Handmade Friday

This is the last Friday for Halloween themed items. Too bad! I've really enjoyed it. Today's is pretty damn cool. A Sleepy Hollow Inn sign. I used to live near Sleepy Hollow and it's a pretty spooky place around this time of year. The leaves have fallen, there's a harsh wind and it's a town that can go from charming to creepy in a flash.

Mary of Sleepy Hollow Prims makes these great signs from real wood and a bit of enchantment. A perfect addition to your haunted house.

Have a great weekend and a Happy Halloween! My birthday is Monday so I'll be doing recaps next week and enjoying some Birthday fun with B.

Things We Love-Nicole's Doo-Dah

I received this "lit up doo-dah" as it is lovingly referred to, from my sweetie as a birthday gift. I adore it because it is handmade from a candleabra base, an old glass picture frame, a shadowbox, a vintage ballerina cake topper, a salvaged letter Y, german glass glitter, vintage wallpaper, an old key, a beaded bulb cover, and lots of frilly bits. And on top of all that, it lights up! It continues to be a lovely conversation piece in our home that has great sentimental value to me.

-Nicole

www.etsy.com/shop/ConfettiGarden

Check out Nicole's House Tour here.

Interview with Morgan of The Brick House

Morgan of The Brick House was kind enough to let me pester her for a few days when my Mac was being fixed. Her house is one of those that's too incredible to be real, she's got a great eye for detail and decor. Her blog is documenting the ever changing and growing brick house she and her boyfriend have made their home.

-

How long have you lived there (Southern California)? Have you always lived in Hemet?
We've lived here almost three years. I'd never heard of Hemet till we moved. Now I want to move away...


I know you've got Iggy and a puppy on the way, how does owning a dog get in the way of your design? Because of my cats I can't have sheepskin rugs, fresh flowers and I had to get a door for the kitchen because our kitten has a will power/counter problem.

We have cowhides because of the dog. Iggy has destroyed almost every carpet I bring into the house. He's usually pretty good, no chewing, no peeing on the hardwood but he loves to barf and mark cotton rugs. He can be a jerk. There is a gross dark mark on our door from were he rubs his nose looking out the window. It's a dog snot trail.

Did you live in California before? Does the boy have much input in the house goings on? I liked his porch paint choice but that could just be your taste rubbing off on him which is what I suspect is going on with my boy.

I've lived in CA all my life, mostly moved around southern california. Jeremy tends to stay out deciding about things, but certainly has a voice. A lot of this design stuff has rubbed off on him, which he complains about constantly. He catches himself talking about furniture and other seemingly unmanly things to his buds.

Have you always been design oriented? When I was 13 I painted my room slate gray with black carpet and tie dyed my curtains and I thought I was a genius.
I've always been creative in some way. I used to obsess about my room as a teenager and move things around a lot, but I was a mess and somehow decided that maroon, navy and forest green were the height of design. Yuck. I went to art school and have a background in curation so I think my talents always resided in moving things around and placing objects together contextually. Somehow design has grown out of that impulse.

I'm a huge fan of your house, it's like porn for me. You've got this incredible thrifting luck and a gift for making it all work together. 
Thanks! Our house is pretty sexy. The thrifting thing is all perseverance and disappointment. For every one cool thing I find I've spent hours and hours looking at utter crap. You really just have to be relentless. You never know what you will find or how something will quite fit in, so I end up moving things around a lot or reselling things I don't have space for. I'm reticent to pass up a deal.

I totally know what you mean about thrifting. It is essentially sifting through trash to find one piece of treasure. I have a one in/one out rule. A lot of my finds just end up on etsy.

Sometimes I'll ask my husband "what's your favorite spot in the house?" mostly because I'm conceited and like to talk about my awesomeness. Do you have a favorite DIY or spot in the house?
Ha! I'm not sure. I really like hanging out in the living room with folks, but I'm super psyched about the exterior right now. It's in this weird spot where I know it's going to be awesome, but it's going to take so much time and energy to get there. I like this moment, you know, when everything is on the verge of being decided on and anything is possible. I have a lot of fun imagining the end result.

Your kitchen rarely makes an appearance on the blog and I've noticed there's not much on the counters is that intentional?
Kitchen counters? Yeah we get a lot of flack for that. It seems super clear because we don't have much stuff coupled with loads of storage. I put everything away in cupboards. Plus we don't have kids and we aren't gourmet cooks. Simple simple simple, we don't even make coffee. We are freaks.

After the outside is finished what's your next project?

Once the outside is finished I think it may be time to think about the roof. I just don't even want to think about it too much yet...it's going to be a pain. Or the back bathroom remodel. Also will be a huge pain and money eater.

