Decisions, Decisions....

Our kitchen is almost complete, Jerry my husband just finished up the aqua backsplash tile last weekend and we are now contemplating knobs for the cabinets.  Since most of the kitchen is white/neutral we thought about adding aqua/turquoise glass knobs to match the backsplash but then again you can't go wrong with a brushed nickel knob and pull... I also really like the look of a clear crystal knob/pull.  Which ones are your favorite?


Aqua flower glass knobs from World Market

Aqua glass knobs from Amazon.com (These are my husbands favorite but also the most expensive at $10 per knob)

Faceted Acrylic Pulls & Knobs from Target (these are so pretty in person!)

Polished Nickel Cup Pulls from Target for Drawers

I was thinking of using the faceted clear knobs on the cabinet doors and the satin cup pulls on drawers but my husband really thinks the turquoise knobs would make the kitchen pop, I'm just not so sure, I love color and whimsy but don't want it to be too crazy...What do you guys think? I know it's hard to help when you haven't seen the kitchen and I promise to try to take some photo's of the progress very soon and post them so I can get opinions... Thanks so much for all the feedback you all give me, it really and truly makes my day:)

Found!!! Beautiful and Affordable Curtains

I've been on the hunt since we moved into our house back in August for some very specific curtains with no luck. I didn't want much.. just that they be somewhat inexpensive, lined, and a floral print with aqua or turquoise in them, seriously is that too much to ask???..  So recently when I met Christina from The Seam on Etsy and had some pillows made I thought about having some custom curtains made even though they are a bit out of my price range but I really wanted some pretty curtains on my windows.  The only problem was  I couldn't find a fabric I loved except for the one that had been discontinued...  By chance the other day I was online looking at curtains on the World Market website and spotted these

I loved them and since they were only $30 a panel I get to stay on budget! but I still had to be sure I loved them as much in person.  When my Mom said she needed to go Christmas shopping today I got a chance to run into World Market and see them in person and let me tell you they are just gorgeous in person! I can't wait to purchase them and check one more thing off my house to do list:)

Fun New Christmas Ornaments!

I recently won a blog giveaway from Sheena at http://sheenacolleen.blogspot.com/ who has my dream job of being an elementary school art teacher! She has a really cute blog and I love here artwork so check her out if you have time.  She was giving away a $25 Michaels gift card and I actually won!!!! I was super surprised and very happy since I never win ANYTHING!!!! So the day I got my giftcard in the mail you know I had to make a trip to Michaels which I spend way too much time and money at by the way:)  I pondered what to get, should I make a new wreath? should I get a new tree topper? new ornaments? what???? I had no idea but these little guys won me over

They were just so cute and colorful and happy and made me smile!  I had planned on using just aqua, silver and red ornaments but alas I'm doing red and green on my main tree but I also have a table top tree that I'm going to use my aqua and silver ornaments on that I'll put in my dining room.  Short post I know but I had to share:)

My Ballard Inspired Pinecone Wreath!

Just like so many other bloggers I really get inspired by the Ballard catalogs that I get in my mailbox.  My dream house would have lots of Ballard furniture with vintage pieces as well, but of course that's only in my dreams since Ballards prices are a bit out of my budget!  I had been admiring their pinecone wreath since I first saw it in the holiday catalog

So pretty!  so I decided to try and make a similar one but with smaller pinecones. 

I decided to add a little color to mine but still not sure if I like it or not... what do you think? (I still have to pick all the hot glue gun strings off)?  The little red balls were in the mix of mini pinecones and cinnamon sticks I purchased at Michaels and they smell great and have a little sparkle which you can't tell of course since I have the worst camera ever!  Should I add a ribbon too it as well? 

I would also love to try and make these little pinecone topiaries from Ballard, we'll see....

Woo Hoo! New Kitchen Valances Almost Done!

I haven't posted lately because seriously I've been a little overwhelmed with the upcoming holidays, but I'm vowing to not let myself get too crazy and force myself to have a glass of wine and just enjoy them this year (seriously when did I ever force myself to have a glass of wine).   So I just had to post a quick pic of my new valances that Christina at The Seam is making for my kitchen windows with my favorite fabric, I just can't get enough of it! Christina finished one of them this week and sent me these photo's (it was raining so she couldn't get a great shot).

(close up of the aqua trim)

I can't wait to hang them! Our kitchen reno is almost complete and I can't wait to share it with you.... Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone!

Country French Furniture At World Market! Who Knew...

