The one thing I love about bohemian decor, is all of the plants! I am a huge gardener, and for years, there are great books on outdoor gardening, but there haven’t been a ton of resources, except for some stodgy old manuals on not killing indoor greenery. I wanted to share the resources I’ve found, and I’ve rounded up some of the 10 Best Houseplant Books for your indoor green thumb. Not only are these books pretty to look at, but they have great information not only on care, but troubleshooting as well for common pests and diseases as well. Some of them are also great resources on how to decorate with plants in your home too.
Just click on the picture to take a peek at each book. (this post contains affiliate links) I love Leaf Supply! They have an amazing store too, and I love following their Instagram account too. If super green and leafy plants aren’t your thing, this is a cute book for succulents and air plants. It’s always good when a plant loves you back! Sometimes I think mine die out of sheer stubbornness… like every Fiddle Leaf Fig I’ve ever owned!
In The Inspired House Plant, I love the cover so much, I was excited to open it up, and I wan’t disappointed! This book is more about decorating with indoor plants, but has some great and approachable ideas for your including greenery and plants in your home.The cover of this book had me at “hello” Urban Jungle is another plant book that is more about decorating too, but it’s great for people who want to have a few plants, but don’t have a ton of space. If you want to read more about decorating with plants, you can look at this post for some ideas.
I hope you enjoy one or two of these 10 best houseplant books. So are you jumping on the real houseplant bandwagon? While I have lots of live plants in my home, I do also have some faux plants. There are some very realistic looking fake plants now, which are a nice way to get the lush green look without having to worry about the care of a real plant.
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I am so excited to be joining an amazing group of bloggers on a tour to show our spring tablescapes. I thought I would put a fun twist on mine! I wanted to take something simple, like white vases in a spring centerpiece, and show you how to style it three different ways! To be honest, I love putting together a really gorgeous tablescape, but now that I work full time, I need more fast and easy things that look pretty and are easy to do, such as myearly spring mantel. . I guess I have a thing for white vases, because I have a lot of them! It was really inexpensive and easy to grab some in different heights, and add some grocery store tulips, and a few extra things with them. Displays and vignettes always look best in odd number groupings, so five seemed like a good number for impact. For look number one, I placed the vases on a live edge wood slab, and added some moss around the base. In our home, we don’t have a separate dining room, so any centerpiece we have needs to be fairly mobile to make way for our dishes, or small enough to work around. The live edge slab is thin enough that we still had room for plates, or if we were feeling brave, we could move the whole thing! For look number two, I grouped the vases with tulips on a marble round tray, and added a tablecloth. What I do like about this is it’s much easier to keep it on the table with our dishes. I will let you in on a little secret… the tablecloth is actually a shower curtain from Target. Ssshhh… don’t tell anyone. It fits out table perfectly, and I love the pattern. Our local grocery store is a bit troubled,so it’s generally referred to “Stupid (insert grocery store name here)” in every day conversation between locals. Once in a while they do surprise me though, and they did have some pretty tulips this time. For the the third look, I placed the vases along the center of the table. I placed the little white vase on a marble cake plate and salt and pepper pinch pots from my shop. It gave it some nice height and contrast. These are fast and easy, right? Which of these three are your favorite? For me, I think it’s the middle one, because it’s the most practical. Thanks for stopping by! If you want to visit my store, or take a workshop in our makery, you can check out our website here. I’m also teaching a Santos Doll workshop in April at the store! Make sure to visit the other homes on the tablescape tour, and see their gorgeous decor! Rooms FOR Rent | Home Stories A to Z | Maison de Pax | House by Hoff Craftberry Bush |Amber Tysl | The Turquoise Home | Jennifer Rizzo Ella Claire | Sincerely, Marie Designs | Modern Glam | The Happy Housie Shades of Blue Interiors | Paint Me Pink | Shabbyfufu | Nina Hendrick Zevy Joy | So Much Better With Age | Jenna Kate at Home | Country Girl Home Maison de Cinq | Crazy Wonderful | French Country Cottage | Home Made Lovely Pine and Prospect Home | My Sweet Savannah | Willow Street Interiors The post White vases in a spring centerpiece three different ways appeared first on Jennifer Rizzo. from https://jenniferrizzo.com/2019/03/white-vases-in-a-spring-centerpiece-three-different-ways.html If you are familiar with the Marie Kondo cleaning method, you’ll know that people have been doing massive clean outs of their homes. In an attempt to get rid of excess items they don’t need, they are donating them en masse to local charity shops. For those of us who like to visit the occasional thrift store in search of a treasure, it’s made the task of finding the “good stuff” much easier! Recently I saw a mantel lined with vintage brass candlesticks on Instagram, and I became obsessed. I loved the idea of lining the top of my faux mantel in a similar way, and I knew I needed to find some ASAP. I started hunting the shops in my area, and with a lot of searching, would come across one or two. I was a little discouraged, thinking that at that rate,I wasn’t going to have my collection until mid-summer. Finally, I hit the jackpot and found five at one shop at one time! I’m still looking for more, but it’s enough to have a sizable collection, and to decorate the mantel.
