Golden Pears

I found these pears at a hobby store the other day.  They looked so real.  I was going to put them in a glass bowl for color but then I looked over at some things I was finishing up and saw some gold accent paint.  Hmmm....

Maybe I should just paint them gold?

So pretty!

You really can paint anything....just try it!

Have a great week!

Paula

Stuck In A Rut....

It's February and although I'm trying not to complain, being stuck in the house, after a huge blizzard and then a few rainy days...and another snow day...kind of gets to me.  My motivation is low, my creativity suffers and I just plain ole feel bad.  I need the sun.  I need to get out of the house and I need to get moving!

With that being said, I've been looking at my house and realize that I need to reorganize.  So, I've been a little obsessed with baskets lately.  Baskets are a great way to bring the outdoors in and add some new decor to the house. And, they are relatively inexpensive.  Take a look at some of the options that are out there to use baskets...

Big or small, I like the feel of baskets in a home.  I'm going to head out and look for a few baskets to change things up.  What do you think?

Paula

Add Some Color In Your Life!

Are you tired of your old decor and looking for a few things to brighten your rooms up? Well, don't  you don't have to go out and buy anything new.  Take what you have and recreate it!

Look at these two decorative items.  Pretty plain right?

Just add a little bit of color and....

and maybe a bit of whimsy...

and you will have fun new decorative items to play with.   :)

Give it a try.  

Paula

Paint Paint Paint

It's cold and rainy here in SC so my big furniture projects are on hold for awhile...  In the meantime, I'm painting the little things that I find along the way.  Sometimes, I see a piece that leads me to some inspiration.  Like this beautiful ring dish from Mackenzie-Childs.  I love the colors and the bird!

Enter ugly pieces from a craft store...  I know these are hideous, but you have to look past the finish - just like old furniture.  If the form is good, then you can re-create and paint just about anything.

I bought these not sure what I was going to do with them....and then I kept looking at the birds on top.  Hmmmm.....

So I gave them a coat of chalk paint....

And started to add color....

And checks and stripes....

And then a clear coat of poly to seal the paint and make them shiny.

The weather made it difficult to get a good picture, but hopefully you can see how pretty they turned out.  :)

Don't be afraid to try something like this.  You can do it!

Paula


Linking With
Boogie Board Cottage
The Dedicated House
A Stroll Thru Life
The Style Sisters
Savvy Southern Style
Ivy And Elephants
Shabby Nest

The Dressing Room

I have a friend who told me she was creating a "dressing room" in her home.  I helped her with a couple pieces along the way and was blown away when I saw what she did. With golds, blacks and creams, she took a spare bedroom and created the most beautiful space for herself.

Above is what you see when you first walk into the room.  You can see my blog on how I painted this Little Black Desk on a previous post.  You can also see how I Gold Leafed the mirror.  

On both sides of the room her handyman husband created these awesome open wood closet spaces for clothes and what not.  She isn't fully done with the room but I wanted to capture some of this creativity while I was there.  :)

There is a small bed in the room (she is still working on this) and above the bed are these beautiful framed giant Barbie pictures.  Aren't they great? They totally set the tone for this fabulous room.

The thing I love about this room is that it's a place my friend created for herself.  It's glamorous, romantic and feminine.  It makes you feel good just looking at it.  She had a vision and brought that vision to life.  Beautiful!  

Thanks for stopping by.

Paula

Friday Feature......Sculpture Planters

Sculpture planters are so pretty.  They remind me of my grandparents garden in their backyard in Brooklyn, NY.  Even in a big borough of NYC my grandparents had a cute little garden out back.  It was a very small garden with a wrought iron fence around it.  Kind of like the one below.  It had a little fountain, different flowers and succulents and fig trees.  Maybe that little garden reminded my grandpa of his home back in Italy. I'm not sure, but I remember it as sweet and different.  

The swan planter below reminds me of that little place outside my grandpa's back door.  Maybe it's the statue and the whimsy that goes with it...I'm not sure.  I am also taken back to that little garden whenever I see figs.  :)

You can get this one on sale at One Kings Lane...

I'm not paid to promote this at all....I just love birds and think this planter is beautiful.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Paula

Warm Weather Spaces

As spring approaches, one of my favorite things to do is to sit on my back porch. As it gets warmer, it is the place where you can find us early in the morning and later in the evening. Well....you can find me there in the middle of the day too. :)  When looking for an outdoor rug last year, I found a company called Mad Mats that makes rugs from recycled polypropylene (plastic).  The mats are made from recycled water bottles, plastic milk containers, soda bottles and other plastic packaging.

They come in fabulous colors, are fade resistant and soft on your feet.  

