Sheep, Succulents and Silver

Inspired by Marty@ A Stroll Thru Life, and her post on staining ceramics with wood stain, I decided to stain my white sheep that I'd used in a Spring tablescape.
Like Marty, I feel that white-white things don't go with the colors of my house as well as off-white does.

Here's Marty's post showing the Roo that she stained and how she gave him a more antique look.
Roo with Attitude.

 Yesterday, I finally got up the nerve  decided to try Marty's technique on my sheep.

Here's the before  white-white look.

Testing one of the two stain colors that were in Hubby's shed, I tried this one on the sheep's foot...hmmm sort of looks like milk chocolate mixed with red Georgia clay. Not exactly what I had in mind, and it certainly didn't look like what Marty used. 
O-kay. Let's try the other color, American Walnut.

 After first applying the stain in a few spots, and rubbing it off a bit..  this is what it looked like... Hmmm... Still not quite the textured look I wanted.
Hubby arrived, and suggested that I dab a bit more, instead of rubbing so much, which, surprisingly, helped a lot.  :)  Yay, Hubby.
I was so pleased with how well the sheep turned out, that I used her in a coffee table vignette in the family room.

I kept turning the tray to see which way it looked better.

I used a little footed silver dish to hold the faux succulents, but I didn't have a candle holder that worked.

After rummaging around Hubby's shed, I found an old weathered piece of 6x6 lumber. I think it must have been left over from when we had the deck built, many years ago.

Feeling more confident in my crafting, I dry brushed it with some white paint to give it that shabby look.

Then I wrapped some Spanish moss around the base of the candle. 

 Sorry about this angle, :) but I wanted to show you the "back side" of the vignette, because you can see both, the texture of the sheep's coat and the wood.

Thank you so much, Marty for your great idea. It was so much fun, and I'll definitely use this technique again.
I'm partying with:
 Susan@BetweenNapsOnThePorch for

Marty@AStrollThruLife for

Kim@SavvySouthernStyle  for

See y'all there.
Thanks for stopping by. I love hearing your comments and suggestions.
Babs

Pasta Bowls

Recently I've become obsessed  interested in pasta bowls.
I actually have a few, and really don't need any more, but every time I see some, they still "call to me". Maybe because we eat a lot of pasta??

The other day coming back from the grocery store, I saw an estate sale sign and of course, I stopped.
Looking around what did I see? Pasta bowls!

There were four individual bowls and a large serving bowl, all shaped like big tomatoes.
On the bottom of the bowls was Pottery Barn and ... Garden Pasta. 
I picked one up, looking for chips, or cracks.
They looked fine, so I asked the price. The lady at the table said "$7 ".
I asked for each?  The lady said "no, for the set".
Don't you know how fast I whipped out my money before someone else saw them!
I felt a bit guilty ( just for a second), because the bowls were such a bargain, and the ladies were so nice. They even wrapped and boxed them for safe travel.

I think the little green leaf on the top is really cute.

Since green, white and red are the colors of the Italian flag, I used those colors in making this lunch tablescape.

The veggies, figs and herbs are from the garden, and my grandmother's old brown pitcher is holding a bunch of blooming Basil. Since it was blooming, I needed to cut it back, and  use it as a "bouquet".

The small tumblers are for water or wine, and since the placemats are small, I used ceramic tiles for coasters.

My old stand by cabbage plate and dipping bowl are for bread and olive oil.

I didn't have the pasta ready when I took these photos, so I used dried pasta instead.  Sorry, but some days I'm not all that organized.

Do you have a thing for pasta bowls?
Please don't tell me I'm the only one who's lovin' them. :)

 I'll be partying with Susan@ Between Naps on the Porch for
Tablescape Thursday.  
See you there, and I'm so glad you stopped by.
Hugs, Babs

Figs

Hey, come on over.  The figs are ripe!

These were picked this morning before the birds arrived.

One of my favorite ways to serve figs is with goat cheese or cream cheese. Today I used the Neufchatel cream cheese because it's lower  in fat than cream cheese... gotta watch those calories. :) Right...who's counting?

I lined the basket with fig leaves...

...and garnished the plate with Lemon Thyme.

Enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by.  I always enjoy your visits and I'll be happy to give you some figs to take home. 
I'm joining The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sundays.
Hugs,
Babs

Party Time !

Yay!! We are so happy to be invited to Baby Kitty's big birthday blast.
We are the "wild ones"... feral kitties who live near "Hubby and Babs".
Hubby built us a big outdoor condo that we use when the weather is bad. We have lots of places to roam and plenty of good food and water.
We are shy, but very nice, and we've all been spayed or neutered.  :) 

Please let us introduce ourselves.

I'm Baker. I'm the oldest...about 12 years old, but I look and act young for my age.

I'm Sammy. I'm an excellent hunter, and I like to catch moles.

I'm Sophie. I'm very beautiful and know all the cool spots to hang out. 

My name is "George", but I'm really "Gorgeous George".
I'm the biggest and have blue eyes.

My name is "Tipper", and I like to catch snakes for Babs to find.  :)

I'm Boots. I'm the most stylish with four white boots and a beautiful fur coat.

Spotz here. I'm very shy and mostly stay by myself, except at mealtimes.

Babe.. I'm the smallest and George's best friend.

My name is Newbie. I'm the newest cat in the group.

I'm also the youngest, about three years old. 

 I was rescued and taken to the veterinarian when I was eight weeks old, but couldn't be adopted because I was afraid and shook when anyone looked at me.

A friend of the vet brought me here to see if I would be happy with the others.

Everyone was so nice, that I forgot  to be afraid.

Thank you Baby Kitty for inviting us to your birthday party. We are really looking forward to meeting everyone.

A Cloche Call

When Marty said she was having a Summer Cloche Party, I wanted to join in the fun, but didn't have a cloche.
I'd been looking for one for some time, but the few I found were huge... and expensive.

Determined to find a cloche, I headed out again to a local decor outlet.
Well, it must have been my day because not only did I find a cloche, but two little birds as well.

Browsing through the shop I saw this pair of little green birds, all by themselves, just waiting for me.
Of course, I had to have them. They are so cute... and green is my favorite color.

I was lucky...and surprised, because the cloche just fit on the pedestal base I had gotten from HL a couple of months ago.

I wanted to photograph in the living room, but even though you can see the detail on this bird,  the color of the walls seemed too dark so I decided to use the entry hall instead.

I added a hydrangea blossom and a piece of fern from the garden...

...and here, a silver tray.

It was a "cloche call" :)  but I found one just in time, and I'm happy to be joining Marty's Summer Cloche party.

See y'all there.  
Marty@ A Stroll Thru Life 
Thanks Marty for being a super host.

Thank all of you for stopping by. I always enjoy your visits and comments.
Hugs,
Babs
                                                                                                       

Texture

Before blogging, the only time I thought about texture was in relation to food or fabrics. Texture in photos or vignettes? Not so much...well, to be honest...rarely.
I'm really a color and pattern driven person, but
I wanted to give the entertainment center a more summer look, so I decided to put together a learning (for me) vignette, using only things I already had around the house, and concentrating on contrasts in texture.

OK... are you bored to tears yet? 
                    Well, here's how it finally turned out.

This is the left side of the entertainment center.

Not a lot of texture here, just the pine cones with a bit of Spanish moss which you can't see under them.

Since the books were mostly red, I turned them around so the texture of the pages would show. I would have preferred more neutral color books, but this is what I had so I went with it.

The basket and coral provide the texture here.

OK... on to the right side of the entertaiment center.

Faux hydrangea from an old wreath and two books to elevate them are the texture here...as well as the stems on the faux apples.

.
The center section has a lidded basket that holds napkins for when we "dine" on the coffee table.

I like the color and texture of these old books with their pages showing.  The books ends have been painted several times. I can't decide what color to keep them but for now they'll stay white. I can't decide about the clock in the first photo. Should I leave it or not?
If y'all have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

This was definitely a learning exercise for me, and actually  took me longer than I would have liked, since I didn't have a lot to work with...but, at least now I have something new on the shelves.

For those of you who are still awake   :)... thanks for stopping by.  I always enjoy your visits.
Hugs,
Babs
See you over at Cindy's My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday