My Year in Pictures...

Hi Friends, I hope you had a Wonderful Christmas and are looking forward to a Happy New Year. Last year I started what I think will be a new tradition. Instead of having multiple posts about the most viewed posts or whatever, from the last year of blogging, I just decided to share some of my favorite pics and ideas from the year. Some may seem random, but they have stuck in my memory. There are links to the particular post, but you can see much more by just following my journey in my Archives which are on the sidebar.

Christmas By Candlelight

To Each and All, 

Have a Lovely Christmas,

full of friends, family, and Good Cheer. 

We thank our Heavenly Father,

for the most Wonderful Gift of All,

His Son.

"All Together Now" Christmas Home Tour 2017

Welcome Friends...

It's become a little of a tradition to put together a post of all our rooms decorated for the Holidays. I've shared bits and pieces of our 2017 Christmas Home over these last several weeks, and I know this is a little late, but I realized I hadn't shown pictures of the Living Room. So this is the "Official Tour" that includes it all...  yes, even the Kitchen Sink.

Merry Christmas to Each and Everyone;

all my friends and readers here at Common Ground.

A Mixed-Up Christmas Brunch

Last year I put together a fun little Christmas Brunch Tablescape here in the kitchen. Of course, it featured Plaid and my Red Transferware, but this year I thought I'd mix it up a bit. I have a few place settings of Green Transferware that I usually keep in the cupboard that only come out in Spring or at Easter.

Christmas Kitchen: and Yes, it's Plaid!

Hi Friends, well, we're down to the last week of the Christmas countdown and I'm finally getting around to posting the Kitchen Sitting Area. It's always the most fun to decorate because this is where the whimsy usually is. Santas, Reindeer, Elves, (and sheep)

Christmas Mantel and Home for Christmas Features

Hard to believe we're counting down the days to Christmas now, and I still have several posts to share. Today I'm combining a little look at my Christmas Mantel and also sharing a few feature pics from the Home For Christmas Link Party, that's still Open.

Home For Christmas Blog Link Party

Hi Everyone, and Welcome to the Home For Christmas Link Party! This is the place to come link-up your favorite Christmas Posts from this year or the past. I'm hoping everyone will take the time to join in to share all the fun and inspiration. I'll be doing a feature's post later on in the week, of some of your wonderful Christmas Party links. After you're finished linking up, if you have a minute, run by and say Hi to Amber my co-host at  Follow the Yellow Brick Home. I have a feeling she has something fun going on!

Come to a Christmas Party!

Save the Date!  Hi Everyone, I wanted to send out an invitation to all of you Blogger Friends to come join in with Amber (Follow the Yellow Brick Home) and I for the Christmas at Home Blogger's Link-up Party where we can all share our Christmas decor and inspiration posts from this year and year's past.

I love hosting a Christmas Link Party, since we can all get together in one place and celebrate the fun and traditions of Christmas. If you've been part of a Home Tour for the Holidays, or you've published your own Christmas Home Tour or posts, we would love to have you join in. If you've only decorated a little, then please share that with all of us too. It doesn't have to be a "tour", just any post about Christmas.

You can link up to 4 of your favorite Christmas posts from this year or the past, please be sure you  have a link to either Amber or I and the party within your blogpost. If you'd like to share the Party Graphic (at the top of this post) on your blog, that would be so nice to let others know and share the invitation.

The party which will officially be Wednesday December 13, will have an early link-up start time of Tuesday Evening at 7:00 pm Central. Hope you'll come by to share your posts and visit! It will stay live until December 26.

Hope to see you Tuesday evening!

If you missed my Home Tour from Friday,

you can catch it HERE.

xoxo,

Our Home for Christmas 2017 Tour

Welcome, everyone! Yes, we've made it to Day 5 of Marty's wonderful Christmas Home Tour Week. A big round of applause needs to go to our friend and hostess, Marty from A Stroll Thru Life. She does an amazing job of gathering a diverse and talented group of bloggers and decorators who all share a love for celebrating Christmas.

