For the House

 

The Warmth of Autumn

by Susan Rios 

If you are looking for a painting to purchase, click the link and go to Susan Rios' website.

I would also like to tell you about this electric fireplace heater. It blows heat out that little vent at the bottom by the floor, which is really nice if you tend to have cold feet in autumn. A little set of switches just inside a panel on the front lets you turn the fan on high or low, and allows you turn the light that flickers, on or off.

In some stores, it also comes painted white, and online, there is a white one that costs a little more, but the heat comes out in a vent above the firebox. Both are nice, but this one is great for small rooms, even though it has a normal height of a real fireplace. The price has gone down to $179.00 with free shipping, but it may also be available in your local store.

A friend of mine bought one of these online at Walmart,  and said it was all put together. All she had to do is slide it out of the box and plug it into a wall. It was delivered postage free. This kind does not have the corner shelf attached, but you could still use it in a corner.

Sonata by Firelight

by Judy Gibson

(I'll be putting these paintings on Lovely Whatevers blog soon for those who want to order them.)

 If you don't need the heat, you can just turn on the flickering fire light.  I bought one of these at a local Walmart several years ago when they still had lay-away, and paid quite a price for it at the time. The cost of this particular model has gone down a lot.

Nearly Done

Walter Dendy Sadler 1898

 I have recently signed up to be an affiliate for Walmart on my Lovely Whatevers blog, where I post pretty things for the home, but it has not been confirmed yet. In the meantime, I could not wait to show you this fireplace, because it has gone down in price to $179.00,  There are other fireplaces on this site, and some are as low as $69.00 which look like old fashioned stoves.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Quality-Craft-Electric-Fireplace/7768660

Go here for more styles of electric fireplaces:  There are also some inexpensive fire box heaters that you can insert flat inside a wall. I've seen these in homes and they are very nice, but you have to know how to cut a hole in the wall and do it right ;-)

Moonlit Haven

by Judy Gibson

The glow of light seen from outside a house is much warmer when it comes from firelight, than other types of  lights.

Grand Piano Room by Foxwell

This Site gives such uplifting ideas about how to decorate the mantel of a fireplace.  Use what you have, and include homemade things as well as heirloom pieces and things that have been given to you, as well as photograph collections. If you have one of these electric units, it gives you a mantelpiece that adds a "real home" feeling to your house.

More ideas for mantel arrangements here.

Click each month listed on my favorite, Enchanted Treasures for more mantel arrangements.

This is a lovely, elegent addition to any home, particularly if you do not live in the country. In some more populated areas, you restricted on anything smokey coming out the chimney. I can understand that a whole neighborhood full of fireplaces might cause some allergies and breathing problems, so this is a great alternative. Also good for those who have no fireplace, and adds interest to a plain house that does not haave many built-in features.

Just a beginner: I'm just learning about arranging the top of the fireplace. I got the two little torch lamps at Walmart (not expensive) and they take just a night light bulb for a very soft light. I chose them instead of candle light. I hope to change the arrangement every month or season and eventually make it look as good as some of the arrangements in Enchanted Treasures mantel of the month.

Decorating Led-Lite Pillar Candles from the Dollar Tree

Timeless Grace by Stefan Alix

Decoupaged and glittered led-lite candles: click on for a larger view.

I have often used  the little votive led-lights from Dollar Tree, which come two in a package for a dollar, and I have discovered that Dollar Tree stores are now selling the pillar size led-light candles. Since these used to be obtainable only at really exclusive stores and catalogs for $6.00 to $12.00, more or less, it was quite a thrill to find them in the dollar stores. They are plastic, coated with a layer of scented wax, and use three AAA batteries, also available at the Dollar Tree, in a package of 8.

 They look really nice simply put up on candlesticks of varying heights, and left plain white, without decoration.

The pillar candles are also available in the shorter size, as you see on the left.

When turned on by the little switch underneath the candle, it looks like a real flame, which glows beautifully from the outside.


These candles look lovely left plain, on a nice candle stick. There are no doubt hundreds of ways to decorate these, and for now I will show you one way I have trimmed the ones I bought.

 I used a pretty rose napkin made by Ideal Home Range, (IHR), but printed tissue wrap could also be used. You have to pull apart the napkin and separate the two layers, removing the white part, which you will not be using.

 You can cut out the design, and if the back ground is white, it is okay to leave a lot of the white showing.

 Another way, which is easier, is just to size up a portion of the print to fit the candle, and cut it to fit., then paint the entire candle with decoupage, and  apply the whole square of napkin that you just cut, to the candle.

