Blog Description

A French-Inspired Garden and Home by Judith Stringham
Showing posts with label bird. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bird. Show all posts

Christmas Ivy Wreath

Monday, December 25, 2023


Fresh greenery is my favorite style for Christmas decor. And ivy topiaries in the shape of a wreath are at the top of my go-to Christmas fresh greenery. 

Every season during the year has specific flowers and plants that are synonymous with that time of year. Wreaths are one of the most recognizable symbols of Christmas decorations and often are the first sign of the Christmas holidays. Cities and businesses add wreaths to front doors, street lamps, and windows. 

Homeowners also hang wreaths on front doors and windows. And on gates, fences, car grills, fireplaces,...  EVERYWHERE. Wreaths are made of evergreens, pinecones, artificial berries, FEATHERS, but all proclaim Christmas. 



For me, a live ivy topiary in the shape of a wreath is Christmas. Some years I add a sparkly ornament dangling inside the wreath to add more Christmas. 
Read more »
Labels: , , , ,

French-Inspired White Bird Cage for Spring

Friday, March 20, 2020

A French-inspired white wire bird cage has landed on the white shelves in the kitchen sunspace for a fresh look this spring. Previously, the white bird cage sat on a table at the end of the sofa in the living room. 


French inspired white bird cage for spring decorating in a country house sunspace
Why this bird cage and the two myrtle topiaries? 
  
As always, I look for ways to bring more French design into my country house. If you also love adding French Country style or garden style to your house, read on to see how a bird cage and topiaries could bring a fresh look to your house this spring. 
Read more »
Labels: , , , , ,

Christmas Red Plaid Berry Birdcage

Tuesday, December 10, 2019
Dress up a wire mesh birdcage for Christmas with faux red berries, fresh tree clippings, preserved moss, tiny pine cones, and a cheery red plaid ribbon. Later this week read about a coordinating berry red cardinal and rustic grapevine and berry wreath on placemats and napkins for a Christmas table setting. 


Christmas red plaid berry birdcage dressed up for the holidays
A marvelous thing about this wonderful time of the year is almost everything can be dressed up for Christmas, including a wire mesh birdcage. 
Read more »
Labels: , , , ,

Five Ways to Use Birds, Eggs, & Nests in Spring

Saturday, February 20, 2016

Each Spring new bird's nests appear in the trees
 in the woods surrounding my house in the country... 
described as "living in the sticks" by a friend just last week, 
lovingly said with a smile, and true. 

Spring is just a few weeks away, and 
now is a good time to create easy-to-make projects 
for little touches of Spring all over the house. 

The woods outside inspire me to use birds, eggs, and bird's nests
to bring a little bit of nature and a few sticks inside five ways. 

1.  Chippy ladder used as wall shelves with 

a twiggy nest and egg print 



Using a rustic ladder is a great way to bring a little country Springtime and nature 
into a laundry room, mud room, half bath, or hallway where space is tight. 
Love, love, love those twigs (sticks) in the rustic man-made nest. 
The broken egg shell was an accident that turned into a realistic touch  
as though the shell had been left by a new baby bird. 
It is easy to make an egg print on burlap using free prints from The Graphics Fairy  
and instructions at Burlap Canvas Egg Prints. 


2.  Botanical bird's nest in table settings 



Another fast and easy project to make is botanical bird's nests for Spring table settings. 
Just embellish store-bought small grapevine wreaths with dried flowers, moss, 
lichen, and natural excelsior for a natural look that is enhanced by rustic clay pots. 
As one of my all-time favorite ways to display the beautiful blue clay eggs, 
I move the little nests all around the house all during the year. 


3.  Vintage bird prints on dictionary pages on the mantel 



Making bird prints on vintage dictionary pages is another quick and easy project, 
once again thanks to The Graphics Fairy that offers hundreds of free bird images.

Prints are not just beautiful on walls, they can also be used 
in bookcases, in table settings, and on mantels. 

Robins are a symbol for Spring for many people, 
especially in the northern United States. 
For northerners, the sighting of the first robin 
often marks the official beginning of Spring for them, 
regardless of the date on the calendar. 
It may be March 18 or April 3 or March 21, 
but it is not Spring until the first robin appears. 


4.  Bowl of eggs on the kitchen counter for Easter 



Purple is the color of Easter for me, but BLUE SPECKLED EGGS in bowls 
on the counter remind me of Easter egg hunts from childhood. 
This is one of the absolute easiest ways to bring 
bird's eggs in Spring into the kitchen.  
No project, just add some shredded paper grass to a bowl 
on which to nestle the eggs, and you are finished.  


