April Showers Bring May Flowers

 

April showers do bring on the May flowers!  Magical things happen in the springtime with the rebirthing of foliage and the bursting of color from plants offering their first display of flowers.  Birds are happy, bees are buzzing, butterflies prancing, and hummingbirds seeking out their food from their favorite plants.  A lot is going on around us outside and it is always joyful to sit back and pay attention to the beauty that nature offers us – right in our own backyards, too.

We can bring the outdoors in with fresh cuttings of our favorite flowers – either from the local grocer or from our own gardens.  Beautiful pictures and paintings of flowers is another way to add a cottage garden look inside our homes.  Amateur paintings of flowers, vintage floral prints, old books with lovely graphics on the cover and and even dishes with pretty floral patterns can liven up any decor. 

Our dealers are celebrating the season here at the store and are bringing in some beautiful springtime pieces and creating lovely vignettes with these treasures in their spaces.

 

 

 

Some of our favorite pieces are those that are done by amateur artists.  These paintings are often referred to as Sunday paintings or Sunday oils.  Back in time, women often learned how to paint and would master their skills on Sunday afternoons – hence the name Sunday paintings.  In the Victorian era (late 1800’s) it was a requirement of any woman who was “in good standing” to be able to paint and accomplish these skills quite well.

 

 

Old needlepoint, frolicking garden angels and English transferware are scattered about here and there.  Pretty vintage pottery pieces are lovely to tuck in a hand-picked bouquet.  These make nice gifts for the special someone, too.

 

 

Vintage toleware trays, bookends and door stops offer little touches of nature with sweet flower images.

 

 

 

Garden shelves, cement urns, old milk cans and picket fencing can add that garden feel to any corner.  A little sign of scrabble tiles simply spells out that this is your garden.

 

 

When you are done poking around in the garden, why not prepare a nice cup of tea, add a few scones to your floral plate and grab a book to read in your favorite chair that waits for you in your garden. 

 

Sounds pretty good, huh?  Enjoy your day and enjoy the springtime.