Understanding the Color Orange in Home Decor

Orange Home Décor Ideas & Accessories

Most love the color orange, however, think about it ... how many homes have you seen use the color orange in their decorating scheme?

Let's Review The Color Orange, and What it Evokes

The most misunderstood color in the paint deck is Orange.

When we think about orange what tends to come to mind is Food, Halloween, or Autumn. However the feeling that orange gives to a space may surprise you.

Orange, especially a child's room can encourage a warm, friendly, youthful, and socially inviting space. Don't hesitate to add orange accessories to the room, such as pillows, book shelves, a rug, drapes or go ahead and create a focal point and pop of color by painting one wall a bright and inviting orange hue.

Spaces and Ways to Include Orange

1. Since an outdoor space is meant to be socially inviting, cheerful and a positive space to gather,

orange makes an excellent choice when decorating a deck or patio.

2. If your room has a lot of light, adding orange can help to further brighten the room and even help to make the space seem larger. Pops of orange add positivity and energy.

3. Pair orange with a color on the opposite side of the spectrum such as a deep blue. Pairing these two colors together can lead you down the path of creating a Moroccan theme. By combining opposite colors you balance the space.

4. How about a tropical theme? If you're a brave decorator you can take an orange room to the beach by combining orange with hot pink and yellow. Since all of these colors are positioned close together on the color wheel, your space will have an analogous theme.

Try a couch in yellow, a loveseat with orange, yellow and pink stripes, and a solid dark pink chair! Lighten the space up with a pale multi colored small patterned floral rug and then go all out with one wall painted in deep orange. 

Characteristics Associated with Orange

• Cheerful
• Self Confident
• Flamboyant 
• Warm Hearted
• Adventurous
• Comical
• Able to handle what life dishes out
• Sociable
• Enjoy being part of a group or team

For those who lived through the 1970's, you'll recall Orange being a popular color in home décor. My baby brothers room was decorated with orange and white furnishings and an orange shag rug! Cheerful, fun, inviting...yes, that was his space.

Orange is fun, put your brave on and go for it. 

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN), Esty (Awin), and/or Zazzle Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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Fishy Tales Book Review

Fishy Tales - a DK Reader for Pre-School Age

Fishy Tales on Amazon

This is part of the DK Readers series, which includes 4 levels for you to choose from to match your child's reading ability.  The levels include:

• Pre-Level 1 - Learning to Read - These books include simple sentences to introduce and reinforce vocabulary.
• Level 1 - Beginning to Read - Books which have short and simple stories to engage interest.
• Level 2 – Beginning to Read Alone - Books with longer stories to develop fluency and understanding.
• Level 3 – Reading Alone - These include more complex stories to build confidence in reading. 

Fishy Tales & Friends

Fishy Tales is a DK Reader in the Pre-Level 1, for children ages 4-6.  The Fishy Tales story takes a journey in the deep blue sea where we see fish swim through through a coral reef.  There is also a starfish on the sandy ocean floor and a jellyfish floating up and down in the waves, plus pages about the sea turtle, Sea horses, jellyfish, sharks, octopuses, crabs, eels, rays and dolphins.

There are 12 different sea-life creatures shown in two-page spreads with color pictures and simple one sentence descriptions.  Each sea animal has words that describe different parts of the animal. 

TURTLE

For instance, the turtle page says:

Turtles – The turtles play in the ocean. 

The words Shell and Flipper are labels which point to those matching parts on the turtle. 

Terrance Turtle reading Fishy Tales

A handmade plush tortoise from my Etsy Toybox loves reading about the sea turtle who lives in the deep blue sea. This plush turtle is named Terrance (Terry for short) and he is hand-crocheted. 

 He has  a tan body with a sage green shell. His head, legs and tail are done in yellow. His eyes are embroidered. He's soft and cuddly and ready to be hugged by a child who loves turtles.

