A Worthy Life

pinterest

Remember that feeling you had when you so wanted to be a part of something exciting? Whether you were like me who desperately wanted to be in the choir for people with beautiful voices or whether you outwardly loathed the "cool" kids who would lean back on the hall railing and laugh at some secret bit of gossip while you inwardly wished you were among them?

Me neither. Pf'st.

So, there's this thing that all the cool kids are doing and yes, I know we've grown up since those highschool days and are mostly all adults now. But you've noticed that in the blogging world there is still that upper echelon of cool bloggers, right? The ones you read for years, thinking it was your little secret only to find your friends are all of a sudden linking it to their facebook walls and telling the whole world?!

Pf'st.

Well, this was one prom I was not going to be acting all nonchalant about while choosing to sit home and watch my kid sister. No, this was my coming out dance and honey, I am ready to swirl!

Ok, there's this new thing called Pinterest and it is brilliant! Instead of printing out every picture that inspires me, or you, I, and you, can create inspiration boards online so I, and you, don't have to worry about spilling our nightly glass of water all over those pictures while feeling for it in the dark.

You, too?! Pf'st.

Here's the catch. There's sort of an initiation process. Yes, like those ones in sororities, like the ones I never joined even though I lived on a campus known as one of the best collegiate Greek communities in the world.

Ok, so you don't have to do crazy things you never want your mom to find out about. But you do have to ask to join and no, they don't just send you an email right away with the secret knock.

Oh, no. I'm pretty sure they check to see if you are cool, have great taste, are a brilliant crafter/diy-irl, and that you know when to laugh at secret bits of gossip.

And yet, they still let me in! After days of agony and anticipation, I am the newest member of the Pinterest sorority! Take that tall girl with the perfect legs on the cheerleading squad!

Pf'st.

You're right. She probably doesn't even care.

But since you do, here is where you can get the private invite to join and here's where you can see what fun I'm having inspiring myself to all kinds of projects. That will probably only be done in my dreams.

P to the f'st!

a mod spin on an old trad

A couple weeks back, my husband's coworker/our family friend, heretoforth referred to as HCFF, invited us to dinner to her house on the river. It was a cozy evening chatting over homemade spaghetti sauce and garlic bread. Dessert was realizing that we actually have things in common, never mind that her house has a more modern aesthetic and my house is nowhere near the water. Nor do I have a kayak.

Nevertheless, I learned that we both haunt some of the same blogs (how I do so love ashleyanne, but I thought she was my little secret!) and have a shared creative itch to do-it-ourselves. Someday I plan on making this mirror with her from salvaged wood pallets but today I decided to surprise her with a little something something creative to fit her modern/rustic home.

I was dying to try out this wreath, though in so doing I had to abandon my vow to never start preparing for Christmas until Thanksgiving was past. I thought I was being kind to complete hers before starting mine but next time I think I'll let mine be the guinea pig and save the work of perfection for someone else. I put little elf fingers to work winding yarn while I oversaw the work with (glue) gun in hand.

Hope she likes it! A little bit traditional (like me), a little bit modern (like her), and a lot a bit funklaicious.

(Forgive the liberties I've taken with making up my own words and the shortening of others, I'm up past my bedtime.)

 

dear sir:

I love your legs.

I love the legs on your beautiful table. The legs, the feet, whatever you want to call them are re-darn-diculous-ly stunning! While perusing on-line for vintage furniture for my bedroom re-do, I had to move quickly through page after page of old and decrepit photos. Until the portrait of your piece caused my pulse to race.

You see, I became acquainted with your table's cousin awhile back as I thumbed through my Restoration Hardware catalog, repeatedly. Repeatedly pausing at the earmarked page on which graced the near-likeness of your own splendid gem. Though Miss PSWRT (short, I suppose, for Pedestal Salvaged Wood Round Table, though the sounds 'piss' and 'wart' are hardly a pleasant combination for one so desirably endowed) caught my eye, and I do believe I hers, my eye happened upon her other-worldly price-tag of nearly 2 grand.

2 broken hearts at a love that could never be.

Until that love and hope was restored (no pun intended) when I happened upon your table, equal in majesty, with a dowry that fit my budget. With all the right curves in all the right places and an unmarked face that shows no sign of the many years of her storied life, she is in a word...

mine.

Oh, no, sir! I do not mean to be presumptuous! It's just that you had offered to sell the item only days ago and I responded in proper fashion, inquiring after my love, requesting your consent for our immediate elopement.

But you, sir, have not responded. I do not know if she has been pledged to another, I do not know if you have finally realized the treasure that you have and are now unwilling to part from her, I do not know if ours is a love that can ever be. 

Please email me, sir. I have only moments before my husband returns from the airport and am desperate to have her in my bedroom before he has time to exercise his say in this matter, this matter of the heart.

signed, d

keep calm fellow heirs

Unless you live under a rock (or don't frequent home decor websites like some people), you've probably seen the poster on the left. It was a propaganda poster commissioned by the British gov't as it anticipated it's entry into war with Germany in 1939. It's simple message and simple graphic is seeing a huge resurrection as people are using it everywhere as minimalist decor.

The one on the right was one I made, inspired by 1 Peter 3:7, which speaks of the mutual equality, dignity, humility, and destiny of husband and wife (C. Swindoll). I love the idea that man and woman, all of us alike, have a level playing field because of grace, none of us have any eternal advantage apart from the unmerited favor of God.