I love how they are all different shapes and sizes, and when I placed them on the mantel, I arranged them in order of size, tallest to smallest. My neighbor dropped off these gorgeous flowers for me (it was such a treat to get them!), and I thought they were the perfect addition to my mantel decor. I picked up two sizes of plain white candles at Hobby Lobby, they were super-affordable at just over a dollar a piece. I put one of my Pothos plants in a brass planter on one side to balance out the taller sticks on books on the other. I pulled my Gram’s mirror out of storage, and I love how it goes with the brass. Vintage mirrors are such a great way to add a vintage modern touch to your decorating. It looks so clean and fresh for early spring/late winter. The best part is, it’s about a $30 mantel decorating idea! If you like mantel decor, or are looking for more mantel decorating ideas, you can see inspiration here, and here.
The post Faux Mantel with Vintage Brass Candlesticks appeared first on Jennifer Rizzo. from https://jenniferrizzo.com/2019/03/faux-mantel-with-vintage-brass-candlesticks.html Do you love to make your own jewelry or want to learn how? Try making DIY Cork Teardrop Earrings with glitter paint! They are a great beginner’s jewelry making project!
I have to admit, I have a thing for earrings. When I started making jewelry in my parent’s basement when I was 14, they were one of the first things I made. Earrings take minimal supplies, and tools. (affiliate link)You can find some craft cork sheet here. I teamed up with DecoArt to use their brand new Galaxy Glitter to bling them up a bit. It’s a cool new paint that is loaded with glitter. Once you get hooked on making these, you’ll want to try other jewelry projects . There is something fun about being able to make your own custom accessories. They are great for gift giving, and Mother’s Day gifting as well, like this vase, and these wire wrapped earrings. If you want to make these fun DIY cork teardrop earrings, you can find the full instructions on the DecoArt blog. This post was sponsored by DecoArt, opinions are entirely my own. The post DIY Cork Teardrop Earrings with Glitter Paint appeared first on Jennifer Rizzo. from https://jenniferrizzo.com/2019/02/diy-cork-teardrop-earrings-with-glitter-paint.html I’ve never been one of those people who likes iron things. If I absolutely have to, I will, but if I can toss it in the dryer with a wet towel first, I am all in. When I recently changed out my curtains in my dining room, they were super-creased and wrinkly. Since I wasn’t about to iron those bad boys, and they wouldn’t really fit in the dryer ( just kidding…), I used my HomeRight Steam Machine Elite to Remove Wrinkles with Steam from Drapery and Curtains.
(In case you are wondering about the difference between drapes and curtains. Drapes are normally lined, where curtains are not and are generally made out of a lighter, more sheer fabric.) I like to change out my window treatments out on a regular basis. Since we are tight on storage, they all tend to be jammed in the linen closet together. These drapes are linen, so they seem to end up even more wrinkled than other curtains I have. (Affiliate link) I have the HomeRight SteamMachine Elite that I use around my house for many cleaning tasks. I love to use it to steam my ceramic tile, and other heavy duty disinfecting, and indoor and outdoor cleaning tasks. It has a ton of great attachments. For the first time, I finally pulled the fabric steamer attachment and bonnet that goes with it out of the box. You can see the full tutorial here on the HomeRight blog. The one thing I really liked about it, was that it went fast. Once the machine was ready, the steam took even the worst wrinkles and creases out quickly. Steaming both panels only took me about 10 minutes. It was actually very satisfying to see the winkles disappear! It’s funny how once you remove the wrinkles with steam, the drapery panels actually lengthen a bit too (This is a great trick to do before hemming!)! They look so much better, and I love how the steamer even freshened them up a bit after being in the closet for a while. This post is sponsored by HomeRight, opinions are entirely my own.
