Pinterest Ideas For Your Home And Garden

I have lots of Pinterest ideas for you! I’m not sure if you’ve had a chance to peek, but I’ve created lots of great Pinterest boards for you – filled with all things home, garden, farmhouse kitchen, cottage decorating, how-to, DIY, recipes, trash to treasure, and more! You can find me by clicking on this link: Pinterest Ideas From A Storybook Life

Pinterest Ideas from @astorybooklife for your home and garden

I love looking at what others have done, not so I can simply copy their ideas, but so it can be an inspirational jumping point to get creative juices flowing for my own projects.

As you take in ideas from so many people and places, you might hear different voices saying things like… you can’t do it that way, you should always do it this way, you need to go buy these items, or you can’t use those colors together, etc. I think we have to be very careful as we take in SO MANY ideas, that we try to stay true to the style that is uniquely us. If we don’t, we all start looking the same … and what a boring world that is!

I always tell my children… in life, we need to eat the fish & spit out the bones. What do I mean by that? Simply, as we take in ideas, keep the bits we love & let go of the bits that don’t belong. It’s nearly never a whole image that inspires me the most, but rather the little bits here and there that become the best Pinterest ideas for me. They may even be things that others don’t even notice! Perhaps it’s a little item on a bookshelf, a pattern on a piece of cloth, or a particular plant in a whole garden bed of flowers.

The most important thing when creating your home & space is to surround yourself with things that you and your family love, and a space that feels like it gives you a hug every time you walk into it!

Create a Gallery Wall With Vintage Prints

Bird prints, vintage Audubon prints & botanical prints are some of my favorite things!

How to Create a Gallery Wall With Vintage Bird Prints (or your favorite prints) - With Little or No Extra Money!

The sad thing is, vintage prints, especially bird & botanical prints, are sometimes very difficult to find.

I’ve been keeping my eyes open while treasure hunting through the different shops in our area hoping to find something … anything! On a recent trip to one of my favorite little shops not far from our village, I was going through a pile of linens, when all of the sudden, my eye caught what looked like a pile of vintage prints. Could it be? I quickly put down the linens, and made my way passed the baskets, plates & other goodies, so I could take a closer look.

To my surprise & utter joy, it was a beautiful pile of vintage prints taken from a Birds of America book. The book is a collection of prints by naturalist and painter John James Audubon. It was first published as a series in sections between 1827 and 1838, and has been in publication since. I recently saw the book brand new in the bargain section of Barnes & Noble for $18, but it’s so much more fun to find some vintage versions with a bit of character.

I thumbed through the pile, picking the birds that I love most & those that I might see at our own feeders in the cottage garden. I also picked birds that had some blue in them, since I would be using them to decorate the dining room, & it is currently dressed in blue & white for the new season.

Having my prints in hand, I was excited to come home & begin the gallery wall project.

The first thing I did, was to lay them all out on the harvest table, to see how I wanted them to look on the wall.

vintage bird prints

I had a piece of reclaimed barn wood in the basement, & my husband cut it into three pieces for me.

On both ends of each piece of wood, we screwed a black screw to make it less noticeable.

I took a piece of garden twin, & tied it to each screw. I made sure to get it as tight as possible, and to leave a piece hanging for some extra character.

Bird Print Wall Gallery Project

After we had each of the three pieces strung, we measured how far apart we wanted them, and used screws to hang each of them on the wall.

Then I hung each vintage bird print on the twin with a black mini clothes pin, being careful to space them evenly.

Here are some close ups of the individual bird prints.

Indigo Bunting

Vintage Indigo Bunting Bird Print

Blue Bird

Vintage Blue Bird Print

Florida Jay

Vintage Florida Jay Print

White Throated Sparrow

Vintage White Throated Sparrow Print

House Wren (I liked the blue berries in this one 😉 )

Vintage House Wren Print

Warbler & Blue Birds

Vintage Warbler and Blue Bird Print

Western Corvids

Vintage Western Corvid Print

Blue Jay

Vintage Blue Jay Print

You could make a gallery wall out of anything that you would like!

You could use:
Pictures of Family
Pages of a Vintage Book
Print Pictures From Online
Love Letters
Sheet Music
Artwork From The Kids
Christmas Cards
Vintage Postcards
You could also add little bits of nature – like bird feathers, pine cones, dried flowers, or leaves

The possibilities are endless … but they are all sure to be beautiful!!!

Here it is all finished!

Bird Print Gallery Wall Project

Creatively Yours,
Pearl

Happy New Year – Welcome 2016

A New Day Lies Before Us

Happy New Year - 2016

“The future lies before you
Like a field of driven snow.
Be careful how you tread it
For every step will show.”

We have before us … a new year, a new season, and a new day filled with new hours.

My mother has always taught us from her life & favorite scripture:

“So teach us to number our days,
that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”
Psalm 90:12

And it is so true!

We each have the opportunity to invest ourselves more in the lives of others, so that
we will leave this year so much richer that when we started it!

How will our lives will interact with others?
Have we loved?
Have we really lived?
Have we mattered?

The wonderful news is, as long as we have breath, we can decide to live a life walking
with God, with purpose, and full of love for others.

Please never take for granted the life you have!

I encourage you to …

Put your life in God’s hands.

Show kindness more than you ever thought you could.

Enjoy the little things about each day – the sunrise & sunset, the stars, and a simple smile.

