Peeking into Summer

Here in Alberta on the prairie spring is a slow arriving miracle.  It's been slow coming this year but today felt like summer may come soon.  It made me feel like brightening my home in preparation.

Two trips to Ikea, one with out a pot in sight and the second trip there was only one:

....and I made a beeline and grabbed it!  I have wanted this pot for a looonnnggg time and now I have it ... for less than $4.00.  It's beautiful iron lacy detail in white is what got me. 

With a maidenhair fern, so pretty.  I love a maidenhair fern, I killed mine in January by accident (I swear!) and had to wait until April to get another.  Give them some fertilizer, keep them moist and out of the sun and you will be rewarded with light green fronds that are delicate and lacy.

On this little white stand it brings a light spring feel to the room.

To keep with light I changed my cushions on the couch as well:

Rachel Ashwell Jubilee Pillow case.  When I'm on my couch I like to lounge with pillows that are soft.

 

It is a lovely pattern with light blue and pink.

After a day in the garden I'm ready to lounge.



Cheers,

Patricia

Milky Grey

I'm having one of those years where every expense is popping up so I'm trying to watch my money.  This new found caution had me looking close to home this weekend for inspiration.  

I purchased this little birdhouse years and years ago.  It was brown so I spray painted it white and I have never liked the outcome but I didn't want to spray paint it again. 

I decided to experiment with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and water.  I was told water will take it off a surface but I wanted to try.

Paris Grey, water & a chalk paint brush.

It went on as a pale matte grey.  As well since it was a "wash" of colour it was easier to coat each rung.

It made this little birdhouse shine.

It helped bring cohesiveness to the area in my dining room with my Annie Sloan Mirror  (http://www.whitecottagechic.blogspot.ca/2012/04/annie-sloan-chalk-paint.html)

I'm snoopy & love to see how people decorate so here is two pictures of this end of the room.



Cheers,

Patricia

Small Discoveries

I have been absent for a bit due to..... taxes (I took my time this year & it worked - money coming back - yeah!), fence issues (in progress and I'm so excited) & my sweet girls oral surgery (wisdom teeth).  

In the midst of all this I discovered some great things like this grey bucket.

It's perfect simplicity only needed a little crown magnet.

This grey.......box?  It's essentially useless but I couldn't pass it up so it came home.

And my favourite favourite app. A few weeks ago Siri came into my life around the same time as my House Beautiful magazine which has this on the cover and throughout the magazine.

In order to access the content the Digimarc app is required.  When the blue HB is scanned with the Iphone videos come up with extra detail about the article your looking at. What I love the best about it is that it has a function that identifies any song! I used it last night while watching "House" and had an answer within seconds (Black Moon - Wilco).  This is going to get so much use!

Cheers,

Patricia

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

Last fall I purchased a large mirror at a local antique store and was content to leave it as is. http://whitecottagechic.blogspot.ca/2011/10/change.html

Then the brown started to really grate on me.  It doesn't fit in with any of my colours and it's just brown plastic with faux gold on it (ahh the 70's).  I started to research and discovered Apple Box Boutique (www.AppleBoxBoutique.com)  in Edmonton sells Annie Sloan Chalk Paint &  I knew right away what I wanted to do.

I met Leanne at Apple Box who uses the paint and she explained how to use it & showed me all the colours.  If you are interested in this paint Leanne is the person to speak to.    What I love about it is that you can mix the colours to get what you want and it won't turn muddy.  I wanted a french blue grey.

So I purchased Paris Grey & Louis Blue.  I mixed starting with the grey and then added the blue until I found what I was looking for.

I just painted one coat and left some of the faux gold exposed.

I wanted to see how it turned out before deciding on a wax & now that I have seen it I will use a matte clear wax.  I had originally thought I would age it more but I think it's perfect.

It hangs above a marble table and the mirror looks very french now.

You know when you are so happy with how something turns out that you can't wait to wake up and see it in the morning light?  Well that was me with this mirror.

It's making me wonder why I didn't do this sooner. Now I'm looking for grey/blue pillows to add to my couch.

Happy Easter

Patricia

mirror box

I love mirrors and when I saw these square mirrors in a dollar store it fired up the creative juices.   So I heated up the glue gun & started connecting.

Quick simple and easy with a great result.

It even makes a nice cover for a an ugly kleenex box.

Cheers,

Patricia

If one works....

I love my picture shelf that I put up a few weeks ago (http://whitecottagechic.blogspot.ca/2012/02/picture-rail.html  and I was wondering what a second one underneath it would look like.

I think it looks pretty good.  It's a wall at the bottom of the stairs and beside a window so it's perfect for this.

I always admire rooms without a lot of "things" in them (every room in Rachel Ashwell's books) but that's not me. I am, as my Dad so aptly nicknamed me as a child  - a packrat.  I love things and these shelves are my attempt to corral some of my "stuff" that I am currently in love with.

This combination is working well for me.

Cheers,

Patricia



Paper Rose

I found an inspiring blog :  Market Nine Home by Kristie Shelton.  This woman is seriously creative and talented.  I don't know where she gets the inspiration and ideas but she is one of a kind. 

I found paper roses on her site and really  wanted to try it and I felt like I could do it because her instructions are so detailed http://kristieshelton.com/?p=469

It's not my idea so I encourage you to look at her beautiful blog.

This was my first try with an old book I had picked up at the thrift store a few weeks ago.

 

Even for a craft klutz like me it's surprisingly easy. 

Patricia