Thursday, April 30, 2009

Simple Decorating Touches



I have been thrifting a lot lately, and though I am not done in here yet, you can see the direction I am taking (my two inspired posts for this room are Alchemie and sfgirlbybay). I wanted to show you how a fresh coat of paint, fabric and ribbon can transform a small space within minutes. Shop your house and see what little changes you can make to add a punch of color, elegance or texture. For more inspiration, visit The Nester's series,10 Minutes to a Room You'll Love.

This black wrought iron Pier 1 candle holder was a gift about 8 years ago~ back when black wrought iron was the only way people decorated. The pumpkin refugee from my Halloween mantle is still hanging around. The adorable picture behind the candle is from The Dreamy Giraffe, who is having a bogo sale right now!)





I painted the candle holder orange and hugged the candle with a piece of fabric that I am adding to my room in spurts and a soft blue ribbon. (ps, that ice cream cone is actually bubbles!)


I love my shabby gussied up candle holder. I got it in Granbury on my honeymoon. Sometimes, I drip her in vintage chandelier prisms and crystals. Today, she is going orange. I have no fear in painting, or dry brushing rather, since it can always be painted back in minutes. I don't use spray paint, as I want to choose where to apply the brush since I like an uneven, dappled texture that still lends a shabby, though colorful look, and some pieces should be covered while other chips and such I prefer to leave exposed. Maybe that is the hairstylist part of me talking, as I am very particular about where I place each particle of color on a strand of hair for the same reason.



The dried flowers are from various flower bouquets my sweet hubby has given me throughout the years. The tussie mussie was a rusty tin and the flowers were full and lovely, but have become victims of my toddler's sabotage, so it needed a mini makeover. A coat of black paint, a bow and $1 a bunch flowers did the trick.



I added ivory polka dots and accents to my already perfect clearance Joanns mushroom and acorn bird feeders with a lightly tipped paintbrush. Can I tell you how much I LOVE my new curtains? They are a lightweight, but still have a good drape to them, they have a nice linen texture, a warm khaki tone and though they are simple, they are softly accented. These are what brought my room together and inspired me to finish decorating. I bought 4 sets (8 panels) for my 2 large windows. You can find them HERE!



I found this ugly little shelf at Goodwill for $2. I didn't want a bold yellow, so I mixed my yellow acrylic paint with some water and applied one thin coat over the natural wood. You can still see some woodgrain, but the color yellow is perfect and soft. It holds a lot of my little treasures that I couldn't display anywhere before.



Like my jeweled bottles? get them HERE!

See that cute cameo photo? This is what it looked like before (another thrift market find). You will LOVE the results of the other two frames... coming soon!



The key holder I have had for a couple years, I covered in the same fabric, just a bit of tape in the back and wallah! I also dry brushed my ivory frame orange, (that MANY of you have, I know!!) used that fabric to back our photo and painted a rusty star robin's egg blue and tucked it into my vintage mattress spring.



I have had this frame for about 8 years or so. It has always been cute and has served me well. But, it needed a change, and I really don't want to paint EVERYTHING, so... I threaded it with ribbon, tied a bow and hung a vintage brooch to cover the nail. See that globe in the reflection? My hubby got a 5 year gift from his work. He got to choose his gift of about 15 different things, watches, pearls, awesome binoculars, luggage... so he let me choose :)



It was that or the binoculars. It was tough, but how often do we need binoculars? Well, that very night I submitted our choice, we saw 5 COYOTES cross the road in front of our window, 3 of them lay low while 2 of them stalked a small animal and took off. That is when we needed binoculars!



Now, this is our trusty IKEA sideboard, turned tv console that we have had almost 4 years. I added the same fabric to the back of the windows, I just cut out a piece and taped it on. It matches our mantle perfectly in width and color, that makes our wall seem more seemless. The hairbands babyproofing, that floated piece of wood (which was a shelf in there- but it keeps the kids out of the equipment, so it will have to do). I do have plans for that ugly piece of wood, but it will have to wait! I am sure, this thing will be repainted once we move into a house. When I do, I will use Jenny Garland's refinishing furniture with spray paint video tutorial! More thrifted makeovers can be found at Reinvented's Linky Party.

What have you made over, or are to inspired to makeover?

Monday, April 27, 2009

Feed Your Soul [through free art]



Indie Fixx has a new little feed your soul art collective. She explains it all HERE and you can download your free (personal use only) art HERE. If you are an artist, you can contribute and if not, you can spread the word! Here's a sampling:

tree, illustrator, belleandboo, boy, love, romance, children

yarn, knitting, art, woodland, inspirational

chair, birdcage, art, illustrator, fancy, cottage

There are some seriously gorgeous works here from some of my favorite artists... I intend to get a whole slew of them and hang them on my new "art gallery wall". Don't worry, my little folks, I will update with pics soon enough. I gotta get some frames and such first!

For all of you that like vintage epherma, labels, gypsies, cards, children, babies, angels, mermaids, beauties, holidays, Marie, cherubs, horses, Strawberry Shortcake and more... then check out Suzee Que's free to use (personal) flickr stream!! Here's a sampling:

ballerina, tutu, gothic, victorian, flapper, ziegfeld, girl, model, fashion, image

speed, horse, vintage, epherma, ad



At Vintage Printable, you will find hundreds of vintage prints, namely from vintage books of science, medical, animals, nature, mustaches, wigs, fantasy and mythological, poster art, political, gnomes, steampunk... Here's a sampling:


The Virgins Whistler

bird eggs vintage book

humor, high society, poking your nose into others business
i love this one

design antique vintage library reading chair steampunk

For lovers of antique maps and sea charts, you MUST visit Helminks. They are dealers of the real genuine article not reproductions or scans, but the high quality images of them are breathtaking! Here is a sampling:

antique map of holland
Antique map of Holland

Anemographica map by Lotter
Antique Anemographica map by Lotter

Antique Map of West Africa by Linschoten
Antique Map of West Africa by Linschoten

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Damask Lampshade Slipcover How To






















The Shabby Nest inspired me to post this project I did the other day for her Frugal Friday Linky Party.

