A Little More Valentines Decor

 February Valentines Decor

Hi friends!  I've done a little bit more Valentines decorating and, as promised, am sharing it with you. I have also taken down the "winter tree" and moved the little white light tree into its place in the living room. The basket you see in the above image is now on top of the curio cabinet in the dining room. This basket belonged to my mother and the two heart shaped pillows are ones I have owned for years. These pillows were made by my very first teaching assistant back in the 1980's and I still love them and use them! The candle ring adds a little extra "oomph" of red to the overall look of the basket. 

So, this is how the corner of the dining room looks now. 

And here is the little white light tree on the round table in the living room. It's small and simple and gives a nod to Valentines with the red cloth around the base. It provides pretty light in the corner of the room. 

 And I added a flameless candle with this candle ring on the bottom shelf of the side table. 

And, finally, this is how the foyer tables looks right now. Just a pretty vase with Valentine picks, a red heart wreath (also made by my long ago assistant) and a glass deer to anchor the look. 

I'm enjoying these added touches of Valentines decor around the house. They give a much needed touch of cheer on this rainy, cold and foggy day! This will do it for Valentines decorating and posting so let me finish by wishing each of you a wonderful Valentines Day! Treat yourself with love and kindness and treat others around you the same!

Until Next Time,

Debbie (this and that)

To read my last Valentines Decor post, click here.

Valentines Meets Winter Vignette

 A Valentines Vignette

Hi friends!  It's time for me to pop back on the blog and share a little bit of Valentines decor with you!  Today, I'm featuring a tablescape vignette in the dining room that mixes with winter decor that has been on display since I switched out from Christmas. 

This vignette consists of some faux silk flowers in a vase filled with colorful Valentine heart shaped macaroni that I found at Aldi, my pretty pink heart shaped wreath and a pretty ceramic candy dish basket that I thrifted last year. To anchor all of these pieces, and also to give a nod to Spring, is the beautiful table cover that is part of a collection of placemats created for me by my dear friend, Sharon. She ordered this gorgeous fabric after I had admired it online and put her talent to work. Isn't this fabric just lovely?! She sewed two placemats from this fabric and two from another fabric, both patterns from a collection called, aptly, "Deborah's Garden." I will do a dining tablescape soon using all four placemats but I decided to give a sneak peak today. Thanks again, Sharon, for such a lovely birthday present!

I mentioned that the Valentines decor was meeting up with the winter decor and so here is a picture of what that looks like. This is such a pretty little corner of our dining room. The Mr. just finished working on this room again as the opposite corner sustained damage during the hurricane/tornado that hit our home back in late September. So the walls are newly repaired and painted. It all looks great and I'm happy to have this corner decorated!

Have you done any decorating for Valentines this year? I don't have many Valentines decorations but I always enjoy the ones I do have. I will be sure to share any other decorating I do with all of you! Hope you leave a comment because I enjoy hearing from you!

Until Next Time,

Debbie (this and that)

Monochromatic Styling Using Shades of Brown and Tan

 Creating An Outfit Using Shades of Brown

Hello friends! Today I'm sharing some photos of an outfit I put together that is what I view as a monochromatic style that uses different shades of brown and tan. This outfit uses a dark brown turtleneck, a medium dark tan jacket and lighter tan corduroy pants, socks and shoes.

I'm really pleased with how this outfit came together. I have always enjoyed wearing brown and tan and I got to thinking about how creating outfits using different shades and tones of any one color could be really pretty. Think about using different shades of blue together or green together. You get the idea. Using varying shades of the same color gives an outfit depth and interest in my opinion. What do you think? The jacket I'm wearing is new and is Southern Lady brand. I also bought the matching skirt and will share it with the jacket another time. The turtleneck is very old and probably came from either Walmart or K-Mart ages ago. The pants are Blair and are a soft knit type of corduroy that I absolutely love and own in many colors and the shoes are Skechers brand boat shoes. I'm sharing the brand info just in case anyone might be interested in any of the items. I'm not promoting brands-just sharing some ideas. And just a hint about Southern Lady brand clothing-it runs large so I always size down. Try it on first, if you can, to make sure about your size in this brand. 

