Tag Archives: Mrs. B at Home

12 Days of Christmas

December 4, 2007UncategorizedMrs. B at Home, Mrs. B DIYMrs. Blandings

Remember how we were talking about decoupage? When I was pulling out the Christmas decorations, I was reminded of one of my – on-going – projects.

When my oldest was born in November (1996), I thought it would be great to make frames to put his Santa pictures in each year. So I started with the Twelve Days of Christmas theme and I was off.

A partridge in a pear tree.

Year one was easy. I mean, the frames were always easy. It was Santa that got a little tricky. Year two was OK. Two turtle doves.

Year three was a no go, but he was quite happy in the living room. Three French hens.

Year four. Nope. Actually, there is a picture, but I am in it and I am hugely pregnant and in a red sweater that in some way my shrinking brain thought was attractive. Not to be trotted back out every Christmas. Four calling birds; again, happy in the living room.

I swore I would never do this as there is an identical picture of me at this age and I can remember seeing it and thinking, “What was the point of that?” But he was fine when I put him down and instructed the guy to “just take the picture.” But he kept trying to jolly him up with talk of Barney, to whom he had not yet been introduced. So, there’s this. Don’t miss his brother’s expression. It pretty much has not changed since. Five gold rings.

Back to the living room. Six geese a-laying.

A switch to the red office so maybe you won’t notice there is no Santa in the picture. Seven swans a-swimming.

Mmm-hmmm. Number three. Didn’t even try. Eight maids a-milking.

This was the lost year of developmental specialists and speech therapists. I do have Christmas pictures, I wasn’t completely unhinged, just not of all three. I think. I still have three rolls of mystery film that need to be developed. This is why digital is a good thing for me. (By the way, all is well.) Nine ladies dancing.

So now, with the possibility of Santa success, the oldest generally has basketball games when we have the opportunity to go without mayhem. So, I have the Santa pictures, but not with all three. Ten lords a-leaping.

This might be the boys’ equivalent of the red maternity sweater picture. Matching sweaters courtesy of their grandmother. Eleven pipers piping.

This year makes twelve. Mr. Blandings and I are good friends with a great couple, you know, when both of you like both of them? Anyway, the husband and I are eerily alike in many ways, except mainly gender and politics. And, I know almost nothing about music and he knows a lot. So I e:mailed him to ask him his top twelve drummers. And this is the list. Clockwise from top left, Neil Pert, Buddy Rich, Lars Ulrich, Keith Moon, Connie Kay, Nick Mason, John Bonham, Gene Krupa, Max Roach, Steward Copeland, Art Blakely and Ginger Baker. Now, don’t e:mail me telling me you have an issue with the list. When I came up with the concept, I said to Mr. Blandings, “What about contemporary drummers? Like Slash?” Diet Coke almost came out of his nose. Hey, I’m just the idea guy. Twelve drummers drumming.

Ta-Da!

November 28, 2007UncategorizedMrs. B at Home, needlepointMrs. Blandings

You might remember from a previous post, that I was stitching up some fun for the Blandings boys for Christmas. Each year they pick ornaments, usually something to do with their current obsession, and I work away to have them finished before we put up the tree.

The eldest’s red Jaguar.

This year, with a bit of encouragement, they all chose cars from Joanie Sherman’s new line.

The mal-adjusted middle child’s yellow Mini. I’m kidding. He’s not mal-adjusted. Yet.

Joanie has painted and designed so many of my projects; she’s a local treasure.

And the youngest’s (I am not a baby) orange bug.

There are other models in the line including SUV’s for those of us who want to be environmentally conscience, but just had too many kids who have too much stuff.

The great thing about these projects is they are small, easy to hold and don’t take that much time. Unlike the Chinese chrysanthemum that is currently languishing in a bag.

You can contact the Studio on line to order ornaments for next year. See, you’re not behind, you’re ahead!

15 Years – A Retrospective

November 9, 2007UncategorizedMrs. B at HomeMrs. Blandings

So this week I’ve been ravaging my treasure trove of vintage design magazines. House and Garden, Architectural Digest, Art and Antiques, House Beautiful. The best of the best. So many of the original layouts that we are sifting through twenty, thirty and forty years later. Some of it holds up. Some, not so much.