Using Modge Podge, or a thick white glue, paint the candle. Then, carefully lay down the applique or the square of napkin you cut to fit the candle.

 Gently tap the outer edges of the paper,

and then, dip the brush in more modge podge or glue, and paint carefully over the top of the picture.

I did not have good success with the liquid white school glue, such as Elmers, as the candle was too slick for it to stick. I found the Modge Podge brand of decoupage glue worked better.

While it is still wet, if you wish, sprinkle some coarse clear/white or crystal glitter on it.

The pillar candle on the right and the little half-size one in the middle are glitterized, and the one on the stand on the left is not.  One dollar each, plus a napkin and some glue, is not a bad price to pay for something so elegant.  These candles are selling very fast at the Dollar Tree.

Just put a number of those stick-on gems (about a dollar a package) on to the candle, for a quick and easy decoration.

The picture below is a printed label, applied to the candle with an ordinary glue stick, with added gem stickers.

This next one is something I tried using a little print (Picking Flowers for a Posy, by Charles Haigh-Wood), which looks good just applied with a glue stick.

The image was printed on regular printer paper, from my pictures, then cut out and glued onto the candle. The lit candle glows through the picture.

Tissue paper sheet music print, decoupaged onto candle, and tied with sheer ribbon.

K & C brand scrapbook paper, with added old-fashioned pen nibs.

This one is decorated with an interesting sticker. You have to use a glue stick with some stickers, as the candle is too slick for them to stick. Try this with an added tie of some kind: rafia, or fancy wire.

This is just one of those printable house rows,  made by Lillibeth on her blog, The Pleasant Times. They were colored with crayons by a child and then decoupaged onto the candle.

Done with fabric, tissue wrap, and a water slide decal.

An antique metallic length of gift-wrap ribbon is decoupaged on completely around the candle.

Decorated with a large hydrangea sticker, sent by a reader.

Decorated with a seasonal card, applied with a glue stick, sent by a viewer.

These make great seasonal gifts inside the home, that do not plug in. Get a basket of them ready for spur of the moment gifts, or unexpected gift-giving.  These also look great used in church fellowship rooms for banquets.

Here are some a reader just sent me, that she decorated with stickers. This is even easier than the one I shared in earlier pictures. You might be able to find those large specialty stickers that you buy by the piece which you tear off on the perferated line, at craft stores. Roses, scenes, and more, could be put on these candles, and involve a lot less mess than the decoupage glue!! You might also try clippings from thin pages of magazines applied with a regular office glue stick.

The Eden of Home

Country Cottage, by Joshua Fisher

An interesting  way to make anything worthwhile and beautiful, is to think back to the beginning of time; to the Creation. There are several lessons that can be taught about the Garden of Eden, and taking care of the home is one of them.

The first two chapters of the book of Genesis record the creation of the very first home and family. The description of the beautiful garden, and the couple who lived there, can be an example in creating our own homes, for a number of reasons: It had everything the man and woman needed for living, and to make a living. We assume by its description of the rivers, the precious gems and the flora, that it was also a lovely, pleasant place.

Stephen Darbishire

If God saw fit to create such a lovely place for Adam and Eve, we can, in our limited way, provide a place of beauty and happiness for our own families.  The work of the house can be approached as though it were a special Eden, a reflection of that first home.

Log Cabin Covered Porch, by Sung Kim

 Like the Garden of Eden, the home will  have to be cared for and maintained. Not all of the work will be completely pleasant, and that is why homemakers enjoy the little extras in the home. That is why homemakers are interested in the special touches, from fresh foods and special napkins for the table, to bright cushions and scenic pictures for the living areas. Not all housekeeping will be easy. That is why women are interested in choosing good working tools and cleaning products. Straw brooms, polishes, detergents and storage containers of a certain quality and appearance, become very important in making housekeeping meaningful and uplifting. These little touches create a nice atmosphere in which to work.

Making work worthwhile means that you have to have some kind of vision beyond the current job. You will not just be cleaning up the kitchen or doing the laundry. You will be making life more pleasant for yourself by having this work done. In the short-term scheme of things, you are making life easier for yourself by being able to find things, but in the long term, you will be building a life for yourself that your own generations will one day refer to when they talk about the things you did to make the home more comfortable. If you have children, your attitude will influence them one way or another. These are among the future results of homemaking with thoughtfulness.

