Repost of Linen Napkins

This is a repost of the linen napkins that I made for my mom for her birthday. I used the speckled eggs graphic from Graphics Fairy. They turned out really cute and they were very easy to make. Thanks Karen for sharing all your wonderful pictures.

Five Minutes on the Soapbox

Okay this will be my five minutes on the soapbox. Here we go...

Tuesday I went to my local favorite flea and antique market. I won't mention the name. I love walking in the door and the gentleman who helps you carry the big stuff ALWAYS greets you with a smile and offers to help should you need it. The staff is just as nice. It was going well, I found two small painted prints for a collection that I'm working on. Feeling pretty awesome about my finds I happened upon a silver serving tray with a faux wood inlay. Cool! It was marked $15. Not too bad...I picked it up and looked it over closely. Then I flipped it over to the bottom and there I saw the grease pencil price from Goodwill!!!!! I was....hmm, should I say bad words right now? No, I'll remain calm. Anyway the price on the bottom was $4.25! $4.25!!!!! This booth owner wanted an additional $10.75 for something that she/he got at the Goodwill store located approximately five miles down the road.

Now I know that times are hard and every now and then we pay way more for something than its actually worth. However, an increase such as this was not right. Not everyone at the flea and antique market price their treasures this way. You can find some really good deals.

Okay, I'm done now and I left the market empty handed.

Spring Napkins

Here is my little project using the sweet speckled eggs graphic from the Graphics Fairy. I bought the linen napkins from Home Goods ($4.99 for 4) and then just transfered the graphic on to them. Yesterday I popped them in the mail and sent them to my mom for her birthday!

"Hi my name is Rene' and I shove stuff in drawers"

How many of you have closets and drawers filled with "things" that need to go? We all have those places where we shove stuff. I'll be the first to stand up and say, "Hi, my name is René and I shove stuff in drawers." Spring is that time of year for me when I can purge, organize, and donate without the guilt.

Just the other day I was on the phone and needed a pen. I couldn't even get the drawer open where I kept the pens because of all the junk (pencils, loose change, paper, rulers, phone chargers, etc.). Well one hour later and a trip to Pier 1, I have a beautiful junk drawer (sounds like an oxymoron). Here are a few good ones that I found on Martha Stewart. If you have any good ideas I would love to hear from you.

In the Bath:


I already have the roll-out drawers but what caught my eye is the hooks on the cabinet door for your hair styling equipment.

In the Kitchen:

Here are tension rods used as dividers for cookie pans, servers, etc. Not a bad idea for less than $2 a rod.



I already do this with my recipes. I actually have three (main meals, desserts, tabletop decorating).

For the closet:


If you do not have the cash right now for custom closet storage this is a great idea to get your boots off the floor and out of their boxes. It is wooden boot shapers with coffee cup rings screwed into the tops.

Happy Birthday

We have three birthdays in January and here are a couple of the cakes to celebrate the occassion.

This one was my daughter's request for a purse cake. We took a couple of ideas from a Juicy Couture purse and made it our own. She had a sleep over and this was a huge hit and a huge cake!


Three celebrations on one cake. For each person I made a musical design representing their favorite artist. My husband's was Johnny Cash, my daughter's was Justin Bieber (where did this kid come from?), and my sister-in-law's was the Rolling Stones.

I'm Bored

Two posts in five minutes, be still my heart! I'm going to see a client tomorrow about making panels for her children's playroom. I designed two options; option 1 is tab top panels and option 2 is a rod pocket. Wish me luck!

There's an App For That

With this yucky weather we have had for the past few days, I have done a lot of web surfing. I mean a lot...hours...days...years (well maybe not that much). My husband said the other day, "What can you possibly look at after 5 minutes?" He's never been to Blogland where you can just click your way from one side of our planet to the next.

Anyway, I was catching up on the Minutes Matter Studio forum and somebody was asking about apps for the iPhone. I don't have an iPhone (I'm a Verizon girl) but I did appreciate the following handy and nifty apps out there for people who do have iPhones. Enjoy and grab an app!

Note: I linked you through a blog or website because the iPhone website was so painfully slow.

For Paint
Sherwin Williams ColorSnap (it's free), here is the link.
Benjamin Moore Catch A Color app, here is the link.

Measuring
Converting Measurements, here is the link.
Drapery Calculator, here is the link.

For Fun
For I.D. wood flooring, here is the link.
How about a font, here is the link.

Window Bar Stools

My neighbor snatched up four of these little beauties the other day. They are divine in her kitchen. I "test drove" one of them and it is really sturdy. They felt solid and well constructed. My neighbor's eat in area is right next to the kitchen (open concept). With a dark wooden table and six leather chairs the bar stools needed to be sleek and airy. CB2 sells acrylic bar stools (Vapor Stools) but they were about $200 each. Yikes! Overstock sells them for $229.99 (set of 2). And, shipping is usually just $2.95.

Home Tour- Atlanta

I enjoy home tours. I like new home tours but I really enjoy going on tours in homes where people actually live. Homes that are lived in, laughed in, cried in, and celebrated in. The only down side is that you can't take pictures (because they are private homes) so I always bring a pencil and small notebook in my purse for sketching. The tour features five homes in the Metro Atlanta Area.

This year is the 39th Annual

Cathedral of St. Philip Antique Show and Tour of Homes. All proceeds of this event go to Cool Girls, Inc. Cool Girls is a non-profit that helps girls in low income communities through education, mentoring, and support.

The antique show and tour run from January 20-25. I hope you get an opportunity to check it out.

Oh What a Surprise!

