At Loose Ends

A morning walk along the beach is part of our daily routine, but the rest of each day is up to me.

This week I have been "at loose ends" and after lots of company earlier in the month, that feels pretty good.

I never have difficulty finding little projects around the house to keep me busy.

I think it goes back to my childhood of always playing with my mother's tchotchkes.

I love this enamel April Cornell bowl that gets used all over the house in vignettes.

When Steve hung this painting in the guest room, it really changed the color scheme.

Red pillows looked out of place so I stenciled a fabric scrap and made a pillow for the bed - I think I have an idea for another pillow to go along with it.

My neighbor's tree has little purple puff balls this time of year so I cut a bunch that were hanging on our side of the fence to create a pretty a lunch time centerpiece.

When I made this sign the other day, I used rub on letters and I neglected to put everything away,

but that turned out to be a good thing because Steve was tossing a clear wine bottle into the recycle bin when he realized I might want it.

I thought it might be fun to add numbers to the bottle.

I was no longer at loose ends because I grabbed various bottles from cupboards and started decorating them - words decorate another tall bottle.

A little bottle that held Lemon Curd last week now has a cute little label defining Home.

A simple grid adorns another bottle and if you look closely, you'll see numbers at the bottom.

I put all the bottles together for a photo and decided I liked them on the shelf, so there they sit for now.

I'm not rushing the holidays, but I had to use up those "scary" letters.

I leave you with a picture that might give you a clue to my next project - I finished it this morning, but I still have to take pics.

All in all, I am pleased with how I used my time when I was "at loose ends".

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Join me at Poofing the Pillows for Thoughts of Home Thursday

A small collection of glass

 I have been noticing people decorating with vintage bottles.

I only have a few vintage bottles, but I decided that shouldn't stop me from decorating with bottles.

I headed to the attic to find the bottles I decorated a decade ago and gathered other empty bottles from various cupboards.

Metal, twine, wire and ribbon - among other things - were added to bottles to "dress" them up.

Tiny shells, bits of sea glass and a ribbon weren't quite enough for the "beach" bottle, but a quote glued onto a wooden tag finishes it off.

A hand quote finishes off the bottle with the India theme.

The first bottle is new, but I made the other two bottles years ago.

A bit of ribbon was the inspiration for the number bottle.

I finished dressing the bottles yesterday so today's task was to find a home for each bottle.

I can't believe how many hours I spent at the task.

First up was a vintage ball jar from my grandmother which now holds straws on the kitchen shelf.

A glass canister sporting a strip of buttons from Anthropologie holds ribbon.

This bottle was the impetus for a vignette on my favorite green and yellow table,

but my grandfather's bottle capper and a display of hands overshadow the bottle.

3 bottle vases from Ikea dress up the dining room table

and a lone rose from the garden sits on a dining room shelf.

Bottles sitting in a box with books decorate a side table in the living room.

The hallway got a new vignette with a birdcage full of bottles.

Last week I moved the ladder from the front yard to the garden.

A wire garland of bottles was strung onto the ladder and filled with flowers.

It will probably be a lot of work to keep the flowers fresh so I might change the flowers to Halloween items later in the week.

I didn't realize I had so many different glass pieces - definitely a collection.

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I am joining these parties

Shabby Art Boutique - Shabbilicious Friday

Lavender Garden Cottage - Cottage Style Party

Elizabeth and Co.  - Be Inspired

Savvy Southern Style - Wow Us Wednesdays

Rose Chintz Cottage - Home

Ella Claire - Inspiration Exchange

Ivy and Elephants - What's It Wednesday

Tilly's Nest - Down Home Blog Hop

Fluster Buster - Creative Muster Party