Holiday Recipe

{credit 101 Cookbooks}


I'm going to dream about this recipe until I get to taste it.

drool....

Southern Real Estate #1

For Sale

Birmingham, AL

$1,599,000

More information here.

sharing inspiration

I was browsing through a Swedish Blog this morning and came upon this picture.

Translated:


Good morning.
A while ago me and Jenny was and photographed a totally fabulous home ... The family lived in the old smithy in the castle ... really nice! She has so very inspiring ideas and things , for instace she had different kinds of onions mixed in old glass jars .. so beautiful! So now our onions are in glass jars at home too =)) Its nice to inspired each other!
Have a really good day! Hug


OK...so now I'm inspired.

Thank you Johanna!

In case you've been in the dark about this blog...

I'm probably the last one to know about this blog.

It takes place in Norway and has english captions through-out.

What a beautiful life Mia has.

One of these days I will learn how to make a real live link. But for now...

http://miaslandliv.blogspot.com/

A new idea re: pillows

I stared at this picture for a long time tonight.

What a great room.

I am intrigued with the idea of only using 1 or 2 pillows...right in the center of the sofa. I have gobs of pillows and they are always in the way.

This is new thinking for me.

And I want that coffee table so bad I could just yell...

"I want that coffee table so bad!!"

:)

via desire to inspire {interior design Kara Mann}

Shop Goodwill

Do you do http://www.shopgoodwill.com/?

I go through spells...lately I've been looking for ocean scenes with rocks. And they must have blues and browns. I'm hanging those in my den. This one's colors arrived a bit more pinky. No problem though...I love it in my living room. I think this one totalled $32 including shipping and it came from the pacific northwest.

I usually buy dried bittersweet to use during the fall. I spotted this faux stuff at a yardsale this weekend. The 4 dollar price tag works for me!

Those chairs...in front of the window

credit: Southern Accents

I love them. And even more so...love how they are placed off-center. :)

yard sale MOST EXCELLENT score

Yes...it was a most excellent score a couple of weeks ago.

Last sale of the day...a house that looked like Tara and a precious quirky little old lady.
She had on her best black outfit and HUGE black rimmed ROUND glasses.

Her hair was up in rollers and she had a feathered roller-cap (if that's what you call them) on her head. The black feathers stuck out a good 8-10 inches and when she walked...they floated and swayed.
She was adorable and fascinating at the same time.
Her garage looked like an antique store and most everything was priced out of my range.
And then I saw it...the fabric.
Heavy linen...gorgeous colors...and she had just reduced it to $20.
There is somewhere between 20-30 yards. Um, yeah...I'll take it!
I think I want to use it in the kitchen.

This is a huge color commitment for me...I'm honestly, kind of skeeeeeeered.





I am thinking about cafe type curtains so that I can keep them open.
I really don't want anything to block my light as I don't get alot of it.
Can you see my tee-tiny little clay witches hanging over the table?
They are riding little straw brooms.
I also have 2 chairs I'd like to slipcover for the ends of the table.

The bench was another yard sale find last year...$30.

Don't know if it will stay,
but my kids love sitting on it and I figure when we have company...

I can pack at least 6 little kids on it.

The mirror is propped up...would you want to watch yourself eat at every meal? :)

Sorry for the overload of pictures, but it is a rainy day today and it was hard to get anything decent.

I would love to hear any other ideas for window treatments.

I don't plan on using it as a tablecloth...I just spread it out that way to take a picture.

Now I'm off to wash and dry a yard of it to see how much it shrinks. I'd like to be able to wash it if I use it on the chairs.

my daughter the decorator

I have a most precious little girl.

She is midway through her 9th year.

She loves to decorate.

Today I was downloading some pictures off my camera

and came across these...

taken by my daughter without my knowledge.

We are working up some ideas

for a little bit of a bedroom make-over.

Nothing huge...just some fresh paint for the walls

and for her new/old desk we brought up from the garage.

I keep trying to steer her away from the pinks...

(because I'm tired of it and want a change)

but that's not really her style.

She loves pink.

And I love that she shops the house

till she finds things that she likes

to go with her pink

(not really...I don't love that she steals from other rooms...

but I tolerate it because she is so good at it!) :)

She's got a Pottery Barn Kids canopy bed, dresser and night stand

that I bought at a yard sale for $250.

