AAA

Don't worry, I'm not going to talk about towing a car. What I am going to talk about is AAA Bar and Restaurant Supply in Las Vegas. Las Vegas is seriously lacking in the thrifting department and when you see something labeled as "beautiful" on Craigslist you might as well insert tacky and ugly. But there are a few interesting places that hold hidden treasures. This is one of them.

I first went here last year when I was looking for some chairs for my kitchen. I found exactly what I was looking for and they are only waiting the perfect fabric to go on them.

They have stacks of chairs. Literally.

{Forgive the pictures - they're from my phone!}

I really kind of love this one. I'm keeping my fingers crossed it's still there when I go back. Great lines, button tufting. The vinyl is a little saggy, but I could live with that until I could afford to have it recovered.

These serving tables were great. Next time I'm there I'm going to have someone take them down so I can get a closer look at the top. Wouldn't it be a great side or entry table? Take off the huge casters, of course.

They have a lot of unusual lighting, that have a lot of potential.

But best of all? Drumroll please...After picking my way through rows of industrial size freezers, giant fryers, and the occasional soft serve machine, I spied these - way high on a shelf, tucked almost out of sight - huge ginger jars (see my apple for "perspective"). The color was awful, but there's no way not to love that shape. I asked the owner how much. "$10," he said. I said, "I'll take two."

A little spray paint and these should make a gorgeous addition to my living room!

Dyed Rug II

Maybe it's a little much (but it's so much fun and soooo much cheaper) - I dyed another rug. As I mentioned several posts ago I am currently working on three areas around my house. One of which is our family entry through the garage. One thing I wanted was a new rug. Something dark to hide the dirt and something with a print to add some fun. Since everything cute is over $20 and I really don't like spending more than $10, I decided to try another dyed rug project.

I found this rug at Ross for $11.99. Perfect size, perfect color, and the price was only a little more than I wanted to pay.

I found a rug I liked online, enlarged the picture and traced the pattern onto some computer paper. I cut that out, traced it onto some card stock and used that as my template to make some "stencils" out of contact paper.

After less than half way through cutting out my stencils I really wished I had thought to ask my friend with the vinyl cutter to cut out my stencils for me. Something I'll remember if there's a next time! Once my stencils were cut out I laid out my pattern on the rug.

I'm not sure if it was because my contact paper was at least 10 years old or because contact paper isn't made for carpet, but I did have a hard time getting my stencils to stick and stay in place. Fortunately, that didn't affect my pattern when applying the dye! There was some slight shifting, though, which made for a less than perfectly aligned layout. But you can't really tell.

The finished product:





Overall, I am really happy with the result. The dark brown dye will be perfect for hiding dirt brought in by dirty shoes and the pattern adds that little punch I was looking for. Now I just need to find a mirror the right size, paint it, hang up our family organizing system, get some hooks, add some art and I'm done!

I can't wait to try a more intricate pattern next. Throwing in multiple colors would be fun, too!

John Murphy Photography

While discovering Bijou and Boheme the other day I came across her post on John Murphy Photography and had to share. His photography is stunning (and so are his frames) and finally answers my question on why a photo editing program would cost $1,000. These photographs are works of art.

He also art work also includes collages. Truly unique.

Francophiles rejoice

I just discovered Les Invasions Ephemeres (online, not the store because that would mean that I have recently been in France, and, well, sadly I have not been*).

This store seems to encompass all that is whimsical and charming and is definitely worth a look.

I am sort of madly in love with the Bremen Town Musician Height Chart. Regrettably, it is not offered online. So I am scheming on how I could create my own...

In other news my downstairs bath is under way! First coat of paint was applied Saturday, new light fixture has been pruchased, mirror is in the works, and gold hardware is getting a coat of paint. This week I am waiting patiently for my wood graining tool to arrive in the mail and working on my family entry.

* I have to take that back, kind of. Some further browsing on the site found that they have stores in the States. One in Sacramento, which is where I am from. I am most certainly going to take a peek when I am there this Fall!)

