Weekly Favorites: Art Nouveau Objects of Affection

By Lidy | Published: May 24, 2013

The sweetest collections are often petite, and tug at the heart, like these Antique Art Nouveau Jewlery Caskets do. Lovingly and quite avidly collected, each is a tiny masterpiece.

These boxes are from the Art Nouveau period, which spanned just 20 years, between 1890 to 1910. How sweet are these?

Although they may look like brass, they are actually usually made of molded pot metal, then gilt covered either with a gold wash, or gold plating.

Inside, they were often lined in softest silk, although these days to find one with the original silk lining is rare as they shred over the last 100 years {and expect to pay a premium for those!}

Here in the United States, many of these boxes were made right after the Civil War by companies in New England. They were quite a well appreciated gift for a lady love. The boxes range in size from 1`1/2″ x 2″ to about 5~1/2″ x 6″ at most. Collectors expect to pay up to $365.00 for a wonderfully pristine box, which makes these petite treasures an affordable vice!

I am thrilled to be able to offer a small selection of these boxes which I was privileged to purchase from a collector. See them Here

If you want to romance your Home and Garden with antique and vintage treasures to make you smile each time you come home, visit our shop FrenchGardenHouse.

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Red White & Blue, it doesn’t get any better than this!

By Lidy | Published: May 15, 2013

Red. White. Blue. Classic. French Country. Americana. Happy. Is there any one out there who doesn’t love summer settings with these colors?

A colorful table calls for a memorable meal. In my mind, memorable means easy too…go figure! This chicken is so good, Pesto Chicken on the Grill. Super easy, and super delicious!  My daughter made this for us on Mother’s Day and this is something that Mr. FrenchGardenHouse will be cooking on the grill often this summer. Yum!

Pesto Chicken on the Grill:
1. Chicken Breasts, boneless.
2. Pesto {make your own or just buy the jar at Trader Joe’s!}
3. Seasoned Rice Vinegar.

Mix:
1 c. pesto
1/4 c. seasoned rice vinegar

Pour into a ziploc bag together with the chicken breasts. Let marinate as long as you can in the fridge. You can pound the chicken breasts flatter if you wish. Barbeque. Make lots…it is beyond fantastic!


Recipe from here.  Add a delicious desert and you are going to be happy. And so will everyone else. The best meals are those that are easy to make, since then you can spend most of your time laughing with your guests.

Dishes

If you want to romance your Home and Garden with antique and vintage treasures to make you smile each time you come home, visit our shop FrenchGardenHouse.

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Time to Take Your Dinner Outside

By Lidy | Published: May 6, 2013

Spring. Friends. Family Dinners outside in the garden. Is there any better way to end the day or celebrate the weekend?

I love nothing better than to treat my guests to a simple, delicious meal outside. Is it any wonder that I love these Linen table cloths, runners and napkins? Stylish, casual and romantically tasteful, the tablecloths, runners & napkins make setting a simple elegant table so easy. These sumptuous table linens have a shabby French unfinished edge for added texture, available in White or Bark. Perfect for the French & Belgian country style we all love.

Tie each napkin with a little twine, insert a cutting of rosemary, simple touches like these are a great way to let everyone know :”I’m so glad you are here!”

Perfect for a crowd, or just the two of you.  These linens have a great unfinished edge, best part, they are 100% machine washable and only get better with washing, they get softer and softer.  I don’t iron mine, I love that slightly rumpled look, just be sure to take them out of the dryer when it beeps.  See the Linens here.

What to serve?  I am loving this delicious Pizza by Christine Ha, winner of Master Chef.  I love her, I love this pizza, and so will you!  {Sorry Christine, I cheat and use a premade pizza dough to save time}

Christine’s Arugula Mozzarella Pizza.  Serve with a great big salad, a few wines or sparkling water, and a light dessert. Dinner in the garden = DONE!

If you want to romance your Home and Garden with antique and vintage treasures to make you smile each time you come home, visit our shop FrenchGardenHouse.