The shoes are two-toned and so very comfy. I enjoy wearing them. It has been hard to find shoes in brown that are comfortable and can be worn with pants and with skirts or dresses. Since I don't do heels anymore, finding shoes that fit all styles of dress can be a bit tricky. At least for me. I almost always have success with Skechers shoes. 

I also added some copper colored earrings by Paparazzi. I feel they compliment the outfit and add yet another shade of color and texture.

This outfit contains fabrics that are soft and warm and are the perfect combination for a cold winter day. So tell me....do you wear monochromatic outfits? What colors or shades of color do you choose for your stylings? Be sure to share in the comments so we can all learn ideas together!

Want more style posts? See the links to previous style posts below.

Until Next Time,

Debbie (this and that)

*Thanks to The Mr. for photographing the pictures in this post.

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Snowy Days, Home Baked Bread and Bringing Light into the House

 A Few Things On A Winter's Day

Hello friends! It's a cold, snowy day here and I am looking for all the ways I can to bring a little cheer to the indoors. Here in Asheville, we seem to be stuck in a pattern of really cold temps and we added snow and ice to the mix yesterday. The cold weather is due to be with us into the next week. I really am not a fan of the cold, or of snow, but I will admit it is very pretty to look out the windows and see the snow. One way I bolster my spirits during the winter is to look for ways to bring in light. I purchased the crystal tree you see in the above picture before Christmas thinking it would be a good "winter" decoration.

I discovered the tree changes colors going from white light to blue, green, red, purple and gold. It's quite pretty and I have been using it daily as a way to lift my spirits on these dreary, cold days.

I also changed over my ceramic tree from multi-color lights to white lights and created a little display with snow globes and a glass deer. I have since moved the ceramic tree to the bottom shelf of the side table in the living room and like it better there. It's nice to have pretty lights in several areas of the house especially in the evening.

And then, feeling like I still needed some brighter lights, I put the little three foot multi-color light tree into action again, this time fashioned as a "winter" tree with the addition of pine cone ribbon wrapped around it. I really do love multi-color lights and I was missing them after putting the Christmas decor away so I just took the tree out of its box once more. I haven't put a wrap around the bottom of the tree as yet but am keeping my eye out for something more "wintery" that I can use. I really do feel that my winter decor is different from what I used for Christmas and the extra light definitely helps to improve my mood during these long, cold nights! Winter has never been my favorite season, unfortunately. I don't like going out on potentially icy and slick roads and, since falling in October and breaking my wrist, I am doubly afraid of falling. The Mr. loves winter and the cold doesn't seem to affect him like it does me. And while he doesn't take unnecessary chances, he doesn't feel the panic I feel about driving in bad weather. Opposites attract, right?! Since I retired there is less worry about going out in bad weather although there are still times when I have to make the call about going out or staying in. 

When the snow starts to fly, I always feel like cooking and baking. Yesterday, as we were experiencing a snowstorm, I decided to bake some homemade bread. This is the result. I use bread pans that belonged to my Mom and always feel close to her when I am mixing, kneading and baking bread. She was an amazing bread maker and I can still recall the smell of the house with bread in the oven and then her cutting me a thick slice and spreading butter on it and pouring me a glass of milk to wash it all down. Our house smelled really good yesterday as this bread baked and it evoked many such happy memories. 

I'll share a little bread making secret with you that I recently discovered. You may already know this and I was just late in coming to the party, but rapid rise yeast has made all the difference with my bread baking!

I could never get my bread to rise like this before using rapid rise yeast!

And how pretty is this perfectly browned loaf of bread?! Yes, I'll admit to being proud of myself! 

I also made a big pot of vegetable bean soup and that, along with leftover crockpot steak, veggies and rice, made a lovely supper.

These winter skylines and sunsets are really beautiful. One blessing from the hurricane is that we now have a mountain view that we did not have before. Of course, that happened because so many trees were blown down during the storm. There seems to be positives and negatives to everything. Including the winter season. 

I try to bring cheer into the winter by adding colorful and bright lights and cooking hearty, filling, and warm meals that bring happy memories to mind. 

How do you style your life for Winter? Be sure to share in the comments. I love hearing from you! Stay warm!

☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃

Until Next Time,

Debbie (This and That)

*Note: We now have much more snow than what you see in these pictures which were taken over a period of several days before yesterday's storm hit.