*By the Sea Shabby Valentines Day Vignette contains affiliate links.
My By the Sea Shabby Valentines Day Vignette is part of the @thriftydecorinspo monthly event I participate in on Instagram. The goal is to create a scene for each theme from thrifted items. It is exciting to see the differences in everyone’s interpretation. You don’t have to have a blog to participate. Join the group by messaging and following the hostesses, then add the hashtag for that month to your photo/photographs. The hashtag for February is #xoxothriftyinspo. You can search the hashtag on instagram to see all of the posts for this month.
Do you live near the sea? I do, but sometimes I’m so accustomed to the beautiful scenery around me I don’t think about how fabulous it really is. I lived in East Tennessee until I was 13 years old, and didn’t think a whole lot about it as I gazed upon Buffalo Mountain behind my grandmother’s house.
It’s about time I created a vignette to celebrate the beauty and charm of our coastal South Carolina cottage by the sea. We’re a block or two away from the marshes and tidal creeks, and just a few miles from the ocean.
The centerpiece of my vignette is a completed Old Paris needlepoint project based on a work by Dutch painter Salomon Van Ruysdael (1600-1670). He skillfully captured the glistening waters, a sailboat in motion, and a cow floating along on a ferry boat. The finished piece was a steal at $8.99 from my local thrift store. It is 19″ by 43″ and is professionally framed. The picture does not do this tapestry justice! It is so beautiful and colorful in person. There were two different Van Ruysdael needlepoint pictures in the thrift store that night. Like a dummy, I only grabbed one. I thought better of it later and went back to get the other one, but it was already gone.
I have around 20 needlework samples on the walls of my home. Some of them were sewn by me and some were made by people that I love. Most of them were purchased at thrift stores. If I see a needlework sample that I really like, I usually buy it.
I chose two books that remind me of the sea. If you’ve read Rebecca, by Daphne Du Maurier, you know that Rebecca loved to sail. Plymouth Plantation, by William Bradford, is perfect as well. I can’t think of any other people group more worthy of a sea vignette than those 102 people that sailed across the scary ocean on a little boat called the Mayflower.
The little saiboat and the Smooth Sailing sign were thrifted in the past month. The yarn hearts were part of a Boho Valentine Napkins and Rings post from a few years ago. I love to recycle items from old posts and use them in different ways in the new posts. The shabby table cover is actually a curtain panel that I made about 5 years ago. Shabby Chic fabrics and patinas never go out of style.
I hope you enjoyed my By the Sea Shabby Valentines Day Vignette!
Happy Valentines Day,
Kristie
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Read Artistic Love Hurts Valentine’s Day Vignette.
Lovely. I just last weekend talked to my grandchildren about the needlework i have that has been made by me and my sister. I asked them to keep them and pass them on.
Needlework takes a ling time to complete. I always wonder why a piece ended up at a thrift store. Then, I buy it.
I love, love, love that needlepoint! What a treasure! When I find them in thrift stores I snatch them up.
Me too, Briana!
Kristie, you are right. Over a period of time, we tend to loose the ‘novelty’ value of any view. Be it the sea side, mountain range, the savannah or even a hill top. Your home decor is so pretty.
Thank you for sharing with us at Meraki Link Party.
Naush
Thank you, Naush! I try to appreciate my surroundings on a daily basis, but sometimes I take them for granted.