I love fresh flowers!  They can be the focal point of a table, a kitchen, a living room, a bedroom, a foyer, even a hotel lobby.  A group of fabulous home decor bloggers and I are getting together today to share all the different ways you can create and display a floral arrangement in your home or any space.  I’m not sharing just any floral arrangement today.  I’m sharing how to create a fruit and floral arrangement with limes and white flowers.

Welcome to those of you from my talented friend Oscar Bravo’s blog and may be here for the first time!  And thanks to all my regular readers….I adore you all!  If you’ve been on this blog hop, I’m sure you’ve seen all the gorgeous arrangements so far.  My friends are ridiculously talented, if you couldn’t already tell.  Now, if you’ve been following me regularly, you’ve probably noticed my love for green as I style my home this Spring.

In THIS post, I shared how I used green apples, limes and white floral to grace my kitchen countertops.  I liked it so much that I decided to keep my Easter table this Sunday going with the same theme.  Fresh green produce, white floral, and lots of crisp white.  I immediately had an idea….here’s what I did.

I’d seen on Pinterest how you could take a vase and stack it in a larger vase, filling the space between with citrus slices and water and then adding the flowers.  So I did this on a larger scale by taking my glass and gold hurricane and putting a bowl upside down in order to put my glass vase on top of it.  It needed height.  I sliced the limes thick enough to get about 4 slices out of each lime and disposing of the ends.  Start lining them around the bottom.

I dropped the vase inside to create a space for the limes.

I removed the flowers so that I could see better.  Dropping slices down the in-between vases like a game of Plunko, I used a spatula to move any slices where I needed to.

As you get to the top, you can use a fork or tongs as well to move slices around.  I added 3 huge hydrangeas to the inner vase so that they were just covering the very top of the hurricane, vase and lime slices.

Then I added just 2 bunches of white hyacinths in the middle so that they stood taller above the hydrangeas.

Since my hurricane top is removable, I didn’t add the water to the limes but if you’re using a vessel that won’t leak, make sure to do that before you add the flowers.

Isn’t that such a fun and vibrant arrangement?!

And to make it even more refreshing…..fruit!

And don’t forget your veggies!

With these lovely magnolia napkin rings, this would be the perfect Spring table.  But….

….this cost of levitra at costco is my family’s Easter table.  So I added a few Easter touches.

I used these adorable Bunny place card holders that I shared last week in my Kids Easter Table.

I added some gold foil bunny straws, also from the Target Dollar Spot.  It adds some fun to this elegant table and I think my kids are going to love it.  The rest of us at the table are going to be “boring adults” so I think the bunny straws are a nice touch, ha!

And of course, I had to add a bit of sparkle and glitter!  This glitter Happy Easter garland from Pottery Barn (purchased a few years ago) was another fun addition.  I wish they still carried it but they have a couple of other fun ones.

I’m so glad you could join me today!  Do you have any fun floral ideas pinned yet from our blog hop?  Make sure to save them for later. Here are some shopping links for your convenience below.

I would love it if you subscribed at the top of the page in order to receive my weekly emails of all my latest posts and to receive my monthly calendars and freebies.  You can also follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook to see what I’m up to in creating a home and lifestyle of inspiration!

Now, please continue on to see what my friend Amy at Crazy Chic Design has in store for you!  And don’t forget to stop by each of my fabulous friends joining me today to see what they share!

Happy Happy Nester |  Citrine Living | Crazy Chic Design | Styled With Lace | Inspired By Charm
Maison de Cinq | Meme Hill | 2 Ladies and a Chair | Lindsay-Hill Interiors | Dwellings by Devore |
Oscar Bravo Home | 

xoxo,

The post How To Create A Fruit And Floral Arrangement appeared first on Summer Adams.

Do you need ideas to style your home for Spring? My friends and I are sharing 14 different ways today so get ready to start pinning and being inspired!  Spring is less than a week away!

Welcome to all of you coming from Maison de Cinq!  I recently met Sheila at the Design Bloggers Conference (more on that coming soon, I promise) and can I just tell you….she is as lovely and as sweet as she appears on her blog!  Sheila is just a genuine, talented, beautiful and kind soul and I adore her!  I’m sure you know that by now and I’m sure you loved her Spring tips as much as I did!  Welcome, once again, to all my regular readers and I’m so glad you’re here!

