Fall Decor Vignettes at Royalview

When we recently visited Hobby Lobby for Fall decor inspo, I wouldn’t have thought that I would be drawn in by a little Cinderella carriage, but I spotted this little cutie in what looked like a Fairy Tale section (that I had not seen before), and knew it had to come home to Royalview. We have a clock that we named Cinderella, so yeah, it was meant to be. You can see the bottom edge of Cinderella just above this carriage, so they are together. To decorate this little carriage, I thought a little white pumpkin was the perfect touch – you know, the pumpkin from the story was changed into Cinderella’s carriage — I knew you knew that! I simply put a few leaves in the bottom of the carriage and then placed the white (or cream) pumpkin inside. I purchased a couple of wooden risers at Hobby Lobby, so I placed the carriage atop one riser that I had first arranged with some white leaves (with pink and cream tones). I completed the look with some of the little acorns from a larger stem I purchased at Hobby Lobby as well. I think it turned out really pretty and girlie, and fall’ish, and definitely Cinderella’ish.

One of the main Fall focal points at Royalview, is located in our dining room. I posted a while back about the beautiful vintage curio cabinet that was handmade by Willie’s father, which now calls Royalview home. It is a wonderful piece that gains most of the attention in our dining area, as it is stunning, and I enjoy filling it with pretty items, so seasonal decor is certainly going to be happening in this area, year round.

I recently purchased some gorgeous rhinestone pumpkins from our friend Kelly of Sweet Magnolia Emporium (from her booth at Yesterday’s Treasures in Willis, TX), as well as some very beautiful clear glass lamps. I knew that I wanted to put all these items together for a lovely setting. I had first thought of putting the pumpkins on our dining room table, but once the lamps came into the picture, the curio cabinet it was.

As soon as I arrived home with these, I couldn’t wait to see how they would look arranged together.

I really think they compliment each other wonderfully. I added Fall floral embellishments to the lamps and larger pumpkin.

For the smaller pumpkins, I simply placed them a tier below and added a floral embellishment behind them.

I think it all came together beautifully. It is simple, yet elegant.

And the last little Fall decor vignette I wanted to share with you is our Butterfly Wall Table. This is just in a little corner nook that sits between our utility room and kitchen. This spot sat unattended for quite a while as we were getting settled in. It was consistently used for piling boxes as we were unpacking, but now it’s getting some decor love.

I just have a little collection of cute things I’ve picked up from vintage shops as well as Hobby Lobby, and I added a few Fall touches here with the little pumpkins and Fall ribbon. The Fall leaf ribbon is a Dollar Tree find.

And I bet you’re wondering, “Butterfly Wall?” Yep, one of my experiments.

Golden Butterfly Wall at Royalview, with metal butterflies from Amazon.
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I bought an array of different types of gold metal butterflies, some thicker metal than others, some pretty light, and created a little wall vignette along with a gold framed mirror I picked up at Rosey Opal’s in New Waverly, TX. I think it’s so pretty. Willie really likes it too. I’ll post the links below to where I found them on Amazon. The larger butterflies and flower were actually a set. It seems that Royalview is taking on it’s own personality. The first decor intention was to be French Country Lake House vibe, but she seems to be going more royal botanical garden, and I’m loving it. I’m loving the entire journey and just seeing where it all takes us.

That’s what makes life fun anyway, right? Following our joy and finding what makes our hearts sing.

Till next time, always follow your joy. God is truly good!

Johanna and Willie

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Our Amazon Affiliate Links for Butterfly Decor:

3-Piece Metal Butterfly and Flower Set: https://amzn.to/4g1dA1z

48 Piece Metal Butterfly Set: https://amzn.to/4lNPloZ

48 Piece Butterfly Set (4 different styles, and these are thinner): https://amzn.to/4mQY6Qk

I used these gold thumbtacks to hang the butterflies: https://amzn.to/425jKbe

God bless! I hope you enjoy!

