Summer's Coming Tablescape

I feel like I'm in the slow lane on the way to Summer...it's taking FOREVER for any Summer weather to arrive here in Oregon.  So I've decided to turn up the heat and get creative.  When the box arrived with my Villa Appetizer Tray, it was just the inspiration I needed.

I combined the tray with a couple of my other Villa pieces to create a light, Summery centerpiece that creates a peaceful feeling with natural, neutral pieces.

By adding a piece of burlap as a table runner and tossing some shells in a pair of martini glasses, you can create a breezy summer look on your dining table or just a fun vignette on a side table.

If you're decorating your dining table, you probably need more than just one small tray for your centerpiece.  If you have two matching trays, great!  Use the second to create this same look and you're ready to go.  If you're like me and have just one tray, look through your dishes for two small ones that will give the other side of your tablescape a similar look, and use the same martini glasses and shells to finish the look.  One side balances the other out, even though they are not exactly the same.

I used two salad plates for my grouping opposite the tray.  For a nice balanced look on a medium size dinner table, place the tray grouping in the center of the table and one plate & glass grouping on either side.  These salad plate/martini glass pieces would be perfect as singles on small tables or in a row on your mantel. (Maybe I'll try this for my next mantelscape...hmmmm....)

Now, if you're trying to fill a larger dining table, like I was, think of the tray grouping and the two salad plate groupings as the right & left sides of your centerpiece.  For the center, look for a larger basket, bowl or similar container.  The exact size isn't nearly as important as the look of your container.  If you have a piece that matches the other bases you are using in this arrangement, perfect!  But it's fine if you don't, too!  I didn't have a larger piece for the center of my tablescape, so I chose a large hammered bronze bowl as my center container.  I think a large basket would look wonderful here also, in keeping with the neutral colorscheme.  I used this Cyprus Footed Bowl for my tablescape's center.  And to add a little height to the center of my table, I added new favorite thing, the Villa Pedestal with some shells and a chunky summer potpourri surrounding it and a large shell sitting on a bronze candle stand to top it off.

This center grouping can also stand on its own in the center of your table or on a side table.  Combined together these smaller groupings created a beautiful centerpiece on a large dining table.

Remember some of my favorite tips for creating great centerpieces for your table:

Find a color scheme that blends well with your room.

Think of the scale of your room...use larger pieces in larger rooms or rooms with high ceilings and smaller pieces in smaller rooms.

Use smaller, shorter items one the ends or around the edges of a larger center piece.  Then place larger items, progressively toward the center.  Picture creating centerpieces as creating a triangle or pyramid shape with the tallest items in the center.

Think in 3's...groups of items in 3's (or any odd number) are most pleasing to the eye.  For my Summer tablescape, I used 3 separate groupings...the Villa Tray serves as one, the Villa Salad Plates serve as another and the Cyprus Bowl serves as the third.

If you're looking for fresh, summer look, think neutral and stop by your local craft store.  Grab some of their economical burlap for a table runner and a few bags of their bargain shells to fill your containers.  Look around your house for some neutral dishes and containers.  White, ivory or brown would look great with this colorscheme.  Also, a natural basket or two would mix in nicely.  And instead of martini glasses, grab a few of your wine glasses to fill with shells.

If you need some decorating advice...just ask!  I love to help people organize and decorate their homes, just let me know what you'd like help with and I'll work on a post just for you.  I hope you get a few minutes to take a break from all your work and create a more beautiful space in your home.

Find most of the pieces I used in this tablescape over on my Willow House page. I sell these beautiful home decor products and I also share them & more decorating tips on my Willow House Julie page on Facebook. Stop by & visit when you get a chance.

And stop back here soon to see my next Layout of the Week project! Trying to decide which will be next...a Bella Blvd. project or one designed with Webster's Pages???? Hmmm..we'll see! :)

Have you made something lately & posted it to your blog?  If you have,  you should check out the creative links at Made You Monday over at Skip to My Lou....




Join me over at Kim's for THE BEST Linky Party on the web...Tuesday's Get Your Craft On @ Today's Creative Blog.  You'll find all sorts of great crafting & decorating projects, many with DIY tutorials.  Be sure to leave Kim a comment to let you know what you think and tell her Julie sent you :)

Create a Crisp Look for Your Mantel this Spring...