Decorative Contact Paper

I just found out that all FIVE of my husbands sisters will be coming in February for my FIL's retirement party. Which means that my February re-do of the downstairs bath is getting bumped to this month. Yea! Which means I can make my February project making over my pantry door. Currently it is pretty blah (no picture, yet, but it involves etched glass and a bread basket. shiver.) Some ideas I'm thinking about: painting the glass part with magnetic paint and then covering with contact paper or just painting the glass with magnetic paint and chalkboard paint. Still haven't decided. Just in case I go the contact paper route, I thought I'd do a little research to see what's out there.

Target

Target
mercedes antique gold amazon.com

water dance amazon.com

It's amazing the variety that is out there. Everything from floral to solids, faux metals, woods, leather and marbles.

This small shelf was redone in orange faux reptile by Jenny @ Little Green Notebook.

Pier 1

I like Pier One, I do, even though I never go there. Any time I'm near a store I have my kids with me and kids and Pier One aren't a good mix. At least the ones around here aren't. They love to stack breakables ground level, no carts, no room for strollers. It's a big crashing disaster waiting to happen. Not to mention my oldest has to touch EVERYTHING. So I haven't been there forever. But I do like looking at their ads. Saw this chair in the newest. Button tufting and nailhead trim. Two things I love. So I hopped online to see what other treasures they had. Maybe I'll leave the kids with the husband and do a little shopping this week...

Just checking off my list

Shelf up in playroom. Check.

Turn this:

Into this:

Despite how nice a gallery wall looks, it is an absolute pain to hang up. Even though I used the wax paper method I read about here,
I wasn't careful with my measurements - so my husband tells me. So after pounding a couple of nails in the wall, we opted for Command Strips. Expensive, but wall preserving.
Of course, once I got the whole thing up I realized that the whole thing is about 2-3 inches too high. But unless it starts to bother me a lot, it stays where it's at! Hopefully once I get the cabinet top decorated and some pictures in those frames, it wont look so off.

2011 - we're off to a productive start!

P.S. I'm aware of the big "holes." I'm planning on filling that space with something other frames, and it that doesn't work out, I have a few extra frames!

Confession...

Okay, so my "December To -Do's" turned into my "December Didn'ts." I'm not sure if I was being overly ambitious, unrealistic, or just plain dillusional in thinking I could get all that done. I would like to think that had I not spent the entire first week of Christmas being sick or taking care of other people being sick, I would have gotten some of it done.

That being said, I made good use of the first Monday in January and got three of my projects done. Here's the first:

Dyed Again

Tired of my chevron rug always looking dirty (darn those kids and their dirty feet!) I decided to add a second color. Originally I planned on doing the entire undyed sections a color, then I thought I would experiment with a white space between the colors. So I taped off my border.

Then started dying.

Once the dye was a little dry I removed the tape. The finished product:

Before:



After:

{tip: be sure to tape off the rug binding! I neglected to do this the first time and wish that I had.}

I don't like it as much as the first, but it definitely adds some color! Once I finished dying it, I realized that if I was leaving a space between the colors I could have just added another strip of green. Sigh. Live and learn.



*On a side note, I'm almost done with my alphabet wall! Only 9 more letters to go!

Faux Bois

Faux Bois - French for "fake or false wood" - was a pretty hot Fall trend in 2010. I hope it continues because I've been thinking that it may be just the thing to hide the many awkward angels of my downstairs bathroom (6 different walls for a room that holds a toilet, sink, and shower - seems like overkill). Not to mention that I have a big ugly mirror and a dead tree - wouldn't it me fun to make your own faux bois mirror (of course if I'm using real wood I guess it would be more vrai bois than fuax bois)? Maybe I'll put that on the list for February!

Too cute! Find the tutorial at Ohdeedoh.

Image via Material Girl

Cole and Sons wallpaper

Thomas Paul



West Elm