Crabs & Clams

 

My Etsy Shop currently has several toy clams, like this little yellow yarn clam in her clamshell.  They are fascinated by the ocean crabs who can hide in the coral and in big shells. She can imagine how  much fun it would be to be 'real' and live by the seashore like the crabs in this story. 

Plush Clam in Clam Shell - Etsy

This two-piece set includes a bright yellow clam with black safety eyes and filled with soft polyfil. The 'clam' measures 3 inches across. She comes with her own 'clamshell' crocheted in brown and tan. Clamshell measures nearly 4 inches across.

Yellow clam loves the sandy beach, but she'd be just as happy living in a child's toy box or reading books with a child.  She could also be a friendly plushie sitting on your desk.

Fishies

Colorful fishies swim everywhere through the Coral reef and elsewhere in the ocean. This plush toy tropical fish pretends he could join them when he reads about them in the book. 

Plush Toy Tropical Fish

The Tropical fish in my Etsy Shop is handmade in the Amigurumi style of crochet. Fish has two back fins, two side fins, one top fin and one bottom fin -- all crocheted in royal blue yarn. He is stuffed with non-allergenic polyfil and measures 12 inches long from nose to the top of back fins and about 4 inches across the body. Fish is 6" tall from bottom fin to top fin.

Octopus

 

The many toy octopuses in my Etsy Shop find the page about the octopus in the storybook Fishy Tales to be their favorite, of course. Two of these plush yarn octopuses are busy reading about the octopuses who live in the sea.

Dolphin

 

My favorite page in Fishy Tales is the one about the dolphin, as there are multiple dolphins in plush in my Etsy crochet toybox.  And, since I live near the ocean, I also get to see real dolphins swimming and leaping in the sea close to my nearest beach.

Plush Toy Crochet Bottlenose Dolphin

Come meet my replicas of a plush, stuffed toy version of a bottlenose dolphin, a favorite sea animal.

My current dolphins measures about 14 inches long and 9 inches across the side fins. They are about 3.5 inches high (6 inches at the dorsal fin). The eyes are craft safety eyes.

Summary

 

Any child would enjoy reading all about these marvelous sea creatures shown here in Fishy Tales. And we hope you have enjoyed the featured crochet plush sea animals who have also enjoyed reading about the real-life sea animals which were their creators' inspiration in crochet.

• For more DK Reader books for pre-school and older children, visit their website at DK.com.

Quick Links:

• Fishy Tales on Amazon
• Fishy Tales at Walmart
• Handmade with Love Plush Sea Animals Shown Here are available at Coastal Crochet Crafts on Etsy

*Children's book review of Fishy Tales by Wednesday-Elf

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN), Esty (Awin), and/or Zazzle Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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The Inheritance Movie Review

The Inheritance by Louisa May Alcott

While searching for a Sunday afternoon movie to watch, I was immediately drawn to The Inheritance for several reasons.  First, it is based on the novel written by Louisa May Alcott.  Second, like the book Little Women, the setting is during the Victorian Era which was actually Alcott's contemporary time.  And, last but not least, because Meredith Baxter stars in the movie and she is one of my favorite leading ladies. 

The hairstyles, the clothes, the home decor, all appeal to me.   From the very beginning, I expected to like The Inheritance and I was not disappointed.  For 90 minutes I was transported to New England in the 1800's and the world of haut monde. 

Plot of the Movie, The Inheritance

As a companion to a beautiful, wealthy young woman, Edith is caught between the world of a servant and the the lifestyle of the wealthy. 

 The InheritanceIn infancy, Edith was a survivor of an epidemic that swept Italy and the home of Mr. Hamilton's estranged brother who died from the illness.  Since Edith's mother, a maid in the brother's home, was also a victim of the epidemic, Edith was brought to Evenswood and raised alongside Hamilton's own daughter, Amy.  The girls are great friends, perhaps even as close a sisters.  Edith's days are spent reading, practicing archery, playing lawn tennis and chumming around with Amy.  Her clothes and hairstyle are more in line with society, but her status is that of a servant, except one with special privileges like playing the piano, riding the horses and partaking in family teas.  In fact, there are times when she is treated more like family than staff.