Fall Home Decor, Fall Vignettes, Cinderella Carriage and Pumpkin Decor, Butterfly Wall, Vintage Fall Decor, Rhinestone Pumpkins, Willis, Conroe, Texas

August 30, 2025 0

Royalview’s Fall Floral Makeover

Fall faux floral dining room table arrangement in creme, blue and light rust.
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The leaves are already falling here at Royalview, and we are getting in the mood. We love this time of year so much, with the warmer color tones, cooler temps (not yet arrived here in SE Texas), just the whole vibe of the season.

I’ve been trying to decide what color tones I’d like to incorporate for our first Fall season at Royalview. We are decorated in mainly blue, white, brown, and greys, and I did not want to deviate too far from what we’ve just put into place, but rather, add in some warm tones to give it the Fall feels.

After shopping around for ideas, I decided to go with creme, blue, brown, gold, and light rust (with a little bling as well, as in gold glitter and rhinestone pumpkins!).

I shopped at Hobby Lobby, Amazon, Dollar General, and the Dollar Tree for faux florals. (The floral bouquet pictured above is filled with florals from Amazon and Dollar General.)

I purchased this box of very lovely faux floral in cremes, blues, and light rust from Amazon. I thought they arrived beautifully in their box. And I thought it was very unique to have the flowers separated from the stems. At first I wasn’t sure about that, but I quite enjoyed putting the flowers on my preferred stem, or leaving them off a stem to put at the base of my arrangement.

Beautiful Fall faux florals from Amazon, in creme, blue, and light rust.
https://amzn.to/45Cx4X0
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Here is the assortment of faux florals I chose from Hobby Lobby and the Dollar Tree:

Assortment of Fall faux florals from Hobby Lobby and the Dollar Tree.
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Instead of creating new Fall floral arrangements from scratch, I decided to transform already existing arrangements, with the exception of the arrangement on our dining room table (pic 1).

Here is a before picture of two arrangements from our living room entertainment center, and one from atop our grandfather clock, that I transformed/made over into Fall arrangements.

Blue, white, and purple faux floral arrangements to be transformed into Fall arrangements.
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And here is their after photo:

After photo of 3 arrangements transformed into Fall faux floral arrangements.
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You can see I kept most of their floral white and blue bases. I just took out some of the more Summery looking purples and blue frills, and simply added some creme, gold, and light rust florals, with a hint of acorns in the larger arrangement.

This was such an easy transformation, and I can do the same at Christmastime, with whatever color tones I choose then, and since I kept all the florals that I took out, I can choose to add those back in the Spring, or go in another direction. So many options, but yet keeping our base color tones in the arrangements.

I put the arrangements all back in their places, and added hints of Fall all around. With just a few subtle touches, Royalview is looking lovely, and ready for Fall.

Fall faux floral arrangement in blue, white, and gold.
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I added some of the warm florals, nuts, and berries to an existing garland atop our entertainment center.

White floral garland makeover into Fall decor.
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Fall decor, in white, brown, and blue tones.
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Fall faux floral arrangement in creme, blue, and brown.
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Here is a another (large) arrangement that I added to as well. This one has more of a Winter appearance to me, but I love this look so much, and it may become the inspiration for our Winter palette.

Large faux floral arrangement in white, green, and frosted lavender.
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I hope you enjoyed Royalview’s Fall floral makeover, and that it inspires you as well.

Till next time, remember to always follow your joy! God is truly good!

Johanna and Willie

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Making Fall faux floral arrangements, make over existing faux floral arrangements into Fall decor, Fall colors, Fall palette

August 28, 2025 0

Royalview’s Summertime Landscape Refresh

Royalview from front bridge view.
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It’s Summertime! We’ve put out the flags for the fourth!

Hey everybody!

This blog post has been about a month in the making. We’ve had a new landscaping team working with us to get Royalview’s landscaping all refreshed and looking her best again. All of our gardens looked fabulous, and bloomed all through Springtime, but some plants got a little crazy, and grew over the other plants, or died out, so we really needed some professional help.