Just 2 days ago, I shared how I styled my master bedroom and dining room for Spring and refreshened it a bit.  You can read all about it HERE!  Today, I’m sharing with you my kitchen and nook decor for the Spring.

You may notice that I’m using a certain color throughout the entire downstairs of my home.  I’ll be sharing my family room and living room on another day and you’ll see even more of this color.  Here’s a hint…it was chosen as Pantone’s color of the year.  Yep!  Green!  I just love it so much.  It says “rebirth” and “fresh” and “new” and “alive” to me, when I think of everything blossoming and growing once again.  So I brought that feeling inside.

I’ve been trying to keep more fresh fruit and veggies readily available to my kids (washed and cleaned) so that they’ll just grab it and go, instead of a packaged snack.  These delicious green apples double for decor too in that lovely gold bowl.  If you remember, I shared how I added gold and brass to my kitchen last year.  So another pretty pop of gold, besides the bowl, is this cute little teacup with gold polkadots.

I happened to have some fresh white roses and baby’s breath in another room so I stole just a little from that other arrangement.  With some plant food, it stayed gorgeous like this for over a week!  Crazy right?!  I was thrilled.  It’s so fun to use what you have.  Just look around you!

And if you have been following along with me for a while, you know I love my Dirty Diet Cokes, which call for limes.  So I always have those on hand and thought I’d wash and clean them and have them ready to go in a pretty apothecary jar.

When the roses on that kitchen nook table (previous picture above) finally died, I decided I would do something I did HERE when I wanted to keep peonies around all year long.  My friends from AFLORAL were kind enough to send me some gorgeous faux stems and this gorgeous antique gold floral urn to create a fabulous faux floral arrangement.  Why?  I knew I had a LOT of traveling going on this spring and I didn’t want to keep buying fresh flowers every week, just to turn around and hop on another plane and come home a few days later to dead flowers.  I love my husband and children.  But they do NOT understand that you have to look after your blooms.

Afloral sent me some seeded eucalyptus hanging spray stems so I put them in the floral foam brick, hanging off the sides.

I also used wisteria bushes and had them hanging over the sides.  They’re so pretty!

I added ranunculus stems,

I added some lovely gardenia sprays,

and I also used a few mini white peony bushes to use for a great filler.  I just cut them the sizes they needed to be and stuck them in the foam brick.

Isn’t it gorgeous?!  So, about 45 minutes after I was finished with it, a friend dropped by to borrow an ingredient she was in need of for her dinner.  Her jaw dropped when she saw these and said from across the room, “Did you husband send you that?  Wow that’s gorgeous!”  I told her that he had not and to go take a closer look.  She touched them and said, “I can’t believe it!  They are faux!”  That’s right.  And that’s exactly why I wanted to order from Afloral because they weren’t your grandma’s “fake flowers”.  Their faux real-touch and silk flowers (and dried) are all so gorgeous, as are their trays and vessels.  I highly recommend them!  This arrangement makes such a statement and brings life to my little kitchen nook.

Just to the right of my little round table is that cute vintage tea cart that I decided to keep in the nook.  This little nook needs all the fun it can get!

I usually keep a Hot Cocoa Station on it during the Fall and Winter.  But now that it’s Spring, it’s the perfect place for guests to come and help themselves to some tea, sparkling water, make an italian soda, and enjoy a few sweets.  You know I usually have something fresh coming out of the oven to put on that cake stand, right?!

Well, I’m thinking it’s the perfect time for some Lemon Cream Cupcakes maybe?

Or possibly this delicious Coconut Cake that I shared with you last Easter?  Or Coconut French Macarons?  (Oh gracious, I should NOT blog about desserts when I’m this hungry.)  There are so many favorites.  I suppose I’ll just have to bake them all!  Just not in one week or you’ll see this blog turn into a “how to lose weight” blog haha.

Thanks to Afloral for sending me such fabulous stems and that gorgeous vessel!  I’ll be sharing a couple of other things they sent me next week!  Here are some other pieces from my home (or similar items) that you may have seen in this post and I’m linking them below for your convenience.

(AFFILIATE LINKS USED BUT ALL OPINIONS ARE MY OWN)

I would love it if you subscribed at the top of the page in order to receive my weekly emails of all my latest posts.  You can also follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook to see what I’m up to in creating a home and lifestyle of inspiration!

