Williams Sonoma Scent

This week has been absolutely nuts. I started a new job, plus my baking business always gets crazy in the fall. I can't wait to kick my feet up and relax this weekend. I will definitely be using a little aromatherapy with this Williams Sonoma scent

 

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It has been all over pinterest lately.  I'll be the first to admit that most of my pinterest attempts are a flop (that healthy cookie dough dip was NASTY and frozen bananas are not a good substitute for ice cream).  It seemed really simple though and I had all the ingredients so I tried it last weekend.

It really does smell fantastic.  Just fill a pot with water, add a sliced lemon, a couple tablespoons of vanilla, and some rosemary; then simmer.  I love the scent, and it's way cheaper than scentsy.  If you keep it on for a long time don't forget to keep adding water; the smell of scorched vanilla and rosemary is not quite as pleasant.  Not that I would know from experience or anything...

 

Big Plans

I have big plans for the little bathroom I showed you yesterday. The linoleum is coming up and I'm going to put down a dark slate tile. We're pulling out the old vanity and replacing it with a pedestal sink. I actually got lucky and scored a brand new one at the thrift store(!) a while ago. The bathroom is just to small to have a big vanity.

I really want to do wallpaper; it makes such an impact in a small space and isn't so overwhelming

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pinterest

 

But budget and hours of removing the last owners wallpaper made me rethink it.  I saw a DIY version of Imperial Trellis a while ago that I just might attempt.

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Pretty amazing right?  and the paint version will save a kajillion dollars.

 

For the shower curtain, I want to try making it.  Mainly because I want it to go almost to the ceiling.  I have a pretty solid picked out that is the same color as our walls in the living room; it's from PHI of course.  Hopefully lots of this can be weekend projects.  Wish me luck!

Guest Bathroom Before

 

Prepare yourself for these before pictures.  Pretty much everything in our hall bathroom needs to go.

 

From the paint color and border...

To the light fixture... 

 

To the vanity...

 

and finally the beautiful linoleum...

It's all gots to go.  I can't wait to share my plans for this little space with you!

Garden Stool Update

Sooo remember that garden stool I bought last week?  I had some spray paint left over from another project so I decided to paint it bright pink.  Why? I do not know.  I liked it for all of five minutes and then I moved it into the living room.  Me no likey.

 

 

You can see it poking out here.

 I like the color by itself, but it's just all wrong for our room.  Now I have to come up with a plan B.  Do I try to leaf it or just scratch the stool? 

Entry mirror

Apparently, I've been all about mirrors lately; I found this one at a yard sale. It was all cream and gold - not so much. But I thought it would look great painted in our entry way.

Oops, forgot to take a before AGAIN!

 

 Usually I don't worry about taping mirrors when I paint.  Windex will wipe latex paint right off, but this one the frame came off so I didn't have to worry about it.

 

I love it painted, now I just need a table to go under it. 

 

I think this picture is adorable, and the frame is really similar.

Sorry I don't know where this is from it's on Pinterest and the link doesn't work :(

Linked to http://southernhospitalityblog.com/

Christmas Thoughts

I found these simple white plates at the thrift store (for a quarter each!!!).  They aren't that special on their own, but I think they will be perfect for a Christmas tablescape I have planned.

 

 

 

I know it's a little early to be thinking about Christmas, but it will be here before you know it. 

 And in my defense some stores have had Christmas stuff out for months now,

which is a little nuts if you ask me. 

 

Anyway, I want to do something a little fun and funky this year.  My original plan was to make a zebra table cloth with Premier Prints Tunisia in Chartreuse with a bright red band around the bottom.

 

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However, looking around their website I came across this Suzani print.

 

I can't decide, but I think I may be leaning toward the Suzani.  I'm going to use my new white dishes with red and green fiesta salad plates set on top.  Now I have to figure out a center piece and get to work!  What's your vote Suzani? or the zebra print?

Dining room chairs

Erin and I don't have much furniture, and a lot of what we do have is just a hodge podge.  Most of it is left over from our college days and the apartment.  I told you my mom came to the rescue and loaned us her dining room set here.  What you don't know is that those chairs had a horrendous 70's orange tweed.  It had to go.  

