Home Stuff Showcase and Painting

Finally - pictures of the goodies I found at Home Goods - This is on my foyer hutch to greet guests as they come through the front door.

The basket I got at Hobby Lobby in the clearance aisle and the drawer pulls came from there too -

My Home Goods table has found a spot - it is need of some glaze, but fits just right.

Notice the price tag is still on - just incase it didn't work. But, I like it.

This is the circa 1890 plant stand I bought at the Chicago Antique and Botanical Show. Disregard the lamp - I was just trying out the spot. It will get replaced as soon as I find something I like at Home Goods or Hobby Lobby has their lamps 50% off.

Ah, yes. The Master Bedroom. I think all dark paints should come with a disclaimer that says, "In theory, this is a great color for a room. It's dramatic and cozy. But in reality, unless you live in a glass house (a.k.a. - a house FULL of windows) and you want to ever be able to see your hand in front of your face, then painting your room, especially a bedroom with this color is not a good idea."

May I present Exhibit A?

This is not camera trickery, the walls were really this dark. Please excuse the naked bed...I had already prepared the room for painting and in less than 5 minutes from when this was taken, I had paintbrush in hand.

Like I said, great idea - Truth be told, I loved it when we first moved in. It matched my bedding and it looked cozy and rich. But, as time went by, it absorbed all the light that ever came into the bedroom.

Here is the after - not a great picture - but the results are perfect. I painted it a Benjamin Moore color called Dunmore Cream.

Now - onto the next project. I posted about hanging my window treatments - here's what they look like hung:

See how far they are off the floor?

Even Roscoe is noticing...

And he's NOT happy about it. Okay, okay! Budget fix on the way. I picked these up at T.J. Maxx for $12.99 and they will be the PERFECT addition to the bottom of the curtains. I'll post a pic when they're done!

And - wait 'til you see what I'm going to do with my bargain Jo-Ann Fabric Waverly samples...

Hope you are all enjoying the start to your week!

Today I feel accomplished...well, sort of

It's 9:06 PM Central time and I am sitting down for the first time since this morning (ok, practically). This is what I did today:

-Worked

-Left work at 4 PM to shop for work

-Went to Joann's and scored some 40% off window treatment hardware and discontinued fabric samples for $2 - YES!

-Went to Home Goods and bought a cute little round table for next to Carson's chair - pics later.

-Went to Hobby Lobby and got some trim to fix the window treatments in our bedroom that are not long enough - more on this later.

- Came home, took the doggies for a walk (of course)!

-Excitedly put the new Home Goods table into place.

-Rearrranged the rest of the furniture - which I get extra points for because Carson wasn't home.

-Hung (successfully) new window treatment hardware - fixing the treatments is on schedule for tomorrow.

-Doing today's blog post - now!

The only thing I don't feel accomplished about (this is the "sort of" part of the title) is that I am nearing the end of my 200 count bottle of prenatal vitamins. 200 pills down the hatch and no baby. It's not like it's ever out of my mind, but when you reach the end of ANOTHER bottle and don't have success conceiving, it's a little hard to deny failure. It's just not fun.

I'm ready to wind down and watch some "Glee." I recorded it on the DVR while I was working so I can watch it without commercials - love that part.

Thanks for reading.

Sleep tight everyone!

Tim Holtz recap...

The experience with Tim Holtz was AH-mazing. We had a great time and had a lot of fun playing with Ranger products and doing Tim-techniques.

Miranda has blogged about our experience here - read her take on our fun time. There are some great pictures of our hotel...but I have to caution you. We stayed at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel and I had a bottle of perfume STOLEN from my bag. We were out for dinner for a couple of hours and the next morning, it was missing. I asked the front desk what they could do for me - nothing apparently. And, there was no room safe - so I couldn't lock it away. If you ever stay there, take anything valuable with you. Carson gave me the perfume for Christmas and it was my favorite. What a bummer.

Anyway - check out some more pics and I even included the tags we did. They were great.

We went to the B.O.B (Big Ol' Building) for dinner the night before.

Here's Miranda and I (NOT my finest picture here - oh well!)

Here's Tim signing MY NAME - how artsy!

Miranda's tags on on the bottom, mine are on top - Interesting how we had the exact same materials and colors to work with and they turned out so different. That's what makes the world go round!

Happy Monday - hope yours was better than mine!

How Does Your Garden Grow?

This weekend has been very busy. Yesterday, I decided that our chocolate brown bedroom was way too dark. Actually, I decided that a long time ago, but yesterday I decided to act on it. I have pics to post later and I will also post some pics from the Tim Holtz event.

In the meantime, let me tell you what I did today! A group of girls and I went to the Chicago Antiques and Garden Show hosted by Country Living Magazine that was held at the Chicago Botanic Gardens in Glencoe, IL. Basically, the photos speak for themselves. We had a fabulous time and I bought a table that I will post a picture of as soon as I find the right spot for it in my home.

Enjoy -

Me, Linda, Chris, Cindy and Nicole. Chris owns a local Tea Room and Pottery Shop called Emerson Creek Pottery. If you live in the Chicagoland area, it's a great little place to check out. You can visit their website here.

I fell in love with this vintage game wheel the moment I saw it and as we were leaving, I saw it at the pick-up dock getting ready for a new home. Too bad it wasn't mine!

Framed vintage bathing suits.

I loved the kites hanging over this ultimate picnic table.

And this guy is made from screen.

A giant scale with planters.

Here's Nicole wondering if she should make an offer...

And Chris chit-chatting with a vendor.

I don't know about you, but it really gets my wheels-a-spinnin'!

Hope you all had a great weekend!