The Founders, are dedicated to the environment and to fairness in the work place. I also love the mats because you can wash them down with water and they are mildew resistant.  A great feature for any outdoor rug.  

And....they are reasonable.  Be on the lookout for rugs by Mad Mats.  I'm not being paid to support them, I just think they are a great product. 

Happy Monday.

Paula

Linking with:
Ivy and Elephants

March Madness - Organize With Baskets

It's that time of year......March Madness!  In our house that means so many things...but for now, I'm focusing on organizing the inside of the house so I can get outside of the house.  I'm not obsessively clean, but I am obsessively orderly.  I like things to have a place and for things to be where they are suppose to be.  Are you with me?  I don't like clutter.  Because of this, I am becoming a huge fan of baskets.  Big baskets with substance so they can hold things.  Looking at Ballard Designs and Wisteria the other day, I found three that caught my eye. Look at this great step basket.  As I look over and see several things on my steps that need to go upstairs..... Why not have them organized in a special place so when I go up, they can go with me?  Plus, things look better in an organized place even if they aren't where they are suppose to be - yet :)

With all of the rain lately, I realize that I don't have a place for our umbrellas. I can never seem to find one when I need one. They get left wherever they were last used.  I love a basket by the door that organizes them. This one would be perfect.

Now that the weather is warming up, we will be using our porch a lot more.  A long flat serving basket looks great on a counter and it will help take things back and forth. It also looks great on a coffee table.

You can find baskets pretty much anywhere these days.  Look for ones that are sturdy and durable so you can get good use out of them.   It is already 75 degrees here in South Carolina and I have to say that I am loving it.  Time to get outside.

Have a great Monday.

Paula

Happy Easter Burlap Flag

I was going through a few magazines the other day and I noticed several of these cute little burlap Easter flags.  I thought the bunny flag was super cute so I thought I'd give it a try. This is very easy and there is no sewing involved....yay!    And, with the help of The Graphics Fairy you can find all kinds of graphics to use on your material so you can make any kind of flag you want.

I bought a yard of burlap and was able to make two flags out of this.  Roughly measure the center of your burlap and take a thread from the bottom and pull it through the entire piece.  This will leave a gap in your material that you want to cut through to make your halves.  You don't want to cut randomly through burlap as this will make the threads and your material uneven.

You want to seal your edges so the material doesn't fray.  Buy some Bond N Seal from Hobby Lobby or Michaels and you can do this easily and quickly with an iron.

Once your edges are sealed, you want to fold over the top again and seal this with Bond N Seal to the backside of your material to make room for a curtain rod, or pole.  Once your edges are sealed and you have made a loop for your rod, you are ready for your graphic.

I found the cutest bunny on The Graphics Fairy.  She also has great tutorials on how to blow up your graphics, so they fit any of your projects.  If you go to her Tranfers tab and look at the first transfer tutorial, it shows you how to enlarge your graphic using Block Posters.com

I wanted a large bunny to fit most of my material so I played around with the size on Block Posters, printed the image out and taped my pieces together.  Since I was just using the outline of the bunny, I cut this out so I could trace this onto my burlap.

I painted the outline using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and then filled her in using an old sponge brush. (You don't have to use chalk paint, any acrylic paint will work fine).

Because the burlap has large grooves in between the fibers, it took a couple of coats to fill the bunny in.  It might be easier to use a cloth of some kind, but I like the look of burlap.

Sweet Isabelle wanted to get in on the picture too!  I think she likes the bunny.....

Have a great week!  Remember throughout the week to be kind.

Paula

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as Christ God forgave you.

Ephesians 4:32

Linking with:
domestically-speaking
Boogie Board Cottage
French Country Cottage
Stacey Embracing Change
Time Washed
The Bramble Berry Cottage
Nancherrow
Liz Marie
A Stroll Thru Life
The Style Sisters
Lavender Garden Cottage

Lovely Lace

Remember me telling you about my Italian grandmother and her three sisters that came to the U.S. from  Italy in 1920? They were very talented with a needle, thread and crochet hook.  One of the aunts worked for Macy's in NY when monogramming and embroidery was done by hand.  My mom just brought me an old box that she had filled with all kinds of lace goodies that they never used.

Look at the sweet intricate patterns that they created......They are so pretty! These would go on the end of pillow cases, table runners and table cloths.  I marvel at how they did this. I'm going to have to find a way to use these pieces somehow. I can't just put them back in the closet and forget about them.

I never really gave lace much thought before.   Maybe because I'm older and I am learning to appreciate things in a different way.  I find this lace truly spectacular and am so happy to have it.

I'm excited about my new little lace treasures.  I will keep you up to date with what happens to them.

Have a fabulous weekend and remember....be kind.

Paula

Linking With:

Time Washed
Ivy And Elephants