My mother-in-law absolutely loves nature – flowers, plants, birds, etc. She’s kind of obsessive about it, which is no secret to anyone who knows her (Hi, Linda!). I remember one time she had us pull over on the side of the road so she could get out of the car and get some mistletoe out of a tree she saw. Apparently, we have very different flora and fauna here in Texas than they have in Missouri.

This weekend, my in-laws were in town for DS’s birthday and we went down to one of the big parks to take him on the little train that goes around the perimeter. When we were leaving, my MIL found this really interesting ball of Spanish Moss (at least we *think* it’s Spanish Moss) on the ground. It covers the trees in this particular park, and I guess a gust of wind blew this ball out of the tree. She couldn’t wait to take it home with her. I was so jealous, because I wanted some, too.

As we were driving out of the parking lot, I shouted, “Look Linda! There’s more! Let’s pull over!” DH and my FIL sat in the car with the boy while Linda and I ran around picking up more moss. We even found a tree branch covered with moss, twigs, and beautiful lichens.

I ended up with the branch and then 4 or 5 moss balls, since Linda couldn’t take a bunch on the plane. Yay me!

I took three of the moss balls and added them to an empty urn I picked up not long ago at Tuesday Morning. How darling is this? Don’t you just love the little floral elements coming out of the moss?

I decided to use the branch as a centerpiece on my dining room table. I added some of the extra moss I gathered and some candles. I really like the rustic look of this when it’s combined with the sterling silver candle holder. The outside of our house is much more rustic than the inside, and since the dining room is the first room you see when you come in the front door, I’ve been wanting to do something like this for a long time.

It’s still a work-in-progress, as I need to add some other items to the display, but I’m loving the way it’s turning out.

What have you done to bring nature inside your home?

P.S. You’ll also be glad to know that I found the gator and supplies for making Valentine’s goodies for DS’s schoolmates today. It was a very successful shopping day!

Does your home ever look like this?

Yes, this is what it looks like when you are Living with Lindsay. My DH is annoyed. In fact, his folks are on their way to our house from the airport right this very minute, and I’m not taking this crazy mess down.

I’m actually testing a couple of fabrics for the window treatments in my bedroom. There will be a toile valence across the top of the window with some fringe or trim (I’m hoping navy tassels, but I haven’t found them yet). On the windows, I’m going to hang a black iron bar across the top and make panels to hang on rings. The panels will be 2/3 of a top color and then 1/3 of the denim that I used as an accent on my bed and pillows. The red pillow in the picture is an accent color. See, I told you that the red and blue were going to come together! You people need to trust me more.

The question is: Should I choose the green or the blue for the primary fabric?

What? You think they look exactly the same? Here’s a close-up:

Still see no difference? You are either color blind like my DH (really! he really is! and then tries to give me decorating advice! as if!), or I’m just insane to be worrying so much about this slight difference in hue.

Let’s try this again. Here’s the green:

And here’s the blue (it’s slightly darker than this photo represents):

I think I like the color of the green the best, but the green: a) is about twice the cost of the blue and I need a LOT of yardage for as many windows as I’m dressing, and b) was a remnant I found in the fabric store and I don’t know if they have more or can order more. Thus, I think I’m leaning towards the blue.

What do you think? Please tell me, Dear Internets. Is it really that much of a difference?