When I go into World Market or check out their website I always like what I see, even if it isn't my own personal style, I just enjoy looking at all they have to offer.  Well yesterday something big happened, I found french country furniture that I love at World Market!!!! I haven't actually seen it in person but plan on making a trip there tomorrow to check out the bench which I love and would be so pretty in my dining room! Have you seen it in person? if so what did you think?

Dreaming of...China Patterns

I have always loved fine China, my mother's Blue Danube was proudly displayed in her china cabinet when I was growing up and of course all holiday meals were served on it. I guess it's just natural that one of the first things I thought of when we moved into our first home 3 months ago was finding a china cabinet and a china pattern.   My wonderful mother had previously told me to find a china cabinet under $500 (probably a used one) and she would purchase it for us as a house warming gift.  I've previously posted about how much I love my white shabby chic china cabinet that we found at On a Whim Antiques in Lucketts, VA!  Now I really need some china to go in it. I had been searching high and low for something I loved and then I found it! It was white and turquoise, simple and elegant and it had a scalloped edge (something I love) and made by Lenox, a company my mother assured me made quality china.  Then I found out that it was discontinued:( total disappointment.  I still plan on calling the Lenox/Kate Spade China company to see why.   Last Friday while in Macy's trying to find another china pattern that wasn't discontinued I spotted these pieces on a clearance rack.

I was super excited and thought I might get lucky and find more pieces at other stores but no luck, after doing a computer check the sales associate was only able to find 1 or 2 more dinner plates and they were all out of state... Well at least I got a great deal on the pieces I was able to find.  I paid $13 for $120 worth of Lenox/Kate Spade china

So I was back to the drawing board. I really wanted something that was elegant but not to stodgy, something that would fit in with shabby chic decor and coordinate with the Gwinnett lane pattern I love so much and hope to find little by little.   I really like Chirp by Lenox (pictured below) but one of my close friends thinks it's too casual. I think it would work with the Gwinnett Lane pieces though and I love the little bird...

 I also sort of like Gilded Tapestry, again made by Lenox but not so crazy about all the brown.  Do you collect China? if so is your pattern current or discontinued?

New Etsy Pillows & An Update

If some of you may remember I recently took the plunge and purchased two of these beautiful chairs from Pier 1 a little over a month ago.

I loved these chairs so much that I would just gaze lovingly at them whenever I passed them, yep I've got problems, I think I spend way too much time in my house!  So after owning the chairs for two weeks I noticed one of them started creaking everytime I sat in it.  This wasn't a little creaking noise either, my husband and I both noticed it and I got a bit scared, if these chairs started creaking after two weeks then I just didn't think they were strong enough to stand up to the every day abuse that my family of 3 sons and a messy husband could put them through.  I contemplated for a long time and even though about keeping them and just putting one of them in our bedroom since surely it wouldn't get sat on much in there...  Well after plunking down $400 for both chairs my frugal self caved and decided it wasn't worth the worry to have the beauty and returned the chairs.   I started searching anywhere and everywhere for the fabric so I could possibly have some curtains or pillows made out of my beloved pattern but it seemed like the pattern had either been discontinued or was sold out everywhere.  Joanne's had it on their website but were no longer carrying it.  One day I happened to be searching etsy for pillow covers and came across this!

Seriously I couldn't contain my excitement, I promptly contacted the seller and asked if she possibly had enough fabric to make me 3 more and she said she could order more! The seller was Christina and her shop is called The Seam, you can check her out here http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheSeam.  Christina was super easy to work with, really communicated during the process and did quick and great work, I highly recommend her! 

So maybe a few days afer receiving my pillow covers from Christina I stumbled upon these dining room slipcovers on the Pier 1 website!

You know I was super excited right?  I guess I'd never connected this slipcover to the chairs I loved because they have a different name....So I decided I wouldn't get my hopes up until I saw them in person.  So last night I had a couple hours of time to myself and I'd been wanting to go to Pier 1 anyway to look at dishes for Thanksgiving dinner (I'm hosting it this year) so I killed two birds with one stone:)  The slipcover in person was beautiful but I'm not sure they will fit my existing dining chairs which is okay since I really do need to purchase two more dining chairs anyway and Pier 1 has a chair that they make specifically for this slipcover.  Okay enough of my rambling, I just had to share my excitement with someone and well... my husband just doesn't get it!

Fun & Inexpensive Art for Kids Rooms!

Well so far I haven't done much in the way of tutorials so I figured I'd give it a shot since this project was very easy and inexpensive.  Oh and I happen to love the way it came out which doesn't happen a lot for me!

