Nautical glass & Pom flowers

 Today at a garage sale I found These Nautical glass floats. I had no idea what they were when I came across them, but I thought they would be pretty hanging from our tree in the back yard. The price was right so I bought them. When I got home I was a little nervous to show Adam what I found. I didn't figure he would share my vision. Well come to find out Adam really liked them, and I learned that they are Nautical Glass Floats that were once used to keep Japanese fisherman's nets from sinking. These floated over from Japan and the lady I bought them from had a mother who collected all things nautical. She had no idea what they were and sold them to me cheap.. Score! Adam decided to hang them from the beams on the eve of our house. I really like them and they catch light beautifully!

I also made these oh so easy Pom flowers that I love tutorial here http://www.domestifluff.com/2008/10/how-to-make-pom-pom-flowers/

Pretty eh?

Who doesn't love free!!

So I was reading up on a blog I follow, and found out that you can go to your local "waste Management facility" ..The dump..  And you can drop off your household chemicals (Cleaner, garden, PAINT, stain etc)  anyone who wants them can pick them up for FREE!! So I googled our local county dump, which is just a couple of towns over, and it's true in our area too!So I went bright and early this morning and picked up a TON of GREAT products! Paint, glazing, Polyurethane, wood glue, fertilizer, and so on.. I am so excited about this!!! I can save myself hundreds now on projects I am refinishing YAY!!!

Cotton Candy out of Jolly Ranchers?

Yes this is possible! Actually you can make cotton candy out of most any hard candy! Yum! We are scouring our house to find different things to use to make cotton candy.. butterscotch, mint, endless possibilities, AND even Sugar-free cotton candy.. Strange but guilt free! Mmmm cotton candy..A great idea for part of the treats at Chloe's 1st birthday!
On that note.. I decided to do a vinage theme for Miss Chloe's first birthday with an emphasis on lace and pearls I cant wait!! :)

Chloë & The Big Apple

 We took 11 month old Chloë on her first big trip to New York City. She was mesmerised by everything! After a loooong flight with a tired baby.. we thought she might get overwhelmed and out of her comfort zone, but she did well! She ate, and ate and ate.. She had curry @ "Room Service" , cupcakes from "Crumbs", famous Brooklyn Bridge vanilla Ice cream, Marie Belle's dark hot chocolate.. Yum! She saw China town, and Manhattan, and thousands of people on the street and she was completely entertained.

She loved hanging out with her Uncle Seth. They spent time together while Adam and I went to see the show "Catch me if you can".

Just over the Brooklyn Bridge

Why are the fire hydrants always busted open in the city??

 

 It was a great little family vacation I'm glad Chloe-lu liked the trip!

Rags to Riches

My first mothers day was FAB! Adam treated me like a queen. With breakfast in bed, taking care of Chloe's needs all day long, and presents! I asked for a food processor (which I used today and it's amazing!) I also wanted a high power staple gun, and A delivered! Here is my first project with my new mothers day gift!This chair is a piece in the set I am re-finishing right now. This before picture is so disgusting.. Rags..

Who sits on this thing?? So filthy!! Nasty mushroom seat. So I pulled it off and started to take the dirty sick material off and found.. yet another nasty material underneath..

So I painted the wood, added glaze,stripped it and with my handy dandy nail gun thingie I made this..

Riches!!

Revamped Couch & end tables

I am kicking myself in the butt right now because I didn't remember to do a before picture of these!!!! The end tables were black and the couch table was light oak. I painted, distressed, and added black seaming on the edges. Here they are..

 I found this fabric in the remnant section and thought it may look nice in the bottom of these drawers. So I measured, then cut out the fabric peices and glued them in the bottom of the drawers.

Thinking of buying some cute vintage inspired glass knobs to add a little kick to these drawers whata ya think? Stay tunned for the BIG BIG exciting project thats in the works.. Can you tell I'm so excited about it??

Pottery barn knock off

So yes, as I have said in recent posts I have been into making pillow covers, shams etc. I have also been refinishing a few projects around the house. I went into Pottery Barn today and got some great inspiration. Their "theme" right now is Chesapeake beachy. Although I do love the look I think it belongs in a beach house/vacation home more than in my home. I did find some beautiful things in there to knock off...


 

I love the look of these linen pillows the pillow cover alone retails for 29.+ tax each 

here are mine.. All together for the material and the pillow forms I spent 10 dollars..

I realize that they need to be ironed, but you get the picture. Next?? Our bedroom needs some serious transformation..

Easter weekend

 For Easter we made these Yummy "birds nests" treats. So easy!

 Chloe missed her morning nap because of Church, In this picture it was already thirty minutes past bed time. Needless to say she wasn't in the mood to hunt easter eggs this year, we will try again next year!

Happy Easter!

Who knew?

I have been dying to try making homemade fondant, so I made this little two layer fondant cake last night, and set it out on the table. The next morning I went in and the sunlight had bleached it! ...

Now I have a lame beige cake :( Anyone know how to keep this from happening?

Wood vs. Plastic

I have been looking for an older wooden high-chair for a few months now, and all I kept finding is plastic plastic plastic! Lots of Graco and Tons of animal themes ( monkeys, princess etc.. All stuff I'm not into..) Then I found this high-chair off CL for 10 dollars! I was totally willing to pay a ton more, but YAY! I had vision.. A new project! I wanted to sand it, paint it, and distress it a little for an "antique" look. My sweet husband was in. He got excited and wanted to take over the job, so seeing that he knows much more than I do about stuff like this, I let him, and I'm so happy I did. He did an off white/creamy color with a beautiful mahogany stain underneath that comes through a little. He did a beautiful job! I love it! It looks so shabby chic, so restoration hardware.. So not worth 10 dollars now ha!

Before..

 After...

All of the beautiful ideas..

Adam and I have been here in the bay area for three + years, and there are times I feel stuck. We are still renting our house, and it's okay for now, but I would really love to buy! I want to decorate decorate decorate!! Adam doesnt think it makes since to really get into decorating a rental, but after three and a half years, I have decided it's time! I have SO many great ideas I can't decide what direction to go! So I start small..I just made a sink skirt for our laundry room.. I am now reupholstering all of our couch pillows http://blog.puffling.com.au/?tag=cushion( such an easy thing to do!) but that alone really changes things up in the good ol'e livin' room http://www.6thstreetdesignschool.blogspot.com/. Next?? homemade curtains!
 I am so excited!For the past hour I randomly just started browsing designer blogs for fun. And in that one hour I've filled up a new folder entitled "home-inspiration" with random pictures. It's crazy how much talent there is out there and how much stuff you can find in an hour.

Love this kitchen, but I am hoping to go with an "apple green" color theme. Anyway, just browsing for fun and for decorating inspiration. Any fun ideas you love??