With today being St. Patrick's Day & all, I thought I'd share a few photos of my latest "mantelscape."  I didn't change my mantel very much to achieve this crisp, clean look.  Take a look at my last mantel post & you'll find I didn't move or replace many of my pieces.  I was inspired by another Willow House Consultant's photos using split peas as fillers for this project.  I'm sorry I can't remember exactly whose page I found that idea on.

To me, green isn't just for St. Patrick's Day, although this does make a cute holiday arrangement.  I think of green as Spring, bringing with it all the new daffodil and tulip buds, as well as those tiny green leaves that will soon replace the flower buds on the trees outside my house.

I was very excited to find split peas at Winco in the bulk bins for only 51 cents a pound.  I bought 5 pounds, and after filling these containers, I still have quite a bit left.  So if you'd like to just buy a couple pounds, that should work well for this project.

As I mentioned, I didn't change my mantel much to create this look.  I removed a couple pieces and replaced them with a large hurricane and some fun green items collected from around my house.  Most of the mantel items come from the new Spring/Summer 2011 Willow House catalog.  (I'll put a link to my website at the end of this post for those of you who would like some more Spring inspiration or who would like to order an item or two from my mantel.)

Being someone who loves symmetry, I always try to give some balance to my designs whether they are created on the computer, with paper or home decorating items.  For this mantelscape, I left my two Stiletto Pedestals in the center, filling in around the candles with the bulk split peas. 

My large hurricane is one of my favorite decorating pieces.  Here, I filled it about 1/3 of the way up with the split peas & pushed an ivory candle down inside until it was firmly set into the split peas.  I've used this hurricane for all sorts of fun holiday arrangements that I share during my parties, and I promise to share those ideas with you soon too!  On either side of my mantelscape I placed small Dragonfly Lanterns filled with just a few of the split peas and a small battery operated tea light.

I placed the small lanterns on either end of my mantelscape to help lead your eye up to the next, taller items.  Sometimes I like to create a pyramid shape with my mantel, having the smallest items on the outside edges and then progressively taller items on each side until you reach the tallest item in the center.

With this mantelscape, I chose to place the smallest items on the outside edges and then a tall item next to each of those.  Next I placed a shorter item on each side and then a taller one in the center.  Sometimes I think it's fun to create a look that encourages your eyes to follow the lines up & down as they view a design.

Some of the fun green items I collected around my house help create a whimsical, personal look for my mantel.  The little plastic grass in the wood container was originally purchased to place out at Easter, but over the years, I've used it in many ways, my favorite being combined with some sand & sea shells for a summer centerpiece.  On the dark pedestal, I placed a dark green ceramic vase with a small frog and next to that I placed Delaney's gymnastics photo from last year.  Dressed in green with a green background, Delaney's photo adds some fun to my mantel and helps it become a much more personal look.  This mantel is mine and couldn't be found in anyone else's home.

While you're looking through magazines, blog posts & internet articles for decorating ideas, never forget to add a little something to personalize the look.  Of course you want people to oh & ah about the decorating looks you create, but you also want them to see you & your family in your home too.  We live in our homes, they aren't just created for magazine photo shoots, so don't be afraid to use your family photos and keepsakes in your decorating!

If you're looking for items included in my mantelscape, head over to my Willow House website to find the Stiletto Pedestals, large Galveston Hurricane, small Dragonfly Lanterns and Rosedale Plant Holders. (The tall pedestal is a discontinued Southern Living at Home item.)  On my website, you'll find all sorts of decorating ideas and you'll be able to order from both the Willow House catalog and bargain priced outlet.

And if you just can't get enough decorating ideas, don't miss the new MyStyleShare website created by Willow House as an online decorating community.  It's free to join and upload your decorating photos and videos.  Tons of ideas are already on the website and I'm working on adding more to my page during the next few weeks.  My username is julies, and I'd love to hear your decorating comments and questions either here on my blog or over at MyStyleShare.

