Beeutiful By Design: January 2016

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Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Blue & White January Tray

This year in addition to my

tablescapes I thought I would

share a few tray ideas.

I usually eat alone once a week

when my husband has

a "boys night out" with his

shooting club.

I look forward to these "girls night in"

as a time to eat "girl food" and watch my

"girl tv shows".

Just the opposite of my January table,

this January tray is composed of

paper products, easy for clean up

so I can sip my tea and

watch Masterpiece Theater

rather than stand in the kitchen doing dishes.

Caspari Seville pattern is perfect for

a cold January evening mixing two of my

favorites blue & white and lemon.

I added a few lemons in a blue and white bowl

to perk up the corner and go along with the

lemon theme.

I just love that Caspari offers placecards

to match their paper sets.

This one is held in a lemon wedge

glittered place card holder.

A bunch of hyacinth adds a hint

of Spring to my bar area.

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Sunday, January 24, 2016

National Handwriting Day

Did you know that Saturday, January 23rd is

National Handwriting Day?

"January 23rd, 2016 marks the 39th anniversary of National Handwriting Day. Established in 1977 on the birthday of perhaps one of America's most celebrated scribes, John Hancock known for his bold signature on the Declaration of Independence – National Handwriting Day was created to acknowledge the history and influence of penmanship. The Writing Instrument Manufacturers Association (WIMA) sponsors National Handwriting Day offering insight and inspiration to honor the writing holiday."

prnewswire.com

Woman at Her Writing Desk
Warren B Davis
American Gallery

In order to celebrate the occasion I am sharing

with you a few of my favorite

note card designers.

The Crane & Company

bee notecard is my go to standard

for personal notes.

I also have a monogrammed set of ivory

crane notecards for business.

Anna Griffin also does a

wonderful line of stationery.

These Imperial Notecards are beautiful

and come with lined envelopes.

LB Originals has a ton of cute

monogrammed notecards

along with lots of other stationery

on her Preppy Paper Girl Etsy site.

Emily McCarthy's multi cheetah

note cards are adorable.

The spot cheetah pattern

is a unique design created by

Ms. McCarthy.

The notecards can be found along

with many other

unique paper & entertaining products

in her shop on her website.

What's your favorite notecards

& stationery products

these days?

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Thursday, January 21, 2016

Valentines Day Victorian Clip Art

Thanks for stopping by today.

I'm working on my Valentine's Day crafts.

This year I am using these Vintage Victorian

Postcards as ornaments similar to

the Halloween Tree I did in 2013.

In addition to ornaments, they would make great

printouts to use on a non-floral centerpiece

as I posted this week.

Or to make your own

Valentine cards or scrapbook pages. . .

Or to make signs or posters . . .

And I am sure you can think of a bunch

of other uses too!

You can see my previous tree

on my Valentine China Cabinet post.

Hope you enjoy crafting with these

as much as I do!

I will be back next week to share

my 2016 Valentine Tree.
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Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Non Floral Valentines Day Centerpiece

Thanks for stopping by today.

This weekend I was researching online for a

non floral centerpiece for my

February Table.

The florist really jacks up the

prices beginning the first week of

February and many of us

don't want to spend twice the amount on flowers

we would normally.

To find these images and more google

Valentines Day crafts

My favorites are using some kind of stick/branch

theme with paper decorations.

This would be a great project to do with your

kids or grandkids & a quick trip to the dollar store.

I also liked this garland using paper

doilies and white strand lights.

Great over a doorway or down the middle of the table.

Isn't this idea lovely with

pictures included along with paper hearts!

Here it looks like they've used

sticks with paper hearts, simple but elegant too.

If you don't have/want to forage thru your yard

for sticks and branches, or they are covered in snow

these block paper votives are a cute idea too.

Finally nothing beats love

spelled out down the middle of the table!

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Thursday, January 14, 2016

Great January TV Watching

If you are enjoying the final season of

Downton Abbey as much as I am I thought

I would share a few other shows that

are on in January that look like

my cup of tea.

