Picked by Jane

Friday, February 24, 2012

My new junk, I mean treasures...

Last week I shared some of my recent thrift store finds. You can go here to read about it. I thought today I'd give you a little update.

Remember the brass and glass coffee table?

Here it is in it's new home ~

I'm pretty much in love with it! Even though it's a little larger than the trunk I had there previously the clear glass top really opens up the room and makes it feel much lighter.

Here's what I had before ~

I still really love the old trunk, and it functioned just fine, but it's fun to change things up every now and then.

This is how the new table will actually look for the next year or so ~

A baby on the move and sharp metal corners don't mix well. Oh, and that's Sebastian our Papillon, he wanted to be in the picture. See the new brass lamp off in the distance? (photo below) I added a chevron shade from Target (which could be a tad bigger) and love how it looks now.
I ordered some new pillow covers from Etsy as well to freshen up the couch. They should be here any day - can't wait! I'll share that with you when they arrive.

On to the little brown lamp that landed in Isaac's room. Go here to see the entire room. I picked up another shade from Target. The green trim works perfect with the rest of the room.

My plan was to paint the base and makeover the lampshade so it looked something like this~

This is where I could use your help... Once I put the lamp with the new shade in the room, I started second guessing whether I should even do anything to it at all. The brown base picks up the brown in the crib bedding, and I sorta like the crisp white shade the way it is.

So what do you think? Is simple better, or should I go for it? And if your vote is 'go for it', what are your opinions on base color? White like the inspiration lamp, or do I go with a pop of color? Such big decisions, I tell ya!

Happy Friday!

Tootles,
Sarah

** Don't forget to follow 'Picked by Jane' using either Google Friend Connect or Linky Followers! **

**I'm linking up at some of these swell places...

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

40 bags in 40 days

Today is Ash Wednesday. The first of the 40 day Lenten season. I first heard of the 40 bags in 40 days 'purge' last year from Sara...who originally heard of the idea from Sarah...and now I, Sarah, will share it with you. Funny how that worked out.

The basic idea is to rid your house of 40 bags of stuff during the 40 days of Lent.

Lent is a time of renewal, sacrifice, self-control, almsgiving and prayer. To me, this project is about taking time to reflect on what is really important. De-cluttering my life to make more room for what is real...God and my family. It's a way to reflect on how much we have and what we actually need. I feel that this is such an important thing to teach my kids, so I'll be having them help with the process as well.

Here's how it works. Make a list of 30 or so areas of your house. I have 34 on my list right now, this way I'll have room to add things or take an extra day for a larger project. Just work your way through the list taking one area each day, throwing away garbage and donating anything you don't need, use, or want.

Here is my list ~

So, who's with me? Are you ready to clear your life of 40 bags in 40 days? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Tootles,
Sarah

* I'm linking up at some of these swell places...

Friday, February 17, 2012

Score!

I decided to make a quick trip to one of our local consignment stores yesterday just to see if something might catch my eye. At first glance things looked pretty sparse, but then one thing after another started jumping out just begging to go home with me! Here's the loot~

How awesome is this paint by number 'Last Supper'? I have an ever-growing collection of paint by numbers, unfortunately I don't have the wall space to display them the way I'd like. Their day will come...

The brass lamp will go in the living room and the brown one will go in Isaac's room after it gets a little makeover.

The total score for me though, is the brass and glass coffee table. I've been keeping my eye on ebay and craigs list looking for something like this for at least a month now. And there it was. Just waiting for me to come rescue it. For $5. Yes, fiiiiiive dollars. It may look totally awesome in my living room, or totally tacky but that's a five dollar risk I'm willing to take!

I'm not sure where I'll put the wood framed mirror, but I thought it would look really great painted.

Maybe I'll just leave it where it is so my fuzzy headed monkey can practice his kisses ~

Tootles,

Sarah

*I'm linking up at some of these swell places...