Enjoy your St. Patrick's Day!  I'm off to add a little green frosting to my cupcakes & make an Asparagus Pizza for dinner!  All green, all the time around here!

This week, I'm sharing my post with the bloggers over at Today's Creative!  Tuesday is "Get Your Craft On" day over there and there are usually about 500 bloggers who link their creations every Tuesday!!!  So this is THE Place to find all sorts of new ideas perfect for decorating & crafting of all kinds every week!

Organize the Clutter in Your Entryway

By the time you're reading this, I'll be in Phoenix getting ready to watch the BCS National Championship football game.  My husband & I are taking the kids and heading to Phoenix to watch our beloved Ducks play in their first National Championship.  It's sure to be a blast, I can't wait to share a few of our stories after we get back.

Since it's January and we're all trying to get organized and find places for all those Christmas gifts, I thought I'd share the way I keep my everyday items organized in my entryway.

The next you look at all those keys, sunglasses, electronic items and other things that clutter up our countertops and tables, remember these tips:

* Grab a basket, bowl or box and use it to stash those items that you need close by but don't want just hanging out on the counter.  You might want to choose a container with a lid to really hide your items.  If your container doesn't have a lid, don't worry, just gathering them together will help give your entry an organized look and you will have one place to find those things that seem to wander around the house and lose themselves just when you need them.

*  If you have a plug in close-by, use it for the cords to your electronic items.  Cut a hole in the back of your basket or box and stick the end through, now you can use your container as a charging station.

*  Of course, any container will help you become more organized, but a pretty one also lets you add a bit of your own style into an area where everyone coming & going from your home stops.

For my organization project, I used a couple of my favorite Willow House items.  The Farmhouse Tiered Basket gives me a place to organize my stray items in its bottom basket and a place to display some seasonal decorations in its top basket.  To keep things even a bit more organized and divided into sections, I used two of our small Gail Pittman Alfresco Collection Servers.  In the top basket, I used a grouping of 3 IKEA vases and 3 silk flowers.  At 79 cents each, the vases were my big bargain for this project.  To give my entryway a seasonal look, I change out the flowers every once in a while.  During the fall, I used some sunflowers from my garden to create a cheery, sun-filled look.

Next week, I'll give you some how to tips for the tag I added to my arrangement.  It was a fun craft project we created at the scrapbook store during one of our events last fall.

If you'd like to see the Farmhouse Tiered Basket or the Gail Pittman Collection items, stop by my Willow House page.

A Fresh Clean Look for Your Mantle to Carry You Through January

Now, don't get me wrong...I LOVE Christmas just as much as the next decorating-happy lady.  But there is also something to be said for taking down all those colorful decorations and replacing them with something streamlined, something fresh, something that creates a calm feeling after all the excitement of the holiday season has slipped away into your memories and hopefully a scrapbook page or two.

As we move deeper into winter and see the sun less & less (I live in Oregon, so it's pretty dark around here this time of year.), I decided to add a little light to my mantle.  In a family room with dark red walls and a lot of black accents, a shades of creamy ivory seemed like the way to go.

I like to carry a theme across my mantle while varying the heights of my display pieces.  Ivory candles and stoneware pieces combine to give a calm, peaceful look to my mantle and serve to create my theme.  For a touch of whimsy, I added a bust my daughter created in an art class to the mix.  And to bring a little nature inside, I added some evergreens from the yard and natural spheres.

To add some height on the right side, I added a luminary and some more greens from the yard atop a dark pedestal.  Using the ivory items in combination with dark iron accents and shiny glass pedestals.

When I create displays for my mantle, I try to follow a few simple tips:

Choose just one or two colors.

Use items of varying shapes, sizes & heights.

Add a little something from nature, even if it's a group of silk flowers.

When arranging my items, I try to space items of the same color across the mantle, leaving space between them.  I like to see a little of the wall color between my items.

Using dark color items or items made from dark metal in varying shapes adds a nice texture to the display.

Use some of my tips the next time you create a new display for your mantle, I think you'll be pleased with the results.

Find some of the items I used to decorate my mantle on my Willow House Website.  And look for more decorating tips on my Willow House Julie Facebook Page.

