Creative with Craigslist

The living room furniture has been picked up to be returned to the store, and it's now time to start considering a new direction. I'm kind of at a loss for the moment, so instead of looking at new furniture, I've been scanning Craigslist to see what the community has in store. I came across a few decor doozies and now I just need to work on opening my mind.

Barrel furniture...so eco-friendly!

And wait...a matching dining room set. Bonus!

"Excuse me, but is that your hand on my ass?"

And a beautiful side table lamp of a guy licking a woman's stomach.

And the pefect panther artwork.

Done and done.

I'm an Aunt...Again!

Congrats to my brother Pat and sister-in-law Kelly on their new little girl. She was born yesterday at 8:42 p.m. and came in to the world at 8 lbs 2 oz and 20.5" long. My new niece is still awaiting the perfect name, but she and mama are doing well. I can't wait to meet the newest member of the family.

I saw this onesie in the Babycakes and Decor Etsy shop. This is one of many cute designs.

Lookie What I Won!

My pal and old co-worker Miss Aubre had a giveaway on her site, and thanks to Google Reader, I won! I just started using Google Reader a few weeks ago, and it has made blog reading so much more fun! If you're unfamiliar with it, you can subscribe to the blogs you like (such as, oh, I don't know--my blog?) and then when that blog is updated, a link to the post shows up in your Google Reader. To win Aubre's contest prize of the cutest and sweetest mini-harmonica necklace (of which I'm wearing now) ever, you had to be the first commenter. Google Reader let me know immediately of her post, and I went right in for the win!

Above is a pic of the necklaces (from Aubre's site). One was for Aubre, and now one is for me. I have multiple meetings today, so I have to tame my urge to break out in harmonic song. We'll see how that goes. Thanks, Aubre!!

Opinion Time: Too Big, Right?

Furniture came today, and I think it's too big. Shane is sort of feeling the same way, but as the night goes on he said it's growing on him. We have 30 days to return it without any extra cost or loss of money, so I need some help. Should it stay or should it go? And if it goes, what should I do instead? I'm thinking just two chairs and a table or an ottoman now. Something like this. But I don't know. The room is so narrow. Ugh.

(Poor lil Dex. I woke him up from his night nap by turning all the lights on.)

Tiny Art Director

OMG...this is cracking me up. On the Chronicle Books site, I came across the book Tiny Art Director, which "chronicles toddler Rosie Zeman's efforts to get some decent work out of her artist father, Bill. Rosie may not know much about art, but alas for Bill, she knows what she doesn't like—to her ever-increasing exasperation, that's his hilarious interpretations of her commissions," (Chronicle's description). I haven't seen the book yet, but I went to his blog. I was dying. Go check it out for some laughs!

Dexter Pupdate

Crafts have been on the backburner thanks to nice weather and a chance to work on the house and yard. Dexter is loving being outside, sitting in the sunshine, and crunching ice cubes on the deck while Shane and I get work done. But the fresh air also makes him a tad more mischieveous. He likes to run figure-eight laps around our very small yard. A few of the growing perennials have taken a beating because of it, but if it helps him expend some energy, I'm all for it.

Good Dog.
This garden statue was something my grandma bought when I was a little because she thought it looked like me. She always kept inside in her dining room bay window. Dex used to only be as tall as the mushroom top, now he's a big dog.

Bad dog!

This is Dex under our deck stairs. He goes under here when he's being really naughty (and knows it) so that he can take in big moutfuls of rocks and dirt. Note his super dirty mouth and chin.

My First Tulips

This is my first spring in our new house, and last fall I planted my first set of tulip bulbs. I had no clue what I was doing or if Jimmy, our neighborhood chipmunk, would eat the bulbs (he was eyeing me when I was planting). Little buds came up a while ago (remember?), but then I had a family of snooping rabbits to contend with. Despite all of the possible challenges to the future of my tulips, they are up in full bloom and more beautiful than I could've ever imagined. Take a looksy:




While Jimmy and the rabbits (a new band coming to a town near you!) have been kind to the tulips, I can't help but think that they were the culprits behind why my crocuses never came up. I haven't checked yet, but I'm guessing those bulbs are long gone. Oh well, at least I have my pretty pink tulips!

Prepping for the "Brown Room"

Ah...the living room. How long have I been talking about painting this room? Two months? Four months? Longer? I don't know, I've lost count. But it doesn't matter because the time has come and the living room is getting painted this weekend! Woo hoo!

I'd like to say that I planned to decorate this room monochromatically (is that a word?), but I did not. And somehow, it's now become the brown room.

Here is the couch from the furniture set we just bought (there are two chairs that go with this). We wanted leather, we knew that, but I was leaning more in a contemporary direction. We searched and searched, and we just couldn't find a set we liked. When we saw this traditional set, we knew the search was over. So this brown furniture has led to...

