wallpaper sample project and bedroom update

While trying to decide on a wallpaper to use in the dining room, I ordered a bunch of samples from York Wallcoverings. You can order large format samples and then use them for DIY projects in your house! This pattern was a close second choice for the dining room, but I am happy that I talked Dave into my first choice. 

Wallpapering can be a real commitment and expense if you use it in an entire room or wall. If you don't want to make that big of a commitment, but really LOVE wallpaper (which you should) you can just paper a small area, as I have here. Our bedroom has a built-in vanity area with a couple of high shelves with a set of doors. The doors were the perfect canvas for this project. This wallpaper is called Wild Poppies and is flocked with a slightly shimmery base. It is a super cool and modern print. 

valentine's flowers

Perhaps someone gave you a beautiful bouquet of flowers and you're not quite sure what to do with them. Or maybe you have learned the importance of having fresh flowers around to admire and brighten your day, so you bought them for yourself. 

These flowers were bought from the grocery store. Starting at the left we have carnations (which I think are highly underrated), tulips and some greenery. Since it was the day before Valentine's day, the flowers were at least 50% more than they usually are. 

Start by picking out some vases or any type of container that would work as a vase. I started with the following: a milk glass pedestal vase, a marble wine cooler, a milk glass cup and a milk glass vase. Unless you have a very large vase, the amount of flowers in a large bouquet (or 3 small ones as shown above) usually look best as smaller arrangements.

Start by placing the foundation of the arrangement. This is best accomplished by using the sturdiest plants first, i.e. some type of filler. Think outside of the box if needed and (if it's not the middle of winter) raid your garden. In the past I've used hosta leaves, evergreen branches, ferns, and a number of unknown plants from my yard.

Eyeball the level of the plant and where it will best align in the base, as shown above. Make sure to tear off any greenery or leaves that fall below the water line. If they are in the water it will make the water turn gross faster.

After the base is set, follow the same procedure to place the flowers. Eyeball which part of the stem to cut by placing the stem in front or beside the vase and seeing where it would work best in the arrangement.

You can mix and match different kinds of flowers into one arrangement, or stick with one flower type per vase.

I decided to keep it simple and made two tulip arrangements and two carnation arrangements.

Just as I was finishing shooting the above flowers, my lovely husband came home with the beautiful bouquet below. He wasn't as cheap as I and bought them from a proper flower shop.

Since this was a large, awesome collection of different types of flowers, I thought it would work best as one large arrangement. But there was enough to make one large and one tall.

For wide vases, use scotch tape to divide the area into sections, as shown below. You can divide the tape lengthwise to get two pieces per piece.

Start with the largest, sturdiest flowers as the  base. Then add the flowers to fill the spaces. Vary the heights somewhat, so give it depth.

And here are the finished arrangements. The vase on the right is one of my faves from my vintage collection.

Happy Valentine's Day!

iceland: reykjavik

Dave and I took an amazing long weekend trip to Iceland in the beginning of January. It was so much fun and even more incredible then I imagined it would be.

This was Hallgrimskirkja, don't ask me how to pronounce it

It was by far the most ornate building that I saw while we were there. The architecture was very modern and simple and I loved it. I will devote a future post to the architecture and design. 

Sewing / Craft Room Update

I spent the Saturday of the blizzard rearranging and organizing my sewing / craft room. The room was set up in a way that just wasn't working for me. Now I can easily access the shelves again!

I finally figured out a floor plan that works. On Black Friday I saw a deal for a free Homepolish session so I bought it. This gave me an hour session with a designer who I facetimed with, Marcy Garcia. And by the way I never use facetime and hate being recorded, so I am pretty sure I was terrible at it. It was so great to get a fresh opinion on everything. She found me a lot of sofa beds that would have fit in this space. She also believed that the dark wooden trim at the top of the room should be painted white and I agree! I have been thinking that about the whole house ever since I first saw it. This is definitely in the future plans. As is getting new flooring.

blizzard

Our winter had been incredibly mild, but winter just arrived in the form of a 2 foot blizzard.

Here is when it started, Friday night.

And Saturday morning we woke up this.

Happy New Year

Our New Year's Day was spent in Philly with the Mummers. It was a blast, as usual.

Day drinking and hanging out with dogs. This guys is Jackson, our friend Ben's dog. 

DIY pine cone wreath

The best crafts are made with what at least one item that you already have. This wreath was made with the pine cones from our yard and a store bought wreath form. You can wither use a plain metal one, but I was digging this white one, so I bought it instead.


Ingredients:

• pine cones
• metal wreath form
• florist wire
• latex gloves (optional, this helps to keep the sap off of your fingers)

Directions:

• Start by winding an end of a piece of wire around the frame.

• Or you can also start by winding the wire around the cone and then twist the end of the wire around the frame. Do whatever works easiest for you.

• Place the pine cones where they looks best. 
• Wrap the wire around each and then around the back of the wire frame until it is snug.
• I worked with wire pieces that were approx. 18" long and you can wrap it around the cones multiple times (twice is good, one at each end, or one in the middle if it's small).
• End the piece of wire by wrapping it around the wire wreath form a couple of times so that it is snug.
• Continue to work your way around the wreath form until it's covered.

And there you have it, a beautiful wreath. You can also add berries for a pop of color.

 

 

happy holidays

I think it should be acceptable to have Christmas lights in your home year round. There I said it. They add a magical sparkle, which is just what you need during the winter months. Although this year has been so warm that it doesn't even fee like winter.

Anyway, here are some pictures of our home decorated for the holidays.

 

 

We separated the sectional (which was my great aunt's and we had recovered by chairloom), and this spot by the fireplace has become Winnie Cooper's favorite spot. I just realized that she hasn't' had enough air time on this blog, so look forward to more dog pictures soon.

 

I am a fan of colored light. I know there are some snobs out there who think you should only use white, but mix it up and use the colors.

 

I made theses yarn trees at craft night and intended to write a blog post on how to make them. But the pictures I took are horrible, so just here's the brief summary:

Ingredients:

• Yarn (I used 3 colors of yarn, each with a sparkly bit) to make 3 trees
• Styrofoam cone(s)
• scotch tape
• hot glue gun
• pom poms
• small bells

Instructions:

• You can use some scotch tape to tape and start the beginning of the yarn.
• Keep winding it around the cone until it fills the whole space.
• It helps to add a dab of glue here and there to keep yarn in place.
• Around the top, add a dab of glue and place a pom pom. the ones I found had a bit of gold sparkle.
• You can either tape or glue the end a the bottom of the cone.
• Take another string of yarn and string on the bells. I had to use an upholstery needle (one with a big eye) to get the yard through the small bells.
• Use a dab of glue or tape to end the string of bells, or wrap it down around again to the bottom to tape.

And voila, you have a DIY Christmas tree.