Flowery Art

Generally artwork for the home is entirely too expensive if you ask me.

Unattainable almost.

So I am always on the lookout for personal and affordable alternatives to the real thing.

This gem of a pink peony is simply a blown up photograph.

I went to kinkos and let them worry about sizing, printing and cutting.

And I didn't even splurge on photo paper, just printed it out on the cheapest paper available.

And I couldn't love it any more if it was a two million dollar original Monet!

Seriously, I am completely captivated.

I sit. And I stare.

It is that kind of affection.

I bought the frame first (from Ikea) and then blew the image up to size.

And to fancy it all up I painted the frame gold.

It is even more shiny, glamorous, and expensive looking in person.

Not at all like the $19.99 deal that it was.

And peaking out of the bottom of the above image is the outdoor rug we purchased a couple months ago. 

It never actually made it outside.

Even though it is a much darker blue than the online image I was looking at when I bought it, 

we love it and are keeping it right here in the living room.

And for an outdoor rug it is actually quite soft and comfortable. Score!

Green Scarf

I bought some fabric dye and breathed new life into an old scarf.

These are the kinds of things you do when you are recently graduated from grad school and are currently unemployed without any inclination of where you will be living even three months from now.

Birthday Calendar

This last August I turned 30. 

And because that is a big number my sisters, mom, and I took a big trip. 

We went to Mexico and vacationed birthday style. 

It was heavenly, to say the least.

But that trip is not the reason for this post. 

Before that trip I made them each a birthday calendar as a pre/post 30th birthday present.

It was really just a fantastic excuse to finally make and use one myself. 

 the calendars were wrapped using kraft paper, ribbon, and tags.

yes, even mine. 

the beautiful water color art was used courtesy of this free downloadable calendar, 

and then I added the months to the image and the dates beneath.

only you must now imagine that all these months are dotted with birthdays,

because that's how it looks now that it is all filled out after last night.

here it is hanging alongside our calendar in the office.

they seem to be very happy together.

Being better at remembering and celebrating birthdays even made my resolutions 2012 list.

In our case this involves a lot of planning and forethought, because we have beautifully large families.

So I have requested dates and years for family members (friends are being added) and have finally updated this birthday calendar.

Until now it has been hanging in our office looking pretty but underused.

No longer!

Now I have every intention of being a birthday-remembering ninja.

And on the topic of birthdays, I am wishing a very happy 5th one to my darling niece Avery!

striped headboard

Our headboard has been replaced with some stripes created using packing tape.

This packing tape is perfect since we are renting and it pulls off magically without leaving any residue.

They have been up for a little over a month and I still have not made my mind up about them.

Our previous headboard has been hanging out in our little hallway waiting for us to decide.

Pros: we have an extra foot of space in our bedroom, its lighter (in color) than our dark wood headboard, and they are stripes - I love stripes!

Cons: I'd rather have the entire wall striped but we ran out of tape. 

Thoughts?

I knit! I'm a knitter!

I've learned to knit, and it's only taken me 30 years to do it!

After my 19 year old sister was knitting up a storm over the holidays, I figured it was about time. 

Not because it is a necessary life skill - for it surely is not - but simply because I have always wanted to.
Lucky for me I have a lot of knitters close to me (not in proximity, in relationship) and Ryans grandma was kind (and patient) enough to teach me.

This is what I had to show for it a few weeks later. 

I am almost embarrassed to tell you how many laborious hours (5) and different tries (4) this sad little 1/2 washcloth took me, and it still isn't finished. 

But compared to the disaster that was try #1 it is a complete masterpiece, so I'm proud. 

Project #2 was a scarf. This scarf.
It took me so long to finally complete it, but the thicker yarn and knitting needles actually made for way less mistakes. Obviously.

I like having something productive to do while watching tv, driving, being at the movies, or just talking.
I appreciate filler, no-thought-required, busy things.
It's peaceful and makes me fell very domestic.
And now look, I have this delightfully cozy scarf that in a pinch I can wrap around me 3 times, which makes my old way of bracing myself for the cold outside -- 2 completely un-matching scarfs -- utterly unnecessary now.

At first I thought I had made it too wide and had every intention of unraveling the entire thing only to start over from the beginning with a few less stitches.
But the more I wear it the more I like it just the way it is.
I am sure that the 5000 hours I would need to re-do the whole thing helped that fondness along a bit as well.


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Christmas in the house.

Red is unexpectedly getting on my nerves this year.

You see, last Monday we put all our decorations up for the holiday.

And christmas stuff is basically genetically predisposed to include lots of red.

But after it was all out and up everything felt much too busy and overwhelming. 

It was seriously bugging me, so I downsized.

Only while packing away the unwanted's did I notice that they all happened to be red.