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Fun With Spray Paint

Last week I picked up these little wiener dog figurines at Hobby Lobby (yes, I know they're called daschands but it's more fun to say wiener). I thought they'd make cute book ends for Isaac's room, but they needed to be brightened up. So out came the spray paint ~

I figured while I was at it, I might as well spray some other stuff too, so I rounded up some
plastic animals ~

And went to town spraying ~

Sweet set-up right? I have to admit, I had a theme song of "I'm Ghetto and I Know It" to the tune of LMFAO's "Sexy and I Know It" running through my head the entire time.

The "ugly guy" lives in Jack's room and the elephants are in the living room. You can catch a glimpse of one elephant here. I sprayed them bronze and I Love, Love how they turned out! Even Matt was impressed, he thought they were metal until he picked one up.

I'm also pretty happy with my new bookends. Here they are ~

And some colorful little friends ~

It's the small things that make me happy ~

Tootles,

Sarah

I'm linking up at some of these swell places..

Friday, February 10, 2012

Baby it's cold outside...

Today is one of those days. It's cold, windy, snowy...perfect for holing up in the house and doing a whole lot of nothing.

So, I pulled out one of my two pretty pink coffee cups that I picked up for one buckaroo at Good Will....

Brewed myself a hot cup of Joe...

And pretended I was sipping it in one of these pretty pink spaces....

House Beautiful

Ahhhh...that's the stuff. So, this afternoon I'll be doing exactly what some people think us stay-at-home moms do everyday...kicking back with my fuzzy socks, my cup of coffee and my magazine. I'll probably even watch some "Days of Our Lives."

Happy Friday!
Tootles,
Sarah

*Edited*...So, this lasted about 30-40 minutes...then the baby woke up, the big kids came home from school, and the pile of dishes in the kitchen wouldn't quit looking at me. Such is life.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Now we're hoppin'!

Bloggers and non-bloggers alike, sign up for a fab new tool that makes it simple to follow your favorite blogs! As many of you know, Google Friend Connect is going bye-bye on Feb 29 for anyone that is not on blogspot. It might even be phased out for everyone very soon.

Now for the good news: There is a fabulous new tool called Linky Followers It has so many amazing features (that GFC never had). If you have not signed up you should (yes, you can have both). …did I tell you it's simple and FREE! What better way to celebrate a fun new blogging tool than to throw a Linky Follower Blog Hop Par-Tay!

These are the Rules:

1. You MUST have the LINKY FOLLOWERS tool on your site to participate. {You can have both the LINKY FOLLOWERS & GFC on your site but you must have the LINKY FOLLOWERS to participate in this party hop.}

2. You MUST follow the person who has the party on their site as a thank you.

3. Just add your blog button to the LINKY PARTY below.

4. Then grab the BLOG HOP code You will find the code right under the Linky Party where it says CLICK HERE TO ENTER– just under that it says: WHAT IS A BLOG HOP? GET THE CODE HERE Click on GET THE CODE HERE and enter it into a post on your site. Remember to leave me a message so I can follow you back!

5. Then you follow other bloggers. Just leave each one of the blogs that you follow a comment letting them know you're following them in Linky Follower and ask that they follow you back.

Let's get hoppin'!!!

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Love is in the Air

Valentine's Day isn't a holiday that I usually go all out decorating for. Most years I put something on the front door a few days before the 14th and that's about it. This year I've been having fun putting little decorative touches here and there around the house. I spent some time this weekend working on this little vignette ~

This is what this cabinet looks like most of the time~

I rounded up some things I had around the house and came up with this cute little display~

The branch with tissue paper buds was something I made for my sister's baby shower this past summer. Of course, I couldn't bring myself to throw it away afterward, so it's been hanging out in my daughter's room.
I embellished an old mason jar and photo holder with paper doilies and yarn~

I added some romantic vintage postcards that I've had for years~

I propped up a weathered board to cover the art on the wall and added....you guessed it...a paper doily, yarn and postcards~

I pulled out an old antique frame to display this yarn ball garland that I made a la Courtney at A Little Glass Box~

I made a second garland to hang from the front of the cabinet. These by far are my favorite part of my little vignette! Courtney has an Etsy shop where she sells her cute yarn ball garlands, you should definitely check it out!