NumberNineteen

Inspiration Friday

This week's "inspiration Friday" photos are those ones that you see in a magazine that make you want to go clean out closet & reorganize it with all sorts of labled boxes & bottles & neat little stacks.  I'm hoping that by posting them, I will be so inspired this weekend!!!

This is the laundry & cleaning closet of a stylist for Country Home.  I covet it.  I want a life in which I have white Ivory soap all stacked all nicely & paper towels all standing in a row.  Not on plastic shelves in my concrete block basement laundry room, as they currently are...

Look at all of those grains & spices all nice & neat.  I don't think that I've got that many different kind of grains in my house.  But, it makes me want to!

I think that this closet looks a little more real, but is similarly inspiring.  I like the idea of the drawers for little stuff, labled for what is inside.  I think that this photo is from a recent issue of Real Simple.

Have a wonderful, productive weekend!

Peaceful Bedroom

I've written about the bath as being my sanctuary, but as far as rooms go, our bedroom is the most peaceful place for me.


I love to slip under the covers at night & snuggle into my pillow & look around.  The wall color is the most peaceful color that I've ever lived with.  Before selecting it, I bought 4 different colors & painted big parts of the wall with each.  "Rejuvenate" by Behr won.  Ahhhh.

The photo above isn't great, but you can at least see the headboard (there is a footboard too, which you can't see), which is one of my prized possessions.  Here is a closer view:

I love, love, love this  bed!  I found it in an antique shop right before we got married &  got it for a great deal, considering it's quality & detail.  When I think about how glad I am that I bought it, I do a little mental happy dance :)

Right above it is another favorite, a "yard" of roses, which I got at a later date at the same store:

This is my dresser, which is the first vintage piece of furniture that I purchased.  The finish has gotten pretty banged up, but its still a pretty piece.  And, the top holds my "dressing table" collection of pretty perfume bottles, jewelry & old photos.

I wasn't sure that I liked the curtains at first (which I made--I will never make anything out of silk again, but that is another story!), since they are so simple & not very flowery or vintage-y, which is what I usually like.  But, now I really love their simplicity.  I think that it is perfect for the bedroom.

I just thought that I'd share another little corner of my home! :)

My Weekend Projects

 

This Easter will be the first Easter that Hope is old enough to have a basket!  I've been gathering little toys & books (and a few candies, of course!) over the past few weeks.  I also wanted to decorate the actual basket with something special.  I've been super-inspired by the *amazing* Pam Garrison & Andrea Singarella.  Wow.  You have to check out their work--beautiful sparkley, vintage-y confections from a dream. 

I decided to make a tag for Hope's basket, playing off of Pam's & Andrea's styles, as well as The French Inspired Home (more about that later).  The result is above...I'm happy with it, though it certainly doesn't compare with the above mentioned artists!  Anyone know how to get the glue on the edges of a piece to be all nice, so that the glitter doesn't look so gloppy?

Here is the entire basket, without the goodies.  The Easter Bunny hasn't come yet, you know!

Darn, these photos are so dark.  As usual, things are nicer in person. :)

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Well, that wasn't all that I did over the weekend.  I took off work on Friday & continued the process of steaming off the wallpaper in the kitchen.  This could be a one-day job, but, as usual, I'm doing bits at a time, making it a month long job.  :)  Saturday, I went to 2 estate sales, one of which was strange.  Most estate sales not only have good things to buy, but are also interesting...sort of a look into someone's life.  The strange one that I went to wasn't actually strange...sad actually.  Apparently, the woman had no family & had lived on her own for years.  The house was filthy & a wreck.  I actually managed to find 2 nice things there, but I left feeling sad. 

Also, on Saturday, I went to Paper Source.  Glenn had given me a gift certificate for Christmas & I just now got to using it.  It was hard to hold myself to the amount of the gift.  I didn't, in fact!  I probably could have, but I found 'The French Inspired Home' there, as well as crafty goodies.  After all of the praise for this book in the blog world, I had to have it.  And, it does not dissapoint!!!  I've only leafed through it so far & I'm thrilled with it.  SOOO inspiring!  Lots & lots of incredibly inspiring, beautiful & really do-able ideas.  Other goodies that I picked up at Paper Source are the velvet leaves & paper flowers that are on the tag.

It was a lovely day here on Sunday, so we spent lots of time outside working on projects & taking Hope on a walk.  Good stuff.

I've got to get to work, so I'll sign off...happy Monday to all of you!

Inspiration Friday

Today's inspiration Friday is in honor of spring being sprung around here.  Here in Northern Virginia/DC Metro area, we don't get much of a spring....it goes from winter to summer practically overnight.  A hot, long summer at that.  So, knowing that summer is around the corner, here is one of my collages, full of summer-y images.  Well, except that kitchen & bathroom, but you can ignore those :)

I wonder if I could convince Glenn that setting up a table in the middle of the backyard & eating dinner there is a good idea?  You know, a la Tuscany?

