The Wish List: MIL Suite Barn Door

If wishes were candy
and I had a ton
and it were close to Halloween
And I was given $1 for every
trick or treat seeker
who came to my door

I could afford to go from this

to this

Fire safety be damned
Who needs a stinking smoke detector
outside their bedroom door?

Oh wait.
Mom might.

In any event.

The Wish List
Sliding barn door for MIL Suite Bedroom
Gorgeous sailboat prints (always - the more the merrier)
Some tall stash baskets (for boots/shoes and puppy toys)
A Comfy chair for the MIL Suite bedroom

In time.

Week 26 Random Pinehurst

Yep, I grew those.

On the deck.

Because she would eat them all

From the garden.

Summer's first harvest.

Tasty snack.

Sunburst loving, Cloudburst heaven

Welcome to Cloudburst heaven

aka Seattle(ish)

Of course sunburst mirrors

are all the rage.

And because we have firmly

established

that I won't buy anything

that I could spend

7 months making

I give you

Shimmied and stained

Sunburst goodness

Mine is different

In that I used a 14 inch mirror

(house of giants and all)

AND I used an

Embroidery ring hoop

To "finish" the center mirror

Just ignore that gap on the left.

I might have dropped it

Whilst propping it up

Or I might suggest you NOT

use hot glue on this project.

Fun eh?

Of course not as fun

as seeking and finding

that vintage ladder.

What is your fave

DIY sunburst mirror

that you've seen on the interwebs?

Stylin' Master Bath Shelf

So a while ago,
(I know, I know)
I actually
FINISHED
a project.

It was the 1 hour bathroom shelf.
Remember?

On the next to bottom shelf?

You remember my mini succulent garden post right?

Well...

Let's just say that I almost fired my housekeeper

(yes, I have a housekeeper, yes she is afraid of my dog).

Not merely because I came home one Monday afternoon

to find that mini garden in smithereens in the toilet room

stomped on as if someone had to dance to save

their little tootsies (or paws, I suppose)

from the gunshots dancing off the ground around them.

(she only comes 2 times a month

for about an 1 hr...

really, it's about toilets. 

You know my thing about toilets)

No, this was about how I jumped to embarrassing conclusions

about how since she doesn't like Ashers

she MUST have locked her in that tiny toilet room

while she did her job

and FORGOT MY DOG

in said tiny room

for about 5 hours

Never mind that the one with no thumbs

is dumb clever enough

to get her skinny self behind the door

accidently shut it

and then squeal and scream for hours on end

when she can't get out

And of course tear up a year's worth of

costco toilet paper

and my mini succulent garden

while she's in there.

let's not talk about the toilet paper holder

that she ripped off the wall

in her wild fit of rage

over the indignity of being locked in the

toilet room all day long.

She's a fighter.  I would have passed out.

Anyhow.

I finally got around to re-styling that shelf.

With a little inspiration from the Pac Gal Auction House

where I saw this little cutie

I decided to actually stop hoarding

my sea shell collection

and actully display some of it

I hate the photography lighting in this dark corner of my house

There's a great little window that lets in just enough light

to give a prisoner hope she'll get out some day

And then an overhead light that is...well...sketch.

All said,

All I need on that shelf is a little plant

ie, the one from Crate and Barrel I pasted in there.

Alas, American Express isn't giving me any points to go shopping with

anytime soon.

They are probably still bitter that I went all the way around the world

on their points when I was a cardholder.

Then we jumped on to the next great card deal.

Given that we're one of those rare oddities (or used to be at least)

that annoyed companies by paying the bill in full each month

and jumping to the next great free flight offers when our old card

wouldn't give us anymore goodies.

All said, loving the Thank You Points I get now

(and so are Lowes and Home Depot where we redeem about 95% of said points).

But next time, Pottery Barn card.  I've seen some lovely sea goodies there

that will be on end of season close out soon enough.

Clearly, I have some shelf space to cover.

What do you think?

More wordy posts?

Or back to the short, sweet and simple?

I had a request to write more.