Woodland Santa in the French Wagon

Do you have a favorite piece to decorate? ... a bookshelf, your coffee table, an Entry chest? Do you have something that just begs to be kept changed up for the Season or Holiday? While I enjoy decorating all those different pieces, I think the one element I love to decorate most, might be my little table top "Frenchy" wagon. (whoops, Santa looks a little tipsy here)

A Nature Themed Kitchen Cupboard

Smaller house equals less spaces to decorate, and that goes for Christmas decorating too. So I have to think "inside the box". This box would be inside the Kitchen China Cupboard, which at the old house never was decorated for anything. But here, it does double duty as the home of my Brown and Red Transferware and a stand in for my "Holiday Cupboard" which used to be in the basement family room at our previous home.

Paperwhites in the Christmas Entry

I have a few decorating "staples" when it comes to faux flowers; tried and true floral elements that I know I can use no matter what the Season or Holiday. Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter I can always count on slightly wild and natural grapevine twiggy wreaths, lifelike Hydrangeas, and my favorite for this time of year... Paperwhites.

...On to Christmas

I imagine there are a lot of us that woke up this morning with plans to get busy on Christmas decor. We had a great Thanksgiving Dinner with my sis and her husband, boys (and friends), our youngest daughter, and my mom. We always keep it pretty laid back with a big buffet in the kitchen and since my sis has my grandparents antique oak table, we can seat 10 at the table in the Dining Room without problem.

Christmas Lite

Hi friends, I hope you all are having a good week before Thanksgiving. Last week I was on a roll getting out the basics for Christmas. Of course bringing out Christmas decor requires putting away all the Fall decor, first. That's not near as much fun as getting it all out, so I'm doing a little at a time. I found a mid size white-washed olive bucket and the perfect size faux tabletop tree last week at the Christmas Open houses. So today, I just wanted to share the little spot in the kitchen sitting area where they landed.

Grateful Gatherings Blog Hop

Hi Everyone! Can you actually believe it's November and we're counting down the days to Thanksgiving then Christmas? The Holidays will be here before we know it! Today, I'm so excited to join in with a fun group of bloggers put together by Amber from Follow the Yellow Brick Home as we share our homes and decor with Thanksgiving in mind.

Wreath Makeover for Thanksgiving to Christmas

One of the great things about living in this area is that there are a ton of great shops, antique malls, and vintage markets. Fall and Christmas Open Houses are the highlight of the year as the shops go all out with great seasonal displays and merchandise. My sis and I made it to several shops yesterday for the annual event, and I have to admit, when I got home I had a case of Christmas decorating fever.

Layering Table Linens for a Thanksgiving Vignette

November is here; what I call, "Late Fall" and time to bring in some of the deeper colors and textures in decorating. It's hard to get into Fall when the temps are in the 80's, but now that it's cooler and we're past Halloween, Thanksgiving will be coming up before we know it.

Little Black Cat

Happy Last Weekend of October, Friends! I've been meaning to do this for awhile and I thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to introduce you to our newest member of the family. We've had her for a few months, but she had to have surgery (for a tumor on her leg) and then she was a little embarrassed about her looks because of it. So I'm just now getting around to introductions.

Dressing up a Metal Basket for Thanksgiving

When you are in the biz of having a space at a Vintage or Flea Market it's just inevitable that you will end up with a few pieces that are a big head scratcher. Why did I spend real money on this? (even if it's just a few dollars) Will anyone else see any potential for this item? Do I just chuck it, or hang on to it until inspiration grabs me by the collar and forces me to make a little effort?

Fanciful and Fun Fall Fotos, er (Photos)

Hi Friends, one of my favorite ways to find a little fun vintage inspiration is to visit all the Fall Open Houses of our amazing shopping spots here in the area. I was going back through some of my photos from the last at least 7 years and found a few of my faves. No words, just pics of a few of the many fun outings I've had during Fall. You know you can double click on the photo to biggify. Hope you enjoy...

Hoo's in the October Entry?

I think you all know how much I love Fall and look forward to it all year. I wait all year for the crisp air, brilliant blue skies, and kaleidoscope of Fall foliage. So many of us have fond memories of "Trick or Treating" when we were kids. Even though we might not "celebrate" Halloween, we still enjoy the fun and nostalgia of vintage ephemera, Jack-O-Lanterns, costumes, and decorations from our young years.