Willie and I had been in search for a company who has a great lawn maintenance team, as well as a gardener. We decided to head to our local gardening center and inquire about any known possibilities. We were given a card for Green X Scape, located in Huntsville, TX.

We were very happy to meet Albert Tsai, owner of Green X Scape. He is a very nice young gentleman who went to school at Sam Houston State University. He began his business while he was still in college, and now hires college students.

Upon their first visit, Green X Scape got to work on our back yard garden, clearing out all the under, and overgrowth.

Albert Tsai and team from Green X Scape, LLC, Huntsville, Texas.
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They even cleared out our ivy plants and transplanted those along the back fence.

You can see how overgrown it got back there. They did a fabulous job!

There were a few plants that needed to be replaced, so Willie and took a trip to Growers Outlet, and picked out some new ones that would stay in their spots and not spread.

Grower's Outlet, Willis, Texas.
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We love visiting here. Our landscape design team got a lot of Royalview’s original plants from here as well.

We chose some Silver Star Sage, and Southern Star Blue Ruellias.

Silver Star Texas Sage, and Southern Star Blue Ruellia.
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These are so pretty! I love the purple flowers.

Southern Star Blue Ruellia in Royalview's back yard garden.
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On their next visit, the Green X Scape team planted all the new plants for us. And, we did end up getting 2 more of the Texas Sage to plant along with the others, to balance everything out.

Royalview's backyard tiered garden.
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It’s looking so much better. We do have a gardenia that doesn’t look like it’s going to make it, so Albert said he would bring another to replace it, or perhaps we’ll put some more Liriope in back here. I love Liriope, as you’ll see in the front garden pics.

Today, Green X Scape visited again. They visit every 2 weeks. This time around Albert worked on our two front gardens, getting them all cleaned out and rid of dead plants.

Both of the front gardens look much better now.

Royalview's front South garden overlooking the lake.
acrossthelake.blog — Royalview’s Front Southern Garden

Royalview's front North garden with swing.
acrossthelake.blog — Royalview’s Front Northern Garden

We are so thankful to team Green X Scape for all they’ve done for us here at Royalview. Beyond the fabulous work in all our gardens, the lawns are looking great as well.

The front lawn at Royalview.
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I’ve had fun putting out American Flags along our front walkway, and some festive ribbon on our Northern bridge today.

American Flags down our front walkway for the 4th of July.
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American Flags along our front walkway at Royalview.
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And our Liriope are blooming! I love it!

Welcome to Royalview!
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And we certainly love Royalview. We are so grateful that God led us here.

Till next time, be kind, and follow your joy! God is truly good!

Johanna and Willie

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Visit Green X Scape’s website

Summer Landscaping, Landscape Refresh, Conroe, Willis, Texas Lake House

June 25, 2025 0

Creating Floral Arrangements for the Office and Bedroom

Faux floral arrangement making supplies.
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I love floral arranging! I may not be a professional, and I’ve not taken any classes, as someone’s asked, but I certainly enjoy expressing my own creativity in making arrangements for our home.

I will also make a confession to you. I sometimes have to do them over twice, or more, to get them just the way I want them. But it’s always just a lot of fun for me.

I purchased an array of blue and white faux florals at Michaels this time. They were having 50% off all Summer florals. I could see a lot of empty shelves, and Halloween stuff now being brought in. It’s the same at Hobby Lobby now, too. It won’t be long till we’re all decorating for Fall!

When I begin an arrangement, I’m never quite sure how it’s going to come together, so I just start with pieces that I think will make a great focal point in an arrangement.

Making faux floral arrangements in blue.
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I thought these larger sprigs were really pretty, so I chose the variated Hydrangea for an arrangement for my office, and the other tall blue floral with multiple layers, for our bedroom.

I left these two larger florals in-tact, and began building around them.

That’s where I went wrong, but I did not realize it at the time. Here are my completed first attempts.

This first arrangement, I was calling Marie Antoinette. I suppose you can see why.

Blue, white, and purple faux floral arrangement, that ended up being re-done.
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The second one was way too heavy in the back.

