Winter decorating

We've finally taken down all most of our Christmas decorations, but I'm not ready to leap into spring yet. After all, we still have several weeks of winter left, so I've been trying to incorporate some winter themed objects while still keeping the decor light and organized.

What feels right to me this time of year? Lots of silver, white, and brown; reminders of the holidays (in the form of Christmas card photos stashed in a cachepot on a silver tray in our entryway); pinecones collected by James and my dad; magazines neatly stacked and boxes used to store odds and ends (isn't now the time to get organized?); and new candles to burn (I like ones that smell like winter: woodsy but still fresh).

 

 

New finds in the new year

Happy 2013 to you all! 

I obviously haven't posted in FOREVER, mostly because I haven't had any time to do house projects or shopping (let me clarify: house decorating shopping; I've done plenty of Christmas shopping, and probably too much clothes shopping!). November and December are super busy for me because I'm on an academic schedule (final exams and grading and committee meetings and all that fun!), but the upside of the academic calendar is almost three weeks off for Christmas. We've enjoyed our vacation time, our first big snowfall, and of course holidays with family and friends, but now it's time to settle back into a more regular routine. I'm hoping to get back to blogging a bit more this year!

I thought I'd start out with a little glimpse of my latest thrifting finds. I swung by one of my favorite flea markets this week for the first time in months and was pleased to see a lot of new items in the booths. Here are a few things that stood out to me:

 

 Super cute set of miniature silhouettes (you can't tell from the picture, but they're probably about 4 inches high) -- I love the red strip in the frame ($25 for the pair)!

 Vintage adventure/detective books ($3 each). The bright covers on these are great, and I love this kind of book (I read so many Nancy Drew and Hardy Boy books when I was a kid).

 I really liked this set of solid wood, hand carved brackets ($20 $10). Once I realized they were marked down 50%, I scooped them up...more pics coming once I figure out a place to put them! :)

Christmas is over, but these vintage ornaments were really pretty ($16 for the set). The colors fade from pink to orange to red...really unusual combination! I would probably have gotten these if there had been some sort of post-holiday markdown (I am so cheap cheap cheap when it comes to thrifting!)

I loved the iridescent goblets that Jenny used to set her table on this Little Green Notebook post last month. When I saw that they were vintage, however, I figured I'd probably never get my hands on a set. So imagine my surprise to find a set of seven this week, for a whopping $4.

As with so many china and glassware items, they looked dusty and dingy on the shelf, but when I got them home and washed them, they looked great! I thought James would like them since he loves all things rainbow-y, but he just muttered, "Um, Mommy, those glasses are weird."

Grand total for this trip: less than $15! Happy New Year!

One amazing tassel

Speaking of tassels...I had to include a picture of the tassel on my Isabella Fiore bag.  It's three little tassels with a larger tassel on top, making one gigantic tassel.  I suppose if you were super-crafty you could probably create a similar tassel by modifying this tutorial.

I like the purse itself; it's very roomy, the quilted diamonds are fun, and the leather is soooo soft.  But I think it's the huge tassel that makes it.

Gold-tipped

It's been a while since I posted a DIY project, so here's a quick one I finished recently.

Sammy is checking out the situation!

I found this mirror in the clearance aisle at Target for somewhere around $10.  I liked the shape and the thick frame, but there were a few scratches to the black paint, as you can see in this photo:

I decided to add gold corners to the mirror, so I taped off carefully with frog tape. Be sure to press down firmly on the edges of the tape to get a nice, straight line.

Then I painted the corners with a Krylon gold leaf pen and Rub 'n Buff in antique gold.  I think the Rub 'n Buff was the better product for this project, but I wanted to try the pen (which you can get at Michael's, by the way).  I thought the gold leaf pen worked well and had a nice, more yellowy gold color, but was probably better suited to drawing a thin line or painting an edge, not for filling in an entire area.  Here's the finished product:

I used a razor blade to clean up a little bit of paint that got on the glass and touched up the scratches with a black pen.  Here's a closeup of one of the corners:

Not a difficult project by any means, though it did take me WAY too long to finish it.

P.S. - Shoe versions of this project below:

 

Vince Camuto

Yves St. Laurent

And one in reverse:

MIA

In stores now -- white porcelain collection

I was in Target yesterday and ran across a new display of white porcelain serving pieces.  It's no secret that I love white--we have white stoneware, white china, white everyday porcelain, and white glassware in our kitchen cupboards.  By keeping all my dishes one color, it's easy to mix and match when setting a table.

What I liked about this new collection is that there are four styles of dishes (square/modern, scalloped, beaded, and ridged), all of which could be used individually or with another pattern.  Prices ranged from $2 - $25, and my local store had a nice variety of pieces left (serving bowls and platters, pitchers, salt and pepper, bread bowl, spoon rest, coffee mugs, etc.).

 I almost bought these ramekins, but the tag only says they are microwave and dishwasher safe, so I'm assuming they're not oven safe.  I wish they were--these would be so cute for creme brulee or mini cobblers.

I thought these scalloped edge coffee mugs were really pretty, and they meet my mug criterion (generous handles so knuckles will not be burned!).  They would make a great gift for a friend--a couple of these, along with a favorite tea or coffee blend.

 

 Here you can see a few more pieces.  The serving bowls on the bottom would be especially multifunctional, but I also liked the simple white tea pot and sugar and creamer set.

I ended up just buying one beaded bowl (for $4).  I can think of a lot of uses for this: serving candies or mixed nuts at a party, holding jewelry in my closet, or even filling it with water and floating a single large bloom inside.

I'll definitely keep an eye on these; if they get marked down in a few weeks (which many times seems like the case at Target), I might pick up a couple more pieces.