Like I did at b3Home Designs (Part 1)

Why the heck not?

Unless you beg me not to of course.

Summer favorite | Trader Basil

Yes.
I grow a lot of stuff.

Yes.
I am trying to grow basil from seed.

Yes.
I might have been the one
that asked

"what kind of seed does basil grow from?"

Yes.
I am impatient.

Yes.
I have a fave for every season.

Eggnog chai lattes
Cranberry bliss bars
From Starbucks
= winter

Trader Joes $2.99 Basil plants
= summer

Just saying.

Week 25 Random Pinehurst

I love this time of year.

Mostly because these come out of storage.

And all those little seed packets

come out to play.

Most of these were had for free off of Freecycle.

I love playing outside

when it is still light out

at 9 pm.

Found This Week (June 19)

A little early this week.

Happy summer time!

A while ago

I got this calendar

Off of Craigslist for free

I have calendar printed a wall of my home

And you've seen it before here and here and even here.

Remember?

Well,
Imagine my delight
when I found this calendar

I so can't wait

for the wall

and the weekly photos

that this will be on.

While the vintage Ansel calendar

was what started my obsession,

unique wall calendars are some of my

favorite DIY supplies.

Wall decor really cheap.

Especially if you love grid displays like I do.

Stay tuned!

Entry Hallway Rug - Check?

Remember how I was looking for an entry way runner?

Did you find any that I should go buy
so that you could live vicariously through my rug love?

No?
Not even just a little rug
to replace the one you can't see in front of the door
in that picture above?

Hmmm...
What do you think of this?





I like that it is an entry rug (not a runner)

Don't like that it didn't fit the way I wanted it to

but this is starting to grow on me.

To commit or not to commit.

That is the question.

According to my House Beautiful Mag

Black and white stripes are an

"always in-style design pattern."

Promise I bought the rug

for $8

from the Grocery Outlet

(yes, my puppy is loving her non-organic diet nowadays. not)

months ago

before I saw the House Beautiful article.

Once I do another garden post,

you'll have to see what I did

with one of their 100 hardware store finds.

And that I did for the first time

10 years ago, when I was living in NM.

I just need to find some deeper ones.

You'll see.

For now, the rug.

Thoughts?



Indoor Grass (aka sprouting Wheat Berries for Wheat Grass)

So.
A while ago
(that seems to be a trend for me lately...
the whole "a while ago" thing...)

I looked up,
on YouTube
instructions for growing wheat grass

Convinced that my puppy would love me more
for giving her grass
instead of her having to scavenge for it in the yard

Note to self - that was a phase for her
AND...she prefers to scavange

So I really now grow it only for the form
no longer for the function

Although, it seems to really do wonders
in my compost pile.

No matter.

During Week 22 Random Pinehurst,
you saw the last gaping breaths
of the YouTube version of wheat grass

That version,
quite frankly,
was super high maintenance.

Soak the seeds.
Rinse the seeds.
Soak again,
don't leave them too wet.
Put them in the dark.
Wet them again.
Still in the dark until they sprout.
Now gently lay them down to sleep
on a thin layer of soil.
imported from the Wheat Grass Gods on High.

Give. Me. A. Break.

Especially since that there wheat grass,
only went through two cuts
before it looked like this

so in typical

lazy b fashion

I skipped all that.

I broke out the old overgrown grass.

I wet the soil (which filled the pots)

I sprinkled a mess of wheat berries on top

(I like hard better than soft, but both grew for me)

and I stuck them in my sunny spots.

And this was 4 days later

A quick hair cut

And this was 2 days after that

At least there are no weeds

in this grass.

Happy summer

and easy indoor plant growing season.

Houseplants - especially those you grow from seed

are one of my fave, low cost, DIY supplies.

Week 24 Random Pinehurst

They used to hold

quinoa and flax

no, not for me

For the puppy girl diet

Then we figured out

that she was just nurturing a

symbiotic relationship

with the crows

(no WONDER there was never anything to scoop)

and that she wasn't really

getting anything from those healthy grains

so we started feeding her grocery outlet

73% lean

(iiicck!!)

raw hamburger

and white rice

instead.

