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!

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*

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!

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!

Officially the Crazy Cat Lady

Does only a crazy cat lady think about prettying up her cat's food station?  I was so flippin' excited by my clearance finds that i got right to it!  The vinyl virgin that i am, i could have used some more instructions, like "it's ok to cut things apart and mix and match" instead of "your creativity will determine your design."  I thought the whole sheet had to go on the wall as is, therefore not being creative at all.  I don't want zen-like instructions, i need step by step talking to a child instructions with pictures. 

Ok, so it's not exactly 100% centered, but it still looks good and adds a bit of cheeriness down there.

I had to tweak the little bow to fit, and i wanted to put the "love" in yellow.  wouldn't that have looked nice? Except during my putting it on lightly phase it slid down behind the baseboards.  Only me.  And yikes, my kitchen is not as olive as it appears. 

Cat's corner.

Finally!  i was waiting til she came over to test it out. 

Oh yes, i think she likes it!

I imagine her thinking "oh, mom," lol, like i am sure most of your daughter's do.  Perhaps this is what makes me the crazy cat lady, more than adding the vinyl.

So there you go.  For 1.97 i have snazzed up the food station.  I give this two paws up!

Please see my sidebar for where i am partying!

Hob Lob Envy

I admit.  I've got Hobby Lobby envy, and to cure it i ran to Joan's Fabrics at lunch.  I had no clear agenda except clearance.  If it wasn't at least 70% off, i thumbed my nose at it. After making my way around the perimeter i went to the mega clearance aisle and proceeded to scoop up every vinyl related product that caught my fancy.  I have never used vinyl, but for the clearance prices they were, i was willing and eager to try them.

I really, really wanted to use the individual letters, but i blanked on what word to make and for where.  I thought, laundry/craft area that will one day (hopefully) be what i envision in my head.  So i ransacked and made a huge mess   calmly and patiently went through about 7 bins and got nothing.  I had all but my C-i thought i'd make the word CRAFT but then i found a Y, and thought i'll make CRAFTY.  There was a K, for KRAFTY, but i thought well, that's pretty desperate, plus it would make me hungry all the time for mac and cheese.  mmm, mac and cheese.

where were we?  a yes, behold my variety of vinyl.

Those smaller stickers were marked as .50, but they rang up .25!  I thought those records would look great for our retro diner basement, so i bought a ton.  Since those letters didn't work out for me, this tube holds the whole alphabet, so ha!

"i love mew." too cute, and they too rang up half off, so they were 1.97.  I'm going to put it where Sunday's food bowl is so she can know how much i lahhhhhve her.    Ok, so i didn't get that much (there really wasn't much that struck my fancy) but i feel good.  My jealousy has somewhat dissipated, at least til someone blogs about their latest and greatest find!





Please see my sidebar for where i'm linking these frugal finds.

Maggie's house-tour

My sweet friend Maggie recently bought a new old house (it was built in 1871!) and i was finally able to go check it out.  It's a tiny little thing, but with character and space that is perfect for her in this stage of life.

The living room is the space you walk into...she made no changes in this room except taking the drapes from the dining room and putting them here.  I really love the jewel tones in here.  I really should have taken a pic of the dining room, b/c the wallpaper was a mess...it was like 70's linoleum tiles of fruits and veggies in wallpaper form.  Yuck.

The kitchen was an add on done by the previous owner, and poor Maggie has already had a contractor out about taking down those cabinets...why would someone cover those fabulous windows? Cute little breakfast bar was left open, thank goodness!

Ok, This i love.  I need to find this piece, which she ordered years ago from a catalog, and do this. 

She never realized she had so many blue pieces, and decided to display them together along her windows.  Love it!  And love this peanut butter cheesecake she made for us to enjoy!

The previous owner was Swedish, and left little notes around the house.  This must be some sort of affirmation?  It was on the inside of one of the kitchen cabinets.  Does anyone know what this says??  i know i could look it up, but i thought i'd see if anyone knows.  i apologize if it's something that shouldn't be on here (but i doubt it!)

She also labeled this box and the contents in Swedish so an intruder wouldn't know what they were...isn't that genius?!  She wrote them in English for Maggie...it means neighbors keys, and each ring was labeled as to which neighbor it belonged to.

Maggie and the woman met a few times, b/c she wanted to impart advice about rattling windows and other idiosyncracies of the house.

Maggie moved in to find many instructions and labels...this note says "When it rains, i put this towel on the floor by the front door for boots, etc, to try to keep water off the floor."  Is this sweet or controlling, i can't tell.

Hardware for shutters

An empty box.  Labeled as such!!

Hope you enjoyed this tour, and i just had to tell you guys about these notes!  I will be posting a neighborhood tour with some amazing older homes, too!