IKEA Inspiration & Other Random Ideas

I have been really busy packing and cleaning for the move to the new house, so I apologize that I've fallen short of my daily blog goal. Today I was browsing around the internet looking for lighting ideas, and I found myself on the IKEA website. As per usual, I ended up in the fabric section and found these great curtains. I must share.

These are three separate panels. They suggested layering them to create a different effect...how cool would that look as a room divider???


The next one had me so excited I was exclaiming to my pets about it. I love birch trees and the woodsy look in general. I believe these were made for me!

I would also recommend picking up the June issue of Elle Decor. They did a spread (called "Country Club") on the weekend house of couple Dale Saylor and Joe Williamson in upstate New York. (Of course, this is not one of the stories they chose to feature on their website.) It is filled with delicious ideas that incorporate my love for the natural/scientific and Midcentury Modern decor. There are grain sack pillows, twisted root coffee tables, a gigantic antique globe, terrariums, real turtle shells on the wall, and my favorite, a rustic mudroom with a collection of old buckets and watering cans. Along with a stainless steel tripod lamp, Eames chair, nested end tables, and other clean line furniture. I really love how they combined a Midcentury Modern look with the found-treasure country natural look. Although for me personally, I would have leaned towards a more modern look with just a few of these rustic touches. The best part about this stylish couple is that they got all this great stuff the same way those of us that can't afford country homes do....on ebay, flea markets and the like. Very inspirational.

The Bird Nerd is the Word

I found this wonderful Etsy store and must share. It is called BirdNerd, and if you love birds like I do, you will be in heaven. I urge you all to run there now and drool! And then buy something! These works of art are the creations of Chelsea Grove.

A lovely collage. She also has beautiful prints of her work available.


Birdie Jewelry!


Awesome plush!


There are many stickers and note cards for sale. She has collections of note cards, or there is a "choose your own" option as well.


I am in love with these tea towels! There are many birds to choose from, but this Starling really speaks to me.

Magical Ideas for Kids Rooms

A friend of mine is pregnant and got me thinking about how to decorate a child's room. I found these wonderful items on the Pottery Barn Kids website. What a magical environment for a kid to grow up in!

Here are some great tree and butterfly wall decals. I think it would be easy enough to create a similar design on your own to paint directly on the wall. Of course, with the wall decals, you could switch up the look with less hassle. The tree wall decals are on sale right now for $39.99-59.99.


I love the 3-D butterflies! They are $32.


Here is a truly magical butterfly chandelier, for $79, with the butterfly silhouette wall decals on sale right now for $39.99. Because I am always trying to think of ways to save money, I would suggest again that this idea could be created on your own. I would get some heavy transparent velum paper and cut out shapes, and hang them with fishing line. You wouldn't have to use butterflies (maybe you have a boy and think it's too girlie)....you could use leaf shapes, or birds, or just free-form shapes. You could use a glass bead to weigh each one down.

This look reminds me of the scene in the kids movie The Spiderwick Chronicles, where the sylphs swarm around the kids and carry them away. Very enchanting.


Another picture of the fabulous designs on the 3-D butterflies.


The website showed another creative way to use the 3-D butterflies. There are countless other creatures that could be created with some cool paper. You can find all kinds of great designer papers in the scrapbook section of any store, even Walmart. You could also use fabric glued to heavy paper to create different animals or shapes!

Copycat Art

Like most people in their 30's, I am at an in-between stage as far as wall art goes. During my college years, my walls were adorned with band posters and a few framed art prints from museums I had visited. Your typical Dali's, Van Gogh's, Monet's and the like. And of course I used to get creative with hanging sarongs and other repurposed items....it looked funky, yes, but it was very obviously a college girl's place. Since then I have slowly transitioned into purchasing a few original art pieces, mirrors, and other more "adult" wall pieces. However, I was missing a nice, large painting for the central wall of our house. It seemed like everything I saw in stores screamed Doctor's Office. I decided to take matters into my own hands.

While I was flipping through an issue of Elle Decor last year, I came across this advertisement for Plantation, which is a furniture store and website. I am not necessarily crazy about the furnishings in this ad, but I fell in love with the tree wallpaper. I decided that this would be a cheap and easy solution to my art problem.