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Weekly Favorites: Spode Mandarin {Blue Willow}

By Lidy | Published: May 1, 2013

“The Spode factory was without doubt the most important factory in the 19th century”

Antoinette Fay-Hallé, Curator, Sèvres

Do you love Blue & White porcelain and pottery as much as I do?  I am over the moon excited about this gorgeous antique set of Mandarin made by Spode in 1881 that we have in the shop right now.

A little history on Spode:  Spode has produced high quality products at the same factory in Stoke-upon-Trent, North Staffordshire, England since it was established by Josiah Spode I in the late 1700s.

Josiah Spode I (1733-1797) established his famous pottery in Stoke-upon-Trent in 1770, he finished buying his factory in 1776. In 1778 his son Josiah Spode II (1755-1827) opened a shop in London in order to trade in pottery and was highly successful in sales and marketing. He had to join the Guild of Spectacle Makers as it was mandated to belong to one of the Guilds to operate a business in London, and “pottery” was such a new trade at the time, that it didn’t have its own guild yet!

In 1784 Spode perfected the technique of underglaze transfer printing using designs hand engraved onto copper plates and printed onto biscuit earthenware. Most of the best loved pieces were copies of Chinese porcelain decorated with blue and white landscapes. Spode’s new designs included the Willow pattern {derived from Chinese landscapes} and by 1816 the Italian pattern. The Spode pieces filled a need for replacements for the Chinese porcelain which was becoming very difficult to obtain from Canton, China.

Two birds flying high,
A Chinese vessel, sailing by.
A bridge with three men, sometimes four,
A willow tree, hanging o’er.
A Chinese temple, there it stands,
Built upon the river sands.
An apple tree, with apples on,
A crooked fence to end my song.

There is a well known legend about Blue Willow that most collectors know.  {you can read about it below}  You might be surprised to learn that it was invented by British porcelain manufacturers around two hundred years ago as a clever promotional tool for the marketing of their Willow tableware! Thomas Turner at the Caughley works, Shropshire was the first to reproduce blue over white Chinese Nankin patterns on British porcelain in 1779, and other potters followed, like Thomas Minton, but Josiah Spode is believed to have developed the Willow Pattern in 1790.

Here is the BLUE WILLOW LEGEND:

A wealthy Mandarin of the Chinese Empire lived with his beautiful daughter Knoon~see in a grand palace, surrounded by exotic gardens.  Chang, a low born young man, was the Mandarin’s secretary, he was hopelessly in love with the exquisite Knoon~se.  Knoon~see loved him too, and they met each evening under a weeping willow tree by the river.

When the Mandarin learned of their meetings and love, he dismissed Chang and banned him from the estate.  Knoon~see was imprisoned in a pavillion overlooking the river, Knoon~se was so lonely, she only had the birds as friends. The Mandarin surrounded the palace gardens with a crooked fence, and arranged for his daughter to marry a warrior Duke Ta~jin.  Duke Ta~jin gifted the unwilling bride with a casket filled with precious jewels, but she only thought of her beloved, Chang.

The devoted Chang, unaware that Knoon~se was soon to be married, also cared for and spoke to the birds, dreaming of ways to contact his lost love. He sent a note to her, and while the Madarin and the warrior Duke Ta~jin feasted and got ready for the wedding, Chang and Knoon~se met in secret, grabbed the jewels, and fled across the bridge to a boat that Change had tied up to escape with.  The two lovers sailed to a far away land where they sold the jewels and bought a small pagoda where they livd in bliss. {the Willow pattern shows their distant pagoda surrounded by lush vegetation.}

Seeking revenge, the Mandarin captured and caged all the bird in his gardens.  He and the Duke sent spies to try to find the two lovers, but failed. Finally, the Mandarin thought to release the birds, ordering his men to follow them, sure they would lead them to his daughter and Chang.  The devoted birds, who never forgot their two loving friends, led the evil army straight to the far of pagoda.  The warriors set the pagoda on fire, and tragically the lovers perished.

The gods took pity on the two doomed lovers and blessed their undying love by granting them immortality.  From the charred ruins of their home, the souls of Knoon~se and Chang soared into the sky as two turtledoves, and kissed again, beyond fear, dang, and forever free : they symbolized eternal love.

