Back to Normal

Yep...life is good!

I love it when things are back to normal.

When everything is in it's place.

Things have been out of place for several weeks.

I took down all the Christmas decorations mid January.  But I left all the spaces empty.

I left all my everyday decorations packed in boxes. Wasn't quite sure what I wanted to put where.  Plus there was a definite lack of motivation to unpack those boxes.

So we had a lot of empty flat surfaces. Highly unusual in this house!  If it's flat it tends to get stuff stacked on it.  But not this time.  Things just stayed empty.

Finally even Bill was commenting on the blank spaces in the living room and dining room.  So I decided it was time to get out those boxes and fill up those spaces.  I discovered that I had a lot of really nice things packed up.  
(how quickly we forget...after all the stuff wasn't packed away that long!)

I love that nothing has a specific spot...I can rearrange from year to year.  Use something in a different way and in a different space.  It's a good thing too...I would have a hard time remembering where I used something previously!

There's a real eclectic feel in my house.  I love bright colors...and that's what's in most of the rooms.  But the living and dining room lean more toward warm colors. 

There are a lot of warm wood finishes on the furniture...and lots of red and green decorative pieces.  Red and green! My favorite color combination!

I lean towards vintage, country, primitive accessories.  I love using old books to decorate with....especially red and green ones!

But I've really been trying to move a little of the bright, cheery colors into this space.  So I'm using a lot of natural colored doilies and runners...it's amazing how much that brightens things up!

I've even started using my third favorite color in these rooms.  Deep aqua blue.  I'm finally paying attention to the color inspiration towel my daughters gave me two years ago!

 I found a great picture at Hobby Lobby several months ago. I think it's the perfect touch.  The aqua color is working...along with the red and green. Oh yes, and the sunflower gold as well!  

Here's the towel in question.  My daughters are pretty smart. This towel has inspired my decorating in multiple spaces...including this bedroom!  

  

A New Necklace

 Look at the pretty necklace Charlotte and Lulu gave me for Christmas!   

It starts with amazing packaging (because Packaging is Everything!)

The attention to detail is wonderful! Mustard gold paper, a bit of white ribbon, 

and a golden circle decorate the kraft paper box...which is stamped with the shop logo. 

Then there's a piece of gray, gold, and white paper tucked inside the box.  

It all coordinates so nicely!

The gift itself is so sweet....a tiny, hand embroidered necklace!

A little bouquet of flowers!

Excellent choice Charlotte and Lulu! 

You know what Gramma likes!! 

The background fabric in the photos is actually a beautiful scarf from 

Mandy, Katie, and Mark....they know what I like too!

This pretty, little necklace has inspired me to get busy and make something...anything!!  How about you? Do you need a little inspiration to get going in 2015?
I'm linking up with Elizabeth & Co. today.  There's lots of inspiration happening over there!

  

Pinterest

You can find the cutest things on Pinterest!

Then those "finds" lead you to some of the prettiest blogs.

I need a few more hours in each day to visit Pinterest and the blogs it introduces me to.  

There's so little time and so much inspiration!!

Happy Monday!

Favorite Blogs

One of my favorite blogs to visit for inspiration and free goodies is 

Just Something I Made...written by Cathe Holden.

To quote Cathe, "JustSomethingIMade.com is where I share creative ideas, crafty projects, original designs, artistic inspiration, product reviews, and loads of free stuff!" 

Sounds like a great blog to visit, doesn't it!!?

Here's some of my favorite freebies.  The vintage quilt graphic is awesome....Cathe even shares some wonderful ideas of what to do with it.  I'm going to use it to cover a notebook.

Be prepared to linger when you visit JSIM...there's so much to see!

Vintage Quilt

Notebook Label

Postcard

Buttons

Labels for Bottles

It Caught My Eye

Every time I go to visit my friend Tisha I bring along my camera.  I love taking pictures in her home (and outside of it too).  My last visit was not an exception. Tisha has a way with stuff!  I always have fun looking around.  Here's a few things that caught my eye.  Some I've seen before...a couple caught my eye for the first time. Maybe one of them will catch your eye too!