I went to Hobby Lobby and bought a very large canvas and some black paint. I then penciled in the trees and birdies, using the ad as my guide. Painting was easy, and the design is such a simple one, it was easy to fix any mistakes by adding a new branch or whatever.



I am very pleased with the results, I love the simple and elegant look in my living room! This project was so cheap, even if I would have really messed up and needed a new canvas, or needed to paint over it all and start again, I would have only been out a few bucks!



I encourage everyone to try some copycat art for yourself! It doesn't take much artistic ability to do a simple design like this. And if you have a more complicated design you'd like to use but don't trust your own abilities, one thing you can do is get an overhead projector. I've seen these at thrift stores, but you may also be able to borrow one (from a school, maybe?) or rent one. Project your design onto the canvas (or wall if you are making a mural or painting on the wall directly) and pencil it in. From there you just have to fill in your sketch with paint!

UPDATE: I was just watching "Dear Genevieve" on HGTV, and I saw the exact same copycat art created! The episode was called "A Functional Design and Zoning Plan in a Great Room." She used more of a tall canvas rather than the wide one like I used, and then framed it. To be honest, I only caught the last few minutes of the show and saw the reveal, so I don't know if this is wallpaper and she used a piece of it, or if she painted it herself. The end result looked great, with a framed version of my painting above. If that's not validation for a good idea, I don't know what is! :)

Tiki Chic!

Hawaiian and Polynesian culture was all the rage in the 50's and 60's, so it is no surprise that people like me who are obsessed with this time period have a big love for all things Tiki. I am not as crazy as some people.... I don't have dreams of a totally island-themed living room or bedroom, but having a set of original vintage Tiki mugs is definitely on my wish list, and a few island decorations around the house are a must as well.

Here's a picture of a book completely devoted to collecting Tiki mugs, proof of their popularity! Love that monkey mug on the cover.


Here's a 50's island bar, completely decked out in Tiki gear.


And how fabulous is this bedroom???


Here is my own personal Tiki find. This guy came from an antique mall...I can't remember the name. It is off I-35 South, at the Tennessee Road exit by Ottawa, KS. I got this beautiful carved wood mask for $17! I've seen smaller, less cool masks in other antique stores for as much as $75. I also have a fantastic Tiki totem for the patio, but it is in storage. I'll get a good picture of him when he gets his new home.


I am planning a house warming/birthday party for my husband at the new house when we are all settled in. I found these great plates and napkins a few days ago at Walmart! They have a whole line of tropical luau party decor... grass skirts, limbo kits, blow-up tiki coolers, leis, fake coconut glasses, cute plastic cups that you can write your name on to keep track of your drink, toothpick umbrellas....the works. I got these now before they run out. I will hopefully get more of this great Tiki party stuff before it's all gone!

Shout out

I want to thank my friend Mallory for assuring me that "uncool is the new cool" when I was complaining to her that my blog wasn't hip enough. Like Weezer, she said. I am going to trust that this is true and continue on. Maybe there really are other borderline hipsters out there who will appreciate the fact that my photography is sub-par, my "crafts" aren't really crafts, my colors make it kind of hard to read, and my layout is just boring. And maybe they'll appreciate it more because they wouldn't know how to fix it either. Or maybe they'll just read it out of pity. That's okay, I'll take it. And I want to give a shout out to Barb, too. I'm going to post something about Snood just for you, so stay tuned. By the way, this blog is totally free to create....it's through google....so, ladies, if you want a new project of your own, I will be a faithful reader. :)

Dog Biscuits... from scratch!

My husband and I like to try to keep as many of the nasty human chemicals and preservatives away from our animals as possible, but it's hard sometimes, especially if you can't afford to buy them the good organic dog food.... or like us, live in a small town where the only place to even buy dog food is Walmart. Here is a great way to at least provide your dog with a preservative-free snack.

