Sunday, August 15, 2010

Bird is the Word

So I thought having to work Saturday would have at least yielded me some good garage sales, since i am never up in time.  I like my sleep.  Sadly, I only saw one on my way in, and as far as i could tell from my drive by it wasn't worth being a little late for.

Feeling unfulfilled,  i weaved my way home after work via the scenic route, and only found 1, about a block from my house.  It was a very small set up, but i was so in the mood for thrifty shopping that i stopped.  And i'm glad i did!  I saw these bird pillows, marked 4.oo for the set.  I thought, maybe for my MIL who loves bird watching...but their almost icy blueness meant i at least had to try them in my bedroom.  Guess where they're staying. 



Perfect addition to the chaise.


Perfect to gel with the maroon of the chaise and carpet.

 Clearly i'm still having trouble deciding on duvet and wall colors...such is the life of a Libra.  What about you, any surprising good finds lately?  Are you like your astrological sign?


Thrifty and frugal parties in sidebar

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Awesome art on a pencil tip

S forwarded me this article from oddstuffmagazine.com about graphite artist Dalton Ghetti.   According to the article, Ghetti refuses to use a magnifying glass and only uses 3 tools to orchestrate his art-a razor blade, a sewing needle, and a sculpting knife.  You really need to check out the article to see more of his amazing pieces, but these are my faves.

From this:



To this:







This one's for you, Kaleena J!

Isn't that amazing?  He doesn't sell his pieces either, he just gives them to friends.  Maybe he would like to be friends with me...i'll gladly take one of these puppies off his hands!

I'm linking this to favorite things Friday @ the hills are livin' and the inspired room b/c people need to see this good stuff!

Monday, August 9, 2010

Big a$$ garage and the runway

I figure we should talk about the backyard while it's still summer and it makes sense to show you pictures of flowers.  No one's gonna want to see a backyard redo when it's 65 degrees out, you know?  You just won't be in the zone.

First i have to tell you about one of the main reasons we chose this particular house-it had the space to build a giant detached garage for S's antique truck that he's rebuilding.  Said giant garage is also the reason the house hasn't come along as quickly as it should, since many months were put into the preparing of the garage and the driveway. 

This is literally the first day we got the house.  I'd like to call your attention to the magnitude of weeds, black vent hiding behind the bush, and the tiered driveway with the garage under the house.  Sadly the green garage door still exists, but not for too much longer.

The yard.  I hardly knew ye. 

The tiered steep driveway leading to the under the house garage.  See ya, wouldn't wanna be ya!  This all got filled in with dirt to where the flat piece is.


Only picture i could find to illustrate this, lol.  We will be connecting this "walkway to nowhere" with stairs coming from the basement.



At least S knows his limitations-although he dug the footings, wheel-barrowed dirt back and forth a million times to fill in the steep driveway, shingled the roof of the garage, did the capping and the soffeting, ran the electricity, something about "conduit", etc, he hired professionals to do the masonry and pour the concrete.



 Boys and their toys.  Yep, that's him digging the new driveway.




What i have termed "the runway."  it's long but it looks darn good!  We were the talk of our neighborhood with this addition, strangers driving by would literally slow down and tell us what a great job we did and how the concrete looks so nice (instead of asphalt).  I like it because it gives us more side yard, and we are the only house that doesn't have the driveway next to the house, which i think is a rather clean look.


The outside of the sunroom had a facelift, too.  Can you see where that black vent was?  Look at those stairs, lordy lou.  They are stairs on stairs, if you can tell.  Concrete and then aluminum and iron, for some strange reason.


We painted the black sides tan to match the stucco, and the railings white.  I think they flow much better and don't look like they were just plopped on.  It also wasn't very long before i couldn't stand looking at the giant cinderblock garage til we stucco it.  Can't wait to show you how i prettied that up.  I hope you'll think so, too!  Here's a sneaky peak!






Linky parties in sidebar

Sunday, August 8, 2010

just some lovelies

to brighten your day!


Bold pink....something.  what is this?  i like it.

Butterfly on butterfly bush.  Gotta transplant the one i have to a better spot.


and none is lovlier than this lovely!


 
Hope you're having a great weekend!

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

White Paint Haiku

Lindsey's blog Better After is one of my faves, and she wrote a haiku about how a reader painted her kitchen white.  Lindsey decided we should all get in on the fun and write a haiku about white paint. 

So here's what i came up with in only a few minutes.  I thought it was funny, so i wanted to share it on here with my favorite people (that's you guys).  My haiku is specifically about white paint in the kitchen, which we are seeing so much of these days, right?

Ahem...

White kitchens: so in.
Watch out when you cook pasta-
tomato sauce stains.



image from allrecipes.com

Ok, i don't know if it actually stains, and maybe you guys are just cleaner cooks than me, but when i cook it is inevitable that something-sauce, seeds, veggie particles-get all over. I can't imagine if i had white cabinets.

 Thank you, thank you very much.  *bows and curtsies*

Monday, August 2, 2010

Oh, apothecary!

Thursday i went to my favorite thrift store, and the place was pack jammed!  Not only with new goodies, but with people, too.  I'm not used to that...i felt all sorts of hyped up, like i had to find my goodies now now now!

I'm in the mood for fall (it's practically September) and i couldn't pass up this heavy pumpkin shaped jar.  no way, no how.  6 dollars.  More than i normally spend, but this guy is big and heavy, and holds all sorts of decorative possibilities.  However, if it wasn't for him, i would have hit the 6 dollar mark yet again.  i know.  weird.


Again with the planters.  This one reminds me of an artichoke or something.  $3.00, good size, perfect condition.  Already white.  check!


Yes, yes, i was that excited to arrange them in threes that i didn't take off the tags or the tape!  The one on the left i had, but the little guy was a quarter and the tall one was $3.00.

I'm not sure how i feel about this, what do you think?  i think without.


Temporary living quarters til they make their appearance stuffed with acorns and pinecones and leaves.  Can not wait!



Please see my sidebar for where i am linking these thrifty finds to!

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Thank you and a double feature

This week we have hit the triple digit mark-- I now have 105 followers.  I can not thank you all enough for your support, friendship, and readership.  Please know how truly appreciative i am.



I have to shout out to a few awesome gals if you don't mind....

Holly highlighted me on her blog Holly's Roller Coaster in the hopes of sending a few my way to push me over the 100 mark.  Such a sweetie.  She has had a very busy spurt recently, spray painting and making curtains, as well as joining the cloche club.  Woo hoo for her!

Jill over at Creating My Way To Success featured my cloche and my bedroom revamp at her link party A Round Tuit.  Such a fun title-you know, getting around to it?  Her party is going on right now, so go link up something you've finally gotten around to!

Christy B, my sweet sweet bloggy friend, this gal's the greatest.  If cute animals are your thing, please head over to her blog Achieving Simplicity in Life.  I don't know where she finds these adorable videos, but they will warm even the hardest of hearts.  A cat and a deer as best friends?  Yes, it's so, and she's got proof. 

And because it's Sunday we have this...this is what happens when a cat tries to sniff the camera lens.


Have a great week everybody!