The post Remove Wrinkles with Steam from Drapery and Curtains appeared first on Jennifer Rizzo. from https://jenniferrizzo.com/2019/02/remove-wrinkles-with-steam-from-drapery-and-curtains.html I recently bought a ceramic lamp, and I loved everything about it : The shape, the main color and even the shade… except the color of the metal base. Even though there is nothing wrong with a silver lamp base, it just didn’t fit into my decor as well. I really wanted something that had a gold/brass coloring. I decided to pull out my multi-surface paints, and give it a revamp. It’s easy to paint a metal lamp base with the right kind of paint. This would be a great way to give an old lamp a makeover. (this post contains affiliate links)
After unplugging, placing it on a tarp, and taping around the cord area, I also taped the base of the socket and the switch. It’s important to keep paint out of any functional or electrical areas. I started by adding a thin layer of multi-surface paint with a soft brush, and let dry. I waited about 30 minutes between coats. If you add the second/third coat too early, it will pick up the paint underneath, and lift it off. You’ll end up with a patchy surface, instead of one that is smooth. A soft brush is important to minimize brush marks. If you want a hammered metallic finish instead of a smooth one, you can try dabbing the paint on with a sea sponge. As each layer dried, I added a new layer. It took about 4 thin coats of the multi-surface paint to get the coverage I wanted. After I finished my final coat layer, I removed the tape, I let it dry a full 24- hours before using.
The best part of a multi-surface paint when you paint a metal lamp base, is that the sealer is already in it, so no addition work is needed. It’s an easy, and very gratifying makeover. I love that the gold tone of the paint, it makes it look like a much higher-end lamp. I paired it on the dresser I made over a few months ago, and the abstract art piece I DIY’d. If you like lamp makeovers, or are looking for inspiration, you can see this one that is painted a coral color here, or this watercolor- inspired lamp shade. You can also update, and makeover a lamp shade with trim, or add fabric.
The post Paint a Metal Lamp Base appeared first on Jennifer Rizzo. from https://jenniferrizzo.com/2019/02/paint-a-metal-lamp-base.html When I was going to make art my initial direction in life right out of high school, I split my time between the theatre program, and art classes. One of my favorite art classes to take was ceramics. There was something about digging my hands into the wet clay, and being able to makes something beautiful, from something so simple and messy, that appealed to me. Even though I veered off-course a bit (by about 12 years ),a few years ago, I was able to get back into sculpting, and I made Santos and Art Dolls. I even taught on-line e-courses for Jeanne Oliver on her creative network, and had a few of my dolls published in various publications. I am so excited to announce I am going to be digging my hands back into clay again, and teaching my first LIVE Santos and Art Doll hands-on workshop at The Collective lhe + Makery!
It’s a two day workshop where we’ll get our hands dirty in clay, and build the dolls from top to bottom , including armature, limbs, sculpting faces, painting, and even making wings if you want to add them! The weekend will include all materials, lunch, snacks and coffee both days.
You can make a doll with a cage-like bottom, or a solid base. We would love to have you join us, and if you’re coming in from out of town, we also have recommended hotels and lodging. The Santos and Art Doll workshop has limited seating, so make sure you register early! You can register or find out more information here. The post Santos and Art Doll Live Workshop appeared first on Jennifer Rizzo. from https://jenniferrizzo.com/2019/02/santos-and-art-doll-live-workshop.html We stayed at The Ace Hotel Palm Springs for the Creatively Made Business workshop. I wanted to share it with you because it was a really fun place to stay, and definitely very Instagrammable!
