redecorating

My brother and sister-in-law AND my parents are building new homes this year. It means they show up with siding, countertop, and flooring samples everywhere we go.

We've lived in our 1987-built home for 5 years now. When we moved in I chose paint colors, furniture, and accessories for every room. In some rooms, I even hung pictures on the walls.

Now, thanks to a better understanding of incandescent light and its affect on my photos, I want walls that are NOT yellow. Imagine taking pictures all the long, cold, dark winter with natural-looking skin tones. Oh, Bungalow Gold, we had a good run, but I'm over you!

Repainting is not on my radar, nor in the budget any time soon. But a girl can dream right? Here's what's inspiring my future paint choices.

A light and bright bathroom with a teency bit of color:

A bright, but modest kitchen with glorious light. I have the windows... now for the white and little details like tile backsplash and chandelier.


More white and light. And a table with mismatched chairs. This image comes from a book called Simply Scandinavian. I could devour the entire book, I'm sure. I'll keep checking for it at my library.


If you need further inspiration, look to Design Sponge. It's a great round-up of beautiful and modern living.

if you like trolls...

I'm in my pajamas, eating turtle cheesecake. Ahh, a moment of peace. I know - it is completely contrary to the weight goals I posted last week. I'm still working on those, just indulging a little today.

My friend Sarah is off to Australia for 5 weeks, so tonight was her bon voyage party at the Chocolate Cafe. We are going to miss her and be very envious of her traveling gypsy ways. And no blog for us. Can you believe there is no internet access in the outback?!

On Sunday I watched a show on PBS that was awesome. I'm sure there are plenty of shows on PBS that I rarely watch that are excellent. I had tuned in for Artzine and this documentary came on right afterwards. It's called The World Was Ours. It is about an amazing community of Jewish people in pre-World War II Lithuania. I didn't get to see the whole thing, so I will be watching for it to air again.

They interviewed people telling of their memories of Vilna. One lady was remembering that as a child, when she was sick, her mother would put a pillow on her lap and place her on the pillow. She'd pull the little girl close to her and sing Yiddish lullabies to her. The lady said she always wished to be sick so she could have her mother sing to her.

Oh! My eyes are welling up right now. Isn't that the most heart-wrenching story? I thought, her mother must have been so busy that only when her kids were sick did she have time to sing to them. I have to remember to slow it down and make time for those little moments with my boy.

And speaking of mothers, my mom brought us back a little present from Florida after Easter. It's the three billy goats gruff and the troll under the bridge. I'm pretty much in love with it. I love the colors, the size of the troll, and how he just blends right into the hillside. It has some meaning attached to it also... recently we discovered that my dad is pretty good at making up stories for kids. Unfortunately, all the stories involve goats, trolls, and a gruesome scene.

glitter easter eggs

glitter easter eggs, originally uploaded by brungrrl.

I love decoupage. Nothing like gobs of glue and paper to make me feel connected to past generations! And apparently covering objects with paper is my preferred method of decorating.

The idea for these eggs is from Inspire Co. Of course, hers are much frillier and prettier... and displayed in a much nicer bowl.

But that's okay... I'm loving how mine turned out. And if I want frills next year, I can do that.

Oh, you're wondering what the eggs are decoupaged with? And where did I get such things? Well back in 2003 I was enamored with altered art of all kinds. I ordered a pack of ephemera from ebay (the receipt was still in there - that's how I know it was 2003!). It's just bits and pieces of papers and things from different sources. So conveniently, I had an old map and a couple pages from foreign books with which to work. I loooooved the map eggs... they seem so worldly.

Now if I can pull myself away from the glitter, I can start some other projects!

new handmade

So I can't give up the handmade stuff. I bought these two prints for JT's room. Now I just hope they arrive before we go visit my brother. He can make me custom mats for them and I can paint up a couple yard sale frames to match all the other frames in his room. You know, the other frames that don't have anything in them yet. Yeah, yeah, I'll get to those.

Turtle Kite - Gocco Printed

by jenskelley

awww, how sweet is the turtle?!

Baloon flight

by MiaMiBox

This little girl in the balloon is a print of a mixed media painting. I love the trees. Have I mentioned how much he loves the balloon mobile in his room? My heart just lights up when he oohs and ahhs over it.

going batty

Today was a non-stop, action-packed day! I got NOTHING on my to-do list done and I will have to play catch-up this week. But it was good.

Becka called after church to see if we wanted to go to Boo at the Zoo. I had planned to make chili, clean house, and run errands while JT watched the Steelers with his dad. But it was SUCH a nice day... I felt like I was being a bad mom to deny the little guy a day in the sun... so we went. It was awesome.

And it's not many days that we see so many friends in one day. We ran into Allison at the zoo with her fam. Amy stopped by in the afternoon to bring John a birthday card. And Jenny and Robert dropped some stuff off in the evening. JT is feeling pretty well-loved right now. (It wore him out -lol!)

Last night I finished up the Thanksgiving decor project I started earlier in the week. It's letters that spell "thanks" for our mantle. Check out more details on Flickr. I'm loving these letters. Plus, the mantle is the only part of the house that got cleaned this weekend... only because I wanted to admire my finished work. Now, if I could just get the rest of the house in order, I could really get on with the decorating!

Here are some creepy "flying foxes", aka bats, to get you ready for halloween...

i.am.so.full.

I just put my little guy in bed for the night. I am so full of love for him right now! His daddy has been gone most of the week, so it was just the two of us. Uh yeah, I should be ashamed to admit it was the first time I was ever alone with my own child for more than one day. I'm lucky - John loves taking care of JT, so we share him pretty equally.

The house is a disaster... I think I picked up two piles today and created 12 more. AND THEN, we were upstairs playing today and a shelf full of picture frames fell down!! So my house went ahead and undecorated itself. Ugh. I got that mess about half cleaned up. Oh well.

Adrienne and I went shopping on Thursday evening. I started my shopping for Thanksgiving stuff. I decided to not be cheap this year. Haha. I figured if we are always hosting, I should invest in some decor items that will make it special. I gave myself a budget of $100. So I found this platter at Crate and Barrel. I love it. I know, it's nothing fancy, but it's cool.
Today I found some other stuff at Kohl's for $50. I'm talking matching tablecloths for the two tables, some candles, a big pumpkin centerpiece, and some festive towels. (My kitchen towels are DISGUSTING - been doing a lot of dish washing since July!) So that leaves me $15 to finish up with some garlands and crafty stuff... hmm, hope that's enough!


As evidence, here is decorating scheme from the last two years. It features mismatched vintage tablecloths and a vase I made in a pottery class that leaks. I still like that vase... pretty sure it will make the cut this year also. I rig it up with a plastic cup so it will hold water. I'm creative that way. hehehe.

Sooo, I'm having company for coffee in the morning bright and early, so I should really think of going to bed now. Night all....