Floral Arranging for Amateurs

This is one of the projects that I've been working on & I'm so excited how it turned out!  I was totally inspired by Daisy Cottage's bouquet oh, and this one too .  The colors & style were just perfect for my family room, so I set off to Michaels to see what I could find.  I found that "silk" flowers are expensive!  I ended up buying them a few stems at a time, with my 40 & 50% off coupons.  Which is why I am finally done with the arrangement, 2 months after I got the idea to do it!!  Here is another view:

Of course, any change in the decor, no matter how small,  necessitates the re-arrangement of several other things.  Since this arrangement is so "heavy" looking, I felt like I needed to have more heft & color on the other side of the mantle.  It had been in all whites & creams , but they didn't look right.  So, I did my usual "shopping from home" & came up with this:

I'm particularly pleased to have found a place for that deco tin on the right.  It was a present from a friend long ago & I've never found a good place to display it.  Of course, knowing me, it won't be there for long--I'll be re-arranging some time soon :)

PS--I was going to participate in the wonderful Artysmomma's spring tea party today, but honestly, time just slipped away from me.  I  urge you to stop by her blog & check out the photos from the attendees of her "party"...wow!!

Last Weekend's Estate Sale Finds

Now that I've gotten the batteries replaced in my camera, I can share last week's estate sale finds.  Above are a few hand towels & a pillowcase.  Love the embroidery.  If I ever get a free moment (haha), I'm going to try to learn to embroider.

This is a long, framed set of very old photos.  It looks like they were taken in the late 1800s/early 1900s, probably of a flood that took place around here (probably the Potomac).  Just interesting...here is a closer look....

And, finally, I found this cute little cross-stitched set....

All of these will go into my booth.  I'm hoping to get to another sale tomorrow morning.  If so, I'll share what I find.  I hope that you are having a great weekend!

Inspiration Friday

Two posts in less than 24 hours!  Crazy, I know.  But, I've got to keep up with inspiration Fridays.....

The theme today is vintage inspired bathrooms....sigh...don't you want to take a bath in this vintage-y santuary?  Though, who has a bathroom that big?  I digress...this the look that I'm going for in our master bathroom, though on a much smaller scale, no wood floor, a shower instead of a bath & a cabinet sink instead of a pedastal.  OK, so it won't look anything like the picture, but I love it anyway!  The color is very similar to our bedroom color, which I *love* & I'd really like to have beadboard on the walls.

Here is another one...

Same pale green & white combo...love it!  More of real-sized bathroom, don't you think? 

Both of these photos came from a 2002 issue of Country Home.

The Milk Carrier Pt. 2

You may remember this lovely ebay find from an earlier post .  I finally got some vintage milk bottles to go with the carrier & can finally display some pretties in my finds.  You may think, "Gee, Kim, its taken you long enough!".  Indeed it has.  You see,
I was quite excited to find a large lot of a vintage milk bottles on ebay at a great price, so I snapped them up.  They arrived & I realized that, in my excitement, I hadn't paid attention to their size.  They were teeny-tiny half pint sized bottles.  Ooops.  Very cute, but they don't work in my quart sized carrier. This is how I end up with inventory for my booth....  In any case, I bid on another lot of bottles on ebay (remembering to check the size first!), won them & here they are! 

I just love how the gerber daisies look in the bottles!  So fresh & simple. 

As you can tell, I got new batteries  for my camera, so I'll be able to post about a few other projects that I've been up to in the next few days!

They Start Them Earlier Every Year...

Yesterday, at 18 months, Hope brought home her first piece of art from "school"(daycare).  Although I know for sure that the teacher placed the paint on her hands & then pressed her hands onto the paper, I'm as proud of it as I'd be if she had painted a landscape by herself :)  Of course, it took the place of honor on the fridge:

I'm fairly certain that I didn't produce any "art" until I was at least in nursery school (3 years), but her daycare is much like a school in that they do all kinds of fun activities.  Since Hope is so young, most of the day is free play.  But, about once a week, they do something structured like this project.  Though I'm not crazy about being back to work & not at home with her every day, I am incredibly happy with Hope's daycare (so far, knock wood!).  They are so friendly & involved.  And, she loves it.  She has made little toddler friends and has really made some strides forward since starting there.

I know that I wrote in my last post that I'd post some of my estate sale finds & other projects, but I'm having trouble with my digital camera.  Once I can get new batteries, I'll be able to take more than one picture at a time before it dies on me!

Red & White Tote

Yes indeed, I finally got my tote finished tonight (about 10 minutes ago).  It takes me forever to sew anything because I do just a little bit each night.  So, what should be a one evening project turns into 2 weeks. I don't know why the bottom of the bag looks all wrinkled in the photo, as it is nice & smooth in real life.   I use Creative Little Daisy's tutorial to make bags (this is my third one) & I've been pleased with all of them.  And, they are easier to make than I would have imagined. I've made 3 different sized bags by just adding a few inches to the original dimensions & it works out fine.

I should actually give a big thank you to Creative Little Daisy (Autum).  Reading her blog really inspired me to start sewing for fun.  I had sewed before, but it was always for very specific projects (ie, we need curtains for the dining room & its too expensive to buy them) & I usually gritted my teeth through the entire process.  She makes it seem so easy & her projects are so cute.  It totally inspired me to sit down & get to sewing.  It is so much fun to be able to make just what I imagine in my head & for a fraction of what I would pay in a store.  Now, I go to Joann fabrics & want to put every bolt of fabric into my basket, as I get ideas from all of them.    I still only do a project a month or so, but I've started to like sewing instead of making myself do it when necessary.

I've been busy with other projects this weekend including some estate sale-ing, which I'll write about later this week.  I hope that you are having a great weekend!