Early into the movie, a distant cousin to Mrs. Hamilton, is invited to visit.  Mrs. Hamilton has agreed to help Ida find a suitable husband.  As a matter of fact, Ida's visit coincides with a visit from a very eligible, wealthy gentleman, James Percy, who Mrs. Hamilton hopes will be enchanted by her cousin, Ida.  In her mind, it is all a neat and easy arrangement.  However, James is more enchanted by Edith, and Ida is a nasty, spiteful woman who takes an instant dislike to Edith.

As the title of the book and movie would imply, there is definitely an unexpected turn of events in the plot.  The resolution of the story is quite satisfying in spite of the temporary tension felt during portions of the movie.

Now I want to read the book!  I am certain it would be even more intriguing than the movie since Louisa May Alcott never disappoints readers.  Plus, I know it will be more detailed and in depth.  

One note of interest, the movie takes place in New England, yet in the book, the setting is England.  In the movie, Lord and Lady Hamilton of the book, are Mr. & Mrs. Hamilton.  Either way, the movie was a wonderful way to spend a Sunday afternoon.  I can highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys an old fashioned romantic historical movie.

 The Inheritance - Watch on Amazon.com The Inheritance by Louisa May Alcott
The Book (1997-04-01) The Inheritance on DVD

The Inheritance Movie Review Written by:

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN), Esty (Awin), and/or Zazzle Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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Reviewing Cozy Mysteries and Favorite Women Sleuths

This summer, I've found myself with a good bit of reading time on my hands. My favorite genre is mystery and right now I'm particularly attracted to easy-to-read cozy mystery stories (defined here by ReviewThisReviews' own BuckHawk) especially when the main character is a smart, likable, female.

Fortunately there are plenty of books in the Kindle store that meet the definition, so I never need to worry about running out of material to read.

Recently, I came across a package deal of 10 full-length novels called Sleuthing Women. Each book is a first-in-series cozy murder mystery featuring an amateur, female crime-solver, and written by a best-selling author. What a great way for cozy mystery-lovers to get to know a new author's style and try a series without spending a fortune on books they may or may not like.

Oh, did I fail to mention the price? You can buy the set of 10 cozy mystery Kindle books for a total of just 99 cents!

Last night I finished reading the third book in the Sleuthing Women set and, Bingo!, I found a winner! While the first two novels were okay, the third one was particularly appealing to me. I really enjoyed the story as well as the characters and can't wait to start the next book in the series.

The book that won me over is Skeleton in a Dead Space by Judy Alter, the first book in her Kelly O'Connell mystery series. The author has been writing for years, has multiple mystery series as well as historical novels and a few other gems in print, and is definitely worth checking out. I've already started book two in the series and I'm typing as fast as I can to finish this so I can get back to that.

While eventually I'll probably return to and read more of the 10 Sleuthing Women mysteries, for now my plan is to plow through Judy Alter's Kelly O'Connell series (I peeked ahead to some of the book descriptions and I like what I saw). You, on the other hand, might prefer to read all 10 Sleuthing Women books and then choose one of the authors (or several) to further explore. Because surely, if you like cozy mysteries starring smart, female, amateur sleuths, you'll find a few series' starters among these 10 that you'll want to read.

For less than a buck.

~Susan Deppner
Read more of my reviews.

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(Note: Prices are subject to change without notice.)

Posted by Susan Deppner

About the Author

Susan Deppner is a baby boomer, a cancer survivor, and a Southerner who believes in the Golden Rule. She enjoys writing about food, faith, and fitness; health, home, and holidays; people, places, pets, and patriotism, and more. Follow Susan on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest.