Welcome to my un"Official" Fall Home Tour

Hi Friends, this is a post from our previous home in 2017. We may no longer live there but it's still one of my favorite Fall "Home Tours". 

I think I have all the photos together now to put together my annual Fall Home Tour that I will keep on the sidebar for the rest of the season. Each year, I like to bring all the Fall Decor into one post to remind myself how I decorated that year. So I'll keep the words to a minimum and let you look around. Welcome!

Vintage Basket Refresh for Fall

Last week I shared an old basket that I found on my latest vintage market shopping excursion, but I wasn't sure what I would do with the sad state of the finish on it. I thought about just painting it with a gray wash of chalk paint, but I really didn't want to mess with the original patina too much. 

Finally... the Fall Front Porch

I was beginning to wonder if I was EVER going to get things together enough out here on the front porch to actually get a few pics taken, and call it a "post". I had my mums out and planted by the first week of September, found some fun pumpkins at the farmer's market down the road, and even had my door basket decked out for Fall with some new brown plaid ribbon. And then the unthinkable happened...

October Fireplace and Mantel

 Hi Everyone, Happy October! This is my favorite month of the year... I can't believe that I didn't come jumping smack dab in your face to announce it! Well, yes, I can... this has been a long week already; more to that later. First I want to share my little owl friends that I've had for several years. They are excited to be back taking center stage on the mantel.

Kitchen and Sitting Area Fall Home Tour

I think I've shared the rest of the house last week on two Fall Tours, so today I have some pics of my Kitchen and the little Sitting Area that adjoins it. It's my favorite place to decorate for the seasons, and I seem to spend most of my time here, so come on in! 

A Few Finds for Fall

Sometimes I forget to let you all see what I bring home from my vintage market shopping. But I had been looking for one of these standing vintage baskets for a while, and I just had to share it with you all. You can never have too many white pumpkins for Fall decor, so when I found a crop of these  "new" metal distressed pumpkins, one had to come home with me. and... I have a Brown Transferware detector built in, so I also grabbed up this little Brown Aestheic Transferware pitcher/gravyboat that was only $5. It's a cloudy and rainy day, so I had to quickly take some pics here in the Dining Room, where the light is always good.

ReStyled Fall Wreath and Black Botanicals

As much as I love Fall you'd think I would have a huge stash of wreaths to choose from here at the Midwest Headquarters of Hoarder's Anonymous, but no, I only had one decent wreath up till last year. I'm not sure why, other than I'm really picky when it comes to wreaths, or that I've tried NOT to overdo it with the "Faux Fall Foliage", which can at times be a little overwhelming around here.

Harvest Home Fall Blog Hop

Hello Friends, I'm here today to share some wonderful Fall Goodness with all of you. Whether you're still hanging on to the last warm days of Summer, or like me, and have jumped headlong into Autumn, I hope you'll join me and 7 other bloggers for a peek at our homes for the Fall Season. 

Heads Up for the Harvest Home Blog Hop and Give Away

Hey Everyone, I just wanted to pop in for a quick "Heads-Up" for a fun Fall Blog Hop that starts tomorrow. Amber Lyon Ferguson, of Follow the Yellow Brick Home has brought together nine of us bloggers who love Vintage and Farmhouse Decor for a fun look into our homes and spaces this Fall Season. 

I'll be up tomorrow morning bright and early, with a Tour of my Dining Room and Kitchen Sitting Area. I hope you'll come back for all the Fall Fun!

So head on over to visit Amber at Follow the Yellow Brick Home and check out the wonderful Give Away that she will have going this week in conjuction with the Harvest Home Blog Hop, starting tomorrow, this Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. See you tomorrow. I'll let her share the details...! 

Fall Home Tour in the Entry and Living Room

Hi Friends, you've probably noticed that the blogging world is gearing up for Fall; YAY, my favorite time of the year! I hope you've been enjoying all the Fall Home Tours this week; so many fun ideas and inspiration for reflecting the warmth and coziness of Autumn. I'm excited to be a part of Marty's Fall Home Tour at A Stroll Thru Life. I started gathering elements in August so I could be ready to enjoy "Early Fall" without all the rush. Today I'm sharing our Entry and Living Room dressed for Fall.