If you want to romance your Home and Garden with antique and vintage treasures to make you smile each time you come home, visit our shop FrenchGardenHouse.

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Garden Tea Party for Mother’s Day

By Lidy | Published: April 27, 2013

There is something magical about tea ~ hot, cold, it’s refreshing and relaxing.

Reading Tea Leaves – 1910- by Harry Herman Roseland

Mother’s Day is just around the corner, and it’s the perfect reason to have tea in the garden. Gather up the Moms you know, girlfriends too, and make something magic happen.

Set your table with vintage china, delicate sandwiches, and sweet treats, and the party is on. Dappled sunlight makes your table glimmer, laughter rings thru the roses and friendships are strengthened, bonds renewed.


Set the scene with a pretty, feminine tablecloth, and fragrant blooms picked from the garden, or market, in a large antique pitcher.

Mix your tea cups, so that each Mom, daugher, and friend gets a different one. A great conversation starter! {see our teacups here and here.}


Present mismatched antique teaspoons in an antique sugar bowl.

Serve guests a variety of teas, some they love, and some they’ve never tried. {The teas at GreenWillowLiving are wonderful.}  I sometimes use real and silk flowers together to make a lush bouquet.  Use your antique silver dishes to serve cake, tiny little finger sandwiches, and fruit to sweeten the pot. No dishes needed, really.  Enjoy a leisurely time of tea and conversation.

If you want to romance your Home and Garden with antique and vintage treasures to make you smile each time you come home, visit our shop FrenchGardenHouse.

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Cottage Style Magazine Garden Feature

By Lidy | Published: April 17, 2013

I am so thrilled! for my favorite European gardener.

That would be Mr. FgH….he is the one who toils and labors to make our gardening dreams come true. Long ago, when having our own home was only a distant dream, I bought him a beautiful gardening book when we lived in Europe, and wrote that someday we would have our own little gardening paradise. Fast forward 28 years, and he is the one who made that dream a reality!

A while ago, the divine stylist Sunday Hendrickson came to take photographs of our back garden.  It was so fun working with her and her lovely assistant, it was a gorgeous spring day, and it seemed all the roses were blooming “just right”, the birds were singing…perfect.

We truly enjoy our garden, it isn’t really big, but there are plenty of areas to sit with a cup  of tea, catch up with a good friend, eat a meal, or to quietly read a book.  Above you can see my little French Garden House, which is where FrenchGardenHouse got its humble beginnings.  The tree bench was a gift from friends who were moving, it’s a great place to sit under the shade of our huge gingko tree.

Of all the things in our garden, I still enjoy this old vintage ladder, something I picked out of someone’s trash years ago. {as in “stop the car!” I need that in the trash over there!”}  It is a perch for our small collection of birdcages, and the perfect way to show off our blooming geraniums, as well as adding some much needed height to that corner of the patio.

The roses are so beautiful in May and June. Some bloom almost all summer long, like the white icebergs and the Eden {there she is, top right}, others don’t bloom but once a year, but they are glorious when they do.  I have a few old benches here and there in the garden, for some reason I started painting them all aqua, and over the years that has never changed. The aqua is a great color to play against the soothing greens, bright and pastel pinks and creams, and blue flowers we prefer.

I hope that you will get a chance to buy a copy of Cottage Style Magazine, it should be out on the stands right now.  It has wonderful interiors, lovely homes that are so inviting and warm.  You will find our little garden feature in the very back. {see more of it here.} A HUGE  thank you to Sunday, and Harris Publications for including us in this issue.

images:Sunday Hendrickson
If you want to romance your Home and Garden with antique and vintage treasures to make you smile each time you come home, visit our shop FrenchGardenHouse.

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Grill It! Pizza Party

By Lidy | Published: April 15, 2013

Just as soon as the sun peeks out, >I whip the cover off the BBQ and declare that Barbeque Season is OPEN! Not only is BBQ-ing healthy and delicious, Mr. FgH is in charge of that, so that makes spring and summer dinners a breeze. Something on the BBQ, a salad, maybe another side dish & Dinner=Done!

