Tukiyeem

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Home Sweet Home #57

source: selinalake via Sherry at Pinterest

Hello and welcome to Home Sweet Home! Have any of you; that are on Pinterest, seen this picture of the romantic pink books and roses? I thought this wouldn't be hard to duplicate, so I gave it a try. The photo above is by Selina Lake, noted stylist and author of the book Romantic Style. The link above will take you to her Flicker page where you can view more images of her genius from that book.

This is my attempt at pink books. I tore the covers off of aged books and Mod Podged some pink tissue paper on them. I put each layer of tissue paper on with the Mod Podge. The more layers of tissue paper you apply the more pink they will turn out. The book on the bottom had only a few layers of tissue paper and you can still see the spine of the torn off cover because it isn't thick enough. That shows you another look you can achieve doing this. I used a matte Mod Podge and it made the tissue paper look about like wax paper. I got the book plate that is on the bottom book here. I picked up the books at the thrift store for $2.

Now I would like to highlight some of the posts that caught my eye last week at Home Sweet Home.

Shenita of Embellishments by SLR showed off her spring prepping in her very pretty kitchen.

Courtney at French Country Cottage showed off her lovely bath.

Nann at At Nann's Table made this Killer Chocolate Pecan Pie! I so enjoyed this picture!!

Sue at Sullivan and Murphy showed off her lovely new scale.

Just in time for St. Patrick's Day, Nancy at Nancy's Daily Dish shared a recipe for homemade Irish Cream.

Thank you to all who join me at Home Sweet Home! It is wonderful to have you here!

Sherry

I will join these ladies today:
Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Potpourri Friday at 2805

Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Open House Party at No Minimalist Here
Home and Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life

Thriftin' on a Thursday at Savvy City Farmer
Thrifty Things Friday at The Thrifty Groove

Guidelines for Home Sweet Home Party:

Attention: To link up with inlinkz you must have a permalink back to this party in your post or they will not allow you to link.

Link up anything in your home or garden. I love seeing neat shops too!

My button is on my sidebar for the party, if you want to use it. If you are new here I hope you will become a follower. Please don't link up more than two posts. No Etsy link ups or direct advertising, please. Please visit some of the other blogs and get some great inspiration. Thanks.:)

Now let's see your beautiful homes!

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Change & Patience

Spring is on its way and I am so excited!!! It makes us busier at home and ready for projects. (sorry husband.) I've been craving changes around our house for a while now & one of the changes I've been wanting to make was to ditch our mantle and stenciling & to basically "undecorate" a bit:

{photo by Helen Norman}

I'll be the first to say that I love our mantle & the stenciling. My husband, David, spent 3 days doing the stencil by hand during my last pregnancy. (Don't you love how the biggest projects take place when you're 7 or 8 months pregnant??) But I also love rearranging my living room. (like a lot... ) The sofa can go anywhere but on that mantle wall, and with 2 crazy boys- 4 and 2 yrs old- I've been craving a more open arrangment and a more modern vibe.

So, a weekend or two ago... down came the mantle, and my (super patient) husband primed & painted over the stencil:

(with a smile.... I know most husbands would be filing at this point so I'm really thankful ;)

I would say the new look is much less "pretty" (and my photos definitely don't look as good as Helen's!) and feels more casual & relaxed, which is what I'm in the mood for. I'm waiting on a lamp shade for my lamp & need to do some accessorizing so it feels a very bare on the sides/ corners for right now but I'll fix that later... Here's a photo of it that I took just now & hope you enjoy the toy "styling" Justin worked so hard on this morning:

{Yes, this is how our living room really looks on a daily basis... if you ever see it "clean" it means we're not home.}

I move stuff around all the time so I'm borrowing the tall glass floor lamp for my bedroom right now & I'll add in a glass table lamp we've had lying around. I'll play around with end tables when I get some time (ha!) and then I'll probably rearrange again. If I were to keep the sofa here permanently, I'd probably get a longer one, but I know it's not going to stay in one place for very long. I've realized that my house really only undergoes most of its changes during my 3rd trimester of pregnancy. This "nesting" thing is no joke.

{Thanks for the help Justin}

My dream plan is to do floor-to-ceiling windows all along the back wall of the living room & dining room with a small iron balcony across the back of the house so we're completely open to the trees behind us but that will have to wait a while. (maybe forever ;)

On another note, I did start planning our "dream" master bathroom & our contractor measured it yesterday for a quote, so who knows?

Like I said, this nesting thing is no joke.

If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Homemade Croutons

Are croutons a favorite of yours? Our kids always eat them off of our salads. So, with the price of virtually everything going up, I decided to try a batch of homemade croutons to save some money.

How is that for a nice price, $1.04 for 16 oz. of croutons vs. $3.+ for a 5 oz. bag. I shopped smarter by buying my day old French bread on discount.

Croutons couldn't be easier. Slice the bread and then cube it up. After you get it all in a large mixing bowl drizzle it with 2-3 tbsp. of olive oil. Season as desired, I used garlic and sea salt.

