Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Victorian Morning Room and Dried Roses

Book
I borrowed this neat book Victorian Flowercrafts from the library a few weeks ago. In addition to flower projects and recipes, it takes you through a Victorian home and shows different decorating ideas.

Book
My favorite room is The Morning Room. Here is what it says:

"The Victorian Morning Room was used in the mornings much like a family room is used for all kinds of daytime activities. Positioned to catch the morning light, it would be a place for the girls in the household to pursue a hobby or just to chatter. The lady of the house might choose to work out the day's menus here and write a few letters, or talk to the housekeeper about household matters."

Patio
Grace and Emily liked the sound of this and have made our back patio our Morning Room. We already eat breakfast out there, so we've been chatting about the plans for the day, too. This is far to girly for Benjamin, so he plays in the sandbox. :0)

Rose
The book also inspired me to dry the roses that Phillip got me last week.

Rose
I gentle peeled off each petal.

Tray
And placed them on a large cookie sheet.

Roses
I also had some roses left over from May Day.

Flowers
I put the tray in our garage and the roses were dry in about 3 days.

Dried roses
I put them in a ziplock and added some rose essential oil.

Sachet
This is what the finished sachet bags will look like, but first I have to let the petals sit for a few weeks. I will probably save them for Christmas gifts.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

28 comments:

Farrah said...

Fun post! I have never thought of looking for books with ideas at a library. Probably because I have such a long list of things I want to do already! LOL! Love the sachet idea and visiting in your "morning room." Your girls are going to have lots of sweet memories from their childhood to cherish. :-)

Anonymous said...

Lovely book, and beautiful dried flowers. My roses will start to bloom in a couple of weeks if this sun keeps up.

Priscilla said...

What a lovely book, that time period sounds very relaxing, sitting, writing letters and stitching, *sigh* It conjures up lovely images..... Your roses dried really well, did you put them in the oven at all or did the heat alone in the garage dry them? I am amazed, I think if I tried it they might wilt first! ha,ha

Priscilla x

Anonymous said...

I like the idea of a morning room. Your sachet bags are pretty, what a wonderful gift idea.

Jen said...

Such a simple idea...I love it.

Michelle said...

Looks like that book has lots of great ideas - don't you just love it when you can find things like that at the library? We have a great library here with a wonderful selection so I always seem to have a lot of 'idea' books checked out...reminds me of 'picture books' for grown-ups! LOL

Who knew that drying roses was such a simple process? Your sachets are absolutely beautiful!

Enjoy a blessed day, Kelli!

Terrie's Lil' Piece of Serenity said...

Good Morning!! Are you enjoying your morning room right now?? I love the book your shared with us. And those sweet sachets you made. I think they will make wonderful gifts. Have a beautiful day!!
Terrie

Rosie's Whimsy said...

Your sachets will make wonderful gifts! The wicker tray holding all the petals is such a pretty picture! The idea of doing this is so feminine and old-fashioned. I love it!

:-) Rosie

Adrienne said...

Hi Kelli,
I love to get books like this from my library. I'm there often! The dried roses are wonderful. I'm going to dry some this year after my rose garden begins to bloom.
~Adrienne~

Mrs. H. said...

Kelli, You have such a wonderful way of taking an idea and incorporating it beautifully into your own home. I have always loved the idea of having many small rooms in a house that have specific uses - "the library", the "dining room", "the sitting room", etc. I didn't realize this concept must be very victorian! You have inspired me to call our deck "my morning room"! Thank you. :-)

CONNIE W said...

Your posts always, always inspire me. I love the way you and the children work together as a family and everything you do is so lovely. *Smiles*

Julian said...

what a great idea for a morning room! I may use my back patio as well.
Thanks,
Christina

Julie said...

I love your post. I have four girls and it would be so nice to have a morning room where we could all chatter, however, their is a lot of chattering really everywhere...LOL--the bathroom in the morning while everyone is doing hair and make-up and etc. seems to be the place for us. I will try the rose idea the next time my husband brings me roses. What a very neat idea. Have a great day.

LBP said...

What a great idea! A morning room!
I love your rose sachets. My great grandmother used to make rose petal beads. My Grandmother has a few of them still. I need to look up the information on those.
Blessings
Linda

Rose of Sharon said...

Very pretty! I think I'll try that. They make such great gifts!

Hugs, Sharon

Anonymous said...

How lovely Kelli! I adore how you always turn the smallest things into charming decorations or thoughtful gifts. Very inspiring! I think I may have to find that book at our library...

Jennifer Hoots said...

I should love having a morning room and servants too!(giggles) Perhaps I could talk my children into playing the part of my servants. (wink)
Jenn

nancy said...

Kelli your roses dried beautifully. A morning room sounds like a wonderful space to have. I don't know if you know this so I'm just going to tell it for whomever needs to know. Your potpourri will last longer if you keep it in a closed container, just opening it when you want to scent the area. So if you are saving your sachets for Christmas, you should seal them up until that time.
If potpourri does fade out, a small spray bottle with vodka (yes, vodka) is the answer. Just lightly spray and stir or shake your potpourri to revive it. I love it when (twice a year) I show up at the liquor store looking for the "strongest vodka you have". (It's "151" last time I bought it.)
sometimes the clerks look at me kind of funny. "I use it for making herbal products," I say. They look at me askance. "Really." I say. Sometimes you just can't help what people think.
Nancy

Tori Leslie said...

Wayyyy to cute!!!

Love 'em, great idea.

Needled Mom said...

What a great "Morning Room." I like that idea. I also like the idea of the dried rose petals. They look so pretty all together like that.

Anonymous said...

What a neat book! Having been without power a few times I can understand the importance of getting the greatest light for the windows for which to do tasks.

Jen said...

That sounds like so much fun to have a room like that:) Your flowers look beautiful, It never works for me to dry flowers:(!!!

Lora @ my blessed life said...

Your sachets turned out adorable! I've dried roses whole before, but I like this idea much better.

Simply Heart And Home said...

Kelli,

I love the idea of the Morning Room. I'd love to incorporate that idea in my home as well.

Thank you for inspiring us! :)

Gina

Tammy said...

Oh, what a wonderful idea...and how timely with this week following Mother's Day! I would love to try this...
And I love the Victorian book with all it's photos and ideas!

SimpleFolk said...

Oh, I can almost smell the sweet fragrance of roses. :-)
I've missed visiting with you. (And I still have a letter to send you!) I've been so far behind with "inside things" these last few weeks. Spring has certainly kept me busy, but I am enjoying every moment! The chicken looks yummy, too, and I adore those plates.

Amy

GranthamLynn said...

Lovely, I love your porch. Again you inspire. Isn't it lovely to have girls. My cowboy sent flowers to our daughter for her bdays. I saved the petals and put them in one of her elephant cookie jars. We still have them. What a lovely rememberance. I love your porch again . . . for now I live through your lovely writings! Someday soon I hope to have such lovely surroundings! We are expecting our grandbaby soon so my cowboy will be buying flowers for her again! Thanks again for sharing you always make me smile. We are kindred spirits.
ps Aren't library's fabulous. Only if you remember to return the books on time though. Man those fines kill me!

Kimberly said...

I have that book as well. Really, you should just come over and raid my bookshelves! You'd find all sorts of books you would probably enjoy, or already have!!!
Everything looks so lovely!