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My mom alwasy meant to recover them but she never got around to it.  Upholstery is a little scary to me still, but these were easy peasy.  It only took maybe ten minutes per chair.  I just unscrewed the bottom, wrapped the fabric across the top folding it like you would a present,

stapled it and screwed them back in place.

 

This coordinating stripe is much better.



 

You can check out some great dining room ideas here on Top Reveal.



Wednesday Wants- Molly B Right

 

http://www.mollybright.com/latest/

Sometimes I'm a little late to the party.  Everyone may already know about her, but I'm obsessed with Molly B. Right's art.  It is beautiful and I love how textural it is.  She lays layers of vintage bottlecaps and then goes over them with a wash to create beautiful portraits.
I think the historical portraits are my favorite.  The prominent people mixed with a modern and unique medium is so cool to me.

I love how she captured the movement of Van Gogh's paintings

The Chuck Close is super cool too.  It reminds me so much of his work, but with a different medium.

 

A self portrait by Chuck Close

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All images are from the artists site www.mollybright.com.

 

They look amazing in homes and make such a statement.  I want one!

 I'm not picky I'll take any of them.

 

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DIY rug fail

I love zebra/cowhide rugs.  They are in pretty much every design magazine you open.  While I would love to have one, they are super expensive and honestly I'm not really sure how I feel about having a real cow hide laying on my floor.  I was so excited when I found a zebra rug diy project a while ago.  I think I started it that night.  All it took was a drop cloth and paint.  Right now for a normal person alarms are going off in your head.  But I plunged forward thinking a drop cloth would make a perfect rug and look fantastic.  I sketched out the general shape and started cutting.

I took lots of pictures to document the process and share how to make your very own rug.

I didn't want black and white, so I left the drop cloth natural and used a light tan-ish brown for the stripes.  I stayed up allllll night painting stripes on that puppy.

And this is what I got.  Not so cute.  It actually doesn't look quite as bad in the picture.  In person, it just looks like I threw some fabric on the floor.  Tha main problem is it is way to thin to pass as a rug, not to mention mine has a big ol' belly with stubby little arms.  I'm labeling this one a FAIL.

Lesson learned .

Garden stool

I've been getting lucky at the thrift stores lately.  I found this garden stool at the flea market, I don't super love the pattern on it though.  I'm thinking I may attempt painting it.

 

or possibly even leafing it.  I love these metallic garden stools.

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I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it yet.  What's your vote?

Ready for the weekend

I don't know about you, but I am ready for the weekend.  I think this been the most stressful week I have ever had.  I decided to change jobs and have been an emotional wreck. 

I am excited, but (more than) a little terrified at the same time.  A verse that has really helped me this week is Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his.  Everything will be ok and I will survive the change. 

So this will be a relaxing weekend.  I say that now anyway, Saturday afternoon I will probably get bored and start on another project!  But for now I'm dreaming of being here...


or maybe here...

<3 Nicaragua

 

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Antique mirror

My mom and I happened across a little antique store a while ago in the middle of nowhere.  I'm talking Eggville, MS country roads waaaay in the boondocks.  I finally convinced her to stop this past weekend.  Unfortunately I got there later in the day and the chairs I saw had already sold or they would have been coming home with me.  I did find this gorgeous mirror though.  I loved the shape of it.

...but it had a weird greenish gold finish and whoever painted didn't do a very good job.

 

Whatever it was came off easily with a little sanding.  It revealed a pretty wood grain underneath.

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I really liked the wood grain, but ultimately decided something else would work better in my room. So, I ended up silver leafing it.

I used the Mona Lisa silver leaf from Hobby Lobby (40% off of course) and spray adhesive.

I lightly sprayed the adhesive and waited about 30 seconds. Then I took a sheet of silver and brushed over it with a dry paint brush.

 

 

This was the recommended method, but I found it easier just to use my hands to rub the silver leaf on.  After a little bit you find your groove and it goes pretty quickly.

It kinda looked like it had been wrapped in a Hershey Kiss wrapper when I was done.

I decided to tone down the bright silver a bit using an antiquing glaze

 

I just wiped it on using a paper towel and let it dry for a minute or two.  Then I wiped it off and done!

It toned down the silver a lot and gave it a little more dimension, I love the way it came out.  It found a home on my dining room wall

 

 I tried to get a picture of the whole room, but Erin is working on her national boards and has laid claim on the dining room table.