Now, those canisters hold

soft wheat

Which I grow wheat grass from

Which, yes, I still feed to my puppy

because, frankly, she loves grass

Might as well be the healthy kind.

Found This Week (June 12)

Found

70 degrees (finally!!)

lovely $5 picnic basket

Roomy enough for a blanket

soda

water

glasses

couple of sandwiches

and some puppy treats

Never mind that I forgot the puppy treats.

I am somewhat of an absent minded puppy mommy.

Hey...she got to chase the ball the whole time anyhow.

Found at the International District Goodwill in Seattle.

National Enjoy Your Deck Day

Apparently,
this very fake holiday
was on June 4

I say it was fake because,
if it were real
I would not have been picking paint colors

so that we could do this

on National Enjoy Your Deck Day.

Luckily,
We did grill like mad
and enjoy the flowers
on the deck
later that evening.

Happy belated National Enjoy Your Deck Day.
Uh huh.

Found and Lost - Woe in Thrifty Shopping

You know
that I know
that if you don't buy it
when you see it
you should not
expect it to be there
when you finally
slowly
make up your mind
especially at a thrift store.

Here are the recent Finds
that I left behind

Some were lost
at thrift stores because someone else loved them more

Others are still waiting for me to hit the lottery
and go back and buy them

Still others would never come home with me
for all the tea in china

but I can still love them from afar.

Sigh.

1. Pac Gal Nautical Love 2. DIY Inspiro: Super Sized Dice 3. Driftwood ROUND Mirror

4. Best Clock I never had 5. Gorgeous Boudoir Chair

6. DIY Inspiro: Unbound Books & Vintage Silver Serveware

7. Best Unsteal Ever: My pillow for 10 times the price I paid for it

8. Sat on these (literally) for too long and missed out

9. His "but why?" was withering. Because they were $20. That's Why!!

10. Fru Fru Apothecary Jars 11. Reupholstry Project Chair - Loved the Stripe

12. DIY Inspiro - Linen Fabric Mat | Stitch Art on Linen

13. Cameras and Signage oh. my. 14. If only it came with a parrot for that price

15. Beautifully curvy investment

Week 23 Random Pinehurst

Supposedly

I like to drink

a lot

of wine

But only the good stuff

aka, napa cabs

Just saying

This little lady came home with me

the other day

I saw her mixed in with the cheapy

not that inspirational

inspiration posters

she has a ding or two

which I think adds to the vintage vibe

since she is mounted on board

Because of those "flaws"

I was able to get 25% off

and took her home for 7.50

Thought I would convince

someone

that the under the stairs space

should be a wine cellar

Have not won that battle yet

So she might

just watch us doing laundry

for a while at least.

Almost halfway through the year.

Can you believe it?

Found This Week (June 5) - A bit of Everything

A cartfull

A ton and a half of sheet music

Great kiddie books

And

the most AWESOME

yellow

Skyway

train case

Complete with VINTAGE tag

It's going in the shop

And it will cost ya

but I'll refund a chunk of the price

If you open it up

And shoot me a photo

of what is inside

Something is in it

Alas, I don't have the key

And I kinda don't want to just bust it open

But I'm also kinda curious...

Spring come Summer

Ahhh.

All the way up here in the North,
sometimes,
you think Summer will never come.

Then you look out into your backyard
and you see

the giant daffodils are gone

the super large "black" tulips are fading

and the peas are flowering out and popping up.

And you hear rumors that it will be a blistering
75 degrees this weekend

Yes,
you heard this Texas desert girl right

I said "blistering" in the same sentence as "75 degrees"

Keep in mind, we've only had two (or is it one)
70 degree days here
All year long.

Ouch

I need sun
My hostas, not so much

Around Pinehurst (June) - Beyond Photos

I have LOTS of walls
to decorate in this place

And because I don't want to do
all black and white photos
or spend another year creating
artwork for the wall

I figured I'd collect
and post

All the reason to collect more of these

wicker rounds

 

just saying