Her bedding is a mix of linens from different stores:

pale pink quilt...Linens N Things

pink & white duvet...PBKids

brown & white pillows...TJMaxx

pink & white buffalo check shams...Pine Cone Hill (Homegoods)

plaid throw...Homegoods

The painting was $3 at a yard sale...

The cat was a stray that showed up on my birthday 13 years ago.

Her name is Cricket.

My daughter keeps her room neat as a pin most days...

and her bed is almost always made.

She likes to change things up...usually there is a stuffed animal of the day.

Today it is her standard poodle...

many days it is her patchwork hippo...and he is mostly green & yellow.

But it always looks so cute.

Not sure about a paint color yet...

we've been tossing around Clinton Brown by Ben Moore and possibly a hot pink.

The goal is to get it done before the holidays.
and if we do...get it done...I'll be sure to share! :)

John Derian

John Derian site (double click to see the whole picture)


How fun and easy

would it be to do something like this?
Give the family some black ink pens...

some heavy scrapbook paper

and let them go to town.

My kids are always drawing or doodling something.
I would frame them up in a bunch of thrift store frames painted the same color.
I can picture this down a hallway.
I love John Derian.

A Birds of Prey Dome...sweeeeeeeeeet. I want.

painted closet idea

My 9 year old daughter

has been asking for a fresh coat of

paint

in her bedroom.

She wants to do a deep brown and has been showing me ideas in the
Ben Moore paint deck.

This picture gives me an idea for her closet too...

what a lovely burst of color.

So, pardon me
while I just tuck this idea away

here on my blog.

My very own blog. :)

Meet Little Bill.

I saw him at our local humane society last week...he had the cutest face. He's only 6 months old...I could have sworn that he smiled at me through the glass. I'm "sort of" looking for another dog. Sort of. This could take months...even longer.

They had several, no, many dogs from a local puppy mill raid back in August. It was so heartbreaking...one precious long haired dachshund had no hair on her back, only on her underside and legs. The sweetest most soulful eyes...she just kept staring at me. I asked one of the volunteers if she had mange and would her hair grow back eventually? She told me they believed it was "urine burn". That happens when puppy mill owners stack the dog cages one on top of another and the dogs pee right down through the cages. The girl said most times the hair doesn't come back. She looked scarred. Can you even imagine? I really want that sweet girl, but fear I don't have the time a dog like that needs. I think my household would be too chaotic for her. So many sweet animals needing homes...I can't get my mind off of it.

Linda...while I was there a HUGE beautiful great dane went strolling by me...black and white...I thought of you! I could probably arrange to get him to you if interested. You KNOW you want another one. :)

And I did see Coco...mentioned below. She looked perfectly happy running around that place and one of the workers told me he didn't think they really wanted to get rid of her. As a matter of fact, she looked like a well-taken care of and loved little pork chop.

Lovely Bookshelves

This has got to be the best looking set of

bookshelves

I have seen in a while.

I love everything about it.

Especially the blue and brown

and

and touches of pink...

My bookshelves so need a makeover.

photo: Melanie Acevedo (via A Life More Fabulous Blog)

I wonder why her name is Coco?

Has it been that long since I have posted?

Yikes, I think it has!
My-oh-my...time just flies.
I'm recommitting myself to this house...time to get some stuff done.

Maybe I'll be here more to post.

But then again...maybe I'll be too busy finishing projects. :)

I was Petfinder surfing for a few minutes today and came across this little dog. Would you look at the face on her...she almost looks human!


I love you without even knowing you sweet Coco.

"Oh good gravy..."

via just image design.blogspot,....... picture credit realestate

Double click to fully open the picture...

This room is right up my alley.

I recently bought 2 rattan chairs and a loveseat at a church sale for $75. The chairs are oversized and so comfortable and while the fabric is in perfect shape...it's not my idea of "yipee!".

I want to use the loveseat in my boy's room. More on that later.

Oooooh. I'm just noticing the pillows on the back

of the chairs...very nice.

It's funny, these chairs.

They are nothing I would have ever pictured having...but they just kind of jumped out at me. That and the fact that the sale was winding down and everything was 1/2 price. I could so picture them with a fresh new fabric and my kids lounging in them.

This picture feels like reassurance that I can make this work.

And that shelf of pictures...oh good gravy!

I use "oh good gravy" all the time...but I must give credit to my lovely friend Amber for that line...she uses it oh so well.

Wow...

I'm in love with these colors together.

Oh, yes, I am. :)

from here: http://janetwilkins.wordpress.com/2008/05/24/old-doors-old-flowers/