5.  A cluster of blue eggs in a clear vase 



Could there be anything easier or more beautiful than displaying a cluster of blue eggs 
in a clear flower vase tied with a blue Paris-stamped handmade ribbon? 
Equally beautiful as part of a table centerpiece or by themselves on a side table, 
the eggs in a vase may be the simplest way of all to use eggs in Spring. 



Do you have a favorite way to decorate with birds, eggs, or nests? 

~~~~❦~~~~

~~~~❦~~~~ 
Please join me at these inspiring sites...

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
Home Sweet Home @ The Charm of Home
Labels: , ,

French Country Christmas Garden Shed

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Do you have a favorite shop that you cannot wait to see 
decorated at Christmas time? 
A place you know will have special items you 
cannot find at other shops in your area... 



That is the kind of place where I want to shop. 







For years we had a very special store, Quilted Hearts, 
where I found special Christmas ornaments, gifts, and cards. 
All my friends and I were so sad when it closed. 

Each year we also traveled three hours south to historic Salado, Texas 
for its annual Christmas Tour of Homes. 
Once we finished the tour, we shopped in 
several small stores filled with unusual finds. 
Sir Wigglesworth, my favorite store, 
was owned by a talented artistic decorator. 
Her displays and merchandise were always very special. 
A few years ago this store also closed. 
Combining my love of Christmas and France, I decided 
to offer garden and home gifts at Christmas time 
and to create a special Christmas shopping event in my garden house. 

Welcome to a review of what's in the 
2014 French Country 
Christmas Event.


Freshness in green and white... 

Handpainted NOEL sign and 
fleur-de-lis linen towels 
in traditional Christmas colors...  





PAPERWHITES planted November 13 with 
the first peeks of white blooms on November 29... 





A trio of blue-tinged candles in a vintage French zinc seed pot... 



A vintage wooden sled from Europe 
showcases all things 'deer'... 

Candles, matches, kitchen towels, paper napkins, 
fabric deer ornaments, and a fun white reindeer candy/salad/soup bowl... 



A French wire basket holds fresh pine, a large sugar pinecone, and antlers...  
a simple nature-inspired centerpiece. 



It's the little things that make the difference in gift-wrapping. 
A small wooden deer clip with glittered antlers, 
brown deer-shaped ribbon, and a gold glass star 
make even the smallest package special. 

These little touches are the kinds of things I always enjoy finding. 




One of my absolute favorite finds this year is the fabric deer ribbon 
that comes in ivory, embroidered in brown with gold bells, 
and red, embroidered in dark gray with silver bells. 

Individually, they are beautiful package and napkin embellishments. 
Used in 'herds', they would make a one-of-a-kind table runner or placemat. 
No sewing needed... just use special iron-on fuser to fuse the deer to the fabric.  




Christmas joy in the kitchen comes from 
paper plates/napkins, Santa salad plates, Christmas coasters, 
foaming Christmas-scented soap, bird-themed wooden tray, 
kitchen towels, pot holders, and oven mitts. 




A pot holder paired with a wooden bird and a sprig of holly can 
make it Christmas in the kitchen the entire month of December. 






Hand-carved wooden bird ornaments... 



A Paris subway 3-D metal wall hanging... 

To read all these metro stops' names brings back wonderful 
memories of trips to Paris over the years. 
During the majority of the year, it is fantastic as 
art over a bed, over a chest of drawers, or over a desk where
daily memos, grocery lists, and French ephemera can be displayed. 

At Christmas time, it becomes a special 
Christmas card display board, highlighted by a Noël banner 
printed on golden metallic paper that is held in place 
with four of those wooden reindeer with glittered antlers. 

The banner is easy to create using a graphic from Etsy 
overprinted with letters using the font, Party LET. 





Wouldn't a greenery wreath around the spire add a Christmas touch to 
the large metal birdhouse? 





An old pale blue painted ladder makes a great display shelf for 
a bird's nest and a handcrafted burlap bird eggs print. 





Preserved boxwood wreath with a red-script ribbon... 
On a mirror, a painting, a window, or 
my favorite place, a French armoire door... 





Christmas and French-inspired garden and home items make my 
garden house a special place every December. 
If you are in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, 
you are invited to come to the 
French Country Christmas Event 
where you may find something very special this Christmas. 