I was a little surprised when I first landed in Palm Springs, and almost the entire airport was outside! I have to admit, it was out of my norm, and I felt like I had almost never traveled before. It felt very resort-y from the moment I got there, and I loved the fact that Sonny Bono has his own concourse named after him. The Ace Hotel Palm Springs had a very cool vibe the moment I got there. It was one of those, so retro it’s cool again places. They had a lot of great, “modern” design choices that added to the vintage quality, with out it feeling too old. If I had to call it a style, I would say it was retro-eclectic-mid-century-modern-boho-chic. The front lobby had a fun, eclectic, boho, MCM feel. I loved the rock wall with the open shelving, and I wanted to take that chair home. On the other side of the lobby, there was a giant sectional couch, and a window full of really awesome macrame. I kind of felt like these were my people. The restaurant , King’s Highway, had that old, 1970’s thing going on. It was a great gathering place, and I ate there quite a bit. They had an amazing beet salad, and french toast with coffee jam. Even walking to my room, there was an awesome mural by artist Laura Berger on one of the walls. I loved being somewhere that we were surrounded by art. The rooms had a bohemian feel, with low beds, and canvas tarps for curtains. We were hardly in them, and they were the perfect place to drop your stuff, and enjoy the outside. As a part of the workshop, we took a Mid-Century Modern architectural tour. We saw a lot of amazing homes, and heard some really cool background about Palm Springs. We even saw the “famous” pink Instagram door. The other thing that blew my mind, is how much food was just…growing. There were tons of citrus trees of all varieties, olive trees, and pomegranate trees. As someone who struggles to keep my tiny Meyer Lemon tree alive inside, and where things only grow about 5 months out of the year (if we are lucky), this was astounding for me to see around every corner, and how it flourished in the middle of a desert. My one regret is that I never tried a date shake. It sounded really good, and time just ran out. I’ll just have to grab the family and go back to The Ace Hotel Palm Springs. I think they would love the experience of something so different from what we are used to.
The post The Ace Hotel Palm Springs appeared first on Jennifer Rizzo. from https://jenniferrizzo.com/2019/02/the-ace-hotel-palm-springs.html It’s very, easy, when you run a business, to get caught up in the daily grind. You put your head down, and just work, work, work. I’ve been building a creative business for so long now (since 2007!), that sometimes, it’s very easy to forget why I started, and that magic of creativity goes into hiding. It helps me to be taken out of my normal environment to see things in a brand new way!
When Jeanne Oliver’s Creatively Made Business Workshop came up, I knew I needed to go for so many reasons. But, I have to admit, right beforehand, I was wondering if I should really go. I’m not the best traveler, and can get anxious about it. In fact, I had a lot of excuses not to go, and I could have found more. Timing seemed complicated, and there were a lot of loose ends to wrap up. And, even though there’s no reason to, I always feel a little guilty leaving my family behind. In fact, this time while I was gone, the polar vortex swept into Illinois. I was supposed to fly home Tuesday, and they basically closed Chicago. I ended up not being able to get home until late Thursday night instead ( Which made me slightly anxious.). Even though there were worse places to be stranded, I still felt a little twinge when my hubby sent me photos of duct tape around the door to keep the cold out, and I was hanging out in 80 degree weather, by the pool, with swaying palm trees. So, I booked my ticket, and I am so glad I went! I loved that the first sign I saw at the hotel was “Come as you are”… That I didn’t need to show up prepared, I just needed to show up, just as I was.I really wanted to walk out my word of the year this year, which is “Intention”. This workshop not only put me smack in the middle of other women who were doing the same, but it helped me to focus on areas I need to work on, and expand my thought process in other places. Everyone was so open and giving, that it was so easy to talk to everyone. We spent the time sharing our stories, and parts of ourselves. Another thing that helped me unpack mentally, was the 4.5 hour plane rides. I always make a point to bring a hoarder-ish amount of books, pens, and paper, that I lug through the airport, and skip buying the wifi on the plane. There are so few places to disconnect anymore from on-line, that it’s a great opportunity for real decompression. It forces me read and roam, and it also helps my brain quiet down a bit. I need that. I met so many inspiring women, and made new friends. There were so many new dreams and ideas. It gave me inspiration for new directions, and ways to honor what I’ve already accomplished, and explore items that have been placed on my heart. The one thing I love about Jeanne’s workshops is her wisdom. She’s also done amazing things in her own business, and she’s so open and sharing to other women about how they can grow their own their own creative businesses. I’ve been so honored to call her my friend for over 9 years now, she’s such an inspiration to me, and is one of my favorite people. I came to the workshop empty, without expectations, and left full of intention and direction, all because I showed up. What I love even more, is that the word “Expectant” kept coming up. These women came as they were, expectant to grow in new ways. The best part is, many of the other women also said they had doubts about coming, and almost didn’t show up in the last minute, but were glad they came. Jeanne is running another Creatively Made Business later this year, and I hope if you are looking for a boost to your creative business, that you’ll consider going.
