Farmhouse Sale French Wire Plant Stand

June 25, 2012

Last week I was lucky enough to find a white, chippy, shabby chic French wire plant stand, rust and all.  {Or "patina'd", as we French lovers like to say.}  I played around with PicMonkey and came up with this.

{For anyone whose interested, I used Sketchedy for this photo.}

I'm sure it was meant for holding lots of beautiful, perfectly aged terra cotta pots filled with fragrant blooms and trailing vines that last all summer long.  Unfortunately, I have an oh-so-black thumb.  So I guess I'll have to find other things to put in it instead.  Any suggestions?


 I do like my white enamelware pitcher and lavender blooms for now, though.


Look at that beautiful rust!


And the scroll work really caught my eye.




 I actually plan on using it indoors.  Maybe I can fill it with vintage linens? 


 I don't know....

What would you do?

Have a great week, friends.

xoxo

I'll be linking up here:

Burlap Armoire Media Cabinet Re-do

June 19, 2012

Armoire.  Media cabinet.  Call it what you may.  Either way, it seems like style is often sacrificed for the sake of  good quality stereo sound.  In our case, surround sound.  When we bought this armoire/media cabinet around 16 years ago, I had no problem with it.  I know.  You're thinking, "How on earth did that black speaker cover thingy in the middle not drive you crazy?"  Surprisingly, it really didn't start to bother me until the last few years or so.  But then it REALLY bothered me!  Take a look at these "before" shots.  


I'm guessing you can feel my pain.  By way of explanation, the big black square in the middle is black mesh  that's attached to the inside of the door.  Since the stereo receiver is in this section, the mesh allows you to still use the remote control to program the receiver.  We have 5 Bose surround sound speakers strategically placed around the family room.  Trust me, Mr. CBD values good, quality sound. 

I'm all for good sound, but how about some style?  Once I had my light bulb moment it all became clear.  So I went from this.


To this.

Better?

I used a script burlap material I already had, from Jo-Ann's.  You might recall it from my footstool re-do here

Recognize that same fabric?   I really am loving the new look.

How about you?

xoxo

Swedish Days and Exciting Jewelry News

June 17, 2012

For those of you living in or near Geneva, IL, this week brings its' annual Swedish Days.  It's a six day celebration of the region's Swedish heritage and it'll be in full swing come Tuesday, June 19th.  Historic Geneva is a mecca for shoppers any time of the year, but especially this week.  There are many special festivities planned....a parade, great food, carnival rides and  live music.  Oh, and did I mention shopping?

To that end, you must stop by Denise's Adornments, 221 South Third Street, Geneva, where you'll find my vintage jewelry designs for sale.  Denise's store is absolutely fabulous and filled with all my favorite things, so I'm very excited to be given the opportunity to have my jewelry in her store.   



Denise's Adornments
221 South Third Street
Geneva, IL 60134
(630)232-8855

Geneva, IL 

If you love vintage, shabby chic French home decor, fashion and accessories, then stop by Denise's.  You're gonna love it.  And tell her I sent you!  

Have a great week!

xoxo

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Less Is More Flower Arranging

June 15, 2012



Have you ever noticed that sometimes less is more?  Like maybe how much jewelry you're wearing.  Or how much make-up/perfume you slather on yourself.  Or how much food you eat.  (I'm so totally not guilty of this one.)  Either way, sometimes the reality is undeniable.  I found that to be true the other day when I brought in some fresh cut wildflowers and placed them in a can.  A simple, empty can.  And that was all I needed to brighten up my house and my day.  No fancy vase.  No incredible arrangement.  Just. A. Can.


I'm not saying that the beauty of the bright, fresh flowers had nothing to do with it.  What I am saying is that paired with a simple vessel, they became even more beautiful.  Elegant, even.


Okay, so I went a bit nuts taking pictures of these flowers.  Bear with me?






Like I said, sometime less is more.  And we can be thankful for that.

Have a great weekend, friends.

xoxo


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Sprinklerpalooza

June 12, 2012


Family Fun magazine was the inspiration for this incredible outdoor DIY "Deluxe Kid Wash."  Mr. CBD was kind enough to make the trip to the local big box home improvement store for much-needed PVC.  Then the real fun began.  He and chickadee number 3 worked tirelessly one evening after dinner (and a bit the following morning) and came up with this.


After I showed him the Family Fun article, he did a bit more research and came up with some additional instructions on Lowe's website here.  He says he mainly followed the Family Fun one, though.


The car wash engineers.


Our water comes from a well, and man let me tell you that water's COLD!



How sweet it is.


We even convinced our I'm-Almost-a-Teenager-and-I'm-Too-Cool-For-This daughter to give it a try and she liked it, too.  Now that's saying something.


You can see in the above photo that he added additional PVC to create a "roof"  of sorts, hoping to stabilize the whole thing a bit more.  There were holes drilled in those pipes, too, but our water pressure wasn't strong enough to reach them!



It was a huge success.  So much so that even I put on a suit and ran through it, screaming all the while from the icy cold water.  What did you say?  You really didn't think there'd be a picture of THAT now, did you? 

Total cost was around  $25.00, including PVC, sponges, rags, mops and furniture webbing.  Well worth it, I'd say, for the hours of summer fun to come.  Cause it's not getting any cooler, folks.

Have a great week and stay cool, if you can.

xoxo


Repurposed Eddie Bauer Metal Basket

June 9, 2012

Today I wanted to share with you one of those I-found-this-lying-around-the-house items that gets repurposed into something awesome.  Industrial chic is all the rage these days.  Are you a fan?  I am.  I even have a Pinterest board dedicated to it. Metal baskets, that is.  So I was really happy to come across this, sitting in the garage, waiting for garbage night to be put out to the curb.

Please click on photos to enlarge, Blogger won't let me publish these pics any larger.
  
      
Isn't it a beaut?  Mr. CBD had assumed it was fodder for the garbage crew, but OH, NO.......I had plans for this baby.  Have you guessed what it is yet?  It took me a few months  a while to decide what I would do with it.  Once I did, I went and gathered some of my favorite summer jars and bottles.  And here's what I came up with.


Kinda cool, don't you think?  I used some of my vintage blue mason jars, a vintage Vess bottle and even a vintage French bottle, among others.


The lemons were a great Goodwill find.  (Have you priced these things at retail, people?)

I even played around with flowers.  You know, the Ikea flowers I wrote about here.


Anyway, I thought it was a pretty good use for an old badminton cage that was slated for the trash heap.


Yes, I said badminton cage.  It once housed the components of our badminton set.  Over the years that stuff has gone by the wayside, but we still have the awesome little-did-we-know-this-would-be-in-vogue industrial chic metal basket with a really cool wooden lid to boot.



What should I put in it next?

xoxo


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