From left to right on my mantle are these current Willow House items:

Villa Footed Server

Drake Firefly Lantern

(Set of 2, I used one.)

Estate Trivet Trio

(Set of 3, I used one.)

Stiletto Pedestals

(Set of 2, I used both.)

Rosedale Planters

(Set of 2, I used both, one here & one on the far right.)

Villa Stoneware Salad Plate

Amira Luminary

(Set of 3, I used one.)

A New Year's Centerpiece & A Bloggy Resolution

Happy New Year!

I can't believe that 2011 will be here in just a couple days.  2010 was an eventful year around here, and I'm sure 2011 will have its share of surprises too!  I'll be back soon to share a year end wrap up and more about my plans for 2011.  But for now, I'd like to put my first 2011 resolution in print.  "I, Julie from JulieChats, will do my VERY BEST to post every week here on my blog, sharing something creative to inspire my readers to pull out their papercrafting supplies or do a little something to beautify & organize their homes."

This week, I'm getting a jump on my resolution by sharing a centerpiece I've created to celebrate the coming New Year.  To me, silver is the color of New Year's.  And since I use a lot of red & green in my Christmas decorating, it's fun to pull out some of my blue items to combine with the sparkle of the silver.

To create my centerpiece, I took a tour around my house thinking about things that would create fun silver & blue New Year's theme centerpiece.  Since starting my Willow House business in September, I've managed to collect some fun new items to use in my centerpieces.  I wholeheartedly believe in using items you already own with new ones to create a look for your home that's all YOU!  Mixing the old with the new also saves money, which is a big theme at my house.  So the new items I choose have to be versatile and useful in many ways, for many occasions, all over my home.  Getting them for free or at a discount is a HUGE plus too!

So on my little tour, I found one of my favorite Willow House items that I ordered in August, even before I became a consultant.  I chose to purchase the Cyprus Footed Bowl with Hostess Dollars from my 40th Birthday Willow House Party...so, it was FREE for me! :)  (Bowl was $59.96, now $49.96)  Then, I continued my tour and found two items from the new Spring/Summer 2011 Willow House catalog that I just knew would go perfectly with silver & blue.

I chose the gorgeous, Mediterranean Sage Bowl and the stately Stiletto Pedestal (I used the small pedestal, it comes in a set of 2 with a large & small version) (Set of 2 $49.96).

To fill my bowl and pedestal, I gathered silver & blue decorations from other centerpieces & arrangements around the house.  Fun silver garland with little stars, a silver string of beads discovered for less than $2 at the grocery store, one pick cut into 3 pieces featuring sparkly balls found at Michael's for about $1.50, 3 mirror-ball ornaments from Michael's (about $1 each), a collection of various small ball ornaments I've had for years, in shades of blue & white gathered from a Christmas arrangement and a silver, iridescent bead encrusted candle purchased years ago from Pottery Barn during a day after Christmas sale...I now had everything!

I started putting together my New Year's centerpiece.  First, I set the Mediterranean Sage Bowl inside the Cyprus Footed Bowl, to raise it up and give it a larger presence on my table.  Next, I placed the candle inside the Stiletto Pedestal and set the pedestal in the center of the Sage Bowl.  I ran into a little problem here, the center of the bowl is concave and the pedestal wouldn't stay in the center.  It kept sliding to one side or the other.  I thought about what to do.  If I had any of the little sticky stuff that you use to hang posters on the wall without damaging the wall, I would have tried to stick the pedestal to the bowl with that.  But since I didn't have any, I used a white fabric napkin, folded in quarters and placed in the center of the bowl.  When I set the pedestal on top of the napkin, it didn't slide around.  Now this isn't a really sturdy fix, but I'm not leaving the centerpiece where my 2 year old can play with it and I don't live in earthquake country, I think it will make it through New Year's Day just fine!  The napkin did stick out from under the pedestal's bottom, but I just made sure to arrange my garland and beads to cover it as I laid them around the bowl, circling the pedestal.

