Another Stop At 3 French Hens

On the trip to see our middle daughter's family, we planned to have lunch in Wildwood Missouri. This is my favorite lunch stop because the Three French Hens shop is located in Wildwood.

 I love the barely-there green color on the cabinet above, and I think the distressing is perfect. I couldn't take my eyes off it. If we had been headed toward home instead of away, I might have strapped it in the back of the pickup even though it was way out of my price range.

Though the Three French Hens store is located in a rural area about 20 miles west of St Louis, the place is huge. Because of time constraints, (Wild Bill was outside timing my 30-minute stop to the nano second) I really had to fly through the store to see everything and buy a little something.

 I like the black and white checked Mackenzie-Childs decor, but I'm not a huge fan of it. I took a few pictures to post for my fellow bloggers, like BJ at Sweet Nothings blog, who do love their stuff. Three French Hens has a lot (like two or three rooms full) of all things Mackenzie-Childs. 

The middle of the store is my favorite area. That's where this great old rock fireplace is and it's always decorated beautifully. This year, they moved their huge moose head above the mantle and decorated it for Fall. Love, love, love it!

Several sections of the store are decorated for Halloween. At the front door, you're greeted with beautiful trees wearing Halloween decorations in every color from bright apple green to deep purple. Here's one of the trees from a couple of angles...

I was really taken with the cloches full of Fall decor. I decided I had to try to duplicate one of these that I found especially pretty... 

 Just as I was trying to find something similar in their floral section, the owner stopped by and asked if I needed help. She walked back with me to the section where the cloches were and generously opened the cloche and took the pieces out that I admired. Since we couldn't find the exact one I was smitten with, she told me to take the one out of the cloche and she would have the florist rebuild it. This is one of the things I love about their customer service...the owner and her staff always make you feel nothing is more important than their customers!

I was fast running out of time that day, but still wanted to buy some of their cute Fall/Halloween ribbons. I regret I didn't take pictures in the floral department as their wreaths and door hangings (made with baskets instead of wreaths) were really pretty. If you look to the left in the picture below, you can see part of the floral section and some of the door hangings...

In addition to the two floral "leaf" rings, I bought a variety of ribbon yardage while at Three French Hens.  My plan is to make a duplicate of their Fall cloches and to make a hanging door basket. I already have a large cloche and one of their flat hanging baskets that I bought last time I was there.  

Thanks for dropping by!


Visit 3 French Hens on Facebook

Partying here:
From My Front Porch To Yours

A Post About Nothing And Everything

We have been 'out on the road' for ten days or so.

Our plan was to stop by and see Middle Daughter and family, do some babysitting while they took a quick 3-day break, then head down South and do a Southern Road Trip. 

Middle Daughter has been working on re-doing some of her rooms.
She bought a new table from World Market, which made her old chandelier look a little outdated. 

Before our trip, I asked her if she needed any furniture or help with anything. Don't laugh, but I'm always trying to pawn furniture off on our girls.

 She texted me the picture above, along with an image of her favorite Pottery Barn (PB) chandelier. I think the PB one she liked was this one or something like it...

She was thinking of replacing her chandy with the PB one.
Ugh...too much work taking a chandelier down!
My response: "Why can't we just paint yours, remove the globes and try the Edison bulbs that are popular?"

She responded she had an Edison bulb and shot me back this photo of one installed without the globe thingy.
With the lights on, the picture makes the silver chandy look like oil rubbed bronze, which is the look she wanted.
MUCH BETTER...

I told her we could try to age it down with stain as I did with a chandelier at our last house. I just rubbed wood stain on it with rags while it was hanging up in place (can you spell lazy?)

Post On Fixin' Up The Chandelier

Well, we went another way with it...
but I think it's going to turn out great. You'll have to wait til it's finished to see the final outcome though.

We had to leave early before it was completed due to a dental emergency and family issues. I broke the back of my tooth off the same day we learned Bill's cousin was in the hospital on life support. He died early the next morning so we decided to head home to the dentist and to attend a memorial service.

Life certainly throws you curves...

Thanks for dropping by!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

Here are some things I've been looking at this week.

As if she wasn't already one of the cutest actresses

around, she shows up with the cutest haircut too.
If I were younger, this would be my hairstyle today.

Besides looking at haircuts, I have been

reading all the way back to the beginning in

a lot of blogs that I follow.

My most recent obsession is

155 Dream Lane

Quite a while back, Dream Lane painted two

craigslist chairs about the same time that I too

painted the upholstery on a chair. The only

difference is her chairs (shown above) turned

out perfectly and the setting she created with them

is highly pinned. My poor chair is still waiting

for that last coat of paint and a little wax to

make her, if not perfect, at least presentable.

Also, while you're at Dream Lane, be sure

to check out the Christmas décor she creates

each year. I truly love the Christmas balls she

created one year with old sweaters and buttons.

Another favorite blog for great inspiration:

Nell Hill's Blog

When I saw this Fall wreath on Nell Hill's,

I knew I had to find some fun ribbon and

make this for our front door. I have the

flat basket she used as the base, but have

never been able to figure out how to use it

until now.

Like most of you, I love Fall and find it

a time to get things done that have been

hanging around far too long. Just needed

a little inspiration to get me going.

Thanks for dropping by!

Stuck In Neutral Again

OK, I'll admit my title may not be understood
by anyone who never drove a stick shift car.
In the olden days, automatic transmissions were not
that popular. If you put a stick shift in "neutral"
you didn't go anywhere. 

I find myself in neutral a lot these days!

Recently I stopped at a garage sale and 

picked up this little cabinet with mail slots (?)

on the outside of the door.
At the same sale, I picked up several wood pieces

that look like they were part of a mirror or some

other piece of furniture. At 50 cents a piece, I
couldn't pass them up.

 I put them in the garage while I take time to think

 about what to do with them. Wild Bill asked me

"Whut the heck are ya gonna do with them there?"

This is always the question I dread...not just because
his Texas twang mangles the English language...
but because I usually don't have a good answer.

Honestly...for once he had me speechless.

I have no idea, but they do have potential

right? 

Just like this chair, which the ladies

in a painting class all loved -- but Wild Bill,

not so much!

 I painted it during the class, but due to the heavy

humidity that day (we were working in a large back

room without air conditioning), we weren't able to

age down or put a wax finish on our projects.

 Kay was the instructor for the class session.

She's the lady demonstrating on the right below...

 Kay is a local distributor for paints and waxes

from Vintage Market and Design products.

 During the class, Kay put some clear and dark

wax on the leg of the chair to demonstrate

how I could age it.

 This isn't what I had in mind, so it's still waiting
for a decision.
Here's what I had in mind...more of a white with
just rusty brown edges.

 

 So many projects, so little time!

 Like I said, I'm stuck in neutral...

I'm all ears for any suggestions on how to

use the wood, whether to take the slots off the

cabinet or not, and how can I get that rusty

brown finish on the edges of my chairs?

In the meantime, I'll be putting on another coat

of white paint and waiting for inspiration to strike.

Thanks for dropping by!

Adding Bling To The Chandelier

When we bought our builder's spec house almost

5 years ago, the builder used an antique chandelier

in the dining room.

It's kind of rickety, thin and wonky.

It's hard to get a good picture without the lights

on as there's only one narrow window and the 

ceiling is a dark brown.

 

 I wanted to replace the chandelier when we moved

in, but we have two eating areas so we use the

dining room as a sitting room.

Now we're thinking of selling the house next year,

so we don't want to spend money replacing any more

things in the house. We will need to change the room

back into a dining room though, so I decided to

spiff the room up a little before we do.

In a local shop, I found some faux crystals that

have magnets on both ends, which easily attach

to the metal on chandeliers.

See the end piece? That's the magnet.

 The magnets make it easy to add a little bling to

your chandeliers to beef them up...

 I bought some short and long chains and some

teardrop-type faux crystals and started playing

around with them. I need to buy a few more pieces,

but here's how it looks with a few of them attached...

I'm thinking of brushing some white paint on the

metal to shabby it up a little, so I'll be taking the

"jewelry" off again soon.

 The paint on the walls of the room has a green cast

to it so I'm thinking of re-painting the walls a

medium grayish-brown "griege" paint color.

 I have a little obsession with tables and chairs

(and bar stools) so we already have enough

furniture to fill the room and then some.

Hope you'll come back and check on my

progress, and feel free to give any suggestions

you have regarding paint colors or decor.

Thanks for dropping by!

 

 

Linking to the following:
Mrs. Olson's
http://jannolson.blogspot.com/2015/09/share-your-cup-thursday-165.html

The Dedicated House
http://www.thededicatedhouse.com/2015/09/before-after-wednesday-week-61.html

The Charm of Home
http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com/2015/09/home-sweet-home-237.html

 

 

 

Talking Pansies

One of my favorite flowers to plant is

the pansy. They're hardier than they look

and they don't require much fussing...

 especially if you buy them dried and framed.

 This was a purchase at Laurieanna's shop down

in Canton Texas. Recently I recommended you

buy "smalls" in pairs, not singles. I bought this

framed picture before I learned that lesson.

 It says:

Pansy: Viola

Used as a bedding plant in Victorian gardens.

They bloom profusely in spring and fall plantings.

Edible. Evokes faithfulness and modesty in

the language of flowers.

 Are you old enough to remember when we all

put flowers between newspaper or book pages

to dry them? 

Wild Bill's cousin created a sweet framed

dried floral arrangement back in 1994.

Not as colorful as the one from Laurieanna's,

but sweet and pretty just the same. 

 I found it in a box of family stuff in the garage.

I think it will look good on the wall with

a few other framed floral pieces.

 

How about you? Do you have any dried floral

masterpieces from you childhood?

 

 

Thanks for dropping by!

 

 

Join Me Here...
Bliss:
http://www.bliss-ranch.com/2015/09/vintage-inspiration-party_8.html

Dwellings:

http://www.dwellings-theheartofyourhome.com/2015/09/amaze-me-monday-127.html