Love and Nature

I just found a reason to have a child. I was in Target today picking up a few things, and I happened to walk by the kids decor aisle, and stopped dead in my tracks. There, on sale, was the cutest lamp I've ever seen. It had owls and squirrels and was a lovely shade of green. When I got home I looked up the rest of the collection and truly fell in love.


The collection is called Love and Nature, by Circo. Here is one example of the bedding available.

Look at this pink owl bank! You don't even need a child as an excuse to buy this.

Hedgehog Bean Bag!

And the aforementioned lamp. This picture does not do it justice. It has an inner shade with three cutouts, two owls and a squirrel. The green seemed to be more of a sage in the store. I absolutely adore this. It was on sale for $17.99, too! I should have snagged it.

Here is, arguably, the cutest item in the whole collection. A mushroom nightlight. Another must have.

You can find the whole collection at Target.

Today's Temptress

So you know how you can buy fabric on Etsy? Look what I found. Do I even need to say that these are all of my favorite things combined in one delicious textile? It is a limited edition print by Lara Cameron from Australia. I found it here. And they have other colors. And more birds. If only I could take out a loan for fabric.

long time, no blog

I know it's been a long time since we talked, but let's try to not make this awkward. I moved, life got busy, but I never forgot you, I promise. Let's yadda yadda yadda over all that and get to the good stuff.



So I found this fantastic Etsy shop that specializes in "modern screen printed textiles" based on original artwork. It's quirky and vintage and modern and just plain cool. It's called Branch Handmade and was created by Todd Kamps and Ashley Redmond. They also have their own website.

There are tea towels (which I am kind of obsessed with). LOVE the poison bottle design.



Fabulous clothing!



That scarf must be mine. I crave it.



Lovely bedding.

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! :)

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!