Tuesday, July 20, 2010

The Lavender Shelf - and missing violets

I’ve been trying to find a way to display some of my favorite treasures in my office/dressing room, and this weekend I decided to paint and “set” a little shelf I bought recently at a thrift store. Here’s the project:

Starting with a small wooden shelf, I spray painted it in a gloss ivory tone and hung it on the wall. (Note: the previous sentence does not even begin to capture my complete and utter ineptitude in the two tasks described.) I was certain that over the years I had collected more than a few items with lavender hues, so this was going to be my Lavender Shelf. I started by softening things up with a pillowcase hung on the rod. This pillowcase had been embroidered by my great-grandmother. I also added a pretty floral hanky to the shelf:


Next, I spent some time looking for a teacup I have around here that has a really pretty pattern of violets on it - I’ve been saving it for just such a project as the Lavender Shelf. So naturally, I couldn’t find it. I settled for this teacup instead, which is just as pretty (if not as violety) and has my own hand-poured soy candle in it. I also added two vintage postcards as part of the backdrop:


Next up, while looking for my violet teacup I found this 3-paned photo frame and decided to use that on the shelf as well. I sought out fun favorite photos of my hubby, myself and our daughter, printed them out, and then cut them to fit the frame:


Finally, I decided that instead of the teacup I would use one of my favorite pieces from my clay project collection - you can read a little more about him on my clay project website, but the short version is that he is a flea-market find and certainly falls into the “lavender” category:


The finished project looks like this:


What I love about creating a little vignette like this is that every item here is either special to me personally, or is something I bought simply for its beauty and the faith that someday I would be able to make something enjoyable out of it.

More soon!

4 comments:

  1. I love vignettes that include special mementos and yours does just that! Thanks for linking up to the party (and being so kind as to include a link back)!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Beth, likewise - thanks for the link party opportunity! I've been around the blogosphere for a long time and that was a new twist for me. Delighted to be able to share my project, and blessed to be connecting with so many wonderful new people in the decorating, homemaking and crafts community!

    ReplyDelete
  3. It is so pretty! I love the white with the lavender. The tea cup was super pretty but it is nice that you found a favorite piece to replace it. I think it adds whimsy. Great job.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks for the kind words, Tara, great of you to stop by! I'm still debating whether I need something on that little *bottom* shelf... maybe a sprig of faux lavender or something :)

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...