Green on Green Tablescape...With Succulents and MORE

I've been dinking around today with green on green table decor, possibly for my sister's wedding. While she is deciding on all her details, I started gathering what I have to accent the green and cream colors she has chosen.

The succulent arrangements are from my Etsy shop, so that is a good start. And then I just kept FINDING things in shades of green and with lovely natural textures around my house. Since I am of the "more is more" design school, I had a blast arranging everything this way and that way. 

Come take a look and have fun with me!

 You might recognize the faux moss decor balls I blogged about here.

 http://makethebestofthings.blogspot.com/2012/03/faux-moss-decor-balls.html

Everything is fair game when I'm putting things together...including driftwood, vine balls, Dollar Store moss rocks and pretty little thrift store urns. Love the vivid greens and wonderful textures!

I added green glassware which I use for display in our guest bath, including bright green ashtrays! Remember those heavy square ashtrays from way back when?

 Is that a vintage green Avon bubble bath bottle? I do believe it is!

Okay, okay, I'm done for the day. Did you see the very last green additions to this photo? How about the pretty green hair flowers I dropped in here and there? They are flippin' PERFECT for this arrangement, don't you agree?

Well, whatever my sis decides, this was fun to do and I've gotten a couple of neat design ideas, too. How about those pretty melty flowers sewn to the top of a pillow? That would be beautiful! And drill bigger holes in bigger driftwood for more succulent arrangements.....hmmm.

Now I'm going to sketch an idea I have for using my succulent wreath and some fern garlands for the cake table. I do believe it will be beautiful, but we shall see!

Time Flies....

....in a succession of fuzzy days when I've been fogged in with chemo, fatigue and a touch of the flu.

As usual, I did too much over the holidays and my compromised health smacked me down for a few weeks. I guess enjoying multiple family homes and meals, attending a holiday wedding in a cold church and being out and about in freezing weather was not a good combo. My own bed never felt so good! Dealing with my very low energy levels has been daunting for me, but I'm finally adjusting.

So I'm back and hope to blog faithfully now that I'm on a lighter dose of less toxic chemo. I feel better and have some energy these days. Speaking of which, we finally took down the Christmas trees, including the blue beauty you see above. Usually I just plunk a large houseplant in that corner and rearrange the glassware and call it good.

Last summer I scored a HUGE hurricane glass and it kept looking at me reproachfully, since something that grand deserved a bit of attention. This thing is BIG, as in 20" tall and 8" across at its "belly." I had filled it with gold and silver balls for Christmas, easy peasy, but for now I wanted something a bit different.

So, vine balls from Dollar Tree and some driftwood chunks....


A glittery moss green Walmart dragonfly. Some rearrangement of blue glass bottles and jars.....



....add some of my book page decor balls in two sizes, and a few glittered cinnamon pine cones. Plus several jute monkey's knot balls for more texture.



A closer shot of that gorgeous dragonfly. Only one dollar at Christmastime! Love it!

And off to the left you see a wooden pedestal bowl with a trio of Insanely Creative Christy's Mod Podged book page veggies with bronze glittered stems, just gorgeous. But you know, now this little display is making me long for spring and all the greenery that comes with rain and the warming temps.

I'm thinking of doing something very green and springlike to my counter display area...something that will incorporate Valentine's, Easter and St. Patrick's. LOL, that should be an interesting project and I'll post it when I do!

Ladies, thanks for stopping by. I'll be posting to the parties on my sidebar and visiting as many of you all that I can in the next weeks. Come check all the fun projects out, blog land is chock FULL of amazing, creative folks.

See you there!

Free Beach Fun!

When we go to the beach at the Oregon coast we are like any other family, we take lots of sand toys and frisbees and snacks and books and chairs and blankets and sunblock and kites and.....you know the drill. We're like a military convoy with all the supplies and equipment; we're a parade of people carrying stuff.


But here's something fun that doesn't require any buckets, shovels, toys or anything else except your own two hands and found items on the beach.....rocks and plenty of 'em. And they're FREE!

When I go for a walk on the beach, I always leave stacked rock towers behind. If you were on the north beach at Lincoln City in July you may have seen them all along the sand. They look very cool and are easy, once you've got the hang of feeling each rocks' balance point.


They are very sculptural and Stonehenge-like and lots of times people will stop and watch.


Sometimes they aren't very tall if the rocks are not cooperating. Soon you can recognize the best rocks for the towers. The grandkids learned too and would bring me the "good ones."


They are good for photos, too, looking very artsy and natural and sculptural and textural. I have some prints of stacked rock towers from 20 years ago and they look as cool now as they did then.

Love the cool gray and tan of the stone with the red tones of the driftwood. Very nice!



The wind kept blowing this one over, if you've been to the Oregon coast you know of which I speak.


You can even layer in driftwood, but sometimes the towers get persnickety when you mix materials. They sag and pout and fall over. Also, I've seen towers that are built with rocks on edge but we haven't got the hang of that yet.



So if you see these rock towers on the Oregon coast, it just might be that we've passed that way and left the fun signs of our travels......stacked stone towers and these.....


The traditional family Oregon Coast rock smiley face. We leave it on every beach we visit! ;0)