Thursday, June 30, 2011

Upcycled Jar Lanterns

I absolutely swoon when I see a romantic string of outdoor jar lanterns! Look at these lovely examples of an old-fashioned summer backyard staple.
Welcome to the Shire! ( I absolutely should have been created a Hobbit.) source: www.marthastewart.com

Antique jars with votive candles. (source: unknown)

Love the different shaped jars and clear and frosted glass! Beautiful. (source: unknown)


Flameless idea, upcycling a sting of white Christmas lights! (source: www.polyvore.com)

Lovely canning jars, using a battery powered votive...hard to tell the difference between the light of a flame and these flameless ones, safer for backyard with kiddos and pets, or anything flameable for that matter:)
(source: etsy.com)

 I am working on stringing up my own, safely:) and with my 4 kiddos in mind...so probably going battery powered!  These are so simple to make just using any old glass jar and a little twisted wire, then either put in your candle or battery votive, string of lights, Voila! Backyard Awesomeness! Now tor the ladder..eek!



Airy Summer Bedroom Redo

Strawberry Milkshake Pink...the color every little girl dreams of...well, after much ado my two lovely older daughters have their airy summer bedroom with the walls splashed in the requested pink of course:) We had some fun with white tissue paper today and made a couple of fun accessories for the summer too! A "Cherry blossom" tree, and a white pom with a diamond shaped prism hanging at the center a "chander-pom" if you will...Ahhh, so nice to see the floor again up here...(it does not always look this pristine...natually with a 5 & 7 year old girls;)
The sky blue damask blankets were a fabulous Common Market find for just $8 each! It gives a little relief from all the pink, but still coorinates with the mosquito nets little colored flower ribbons...a bit hard to see in the  picture.

This little number  was our "thankful tree" we had our family, friends and visitors to our home hang a little tag with  one thing they were thankful for the last year...nice to give it a job in the "off season":) we just swisted little rectangles of tissue paper onto the ends of each branch and then secured them with a tiny piece of crystal clear book tape! Voila...no watering necessary!

Would love to see what you are doing to make your home a bit more summery this season! 

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

June Garden.

So there's a lot happening this month, with all of the lovely rain coming in torrents (a bit unusual for drought ridden montana:) The garden is growing! Potatoes are getting bigger, the pumpkin patch is looking promising, the sugar snap peas, sunflower border, and herbs are ready for the cutting and cooking!
Front porch picnicing is in full swing!

First radish from the kitchen garden!


Potager-kitchen garden just coming up!

Salvia and English Daisies

Baby enjoying her sunhat (and mine:) in the shade
Did I mention we got our first radish? (oh, I did, right...LOOK AT IT in all it's glory!)

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Red, White, & Vintage

In honor of the upcoming festivities...red, white, & vintage...decor, and lovely accessories to make you oooh, and ahhh, and be inspired to add a little bit of "FREEDOM" to your home.

Love this space! Can't even tell all the little things I love about it...WOW!

Lovely antique light fixture...(coming from the daughter of an  Electrician! HA:)

sawtooth designed canopy makes this so unique, and in picnic plaid!

Here fishy-fishy:)

Amazing rustic exposed beams, with the lovely upgrades of stainless. nice

Feeling ready for some fireworks in about a week? Oh yes! 

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Taking the Scenic Route: the lost art of slowing down...

I have found myself lately very deliberately "taking the scenic route". Handwriting a thank you note, rather than just blasting a text or quick facebook message...
...using our antique wooden handled push mower, instead of using our gas powered mower, hand-watering my hydrangeas, rather than just dragging out the hose.
 I feel  so refreshed just taking the  time to breathe, enjoy the process of working in my home, entertaing my children and not just zooming through my day, and feeling exausted by bedtime! I count my blessings, start my morning slow, taking time to thoughtfully clean and dress my little baby girl, have a home-made chai tea, write in my journal, "honey-dip" in  the Psalms and Proverbs a little.
Even  driving lately, I've been taking the time to notice the hardwork others are doing in their gardens, a house that is gettig a new paint job, keeping the window rolled down in case we hear a Meadowlark, or other bird call, and all in all enjoying the scenic route this summer! Life is such an ejoyable adventure everyday when we do take time to "stop and smell the roses."