I think that was the biggest lesson of all , even when it’s hard, even when you doubt yourself, just show up. The post Come As You Are…Building a Creative Business appeared first on Jennifer Rizzo. from https://jenniferrizzo.com/2019/02/come-as-you-are-building-a-creative-business.html Now that it’s January, it’s a great time to jump back into regular decorating, sprucing up,and pulling the house together. One of the projects involved cleaning a brass plate with ketchup!Before the holiday’s, we had started sprucing up our dining area, that included a birch tree mural. We also hung a vintage door on sliding hardware to our dining area, and I added a vintage brass door plate for character.
We have a little built-in alcove area with a curtain that served as a “door” for ages. Even though it was an easy fix to hide the clutter at the time , it wasn’t ideal for me. I always wanted some kind of door there, but there wasn’t the clearance for a swinging door. Thank goodness for sliding barn door hardware! The opening is narrow as it is, and we could only go up to a 27 inch wide door. I knew I wanted a vintage/antique door there instead of new, and had been searching for a while. Mr.R and I went to the Habitat for Humanity Restore, and after combing through the mountains of doors, found one that would work. It had a great finish to it, and only a few dings and scratches. It was a little tall, so we did have to trim a little off of the top and bottom to make it work. I love all of it’s imperfections; like how there was a door knob at one time that someone patched years and years ago. The other side had a cool pocket door handle with lots of wear and patina. After we hung the door. I wanted to add the final touch, a brass plate I picked up at a antique shop two or three years ago. It was one of those little treasures I came across, that I didn’t have a place for at the time, but squirreled away for the future. It was too cool to pass up. It has a perfect place on the center of the door, and added so much character. However, once it was on, I noticed how dirty it was. I didn’t have any brass cleaner, but I had heard you could clean brass with ketchup, so I thought I would give it a try. After a little research, from what I understand, it’s the acid in the tomatoes that does the work (It won’t work on laquered brass, which a lot of newer brass is because that already has a special coating to prevent discoloration and tarnish.). If you are going to try it, I would always recommend doing a test patch first on an inconspicuous place, especially if what you are going to clean is valuable. I jumped in, and squirted a little bit on a paper towel, and rubbed it on. With a little elbow grease, it immediately started taking off years of grime! What I didn’t anticipate was all of the little grooves I was going to have to get into to really clean it. I have to admit, that was slightly tedious. I used an orange wood stick, and some paper towel, as well as a cotton swab to get in all of the grooves. I couldn’t believe all of the dirt that came off! I wish I had thought to clean it beforehand, next time I’ll know better. I’m on the hunt for more of these vintage door plates. I think they are so cool.
After, use a slightly damp rag to remove any remaining ketchup residue, and buff with a soft cloth. I may go back for a second round, just to see if I can clean up the under-plate a little more. Though, I do like the contrast of the darker brass, and shiner brass against each other. Did you know that mayonnaise can help remove water rings from stained table tops? And Ella Claire has other cleaning hacks here, like how to clean and polish copper. The post Cleaning Brass with Ketchup appeared first on Jennifer Rizzo. from https://jenniferrizzo.com/2019/01/cleaning-brass-with-ketchup.html |
About UsHi Im Veronica. Im a mum of two. Living in the UK. I absolutely love dressing my kids up in stylish little outfits and showing them off around town. When I'm not running around town with my kids, I'm shopping or designing my flat or someone else's. Part time interior designer and self appointed home decor expert. ArchivesCategories |