So Brendon's room (my two year old) is mostly a cars and trucks theme, and I know a lot of people don't like theme rooms but Brendon loooves cars and trucks so I thought it would be really cute to kind of run with that.  I don't have much money to purchase artwork for his room so I thought it would be fun to try and make some and this is what I came up with.

Supplies you will need:

- Unfinished wood plaques from the craft store - I got mine from Michael's at $1.49 each and used two different shapes

- White Spray Paint or Craft Paint - I think I paid $3.00 at WalMart for mine, they have the cheapest spray paint I've found

-Finished or Unfinished Wood Cutouts from the craft store - they cost between $.50 - $1.00 depending on the size generally and you can find them on the woodworking aisle.  I actually picked mine up at a yard sale and the woman had already painted them but I saw the same ones at Michaels for $.59 - $.99 each.

- Craft Paints - The cutouts  I had were already painted but craft paints are generally pretty inexpensive at around $.99 per paint I think.  Michael's also had pre-painted wood cutouts as well.

- Ribbon - you will need something to attach to your base wood plaque to hang it with so I

used some striped grosgrain ribbon I had laying around from another project.
- Gorilla Glue to attach the two pieces of wood together - I already had on hand which I purchased from Walmart I think
- A staple gun to attach your ribbon - also had on hand
-  Nails to hang your plaques

Total cost of my project = $12.00

                                        $6.00 wood base plaques
                                         $3.00 spray paint
                                         $3.00 cars, trucks cutouts (yard sale)

I had all other supplies on hand


Step 1 -  spray paint your wood plaques with the white spray paint or whatever color you want, I used white because I wanted the bright colors on the cut outs to really pop. I used about 2-3 coats on each plaque

Step 2 - If you purchase unpainted wood cutouts paint them and let dry

Step 3 - Once both your base plaque and your wood cut outs are dry you are ready to attach them with the gorilla glue.  Now if you don't have gorilla glue you could probably use hot glue but I haven't had the best experience trying to attach wood items with hot glue which is why I used gorilla glue and so far it worked really well!  Okay this sounds weird but it says so on the gorilla glue bottle so it's what I did.  Dampen the back of your wood cutout with water, not drenching it but evidently the glue works best when one piece is wet so I just ran each piece under the water faucet and then blotted it off.  I then drizzled the gorilla glue to the back of the cutout (not too much because it will expand once dried and spill over the edge, this happened to one of my plaques) and attach them to the wood base plaque.  The directions then say to clamp the pieces together with binder clips or put pressure on them for at least an hour.  I didn't have binder clips big enough so I put all my pieces on the floor and then sat my husbands tool box on top of them all.  This sounds crazy but I wanted there to be plenty of pressure on all the pieces so they would stick well and it worked!

Step 4 - Almost done! After waiting about an hour I flipped my plaques over, cut the amount of ribbon I wanted to form a hanger and just stapled the ends into the plaque with a staple gun (watch your fingers).

Step 5 - Hang them up!

I still need to touch up some of the plaque edges with white paint but for now they will do! I'm pretty happy with how they came out and they look really cute in Brendon's room.  I hope I didn't bore you with too many details:) 

Found! Fun Kitchen Curtain Fabric

Since we moved into our house  I have been wanting to spruce up the windows in our kitchen with some fun curtains.  We had finally decided on a color scheme and the renovation is 75% complete so I figured now is as good a time as any to find some fabric and then try my hand at making some no-sew curtains.  Anyway after a long search for some fabric with some aqua/turquoise in it and something that is fun and kitchen appropriate I found it!!!!!

The fabric is designed by Bari J Ackerman for Windham Fabrics. It is from the FULL BLOOM collection and I found it on Ebay for $3.50 a yard.  It came super fast and I'm hoping to start making them this week.  Here is my inspiration photo that I found from graphic designer Kimberly Shaws blog here http://kimberlyshaw.typepad.com/my_weblog/2010/02/best-teapot-fabric.html. 

She has an amazing shop where she has teacup accessories, stickers, etc.  I love that she used pom pom trim on hers and I think I may steal this idea too although I plan on making full curtain panels instead of just a valance.  Wish me luck!

So Excited and I Can't Hide It!!!

Yep I'm quoting lyrics from the pointer sisters cuz I'm a big dork! but seriously I am... Today I found these chairs on Craigslist and I'm super excited to say the least

I have been casually looking for some french inspired dining chairs for a while now, not really seriously looking since I do have dining chairs but I don't love them you know, but these I love! I love the price even better, they are $100 for the set of 4 and since they look to be in great shape I can't wait to see them tomorrow.  The only thing I'd have to spend a bit extra doing is painting them If I decide to do that and switching out the fabric on the seats... I'll post again once I pick them up, wish me luck they are everything I hope they are:)  Have a great night, I know I'll be dreaming of chairs tonight....