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

White-trashing!

Cheers, Friends! I've been "white-trashing" okay, okay, I know I may get in trouble for my title, let me explain...take what was someone elses throw away "trash" and give it a new white look! I love shabby chic, cottage white, or a version thereof...here's goes a few of my small odd projects lately!
Shabby vintage wooden candlestick got a white  lovely new do! 

I gotta say, I LOVE this lamp! It was a $2 Good Sam find, dark wood, not shade, rough and scratched up, really didn't even know if it worked! But now it's at my desk! Primed and painted it, (Kills 2 and White on White ROYAL semi-gloss paint) Found a nice textured burlap looking shade for $10 and BAM $12 to a lovely lamp!

This little corner has caught a few of my odd projects, wire vase with some fun twisty sticks, An old giant clock  ( no hands) $3 at Good Sam, painted it white as it was a honey colored wood frame before...and on the wall are some AWESOME vintage National Geographic Ads from 2 1924 issues I found for FREE in the free box at The Common Market! I made a collage, painted a  freebie frame and one that I had that was GOLD...love the feeling of my creative space now. White gives me clarity!

The First Day of Summer and I got whitewashed!

It's officially summer, though we have been enjoying some "pre-summer" fun up until today for sure! Summer equals swimsuits, and splashing in the water at our house ( and lemonade and BBQ's:) So today suits are on, and splashing is happening....I of course did not see the draw to a 1 1/2 foot plastic circle pool, or putting on my swimming suit with  my not so beach-body ripped abs:) So out came the white primer, and a whitewash on a few things I have been planning on painting for a while...A lovely rocking chair that was my grandma's (complete with"dusty rose" cushions...bleck!) So off came the cushions, and a coat of primer, and it's in progress to being my favorite place to rock my little redhead! The other items that got a lucky whitewash today were...FREE picnic basket, that came complete with the previous owners name in pen on the top (Lucky!) haha, a bamboo tray that has been sitting in my utility closet far too long, a lovely carved wooden container I bought on craig's list in a group of 6
 ( $10) and a couple of decorative orbs, that didn't match so WHITE! I am excited to see them become something I love to have around, instead of just wish they looked different;) It's a good start!!!

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Iron Bed Frames!

IRON BEDS! Sturdy, antique and lovely charm...
I know this may seem like "overkill" on the beds, but what can I say I got my guest room all designed and decorated except for one very important thing...the bed! So with that in mind some fabulous iron bed frame eye candy!


Whimsical and just plain amazing!



Love the simplicity and earthy feel  of this space.



This is the guest room I am hooping to create!

I know, WAAY more than the average iron bed...I am loving the canopy created by just using muslin...the "no-canopy canopy!" Beautiful.

Simple country with a nice pop of periwinkle blue!

This room is so creative! Notice above the two small rectangle shaped windows, how they give the illusion of a large cathedral window by simply hanging decorative windows. Love it!

Bird Spotting!

Just spotted this colorful feathery friend visiting the big tree in our backyard!
This is the first Western Tananger I've seen this year!

Exploring the Summer Beauty!

Snow Run off Pond at the trailhead.

Pretty sure it's a mountain biking trail because of the ups and downs, but it sure was a fun find for our "Tuesday Trails Day"

Love the Sweetgrass!

taking a rest on a fallen tree on our hike!

Amazing caterpillar hatch we stumbled upon

Wildflowers! Lovely light pinks and yellows!

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Guest Room Inspiration

I am finally ready to tackle "the green room" this was at first going to be my 3 year old son's room as his two older sisters share a great PINK room, and little baby sis sleeps with mom and dad...but with friends coming and little brother content to cuddle with one of his sisters, or crash in a comfy blanket "nest" on their floor. The green room is going to be the guest room! Here's some inspiration....
I love the clean look of this room! The repurposed  antique  metal bedframes aned the lovely vintage "hotel" sign above the bed.
This room is luxurious, and chic...a bit on the "fluffy" end for me, but beautiful, beautiful:)

Looking to buy or make my own vintage looking sign, this one  is a cutie!