I’ll be sharing more of my home this Spring next week, but for now…hop on over to my dear friend Tamara at Citrine Living!  You’re in for a treat because Tam is not only beautiful and kind but she has impeccable taste and her home is so lovely.  You probably won’t want to leave BUT make sure you do eventually because these other fabulous blogger friends of mine are waiting for you to visit their homes as well.

MemeHill | CrazyChicDesign | DwellingsByDevore | KnowHowSheDoesIt
HappyHappyNester | 2LadiesAndAChair | LindsayHillInteriors | StyledWithLace
HomeAndFabulous | InspiredByCharm| OscarBravoHome | MaisonDeCinq | Citrine Living

xoxo,

The post 14 Ideas For Styling Your Home At Spring appeared first on Summer Adams.

I returned home to Dallas last week from Los Angeles, where I attended the Design Bloggers Conference (more on that later), to find that my trees in the yard were all blooming. Spring! It’s arriving! I couldn’t be more excited! So today I’m sharing with you a few things I’m doing to “freshen up my home” for the spring in this Spring Home Tour, sponsored by our friends at Annie Selke.

For those of you coming from Shabbyfufu, welcome! Isn’t Janet’s home so dreamy?! It always feels magical when I’m visiting her beautiful home through her blog. I hope you’re pinning away and feeling inspired. Welcome back to all my regular readers and I’m so glad that you come often to share ideas!

Ok, so there are a few things I do in the spring to “freshen up” my home.

Let’s head into my master bedroom.  First, I give everything a good wash, right down to the mattress cover.  I vacuum all our mattresses with the hand-held attachment on my vacuum and then I steam the mattresses (I used to do it once a month but then I had kids and now I do it once a quarter, ha) to kill any dust mites.  I take out any fur rugs or throw blankets and substitute them for something lighter.

I normally have a large, heavier quilt on the end of my bed, that we like to snuggle up with if we’re not getting all the way into the bed and under the sheets. Instead, I replaced it with this gorgeous WRUFFLE IVORY MATELASSÉ THROW from Annie Selke’s Pinecone Hill.

I love the light knit and the lovely crochet trim around the edges. It’s the perfect pretty throw blanket I needed here for the spring and summer and I love its vintage charm.  I also do something else….I pull out my open-toed slippers.  You may find it odd, but I can not walk barefoot on our floors downstairs.  They are just so hard on my feet and I know it’s bad and dries them out too.  But I don’t like my heavy, warm slippers I use in the winter.  So these are just the perfect pair.  Aren’t they just the prettiest house slippers?!

I also replaced the other boudoir pillow I had on the bed for this WRUFFLE IVORY MATELASSÉ DECORATIVE PILLOW from Annie Selke that matches the throw perfectly. I like it so much better.  It is the thickest, softest pillow and I love the waffle weave texture.  I love relaxing against it when I’m reading to the kids.

Both the quilt and the pillow are from Annie Selke’s new Artisanal Collection that Annie is calling her “or•glam•ic” line.  How cute is that?!  Organic with a little glam….right up my alley!

In Texas, it just doesn’t get cold enough to use flannel or heavier sheets in the fall and winter.  But if you use them where you live, now is the time to get out your crisp cotton sheets and put them on the beds and put the others away.


If you visited my master bedroom recently from my Updated Vanity and Master Bedroom Tour, you saw this lovely vanity I switched out from the previous one.  In the spring, I often have fresh flowers here.  Just not today, as we are traveling a bit.  But I do switch out any of my body sprays or lotions for lighter floral scents and toss any perfumes that I am not using or liking or smell a little old.  They don’t last forever, ya know!

In that same post, I was still looking for a pair of matching chairs to put on either side of this little French provincial end table. I’m still looking for that perfect pair, but until then I decided to bring these two vintage chairs upstairs and put them here.  It’s so pretty with the sunlight coming in, I had to have a place to sit.  And let’s try to pretend that Josh doesn’t throw his clothes on them at the end of the day (cringe).  Haha!  I know I’m not alone in this…right, ladies?

One, I found at a garage sale for less than $50 and it was a hot mess. It was mustard yellow worn velvet with a TON of cat hair all over it. Painting the edges white and recovering it with linen was a labor of love but well worth it. A good friend actually saw it in her neighbor’s yard sale and texted me a picture and told me I had to have it. I agreed. This was back in Waco and was the last thing I purchased there before we move to Vegas. If you follow me on Instagram, you know that we’ve moved a lot for my husband’s job in the last 5 years. (Ruffle throw blanket sold HERE in my online shoppe.)

This other chair was my Great Aunt Wanda’s and she gave it to me when I got married before she passed. Oh how I just loved her! But I didn’t love the bright red velvet and dark trim so much. So I had a friend’s father reupholster it (back when we lived in Waco) and I painted the wood as well. I’m so happy with the way it turned out.

The chairs may not be matching, but that’s okay. I think it gives this room a little more character and they are pieces that I love and have sentimental value.

Let’s move on to the Dining Room…I love love love fresh flowers.

These gorgeous hyacinths were a bunch that I purchased at Trader Joe’s right before leaving to Beverly Hills for the Design Bloggers Conference. They had a variety of colors so I bought the pink, fuchsia, and darker purple. I had every intention of arranging them in something beautiful, but while waiting to arrange them, they sat in this lovely white marble pitcher overnight and just sort of stayed there. I thought they looked so pretty that I didn’t want to disturb them.  It doesn’t have to be fancy to be pretty, right?!

Once they passed on to flower heaven (which was by the time I returned from my trip because no one in my house knows how to take care of flowers but me haha), I decided to move a few of my {many} mercury glass candlesticks into the dining room and put them on the center of the table. But they seemed to be a bit dull and I wanted to liven them up.

I’m using green a lot in my home this spring.  You’ll see more of that on Wednesday and next week in some fun upcoming posts.  I remembered loving some gorgeous candle wreaths from Magnolia Market that I used in one of my Christmas Dinner Tables, so I decided to make a little spring version set.

All I did was grab a few bunches of pretty faux boxwood stems and used a little floral wire to connect 3 pieces together in a circle, at 4 different spots (1/2 inch long at each spot).  I covered the wire with a little floral tape and voila! Easy peasy!  All 3 took me about 2o minutes and definitely brings a bit of spring to these pretty candlesticks.

Last week, I shared how you could have peonies all year long. Did you get to visit and read that post? If not, you can click HERE.  I love flowers all year long in my home, be it fresh or faux. But I believe everyone should enjoy flowers around your home in the spring time. Peonies are my favorite. What are yours?  I have a special place for these beauties so stay tuned!

Well, there are a few ideas for now to get you started and ease into Spring.  Freshen up your bedroom with some new bedding options for spring and take care of those mattresses!  Change up your furniture to keep things “fresh” and different without buying all new furniture.  And bring some floral, fresh or faux, and place them around the home.  I think you can do it, don’t you?!  Here are some shopping links I’ve included below, for your convenience.

(affiliate links used but all opinions are my own)

I’ll be bringing you several other tips in the next couple of weeks, along with some yummy recipes so make sure and stay tuned. I would love it if you subscribed at the top of the page in order to receive my weekly emails of all my latest posts.  You can also follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook to see what I’m up to in creating a home and lifestyle of inspiration!

Now, please head on over to my dear friend Tanya at A Darling Daydream to see what she’s sharing with you this Spring.  I just know you’ll just fall in love with her home and never want to leave!  And please make sure to visit my 3 other ridiculously talented friends as well to see what they are sharing with you today!  We love sharing our new favorite Annie Selke goodies and our spring ideas with you!

ShabbyFufu    StylehouseInteriors    ThePinkDream   A Darling Daydream

See you soon!

xoxo,

The post Spring Home Tour with Annie Selke appeared first on Summer Adams.

Pink peonies!  They are my absolute favorite.  Really, I love all colors of peonies but that light pink or blush color is what I swoon over.  The only thing I don’t like about them is how quickly they come and go every year.  They are only in season for a few weeks, it seems.  I recently discovered a way to have peonies in my home all year long and I’m so excited to share them with you.

I was scrolling on Instagram a few weeks ago and came across the feed of Afloral and saw that they had real-touch peonies.  These are faux, of course, but they looked so real and were so gorgeous.