On the first day of the Creation, God made the lights. Light is an important factor in homemaking. Choosing curtains that let in soft light, or having a flickering candle on a mantelpiece, is better than working in a gloomy, unlit room. When photographs are made for house magazines, light is the first thing that is prepared, so that the home will be shown at its best.  Small lamps, chosen for their style or sentimental value, positioned in corners and on furniture side pieces can make housekeeping enjoyable.

The second day of creation, the heavens and the waters were separated. Some things belong in one place, and others in another place.  If the earth were all jumbled up in a big mess, we could not function as human beings. Consider the home as a type of creation in the making. You may have to separate things and  create places for them,  to make order.  In a huge mess, begin by placing things that are alike, together in piles and finding a place for them. Books, clothes, toys, and papers, all need to have their own places. This is part of creating order, and making home living enjoyable. 

Arranging Flowers, by Leonard Zorn

 The third day, the dry land, called the earth, appeared, and was separated from all the great bodies of water. On top of that ground, God added green grass and herbs and fruit-bearing trees. The concept of interior home design must have come  from the Creation, because designers  usually take care of the big things first, like the floors, the walls, and the drapery. Then, like the plants added to the earth,  they add the furniture, and lastly, the accessory items of pictures, lamps and other useful or decorative items.

The fourth day, all the different kinds of lights were placed in the heavens--some for day time and some for night time. There are such nice choices for your private Eden of the home: humble curtains that let in light as the morning appears, and pretty lamps with special shades for extra evening light. Soothing, scented candles light the home with memories of simpler times. My favorite scented votive is called birthday cake, which makes a wonderful aroma for the house when stored in decorative containers and left unlit.

Sunshine in the Country, by George Turner

The fifth day, all the living things that could fly or swim, were created. A friend of mine has an old painting of a farm home. In the scene, are animals, with a little creek flowing through the land. Children are playing outside on a home made swing. There are clouds in a blue sky, and daffodils in a flower garden. Although she does not live in the country, this lady's  picture is a reminder of the relationship of the home to the creation. I think it is very good for home makers to remind their families of where life began, by having pictures on their walls, with scenes of the birds of the air and other living things. A small plant or container of flowers brings in fresh scent and gives you a close-up view of nature. If you have things growing outside, try a handful of spearmint stalks, mixed with the humble forget-me-not, which brightens the center of a table and scents the home.

Summer Evening, by Daniel Ridgeway Knight

The sixth day, after creating animals, God created man and woman.  The home was prepared, and now, it was time to put someone in it to care for it. These two people were told to have dominion over the creation. In a similar way, we must have control over the house, so that it can provide the place we need in order to think, to pray and to work. Most people do not have the luxury of outside help from maids and gardeners. That is why it is so important to develop the habit of caring for the home and keeping it orderly. It takes daily attention. There will be interruptions and sick days, but if you have the idea of Eden in your mind, you can always get back on track. 

If you keep in your mind a vision of the reputation you are building for yourself in the future, and the many reasons you want to be a good homemaker, the work does not seem like mere housekeeping. It becomes fulfillment. If you work carefully and enjoy it, rather than rushing around doing it in a hectic manner, it becomes less of a race and more of a gentle walk through your own Eden.

Grandmother's Doorway, by Abbot Fuller Graves

On the seventh day, God rested. Keeping house and doing it enthusiastically can give the homemaker more free time and more opportunities to put her feet up and rest. When everything is in order, there is more time to  seek special creative interests. I often put simple crafts, art projects and sewing on this weblog to show how just a few minutes of creating something special with your hands can lift the mood and result in something beautiful. This same concept can be used in keeping house. You can treat it as a creative work art. These are some of the perks of homemaking. They do not detract from our work, and they enhance the job at  home.

A homemaker wants to make the daily housekeeping a little more interesting.  That is why some of them use motivational things like interesting aprons to protect their clothing, with pockets for lists and found items, special table cloths and table settings, pictures of nature on the walls, floral prints on fabrics used for pillows or blankets, and all the lovely extras that make life at home so enjoyable. Most people are familiar with the film, "The Quiet Man," in which the young woman tells her prospective husband that she must have her things around her, in her house: the household furnishings that belonged to her mother and her grandmother: her table cloths, candlesticks, pictures for the walls, and her dishes.  This is what we still need, today, to make housekeeping enjoyable. If it is just a matter of sweeping the floor and cleaning the bathroom, it cannot be as appealing. When we are surrounded by the small comforts of a hand made blanket and a favorite cup, housekeeping has a different meaning: we are taking care of our own things.