No, expert knowledge is needed to create this centerpiece.  Garland and beads are forgiving and since they sparkle, any arrangement of them looks great.  Just toss the garland in the bowl around the pedestal and lay a length of beads over the top, letting it fall into the spaces between & around the garland.  I did have a small piece of beading that I'd cut from the larger length in order to create a different arrangement, so I used inside the pedestal, laying it around the candle to give it a little more sparkle & another layer of silver.

Next, I placed the mirror-ball ornaments.  One of the design principles I've learned after years of doing my own decorating, watching tons of decorating shows and following even more decorating blogs, is that an odd number of items makes an arrangement that is pleasing to the eye.  And being a layout designer with some graphic training & a lot of scrapbooking experience, I know that using touches of the same colors or same shapes in a triangle pattern around your canvas, paper or container, helps the eye travel around your creation in a pleasing manner.  For me, it's easiest to use 3 similar or identical items and arrange them in a triangle.  So I did this with my mirror-ball ornaments, placing them gently into the garland and beads.  Next, I arranged the 3 picks in a triangle around the bowl, tucking the ends into the garland.  Last I took my small ornaments in various shades of blue & white and used them in little groupings around the larger mirror-ball ornaments.  I used the principle of odd numbered items here too.  While placing the small ornaments, I considered their color and tried to place each group of them in a triangular shape around the bowl.

TIP

Now, when I talk about placing the items in a triangle, I'm not saying that you should be exact and place everything very symmetrically into your centerpiece.  For this arrangement, I placed the smaller ornaments in a triangle around the bowl, nestling them in around the larger mirror-ball ornaments, but not in exactly the same spots, just in close approximation.  Check out my photo and look for the "same color" small ornaments to see what I mean.  The arrangement should have the colors and shapes, well placed to help the eye travel all around it, but it should also not be obvious that you were trying to create a triangle in your arrangement.  If it helps you to create a very symmetrical arrangement first, that's great.  Then try moving your elements around just a bit, so that they look like they just happen to have fallen into their places and weren't placed there with the precision of a magnifying glass & measuring tape.  It may take a little work to be happy with the placement of your elements, but I think that if you take a some time moving your elements and looking at them again & again, you'll find a look that's pleasing to you.

I hope you enjoy my centerpiece and learning a little about creating your own centerpieces.  Sign up to follow me or have my posts emailed to your inbox and you'll be among the first to learn more about decorating around your own home.

If you're interested in the items I used to create my centerpiece, please visit my Willow House Website.  And if you'd like to receive my monthly Willow House newsletter, featuring design ideas, recipes and the latest sale & special news, leave me a comment saying so here, with your email address.  I also have a Willow House Facebook page, where you can "LIKE" me and get fun decorating ideas & sale info. in your news feed.

Thank you for following JulieChats and I hope you enjoy my new creative direction.  I'm planning to share papercrafting ideas along with decorating tips & projects each week.  Stay tuned for all the news on my Scrapbook Studio reorganizing project.

The Mediterranean Sage Bowl is featured in the new Spring/Summer 2011 Willow House Catalog and will be available for sale January 1, 2011.  The bowl sells for $69.96 and is microwave, dishwasher and oven safe.  It is large, measuring 15" in diameter and 4 3/4" high.  In addition to creating a centerpiece in my new bowl, I used it to hold a big salad for Christmas dinner.

Leave comments here or email me at willowhousejulie@aol.com anytime.  You don't need to be invited to a party to order from my website 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  And when you stop by my website and click "Shop Online," don't miss the Online Outlet featuring tons of mark down items and showcasing Weekly Specials that change every Monday.  Items will be delivered directly to your home and when you spend $40 or more (including regular and outlet priced items), you qualify to receive one regular priced catalog item up to $40 for 1/2 price.  So stock up on outlet items and get your favorite catalog item for 50% off!!!

Welcome Back...Special Announcement from JulieChats

Welcome back to my blog!

After taking a break for summer and a major absence of creativity over the summer, I'm back.  I worked a crop at Whimzee's the other night and started working on a fun new banner project for my studio space.  I'll share it as soon as it's finished!