Little Photo Gallery Wall

I love the look of gallery photo walls, especially the kind you see in Pottery barn catalogs that have all the different elements added like mirrors, words, signs, etc and I really wanted to do a small photo wall in my hallway but just couldn't figure it out with what I already had on hand. That is until I visited Natalie at http://endlesscrafting.blogspot.com/.  She had just done a post about her plans to do a gallery wall and while she hadn't put everything up yet I loved her combination of plates, photos and mirrors.  Well mine isn't nearly as nice as hers will surely be but I think it looks pretty good and I didn't have to spend a dime since I already had everything.  Here is what I planned to do but I ran out of space for the large photo frame.

This is what I ended up with

I really need to get a laser level to make sure everything is lined up correctly but for now this will do, I'm so tired of bare walls and I really wanted to see some of our photo's up on the wall.   Thanks for visiting!

Goodwill Goodies and a Distressed Table!

I just have to tell you that I'm super excited because I just finished my first try at distressing furniture and I think I did pretty well for a first-timer, Woo Hoo!!!  The other day when I was visiting my Momma I stopped at the Goodwill near her house and found this great french chair!!!!!


Have I told yall how much I love anything french inspired?... Well I am obsessed, but in a good way:)

Look at the detail!

It was $5!!!!! it is missing a support bar from the base of the chair but I'm hoping either my husband Jerry can fix it or if he can't figure it out, I'm hoping a carpenter won't charge a huge amount to fix it... we'll see.  I actually love the color of the wood but I even thought of painting it an aqua or turquoise blue to go with a white desk for my living room that I've got my eye on from Craigslist.

The 2nd thing I purchased that was just calling my name since I've always wanted a little pedestal table in my living room, was this little thing that probably came from the 70's or 80's... It was $10 and I think worth it since it's very solid.

At first I wasn't sure what color I wanted it to be, and again I thought about painting it aqua but then again my walls are sort of aqua and some curtains I've been eyeing have aqua and turquoise in them and I didn't want it to be blue overkill!  I decided on a creamy white since I already have a white china cabinet and entry table and I really like how those pieces make the room brighter, plus I just love the shabby chic/cottage style... I really wanted to try distressing, I'd never tried it and I really just wanted a light distressed look and well enough babbling... I like how it turned out, but do you think I should distress it more?

Obviously Brendon likes it too:) as soon as I brought it up from the basement after the paint was dry he decided it would be great to climb on and watch tv.... 2 year olds!

Thanks for visiting!

Mirror, Mirror on the...Floor?

Yep this is a pic I took of my mirror on my kitchen floor...my kitchen gets the best light in the house and I wanted you ladies to see the true color of the mirror (which is a cross between bronze and gold) because see I need your advice... I love this mirror, I bought it 2 years ago at Tuesday Morning, if you don't have one in your area it's kind of like a smaller version of Homegoods or TJ Maxx and like those two it's either a hit or miss.  When I purchased this mirror I was going after a Tuscan feel to my home and now I'm doing more of  a shabby chic, modern cottage look so I want to brighten the mirror up by painting it, but what color?  I'm thinking white since my entry/foyer table is white and I want to hang it above the table, the mirror I have leaning on the table now won't be staying since it's a bit too modern (another phase I went through).  Also, please ignore my half finished fall tablescape:)  I've also though of painting the mirror silver but since I have silver candlesticks and silver in the lamp I thought it might be silver overkill.... Anyway I'm taking a vote ladies, what color do you think I should paint my round mirror?

Can You Love a Chair?...

Um, can you love a chair?  If that's possible, I think I'm in love.... After stalking the Josette chair at Pier 1 for about 4 months now I finally took the plunge and handed over my credit card.  At $199 a chair this was really steep for me.  Like a lot of SAHM bloggers I usually do a lot of our home shopping at the Goodwill, Target, Craigslist, etc.   but after searching for months for something similar on craigslist and in thriftstores I knew that I just needed to splurge on something.  An added bonus is that my husband Jerry really liked the floral print as well and that's saying a lot! Like most men he doesn't have too much of an opinion on home furnishings, I'm lucky if I get an "oh that's okay" cuz usually it's just a grunt!  Anyway let me stop gushing over this chair but seriously I am in love... The only con to the chair is that it's a bit short, I heard one shopper say it looks like a children's chair but they are wide and comfy and did I mention beautiful!  I think my little guy actually loves them too:)