My mom always one for giving pretty thoughtful gifts for Christmas and Birthdays really out did herself this year. This year she read my post from the beginning of December about http://www.etsy.com/ and got me the Corcisco Ring that I raved about. It is just the coolest thing ever and I love it! My mother-in-law gave my husband and I monogrammed sheets that she hand stitched herself. They look just lovely on our bed.

I hope everyone got what they wanted for Christmas whether it was something like a ring or just a quiet moment with your family.

Blessings!

Rene'

3/50 Project

Now this is a New Year's resolution worth keeping. The 3/50 Project is the brain-child of Cinda Baxter. If you go to her website, www.the350project.net, you can read how one person made a change and a big one at that. Here are the basic steps:

3 Pick 3 independent, locally-owned businesses that you would hate to see go away and visit them. Your purchases keep their doors open.

50 Spend $50 a month at those stores. Again I'm not going into the details, check those out for yourself.

68 For every $100 you spend, the locally owned retailer puts $68 back into their community. National retailers only put back $43. And online stores put nothing back into your local economy.

1 It only takes one person to make a difference.

All The Pretty Paper

Checkout these great gift wrapping ideas. I think my favorite is the lump of coal boxes.

Courtesy of Martha Stewart Living

Dropping like Flies

I enjoy getting home decor magazines and subscribe to three (Veranda, Traditional Home and Cookie). I wish I could subscribe to more but I can't finish one before getting next month's. Cookie replaced Domino oh about a year ago and two days ago I got a post card from Cookie stating "sorry but we signing off from publication and giving you Lucky." It's not that I loved Domino or Cookie but I'm just so sad to see that some magazines are dropping like flies. Think about all the people employed by these publishing house who will now be without a job.

I was skipping around Blog-Land and stumbled on Designtherapy.com and he too was discussing the disappearance of Cookie magazine and other "shelter" magazines. It looks like the publishing industry isn't going down without a fight and another, hip, right now magazine has come on the scene, lonnymag.com. I've looked at it on-line and its not bad. I tried to post a picture on here but it wouldn't save. Let's hope they survive.

Tour of Homes

The Nesting Place is hosting the Christmas Tour of Homes 2009! This year my goal was not to buy anything NEW. I was going to shop the house and use what I already had.

I did receive some snow people from my Great Aunt. These little carolers are just too cute. It was difficult to pass the rows of ornaments at Hobby Lobby but I know that Christmas isn't about buying another sparkly ornament. I let my girls choose the theme and decorate the tree. I got the job of stringing up the lights (thanks Hubby for keeping the spiked eggnog flowing). On a sad note, my oldest said "no birds or feathers." What! That's my staple but I did manage to sneak a few on the tree in the kitchen. My favorite decoration and best after Christmas score ($3 at Joann's), the big snowman chef. He makes me smile everytime I look at him.

The Advent Tree decorated by my youngest. As you can see the bottom of the tree is getting the most attention.

Merry Christmas!

Turquoise Pretties

I love etsy.com! Check it out and support handmade items not from China but from your own backyard.

We could all use a little hope.

Look at the sweet little bird on the handle of this coffee mug.

New Year's Resolution to self, "Learn to Knit"

The ring is by far my favorite. It's called the Corcisco Ring.

A Give Away Mon Cherie'

The Brocantess is having a Give Away and it's exactly what I expected when I clicked over there... French, old, crusty and down right beautiful. I hope that you get a chance to check out her site and sign up for your chance to win.

Prize One: Vintage French Rosary

Prize Two: French Books (with or without covers)

Prize Three: French Linens (based on what she finds)

Give away entries will be accepted until Midnight EST on Sunday, November 22, 2009. Winners will be announced on Monday. Good Luck!

Rene'

Pumpkin People

Check out these cuties! I saw the project on Martha Stewart Living's website. I made twelve to send to friends and family. The hardest part was pulling the pipe cleaners through the body to make the arms and legs. Make sure you have a rather strong upholstery needle. The directions called for velvet leaves but I could not find them at Michael's or Joann Fabrics so I just improvised with a Fall flower arrangement that I had.

Wrong in so many ways...

Photo source: Cakewrecks.blogspot.com

This morning I was reading the website of a local talk radio show host. On Fridays its usually light with bits of humor. There was a link about a cake that just didn't look right. Having a cake decorating background I was curious to see what kind of themed cake he was referring to on the site. One should never be drinking something while "web surfing" because coffee stings when it comes out your nose. Parental Advisory: Make sure the kiddos are not standing over your shoulder when you take a glance.

Photo source: cakewrecks.blogspot.com

Can you imagine a store patron's reaction to this masterpiece? A mother gasping in horror as little Tommy says, "I want this ONE for my Halloween party!" I wonder if anyone bought it or did it make its way to the QUICK SALE baked goods? So if you have a minute, put your drink down (liquid through your nose can be painful) and click on this link to Cake Wrecks. I was laughing so hard I was crying. My favorite blog posts on their site: Hey Bebeh, Brides with no budget or taste (Bridezilla), and Seasonal Non Sequiturs.

Sedona! What to do?

I've been invited to go to Sedona, Arizona for a girls' weekend. Heck yeah I'm there! So if anyone sees this blog and has any recommendations on where to eat and shop, please send me a comment.

Baby it's cold outside...to me

Before I venture outside in the mornings I check the clock to see what the weather will be like. Hubby has a clock in our bathroom that displays the time, weather, etc. My eyes did a double take at the temperature outside...51 degrees! Summer is gone! Say it ain't so Joe. Knowing what a whimp I am about cold weather I brush aside my summer footwear staple (bye bye flip flops) and dust off my UGG slippers. They may not be pretty but they keep my feet toasty. Feeling kinda excited about Fall clothes I scan Anthropologie's website where I find these two pretties.


Fireflower Wrap








Floral Patch Wrap