Blue, white, and beige faux floral arrangement that ended up being redone.
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And, I made two other accompanying arrangements for each, in the glass vases.

Faux floral arrangements in white that ended up being redone.
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I lived with all of these arrangements for one night. They all got a makeover the very next day. And that’s the great thing about making floral arrangements (at least for me, the beginner, still learning), they can be redone very easily, or changed around.

I took everything out of all the vases/cans, and started anew. I did stick with a blue and beige toned theme for our bedroom, and went blue and purple for my office.

Ready for the made-over arrangements?

Blue and beige for the bedroom:

Made-over faux floral arrangements in blue, beige, and white.
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I like these so much better! I cut apart that really large blue sprig that had all the different layers of flowers, and dispersed them throughout the arrangement. It made everything more balanced. The arrangement in the glass jar received additional florals to fill it out more, plus I added one of the blue florals to make it cohesive with it’s partner.

A closeup of the larger arrangement:

Blue, white, and beige faux floral arrangement.
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And the smaller one:

Faux floral arrangement in white, beige, and blue.
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And for my office, I re-did the arrangement with the Hydrangea (Marie Antoinette), plus made an accompanying arrangement in the taller glass jar:

Blue, purple, and white faux floral arrangements.
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Do you recognize the blue florals in the glass vase? Yes, those are 2 cuttings from that really tall blue sprig. I put one in the jar so I’d know where it was, and I really liked the way it looked, being able to see all the florals inside the vase, so I added a few more cuttings from that sprig, as well as another with blue and purple, and thought that I really liked it kept simple, so I did keep it simple. It’s all a matter of what makes me smile.

So, here’s a closeup of the larger blue and purple arrangement. I purposely chose florals with lighter/brighter greens, as I plan to have more green and teal tones (along with blue) in the office.

Blue, purple, and white faux floral arrangement.
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And the simple arrangement in the glass jar:

Simple blue faux floral arrangement in a glass jar.
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Sometimes simple is best.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my floral making attempts, and that they inspire you to give it a try for yourself.

Till next time, be kind, and always follow your joy! God is truly good!

Johanna and Willie

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Faux Floral Arranging, Floral Arrangements, DIY floral arranging, Blue, White, Beige, and Purple Faux Floral Arrangements

June 24, 2025 2

Making Cheerful Faux Floral Arrangements on a Rainy Day

Blue, white, and purple faux floral arrangement in silver tin.
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It has certainly been rainy lately here in SE Texas, and I am loving it! Such a great reprieve from the heat, and a great time to do indoor crafts.

I had 4 floral arrangements in mind that I wanted to create for our dining room decor. One for the top of our grandfather clock, one for the top inside tier of our antique curio cabinet, and 2 for the second inside tier of the curio cabinet.

Places for the new floral arrangements at Royalview.
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I already had 3 of the “vases” here. Two little cute coffee cup planters that I painted several years ago, and a large glass mug that says Beer 5 cents, that was given to Willie by his younger brother, Thomas, many years ago, before we even met.

Faux floral arrangement supplies.
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The fourth vase, or planter, I found at Dollar Tree. I knew I didn’t want or need a pricey vase, as this arrangement will be going atop our grandfather clock, so it will not be well seen, plus it wouldn’t be tragic if it had an accidental fall from high up. This tin bin that says Flowers & Gardens is perfect. The perfect price point, height, and shape for this task.

Silver oval flower tin that says Flowers and Garden.
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I knew that I wanted the arrangement for atop the clock to have some downward flow.

Making a blue, white, and purple faux floral arrangement.
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I began with just blue and whites, but it needed a pop of color. How about a pop of purple?

Faux floral arrangement in white, blue and purple.
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There we go! I’m loving this!

The little cuties and beer mug had their makeovers as well. I kept these pretty simple, as they are going behind glass, in the curio cabinet. The white florals will help bring in much needed brightness.

Faux floral arrangements in various misc. vases/holders in blues and whites.
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The little mugs are just too cute! I call them Fifi and Penelope. They’ve become favorite keepsakes.