I wanted a new look for my lamp, but I really love the shade. Every other lamp covering tutorial required sewing a slipcover (I don't sew), or required desecrating the shade with copious amounts of glue. I love glue, but like I said, I wanted a cheap and easy way to update my shade without altering it.


Above is a quick before shot from my Spring Decorating post
























I got a yard of fabric and used iron on hem tape on the very bottom (ignore the top). To know how much material you need, measure the bottom circumference of the lampshade. You will need the same amount, maybe an inch or so more just to be safe.























I flipped over my lampshade and used small pins to attach the hem-taped part to the rim of the lamp. NOTE- if you are wanting to use fringe, sandwich it between the fabric and lampshade during this part.

























 Next, I pulled up the fabric and cut it a couple of inches above the top of the lamp. I just pulled and softly pleated the fabric, folded it over the edge of the top of the lamp and pinned away until all was in place.























Ta da! Now, I have a lovely damask shade with a bold pattern and soft pleats that only cost me a few dollars.



















I took a .50 cent garage sale mirror, splashed on a fresh coat a paint and gave my new lamp of reflection window. I take a matching fabric (that I found for sale in the remnants section at Joanns), and tape it to the inside windows of my television cabinet to tie my new fabric in the room. Photos of that coming soon!



 















While on my hunt for lampshade ideas, I happened upon this gorgeous shade project from Alchemy Fine Living. The creator has an Etsy shop, BrickBasement. Bedazzle your shade frame with fabric and ribbon shards, photos and other baubles for a truly smashing look.



Now, because I want to infuse more art into my home, I am going to print off a couple of *free* (personal use only) prints from A Print A Day! Go check Yasmine's site out, tons of cute stuff.
 


ps. ways to keep your toddler entertained while you do this quick project:

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Special Touches


(mr. lovables took this photo!)

Well, my birthday was, interesting. One very hectic but overall pleasant day... boys (and dog) full of energy and a very tired mommy, but the hubs brought me flowers and a cheesecake, and my mom brought me a strawberry bannana jello-y pie and I read lots and lots of Eragon book 3 (Brisinger) and all was well.

And Oh, my camera, is totally fading. I like to thank my mini photog 3 year old for that. But fortunatly we got a warranty, so I will try and go tomorrow and get that baby replaced. Half the photos are great, the other half are like what I see every morning until I put my contacts in. :(



The Nester has called for those who have, or desire to have these LOVELY feather and egg prints by L. Hebert designs, and is having a linky party. Those who have the prints, are showing where they have been displayed and those who WANT the prints (totally me) are showing where we would display them IF we had them!!



Well, see that weird random wall cave above the couch. I would put the prints in a pretty little row just there, possibly with a feather adorned ribbon behind them in a lovely matted frame, ooo maybe with a mushroom bird perched on the end? You see, I added decorative items on the shelf for this photo, but in reality, nothing can go there unless it is mounted to the wall, as they will be eaten by my 2 toddlers (note, photo taken AFTER they had been put to bed!)

Here you can see a bit of the remodel I have going on... I got some gorgeous ebay vintage pillow slipcovers today... crewel embroidery on my Surefit slipcovered couches (I saved money by getting them on overstock and ebay)! The orange and white fabric thing ornamenting the back of the couch won't really go there, it is a pillow slipcover that needs stuffing! You can see my room inspiration of sfgirlbybay's mellow yellow post.



I'm on the lookout for some damask or harlequin print, round tufted pillows and affordable redwork, anyone know a source? I am a little bummed that I got outbid on a Pottery Barn Flokati rug... but it was for the best, methinks.

PS... how do you like my new headband idea? ;) watch for them in my shop soon...

flapper fashion headband

vintage pearl bow headband

fashion pearl silver ribbon headband

ps, I used to *really* dislike my profile, but now I like to think as my large sloping nose and forehead as "exotic" ;)



I found this site today, Wimp, and happened upon sweet little 93 year old Clara Cannucciari. She is teaching potato egg drop soup, a Great Depression meal! She's a sweetie, and that soup looks good! I love what she says at the end "when you are done making the soup, you sit down... because your tired [giggle, sigh]."

Also, for Earth Day, we watched Jean-Michel Cousteau's Call of the Killer Whale. We learned that farmed fishing is totally evil and that children today have many many toxins radiating throughout their bodies due to flame retardant chemicals on clothing and diapers and such. It was actually, an amazing episode and just another reminder that we need to love the Earth and take care of it. Bamboo fiber, reclaimed vintage, organic cotton, baking soda and lemon, only flushing when you go number 2... here we come!



Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Happy Birthday Sale!



I don't have sales very often, so to celebrate my BIRTHDAY, today I am having a FREE SHIPPING SALE! Stock up on Mother's Day, Birthday and anytime gifts for you and your family and friends. LittleLovables readers will get an extra treat too, so be sure you contact me through Etsy to let me know you are a reader!



Enjoy!

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