Marché Maison's Spring 2017 Home Tour, Part 2

Welcome back to Part 2 of my 2017 spring home tour! I decided to start off the tour in my dining room with this chalkboard. I found this empty hall tree frame at a yard sale for $15 I think? It has been a few years...all the yard sale purchases are now blurring together! ha! I had a piece of masonite cut to size at Home Depot and painted it with black chalk paint. I absolutely love changing it every season. I look for inspirational quotes or verses that speak to me. At Christmas, my daughter drew a wreath of words with all the names of God, I hated to erase it! Yes, as this quote says, it has been a long winter, but what type of "winter?" Yes, snow, cold wind, ice, etc. But what about a winter season in life? I feel like I have been in a winter season for quite some time now. God has brought us through our own winter here of career moves, a house move and the passing of my mother! The analogy my husband has used is that we have been in a storm on the sea floating on a piece of driftwood and and the skies are now clearing and we see a beautiful island beach up ahead. We are still paddling but there is hope. Ultimately, that hope at the core is my belief in the Alpha and Omega, the creator and sustainer of all things! No matter the storm, he has a plan and a purpose for all things (Romans 8:28) Nothing is wasted! So that was a long way to say that this quote is deeply meaningful to me!

Zoomin' in here on some detail that is hard to see in the big pic! Here is a soft birds nest made of feathers and grasses, and what nest would be complete without an egg or two, right?! I also put these light and airy wire bird cages into the vine. I love this grape vine because it is neither purchased nor manufactured looking but discovered. I found it while I was getting Christmas greens a couple of years ago.

Actually a cool story - we had just moved (and as I mentioned above, a heart breaking move) in to our Allentown town home in October of 2016, my mother passed away November 30th 2016. I had nothing in me to do Christmas decor. I was at a client appointment and noticed there were large pine trees being cut down and the workmen were laying the branches on the side of the road. This vine was all over the branches so I had to untangle it. So thank you God for my 2016 Christmas greens - the workmen even cut up the branches for me with their chain saws!

So the vines had been torn away from the pine branches and had a mind all of their own. I had to train them to relax and be purposeful over this chalkboard! I added some princess small leaf green garland for a splash of green. I even like the green as it is the color of new budding leaves.

If you haven't seen this antique before in a previous blog post...this is a Gates belt holder, probably hung in a factory somewhere getting all chippy, rusty and old. Too bad, I get to take this forgotten "junk" and make it a marvelous tea cup display! I am sure I could use it for many things - do you have any ideas? Comment me below, I would LOVE to hear them!

I had mentioned in Part 1 of the Spring home tour that I had another bucket and they came with an accessory. So bucket #2 is here full of blooms and whimsically hanging. The accessory is the wooden gear looking thing which has an iron hook which is now hanging on the chalkboard/hall tree hook. Yes, don't worry, I will most definitely reunite them together and do something where both buckets are hanging from this gear thing. For now they both have important jobs where they can shine separately! The buckets came with that multi string jute which I have enjoyed as it has a different look than typical jute or burlap. Oh, and in case I forgot to mention it, I got the buckets, gear and cool rope ensemble at a thrift store for $6! Score!

These table grape cartons have a story behind them. When you are a Picker as I explained in Part 1, everything has story! I volunteer at a local crisis pregnancy thrift store. For you Lehigh Valley, PA readers, the name is Divine Resale, Allentown, PA - if you live in Allentown - give them some love with donations of household items or clothing A