The Family Album, 1869, by Charles Edouard Frere, French (1837-1894)

 We are the caretakers of the family history. We are the ones who keep the photograph albums and make the scrapbooks to record family events. We are the ones who create the special moments for the family. Keeping house so that these things can occur, makes good sense.  Women of the past used to say something like, "Let us get our work done early, and then we can go somewhere," or "Let's get the housework finished and then we can work on our favorite things."

To make housekeeping more enjoyable, try the following things:

Preparing for the next day, by leaving the kitchen clean at night before you retire. It might be possible to try this at least one night a week.

Dressing like a lady the first thing in the morning, and wearing an apron.

Putting a centerpiece on the table, after you have cleared it.

Putting away the dishes after they are washed, and making the kitchen streamlined and clean, as bare of clutter as possible.

Using a matching canister set to store often-used ingredients such as baking supplies or dried soup supplies.

Putting a tea set on display, ready to serve  impromptu visitors.

Folding things to fit the spaces they have to go in.

Laying a special folded towel across the edge of the tub, with a fresh bar of a special hand made soap on it.

Adding a pretty quilt to the top of your couch.

Buy scented candles and place them around the house, especially the laundry room, bathroom and kitchen. Without being lit, they make a wonderful scent for the home when placed in a decorative container and set on a shelf.  

Giving your home and yourself rewards: making a new garment to wear at home, having friends over for a fancy tea, ordering something special for the home, starting a new knitting project you have been wanting to do for years, or working on your photograph album or family memento scrapbook.

Not just cleaning house, but beautifying your living spaces, and thinking about, not just the near future, but the further future of your family.

While these things do take a little extra time, that is one of the purposes of a woman staying home. She has time for things that make her house feel homey and cared for. These are those extra things that calm the spirit and make life at home satisfying and fulfilling.

Paintings on this post can be viewed here.

Due to some setting on this blog that prevents clicking and saving, you might find it difficult to print this article. To print this, highlight and paste on another page, then click print. It may still be possible to download.

For further reading on other homemaking subjects, you might find this site helpful.

Pretty Petals

To view this painting by Igor Levashov, press here

To cheer up dark winter days, I suggested finding a primrose, often sold for less than a dollar, and bringing it indoors as an inexpensive bouquet. If these are not available, here is a lovely alternative: carnations.  However, these are hand made with tissue paper and chenille stems. The total cost for a huge amount of them, is about two dollars at dollar stores. All you need is a stack of tissue wrapping paper and some wire stems like these.  If you add a vase and some felt tip pens from Dollar Tree, you pay about four dollars for supplies that will make a LOT of carnations.  It amounts to about a penny per flower.  Try them in different colours.

 These are just a stack of white tissue, traced around with a small bowl and then cut with the deckle edge shaped scissors. The edges are painted with a felt tip pen in colour of choice. To find directions for tissue paper flowers, type it on your search engine. There are many step by step instructions for these, and dozens of appealing  books available about tissue paper flowers.    I made these very thick, so that they look like cabbage roses. The chenille stems look like they are in water. This is a bright spot for winter and a very easy craft for children. Try them with some of the glittered tissue paper you can get or with brighter hues.

Look for directions here

To those of us who are snowed in, it is a great encouragement to know that the countries in the southern hemisphere, particularly Australia, are having sunny days, sipping lemonade and iced tea on their verandas.  I've collected some of my favourite blogs that have imaginative creativity on them. They wont suit everyone but you might find something that makes your heart sing.

http://cgtreasures.blogspot.com/

http://pinkandprettydesigns.blogspot.com/

http://rosebrookcottage.blogspot.com/

http://humecottage.blogspot.com/

http://roseteacottage.blogspot.com/
 
http://pinkandprettydesigns.blogspot.com/
 
 
This delightful one is in Dixie, I think  http://rosecottage-laurie.blogspot.com/ - A lovely blog!

 

Press on the photograph for a close up view!  I plan to do more and add a tutorial of my own, sometime today.  These really do not look as good in the photograph as they do in reality. Around the house they look absolutely real, and it gives me a chance to use old jars and vases. Dollar store has some beautiful vases that look like crystal. Check out the candle department for candle holder jars. I also made my stems stronger by folding the chenille in half and winding it back up the stem, doubling it.

Here are some variations of this pattern:

The red rose in the center top was made by cutting smaller circles for the inside middle. Instructions for the daisy can be found on the web, but basically it is just the same, with petals cut around.