...brown paint. The color is Behr's "Toffee Crunch." We wanted the paint to coordinate with Behr's Gobi Desert in the dining room, which is right next to the living room. And we wanted to keep the room neutral feeling since I often like to change out the decor.

If you recall, I already have the above brown curtains from our apartment, and I'd like to use them again. I'm hoping that from the curtains is where the pops of color will get pulled. The curtains have red, orange, blue, and green in them. The dining room has dark red curtains. I found matching red sheers at a garage sale (brand new from Pottery Barn!) that I'm thinking of using them under the brown curtains above. If that works out and I like the way it looks...

...then maybe I can get an area rug that plays up some of the red and orange in the curtains. I like the above one from Target, but I'm still not positive if it's what I want. However, since everything is so solid, I like the idea of going bold with the rug.

And then some more color can come in throug a couple of pretty pillows. All of the above examples are from Pier 1.

Oh, and here's a quick look at how I'm thinking of laying out of the room. (Here's a link to room planner...lots of fun!) The piece in the bottom right corner is an antique buffet. On the opposite side of the room is the dog crate...not something I'd consider a "design element" but Dex needs to sleep somewhere. He used to sleep where the buffet is going to go, but now he's getting moved. Poor puppy.

So that's that. More pictures to come later once the room starts to come together.

Gift Tags Made for the Handmade

As someone who makes a lot of gifts, I'm intrigued by the gift tags and other paper goodies that Knitterella has to offer. They seem to say just what you want them to.

This one has to be my favorite. Yarn and fabric are expensive, and I often realize when a gift is finished, that I would've saved time and money if I had just gone with something store bought.

This one has a little too much guilt built in. But I can think of a family member or two who might like this. =)

This one is nice because it saves the recipient a bit of embarassment.

Yes, please, fool me. I don't care if you're lying, so long as I walk away feeling like I didn't waste the time and money mentioned above.

A Date with David Sedaris

Last night, Shane and I had our first real date night in a long time (beyond just going out for dinner, that is). We spent our night with David Sedaris, who we both find wildly funny. He read material that he is working on for his new book, due out in October. He also read a New Yorker story he did about a Kookaburra and entries from his diary. It was amazing. The only thing that would've made it better would've been if he had read Stadium Pal but understanding that it was his old material, all was forgiven. So instead, I thought I'd include it here to keep the David Sedaris mood going.

Free Flor Contest!

Shane and I are days aways from painting the living room...finally! Yes, we've been talking about it forever, but we were gun shy because we didn't have furniture. We kept looking for furniture and coming up with nothing. But that all came to an end this weekend, when we finally found a nice leather set that is both pretty and comfortable. Now that the furniture is on its way (coming at the end of next week), we were able to pick some paint. But paint is the point at which my head starts swirling, because it means all the other decor needs to come together. I think I have the curtains ready to go, but I need a rug...and dang are they expensive! So La Dolce Vita's Flor Giveaway couldn't come at a better time! I need to win a 5x7 set of my choice. However, me wanting to win doesn't stop me from sharing the chance at wealth with you. Head on over here and learn all the ways to enter!

Writings by the Talented Miss Therese!

My gal-paly Miss Therese recently started freelance writing for Re-Nest (part of Apartment Therapy). They always feature some of the coolest houses and spaces on their sites, and now Therese gets to jump in and play in the game. For her first two stories, she's written about houses owned by two of my co-workers. I feel strangely excited that I've been in these houses...I know. It's weird. And there's no good reason for it for those feelings. Still, it is what it is.

First up is Miss Camela's farmhouse. There are a few pics below, but you can see them all and read the great story in the Re-Nest post.



The second is Miss Jennifer's house. And for the rest of the pics and the great story, head over here.



Good job, T!

New Favorite Line

Warning: This is a very random post, but I've been seriously uncrafty lately and this is alls I gots! So away we go...

I was on Ravelry and in one of the group discussions, someone said, "Maybe they’ll make him sit on the stupid step for a little while." That made me laugh...hard. I can think of a whole lot of people who need to be on that step. Repeat: WHOLE LOT! (I warned you that this was random....but still, sorry!)

I know this isn't a "stupid step," but it's the best I could do to illustrate the line. You get it.

Peepshi--or What to Do with Leftover Peeps

I'm back...but only sort of. Physically, I'm here. Mentally, I'm still lounging around the house watching bad TV and napping. Anyway, now that Easter's over, maybe you're looking do something crafty with all the Peeps that the bunny left for you and/or the kiddos (that is if you have any left). Serious Eats saves the day with their tutorial for Peepshi. That's Peeps + Sushi = Peepshi! I'm torn...I think they're super cute. But I also think there is something so wrong about hacking into them with knives. Either way, I'm sure they're tasty!

Spring Break!

You can find this wonderful vintage bunny in Modern Poverty's (cool name, right?) Etsy shop.