More Talk on Picture Frames

The other day I had to pick something up in the Exchange District.  So obviously I got a mocha from Parlour Coffee and had a browse through Good Will.  

Check out this frame I found there.

It is basically identical to the one I talked about here, but this one was marked at $7.00, vs the 99 cents I paid for the other one.  Just a reminder...don't over pay!  Vintage frames seem to have become trendy and are often marked too high.

What I did find though, was a set of four frames.  Now they were each $5.00 which I would not normally pay, but to find a set of four, in great shape, in a nice colour that you would not have to paint if you didn't want to is rare.  

They have nice details and the backs were all secure and hangers were still in tact.

So this set of four for $20 seemed like a good deal to me.

I also picked up a rare little treasure.  Normally the art in thrift store frames is quite ugly.  Hideous sometimes.  

But beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and this little guy caught my eye.

I liked it.  

I like it more now that it is home.

And it was 75 cents.

Yippee!

Project Easy Inspiration

I like to have verses and little sayings around but I want to be able to switch them out easily, otherwise I find that I begin to stop noticing them after awhile.  Chalkboards are a great way to accomplish this, or, framed prints.

I was just popping a print into a frame for a friend the other day and remembered that I'd just bought a cute frame at Salvation Army for 99 cents.  Thrift stores are great spots to find frames but be careful not to get overcharged.  

So I painted it up.

I decided that I liked the raw look it had after only one coat.

(Darla wanted to be my Cate during the photo shoot.)

I gave it a little sanding on the edges to make it a bit more vintage and added some of my brown oil stuff on the sanded parts.

 Then I cut some scrapbook paper for the background and popped in my print!

This particular one I purchased from Jones Design Company but there are many free printables online, like this one from The Nester.

Now the real trick is to obey these words...

Birthday Gifts

 Check out my fab new housewares!

The incredible and greatly desired Ikea kitchen cart.

 The lovely Ikea fern (pre fluffing).

And an assortment of other delightful items!

I first saw the kitchen cart in House Beautiful during the summer.  I think they featured it in their "The Best" column.  And as it happened, I was reading the magazine in Minneapolis, so we ran to Ikea to get the cart...but it was sold out.  

When Ikea opened here it was the first thing I saw at the top of the escalator on opening day.  But somehow shopping at Ikea now that it is in Winnipeg is not quite as fun as it was in other cities.  There is more of a budget to stick to since you aren't worried that you may not be back for a year or so.  So anyway, I waited.  

In the meantime the cart was featured in Style at Home as a bar cart.

The bar carts on this page range in price from my $70 Ikea steal to $2,745.  Betcha can't guess which one cost the most.

I am not sure what I'll use it for yet.  It could just go so many places!  Living room side table, office organizer, kids' room toy storage or, you know, it could actually go in the kitchen too.  

I'll keep you posted.

And here's a peek at what regularly happens at my house during blog post photo shoots.

Stay warm everyone!!!!

Project Just Do It!

I am so great at procrastinating tiny jobs that I don't enjoy.  

Here you can see my sewing bin has a few items in it that need to be mended.  

4 items.

They have been there since...August?  

Today's project is 

JUST DO IT ALREADY!!!!!

I set my stopwatch and mended 3 items in 20 minutes.  The fourth was really above my abilities and should never have been kept anyway.  

20 minutes...which I've put off for at least 4 months.

Whatever your project is that you are putting off, put it on the schedule and JUST DO IT!

Project Cozy Pillow

 It is so cold in Winnipeg that my sofa pillows asked for sweaters.

Okay, not really, but it IS that cold.

When I was at my parents' over the holidays I was inspired by my mom's cute knitted pillow coverings.

I decided it would be fun to cover the cushions that came with my couch the same way.

I bought yarn on sale at Zellers and crocheted up a wide scarf.

Then I sewed up two sides and put buttons on the opening so that the cover is easily removable.

 Adding knitted textures to your winter decor helps warm up your room.  This is an inexpensive, easy, and fast (depending on your pillow size and knit or crochet speed) way to change up your look for winter.

Project Nature

The months between Christmas and March Break are so tricky to decorate for.  Well when you live here in Winnipeg anyway.  No one really wants to admit that Spring will not arrive for 3 more months, but if you start slapping tulips around in January it's gonna be a looong winter!

House and Home listed "Nature Comes Inside" as one of the top four looks for 2013.

Fine.  

I brought these back from Kenora over the holidays.

A little nature here.

A little there.

Some for my front door.

The vote is still out on the single feather.

A little wood for the "fire".

What can you scrounge up from outside to cozy up your inside? 

Project Trug

I spend a lot of time around here discussing oranization, but my first love is really decorating.  So I decided to start my month of small projects by adding in some "new" decor.  

Just before the holidays my husband brought this little beauty through the house on his way from the garage to his basement shop.  Luckily he put it down for a second and I was able to swipe it.

Hee.

According to Cathe Holden this guy is called a trug.  I love him.  And when I showed him to my friend Kristin and she screamed I knew I had scored.

As you can see, he has 10 compartments.  I chose pine, twigs and balls of wool - 3 items which I repeated 3 times each.  Then in the 10th spot I put a candle (which is battery operated so as not to burn my house down).

He lives on the sofa table behind my love seat now.

And I love him.

Happy New Year

We're having a wonderful holiday.  

We've played outdoors...

 and inside.

We've relaxed...

and we've been worn out.

And since I live with Jake, of course, we've skinned squirrels.

Perhaps that should have had a spoiler alert.

I am not big on resolutions, but since 2013 is the year I lose my baby to school, I want to be very intentional about how I spend my time.

My goal this year is 

Do Less

Be More

More prayerful, more still.  More focussed on priorities.  

Busy is a nasty disease that is so easy to catch.  I find myself fighting against it without even knowing exactly what I'm busy with.  

And so, rather than jumping into any big projects either decorating or organizational, as is so tempting for me to do in January, I plan to work at small tasks.  I will make a list of the many projects that have been sitting around overlooked and tackle them slowly.  With no silly self imposed deadlines...just working at a pace that leaves room to Be.

Happy 2013!!!!