On their Instagram account that day, they had shared this picture of Rachel Elizabeth who had purchased them and put them against the side of her sink.  (Rachel is so ridiculously creative and such a treat to follow.  I love her blog.) Don’t they look so real?!

I knew I had to have them and contacted Afloral right away to order several of the Real Touch Mini Pink Peony Bundles and add them to my home for the spring.

I also added them to this tray for a lovely display.  Ruffle throw blanket comes in 4 different colors and can be found HERE in my online shoppe.

They feel real and look real.  And instead of having them for just a few weeks, I get to have pink peonies all year long.  I’m so excited!

I’m including some lovely trays and vases for you to shop from below.  I hope you’ll get these lovely faux peonies from Afloral and love them as much as I do.  Let me know what you think!

(affiliate links used but all opinions are my own)

I’m so glad you stopped by! Make sure to drop by on Monday to see my Spring Tour and how I styled these lovely peonies.

I would love it if you subscribed at the top of the page in order to receive my weekly emails of all my latest posts.  You can also follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook to see what I’m up to in creating a home and lifestyle of inspiration!  See you soon!

xoxo,

The post How To Have Peonies All Year Long appeared first on Summer Adams.

Oh how I just love this time of year! I captured these blossoming almond trees on the way to meet our friends in California at the beach house and had to stop and capture the magical beauty of it all. I wish I could have just brought it with me back home and enjoyed it there as well. But our homes don’t have to be dull or dreary after all of our back-to-back holidays over the last 6 months. What do you do after putting away the easter baskets and bunnies? Brightening up your home at spring and giving it some small attention is easy and can cost you little to nothing, depending on the decor you might have throughout your home (and hiding in closets, like me…ha!). Here are some changes I have made that gave me just that “refreshed” feeling our little nest needed.

First and foremost, I just LOVE entertaining and having friends over! I feel like the table is the heart of our home. It’s where I share my favorite dishes with my family (I enjoy cooking for them so much) and it’s where we have the best conversations after a long day. And I equally LOVE coming up with a new tablescape so I decided to do something a little more creative and really have some fun. This is one that has been in my head for months and I couldn’t wait for a chance to do it. I needed just the right season. And this, it is!

My starting point was the floral. Easy since I’ve worked fresh flowers into my grocery budget on a weekly basis. I highly recommend this as it gives such a sense of life in your home and natural beauty. As long as you change the water and add plant food throughout the week, they will last and last. You may not even need to buy them sooner than every 10 days. {One tip: Keep your house temp low! Being too conservative with your air conditioning and temperatures rising will cause your flowers to wilt and die more quickly. Always test your AC as you come into spring so you know that it’s working properly. If it isn’t you can get air conditioning repair Lynchburg before the hot weather hits and your flowers suffer!}

I love having a simple, beautiful white plate. The “charger” idea was actually inspired by something I saw Joanna Gaines do last fall so I decided to make it my own and more affordable. I went to Michaels Craft Store and grabbed 4 summer garlands that were all green with these tiny white blossoms. Each garland is long enough to make two chargers (wreaths). I cut them in half and connected the ends (each end has a plastic circle that you can insert the opposite end through). It creates a circle, looking like a wreath, and you simply place the plate on top. I found these adorable mini chalkboard paddle boards at Rod Works (also shop them here or here) and created individual chalk art on each one. All 8 of them only took 30 minutes (I’m NO artist) but it was fun!

Each of my messages were about eating but you could also create holiday greetings and art, write down your menu, or write your guests’ names on it as a place card.

I grabbed one of my tree trunk slices (found here) and a bouquet of faux spring flowers I’ve had for a few years now and created a smaller arrangement next to my gorgeous larger (fresh) arrangement. They complimented each other perfectly and gave the table more dimension. Loving the natural elements!

You can grab ” target=”_blank” rel=”nofollow”>paper dinner napkins or ” target=”_blank” rel=”nofollow”>linen dinner napkins for that crisp, clean look. I thought a little ribbon tied around the silverware would give another fun touch to the table. Since I’m a stripe-lover, this kiwi-striped ribbon was just the perfect choice!