A while back, Better Homes & Gardens asked to shoot our French Country Checked Napkins, and the article they used the napkins for is just exactly the kind of cooking I love to do here in the summer evenings with our family our friends. What could be better than a pizza party on the grill?

Their recipe includes a home made pizza crust, but you could just as easily use those premade crusts. Let each person layer on their favorite toppings, and you have a delicious feast in the making. Here is one of my favorites from their Pizza recipes:

Napa Valley Pizza:

1 recipe homemade pizza crusts or pre-made individual pizza crusts

1 1/2 cups sauteed sliced kale

1/4 cup thinly sliced shallots (about 6)

2 cups grilled grapes, halved **

1 1/2 cups crumbled blue cheese and/or shredded Swiss cheese (6 oz)

2 tablespoons snipped fresh thyme

6 tablespoons toasted hazelnuts or walnuts, chopped

Freshly ground pepper

Honey

1. Place one pizza crust on rack of the grill over med. heat. Close cover and grill 1-2 minutes until dough puffs up. For frozen crusts, grill 2-3 minutes.

Use tongs and carefully turn over, and place on back of inverted baking sheet. Brush with olive oil.

2. Sprinkle crust with 1/4 cup kale and 2 tablespoons shallots, drizzle with olive oil. Transfer pizza from baking sheet back onto grill. Cover & grill

3-5 minutes for crisp crusts, watch for burning. Top with 1/3 cup grapes, 1/4 cup cheese and 1 teaspoon thyme. COver and grill 1 minute more to melt cheese,

remove from grill and top with nuts, pepper and a drizzle of honey.

**To grill grapes, coat a cluster of grapes with olive oil, grill over med. heat on rack of BBQ. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat….don’t these sound delicious?

Be sure to pick up a copy of this great issue, it has 135 pages of delicious grilling recipes and lots of entertaining ideas! My heartfelt thanks to Meredith Publications for including our towels in their great story.

{images from Meredith Corp.}
If you want to romance your Home and Garden with antique and vintage treasures to make you smile each time you come home, visit our shop FrenchGardenHouse.

Posted in Business Bliss, Food to Love, entertaining | 8 Comments

Love Yourself, Love Your Life: Claim Your Beauty

By Lidy | Published: April 9, 2013

Claim your BEAUTY. And say goodbye to your inner ugly. I’m sorry that it has taken so long for part two in this series I started way back HERE. Now that my Mom no longer needs me, I am excited to explore with you how we bad-mouth ourselves, how we can stop that, and how we can love ourselves, and live the way we were always meant to!

beautiful [byoo-te-fel] {adjective} 1. having qualities that give great pleasure or satisfaction to see, hear or think about; delighting the senses or mind.
2. wonderful; very pleasing or satisfying 3. excellent of its kind.

Let’s be honest, we all look in the mirror and ask the same question that the queen in Snow White asked “mirror, mirror, who’s the fairest one of all?” The answer the mirror gave her was the start of ugly behavior, family separation, and a host of unpleasant things. Imagine if the mirror would have answered the queen with ” YOU….you are an amazing woman with fantastic talents. Don’t worry about anyone else. You are perfect!”

Our culture is such a visual culture, everywhere we look are (airbrushed) images of beautiful young, skinny people. Is it any wonder that when you look into the mirror, you see something, well, maybe not quite perfect enough? But as you can see above, the definition of “beautiful” doesn’t even mention young, skinny or perfect.

It is: having qualities that give great pleasure or satisfaction to see, hear or think about. Wonderful, very pleasing or satisfying. Excellent of its kind. YOU!

Your beauty comes from the inside, everything about you tells the story of your life ~  you. Your face is painted with the laughter, courage, determination and struggles of your life. It’s what makes you unique.  Your smile and your eyes portray who you really are, and what you think of yourself.