Funny how my preference for colors comes in phases.

Last year it was all about the red and brown.

This year it was mostly the gold & blue that survived.

After talking this through with my mom on the phone last night, it actually makes a lot of sense.

I don't know why it didn't register sooner.

Red is such a strong color, it energizes and stimulates.

With the kind of semester I have been having, extra stimulation is the last thing I need when I come home. No wonder lately I have been all about the calming peacefulness 

of the infinitely more relaxed blues & whites.

Sorry red, you just aren't what I need right now.

And I am loving our christmas decorations without you.

They are much simpler and more relaxed.

  

My newest favorite is that mini pinecone garland.

So easy & absolutely free.

These things make me love her even more. 

Extending the life of a sweater - part 1

See this pile of old sweaters here?

I picked them up for mere dollars a piece at the local thrift store.

And I have been breathing new life into them one project at a time.

The goal I originally had in mind was to recover some of our very old and very worn throw pillows.

One of which may or may not have been falling apart at the seams thanks to some ikea-quality fabrication. But so many other ideas kept floating through my brain that I had to share the wealth and spread these bad boys around a little.

For now, I present to you sweater project number one...

Throw Pillows!

They were so easy, and are nowhere near perfect, but I find them delightful!

Sadly, I am a very impatient sewer (my grandma would be so ashamed) and so I rarely mark, pin, or measure anything. I am more of a looks about right sort of seamstress, and I am using that word extremely liberally. So I just put a pillow right up against the sweater, and marked with blue chalk what appeared to be about an inch-wide border along the perimiter. Then I cut, and then I sewed.

And Voila! Old pillows saved! 

Completely worth the effort since these two were down-filled.

Down-pillows always look as puffy as the day they were bought. I really love that about them!

So they are completely worth the extra expense in my books. 

Although Ryan says they poke him. 

(I kept the old coverings on underneath to create more protective barrier against prickly feather quills)

Prickling quills aside, these new pillows came at the price of just $4!

A happy price to pay, especially considering the $50 alternative.

I'm thrilled because they are perfectly neutral, which means they can hold up to any season. 

Light and bright enough for spring and summer when it's sweltering, 

yet soft, warm & fuzzy for the seemingly endless fall and winter months we get in these parts.

Also, I am completely besotted by anything knitted. 

Better, of course, if its hand knitted, but since I don't knit I find my ways of precuring such indulgences.

I love the look, I love the feel, I love the homey-ness.

I kind of just want to smash my face in them, they are so soft and comfy!

coffee table revival

About 5 years ago, when we first got married, we inherited this coffee table from my sister.

It's an Ikea model she bought on clearance for $15, we scored it for free (thanks sis!)

And we have loved it ever since! 

Because our sofa is so short and our apartments have always been so small, its low and leggy modern profile has been a pretty perfect fit for us.

We even dig the dark grey color.

But as you can probably see, our love resulted in a lot of use.

The exterior was badly bubbling and peeling due to our never-ever using a coaster.

Since we kinda' get a thrill out of repurposing around here,

we had extensive conversations about how exactly we could revive this bad boy.

We toyed with the idea of upholstering it (kid friendly for the future) or trying our hand at recreating one of these expensive but so drool-worthy brick layers tables.

But our minds were made up when Ryan scored some free wood laminate leftover from a project at work. A lot of our household projects revolve around such freebies.

And so we got to work.

We stripped of the old, sanded down what was underneath, and adhered the new.

Lucky for us we had free-reign of a work shop and all its' tools.

And there were only a few minor hiccups along the way as our measurements were a tad off on one side.

But the hardest part was letting this baby sit for 2 days to allow the wood glue to dry. 

Oh how tortuous was the waiting after we'd worked so hard!

She was quite the sight I might add. 

And I'll even admit, at this stage of the game I was fairly certain we had ruined her.

She looked such a mess with all these clamps and wood glue seeping out everywhere.

Luckily once freed all those leeks peeled right off, and a quick sand made her look good as new.

And then it was just the minor decision of deciding what color stain we should use.

Correction; this was not a minor decision.

We surprisingly had very different and equally strong opinions on the matter.

Hubs was all about dark rich woods, and I wanted to go with something greyed or driftwood-y looking.

Finally we settled on a happy medium with this natural oil finish.

We actually finished the project way back in July, but I love it more and more every day.

We are both thrilled with the color choice (hooray us!) and I love when I'm forced to compromise.

I think the meshing of two personalities in design always makes an interior look so much more organic and dynamic rather than over-thought-out and matchy-matchy.

 

It's surprising how big a difference this one piece of furniture makes in our living room.

And our only expense for the entire project was a bottle of $7 wood glue and $5 oil finish.

A pretty cheap makeover if I do say so myself.