It’s made me consider how pieces in my own home have evolved. I wish I could follow Sister Parish’s advice and not buy new things, just use my family’s pieces, but I’ve added a little here and there. That said, a lot is hanging around.

This was our family room in the first house. These brass lamps were Mr. Blanding’s grandmother’s; they are in my living room now. I’m sure I threw these shades away. Ick. They were old. I’d forgotten about them until I pulled out this picture. Maybe they were truly icky, but they seem dreamy now.

This was the living room when Mr. Blanding’s moved in. Again, his great-grandmother’s sofa in the velvet stripe. It was lovely, but unevenly faded. (That’s office chair in the corner in her avocado green leather.) I did save the chintz floral pillows; they don’t have a home right now, but I keep thinking there will be a spot someday that is just right.

OK, so this happened next. Remember I was young and it was the early 90’s.

And now. Same sofa. How’s that for a before, before and after?

You cannot imagine how much I adored this fabric when I chose it for this chair. I practically dreamed about it. It was the last thing to transform after the move to the new house. I wanted that feeling again.

And found it.

This chest was in Mr. Blanding’s mother’s basement when we got married. Technically, it’s on loan until we “find something else.” Except I’ve never really looked. I love the wood of this chest. The doors are slightly warped, I think the hardware has been replaced, and the detail on the top is “married” to the piece. But, to me, she has character. I like that several hands have modified her. She’s a bit of a survivor.

Speaking of married, this chest and the painting above it have never been separated. I gave Mr. Blanding’s the painting, by Doug Osa, as a wedding gift. The lamp, which I might consider a Victorian monstrosity if I saw it elsewhere, has been in my family for three generations. I have no idea who “Aunt Nan” was, but this was her lamp, and now it is mine.

This was the dining room in the old house. I had to include this picture because I swore I would have this wallpaper in any house in which I lived. It was Schumacher, and for our just-married budget, quite expensive. I could not imagine a day I would not adore it. The German piece is in the office; now we are just using the base. It’s great for storage, and we usually set the bar up in here.

We’ll see what happens. I wonder how I will feel about these new images fifteen years from now. Will it always be like looking at your old yearbooks? “It was such the thing then.”

“Hello, Gorgeous.”

October 15, 2007UncategorizedMrs. B at HomeMrs. Blandings

This past weekend Mr. Blandings and I had his twentieth college reunion here and in Lawrence. We still see a lot of folks we went to school with, but there were a lot of guys in from out of town. It was non-stop coordinating, scheduling, babysitting and fun.

Unexpectedly, and old friend from my past showed up – and she looked great.

Oh, you remember office chair, right? A little sad?A little tired? Definitely looking her age? Well, she’s preening now. She’s blissfully blushing at her own beauty. Frankly, she knew she had it in her, she just needed a little lift.

We are so happy to have her back.

Then, as is often the case at these type of things, we caught up with old friends, and made a few new ones. Some were wives we hadn’t met yet, two arrived by UPS.

I did snap up two of the Reed and Barton bowls on ebay.

We’re exhausted. I’d say I was talked out, but Mr. Blandings and I are laughing and laughing as we rehash the weekend. And college. And the feeling of knowing you have old friends who have your back even if you haven’t seen them in twenty years.

“I’d like yellow.”

October 8, 2007UncategorizedMrs. B at HomeMrs. Blandings

“Not just yellow; a very gay yellow. Something bright and sunshine-y. I tell you, Mr. PeDelford, if you’ll send one of your men to the grocer for a pound of their best butter, and match that exactly, you can’t go wrong!” Myrna Loy as Mrs. Blandings, 1948

If you were around for the first post you might remember this snippet of Mrs. Blandings’s soliloquy on the colors of her dream house. There is nothing trickier in design than one human being trying to describe a color to another. As the crazy swatches went up I was saying to my patient painters, “Well, this one, but a little warmer.” or “I like this, but it’s too bright, but I don’t want it whiter.” And, like Mr. PeDelford, they would gravely nod as though they were listening and say, “Mrs. Blandings, we need a color by Friday.” Or Monday. Or whatever false deadline they thought they could use to make me just plain decide.

So the home brew paid off and the color is, indeed, gay. Something bright and sunshine-y. A pound of the very best.