I found this old "Gourmet Doggie Biscuit Kit" at an antique store in Baldwin City, KS and picked it up for a quarter. It contains recipes for homemade dog biscuits, along with a bone-shaped cookie cutter. I am going to pass along the recipes here, and I would suggest just cutting out a bone shape with a knife if you can't find a cookie cutter like this.


The instructions are great... they say, "Don't limit yourself to biscuits. Cut biscuit shaped sandwiches for the kids when they are in the doghouse, make bread dough Christmas ornaments with your dog's or a dog friends' names painted on. Let your imagination go. If your dog does not like any of the following recipes, it is time for a visit to the veterinarian."


The Master Recipe, makes 10 biscuits

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup powdered dry milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
6 tablespoons butter, shortening or meat drippings
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1/2 cup ice water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, dry milk, salt, and sugar. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles cornmeal. Mix in egg. Add enough water so that mixture forms a ball.

Pat out dough 1/2 inch thick with your fingers, on a lightly oiled cookie sheet. Cut with doggie biscuit cutter and remove scraps. Pat out scraps and proceed as before.

Bake for 25-30 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on cake rack.

Variations for the master recipe:
To vary flavor and texture add one of the following:
1 cup pureed cooked green vegetables or carrots
6 tablespoons whole wheat or rye kernels
2-3 tablespoons dried soup greens
3 tablespoons liver powder
Mix in the ingredient of your choice when you add the egg, the proceed with the basic directions.


Rye Crisps

2 cups rye flour
1/2 cup soybean flour or 1/4 cup each white flour and cornmeal
6 tablespoons oil
2/3 cup warm water

Preheat over to 350 degrees. Blend flours. Mix oil with water and add to flour. Mix well, dough should form a ball.

Pat out dough to 1/4 inch thickness on lightly oiled cookie sheet. Cut with doggie biscuit cutter and remove scraps. Pat out scraps and proceed as before.

Bake for 40 minutes, cool on wire rack.

I haven't tried these recipes yet, but I'm excited to see how my two dogs like them!

Here's Ginger and Lucky, my babies!

Throw Pillow Rescue

Have you ever found a throw pillow at a thrift store or garage sale that was fabulous, but you didn't get it because it had that mildew smell, or the stuffing was flattened or lumpy, or maybe you were just paranoid about who had used it before and what traces of themselves they had left behind? This is certainly not a rocket science idea by any means, but it recently occurred to me that these pillows could be salvaged with a minimal amount of work.

I found this great turquoise corduroy pillow at a thrift store, but it smelled like it had lived in a dank basement. I got it anyway. For a dollar, this was well worth the trouble to fix!

If you have a sewing machine, or even a needle and thread, you can turn these pillows into pillow covers. Cut open a seam, even just a corner, and pull out the old, dirty stuffing, wash your new pillow cover, then fill it again with fresh fluff and stitch it back up. Or if that isn't possible, cut the entire pillow right down the center in the back, wash it, then fold each side of the cut over and hem, and then attach a button in the center to pull them together again, or not....it's up to you.

There is no right or wrong way to do this.... use your imagination. Yes, it may not fit perfect and the inner pillow you put in may stuff out a bit, but who cares? The front of the pillow still looks great, and I've never been the type to be concerned about perfection. If the pattern or color of the pillow speaks to you, this is a great way to salvage a fabulous vintage find.

For some reason it didn't occur to me to take pictures of the back of my new pillow cover. And I still haven't found a new pillow to put inside it. I'll try to get better pics if I don't forget.

Midcentury Modern Swedish Serving Dishes

I don't know if it's the economy or what, but I have found some unbelievable deals in antique stores lately. These serving trays are probably the coolest things in my house, and I got them both for a steal!

Both sets are from the Swedish Smithy, whose steel is the envy of the world, they say. They look like they were wedding gifts that got tucked in the back of a closet or something and never used. Both were still in their original gift boxes, and they look like they are brand new. The one with the bowls pivots in the center for different display options.

I found them at Antiques & More in Lawrence, KS. The bowls were $20 and the trays were $12. To make this find even more exciting, I searched them on ebay when I got home and found one of them, the exact same set of small trays... for $120! Go me!

