grass and have been caught nibbling on this grass. 

The grass just made me happy. 

Made me think Spring, Easter, and Easter egg hunts, 

as I whisked my little shopping cart around gathering groceries. 

My mind turning in its own directions as the cart turned down the aisles. 

Easter baskets... ! 

Stop the grocery basket and think Easter basket with wheat grass. 

You know, an Easter basket with real grass instead of fake paper grass. 

Wheat grass sitting in an old battered basket 

that once had been an Easter basket makes me happy. 

The old Easter basket most recently 

had been hanging around on the kitchen pot rack above the island, 

but was the almost perfect size to hold the square of wheat grass. 

That is the beginning of a Spring basket on the breakfast table 

just for everyday, not for a special occasion. 

One thing led to another as my mind continued to turn in its own happy directions. 

Add the white tulips from last week, and keep the pottery coasters handy 

for sitting iced tea and cokes on so as not to make rings on the table, 

and 

sit the little bunny with French script and lace near the basket. 

Still more of the 'one thing led to another.' 

The little black plastic square holding the grass was not very pretty. 

But, I do have some very pretty 3-inch wide muslin ribbon 

hand-stamped with French script and spangled crowns. 

The ribbon is the perfect height to hide the black plastic container that 

was stealing some of my joie de vivre. 

Voilà 

There you have it... 

... a wheat grass basket with French script ribbon and bunny 

as an everyday centerpiece. 

Just for the fun of it. 

Just for the joy of living....everyday. 

❦ 

Want some more inspiration for joie de vivre 

found in an everyday centerpiece? 

Golden Fall Pears

~~~~ ❦ ~~~~

Please join me at these inspiring places for more joy of living. 

SUNDAY

Dishing It and Digging It @ Rustic and Refined

MONDAY

Amaze Me Mondays @ Dwellings, the Heart of Your Home

Something To Talk About @ Karen's Up On the Hill 

Make It Pretty Monday @ The Dedicated House

TUESDAY

the Scoop @ StoneGable

Tuesdays At Our Home @ Our Home Away From Home

Inspire Me Tuesday @ A Stroll Thru Life

Tweak It Tuesday @ Cozy Little House

Show and Share @ Coastal Charm 

WEDNESDAY

Wow Us Wednesday @ Savvy Southern Style

THURSDAY

The Inspiration Gallery @ Craftberry Bush

Thoughts of Home on Thursday @ Poofing The Pillows 

Treasure Hunt Thursday @ From My Front Porch To Yours

Your Inspired Design @ bluesky kitchen  

Share Your Cup @ Art and Sand 

Inspiration Thursday @ In the New House Designs 

FRIDAY

Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage

Home Sweet Home @ The Charm of Home

Show and Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home

Simple & Sweet Fridays @ Rooted in Thyme 
Anything Blue Friday @ The Dedicated House 

SATURDAY

Share It One More Time @ One More Time Events 

~~~~~

Organizing Keepsakes in Baskets

Organizing objects in baskets 

somehow elevates the items 

from clutter to keepsakes. 

Well, the items chosen for keeping 

after reviewing everything stuffed in 

the basket to get it off the side table 

become keepsakes. 

Periodically, 

items saved for another day 

must be reviewed in my house. 

There comes a day, 

not planned beforehand, 

not on a scheduled day of the week, 

not on a predetermined timetable, 

but just the day comes when the 

clutter must be reviewed... 
for me to keep my sanity. 
I can take clutter only for so long, 
then it screams to be organized. 

Walking through the living room, 

something catches my eye, 

and I know it’s time to review 

the clutter. 

Look at every item in the basket. 

Re-read every torn-out magazine page. 

Drop into the wastebasket those 

pages that no longer have 

staying appeal, 

those pages with furniture, 

architectural details, and color schemes 

that do not quite seem as 

appealing as first glance. 

Relocate those things that 

should be saved with similar items elsewhere. 

Place the collectible coins 

with the other coins. 

Place the newspaper article about 

monarch butterflies with the 

books about butterflies. 

Two hours later, 

keepsakes 

emerge from what once was 

clutter. 

The Martha Stewart Living magazine article 

on blue bulbs stays for handy reference. 

The purple ornate scroll photo frame from 

Temecula, California stays as a 

complement to the small needlepoint pillow 

from Paris, France. 

The pillow fits perfectly in the large section of the 

divided basket. 

The thin blue-print-on-teal notebook of blank pages 

stays in case notes need to be jotted down. 

Can one ever have too many small notebooks 

with blank pages? 

The set of four or five years of 

lavender leather-covered personal monthly calendars stay, 

more for their beautiful covers with 

their luxurious feel than for the 

references to past events. 

They fit perfectly in the small section of the 

divided basket. 

One day someone will buy these at 

an estate sale for their beauty 

and will wonder about the woman whose life 

was chronicled in their pages. 

Ordinary women are mysterious in the future. 

Extraordinary women’s lives are so well documented 

that there is little left about which to wonder. 