Beginning Monday 1/18 on Lifetime

is the miniseries War & Peace.

Starring Lily James (from Downton and Cinderella)

Paul Dano and James Norton

the promotions look wonderful.

Equally appealing is the new PBS series Mercy Street

premiering on Sunday night 1/17/16

but also available to stream on the

PBS website.

"Based on real events, Mercy Street goes beyond the front lines of the Civil War

and into the chaotic world of the Mansion House Hospital

in Union-occupied Alexandria, Virginia." PBS.org

The PBS website has great behind the scenes information &

historical pictures, which I love.

It reminds me a lot of the book

"My Name is Mary Sutter" by Robin Oliveira.

If that's not enough historical drama for you

I would highly recommend

"A Little Chaos"

which is now on dvd & HBO

staring Kate Winslet, Stanley Tucci

and Alan Rickman, which also directed

this wonderful film.

I was sorry to hear of Mr. Rickman's

passing today.

I will always remember him

in Love Actually.

Finally if you have not seen

Far From the Maddening Crowd

based on the Tom Hardy novel,

it is wonderful.

Her wardrobe and the music alone

make it a must see

plus the Victorian England setting

and love story are icing on the cake.

It is out on DVD plus on HBO.

I hope you enjoy these as much as I did.

The winter is always a great time for catching up

on great series & films.

Plus, we have all the awards shows to enjoy too!

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Monday, January 11, 2016

Winter's Garden January Table

“I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says

"Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again.”
― Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass

Thanks for stopping by!

Today I'm sharing my table set for January.

With all the holiday decorations down the dining room

looked ready for a winter's garden table.

This weekend we received our first official

winter snow fall with a dusting of snow to make

nature window watching beautiful.

For this table I picked neutrals of brown, cream and green.

I tucked in a few surprises down the middle of pinecone candles,

baby pincones and two birds my daughter gave me

for my birthday in December.

This beautiful centerpiece of roses, hydrangea and pincones

tied it all together.

For the place setting I used burlap chargers,

cable knit dinner plates & mugs, dripware brown salad plates,

a winter garden napkin, wood flatware &

vintage green bubble glass goblets.

When I added the goblets the green in the napkins

and the centerpiece really popped.

I love the textures of the dripware, cable and burlap together.

Here's a close up of the brown mercury glass

birds in their glittered nests.

I hope you enjoyed this taste of a winter garden

on the table.

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Sunday, January 3, 2016

January Books

Thanks for stopping by today.

Hope you had a wonderful holiday!

January is always filled with the

hope of rejuvenation, restoration and renewal.

I think the elaborate holiday decorations,

celebrations and sometimes

indulgences makes us

ready for a clean slate

once all the decorations are put

to bed for another year.

With this in mind my January book selections

are filled with great ideas

for renewal of your garden

(although my thoughts always go

to spring and summer planting)

and renewal of your personal success plan

whether that be in the area of career,

health or personal life.

Up first is "The Winter Garden" by Emma Hardy

$17.74 on Amazon.

Ms. Hardy displays a wonderful collection

of over 35 ideas on gardening during the winter months.

These are easy step by step instructions on a

variety of indoor & outdoor projects.

I also appreciate that these are for small spaces.

You do not need an acre garden or a

large porch/outdoor area to display these projects

so even those that are in apartments or town homes

can join in the fun.

The photography is outstanding and the

"you will need" section of each project makes it

easy to gather your supplies.

Depending on your zone, some of these

maybe Spring projects outdoors.

I am looking forward to a few indoor plant projects

for myself this year.

The second selection is from author Jack Canfield,

"The Success Principles: $15.05 on Amazon.

I saw him on an OWN

Super Soul Sunday episode.

You may know Mr. Canfield as the

co-creator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series.

This is the 10th anniversary edition

so you may have read this title already.

I was impressed with his ideas

and his discussion of the elements

that are needed to lead a successful life

during his interview with Oprah.

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