My Son's Room

I'm finally finishing up the last details of my son's room.  We picked up these maps (they are really just sheets of wrapping paper) on our travels during the summer and I framed them in a simple white Ribba Ikea frame.  Our Expedit book shelf  from Ikea helps to contain most of his toys.  I picked up these bins at target and they are the perfect fit and color for the space.  It feels great to finally be done.

Oh My: New Vago Chair

I really wanted 4 new white chairs for the front yard, however, the universe had another plan. I rushed over to Ikea yesterday and was so disappointed to learn the Vago chair was out of stock with none on order. So, as I was leaving the store, I decided to walk thru the "as is" section. I walked up the aisle and back, and as I was leaving this green Vago chair appeared. I swear it wasn't there when I walked by the first time. I did a little happy dance right there in the "as is" area. The price on this chair was only 9.99 to boot. It has a few scratches, but hey, this thing is going to get scratched up at our place so who cares. It's not the white chair I've been dreaming about, but it will do.

It's bigger in person and comfortable too.

It's the perfect kick back chair, two little kids can sit on it at the same time too.

We all decided the chair can go a lot of places at our home, it matches both kids rooms.  Later on, I walked by my daughter room and look what I found.  My daughter totally styled the chair.  Too funny! 

Do I need these?

It's that time of year again, Ikea rolled out their outdoor furnishings.  I think two of these would be great for the front yard and garage.  We play in the front yard a lot and it's would be nice to have some permanent seating.  At 24.99, I think this is a great deal.

I love the hands in the fireplace, abstract art, and Moroccan lighting in the room above.  The above image is from Parlour.

Craft Lab: Classroom Recycled Art Project

I used the Sizzix die cut machine to cut out 25 large and small flowers using felt I had on hand.

I swung by Ikea and got this shadow bow frame for 19.99

I cut up this box into 25 3" squares. I used the big paper cutter at the kids school.

Here's a pile of stuff I'm prepping for the classroom

In the classroom, getting ready for the kiddies to paint.

It was hot, so our painted sqaures dried fast.

All the kids painted their cardboard. Then they selected the felt pieces and a vintage button and glued the flower together. Later, I glued the flowers onto the cardboard and mounted them on a piece of white poster board. I used a pencil to insure they were all spaced the same between each other to make the grid pattern.


Here's the almost completed project. I still need to make a sign for the bottom corner with the class info and date. This project will be auctioned off at our school Grandparents and Special Friends day in a few weeks.

Craft Lab: Bird Painting

My inspiration

my bird tray from Ikea

This painting took 2 days to complete.
At first I was going to just do a few birds,
but after day one, I realized I needed to add more.

I did this in layers all day,
adding new details every half hour or so.
Here's the painting hanging on the kitchen wall.

Everyone has positive comments about it.
I think it could use one last final coat of Mod Podge to give it a nice shine.

Out with the old...in with the new

THE OLD
These beautiful paintings have hung in our little entry since we moved in almost 10 years ago. Everything is changing around here. I'm shaking things up and moving all our stuff to new happy places in our little home.

The New

We re-purchased these wooden screen printed postcards from a local artist for our anniversary. I mounted them in a couple of shadowbox frames from Ikea. I'm loving the fresh look.

Kitchen Remolding Soon!

When we moved into our home 9 years ago and I hated our kitchen. I've grown to like it, but can't wait to redo the darn thing. Well, dreams do come true and we are doing it soon. I'm hoping it will be a DIY plus a little help from some professionals. I have picked out the cabinets. We're going with the IKEA ABSTRAKT high gloss kitchen. Over the last two years I've been collecting every photo I've seen online of kitchens I loved. Much my surprise, I'm drawn to modern white kitchens. Next up, which counter top do I choose? My dream would be Carrara Marble, however, this is not a practical choice for our family. I need something way more durable and less likely to stain. I found Caesarstone has a nice faux Carrara called Misty Carrera : 4141. I picked up a sample and found it very gray, I'd like something more white. I also found another nice sample from Zodiaq called Bianco Carrara. I really like this one, I can't wait to find a bigger sample. All of this is so exciting and I'm looking forward to sharing all the fun right here.
photo from designer Katie Ridder.

Merry Christmas to me!

Our local Ikea finally got this bird tray in stock. So, I drove over in the rain to get my yearly gift to myself. Here's mine from last year.

Oh My: I want this look

Our dining room table is a hand-me-down from our brother-in-law. It's very old and has lived a splendid life. My dream table is the Saarrinen tulip table with a white marble top. I'm trying to decide on these two chairs. Chair 1.) is a lucite Vapor chair from CB2. Chair 2.) is a woven and stainless steel Nandor chair from Ikea. I'm leaning toward the woven chair, it fits better with the modern organic estetic I like. The lucite might be too glam for us. And with 2 kids, they might be a pain to keep clean. So the search is on for the table. I would like to procure a used table via craigslist. I set up a google alert and I'm thinking positive thoughts!

my indoor garden

I love this mushroom from Ikea. The other day while digging in the garden, I borrowed some moss and rocks that were laying around and placed them on my toadstool with a few paper butterflies. Soon, I'm going to be needle felting some creatures who will live in this indoor garden.

The Find-Ikea Kids Egg Swival Chair

I scored these Ikea kid's chairs last weekend at a yard sale. I couldn't believe it when the lady wanted $5 each. I'll take them! These chairs lived outside and where a bit dirty, however, with a little elbow grease, they're like new. I got them in hopes of selling them on Craigslist, however, my two darlings wouldn't hear of that. Today, they live in the midddle of our living room. Tomorrow I'll move them back into the playroom again. The photo of the playroom shows off one of my favorite decoupaged tables, as well some paper pom poms I made a couple years back.