For now, these keepsakes made the cut,  

no longer clutter.

Until the next time

organization strikes.

 ❦

~~~~~~~~~~

Please join me at these inspiring sites...

SUNDAY

Share It One More Time @ One More Time Events

MONDAY

Amaze Me Mondays @ Dwellings, the Heart of Your Home

TUESDAY

the Scoop @ Cedar Hill Farmhouse

Tuesdays At Our Home @ Our Home Away From Home

Inspire Me Tuesday @ A Stroll Thru Life

WEDNESDAY

Wow Us Wednesday @ Savvy Southern Style

Centerpiece Wednesday @ The Style Sisters

THURSDAY

The Inspiration Gallery @ Craftberry Bush
Time Travel Thursday @ The Brambleberry Cottage

Garden Party @ Fishtail Cottage

FRIDAY

Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage

Anything Blue Friday @ The Dedicated House

Home Sweet Home @ The Charm of Home

Show and Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home

Fabulous Creative Friday @ Jennifer Rizzo

Simple & Sweet Fridays @ Rooted in Thyme
Fridays Unfolded @ Nancherrow

~~~~~~~~~~

Easter Basket Made With Love

Little do we know 

what will remain with us in years to come, 

or how some things will resurface unexpectedly, 

bringing with them memories 

of good times, shared joys, and common interests. 

A basket handmade by my sister over twenty years ago 

held Easter treasures from her to me this year. 

She left it upstairs for me to find. 

The little basket was a gift from her one Christmas 

while she was living in New Hampshire.  

After hearing that she made the basket, 

I got her to teach me how to make baskets, too. 

We soaked natural-colored flat and round reeds 

in water to make them pliable. 

Then using Rit Dye, we dyed them. 

Over the years this basket's colors have faded, 

but retain the muted shades of their original hues... 

Dark pinks, mauves, and purples. 

We spent hours, soaking, dying, and weaving 

to create baskets made with love. 

No patterns, just my sister's memories from 

her basket-making class. 

Together we laughed, tested dye colors, 

pulled apart weaves to redo, and helped 

one another with the difficult twisting and 

holding reeds to get the baskets just right. 

None of the ones I made are still with me; 

all became gifts to friends. 

This little basket from my sister has 

lived all over my house, 

moving from spot to spot, 

last seen, empty, sitting alone. 

Then unexpectedly, it became this year's 

Easter Basket, 

holding chocolates and little treasures, 

made with love, 

and filled with memories of our times 

together years ago. 

Sisters by chance, friends by choice.

❦

~~~~~~~~~~

A-Tisket, A-Tasket, A-Basket

Baskets...

Spring is the time of the year when there 

are baskets everywhere. 

Baskets with plants, baskets with rabbits, 

with candy, with flowers, 

with linens, books, 

dishes... 

One of my favorite blogs to read 

recently shared nine ways to use baskets. 

Looking around my house, 

I saw baskets used most of the ways listed, 

but also am using baskets one or two ways not listed. 

I had forgotten I had this blue basket. 

It had been in a guest bedroom upstairs, 

but when that bedroom was rearranged last year, 

this basket was moved to my office loft, 

and forgotten. 

Until yesterday when I was de-cluttering. 

As I walked down the stairs swinging the basket, 

(is there any other way to carry a basket with a handle?)

my mind was mulling over where I could use it. 

Perfect for this time of year when baskets are everywhere. 

Perfect for a little Easter display on the dining table. 

Another of my favorite bloggers has been doing a 

series on tablescaping, 

and I have been doing some serious 

studying of her stunning arrangements. 

Analyzing, comparing her compositions, 

noting camera angles, looking for common elements, etc... 

So, what better way to practice what I was learning 

than to create a display in the basket? 

Stock, snapdragons, and baby's breath, 

all from the grocery store floral department,  

fill a small blue and white stoneware pitcher. 

I continue to be drawn to white and 

started out trying to keep this all blue and white. 

Then I decided to use the iron rabbit painted a 

 soft yellow-y cream and wearing multi-colored ribbons. 

Hmm... 

Many years ago I found two cups and saucers that 

had the perfect colors for the upstairs guest bedroom in 

which the basket had been. 

The colors were now perfect for tying together 

the rabbit, the basket, and the stoneware pitcher. 

Au revoir, white and blue only. 

Now the question became, 

how do I position the saucers so they will stand up? 

Solution... 

Place two faux green hyacinth plants behind the saucers 

and prop the saucers' bottom edges next to the rabbit. 

These faux green hyacinth plants include bulbs with roots 

and came from the Maison & Objet Trade Show in Paris, France, 

September 2011. 

The two cups are stacked together, but at first I could not get the top 

cup to lean over so its pattern would be visible. 

Solution #2... 

Insert a folded piece of stiff paper into the bottom cup 

on which the top cup could sit at an angle 

and not slide so deeply into the bottom cup. 

A-tisket, a-tasket, 

what do you have in your basket? 

❦
~~~~~~~~~~