Doesn’t all of this greenery and floral shout “IT’S SPRING!” to you?!! My dining table never looked so cheerful! Now, I wouldn’t be a very good hostess if I invited you to my table and didn’t share something delicious with you! This green bean dish is my family’s favorite and tastes too good to be good for you!
Here’s the recipe for my Sweet & Savory Green Beans:

5 pieces of bacon
1/2 small sweet onion, chopped
1 TBSP apple cider vinegar
1 TBSP sugar
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 lb. green beans
1/4 cup slivered almonds (optional)

Cook bacon until crisp. Remove from pan and drain on paper towels. Add chopped onion to bacon fat and cook until clear. Add the vinegar, sugar and salt to onions. Stir and make sure sugar is completely resolved. Add green beans to pot of boiling water for about 3 minutes. Drain water and add beans to onion mixture. Crumble bacon on top to serve. If you desire, add slivered almonds as well before serving. Bon appétit! {Don’t forget to pin and save for later!}
Let’s run upstairs to one of my so-called “problem areas” in my home. I have a wide hallway leading to the side of the house where my children’s bedrooms and my office are located. On one side, I have a lovely armoire (in the middle of a transformation and will be shared soon) and on the adjacent side….this little bend. It’s had several things hung on this little wall space. But it doesn’t get barely any natural sunlight (which makes it difficult to photograph well) and such a “blah” area. Especially now that spring is here, I wanted to brighten it up. I’m loving all the framed botanical prints out there so I found some free prints online and printed them out on cardstock and added them to these gorgeous beaded frames with matting (only $14 on clearance at Michaels….score!!). They turned out perfectly.
I knew just what last little touch it needed….a small end or console table or plant stand. Home Goods just happened to have this lovely piece with gold legs and marble top. I grabbed my large glass bottle from Hobby Lobby I already had and some faux spring branches and voila! The perfect little vignette that brought this dark and dreary space to life and a touch of spring to the upstairs level.

Other ways to brighten up your home and incorporate touches of spring can be….
Use decor pieces with green vine, moss, boxwood, etc. to create small vignettes. I bought this adorable moss basket a few years ago and combined it with a small nest (also already had in my stash) as well as one (of many) birds in my decor closet. A subtle but fresh and cheerful addition to my fireplace hearth.

From across the room, a simple spring wreath brightens up any space and can be the perfect floral accent if you don’t care to run out and buy those fresh flowers.

While I’m a neutral-lover, I thought I’d experiment and bring out new pillows with gentle pops of color in all 3 corners of our sectional (outside pillows found at TJ Maxx, pom pom pillow from H&M, sofa from Macy’s). While I love my beiges and greys mixed with some aqua, it will take some getting used to! I do think it livened up this family gathering spot though. I love changing out accent pillows for each season/holiday. It’s an easy and inexpensive way to transform your room. While sticking with neutrals, changing the pillows and a few pieces of decor can allow you to experiment with many different color schemes and styles.

Those that know me well and come for a visit also know that I will probably have something special awaiting them My vintage tea cart (found several years ago in Waco, TX) is the perfect place for serving refreshments for guests (or a hot cocoa bar in the winter here or even used for a summer garden party here). My latest obsession? Macarons! My daughter and I make them frequently and they are just the perfect size to satisfy your sweet tooth. (aqua goblets from HomeGoods)

I grabbed yet another wood slice, placed it on top of my jade cake stand and then added my floral arrangement. I love how an inexpensive bouquet of flowers from the supermarket can be clipped and arranged to make a completely different centerpiece.

I’m so delighted you could stop by and visit! I hope you leave feeling inspired and ready to freshen up your own home. Please visit these 13 other FABULOUS friends of mine whose blogs will make you swoon as they share some other ways to bring touches of spring into your home! Click on their links below!

xoxo, Summer

The post Brightening Up Your Home At Spring appeared first on Summer Adams.

(image via Monica Rezende Flores)
Sometimes a floral arrangement can absolutely take my breath away! That is what this one did when I happened upon it this morning.   So I decided to share with you some of the most stunning floral arrangements that I have found lately.
All images below can be found HERE on my pinterest board, and also the sources.

I have this pedestal stand above so I’m going to have to try this! This is such a perfect centerpiece for a tea party!

How gorgeous are all of these arrangements?!!  Some are harder to put together than others but ALL totally DIY-able!  I’ll post instructions on a DIY floral arrangement soon!

The post Breathtaking Floral appeared first on Summer Adams.