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

Spring Blue and White Basket Arrangement

Monday, March 29, 2021

A blue and white arrangement for spring sits in a basket on the French Country antique breakfast table. After winter storms in February, the blue skies and bright green emerging leaves on the trees outside the windows are welcome sights. And, another welcome sight is the bright sunshine streaming through the sunspace windows onto the beautiful spring basket arrangement inside.  


Sky blue lobelia in a Spring Blue and White Basket Arrangement
Is it spring without sky blue lobelia flowers? Not at my house. 

Blue lobelia bedding plants are part of every spring for me and after starring in arrangements inside and on my potting bench outside, they are planted in containers on the porch to enjoy all summer. 

This spring, the cheerful blue flowers star in a spring basket that includes more small plants, white ceramic bunnies, and blue bird's eggs. 

French Country Easter Plate Stand

Tuesday, April 16, 2019


The French Country plate stand in the kitchen sunspace has a little brown toile bunny for Easter decor this Spring. 


French country Easter plate stand with a brown toile bunny
The plate stand was a plant stand, but now houses my set of white dishes and usually has a few accents to celebrate the current season of the year. 

White Rabbit Botanical Centerpiece

Sunday, March 17, 2019


Mr. White Rabbit sitting amongst an ivy botanical setting in a pedestal urn is an eye-catching centerpiece for a French Country kitchen island. 


Large white rabbit botanical centerpiece in a French Country kitchen
Large spaces look good with large arrangements, which in turn, call for large containers and large decorative items. It is all about scale. The larger a surface area, the larger a centerpiece can be without overwhelming the space. 

Usher in Spring | White Bunny Arrangement

Tuesday, March 12, 2019


An arrangement of a white marble bunny, artificial white and green flowers, and a white-washed round basket provides just the needed touch to usher in a new Spring. 

Spring officially arrives in a only a few days, and we are ready! 


Usher in spring with white bunny arrangement
The pine chest at the end of the fireplace is my favorite place to add seasonal touches throughout the year. With a handful of objects a new Spring is welcomed this year . . .  in a delightful way. 

One Tired Easter Bunny

Sunday, April 1, 2018


H A P P Y   E A S T E R 



One Tired White Stuffed Easter Bunny


O N E   T I R E D   B U N N Y 

at the end of today 

French Country Floral Bunny Basket

Friday, March 30, 2018


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 


Rustic 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.


Happy Easter

Sunday, March 27, 2016



Wishing you a blessed Easter 
filled with hope, laughter, love, 
and 
a chocolate bunny of your own. 
~~~~ ❦ ~~~~


Ivy Heart Topiary in Bunny Pot

Monday, March 21, 2016

Minimalist white Winter is over, and 
true love blue Spring is back. 

I want to have more white in my house. 
I truly do. 


Until I see another beautiful ceramic flower pot with blue. 
Who can resist that adorable bleu bunny?

Oh, yes, all of you who love green, or yellow, or red, or neutrals, or......... 
Those of you who love green, this pattern comes in green also. 
HomeGoods... 

French Script Bunny & Rustic Pots

Friday, March 18, 2016

Would you like a quick, easy Spring and Easter centerpiece idea? 
One that involves a French script bunny, rustic French rose pots, and flowers? 


Small simple arrangements do not take much time, space, or money. 
They can fit on a small dining table, a sideboard, or a kitchen island 
with plenty of room left for food and place settings. 



Begin with a collection of an odd number of small French rustic rose pots.  
Set some upright, set others lying on their sides at angles to one another, 
and stack a couple together. 


Add a 4-inch blooming bedding plant, like a lobelia, in a metal pot. 
Use a white sweet alyssum for a more neutral look, 
or use a multi-colored pansy for a bolder, brighter touch. 


I like the delicate look of blue lobelia that gracefully falls over the edge 
of its container when the plant gets bigger. 


Then add the star of the arrangement, 
a French script bunny wearing a rhinestone-studded white lace cummerbund around its body. 
Position at an angle across the rose pots and lean against the flowers. 


The overall shape creates movement, but never sends the 
eyes off into the wild blue yonder. 

Notice how the arrangement follows the shape of a triangle. 
The eyes begin on the lower left pots, follow the body of the bunny 
up to the flower tips at the peak, then back down to the stacked pots. 

The transition from the metal pot to the stacked pots on the right is gradual. 
If only one pot is positioned on the right, 
the jump from the height of the metal pot down to a single pot 
is not as fluid. 

The position of the bunny unifies the design. 



A simple, quick, easy, and versatile centerpiece 
makes everyday seem like a special holiday.  

 ❦
For more ideas about how to create interesting arrangements, see 


~~~~ ❦ ~~~~

Please join me at these inspiring places for more joy of living. 
SUNDAY
Dishing It and Digging It @ Rustic and Refined