I lost quite a lot of weight starting two years ago. Right about that time my Mom got Alzheimers. While everyone else started commenting about how great I looked, Mom never did. At first, this bothered me, but I came to understand that she never even noticed I had become quite heavy, or lost weight again. As my Mom, she thought I was beautiful, always had been, and still was. She saw no difference because to her, it just didn’t matter. {that’s a picture of the two of us together long ago}

Each one of us is an original, created by God, painted on by our life’s experiences, to produce a one of a kind masterpiece. Let’s break the habit of telling ourselves we are not beautiful. When you look into the mirror first thing each glorious day, tell yourself “you are beautiful!” It may be a little weird at first, but honest, replacing what you say to yourself will make a huge difference in your life. Repeat the affirmation, the more you do, the more you will believe it. Soon you will truly “act as if” you believe you are beautiful, gain confidence, and literally glow.

Once you make the decision to be beautiful, and to feel good about yourself, you will be so surprised!  You are beautiful and perfect just the way your are. Treat yourself well, and the rest of the world will, too. A huge side benefit is that you will see the world through new eyes, you will see beauty and loveliness everywhere, and your creative juices will flow like never before!

If you want to romance your Home and Garden with antique and vintage treasures to make you smile each time you come home, visit our shop FrenchGardenHouse.

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Gardener’s Treats Under $25.00

By Lidy | Published: April 5, 2013

Looking for a great little gift for your favorite gardener? I love bringing a small gift for a host or hostess, and it seems that lately, all my friends are gardeners!  Since I’m never sure what plants, seeds, books or tools they may or may not have {gardeners are famous for having pretty much one of everything}  these little soap gifts are just perfect to take along. Our French Jardin Soap Sampler contains rich soap made using traditional French Provencial methods and the finest ingredients,  a most delightfully luxurious way to cleanse and nourish your hands after gardening. Made with scents developed in the Provence, but produced right here in the USA. Comes on it’s own wooden soap dish.

Looking for a fun way to say “thank you” to your favorite country gardener for all the flowers, tomatoes and herbs so generously shared? Our exclusive Country Gardener’s Soap Gift Set combines a Soap Dish {metal, with a faux faucet for fun!} with our Country Soap, handmade in small batches in a 19th century farmhouse using only the finest pure and all natural organic ingredients.


This soap will gently cleanse, moisturize and nourish your skin, an afforable luxury to enjoy again and again. Each bar contains Olive, Coconut, Palm and Vegetable oils, and has just the right amount of Cornmeal and Walnut Shells in it to add a gentle exfoliant for getting hands clean.

My own new favorite soap is this French Apple Soap, made using traditional French Provencial methods and only the finest ingredients, this Savon Pomme d’Amour, or Harvest Apple Soap is a most delightfully luxurious way to cleanse and nourish your hands after gardening, or any other time. Made with scents developed in the Provence, but produced right here in the USA, with 100% vegetable oils, shea butter & cocoa butter to moisturize and nourish your skin, apple blossom oil to delight your senses!

Any one of these make a perfect gift, stock up for your “gift closet” if you have one {a great idea…to keep a few gifts “on hand” for gift giving emergencies} you will love these.

If you want to romance your Home and Garden with antique and vintage treasures to make you smile each time you come home, visit our shop FrenchGardenHouse.

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Easy Bunny Treat

By Lidy | Published: March 27, 2013

Easter is almost here, today I am sharing an easy, fun Easter treat. Although the weather isn’t exactly showing us “Spring” around here, I know the little ones will still expect lots of fun treats at our annual Easter Egg Hunt!

These treats are so cute, and so easy. Using different colors of Peeps Bunnies, you arrange them on wooden skewers, then wrap in either cellophane or a cello bag, tie a ribbon on the bottom, and treat=done! Love these, they are so colorful. {Please be a little cautious when children eat them, you can cut off the spikey part of the skewers, but use adult supervision when eating.}

You can see our Easter Tablescape from last year
HERE, this year I am a little behind in the planning for our annual Easter Lunch. Hoping it won’t rain on our egg hunt, but we can always do it inside, if we have to. Going to figure out what we will be serving then, I hope you are all having a wonderful Wednesday! xo

If you want to romance your Home and Garden with antique and vintage treasures to make you smile each time you come home, visit our shop FrenchGardenHouse.

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