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Denise Breimeir
What’s your favorite flower? Daisies are mine because they’re such happy flowers, but ask me in April and I might say tulips, lily of the valley in May, or sunflowers when summer starts sliding into fall. There are so many beautiful flowers depending on the season that it’s hard to pick just one. Daisies are definitely my choice though for summer’s best flower. And today is the first official day of summer! I’ve always loved daisies. I used to have them in my backyard and they were one of the…
My first fairy garden design of the year might well turn out to be my favorite. I am obsessed with this little pink and white fairy garden celebrating my sweet angel kitty named Flurry whom I was privileged to spend my life with for 18 years. She passed away a year ago in April and I miss her so much. But I have found some cheerful ways to celebrate her life, such as with this fairy garden and a cat planter my mom gave me for my birthday last year, shown below planted last summer with pink and purple flowers…
Decorating Easter eggs turned out to be the perfect stay-at-home Easter activity for me this year. I went a little crazy, decorating 52 eggs total! Needless to say, my parents and I will be eating hard-boiled eggs for awhile! My mom also used several of them in her seven layer salad recipe, a favorite Easter dish of mine. This year I used a Paas Deluxe egg decorating kit ordered online from Target that contained nine different colors of dye, and an American Crafts Easter Rabbit egg decorating kit shipped from Paper Source that reminded me so much…
March came in like a lamb (60 and sunny), went out like a lion (41 and gloomy), and disintegrated into a completely different scary beast altogether as we saw a steep ascent in the number of coronavirus cases. With our social activities on pause and daily lives disrupted right now as we practice social distancing and staying at home, it’s reassuring to know that nature is still here for us and wide open for business. Going outside for fresh air has been the best way for me to take a break from the constant scrolling on my phone for…
Happy Leap Day! I am excited to see February end, and the first month of spring begin tomorrow! I love the anticipation that comes with my favorite seasons of spring and summer stretching before me, with winter in the rearview mirror. Even though we had an extra day of winter this year, it flew by since I’ve been so focused on a project at work that’s kept me stuck indoors anyway. March can be a tricky and cold month here in central Indiana, but it always bestows us with at least a sprinkling of beautiful days…
My mom loves to spoil family and friends with home cooked meals and baked goods. She is the best cook and baker I know, and I don’t just say that because she’s my mom! With February 14 just 14 days away, I thought I’d share her quick and easy recipe for heart-shaped brownies topped with strawberry icing and drizzled with Ghirardelli chocolate. These brownies are so yummy, and the juice from the strawberries gives the icing a nice flavor and pink color without the use of food coloring. You can’t go…
The days leading up to Christmas this year were a blur. They seemed to go by faster than ever and there were several things I did not get done in time that were on my to do list. In case you were feeling the holiday stress too, there was good reason this season was more rushed than ever. There were only 26 days (!!) between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, six fewer days than last year and also the smallest number of days mathematically possible between the two holidays! I always wait until after Thanksgiving to decorate, but with so few…
My fall event highlight this year was Newfields’ inaugural Harvest, a four-day, fifty-acre fall extravaganza that featured over 10,000 pumpkins, fall displays, art, animals, kids activities, and local vendors, restaurants and brewers. Of all the wonderful events I’ve attended over the years at Newfields (previously known as Indianapolis Museum of Art), I think this one was my very favorite! My parents and I went on Friday, October 4, and it was a beautiful fall day – sunny, not too hot or cold, crisp with a woodsy smell in the air and leaves swirling around…
Happy Halloween! It’s a spooky weather day here in central Indiana, where we’ve had fog, blustery winds, rain, and blowing snow at various times throughout the day. There must be a LOT of little girls dressed like Elsa this Halloween, because we’re absolutely Frozen! I’ve had a very busy month so my fall and Halloween decorations went up late this year, and I didn’t decorate a ton, but I wanted to share some of my Halloween displays. My biggest decorating effort once again was my black cat mantel, which I debuted last…
A few weeks ago I decided I needed a system to tame all my purchases, paper piles, and other assorted items I drag home and unceremoniously dump on the floor before I put them away – often much later. I also needed a way to handle my incoming mail in an efficient way. I started browsing online for inspiration and learned what I was in search of was a command center. I ran across this photo which sparked the whole idea to create a command center of my own, since I had a similar amount of space available along one…
October 5 UPDATE! We have a winner! Katie Camden won the set of three handmade seasonal cards! Thank you to everyone who entered! Our second birthday celebration wouldn’t be complete without a giveaway! Win this set of three handmade greeting cards featuring a card you can use each month for the rest of this year. There is a Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas card included in the set. Cards come with envelopes and are blank inside for your greeting. You can enter up to three times for a chance to win. Choose one, two …
As I write this post on the first day of autumn, signs of fall are appearing despite the warm weather. Leaves are swirling down on my deck, my mums are blooming, and spider webs are cropping up all over my yard. It’s finally time for the fall décor to come out! Last week I finished transforming my summer fairy gardens into fall themed miniature scenes. Overall, the plants in my fairy gardens fared very well this year despite our hot, dry summer and I didn’t have a lot of dead growth to remove…
Today marks Gnome Décor’s two-year anniversary and we’re celebrating all week long, September 30 – October 6! Check out the schedule below for all the fun events planned this week, and be sure to join us for each day’s festivities! Bookmark this page as it will be updated daily with links to new posts and content. Monday, September 30 – Fall Shop Release, Second Birthday Celebration Kickoff, Newsletter You’ve got mail! If you’re already on the Gnome Décor mailing list, check your email for today’s newsletter, and get all the…
Is there anything more cheerful than a field of sunflowers? It’s like a thousand smiling faces quietly greeting you with their beauty. On my recent trip to South Dakota to visit my friend Rebecca and her family (more on that trip will be coming soon!), we drove past several beautiful sunflower fields on our journey west to the Black Hills, and ever since, I’ve been wanting to immerse myself in fields of golden sunflowers! On Sunday the weather was perfect so Mom and I drove up to Kokomo to see Prices Pumpkin Patch’s sunflower…
It’s State Fair season! Most states across the U.S. hold their annual State Fair sometime between July and October. Indiana’s is currently underway, running from August 2-18, 2019. To celebrate, I decided to convert my zoo fairy garden to a State Fair themed mini garden on Friday, the first day of the fair. I’m planning to go to the fair soon and making this fairy garden fueled my excitement for my upcoming visit. I try to go at least once a year; last year’s visit is chronicled on the blog…