I'm not exactly sure of the reason behind my break from blogging.  I guess it started after my 40th Birthday Mexico trip with two of my closest friends.  Before that, I had been working very hard since January, at blogging, working at the store, volunteering at Delaney's school, house sitting for my neighbors and being a mom-wife-friend to those around me.  I was also forcing myself to complete creative projects in order to submit them for design team consideration.

Thinking about my "Words" for 2010, see post about that HERE, made me rethink what I was doing and how I was going about it.  My "Words" are BELIEVE and ACHIEVE.  After spending countless hours over about six months and not being chosen for any of the design teams I had submitted creations for, I thought I should reconsider what I was doing.

First of all, I love creating!  I love sharing my creations with friends, family and blog readers.  Also, not all of my creations are scrapbook pages.  I love creating beautiful things for my home and as gifts for others.  I love how the papers & embellishments originally created for scrapbooks can be used to create things that I enjoy seeing hanging on my walls and adorning my surfaces everyday in my home.

One day it occurred to me that no one was paying me to write my blog or create projects for it.  I knew that there were a few who would miss my posts, but I had to start thinking again about my goals for this year.  One of them was to make some money to contribute to my family's expenses each month. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I needed to separate my creative projects from my desire to make money.  Being totally honest with myself, I had to admit that it would be very difficult (or next to impossible) to make much money as a scrapbook blogger.  I know that people do use their blogs to make money and I give lot's of kudos to them for their efforts.  But with all my other responsibilities, I didn't have the amount of time I thought I would need to devote to making my blog a money maker.

So while I took a "Summer Break" from my blog and enjoyed the long days at home with Delaney and Jake and also some summer travel, I thought about how I could help my family and get my "creative mojo" back.  I think that turning 40 this summer was also a part of my re-examination of my choices. 

Speaking of turning 40, I decided to throw myself a Willow House home decor birthday party.  I invited friends and had them skip the gifts and get something for themselves.  My gift was all the great free items I received as the hostess.  My consultant, Darby, is also a friend of mine from the scrapbook store and a mom at Delaney's school.  She's great at her business, starting out 7 years ago with Willow House's predecessor, Southern Living at HOME, Darby retired from teaching a couple years ago to concentrate on Willow House full time.  She's now a Director, inspiring a team of more than 40 women, and making a great living, even earning a couple free vacations each year.  So I listened when she suggested, nonchalantly, that I would make the perfect Willow House Design Consultant.

My love of home decor, design, color and creating, along with my retail background (I have sold so many pairs of jeans at The Gap, that it would make your head spin...along with 1,000's & 1,000's of pieces of scrapbook paper.) all combined with my desire to help out with the finances at home, all contributed to my decision to join Willow House as a Design Consultant.

Into my second month with Willow House, I'm very happy with my decision.  This job allows me to be home with my two year old, volunteer at school, be a good wife-mom-friend, make some money and even have some time left for my creative endeavors.  I'm still house sitting for the neighbors and working part time at the scrapbook store, so I'm a pretty busy lady.  But I'm now able to separate my desire to help out with the home finances and from my blogging and my creativity.

So, yes, I'M BACK!  I'm excited to create again and share some fun home decorating items with you!  So join me here at JulieChats, as I embark on a new journey in my life!  Of course, I welcome you to join me on Facebook, where I keep a Willow House Julie business page.  And also on my Willow House website.  I promise not to be one of those pushy sales people, but to share things that I think will help bring beauty, creativity, simplicity and organization to your life!  When you see something you like, you're able to order it on my website where the entire Willow House catalog is available for purchase, along with our bargain-priced outlet for those among you looking for a deal...I love a deal, so I'll be sure to share as many of those with you as I can!

I'll try to post some new ideas each week, check back here for posts to inspire your creativity and home decorating in the coming holiday season.  But I'm not going to push myself over the edge trying to be sure I post something each and every week, so if you'd like to receive an email reminder when I post something new, be sure to click subscribe to JulieChats over in the right side column of this page.

I look forward to sharing my creativity and passion for decorating with you!  Thanks for sticking with me through this long break!  I look forward to communicating with you through comments here and messages on my Willow House Julie page.  Let me know what you're interested in seeing here or things that you need help with around your home, I'd be happy to help!!!! :)