For those not in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, 
send an email if you would like more information about 
something in this year's Christmas Event. 

~~~~❦~~~~

Labels: , , , , , ,

Create Botanical Bird's Nests

Sunday, April 13, 2014

Simple homemade 
bird's nests
can be made from 
small purchased grapevine wreaths 
and excelsior. 

Easy to make in less than five minutes...
just in time for Easter. 


Hobby Lobby sold packages of six small three-inch grapevine wreaths 
for $1.50 per set of six at Christmas time. 
When I bought them, I knew I would use them in the spring,
thinking they would be good napkin rings. 

The flat moss and natural-colored excelsior 
also came from Hobby Lobby. 

A friend gave me a set of twelve blue bird eggs 
for my birthday last year. 



Using a small clump of excelsior, twist/swirl it into a circle, and 
stuff the excelsior in the center of the 
grapevine wreath, leaving wild strands hanging 
over the rim of the wreath. 
Use more or less excelsior depending on 
how wild and woolly you want your nests to be. 

That's it. 
All done. 

See the nests above and below for a samples. 



The small bird's nest is just the right size to sit atop a mug. 
I did not use glue so I could take the nest apart and 
use the wreaths as napkin rings as originally planned. 



Since I wanted nests and eggs in grassy meadow designed mugs, 
I decided the eggs should be green, not blue. 
See these mugs in an upcoming post, 
French le Lapin Spring Table.

Easy to change the color... 



This is a box of ColorBox stamping inkpads 
that have the consistency of watercolor paint.
The advantage of using these inkpads instead of
watercolors is no mixing of paints is needed.

I have had the ColorBox inkpads for several years, 
but saw one at Hobby Lobby last year. 
Quick tip: Store stamp pads upside down 
so the ink is always at the top. 

Using a watercolor brush and 
a very small amount of water in a ceramic bowl, 
brush the green stamping ink onto the eggs. 
Since stamping ink/watercolor is fairly transparent, 
the dark spots on the egg show through the paint. 
Do not have to paint on the spots...! 

Couldn't be easier! 

Of course, I need to clean my inkpads  
where I got limey green paint on a couple 
of adjacent colors. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As soon as I finished these little nests, 
I read Lucy at Craftberry Bush's post,

http://www.craftberrybush.com/2014/03/how-to-make-realistic-birds-nest.html
Lucy is truly an incredibly talented artist  
whose watercolor paintings are just beautiful.
A visit to her blog will inspire you with
her creativity and clear instructions.
Even the name of her blog,
Craftberry Bush,
inspires me. 

Immediately, I thought of ways to improve my little nests. 



The first step is to add more excelsior underneath the grapevine wreath
creating three layers: excelsior, grapevine wreath, excelsior. 
Next, add a small bit of moss, on which the egg will rest,
 to the top excelsior.  



There are always dried hydrangeas at my house that 
come from my mother's abundant hydrangea bushes. 
Two or three individual blossoms are all the small nest needs. 



Foraged small tree limbs with lichen came from a friend's house. 
If possible, just pick up an armload of small twigs from the ground. 
Lichen is also often available at craft supply stores. 
Pull one small clump apart and add to the excelsior. 

Place the botanical nest in a small rustic clay pot. 

Voilá



For permanent nests, use hot glue 
to glue the parts together as each is added. 
When placed in the top of mugs and clay pots, 
glue is not needed. 
The pot or mug holds the nest together.



Two botanical bird's nests... 

Easy to make, 
and easy to adapt to different styles. 
❦
~~~~~~~~~~
If you can spend hours reading 
magazines, catalogs, and design books,  
then you are in for a treat.


Ten bloggers are joining the five hostess bloggers 
for a tour of Spring Tablescapes. 
15 blogs over 3 days

Look at the hostesses! 
Everyone of them has 
style with pizzazz! 

I am so excited that 
Botanic Bleu 
is included.
Take a peek on April 22 at 
Spirea Garden Party.
(A change in the previously announced post.
A girl can change her mind, you know.)  
Then hop, hop, hop on over 
to the other four Spring Tablescapes that day. 

Come back on April 23-24 for 
TEN more inspiring Spring tables 
in The Scoop On...Spring Tablescapes.

TUESDAY, APRIL 22
Top This Top That
Setting for Four
Botanic Bleu
Hymns and Verses
Unexpected Elegance
===
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23
Cedar Hill Farmhouse
Town and Country Living
Our Southern Home
Chateau Chic
Worthing Court
===
THURSDAY, APRIL 24
StoneGable
Lilacs & Longhorns
The Everyday Home
The Tablescaper
Confessions of a Plate Addict

~~~~~~~~~~
Labels: , , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)