The beer mug now shines new light with it’s white wispy florals, pearls, and clear stones.

Beer mug with white floral arrangement.
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Such a beautiful way to add brightness (and lightness of mood) to this dark cabinet.

White nick-nacks in an antique curio cabinet.
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Fun note: If you spy the red Christmas light inside this cabinet, it’s there because Willie’s Father built this cabinet when he (Willie’s Dad) was in his 20’s, probably in the 1960’s. I’m guessing this was his way to bring brightness in. These lights are so fun and sentimental, I’ve opted to leave them in place, as he placed them in his beautiful creation.

And for our arrangement atop the clock, I think it ties everything in together very well.

Faux floral arrangement atop a grandfather clock.
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Everybody’s happy now in their new home. We’re making good progress with the dining room and curio cabinet decor.

Till next time, be kind, and follow your joy! God is truly good!

Johanna and Willie

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Faux Floral Arranging, Floral Arrangements, Vintage Style, Antique Furniture, French Country House, Lake House, Decor, Decor DIY, Keepsakes, Upgraded Home Decor

June 12, 2025 0

Making Fragrant Dried Lavender Sachets and Bouquet

Dried Lavender Floral Arrangement and Sachets.
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Can you smell the lavender in the air here at Royalview today? It’s so lovely.

And while it smells, and also looks very lovely, it is going to serve a good purpose in our home living environment.

I encountered a little scorpion hiding in a hand towel the other day. That gave Willie and I both a bit of a scare, and we also inherited spiders that live here on the property, so I began looking into natural ways to sway them away from wanting to live with us in our home. Lavender came up on both counts (for scorpions and spiders) when I did a Google search, and a knowledgeable plant specialist also told me that lavender, as well as fresh mint, and thyme, all work.

I ordered pre-made lavender sachets just a little while back, but they did not seem to be very fragrant, so I decided to search for dried lavender that may be better sealed, and attempt to make my own sachets. I searched lavender farms here in Texas, and also searched my favorite go-to, Amazon. I succeeded in finding a vacuum sealed bag of dried lavender on Amazon, as well as some really nice bundles of dried lavender flowers.

Bundles of dried lavender flowers from Amazon. https://amzn.to/43sl7AZ
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Vacuum sealed dried lavender from Amazon. https://amzn.to/43CdMzO
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I also found some really cute burlap sachet bags with heart shapes on them which I thought were really pretty, and would be great for putting in dresser drawers, cabinets, and for display as well.

Burlap sachet bags with cute heart designs from Amazon. https://amzn.to/4k2Clfd
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I was very excited when everything arrived. My Aunt Bunny gifted me a beautiful clear glass vase, which is perfect for my dried lavender bouquet.

Items for making dried lavender sachets and floral arrangement.
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First things first, opening the vacuum sealed bag of lavender. How would I contain all that, once it’s opened? Luckily, I remembered bringing a metal tub with us when we moved. That will be the perfect size to pour all the lavender into.

Cutting open a vacuum sealed bag of dried lavender.
https://amzn.to/4k5J87Z
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Opening a vacuum sealed bag of dried lavender flowers.
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Once the bag was opened and the lavender poured into the metal tub, it was time to start spooning it into the little sachet bags. And the aroma… So beautiful! So fragrant! I love it!

Spooning dried lavender flowers into burlap sachet bags.
https://amzn.to/4k5J87Z
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In the description of this vacuum sealed bag of dried lavender flowers, the seller suggests gently crushing the dried flowers to release even more fragrance, so as I spooned the lavender into the bags, I would then just gently smash the flowers in the bag. I could smell the fragrance even more after doing this. I spooned approximately 3-4 teaspoons into each bag.

Set of 20 burlap sachet bags with cute heart shapes from Amazon.
https://amzn.to/4koLtuj
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Aren’t these little burlap bags just the cutest? I love that the set came in 2 different tones. 10 in white, and 10 in beige, and they have the little light brown burlap hearts on each. So perfect for farmhouse decor.

Next up, a dried lavender flower bouquet.

This was so simple to do. At first I thought that I would be using both dried lavender flower bundles, but it turned out that 1 bundle was plenty.

Dried lavender flower bouquet from Amazon.
https://amzn.to/43CfNfs
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I put in a few faux florals with the dried lavender, and added blue satin ribbon (that I had purchased from Amazon previously for another project).

Blue satin ribbon from Amazon.
https://amzn.to/43jSUfs
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It’s so simple, yet elegant.

I was wondering where I may want to put my new lavender arrangement, and Willie suggested atop the curio cabinet in our dining room. I already had a floral arrangement there, but you know, he may be right. I think it looks really pretty, and the florals fit into the picture frame above the cabinet very well.

Dried lavender flower bouquet. Dried lavender from Amazon.
https://amzn.to/4kkdWBs
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Dried lavender bouquet made with dried lavender flower bundle from Amazon.
https://amzn.to/4kkdWBs
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I’m very happy with how everything turned out. The amount of dried lavender that I purchased (7 oz) in the vacuum sealed bag was perfect to fill all 20 (3×5) sachet bags.

20 burlap sachet bags with cute heart designs filled with dried lavender and tied with a white frayed chiffon ribbon from Amazon.
https://amzn.to/3SNGtU8
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I tied a few of the bags with a white frayed chiffon ribbon that I also purchased from Amazon. So cute!

Now I can place these cute little sachets all around, filling Royalview with their beautiful fragrance, and hopefully encouraging our little visitors to depart peacefully.

I think I’ll do another batch as well so I can put them in all the closets and cabinets in every room. So fun and easy to do.

Well, I hope you enjoyed visiting with me as I made my dried lavender crafts, and hope this inspires you to do your favorite crafts as well.

Till next time, stay safe, and follow your joy. God is truly good!

Johanna and Willie

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Amazon Home, Amazon Affiliates, Homemade Dried Lavender Flower Sachets, Burlap Lavender Sachets, Dried Lavender Bouquet Arrangement in Vase, Lavender for Spiders and Scorpions

May 19, 2025 0

Happy News for Royalview!

Royalview receives Yard of the Month honor for May, 2025.
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Willie and I are very honored that Royalview received the recognition of Yard of the Month for May, 2025. We share this honor and good news with the team at Eagle A. Improvements (Houston,TX), who worked with us to design her gardens and landscaping, as well as performed the installation.

Cheers!

Johanna and Willie

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May 7, 2025 0

Creating Faux Floral Arrangements for Royalview

Faux Floral Arrangements in White, Blue, and Purple.
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It’s craft day at Royalview! I love it! I’ve not dabbled in any sort of craft in quite a while, so I am very happy to be at a point where I can play, and have fun decorating our new home.

As you may have seen from previous posts, Willie and I have been enjoying shopping at our local antique and home decor shops, and I’ve found some really cute items that I thought I could easily use as vases, as well as some actual vases.

The cute blue vase (with the wording Blooming Flowers, Sweet Home) pictured above is one that I found on Amazon a couple of months after we moved in. There was already a pretty blue floral arrangement included with the vase that we’ve enjoyed for a little while now, but with it being floral craft day, it’s getting in on the party too.

We found the stemmed white milk glass bowl at Sweet Magnolia Emporium’s booth at Yesterday’s Treasures in Willis, TX. This is one of my favorite spots to shop. Kelly has a very good eye for home decor items, and she is a joy to talk with. She has stayed in touch with me, and lets me know if she finds anything that will be perfect for Royalview. Check out the very tall, black plant stand above. That’s from her booth as well. I was so ecstatic to find that there.

Now, here’s what the blue vase’s arrangement looked like before (it was pretty as-is), as well as 2 white milk glass vases and 2 vases with yellow arrangements from Yesterday’s Treasures.

Floral arrangements redo, before pics.
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I of course knew that the yellow flowers would not be staying. When I shop, I always like to envision how I can work with an item that I like, that may not automatically fit in with Royalview’s aesthetics.