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN), Esty (Awin), and/or Zazzle Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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Hallmark's A Century of Caring Book Review

Hallmark's History: Celebrate A Hundred Years With Hallmark

Hallmark: A Century of Caring by Patrick Regan is truly a magnificent book about a company which was shaped by and which helped shape America. It covers everything from the very beginnings of the company with a young man and some picture postcards in a box to the third generation, which runs this company today. This ample-sized coffee table-style book features plenty of interesting information, is packed with amazing photographs and features a bonus DVD with a full length Hallmark Hall of Fame movie, The Magic of Ordinary Days.

Any fan or collector of Hallmark would thoroughly enjoy this beautiful book as would those with a simple curiosity of how Hallmark came to be the company that it is today. On this page, you will find more information about the book and a quick video peek into Hallmark's 100 year history.

The Hallmark family were really the Halls and a hundred years ago, they lived in poverty and tried to eek out a living in a small town in Nebraska. Move forward a hundred years and you find the family has created a once truly unique company. The book, Hallmark: A Century of Caring, tells the story of this American institution and how it came to life because of dedication to hard work, good values and caring for employees and customers.

It features a lovely introduction from poet Maya Angelou and takes you on a trip from Norfolk, Nebraska to Kansas City, Missouri, the town in which Hallmark finally settled. Learn about the company in good times and in bad, with the bad times including both war and depression through which the company continued to grow.

A hundred years after its inception, the company looks forward to a different future. This book celebrates what is an "iconic American company."

Founder

This short video is an interesting one minute of Hallmark history with the company's founder, J.C. Hall.

Contents

Hallmark: A Century of Caring marked Hallmark's 100 years and shares the history of the company including the Hall family and its employees and how they created a brand with world-wide renown. It is broken down into ten sections or chapters, each of which tells how Hallmark was a reflection on what was happening in America at certain time periods, how those events helped Hallmark become what it has become and the effect that Hallmark had on the country. It is a large hardcover book and it is beautiful. The chapters include:

Starting From Scratch (1891-1909)
That Kansas City Spirit (1910-1915)
Building Business and Breaking Ground (1915-1932)
Hanging Tough in Hard Times (1933-1951)
The Power of Association
Coming of Age (1951-1966)
The Hallmark Hall of Fame
The Modernist (1966-1980)
Traditions, Transitions, Expansion and Explorations (1981-2002)
A Second Century, A Third Generation (2002 and Beyond)

Review

Dr. Maya Angelou said, "I have read few biographies that have moved me as much as the Hall family saga."

It comes HIGHLY RECOMMENDED by buyers and also by me.  There's nothing to object to in this book, in terms of sex and violence anyway, and it is a peek into an iconic American company.

It is my understanding that this book was initially given as a gift to the employees of Hallmark on the company's 100th birthday but that some of these books were also made available through Hallmark Gold Crown stores and Andrews McMeel Publishing. Fortunately for Hallmark fans and collectors, it is now available here from Amazon, too.

The Magic Of Ordinary Days

The Magic of Ordinary Days caught me off guard. That is, I found it in the back of this book and put it in the DVD player when I was expecting to putter around and get a few other jobs done. Unfortunately, that was not the case as I was quickly absorbed into this beautiful story of a man who takes in a woman from a faraway town in order to have a wife and provide a stable home for both the woman and her unborn child.

When I looked at the Amazon customer reviews, I discovered that I was not the only one who enjoyed this movie. If you enjoy Hallmark movies, you will, no doubt, enjoy this one and, if you buy the book Hallmark: A Century of Caring, you receive a free copy of this excellent movie, too.


You can order your copy of Hallmark's A Century of Caring by clicking right here.

How has Hallmark touched your life?


See you at the bookstore!
Brenda

More Hallmark Reading

Christmas in Conway (2013) 
Remember Sunday (2013)


Author's Note: Originally published elsewhere in 2010.

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN), Esty (Awin), and/or Zazzle Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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