Vignettes Can Be a Lot of Different Things

People think vignettes have to be a book and a vase of roses or something similar. Not necessarily true, chicks, although that can be quite stunning and original if taken the time to think it out "creatively." It can be anything you want it to be as long as you assemble items in one particular space - a little space with items that evoke emotion is what works best for me. Something pleasing to the eye. I've gone around my home and just photographed some little descriptive vignettes to show as examples.

A pedestal rose plate with bars of fragrant soaps - some hand painted - and some little fizzie bath hearts given to me. They are absolutely sweet smelling and fragrance my guest bathroom.

A stack of white towels in a little pink wire basket. They are in there for guest's immediate pleasure and convenience so as not to have to go rummaging around underneath the cabinets. Just a thought to the comfort of my guests and family. ;-) I have a friend with a teenage boy who is meticulous in his personal grooming and will not use a towel after someone else. So I decided to do this with him in mind. Always a fresh and scented one for that young man. He steals my heart with being so well groomed.

Some little birdhouses on my mantel - one I made and three my friend, Rhea, made. Hers are stunning and I have a lot of items from her - so many, in fact, that I may have to dedicate a room to her! ;-)

Some old vintage rusty finials on my mantel also. I love the patina and rust of these old iron objects. These don't have much verdigris on them but I especially love the verdigris on old copper objects. And, of course, the proverbial "rose" to add to their beauty. If you knew how many roses I have in this house you'd faint. I have several hundred ribbon roses, many silk roses, dozens of paper roses, millinery roses and porcelain roses. I should call this the Rose House. Well, actually some of my friends do call it that.

Starfish that I spray painted pink and sprinkled on german glass glitter. I just love the look of them on the mantle. I love "fluff" everywhere I can arrange to have it.

Even my craft paints and paint swatches from a paint store can be a vignette when arranged on a vintage old shelf with snippets of leftover lace tacked on the shelf. I think you'll have to agree it adds "color" to the place!

As simple as some vintage salt and pepper shakers painted pink and set on the shelf with paints.

Even little sachets scented with fragrance oils lined along another shelf can add not only beauty but a wonderful scent to enjoy in any room. Yes, I actually do this in every single room - living room, family room, baths, office, bedroom......every room. And these certainly add beauty to the room.

And then there are the tops of book cases that aren't really conducive to hold actual book on the top so I just put some vintage sewing drawers with CDs or DVDs in them and little boxes I've tried selling but didn't. So buyers loss is my room's gain! LOL

One of my favorite vignettes is artist paint brushes. I just love seeing all the brushes in a pretty vase or container. These are mine and I would NOT call my self an artist. I call myself a BEGINNER!! ;-)

I have a bowl on my coffee table that has some pink sea shells (I painted them pink) and I love the juxtaposition of them with the roses and faux desserts I have on there. This one below is not in my home but I think it's stunning. Just simple everyday things gathered together in one spot for a lovely vignette. Rocks in a vintage yellow bowl, starfish and old ephemera.

The roses, sea shells, starfish, a wicker basket leaning against a wall, attractive statues, a container of nails and a plate of fruit.

I liked this room when I first saw it and was drawn back to it because of the table vignette near the dormer. I also stack pictures on the floor leaning up against a baseboard. I just love the look of "high" and "low" pictures. Most people hang their pictures too high on a wall. That's fine if there are other pictures below it but the room looks out of whack if all pictures are at one level in a room and that level is 6 feet up the wall. Lower your pictures so that the lowest part of the frame is no more than 46 - 48" from the floor. It will make quite a cozy difference in the look.

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Cotton Sheets

I wrote this post when I was new to blogging so most people, if you're like me, never go back and read the older ones so I thought I'd post it again. It's still applicable and I thought certainly worthy of being repeated.
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Something I thought of today while toweling off from my shower is freshly scented towels. My granddaughter asked me a couple of years ago what kind of laundry detergent and fabric softener I used. I asked her why and she said, "Because your sheets and towels always smell so good." What a compliment!! She noticed!! And I did tell her. But I have always been sensitive to smells - in the good way, not the allergic way. I love lovely scents. I have so many perfumes I'd never have to purchase another bottle in my lifetime. But today my towel smelled of a new fragrance I bought recently. A perfume. I must have placed the towel to my neck when I had just sprayed it on. It smelled wonderful. So what I'm going to do is just very lightly spray a tiny fine mist from a favorite perfume onto my towels from time to time. It'll keep the linen closet smelling fragrant and being ever so lightly sprayed I'll smell that scent when I'm toweling off. My "scents" from perfumes are in my clothes so why not have them on my towels. Just light fragrances, nothing "overpowering" is good.
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That's the end of that post but I thought of something else. The same can be said for sheets also. Spray lightly.

I mostly buy 100% cotton sheets with a decent thread count - not 600 but maybe 300 for everyday unless I get a good deal on them somewhere.

I had a friend several years ago that started buying cotton sheets because I had told her how sensual they are to the body. She bought some and then washed them and called me to ask how I got the wrinkles out. I said I ironed the top sheet but the bottom one stretched out when put on the mattress. I thought she was going to faint! She said she didn't intend to iron sheets. So she threw them out! I about died because I would have taken them in a heart beat. Anyway, as I age I don't iron them anymore. I simply have come to love the wrinkles! See these that I just took out of the dryer and am folding. I think they're beautiful. But then I find beauty and joy in very simple things. ;-) I truly do!!!

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Pretty Shabby Chic Tea Towels

I love pretty things as all of you who have visited my blog or have seen my home know. Not only do I buy for beauty but for function also. "Form follows function" is one of my favorite sayings. It first must function in that capacity for which it was bought. (An example is my wrist watch. I call it my Nancy Nurse watch. It's a very plain Timex with black numerals and hands but with a red second hand. I'll never buy any other watch. I just keep purchasing another one just like this one when it finally bites the dust. Have for years and will continue to do so. It's not especially pretty but it is "functional" and that's what a watch should be first and foremost........and they're inexpensive! But it's form is not displeasing to me at all.)

But let's talk about another common thing that just about everyone in the world has in their home and that's tea towels. Yep, the common ol' tea towel.

Tea towels have been know to wipe away boo boos on kids, dry their eyes, carry flowers and veggies into the house from the garden, ice cubes (don't ask!), carry a child's doll like it's a blanket, dry our hands - or hubbies, which is how they get so dirty in the first place if you've noticed, as I have, that they wash their hands, but dry their hands and arms!, trust me on this one.

BUT they don't have to be ugly or plain. Above are photos of some of my kitchen towels. Some have been bought at garage sales for 10¢! (I once bought a brand new canvas butcher's apron for 25¢ and absolutely love it for it generous size. It almost totally wraps around me to the back!) If I buy something to sell and there are 2 of them and I like them, then I buy 2 - one to sell and one to keep. ;-)

Some of the above towels are older and been washed many times but they are all pretty and not just "kitcheny" towels. I buy ones that have roses on them. Plus those towels in the bath dept. of a store don't have to be used in the bath; the hand towels can be used in the kitchen also. That's where I get some of my kitchen towels. I'm not into kitcheny types of towels with fruits and such on them (although, I'd buy some with cherries on them in a heart beat!), so much as roses or flowers. So in my home this is what the kitchen, as well as the bath, towels look like.

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