You may notice that the background in these pictures do not exactly match. There were actually (2) floral craft days and some additional decor added during the interim between, like the black plant stand. It’s all a continuous work in progress, that Willie and I are enjoying very much.

This is the first haul of faux florals that I picked up at Michaels in Conroe.

Doing faux floral arranging in white milk glass vases. Faux floral haul from Michaels in Conroe, TX.
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And, my second faux floral haul was from Hobby Lobby in Conroe.

Making faux floral arrangements in white milk glass stemmed bowl and clear glass apothecary style jars.
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Here’s a closeup of the stemmed white milk glass bowl that I got from Kelly (Sweet Magnolia Emporium), and the 2 super cute apothecary style glass jars that I got from Rosey Opals Collective Market in New Waverly, TX. Another new fave shopping spot! And, they have an ice cream parlor inside. I’ll have to do a post on all these super fun shops that we’ve been finding lately.

White milk glass stemmed bowl and two clear glass apothecary style glass jars. Antique shop finds in Conroe and New Waverly, TX. acrossthelake.blog

You can see that I love making a mess when I work.

Faux floral arranging mess.
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It’s a happy mess. When you see this, you know I’m in my happy place.

It even extended out to the kitchen counter. Happy, happy arranging!

Faux floral arranging mess in kitchen.
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The color tones I am using here at Royalview lean heavily toward white, and denim hued blues, with a few added purples. I do have background/furniture combos in gray/white and brown/white, and some bits of black here and there. I carry these color tones throughout our home, and the whites, blues, and purples in our gardens as well. And green, I suppose, with all the greenery.

And here are some of the completed faux floral arrangements. You saw these two already, from the first pic. These are two of my favorites.

Two faux floral arrangements in white, blue and purple.
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Do you remember the two yellow floral arrangements? Here they are now in blue. They are now residing on each side, atop our entertainment center.

Two floral arrangements in blues.
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And, the super gorgeous black plant stand from Kelly at Sweet Magnolia Emporium. You can also see one of the blue floral arrangements at the top of our entertainment center.

Beautiful floral arrangements at Royalview.
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The blue vase arrangement now has a home on our dining room table.

Faux floral dining room table centerpiece.
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Here’s a cute little purple arrangement that went in one of the smaller white milk glass vases.

Purple and white faux floral arrangement in white milk glass vase.
acrossthelake.blog

This now resides on our coffee table.

Purple and white faux floral arrangement in a white milk glass vase.
acrossthelake.blog

I love how the purple helps break up all the blue and white, just a bit.

I’ll show you where the arrangement in the stemmed milk glass bowl, and the two clear glass apothecary glass jar arrangements now reside, in a future post. That’s a whole new story to share. We’ve had some beautiful new antique furniture additions in the dining room.

Do you enjoy making your own floral arrangements as well? What are your favorite color choices? Please feel free to leave a comment.

I hope my floral arrangement ideas inspire ideas for you, and what you may want to design for your home, from both vintage and new finds.

Till next time, stay safe and follow your joy! God is truly good!

Johanna and Willie

acrossthelake.blog

Faux Floral Arrangements, Blue Florals, White Florals, Purple Florals, Making Flower Arrangements at Home, Lifestyle Blog, Lake Life, Conroe, TX

April 26, 2025 0

Our “Mystery” Dianthus Has Bloomed!

Bright pink Dianthus.
acrossthelake.blog — Bright Pink Dianthus

Wow, you guys, look how stunning the color is on our “mystery” Dianthus’ blooms! I’m still not sure of the species. I Google Lens’d my photos, and a lot of options came up: Dianthus Plumarius, Neon Purple, Fuchsia, Sweet William, Floral Lace Lilac, Jolt Purple, and more.

All I know for sure is, that they’re gorgeous, and I adore the color.

I’ve taken several photos over the past couple of days as they have been opening up. Here’s one from afar so you can see how tall this plant is, compared to the other plants in the garden. When this was planted up front, it was a lot smaller than the others.

Very tall bright pink Dianthus.
acrossthelake.blog — Very Tall, Bright Pink Dianthus

You can see how many more buds are getting ready to open. This will be glorious in full bloom.

