Christmas Cheer in the Cupboard

Welcome Friends, to Christmas in the Holiday Cupboard! Each upcoming Christmas Season you'll find me playing in this old Pie Safe and transforming it to the Holiday Cupboard. It's one of my first decorating spots that I look forward to each Christmas. I love to bring out the red transferware, and this year some Tartan Plaid Christmas plates from Pottery Barn are added to the mix.

Spring Baker's Rack in the Garden Room

I have a hard time packing up all the bunnies once Easter is over. (How about you?) Because well... Spring is definitely rabbit season, and there's just a lot of fun still left in having a bunny fluffle hanging around the spring garden room. 

Farm Animals in French Country Decor

Somewhere deep in my DNA I have the Farmer/Shepherd gene that has been dormant for many years. When I was growing up my dad always kept a few beef cattle at the farmhouse, but we weren't allowed to name them or pet them because well, you know why...  So, next best thing is to just collect cows and sheep to decorate with in my vintage Cottage, Farmhouse, and French Country decor.

Deer on the Winter Baker's Rack

We may have put all the Christmas decor away, but we still want to enjoy the natural winter landscape. I've brought out some soft neutrals and pale floral pastels

to bring it all together in the January Garden Room. Deer have been a favorite theme this January and I'm sharing a few of mine out here on the Baker's Rack.

Winter Lambs in the Dining Room

Hello Everyone, 

Winter is showing up here with snow and cold temps for sure.

Not only cold temps but lots of wind that makes it chilly and shivery even indoors 

as you look out and see the little birds on the feeder trying to grab a tiny bite

before heading back to their evergreen shelters.

Spring Thing in the Hearth Room

Hello everyone, hope you're well and keeping your sanity. (I'll get back to you all on that one...)

I took a lot of pics several weeks ago when I was decorating for Spring and Easter. The Hearth Room didn't get Easter decor; no bunnies or things, but more of a Spring theme. Actually it hasn't changed too much since early March. Lambs and sheep are a favorite of mine, so the little bench in front of the sofa has one of my sheep and a twiggy basket of Paperwhites.

Easter's on it's Way in the Entry

Celebrating Easter this year will be different, but maybe even more special as we seek spiritual hope and guidance during this uncertain time. When we watch the news or think too much about what's going on in the world around us, we might be considering putting some things on hold. Blogging about decor might seem frivolous to some but helps many of us stay plugged in with others and social. And... it's a wonderful way to stay positive and inspired.

Vintage White Pottery

I did a pretty good job of packing and labeling all my breakables. Boxes of Transferware (brown, red, and green) ironstone, majolica, china, etc... and several boxes of White Pottery. At the previous place I kept it put away in the basement bar area because I just didn't have room to display it. So now that I have the garden room, I'm making a seasonal spot for it here. I may rotate it after Summer is over, but for now I've gathered all the white pottery pieces together for a little collection.

"Hoo Said That?"

I have several little friends that haven't been able to make their appearance this Fall, since they're all packed away and waiting till next year. But once in a while I hear a little hoot, chirp, or baaaa, and know they are wondering what happened to October. They were the star of the Late October Show. Don't worry, we'll share a few pics from yesteryear.

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...

The Power of a Print...

Do you want to change the feel of a room or space? There are several low cost ways to get a new feeling or vibe to your space, but my favorite is to consider what you have hanging on your walls: artwork and prints in this case.

French Wagon Vignette

Earlier in the Spring you might remember that I decided to paint my little black Frenchy wagon a light gray. Since then it's become my favorite tabletop decor piece for the Dining Room. I had put off painting it for years, even though I knew I would like it much better. Now it sort of "disappears" on the tabletop, which helps it blend in with all the other elements I love to use.

A Spring Entry

...and talking sheep...

You know me, during each season I usually change things up more than once. For Easter, I like things a little more pastel. Easter is about the only time you'll see "pastel" being used around here. But for earlier in the Spring Season I've used various shades of browns and greens, mostly in the Kitchen Sitting Area, since I like to use my brown and pink floral quilt. I went with the same colors here in the Entry, using a brown and green check ribbon to hang my mossy O, and then my sheep print on canvas.

A January Entry

I always tend to lean toward a more neutral and white color palette during the month of January. Whether it's due to the oversaturation of color during Fall and Christmas, or because it's bleak and snowy outside, I seem to crave a clean look after the new year. Clean and fresh feeling whites and neutrals are what I need, because once Spring starts to creep up out of the landscape the rest of the year means "color".

Lambs and Ivy

Every once and awhile I run across something that I haven't shared with you before.

 At the old house this wonderful old fruit crate hadn't made it past the garage

 "shop inventory".

 Now at the new house, it again migrated to the garage. 

I'm not sure why except that I've just never known what to do with it...

pretty lame excuse.