I also recently adopted this lovely red bird from the Rivermarket Antique Mall in Kansas City, MO for $12. Another great mid-century modern accessory! Now I need a proper table to display these pieces on!

My Vintage Kitchen!

Here are some pictures of a few of the vintage treasures I've found for my kitchen in the last couple years. I didn't spend much on any of these items, proof that you can have the look you want without going broke. Many of these items are new but have that vintage "look" and others were found on ebay, in thrift stores, or antique stores. It just takes a little patience to find good prices!

In this picture:
Osterizer Beehive Chrome blender, this was a wedding gift and came from Target, I believe about $50-$60

Acrylic Straw Dispenser, $10, Bed, Bath & Beyond

Hamilton Beach Classic Drink Mixer, $10, Antiques & More, Lawrence, KS (GREAT deal....these are about $60 new!)



















In this picture:
Infinity Instruments Retro Metal Wall Clock, $30, Bed, Bath & Beyond

Chrome wall-mount foil/paper towel/wax paper dispenser, $9, ebay



















In this picture:
Copper pot rack, $35, garage sale

Copper colander with brass handle, $7, Goodwill



















In this picture:
Funky wine glasses made to look like vintage paper cups, $3 each on clearance from Urban Outfitters online

















In this picture:

Kentucky Club tobacco tin, $5, found at an antique store in Omaha, NE that is no longer in business, unfortunately.

Premium Saltines cracker tin, $4, found at the Rivermarket Antique Mall in Kansas City, MO

Hamilton Beach chrome mixer, $25 on ebay (Works great! If you click on the picture and enlarge it, you can see the great atomic star detail on the nose of the mixer... fabulous!)

A mini lesson on selling vintage costume jewelry on ebay...

I used to pay my bills selling vintage costume jewelry on ebay. For awhile there, the market was really hot, especially for designer signed pieces, rhinestones, and anything Miriam Haskell! Things have cooled off a little bit, but if you are a jewelry junkie, it is a fun way to make some extra cash.

The trick is to find the jewelry at garage sales and thrift stores, or get a good deal buying in bulk at an auction or estate sale. Trust me, you will NEVER make money buying from other antique dealers and trying to sell on ebay. For each piece, you have to pay about 1/4 of what you will get selling it to make it worth your while. There are ebay fees, shipping supplies, and other hidden expenses in the process that will eat up your profit. So buy cheap!

Or just keep the jewelry for yourself.... there are plenty of times I've had "seller's remorse" because I no longer have these special and unique pieces... like these fabulous rhinestones! This braided piece was from Continental.

Vintage Costume Jewelry

Talk about seller's remorse! Check out the enamel Coro set below. Have you ever seen Coro on the original card? Or enamel from the '50's that wasn't chipped and worn? This set was brand spankin' new. What a find! Or how about the fantastic "fruit" triple strand necklace from Germany? Ahhh....you always think you'll find another one that's better when you are selling (how else could you part with these beauties?) but honestly, I've never seen one nearly as cool. At least I have the memories. *sigh* Anyway, for those of you who enjoy vintage accessories, here are some pictures to look at. I hope the winner of the auction is enjoying them!

Vintage House & Home Advertisements

I spend a good amount of time scouring the internet for ads like these, so I thought this blog would be a good place to keep all my pictures together. My husband and I are about to move into a fabulous little ranch house that was built in 1956 and my goal is to restore it to its original glory. Luckily the house is a time capsule, with fantastic boomerang formica countertops, chrome and milk glass lighting, fold-up bamboo closet doors, a pink and gold medicine cabinet in the bathroom, a fully in-tact clothes line, and a backyard with a set of metal lounge chairs on a great little patio, complete with a tin roof. I can't wait to sit outside with a cocktail and listen to the rain on the metal roof. But I digress. These ads are meant to help me pick out paint colors and give me a heads up on what furniture and decorative items are must-haves.

Love these pinch-pleat drapes and the color scheme.


I'm not much for pink in the kitchen personally, but I love how imaginative they were in the 50's with their color choices.

The clean lines and modern look are what draw me to this time period.
"Simplify, simplify" --Henry David Thoreau

Love that red light.

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