Tag Archives: art

How to Decorate With Clever Recycled Flower Vases

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If you really want to liven up a home during the winter months then be sure to have plenty of flowered plants around. Flowers in recycled items that are used as pots are a trendy and eco-savvy way to keep your home blooming with cheer.

For an elegant tall vase cut the top of off a metal olive oil can using a can opener and then place some white poinsettias in it. It is simple to keep the poinsettias in their original tiny pots and just tuck them inside the can. These cans have pleasant looking retro labels as well as a beautiful gold metal color that allows them to be used as holders for your favorite blossoms all year long.

You can also use old china chafing and serving dishes as the foundation for potted plants. Tiny pink hellebores and African violets look amazing potted in this type of antique dish. Blue and white or red and white china, the type that is so plentiful at flea markets, is perfect for this purpose.

For a look that tells others that you care about recycling try wrapping a shoe box in newsprint and then placing potted plants inside. A large paper lilly looks great in this type of home-made planter. The old fashioned method of applying layers of Aqua-Tec and tissue paper to a box to make it look fancy is also very contemporary looking.

You can take any type of pot or package and wind rope, ribbon or fabric remnants around it to create a planter. Simply wrap the carton or box with the fabric the same way you would a present and tie a bow in front. This type of planter makes a very clever and attractive gift.

Old garden pots or even metal cans are easily spraypainted gold, white or silver. These look nice decorated with cords of pearls, stickers or cut-out letters from the craft store.

Old china is another option. Many plants look great simply potted inside an old China teapot. Small ceramic expresso c ups also make charming small planters for succulent plants and small cactuses.

You can find things that can be used in an eco-concious way to make planters everywhere in yoru home and in your yard. Anything that was once a vessel can be turned into one and this includes old Jell-O molds, copper pots and grocery packaging. Old newspapers, wrapping paper and fabric scraps can also be used to decorate these planters.

How to Decorate Your Home in the Tuscany Style

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Add a touch of warmth nod old world charm by decorating the rooms in your home in the classic Tuscany style. This style is characterized by simple earthy colors and materials such as marble, terracotta and iron.

Fountains with falling water are an important component of both the interiors and the exteriors of Tuscany style homes. Tall cedar trees and sunflowers are also motifs that go with this style.

There is a roster of colors that are also associated with this look that helps create a peaceful, soothing atmosphere in your own. The palette consists of yellows, burnt browns, seafoam greens and baby blues. These colors are interspersed with natural materials such as sandstone, marble, plaster and wood. This gives Tuscany homes a slightly distressed and rustic look. To get this is look you can plaster walls and then paint them afterward to minim the look of the painted stone walls in Tuscany. Walls can also be patterned or textured with a sponge that is pressed into paint.

Frescoes and wall paintings of grape clusters, olive groves and cypress trees are also often part of this look. Graphics of fruit are often part of the décor of the kitchen. Limestone, granite, terracotta and marble are often part of the kitchen and the bathroom.

Burke Decor has many items you can use to decorate your home. If you decide to purchase from them be sure to pick up a Burke Decor coupon code from a website like CouponKid.com to save some money.

Tuscan style furniture looks like glamorous polished versions of mission style furniture. It is typically dark in color. Most pieces have wrought iron accents such as curlicues attaching a table top to a table leg. Many Tuscan chairs just have wooden seats with wrought iron legs and arms. However the fabric in the homes is a completely different story. Rich damasks and velvets are common in a Tuscan style home. They make a nice contrast to the austerity of the stone floors and walls.
Tuscan homes often have statues in them. Usually these are representations of Roman Gods and Goddesses. Basses and pottery have these pagan themes as well as, fruit, vegetable and herb motifs. Tin glazed pottery and copper tin pots are also part of this look. Real cornucopias made out of woven basket material are also authentically Tuscan.

Tuscany is a hot sunny place so they always bring a bit of outdoors inside and vice versa. Make sure there are small waterfalls and fountains on your back porch or in the living room. Large clay hearths and urns that hold fire are also essential to this comfortable yet rustic look.