Gardening

The weather has been so beautiful here, so I have been dying to get out and work in the yard.  I have a daily war with myself; I'm dying to work on something and am trying to keep my self-imposed break.  I keep telling myself it's crazy to do a lot of yard work this year when I won't even be here to enjoy it.  Our yard needs some major landscaping assistance though.  For now, I'm trying to just work with what we have (which is mainly a few hostas and the can-not-be-killed mint) and clean everything up a bit.

 

I would love something structured like this for my herbs.  Except you know 1/100th of the size.

 

 These are little more feasible though and super cute.

 

 

Most of my herbs from last year survived the winter, so I need to find an attractive way to pot them.  There is no way I'm planting mint directly in the ground, that stuff takes over everything!

Update

I have not fallen off the face of the earth.  I just took a mini blogging break, while I get everything in order.  I will be in Nicaragua for 6 months starting at the end of May and it just hit me how quickly that is coming up!  It seemed so far away and like I had plenty of time.  Then it hit me it's right around the corner!  All of sudden I have to get new insurance, banking, and a million other little things to take care of before I go.  Apparently, leaving the country is a little more complicated than just buying a plane ticket! :)

Since I have been rushing to get everything in before I leave, I have done my very best to put most house projects aside for now.  Even though it drives me nuts not to work on something!

And I had my first DIY disaster.  After this happened attempting to hang crown molding by myself I decided that was reason number 2 to take a break until I could get a little help.

Apparently a ceramic sink and nail gun do not mix.  I am NOT happy about this sink situation.  Now I am on the hunt for another one that will fit in the little space and trying to sweet talk my daddy into installing another sink! 

Fireplaces

My parents have just started remodeling their house and I've been throwing ideas at them left and right.  They will probably go a lot more traditional and rustic at their house.  My dad loves the idea of a stone wall or fireplace.  I spent some time looking through houzz this weekend and loved these fireplaces for them.

Traditional Living Room by Saratoga Springs Design-build Witt Construction

 

 

The way the stone is layed here is so interesting.

 

Traditional Family Room by Atlanta Architect Castro Design Studio

 

 

This one is my absolute favorite, but I've had a hard time convincing Mama and Daddy.  I am obsessed with the barndoors and the fact that you can hide the TV easily.

Traditional Bedroom by Millbrook Architect Crisp Architects

Decorating with Pink

Obviously I'm a big fan, after my pink chairs.  I still love love love them.  I never thought of myself as pink girl, I always said green or yellow were my favorite colors.  But pink has been my go to accent color for everything lately.

Here are some beautiful pink rooms that I love   Loving this old House Beautiful cover.

This little girl's China Seas bedroom is the cutest I've ever seen.


This one is from House Beautiful as well and a little more neutral.

A gorgeous sun room from Southern Living.

This one was the inspiration for my breakfast nook armchairs.http://dwellerswithoutdecorators.blogspot.com/2011/07/monday-morning-makeoverkitchen-makeover.html

I love the pink accents in this room and these drapes are so fun. 

So what do you think?  Would you decorate with pink?

Funky Chair Makeover

I feel like I haven't had any good upholstery projects in a while.  I don't know why but I kind of love doing them.  It keeps my hands busy and I feel so accomplished when I finish it.  I haven't shared this one before, but it is one of my favorite upholstery projects I've done so far.

I found this floral chair at the Salvation Army forever ago.  The fabric had definitely seen better days, but the shape of it was really cute and petite.

This was maybe my second or third project so I was a little nervous.  But I just followed my tried and true method; it's very complex and complicated.  Put everything back the way you took it off.  I know mind blowing.

I actually did alter this one a little, I chose to tuft the back in a smaller pattern and it originally had a skirt that I left off.

I don't have a 100% completed pic of it, I added pink piping to the bottom as well.  I love the way it turned out.  Perfect for two little girls!

Linked to Whipperberry

Printing Pictures on Canvas

I have five hundred and fifty one million projects planned and not yet started.  They all require working out in the garage and it is still freezing.  At the end of March.  In MISSISSIPPI! 
My warm weather loving self just can't handle it.  So I've been scrounging around for projects I can do in the house. 

I showed you the gallery wall in our hallway a while ago.  I loved it, but I wanted a miniature painting for it.  I searched for one on Etsy and found a few I liked, but I wasn't one hundred percent.  It' so hard to tell online what you're really getting.

Then I found a blog post saying you could print on a canvas.  I was walking around Hobby Lobby a few days later and found these miniature canvases on clearance for 3 bucks!

It was so easy to make my own art. You will need:
canvas
tissue paper
printer paper
mod podge
foam/paint brush

I printed off the picture first so I could center the tissue paper.  Then I taped a piece of tissue paper to a piece of regular printer paper

And then ran it through the printer.  I didn't have to do any resizing for mine, because the mini canvas was about the size of a regular photo. 

Remove the tissue paper from the regular paper and lay it over your canvas.  Then cover with a thin layer of mod podge.

Try to dab on the mod podge rather than applying it in strokes.  Using a lot of strokes will cause the ink to run.  After this step it doesn't look great, but just set it aside and let it dry.  The mod podge adheres it to the canvas and as it dries you will see the texture of the canvas. 

Once it dries, you are ready to hang your art.

 I'm so glad I didn't buy a painting now.  The photo is more personal and has meaning.  It is from a sister's weekend Erin and I went on last year.  We went to Hot Spring and stopped by a garden on our way out.  It was so beautiful and ended up being our favorite part of the trip.  This little picture is a great reminder of our weekend.

And it fits perfectly in the gallery wall!

I can't wait to do this project again!

This Old House

Check out my bench project on the This Old House website!  Fingers crossed I'll make it into the reader issue.

 

This Old House