Put it in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 10 minutes and then place under broiler on high

until browned. This makes them so chewy and good.

Fresh croutons are so much better than the pre-packaged kind. My teen boys consider this a great meal....and then they are all gone!

Enjoy!

Sherry

I will link this to:

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

This Chick Cooked at This Chick Cooks
Friday Food at Mom Trends

Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum
What's It Wednesday at Ivy and Elephants
Thriving on Thursdays at Domesblissity

Spring Planning

Have you been spring planning? I have been giving a lot of thought to this year and to the plans I need to make. Of course you knew I would sit down and do it with a cup of tea.

A simple pear makes a nice treat with a cup of tea.

What spring plans are you making? My tea mug is Lenox Butterfly Meadow.

Sherry

I will link this to:

A Return to Loveliness at A Delightsome Life

White Wednesday at Faded Charm

Table Top Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life

Tea Time Tuesday at Rose Chintz Cottage

Tea Cup Tuesday at Martha's Favorites

Tea Cup Tuesday at Artful Affirmations

Tea Party Tuesday at Sweetology

Tuesday Cuppa Tea at Antiques and Teacups

Your Cozy Home Party at Cozy Home Scenes

Monday, March 5, 2012

What is up?!

Things have been a little crazy lately although I now realize I don't think it'll ever be any other way. ;) I wanted to share a picture taken by Helen a few weeks ago in my client's recently finished dining room and also just give you a quick update on where things are at with me.

{Photo by Helen Noman, flowers by Holly Chapple}

I am gaga for the thistle in this arrangement.

And... I can't get over how time is flying right now. I'm pregnant with our 3rd baby and have about two more months to go and we've got so much to get done before then!! The baby part will take its course but the work &getting-the-house-in-order-part doesn't. I'm planning on finishing up the nursery before the baby arrives (unlike last time.)

Things have been changing a lot at work. (One thing I've learned is that when you run your own company, things never stop changing.) We have a new intern, Alexa, who is such a sweetheart & is really helping out a lot. We've been busy with photographing projects and we really have an amazing group of clients that I feel so lucky to know. I get more & more excited every day about our projects. My design assistant, Meghan (who never lets me take her picture which is why you won't see her much on here!!) is doing an amazing job keeping projects running smoothly even though she has soooo much on her plate. We run around like madwomen all day long and it seems there are never enough hours but that's the way it needs to be to get it all done. (or try to ;)

Keeping up with emails has been a challenge & I apologize if anyone emailed & I didn't respond. Please just resend if it's been too long. I am so sorry.

I found out a few weeks ago that we weren't selected to be in the DC Design House this year (bummer) but as my grandmother reminded me... When I was 9 years old and didn't make it in the school talent show for dancing with my best friends (The Blondie Bunch) to Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (apparently the song was too risque??) I said, "Everyone needs to get rejected every once in a while." :) hahahahah

{image from here}

But I do think it's so true... We don't get everything we go after and the rejections teach us things about ourselves & about situations. I think they prepare us for our future victories & make us stronger. And I know the showhouse will be a great one this year!

On another note... My lovely kankles have started to arrive already on busy days. They aren't awful yet but I know it's coming. I'm disappointed because this is waaaay sooner than I had swollen ankles during my last pregnancy (and I didn't even have them with my first) but I guess I'm running around way more now than I was then with 2 kids and a busier work schedule. I can't wait to wear skirts & shorts this Spring to show off my new kankles!! meoooooooow

{safely hidden kankles but the belly is grooooowing}

My boys are so good to me & can't wait to meet the new baby. Dave has been amazing and even 2 year old Justin rubs my back. (Not really, it's like 3 seconds but it melts my heart. When he's finished he says, "It's good?")

Other than that there are a few things brewing around here that I am CRAZY EXCITED about and will share as soon as I can. I hope you had a great weekend and -ps- can you believe it's MARCH ALREADY?!!!! unreal. February flew by and that never seems to happen for me.

If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Spring Looks on the Mantel

It is time to do some new looks for spring around the house. The easiest place to start is on the mantel. I pulled out some brown transferware and added a little forsythia. You know when it is time to prune the roses? When the forsythia blooms. My forsythia is fake.

Here on the mantel, was a great place to put the little spring projects I have been working on.

How are you sprucing up your place for spring?

Sherry

I will join:

Show off Your Cottage Monday at The House in the Roses

Seasonal Sundays at The Tablescaper
Sunday's Best Party at My 1929 Charmer
Before and After Party at The Thrifty Decor Chick
Spring Mantel Party at Grits and Glamour
Spring Decorating Link Party at The Lettered Cottage

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Home Sweet Home #56

Hello and welcome to Home Sweet Home! Today I am sharing some altered peat pots for spring. I wanted to create these as an alternative to the traditional Easter basket.

The peat pots used here were small, but you get the idea. There is a lot of ways you could use these. I painted these white with just a basic craft paint.

The vintage tag I used I got here. The 'Nest' graphic I found here. Create some of your own and show them off here at Home Sweet Home!

Now I would like to highlight some of the posts that caught my eye last week at Home Sweet Home.