 

I've seen this several times...glass just seems to sparkle
a little brighter in Tisha's house!

See what I mean about the sparkle!

A fruit basket.

A cute little idea she saw on Pinterest.

I gave her this bird feeder for Christmas...
It's going to hang around inside until Spring.

Sugar anyone? One lump or two?

 

Welcome says the Pineapple.

 

 

This was taken in Tisha's front yard and they definitely caught my eye.

 

I love Hydrangeas...the colors are always so beautiful! 
But honestly, I love them the best when the look like these.

Look What You Can Do With.......

One of my favorite things to look for on Pinterest are ideas for things to make. 

Especially things to make that use materials that you wouldn't normally think about creating with.

Here's some of my recent 'pins'.  It's amazing what people come up with!



Look what you can do with a hinge.

Look what you can do with an acorn cap.

Look what you can do with a suitcase.

Look what you can do with a button or two.



Look what you can do with a toilet paper tube.

Look what you can do with a sweater.

 

Do you have a "Look what you can do with this"

idea to share?

 

 

Fairy Garden

 I saw this pretty little garden at a shop I went to yesterday. 

So sweet...so inspiring!  I think I must try one of these.

 

 

Just indeed.....I love the little arbor and the little picket fence. 

 

A fairy will definitely live in my garden.

 

 

Not too far from the fairy garden was a bit more outdoor inspiration. 

(see the fairy garden in the background on the right)

 

Rubber boots, garden gloves, and tools belong in hanging flower baskets....don't ya think? Daffodils, lettuce and parsley too!

 



 

This was just the inspiration I needed to see yesterday....the first day of Spring.

 

 



Window Well Remedy

This is my window well....plain and boring.  Functional but pretty unattractive.  I like to think of it as the "before" picture.  While I was on  my weekend outing with Tisha & Patricia I found the perfect inspiration for what I'd like an "after" picture to look like!

Here's the after! Isn't it wonderful?!   My window well doesn't stand much chance of looking nearly as wonderful....first of all there isn't a window above mine.  No shutters either. Just some plain old vinyl siding. The backyard fence is right up against one edge of the window well so a bench will be a little tricky too.  But I love this inspiration and I think it's going to be on the summer "to do" list for sure!

Inspiration & My Wish List

One of the best things about shopping trips is all the inspiration I gather. Like this "mirror" above a dresser in a bedroom display.  I have a couple "empty" windows hanging on a wall in my living room. Adding mirrors and moving them to a bedroom never occured to me.  Then inspiration struck.....

I've seen a lot of wall vases...but something about this one really spoke to me.  In this case the vase is about ten inches long. When I saw it I also saw a wall in my house that this would look great on.  I'm sure I can find the perfect empty bottle or jar somewhere in my house.  Love projects that require no cash!

This throw is made from "felted" cashmere sweaters.  It was so pretty and so soft.  It's easy to felt sweaters, so I've decided to make a cashmere throw for myself. I found five cashmere sweaters at the thrift store last week...I spent less than $12.00 for them! After I find a couple more I'll get started on this project.

Covering notebooks is fun...I try to do a bunch for all the craft shows I'm in and also to give as gifts. They've always been covered in paper but the next batch will start with fabric.  I love the texture & simplicity of these notebooks...maybe with a bird or some floral images instead of "Paris".

Maybe someday....... 

I usually see something that I love to have but definitely would never buy because of the hefty price tag.  It happened again on my recent shopping trip.  I love this kraft paper holder.  I would love to have something like it for my craft room but this one's $100.00 plus price tag talked me right into taking a photo of it instead!  I'll just add it to my wish list on Pinterest. 

Looking at the photo every now and then is almost as nice.