My Latest Curtain Obsession

So, remember how I said I wanted black and white buffalo plaid curtains for my dining room?  Yeah, I still haven't found any.  It's so frustrating to know exactly what you want and not be able to find it, or you find it and can't afford it.  Either option stinks.  Anyway, I am still on the lookout for my buffalo plaid, but I've also recently become obsessed with bold black and white stripe curtains.  The first ones I noticed were in Khloe Kardashian's breakfast nook.  I can't find a picture, but they really struck my fancy.  Now, I notice them everywhere.  I just can't get enough.

Paula Prass' Dining Room Curtains

And what about these?

Little Green Notebook

The Yellow Cape Cod

Hey Coobabe

Aren't they all just wonderful?  I love the bold look, but I'm not sure if they would work in my dining room.  The first photo is my favorite.  That lime green paint with the bold stripe looks amazing!!!  I actually considered repainting my kitchen and dining room to a bright limey/apple green, but I'm afraid my Hubby would have a fit.  I would have to plan it out and get started while he was at work without telling him.  He's walk in and I'd say, "Ta da!  What do you think?"  I'm sure that would be fine with some husbands, but mine always wants to be involved in the decorating decisions.  You see, he was raised by a space planner/interior designer so he always has an opinion.  I'm afraid to even ask how he feels about bright green paint. 

So, what's you latest decorating obsession? 

Cows in the Kitchen

So, I may have mentioned before that my Hubby is a good ole boy from Texas.  He wasn't raised on a ranch, but he did raise a few cows.  While most kids I knew were working at fast food joints, my Hubby worked buying calves, raising them and eventually reselling them to ranchers or other farmers.  He treated his cows like most people treat their dogs.  We like to call him The Cow Whisperer. 

Because my Hubby loves cows so much, I tend to buy a few cow trinkets because they remind me of him.  I mostly buy small stuff, like his carved cow Christmas tree ornament.  We even still have the feed bucket he used to use to feed his cows.  It is one of those sentimental things I refuse to get rid of.

So, when you saw the title of this post, I can only imagine what came to your mind.  Was it something like this?

   
or this

No, no, no!  The 80's Holsteins aren't exactly what I had in mind, although I will admit that I did have a fondness for them way back when and I'm only admitting that to y'all.  Tell anyone else and I'll deny it to the end! 

So, remember when Hubby and I were away in Eureka Springs a few weeks ago?  Remember that I told y'all my phone died and I lost my pictures?  Well, Hubby apparently managed to save a few of them and forgot to tell me about it.  You see, one of the places I've always wanted to go in Eureka Springs is a  little shop called Vintage Cargo.  For some reason, we'd never made it there before this year.  As we were admiring the amazing things in this store, we turned the corner and came upon this:

This is actually the small version.  There was a large version we spotted first but I couldn't get a good picture of it.  We asked how much it was.  The guy who worked there told us that the price had been recently lowered to $680.  Well, $680 is just pocket change for me (can you sense the sarcasm dripping from that sentence?).  Hubby asked me where I would want to put it if we could buy it.  "The kitchen" was my response.  So, do you think it's weird to put a cow painting in the kitchen? 

Apartment Therapy via Cottage Living

I think it worked for her.  Very country chic.

I Love Me Some Houndstooth!

So, remember back in the late 80's, early 90's when blazers were really in?  I had one blazer that I was especially fond of.  I nearly wore it out.  It was from The Limited and was a large black and white houndstooth.  It was very similar to this:

Only each check was a little bigger on mine, like an 1 1/2 inches each.  And thus began my obsession with houndstooth.  I love it!  But it hasn't always been "in".  But you know what they say, give something enough time and it'll come back in style.  I'm so happy to say that houndsooth is back again and I am thrilled!!!! 

Just look at some of the cuteness I've been coveting.

Houndstooth curtains!

I'm dying to try houndsooth nails!

Love this rug from Garnet Hill

Oh my gracious!  I am in LOOOOVE with this chair from Honey & Fitz blog.

So, I bought some houndsooth print quilting fabric.  I'll show you what I made with it later in the week.  So, do you have a fabric obsession?

Unless otherwise listed, images are from google.

Fall Is Coming!!!

After a summer of 100 plus degrees, I was beyond thrilled to wake up to a chilly 51 degrees this morning.  I could hardly contain my excitement as I opened the door for Hubby to load up the kids a few minutes ago.  It is downright chilly out there folks.  It made me want to dance in the streets in my shorty pajamas.  I opted not to, for fear of being kicked out of my neighborhood for public indecency. 