All photos courtesy of Morgan/The Brick House.

Thrift Finds Update Part Two

I wrote about this sweet needlepoint art I found the other day on the thrift collective. It was too cute to pass up and I think it will be perfect for my nephew. All it cost me was the $4.99 I paid for it, I had all the supplies at home.

I mean, look at these happy little guys! The lion mane and the clouds might be my favorites.

Grandma gave it to Alexander 30 years ago and I guess Alex was too cool to keep it.

Grandma did an awesome job on this thing. All the staples were perfectly spaced apart and none of the threads had come loose. This thing was made with love. God Alex, you're such a jerk.

Once I got it all apart the only "bummer" moment was when I realized that the backing Grandma had stapled it to was a piece of wall paneling which had kind of stuck to the fabric itself. Maybe she had used starch or something that had adhered itself to the wood.

So the stuck on wood kind of made it looked like it was stained but it wasn't. I didn't want to wash the fabric so all I did was paint the paneling white so the fabric would appear brighter and glued up the frame, put wood putty on the corners and gave it a new coat of bright white paint.

Here's the before and after side by side:

I mean, it's not something a two year old can play with but he's two what the hell does he know?

Thrift Finds Update

Just a quick photo update on the scale I already showed you. It's finished but I didn't get to show it to you in use:

It's currently holding a half pound of my newest creation: Rocky Road Fudge. 

House Tour-Nicole and Jesse

Name: Nicole and Jesse
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
Square Footage: aprox 900 sq ft
Years Lived in: 7 mo
Rent or own: Renting
Describe your style: A cozy eclectic mix of vintage bohemian whimsy
Blog/Website/Twitter: Confetti Garden www.etsy.com/shop/ConfettiGarden

What's your favorite free/found item?
It has to be our Eames era Henry Miller style lounge chair that Jesse spied sitting out for the trash in our Irvington neighborhood. It was truly the most serendipitous of occasions because not only was it an unbelievable and unexpected find, but I had unknowingly purchased it's "stool mate" at a thrift shop several months prior and now the pair live happily together in our home. Jesse is still gleeful with pride that he snagged it.


What's your favorite purchased item?
Lately I am quite fond of my little blue lacey paper crane purchased from Mila of the beautiful Loveology blog. A tiny, inexpensive, but handmade item that brings me such happiness just gazing at it; I need a dozen more! But my fav of all time is my pink chippy fireplace mantel, originally purchased for our boutique, until we grew tired of it in the shop and I got to take it home.

What has been your biggest obstacle in decorating/design?
Space! We have temporarily moved into a one bedroom flat from a 3 bedroom 3 story house. I do adore small spaces, and enjoy decorating them very much. But many of my favorite pieces are being kept in storage and I miss them. I can clean this place in about one hour though which is a big plus for me.


Is your design style organic or planned?
I'd say both. I like to spend many an afternoon daydreaming up a design to rearrange my space in my mind. It never fails though that once I begin, something more organic takes shape and my house or the objects in it are what ends up dictating the end result. Happy accidents are what I like to call them.

What is your favorite spot in the house?
Lounging on my comfy, floppy sofa with my dogs Gertie and Bunny in front of the fire place in the living room with the windows wide open and the evening breeze passing through. A fireplace is a must have for us.


How has your style changed in the past 5 years?
I like to think that it's a little more mature and a wee bit less girly. I will always stay true to my shabby shic style roots, but I've been dabbling in the mid-century modern style of design with more of a bohemian, free-flowing layered feel. With a dab of industiral for Jesse. I shoot for refinement with less clutter these days, but cozy still always wins.

What is your favorite resource or store?
Etsy shops! Too many to list. Craigslist is limitless too. I also cannot say no to a Flea Market trip or an Anthropologie stop either.


What is your biggest decorating/design pet peeve?
Do people still put carpet in bathrooms? I doubt it, but I still run into it from time to time and it makes me cringe a little. Beyond impractical, it's just wrong!

What has been your favorite design trend?
I am in love with Airstream trailers used as additional living/work spaces! It's a fabulous fun trend. They are all over Flickr and I just picked up the new Romantic Homes magazine that features Magnolia Pearl's Airstream and it is most impressive! I think it takes a great deal of creativity to decorate a confined space and the Airstream's vintage charm is irresistable to me.


What is the biggest influence on your design/decorating style?
Design blogs such as yours have made a huge impact on my style. I stroll through them daily. Photos from Flickr friends of their homes are also a major source of inspiration. And Etsy shops are where the best designs originate before you see knock-offs of them popping up in stores. My friends' and family's homes always leave a mark on me too.

What in your home dictates how you design/decorate?
Not much really, maybe my dogs? There are just certain luxuries that are impractical when you have pets cohabitating with you. Such as a frilly white sofa, or lots of fluffy (chewable) rugs, or floor plants; you get the idea.


What is the simplest thing you have done that has made the biggest impact?
Aside from paint which is a must, I think adding and layering textiles such as flowy curtains, multi-patterned duvets, velvet pillows, and comfy slipcovers, can change the feel of an entire room. If company is coming over and I'm short on time Jesse and I just grab blankets and sheets and throw them over all of the furniture, toss a few pillows and light some candles.

all photos courtesy of homeowner. If you would like to have your home featured please send me an email or submit pictures of your home to the flickr group.

Handmade Friday

You must click here if only to read the awesome description from Yellow Bug Boutique for this Skeleton Hand Pillow.

I'd love to see these a set of pillows that have various skeleton parts on them...I bet Yellow Bug Boutique could make that as a special request...hmmm

Have a great weekend!

Things We Love-Spencer's Baseball Cards

This is a deck of baseball cards my son made when he was just four years old. I love them because he made them, of course, but also because of all the funny little details in each one.  When i look at them I recall the days he spent at the kitchen table with the blank cards from the recycling center and his pencils while I washed dishes or made our lunch. For many happy hours he worked intently at the drawings, occasionally asking me to spell (or write in) a team or player's name for him. On the back of each card he copied out the stats in his sweet crooked backward printing. It has come to be my favorite collection.

-Sandra

http://www.bricolagelife.typepad.com/

http://www.etsy.com/shop/bricolagelife

Carry That Weight

I've been needing a kitchen scale, ok well I really didn't need one. I have a digital scale I use for mail but I wanted a kitchen scale for fudge. 

What's that? You didn't hear about my latest endeavor? Oh! well let me just point you to it..motherfudger. Delicious, incredible homemade fudge.

Anyway, what was I saying? oh right, the scale...So I found one thrifting 

So sad and dirty isn't it? Believe it or not the date on the label says 1997...I would've thought with that color yellow I was looking at something from the 70's

That dirty, not so old scale soon met Blue Ocean Breeze.

I wish I had the forethought to style it with pieces of fudge but I didn't. Meh. I'll get it eventually.

Gorgeous no? The best part is I now know how to disassemble and reassemble a scale. Thanks to my Mom who's been letting me take apart stuff since I was seven I was able to figure it out pretty quickly. Believe it or not there are NO tutorials or images for the innards of kitchen scales on the internet. I believe I found the internet's one flaw with this one.

New Site!

Sometimes I get bored, when I get bored it usually means I create something for myself to do. Last night was no different. About midnight I created the thrift collective.

What? Oh, so glad you asked...the thrift collective is a blog open to everyone to post their thrift finds, tips, tricks and even that elusive piece you can't find.

Check it out and email me if you want to become an author.

Speaking of Bruce

We're at five months with him:

The last aqua bowl shot is hilarious. He's just all asses and elbows. This may be the last month he can fit into that bowl.

On a side note, I suspect Bruce might be Maine Coon or at least part...I'm screwed

Bruce Vs. Ana

So as you probably know kittens are a handful. This is something I had forgotten. The last time I had a kitten I couldn't legally drink. So it had totally slipped my mind how curious, wiggly and troublesome they are. Bruce has reminded me in spades what a terror these adorable furballs can be. He's about eight months old and in full explorer mode.

The kitchen has been the biggest source of his attention. Lola doesn't eat human food, she's never shown an interest and we've never caught her on the counters and if she ever was she was stealth about it, so kudos to her for getting away with it.

Bruce, however, is not stealth. He is clumsy and noisy and despite being armed with squirt guns we can't seem to teach him being on the counters is a huge no-no. I'll be preparing something and he'll hop right up next to me. It's infuriating! He is also a big fan of eating. He doesn't know when to stop and likes to steal Lola's food. We needed a kitchen door.

So last weekend B and I fixed his wagon. We went to Earthwise Salvage and found some bi-fold doors. Then we picked up some paint and went to work.

Here's the before:

Primer and four coats of Glossy White Later:

I tend to collect old knobs (shocking I know) and I had this one which B polished up to revive it's beautiful, shiny, brassy old self.

From the inside:

He waits, wagon fixed:

It's nice having a door there, we can keep Bruce away from Lola while she eats and I can leave the basement door open not having to worry about a cat following me down.

House Tour-Hilda

Name: Hilda Grahnat
Location: Malmö, Sweden
Square Footage: 420
Years Lived in: 1
Rent or own: Rent
Describe your style: Muted vintage with pops of color
Blog/Website/Twitter: blog.grahnat.se

What's your favorite free/found item?
My great aunt's two-headed mid-century floor lamp


What's your favorite purchased item?
My globe, the first and only thing I've ever bought at an auction.

What has been your biggest obstacle in decorating/design?
My eternal decision-agony over where to put things, mainly when decorating the walls.


Is your design style organic or planned?
Planned, when it comes to furniture. They can only be placed one way, really. Organic, when it comes to decorating.

What is your favorite spot in the house?
The kitchen.


How has your style changed in the past 5 years?
This is my first apartment and the first chance I've had decorating my own space. I've collected apartment things for about 5 years, though, and I've become more comfortable and confident about my own style in that time.

What is your favorite resource or store?
Flea markets!


What is your biggest decorating/design pet peeve?
Ugly 90s wallpaper with borders, unplanned asymmetry and too much stuff in a small space.

What has been your favorite design trend?
I don't really follow trends.


What is the biggest influence on your design/decorating style?
My grandparents. I got much of my furniture and other things from them.

What in your home dictates how you design/decorate?
The space itself.


What is the simplest thing you have done that has made the biggest impact?
Deciding not to put curtains in the kitchen windows, so as not to lose any of the beautiful light.

all photos courtesy of homeowner. If you would like to have your home featured please send me an email or submit pictures of your home to the flickr group.

Thrifting

So on my sabbatical I found a lot of awesome stuff at my thrift stores. The first I'm sharing with you was the latest score. I spent a total of eight bucks on both of these things:

Both are Pyrex, both are in fantastic shape. I've seen the decanter, which is for wine, for for $20-30 on ebay and etsy. The orange bowl, well you know why I got that. I wrote about them both on the Pyrex Collective. A nice spot of the interwebs where sickos like me can share about their unnatural love for Pyrex.

This next find is something I got last month but couldn't take a picture of it because I was using it at my booth for the Seattle Square. It was $29.99 then on Labor Day it was marked down 40%. Sweet.

The interior is pretty clean, it smells old, like grandma and someone taped a picture of St. Christopher (I Assume) on the inside. I'm not religious at all but who the hell am I to remove it? The lock is busted and the leather handles are near perfect. I put it upstairs in the Library and filled it with storage stuff.

I was all stoked and proud of it until Morgan of The Brick House one-upped it with her AWESOME brass trunk. I would probably do dark things for that trunk, for reals.

I found all of this stuff at the Goodwill closest to my house and I do owe that store an apology. When we first moved here I dismissed it as no good and the past two months I've yielded some serious, as the folks on Hoarders call it, "treasures". So, my apologies Goodwill, keep on keepin' on.

Handmade Fridays

So I missed last Friday so today a double shot of spooky goodness.

I love Halloween but rarely dress up. I think because I tend to put to much time and money into costumes wanting them perfect. B and I rarely go out on Halloween as well which is a shame because it's the night before my Birthday but we've got Lola and we get nervous around Halloween and think that if we were to leave someone would break in and do horrible things to our black cat. Paranoid? Probably.

Anyway...about dressing up. So if you're like me and rarely dress up this necklace is perfect. I says "Yes I support this awesome holiday and am showing my support". Check it out at C.A.B. Frye's shop.

I am a firm believer that Halloween decor should be scary. No grinning ghosts or happy pumpkins. It should be scary. Right now I have a lenticular picture of a man turning into a demon and it scares the bejesus out of me. I actually had to move it so I wouldn't see it so often. It's really, seriously creepy. With that said I love this crow silhouette. It looks aged, crows are spooky. This things is all good with Halloween spookiness. Check it out at La Table Talk.

I'm back baby!

Finally after a week and a half my Mac is finally back in my arms. I have over 1,000 pictures to edit and upload for the blog, the shop and in general. So I'm starting there.

I can't wait to get to it. I've done a few projects, an interview a ton of stuff I can't wait to share. Regular posting will resume tomorrow!

Still no Mac

It's been a week and I'm going nuts!

On the plus side I've had some good ideas for the blog and as soon as I've got my computer back I'm going to get to work on them.

The minus side is that I've got over 600 pictures to edit and tons of etsy and eBay stuff to list.

Hopefully any day now it'll be fixed.

Miss me?

I thought you might, For now you can check out my guest post over at Sincerely, Cecelia. It's all about what's on my nightstand. I kept it for realsies with a staged and real photo of what my nightstand usually looks like. It's a great series and very interesting to see what people keep on their nightstands.