Heirs. Together. Of grace.

Now that assurance is one that promised to keep me calm and carrying on!

strella and dot

 

Here's to hoping Stella and Dot agree with me that imitation is the best form of flattery. Remember this? Today I made my own version of their coveted necklace.

For 2 bucks.

(Honey, that's a savings of $72 plus s&h so I'll just go ahead and put that amount into my personal savings fund...)

Look for a Strella (my abbreviation of estrella, for obvious reasons ;) and Dot coming soon...to your dollar store! ;o)

today's project

Jakes has the smallest bedroom in the house yet has the only bed that can serve more than one guest. His room has no furniture except for a small night stand. His clothes are organized within his closet on a wire system. There was no room for even a headboard yet I wanted some visual impact.

Solution: Paint on a headboard with chalkboard paint!

Using standard paint tape and a level laser I outlined the shape I wanted and then used a cup to outline the circular knobs. From start to finish it took about 3 hours but with lots of time in between drying coats to complete other tasks.

Now it has some appeal and I'll never have to hear Jacob complain that going to bed is boring!

bedsari

Storage is an ongoing challenge in our house. Our rooms seem to continually get swallowed up by stuff. I found some great under bed drawers at Ikea (As-Is) for $2/each. I put all the girls dress up clothes and baby playthings in them and slid them under. Although they were a nice birch wood, the color and the chaos residing within them just wasn't lending an air of order to the room.

Solution: a seldom worn sari of a perfect shade of pink. Without a single snip, I managed to fold up the 6 yards of fabric and fasten it underneath the bed with thumbtacks. It's held up wonderfully even after multiple pulls per day. Who need's a bedskirt when you can have a bedsari for free?!

PB wants to be like me?!

I don't really have a clue on how to decorate my house. What is my signature style, what do I want my house to say, what look can I achieve for my budget? I think I like a contemporary traditional look with a twist of personality and whimsy. I think.

I'm even worse when it comes to decorating for the holidays. I refuse to pay tons of money for frivolous and temporary doo-dads. So I vow to shop the after Christmas sales but by then I am too worn out and revving up for Boxing Day sales that I think, forget about it.

But what I lack in inherent design knowledge I make up for in stacks of home catalogs and decor magazines. One stack for the downstairs toilet, one for the master bedroom bathtub, and one for my night stand. Just in case I get stuck at either locale for more than a few minutes.

Pottery Barn is my old standby. Love their style, love their colors, hate their prices. I mean, really, who really has $3,000 for a kid's trundle bed that wouldn't be better served going towards the poor kid's college fund?! I have unashamedly copied and borrowed ideas from their catalogs for years now but didn't think they had any ideas to offer for the holidays.

Until they stole mine.

Check out these two pictures below...

This is a scene from our holiday decor:

This is a scene from within the pages of Pottery Barn Teen catalog:

Pay extra close attention to the left side of the picture. See any resemblances between the two? That's right! The frame wrapped in lights. My idea. The ornaments hanging in the middle? Yep, my one original idea. Have a PBTeens catalog at home? Check page 87...they too hung ornaments from a frame.

My last online order was through PB Teens and so I received their new catalog with my goods, after I'd planned my holiday decor mind you. I lay in bed thumbing through the pages to let inspiration jump out and hit me between the eyeballs. Thunk! Inspiration, all right. MINE. That they stole!

But it's alright. I've stolen exactly 683 ideas from them so I think I'll let them have this one!

Oh, and the silhouettes of my kids that I plan on eventually putting up on my cheap Ikea plates seen in the top picture? Also, within the pages of PB. But that one I stole from another inspiration site. I guess we both did. So, it's all good!

I'll still have a happy holiday. And it'll be a lot cheaper than the PB original!

price-less family wall

Another recent project. A collage of family photos out of, let's face it, junk for less. Most of the frames I had already. I spray painted a few and switched up the mat borders. One is a cabinet door from, you guessed it, Ikea As-Is. The decorative cast iron I found scratched up at a floral shop for a few bucks and continued distressing it to lighten it's reddish tones. One frame is a broken mirror I covered with fabric from an old favorite skirt and the scrolly thing is from an old headboard.

Further proof you don't have to spend a lot to make a custom decoration. Total cost: $13.

cheap-cheap

They say to save the planet we should reuse, reduce, and recycle.

They say to save some money you should reuse, reduce, and recycle.

I say you can and should do both.

For a birthday party we were invited to over the weekend I had less than a week to come up with a gift. On a week when I was home alone with four kids no less. With little time and with a desire to spend as little money as possible I decided to make some decorative boards for the birthday girl's newly painted room. A quick stop at Ikea's As-Is section helped me score one solid cabinet door and a whose-knows-what piece of wood for one buck each. The dollar store had five rolls of ribbon for one buck and two charms for the same. A few minutes with the hot glue gun and embellishments from our craft box and two fabric flower pins (they can be taken off to affix to headband, shirt, purse, etc.) and we had two personalized boards ready for their owner's unique touch.

Ok, Pottery Barn, your board might be bigger and more vivid with lots of colors and patterns. But at $289 a pop you might be headed into a recession since we can make a much, much cheaper version!