Showing posts with label cottage chic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cottage chic. Show all posts

11.7.11

{a happy day}


Hello & how are you on this fine as wine Monday evening!?!?

I have to tell you that I think the universe was trying to speak to me today.
I have been quite sick with a summer cold:( No voice for 3 days now {yes....my husband is very happy}
and I had quite a few orders to work on for Simple Daisy....
but guess what....

A storm rolled in this morning and left us without power for most of the day....
which in turn forced me to relax {not something easy for me to do} and hopefully start moving towards feeling better!!!!



I wanted to be grouchy....because I don't like to be forced to do nothing....it also rained for a good part of the morning/afternoon.

But then the skies cleared and the sun began to shine and thought it would be nice to take a little walk around my house!
Maybe check out the damage....
nothing too major...a broken umbrella, sticks and leaves down everywhere....but pretty much unscathed!

I did, however, run into this sweet little guy!!!

And it really made me stop in my tracks to just appreciate the moment!
How often do you get to see a baby chickadee!?!?

It was so darn cute! it let me get right up close to it! Even Ruby and LC had a good look at it!
Everyone was happy:)
It did get me to thinking that it really is so important to just live in the moment sometimes and truly appreciate all that you have.


I love to take little daycations!! This one was a recent  one to Saugatuck, MI~
If you live anywhere nearby it's a must see! Such a happy place:)
Even is you can't get away for a whole week or even a weekend for that matter....I always think a little daycation is nice!

I, of course, wore all my Simple Daisy bling!
I love to really stack my bracelets up....the more the better:)
Are you a bracelet stacker!?!?!


And how could I not appreciate my girls!
They bring my heart so much happiness.....ok...i'd be lying if I didn't tell you that
they bring me heartache every once in awhile too.....let's just say...if you come to my home for dinner....I can guarantee you will get licked and there will be hair in somewhere on your dinner plate!
Either way...I still love them!




I love to see all the pretty flowers blooming in my yard!
It's not a fancy yard...in fact, by most people's accounts it's a pretty messy yard..
I like to call it cottage...
It's definitely not 3 bushes and mulch....like you see in most of the neighborhoods around here!
Perfection just makes me nervous:)
I do like nice grass though....and so our grass is usually pretty up to par.....kind of balances the messy beds and borders!

Just started on this wine bottle border!
Hope to finish it in the next year or two....no pressure to drink more wine and send me your empty bottles:)

I love them...i've seen them in magazines, on the Internet and at a friend's house!
Pretty darn cute and definitely cottage!


My husband's idea of a wine bottle border:)
I think he'd get his border finished long before mine...but it wouldn't be as cute!!!

I am just so happy with all the beauty in my own backyard....
it's not the beach...
it's not fancy...
but it's all mine and most all of it is completely my own designs:)
Sometimes you just have to be appreciative of what you already have!


Ok...well...I am going to appreciate finishing my nice glass of vino....
in between coughs and slapping at mosquitoes!
It's just too nice to go inside:)

Have a wonderful evening with whatever you're up to:)

I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order.  John Burroughs

26.6.11

{simple french ocean inspired decorating}

Well hello and Happy Sunday to you:)

{I wanted to answer a few questions from my last post...
the paint I used for the bowls was just cheap craft paint in all hues of aqua blue....and the letter stamps were just rubber letter stamps from the dollar bin section at Michaels craft store! Hope that helps!}

I'm not sure about your weather....but it is completely beautiful here this morning! I am enjoying the sunshine, the birds chirping and  my cup of joe while writing this post this morning:)

You know just how thankful I am whenever we get lovely weather here! It just inspires me so:)

I want show a little sprucing I have going on in my home...but first!
Look at what I caught in my house the other day!!!!!!

Poor little guy {or girl}! This sweet little birdie was just flying all over the place probably scared out its wits! I finally caught it and well....had to take a few photos of it!
Then when my husband and I came home the other day...it was in our house again!!
I wonder if it was trying to tell me that we need a little birdie!!
You never know!!

It's pretty darn lucky that my kitty didn't catch it...
Must be one blessed birdie:)
It was kind of fun holding this sweet little birdie....and I think it was so shocked it hung out for about 5 minutes so I could snap some more photos of it!


Ok...onto the sprucing!

We have this bedroom in our home that for the past 4 or 5 years has been a complete junk room!
We tore the carpet out and just never did anything with it!

Well finally we are starting to work on that room! And so I have been thinking about how I was to decorate it!
I think I am going to go with....french chic inspired by the sea!!
Soft and simple with just a few tiny touches of shells and such:):)

So here is just a glimpse of what i've been tinkering with!



...I collect vintage fans and use them in lots of my decorating! I L*O*V*E them! I think they are so cute and happy. Plus all of the ones I own...actually work. Just in case I ever needed them:)

 I kind of want this room to be vintage inspired.
So I made these cute little doily bowls!
So easy to do...
mix plaster of paris with water (about thick milk consistency)
mix the doily in with the plaster of paris mixture....make sure the doily is totally covered with the mixture.
drape the wet doily over a bowl or something and let dry..