Basics for Building a Tabletop Vignette

Although I haven't been changing things up around here too much lately, boredom has set in big time, and I needed something fresh to look at here in the Living Room. Each time I think of putting together a vignette or grouping I panic. Good Grief, where do I start? Then I spend a lot of time hunting down and trying things, moving stuff around, then discarding them; generally wasting my time. Decor books and magazines help, but even then I'm sometimes left without an idea of where to start.

I LOVE doing seasonal vignettes, but no matter if I'm decorating for a specific Holiday or Season, or just something basic, I've learned some foundational "building blocks" that make it pretty simple to put together an "Easy Change" Tabletop Vignette.

Vintage Minis on the LED Woodsy Tree

I've been decorating and tweaking since Saturday, (you too?) and to be honest I really didn't have much of a game plan before I started. I knew I didn't want to go out and buy anything. I have tubs and tubs full of decorations, greenery, ribbon, and fun vintage Holiday goods. I knew I'd be using Plaid, but then, I use some Plaid each Christmas Season. What I really wanted was something just a little "different" than what I've done in the past.

An October Entry

My house tends to look a bit overdone if I'm not careful;

especially this time of year.

OK...most of the time it's a little too cluttered.

Blame it on blogging and enjoying sharing it all with you.

Gettin' his Fall on...

I tried to tell Beaufort that it was a little too early for Fall decorating...

but he didn't listen.

He wanted to try on his new plaid scarf...

and then he wouldn't take it off.

so I had to humor him.

"OK, Beaufort, it's pretty close.

you can leave it on."

Do you or someone you know,

 have unreasonable feelings about Fall?

yeah, I know.

Joining in Here:

Show and Share at Coastal Charm

Amaze Me Monday at Dwellings

Tweak it Tuesday at Cozy Little House

The Scoop at Worthing Court

Share Your Style at Common Ground

Inspiration Gallery at Craftberry Bush

xoxo,

Create Your Own Canvas Art

So...are you ready for a fun Give-Away?

I need to share a little "backstory" on this. About 6 weeks ago I received an email from a rep at CanvasPop. I know you all have heard of them; their company makes wonderful photographic prints transferred to canvas. I've seen them on other blogs, and have been impressed with their amazing quality of work. They were generously asking if I'd like to send in one of my photos to be turned into a canvas print/image.

WOW, how super!!

Except as you all know and hear me complain about mention, I have very limited wall space in our new home, and I've been taking my time making decisions about wall decor and art. I pretty much dragged my feet on this opportunity and went through all my photographs of the last several years, but could not come up with anything that really grabbed me.

CanvasPop Website.

If you have a minute watch their very cool video!

Then I had a thought...(this can be so dangerous) what I really would love to have would be some sort of vintage image on the canvas. I wasn't sure what that would be or how to get that to work, but I got back with them and asked if it might be possible. The only stipulation would be that the image would have to be something in "the public domain", meaning that the artist must be deceased at least 100 years so it will not still be copyrighted.

Where do you find a vintage image that is no longer under copyright?

I thought I'd give Etsy a go, and sure enough there are endless images available in the format that it takes to have the image copied on canvas. I think I paid $4 for this image to be downloaded to my computer. If you do a Google search for downloadable images you'll find them tons of places. I happen to love vintage images of sheep. What's your obsession? I guarantee that you'll locate many options. 

This is what I chose, but if you want a photo canvas of your kiddos, or your pets, or a perfect sunset from your own photograph, then that's available too.

CanvasPop has lot's of options to choose from and they will customize your canvas to best accommodate the size of your image. This Give Away is for a free 16x20 image on a .75 wrapped canvas. And if you don't want to wait on the Give Away, then there's a 35% off coupon discount available to my readers, you'll just need to use the code COMMON35 at checkout.

Here's the .75 wrap. I chose to have the print extended over the edges, but you can also choose white or black, so that you won't lose any of your original image.

It comes ready to hang, with a professional wire and hardware.

I'm enjoying my little gal here on the Entry Console for now.

Here's How to Enter:

1. LIKE CanvasPop on Facebook
2. LIKE Common Ground on Facebook or become a follower of this blog, Common Ground.
3. SHARE this Give Away image on your blog, Facebook, or some kind of social media.

Then please let me know back here on this blog, Common Ground with a separate entry comment.

Is your brain doing backflips thinking of all the possibilities?

Hope you'll enter, since the you can get so creative!

The Give Away closes Friday at midnight.

I'm joining here:

The Scoop at Stone Gable

Show and Share at Coastal Charm
Tweak it Tuesday at Cozy Little House
Mod Mix Monday at Mod Vintage Life
Wow Us Wednesday Savvy Southern Style
From My Front Porch to Yours
The Charm of Home
Inspiration Gallery at Craftberry Bush

{ The Canvas Art was gifted me by CanvasPop in exchange for an honest review, and I can say they were so nice to work with and exceeded ALL my expectations for a quality product. And they're fast too!}