There was no filter used for this photography, and no edits. They are just this vibrant.

Beautiful Fuchsia Dianthus.
acrossthelake.blog — Beautiful Fuchsia Dianthus

Bright Fuchsia Dianthus
acrossthelake.blog — Bright Fuchsia Dianthus

I hope you enjoyed the blooming of our Dianthus as much as we have.

Till next time, stay safe, and follow your joy! God is truly good!

Johanna and Willie

acrossthelake.blog

Bright Pink Dianthus, Flower Garden, Spring Flowers, Fuchsia, Hot Pink Flowers, Texas Flower Garden

April 15, 2025 0

Royalview in the Spring, Our Beautiful Texas Gardens in Full Bloom

Our home, Royalview
acrossthelake.blog — Royalview

Willie and I are very excited to be experiencing our very first Spring here at Royalview.

The trees and flowers are now in full bloom. We’re witnessing more and more water birds every day. It’s looking glorious here at home, and also across the lake.

View of lake across the street from Royalview.
across the lake.blog — View of the Lake Across the Street from Royalview

Our gardens and landscape are looking so pretty, especially after our first maintenance service call from our new landscaping company. Their team did a wonderful job getting us Spring ready, and Royalview’s gardens looking their best.

Royalview's South Garden
across the lake.blog — Royalview’s Front South Garden

Royalview's Back Garden
acrossthelake.blog — Royalview’s Back Yard Garden

Royalview's Backyard garden.
acrossthelake.blog — Royalview’s Back Yard Garden

Texas Backyard Garden Closeup
acrossthelake.blog — Our Texas Garden in Full Bloom

We are both so thrilled that we’ve been blessed with our very own Texas Bluebonnets. These were a surprise from our landscape design team, Eagle Improvements.

Texas Bluebonnets at Royalview
acrossthelake.blog — Texas Bluebonnets at Royalview

We chose an array of blue, white, and purple flower varieties for our gardens, but there is one pop of pink in our back garden. This beautiful plant (Pink Dianthus) was a housewarming gift from our nieces Amy and Loralie.

Pink Dianthus at Royalview.
acrossthelake.blog — Pink Dianthus at Royalview

Here are some beautiful closeup pictures of various flower varieties planted in our gardens.

Purple Salvia in our Front North and South Gardens.
acrossthelake.blog — Purple Salvia in our Front North and South Gardens

Purple Verbena
acrossthelake.blog — Purple Verbena

White Verbena
acrossthelake.blog — White Verbenas in all Gardens at Royalview

Plumbago
acrossthelake.blog — Plumbago in all Gardens at Royalview

Daisys
acrossthelake.blog — Daisys in Front Gardens

Now, this next plant is a real mystery to me. When our landscape design company first came out, I spoke with Keren and requested another Pink Dianthus to go with the one that was gifted to us by our Nieces. Keren returned with this Dianthus. It was very small at the time it was planted, but it has sky-rocketed into a very tall and unusual looking plant.

Dianthus
acrossthelake.blog — “Mystery” Dianthus

It has a lot of little buds, so I cannot wait to see what it’s going to look like.

Dianthus Buds
acrossthelake.blog — “Mystery” Dianthus Buds

It is a Dianthus. The tag read Dianthus when Keren brought it, and when our new landscape company’s owner (Boone, of Boone’s Landscaping) came by to look at our property, he saw it and called it some type of Dianthus. I cannot remember what he said it was, and when I Googled it, it just says Dianthus. So, it’s still a mystery to me as to the variety, and what color it is.

I’ll be sure to keep watch, and snap some photos when she blooms.

Till next time, Willie and I hope you’re enjoying your beautiful Spring blooms wherever you may be. Stay safe, and follow your joy. God is truly good!

Johanna and Willie

acrossthelake.blog

Texas garden, Spring Garden, Texas Bluebonnets, Lakehouse, Garden, Conroe, Texas, Spring Flowers

April 11, 2025 0