 

Brown and white toile

 

In flipping through the September issue of House Beautiful I ran across this set of dinnerware, a new Juliska pattern called "Country Estates."

It's very pretty stoneware, but pricier than I could afford for a whole set ($22-$175 per piece).  I might be able to swing a couple key pieces.  I particularly like this hostess platter:

The set reminded me a lot of this vintage saucer I found a while back:

I use it to store matchbooks.  My dad travels overseas sometimes for work, so I ask him to bring back matchbooks from around the world; it's pretty difficult to find matchbooks in the U.S. since so many places are now smoke-free.

As I am trying to spruce up the living room a bit, I also bought a yard or two of this brown and white toile fabric:

 A few weeks later the whole bolt got moved to the clearance aisle, and I briefly toyed with the idea of buying it and upholstering some walls (an idea I've wanted to try for a while).  I figured my husband might be a little leery of my arrival with gallons of starch, yards of fabric, and an internet DIY tutorial to guide my plans, so instead I stuck with the idea of making a couple small throw pillows.

I added some brown ball fringe to trim them out (DIY tutorial coming soon!).

Making these pillows, in turn, got me thinking about grander uses of brown toile, such as those in these rooms:

Traditional Home

 via ArchitectsForLife - kind of a greeny-brown

Heather Chadduck

Colefax and Fowler toile via Cote de Texas

I do like other colors of toile, but I always come back to brown as the one I could probably live with the longest (ok, maybe blue too...).  I also think that toile looks good on a big scale, and I admire those people who can swath an entire room in the stuff: wallpaper, bedding, even lamp shades.

For now, I'll stick with my flea market china and my little throw pillows.  And maybe I'll start saving up for some Juliska.

An Illustrated Life

Just a quick note to say that One King's Lane has a terrific price on Charley Harper: An Illustrated Life.

This is the big edition (424 pages, 13x19 inches, 12 pounds).  It retails for $200 but is $99 plus an extra 20% off with the code "INDULGE" (good through 1/27/12).  I know that's a lot to spend for a book, but I think it's a terrific coffee table book for kids and adults.  Harper's illustrations are just so colorful and fun--very creative and something you can look at again and again.

If you want the mini version, it's available for $20 at Amazon, or support your local book store by buying it locally (I know Beaverdale Books carries some Oldham/Harper books).  Also, you can read more about Harper and buy his prints here.

Serendipity

I was walking quickly through a thrift store in December when a little oil painting grabbed my attention amidst the plastic shelves of NASCAR souvenirs and lacquered brass candlesticks.

As soon as I saw it I scooped it up, immediately liking the simple wooden frame and the pretty colors.  Only when I was wandering another aisle did I turn the frame over and see the faded sticker identifying the frame maker.  In turquoise capital letters:

SANTA ROSA BEACH

FLORIDA 32459

When I was a child, my grandparents lived in the Florida panhandle.  Specifically, in Santa Rosa county.  I remember visiting the beach: we would drive over in the morning with energy and a picnic lunch and drive home in the afternoon with stringy, salty hair, shifting around on damp, sandy beach towels in the warm back seat.  I remember the fun of arriving: padding fast over the hot blacktop in the parking lot, running across a rough wooden walkway that cut between the bluffs with their long, tan grasses, then finally slipping and tripping down the white sand toward the gulf.

So a girl from Mississippi, finds a painting of a beach from Florida, in a shop in Iowa...  I took my niece antique shopping and she asked me, "Why do people buy old stuff?"  This is why.

Sketchy dots

I like polka dots (see the end of this post), but sometimes they feel a bit too whimsical.  That's when these "sketchy dots" are perfect.  They're a little messier and less childish but still really fun.  See illustrations below:

Kate Spade iPhone 4 cover

Boden skinny belt

Brunschwig & Fils "Les Touches" fabric on a pair of H & H Home pillows

This blurred snow leopard pattern also looks great on a pair of wingback chairs in designer Tommy Smythe's living room:

Image via Apartment Therapy

World Market napkins

Ann Taylor scarf (on sale in stores now; not available online)

See, this is such a fun pattern, right?

And I know I said this post was about messy dots, but how cute is this polka-dotted clutch from Anthropologie?

In stores now -- Pier 1 Imports

Yesterday I dashed through Pier 1 looking for a seat cushion.  They normally have a few colorful rows of options.  I didn't find one that worked, but I did find some other fun items.  Usually I associate Pier 1 more heavily with the "Imports" part of their name, focusing on carved wooden tables, rattan chairs, bright silk pillows, imported art and masks, etc.  So I was surprised to find a few options that I would categorize as belonging to a more "traditional" style, or at least ones that would add a bit of that vibe to an eclectic decorating scheme.

Below, a few items I liked:

 This coat rack was really pretty with the combination of the turned wood stand and the metal hooks.

These horn handled accessories would class up your desk for sure.  Would owning a letter opener make it more glamorous to open your Valpak coupons?  I think so!

I realize this lamp might not be to everyone's taste, but it was pretty in person with the painted birds and flowers.  If you like the chinoserie look, this is an affordable option (on sale for $80), and I always like a lamp with a black lamp shade!

Two sets of mixing bowls, each reasonably priced at under $30.  The set on the left has four bowls of different solid colors (red, green, yellow, blue), while the set on the right is two patterned bowls.  A fun surprise is a little pattern centered on the inside of each bowl.

These mugs have a removable tea infuser basket inside, but I'd probably just use them for coffee.  The lid is handy for keeping liquids warm, and I like the green geometric pattern.  These are pretty generously sized too, and at under $10, they would be good stocking stuffers!

Okay, so this little owl wasn't traditional, but he was really cute and soft!!

Also, all the Christmas ornaments are in, so if you feel like getting your senses overloaded with scents and glitter, you should check out your local Pier 1 asap.