Hello Fall on the Silver Tray and Fall Home Tours

One of my favorite ways to Welcome in the Autumn Season is with a scented candle on my vintage silver tray on the Kitchen peninsula/bar area. I keep the tray there year round with one of my vintage silver coffeepots and a Topiary, then change up the seasonal goodies accordingly. This candle has a great font graphic that says it most appropriately... Hello FALL!

Fall Shopping at the Vintage Markets

Fall is my favorite time of the year to hit the vintage shops and markets. My sister and I try to get together every couple of weeks and see what's out there. We need to have our "junk fix". We have a lot of vintage shopping spots in the area, but usually, the one we head to first is The Vintage Peddler. It's a big warehouse type space that has been open a year, and is now pretty much at vendor capacity. Some of the best dealers in the area have congregated there, so they are constantly changing things up and bringing in new merchandise. I always leave with an armload of goodies!

Styling My Buffet for Fall

I've been trying to spread out my Fall decorating over the last few weeks. It's given me a chance to try out a few different ideas, and also taken the pressure off to get it all done in a couple of days. I used to make myself and my husband crazy by going into a marathon décor frenzy. Now I'm taking my time and looking for inspiration from Pinterest and Fall Magazines from my many year stash.

Creating My Fall Mantel and other Conundrums

I really love Fall. That is an understatement by a long shot. I mark the days off the calender so to speak, until I can start decorating the house. But if there's one part of decorating that I would want to shove to the end of the list it would be decorating the mantel. Yes, you've heard it before, this is my least favorite, and most difficult to come up with ideas for, part of Fall. 

It's even hard coming up with a post title for this. Let's see... "Exercise and the Fall Mantel", "How to Climb a Step Ladder for Fall", or maybe, "Scratching Your Head While Avoiding Small Animals". 

Late Summer Sitting Area and an August ReView

Hi Friends, as usual, when it comes to the end of the month (or season), I find there are pics and places I had wanted to share with you all, but I never got around to posting. The Kitchen Sitting Area is a spot that changes almost weekly, since it's the spot that I hang out in the most. 

An Ironstone Pitcher for an Endless Summer Bouquet

I've been watching my Hydrangea bushes in the back yard, waiting for the right time to snip the blooms and bring them inside for drying. Several websites and bloggers say to wait until the blooms have gone to a deeper color and that their petal texture has become delicate and paperlike. Whoops... I almost waited too long.

Olive Bucket Candleholders on the Cheap

Hi Friends... are you like me and see something you just have to have and you can't get it out of your brain? Do you obsess over an idea, thought or photo until you work it out to either make it yourself or just get it over with and buy the dang thing? I think there's a lot of that going on around blog land; it's part of out creative process, or maybe it's just some kind of Internet illness floating around. Either way, it rarely goes away on it's own...

A Few Ways to Transition a Dining Room to Fall

No matter the season, I usually start the change-ups in the Dining Room. That's probably because I get an idea for a tablescape or something new to do on top of the DR table, and that kind of gives me a theme and direction. This year I pulled out a new piece of gorgeous Fall looking fabric that I bought last year but never ended up using. 

Topiary, Two Ways to Transition to Fall

August used to be my least favorite month of the year... well, OK, maybe it's still my least favorite month but that's only because I'm not a fan of the heat that August usually brings with it. We're having a week or two here in SW Missouri that feels like the middle of September, in the low 80's and some rain, and that is a wonderful reprieve. We've had summers that we had no rain whatsoever and the temps were over 100 for days. But in the last few years since blogging, I've realized that August can be one of my favorite months...

10 Tips for Transitioning to Fall

Looking through blogland this last week, it's been filled with posts about transitioning our decor from Late Summer into Early Fall. Our individual methods may be similar, but each person has their own unique style and ideas to make this a fun and easy change-over. The fact that bringing out the Autumn decor is one of my favorite things to look forward to, makes this a special time to savor and enjoy for me.

ReUnited...

I have a meager collection of mix and match small vintage ironstone pitchers and creamers, that I started about 15 or so years ago. Like all my collections, they are congregations of "old things" that I value, not for their monetary value or rarity, but because they are sentimental and visually pleasing. The wonderful concept of "collections" is that a single element may not have much impact, but when you bring several pieces together, the "group" takes on new life.