MONDAY

TUESDAY


Wheat Grass Basket with French Script Ribbon

Sunday, March 13, 2016

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? 

~~~~ ❦ ~~~~

Please join me at these inspiring places for more joy of living. 
SUNDAY
Dishing It and Digging It @ Rustic and Refined

MONDAY

TUESDAY

Evolving Easter Vignette - When Is It Finished?

Friday, April 3, 2015

When creating a table top vignette, 
where do you begin, and where do you stop? 
When is the vignette the final version? 
Finishing a centerpiece is often the hardest part. 



What recently began in my mind as a white vignette 
turned into a purple one as seen in The Color of Easter
Yet, I still had a white centerpiece forming in my mind 
because white has been enticing me, calling to me as a siren.   



However, blue, beloved bleu, continues also to call to me.  
Since I've been collecting blue for many years, 
many beautiful blue things have found a home with me. 


B L U E 
symbolizes 
trust, 
loyalty, 
and
confidence. 

When I survey my mind trying to recognize 
what are the things I value, hold dear, and seek, 
trust and loyalty are at the top of the list. 
My deepest sorrows have been caused by people 
who broke their trust with me 
and who were not loyal. 

Yes, I love bleu for how beautiful it looks to me, 
but I also love bleu for its symbolism. 


So, as I rearranged the kitchen counter, 
a blue and white grouping took the place of the purple setting on the island. 
Not a hard thing to do, just move pretty blue things together like... 
the kitchen towel with the blue bunnies, 
a clear vase with blue speckled eggs, 
and a tiny little frosty blue bunny. 



The dear little bunny came from Goodwill 
and sits someplace visible all year, 
moving from spot to spot. 



As much as I enjoyed the blue and white, 
an all-white grouping kept nagging at me. 
The only way to quiet a nagging is 
to do something about the reason for the nagging. 



Out came the white pitcher, the white creamer, and 
a smiling white iron doorstop bunny holding a basket. 



The basket holds flowers, not eggs. 



Four-inch bedding plants surrounded by preserved moss 
add height and a touch of nature. 



A little touch of bleu speckled eggs just had to fill the creamer. 
A white cotton hand towel with embroidery rounds out the white grouping. 
Five items inside the white wicker basket. 

So, is it finished now? 


Not exactly. 
The redbud branches still have a few days of beauty left in them. 



The white vignette will truly become all white 
(almost white except blue eggs
when the redbud blooms die. 

Then, it will be finished. 

How did I know when to stop adding items to the grouping? 
The question is answered by what went into the grouping. 

1. Texture - White wicker basket, preserved moss, hand towel  
2. Movement - Tall flowers, medium height bunny, low creamer 
3. Theme - bunny, eggs for the season 
4. Color - shades of white, monochromatic scheme  
5. Number of items - an odd number 
6. Focal point - bunny: focus created by central place, 
pitchers pointing toward bunny, oblong flower vase 
angled behind bunny, towel leads to bunny  

Once I had all six of these elements, 
I knew the grouping was completed. 

See Vignette Designs Series #1 for the first 
in a series of five posts with detailed analyses 
of how to create vignettes. 

~~~~❦~~~~ 
~~~~❦~~~~ 

Rabbit Basket Centerpiece

Sunday, March 30, 2014

As children, 
my mother always had a beautiful 
Easter Basket 
for each of us, 
four of us, two girls and two boys, 
filled with bright green fake grass, 
loaded with special Easter candy, 
and all wrapped up with  
colorful translucent plastic wrap. 
The one big special Easter candy 
was a LARGE chocolate-coated candy egg 
from which she allowed us to slice off pieces, 
but not too many in the same day. 

Shhhh...don't tell her... 
I didn't like the taste of those candy eggs, 
but I loved my Easter baskets. 



I still love Easter baskets, 
especially this twiggy one with a concrete fluffy rabbit  
hiding under fresh mint.  



Nestled next to the mint, 
the rabbit is right at home on my pine dining table 
that was refinished last year. 



Sitting under pear tree branches...  



With their delicate blooms, 



The rabbit wiggles into the soft green moss lining the basket
that has been home to others before him. 
Last fall, the twiggy basket nestled an unusual colored pumpkin.   



The pear tree branches provide a shady spot for 
the rabbit to rest. 



Occasionally he peeks out, 
looking around the dining table, 



but quickly settles back into his twiggy basket home. 



He cheerfully greets everyone from the table, 



And, with plenty of mint to nibble, 



He plans to stay right up to Easter,  
April 20, 2014,
when the rabbit becomes an Easter bunny. 

~~~~~~~~~~
A series of posts 
about building my dream house, 
a post and beam house, 
is located in the Page titled 
Post & Beam Dream House. 
Click on it in the Menus listed 
at the top of the blog.  

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

MONDAY

TUESDAY