So, anyway, this cool spell has gotten me all excited about fall.  Fall is, after all, my favorite season.  Why?  Well, I have gained a few pounds over the years and I tend to look a little better with some coverage, ya know?  Not even to mention that I love my boots.  Plus, I get to wear my flannel pajamas (not with my boots).  I love my flannel pajamas!  Also, the "real" NFL season starts tomorrow night.  WOO HOO!  Go Cowboys! 

The other thing I love about fall is the decorating.  I dream of a stately front door to decorate.  BUT, those big gorgeous double wood doors would look a little silly on my little bitty house.  Wanna see what is inspring me these days?

photo credit

hgtv

Pottery Barn

google

I have seriously GOT to have those lanterns this year.  I've been dying for them for two years now.  I'm hoping to find a good deal on them.  I love all the fall ideas I've been stalking seeing on Pinterest.  UGH!  If only I had lots of $$.  Guess I better get my frugal crafty hat on and get this fall party started. 

So, are you excited about fall??? 

I Love Spray Paint and I Hate Dye (A Story of Victory and Defeat)

Once there was a boring taupe table and boring taupe chairs with boring taupe cushions.  They all sat together on a boring gray concrete slab of a back porch.  There was no color there so everything was sad and boring.  Then the owner of the boring taupe table got an idea.  You see, the owner of the table, Mrs. FrouFrou, loved spray paint. 

So, she talked her sweet Hubby into taking said boring taupe table and painting it black.

So, the sweet Hubby took the sad table apart.  He cleaned it, taped off the top and spray painted it black.  Then he put it all back together again.

And for some reason, the sweet Hubby put the dirty pollen covered lazy susan on top of the table without cleaning it.  EWWW!  But Miss FrouFrou was so happy that the table was now painted black that she forgave the sweet Hubby and didn't even mention the fact that it totally screwed up the after picture. 

While the sweet Hubby was painting the table, Mrs. FrouFrou and he talked about sprucing up the cushions as well.  Hmmmm, she thought.  "What about dye?"  So she drove to Hobby Lobby and picked up a few bottles of dye.

She talked the sweet Hubby into soaking all the cushions that would fit into a huge tub full of a water, dye and salt solution, per the directions on the bottle.  After 20 minutes, the cushions were still the same boring taupe.  So, Miss FrouFrou and the sweet Hubby waited and waited and waited.  They kept checking the cushions late into the night, but they were still taupe.  The decided to let them soak overnight.  The next morning when they checked the cushions, they realized that they had turned a lovely pollen/urine color of greenish/yellow.  Hmmm.  The boring taupe cushions were no longer boring, just sickly looking.

YIKES!  Not exactly the green cushions Miss FrouFrou was going for.

But, Miss FrouFrou and the sweet Husband loved the sickly pollen colored cushions anyway and decided to keep them forever and ever, or at least until an extra $200 falls out of the sky to buy replacement cushions. 


So, the moral of the story is this:  Read all directions on the bottle.  The bottle clearly says in teeny tiny print, that it doesn't work well on Polyester fabrics.  OOPS!  That's what happens when Miss FrouFrou doesn't bother to put in her contacts so she can read the teeny tiny print. 

Shabby Chic Lovliness

So, as you may know, Hubby and I went on a trip to our favorite cabin several weeks ago.  There is a little shop called Something Simple that I've was dying to visit.  It's run by Kaylene, who also owns a lovely little cottage in Eureka Springs where we stayed once before.  This store is located in a beautifully restored cottage.

 Isn't it cute?  It is filled to the brim with shabby chic loveliness.  I just wanted to share a few photos with you.  I apologize to Kaylene for shooting photos in her shop, but I couldn't help myself.  Little did I know she had photos on her website.  You ready for some lovliness?

Love those burlap pillows on the iron garden bench.  So pretty!

Cute stuff on the stair risers going up to the second floor.

Look at that gorgeous mirror to the left of the table and I'm totally in love with the black wire baskets and lantern. 

Cloche.  Gorgeous! 

I actually swiped this photo from the website.  I am so in love with the white mattalese covered chair. 

SO BEAUTIFUL!!! 

I love the whole shabby chic way of decorating.  I think it is a beautiful mix of old and new with wonderful textures.  However, I have ZERO of it in my house.  I soooo want a big ole bed covered in white sheets and duvets, etc.  BUT I have a house full of filthy kids and a dog who insist on climbing up in my bed and I don't know if there is enough bleach in the entire world to get out those stains.  But, isn't it lovely and dreamy and peaceful looking? 


Don't forget about my CSN giveaway.  Click here to enter.  Only a couple of days left.