That's it! When they are dry pop them off and you have the cutest little bowls!
Of course you could probably sand yours and poke holes where there should be holes...
but I thought these were fine just the way they were:)


I love the doily bowls! Doilies always make me think of my great grandmother! She had them laying on and draped across everything she owned:)
In fact....I inherited quite a few of her doily table clothes!
Maybe i'll have to do a vintage inspired table scape one of these days:)

 I also made the oyster shell mirror out of the shells I collected at Edisto Beach.

So easy to do....
collect shells {whatever kind make you happy}
get a frame {this one is from Ikea}
glue them on all willie nillie hodge podge
and hang it on the wall:)


I love it! I think this room is really going to shape up nicely!
i just need to get my husband motivated to lay the floor ....
{until we can spring for real hardwood floors it's just the cheapy look-a-like laminate flooring...but still better than carpet in my opinion}
and I am thinking of building a super cute little farmhouse inspired day bed!
I found plans here! But I would build the sides just a bit taller:)


And of course...paint it white and scuff it up!

The one thing I know about decorating and life for that matter is....simpler is always better!

You just can't go wrong with simple!


and I thought I would take my color scheme from the muted tones of these sweet little oyster shells!
Soft creams and greys.
Maybe a tiny...tiny...touch of aqua blue:)

Anwyho...I am just so excited to get this room finished! We will have 2 more rooms to go and will have succeeded in taking a straight out of 1976 home into the current with barely spending any $$$$!

So there you have it!
Decorating made affordable and so very simple!

Hope you have a really wonderful and inspired Sunday!
I am off to mow the lawn now:):)

     “I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a fresh try, one more start, with perhaps a bit of magic waiting somewhere behind the morning..."
Joseph Priestley

15.12.10

{Holiday Party}

Well hello.
How are you!?!?
I have been super busy with Simple Daisy custom orders!!!
Thank you ... Thank you...Thank you!!!
I know I am super happy that SeaLaura ordered a really cute custom necklace! I can't wait for her to get it:) 
I can't even tell you how happy it makes me to make happy jewelry for you!

HAPPY.

Just take a look at this sky.
From last year.....but looks exactly the same this year!
GREY....

See that's why it makes me so happy to close the blinds...pour some vino....turn on some music and get busy creating beautiful jewelry!
 Makes me forget that winter's actually happening:)

We had our annual holiday party this past weekend!
I love this party.
fun...friends..food and a wee bit too much wine! Makes me very happy!

I thought I would show you how I doll things up for a holiday party!
Here's what I wore......
Dress.....Target
Boots...Payles
Jewelry....Simple Daisy!

{pretty.simple.fresh}    yes!?!?!?
And our home.....
decked out in turquoise and silver.

and the living room.
I think it's pretty cozy.

Oh and I made the most tastey peppermint martinis and white chocolate peppermint covered pretzels.
I would say....they were a hit!!
And just in case you're into videos.....here's one:):)
Nevermind.....it wouldn't upload!?!?!?
Check it out on Simple Daisy's Facebook page....if you're interested!!!!!


Life is...
Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.
Life is beauty, admire it.
Life is bliss, taste it.
Life is a dream, realize it.
Life is a challenge, meet it.
Life is a duty, complete it.
Life is a game, play it.
Life is a promise, fulfil it.
Life is a sorrow, overcome it.
Life is a song, sing it.
Life is a struggle, accept it.
Life is a tragedy, confront it.
Life is an adventure, dare it.
Life is luck, make it.
Life is too precious, do not destroy it.
Life is life, fight for it.

4.9.10

{Autumn Inspiration}

Hello there & Happy Saturday to you!
Hope you are enjoying the long weekend:)



I know I am! I woke up early so that I could enjoy a full day of happy crafting before I head off to a tailgate party:)
Sometimes it's just so nice to stay home and get crafty!


First up....
if you happen to have any sheet metal or galvanized metal lying around.......you could make a happy little magnetic starfish!
We have that stuff lying around since my husband uses it for his work but you could buy it at Lowes or Menards!

All you have to do is:
draw out a starfish
cut it out with metal scissors {I think that's what they're called}pound it to give it some texture
paint it
drill holes in it
use twine to hang it!
Easy...peasy!
And cute I think:) :) yes....no!?!!??


I also worked on autumnfying my home!
Since you know I love all things aqua blue and turquoise...I thought it might be ok to keep it around for my autumn decorating. Sort of a beachy autumn style!

Plus I didn't want to make new pillows just yet for the dining room.....since they are blue I thought I would just add a little more blue with the orange!

Oh and I got the candle holders from various thrift stores and just painted them!
I love how they turned out:):)


Well you know i've been making those crates.....
so I figured i'd build one this morning to use on my dining room table.
I think I am getting obsessed with building things.......thank goodness my gramps taught me how to use power tools:)


I love it! I think the blue and orange looks super happy:)
What do you think???
I might have wanted to do more cream instead of aqua.....but then I thought it would be good to just use what I had!

A very beachy autumn:):):)

I also spruced up the fireplace mantle......

wine bottles and twinkle lights.....how could you go wrong!?!?!?


and of course just after I snapped these photos I decided to have my first indoor fire of the season. It is pretty chilly here
today:(
Darn....would have been a much cuter photo. Owell!
Hope you have a super creative long weekend!!!!



Everyday is a winding road
I get a little bit closer
Everyday is a faded sign
I get a little bit closer to feeling fine
~Sheryl Crow