Love others like you’ve never loved.

And live each day to the fullest!

Let’s walk purposefully in 2016, because others will be following in our steps!

* I took this picture from the mountain above our little village.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

Lake Delta Rome NY
This is Lake Delta, a beautiful lake not far from our village.
 

I want to share one of my favorite writings with you today. It’s a short letter
that Fra Giovanni wrote to his friend in 1513. It’s called – “Take Peace”

 

I salute you. I am your friend and my love for you goes deep.

There is nothing I can give you which you have not got. But there is much,
very much, that while I cannot give it, you can take.

No heaven can come to us unless our hearts find rest in today. Take heaven!

No peace lies in the future which is not hidden in this present little instance.
Take peace!

The gloom of the world is but a shadow. Behind it, yet within our reach, is joy.
Take joy!

Life is so full of meaning and purpose, so full of beauty . . . that you will
find earth but cloaks your heaven.

Courage then to claim it, that is all! . . . And so I greet you, with profound
esteem and with the prayer that for you, now and forever, the day breaks and
the shadows flee away.

 
 

May your table be surrounded with love & laughter this Thanksgiving, and may your heart
be filled with thankfulness, as you’re reminded of the many blessings that God has
brought to your home.

Pearl

Dining Room Decorated For Autumn

Autumn Dining Room Mantel

I absolutely love the beautiful surroundings that God has blessed us with, and as each season
unfolds, I try to bring as much of that beauty inside as possible for our family to enjoy. With
the rich bounty that Autumn brings to the woodland, finding little treasures to feather our nest
for the long winter ahead, is both an easy, and a favorite thing of mine (I have many ;)!

Every year different things catch my eye, and this year, one of those things was our hydrangeas!
They did amazingly well over the summer, and bringing them inside allows us to enjoy them for the
rest of the year as well!

I’m also in love with the fact, that our oak trees seemed to produce an overabundance of acorns
this year! I’ve tucked them here and there all over the place, & I think our squirrels would
definitely approve. Next week, I’ll turn them into Christmas decorations, so we can continue
to enjoy them.

I like to hang a hops wreath each year, and this year, a local farmer friend made me a larger
one to hang hang over the mantel. I love the delicateness and soft shades of green in the
beautiful hops flowers … hops wreaths are one of my favorite things.

I hope you had all the shades of white & green at the farm stand this year like we did! They
were amazing! Just look at that chunky green beauty on the mantel! When I saw it, I knew it had
to have a place of honor among the hydrangeas.

Autumn Dining Room Mantel
 

I started with a green and white table runner, then a piece of burlap, topped with some dried
gourds that I’ve had for a few years now, assorted pumpkins and gourds, acorns here & there,
and some beautiful strands of bittersweet. Did I mention that bittersweet is one of my favorite
things? 🙂

Autumn Dining Room Table
 

I found this darling little french bakers rack in a little antique shop not far from the
village. The shop keeper hated to part with it, and told me how it was one of their favorite
things in the shop… now it’s one of my favorites as well. It’s fun to go through my
cupboards, and pull out different things to display on it. Vintage yellow ware bowls,
hand carved butter bowls, quilts, linens, and dried flowers all speak of the season with
their beautiful deep shades of autumn colors.

French bakers rack
 

The use of deep blue & orange is new for me this year ~ and I love it! I was surprised at
how the dried hydrangea blossoms kept their deep blue color. And those orange Chinese
lanterns give the arrangement such an unexpected pop of color!

Hydrangeas and Chinese lanterns
 

This year, I decided to use a lot of green & copper on the open shelves & buffet table that
my husband made for our dining room. See my cuckoo clocks? The one on the far right is the
first clock that I took completely apart & fixed. Here’s another recent cuckoo clock I repaired.
I’ve repaired 3 so far, and have 3 more in various stages of repair.
I love cuckoo clocks… they’re a favorite!

Autumn Dining Room Decor
 

The light green of this beautiful gourd, next to the deep green of the vintage yellow ware
bowl is a beautiful combination. I’m hoping this little gourd dries nicely, so I can use
it again next year 🙂

Vintage yellow ware
 

And… oh those greens in the hydrangeas! They look so pretty against the matte black finish
of the vintage bread bucket we found at the antique show this year. They add such life to our home!

Hydrangeas in The Dining Room
 

While it’s true that I love all of the things our home is made up of, my favorite
things are not “things” at all! My favorites are the people that fill our home, the
family & friends that God has so graciously blessed us with.
 

Pearl

How To Cook a Perfect Turkey

With the season of feasting upon us, I thought I would share a new way of preparing the PERFECT turkey, that my
friend Sue shared with me!

How to cook a turkey

Wait a minute… is there really a perfect way to cook a turkey? What you need to find out is, what is the
perfect way for you & your family 🙂

If the thought of …
Juicy dark meat, as well as juicy white meat
All the skin being crispy, instead of half of the bird having soggy skin
Quick cooking times
Delicious juices to make gravy
Having a platter filled with beautiful slices of meat
And my personal favorite… not having to spend half the day picking a carcass clean to get the meat

Then you’ll love this cooking method!

It’s called “Spatchcocking” your turkey.

Here’s a full video to teach you these “secret” methods 😉

Enjoy your feast… and the compliments on the juicy meat… and all the extra free time you’ll have!!