Cute, Mini Pumpkins

I've said before that fall is my favorite season.  I love all things fall.  The problem is that I usually don't get motivated to decorate for fall because by the time it finally cools off outside, it's almost time to decorate for Christmas.  Today the high is 87 degrees, which is waaaay to hot for hay bales, pumpkins, scarecrows, indian corn, etc.  BUT I did finally buy a few little things.  E begged for the tiny pumpkins at Wal-Mart yesterday and I found a few gourds at our local produce stand.  I saw Holly's Fall Wreath she made from leaves she bought at the DollarTree and knew I had to get some of those leaves.  My DT didn't have the exact same leaves, but they did have a bag of 150 leaves for $1.  So, I brought it all home and E arranged it in my favorite wooden dough bowl. 

I like the way it looks, but it was too small for my kitchen table so I moved it into the living room on my New Old TV Stand. 

It looked a little scimpy with my big ole mirror, so......

I dug my red berry wreath (which I realize may be more winter than fall, but I needed some color and I had it on hand) out of the closet for some color and added the black paisley ribbon which I had in my stash.  I just stapled the ribbon to the back of the mirror (and managed to staple my hand in the process).    I think it looks pretty good for the bargain price of $5.00. 

**I know the lighting is HORRIBLE.  I did actually clean the mirror before I took this picture, but it doesn't look like it.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!  I'm linking up to Frugalicious Friday @ Finding Fabulous and:
    

The Girls' Room - Bedding

Because I haven't had much time to be crafty this week and because of
 
I decided to share my favorite fabric project.  Have you checked out The CSI Project?  They have a theme every week and you enter your favorite project. 

So, one of my favorite fabric/sewing projects involves the girls room.  I realized that I've never posted on the girls' room before so here it goes.  My daughter's share a room.  They are 12 and 4 - quite an age gap, I know.  While E is a tomboy with a girly streak, C, my 12 year old, is not girly AT ALL.  She didn't want anything pink in her room.  Her favorite colors are blue and green.  She picked her own fabrics for this project.  I picked E's fabric. 

I'd never made bedding before, but after seeing the prices on custom bedding, I decided I could do it myself.  Custom toddler bedskirts started at $60.  Custom double bedskirts started at around $100 and went as high as $230.  Seriously?  Um....I don't think so.  I think I spent $75 or so on all the fabric so I'd say that's a pretty good savings on my part.  AND, I have fabric left over for other projects. 

This is a picture of the C's bed. 

Here's a close up of the flanged pillows I made.

Then I made matching bedskirts.

and

We bought C's turquoise sheets at Wal-Mart and her brown comforter set at Linens N' Things.  We decided just to paint the room white because I knew she'd change her mind about the colors and we end up redoing her color scheme before I felt like painting the wall.  I HATE to paint.  She has the only white walls in the house.  Kind of sad, huh?

We're thinking of getting the girls new beds next year.  E is outgrowing her toddler bed.  She used to loooove her bed, but lately, she wants to sleep in a big girl bed.  I see a room redo in my future. 

I'm linking this project to

 

Bathroom Update and a Ticking Shower Curtain

As you may now, I have become obsessed with red.  I have always wanted a red kitchen and I finally go that done.  Here it is right after we painted it.

 

My obsession with red continued on to the kids bathroom.  We recently painted it red too.  I'll have more pictures of the entire bathroom later, but today I wanted to show you my new shower curtain.

But, you need to check out the inspirations first.  Shauna over at Show and Tell has an amazing house.  I am obsessed with her laundry room and her bathroom!  When she posted a picture of her shower curtain.....it was love at first ruffled glance.  Check it out!

Isn't it amazing?  I love all the ruffles!!  So cute!!  You can find her post here. 

I love the ruffled shower curtain, however, I knew I didn't want white in my kids bathroom.  It's beautiful but my kids are dirty little creatures and I knew it would be GROSS in just a few days.  I searched and searched for fabric.  I looooove damask, but I use it a lot and thought maybe I needed to go a different direction.  I couldn't find anything that screamed "I'm the one!" and then I saw an old curtain I made for the kitchen a long time ago.  It was red ticking.  I love ticking stripes.  I think they are so homey and simple.  I looked everywhere for white and black ticking with no luck.  then one day at Hobby Lobby, I came across a cream and black ticking.  So, I bought 5 1/2 yards.  This is what I ended up with.

I ran out of fabric so right now I've only got three rows of ruffles.  This is them upclose.

I've got to get more fabric for more ruffles, but I was trying to get it done before my company came.  I'll add more ruffles eventually. 

Hubby spray painted the curtain rod for me and I used curtain clips from Wal-Mart for hanging.  I think all together this cost about $32 because the fabric was 30% off.  YEA!  Not bad, of course, I do have more ruffles to add so it will end up being a little more.

I'm linking this project to the following parties: