In the Bag

I find in life, that it's the little things that really make me happy- good magazines, lunch dates in the Village, little green staplers, quiet time with my family and making something uniquely mine. I figure, while I'm out buying the ingredients for my Thanksgiving feast, I may as well carry them in style. I hope your holiday celebration is filled with little things that make you happy.

Making Do

I recently fell in love with the monogram decals below that I found at the etsy shop Decal Monograms. I really wanted these for the girls' bathroom. The decals are very reasonably priced, but with the recent budget cuts in the house, I thought I'd find another solution. I took 2 black frames I had sitting in a closet, some pretty cardstock and my trusty printer and came up with this $0 version. It's not as pretty as the decals but every time I look at it I feel good about the solution. To recap, free project + loads of back patting= priceless. As for the rest of you, go buy those decals! And share your projects with me so I can feel all envious.

Everything Old is New Again

Cute but nothing special, this estate sale find (seen below in it's orginal state) was perfect for personalizing. All it took was a vintage style map of Paris, some cutting, some glue and a half hour out of my day. Now Miss Emma has the perfect place to keep some of her most prized treasures. I love this project so much that I am considering it on a much larger scale on another piece of furniture. Stay tuned.

Slow and Steady Wins the Race

Or is that just something we procrastinators say? Here's a little work in progress shot of the dining room. What a difference curtains make. I'm buying the same curtains in white to go in the study. The rods are the same in each room too and I think it will give it a nice balance when all is said and done. Love those linen curtains so much. I bought 1 panel for each window and split it down the middle and hemmed it to create 2 panels. I just can't justify spending $300 on curtains for 1 room.

You can see by my project list on the sidebar that there's lots left to do, but I'm not in a huge hurry right now. We have less than 5 weeks left of summer and now that the travelling is done, I'm focusing on the fun stuff. I let you know when there is something fun to see.

I Never Promised You an Herb Garden

This is my herb garden, contained in an old galvanized tub and sitting right outside my kitchen door. It started last year with a basil plant inconveniently located on the side of the house. I was instantly hooked. This year I've expanded and planted oregano, thyme, rosemary, chives and parsley as well. I find myself planning menus around what herbs I can use. It makes me happy.

The yellow ball belongs to Millie. It is her most prized possession. She wanted you to see how pretty it is, so right before I snapped this picture, she brought it over and quite deliberately put it right there. She knew you would appreciate it's beauty.

Feelin' Un-ish

Since I've been gone so long that my friend Carrie felt the need to mention it yesterday, I thought I better post. Sorry for my absence, but I have a good reason. Or not. I've been feeling kinda un-ish, unmotivated, unsatisfied, and the big one, uninspired.

It's still cold here, we're not going anywhere next week for spring break & I have an almost 15 year old girl that is doing her best to create havoc around here and it is affecting every aspect of my life. Not sure if I can survive the next few years without developing a wine habit. 'Nuff said.

So, since I am knee deep in my Un-ishness (I'm just creating all kinds of words today), I thought I would try to snap myself out of it by focusing on inspiration this week. I'm endlessly inspired by the pictures I've put in this book. There is no rhyme or reason to how or where I place them. Sometimes they are grouped by color or theme but often because they just seem to want to go together.

This collage inspiration book is the simplest kind of creativity. The kind you learn in Kindergarten and yet it is so satisfying. If you don't have a book like this, I encourage you to start one and let your imagination soar. Maybe even reverse your case of un-ishness.

The Ugly Truth

The picture below is what my kitchen table has looked like for years. I know. You're embarrassed for me, aren't you? This is the painting, playdoh, coloring station. Plus it's where we eat a large percentage of our meals. It's one thing to have family and friends that love you see something like this. They won't judge you. Well, probably not to your face, anyway. Since soon strangers will be parading through my house, poking through my things, I decided to do finally do something about it.

I got the idea from my fave Farm Chick Serena who inspired me with her project. I got the oilcloth from here. I'm not ruling out the possibility of painting this table one day but right now if someone tried to make me pick up another paint brush, I'd probably beat them with it.

From the perspective of someone who just finished every project on her to do list from the last 5 years, let me say this, stop lollygagging and get moving. What are you waiting for? What are you afraid of? Maybe your vision won't pan out. So what? Instead of being iritated every time you see that unfinished project, you will feel satisfied, proud and content after you have tackled it. I promise it's not as hard as you think it is. Now go get off your kiester and get started and when you've finished come back and tell me about it.

Birthday Bash

This little angel is going to be 7 on Wednesday and if you look closely you can see she got an early present. A black eye. She ran eye first into the head of someone in the lunch line. You can be sure she gets her clumsiness honestly. I was hoping that it would be gone by her birthday. Looks like it's here to stay though.

I'm busy trying to get ready for her "Un"slumber party on Saturday. I'm glad that she loves to have her birthday parties at home but there are times that I get so bogged down by the details. I'm trying to simplify this year and to remember how thankful she always is.

I added this fun trim to her recently painted bookshelf. We used white upholstery tacks to hold it up. Super fun and easy. Her room is really coming along. I hope to show you more in the next week.