i remember when i was about seven and i gave my grandmother the cutest little green heart chotchkie you ever did see.

(side note: can we please pause on the word chotchkie. is it not the strangest yet most fun word to say? say it three times fast, chotchkie, chotchkie, chotchkie. wasn’t that fun? did i lose you? i had to google it to figure out how to spell it correctly and this is what google told me: a small worthless piece of crap. well, gee thanks, google. it did redeem itself by adding a side note. how fun that google also likes to use side notes. no wonder we are friends. anyway, google also said in its side note: chotchkies can be pretty. indeed some are. and some are, unfortunately, worthless pieces of crap.)

well, my grandmother loved her new little green heart and she decided, at the time, to hang it in her bathroom. the only problem was that her bathroom was not green. it was peach. with absolutely no green in sight.

this new no-green-in-the-peach-bathroom sparked a redecorating frenzy and my grandmother was soon replacing all of her rugs and towels and such to make the cutest little green heart chotchkie look like it belonged.

i’ll never forget my grandfather giving me a half smile and telling me that he was really glad i gave her that cute little green heart. his words, if i remember correctly, were, “ya know you start with a green heart and before you know it, everything else must be changed.”

you might be wondering why on earth i am telling you this story?

well, besides the obvious, that i really wanted to use the word chotchkie in a sentence, i also recently experienced how one little chotchkie can spark a snowball decorating frenzy.

enter my cute little owl i received from the garland exchange i signed up for.

isn’t he cute?

you know what’s not cute?

yup. that welcome burlap pillow that sits on our front porch bench. not so welcoming, if you ask me.

it was time for some redecorating.

so, i grabbed some supplies: a sharpie pen, scissors, bakers twine, pins, brown twine (that i decided not to use and instead use white thick string), measuring tape, and of course, burlap. oh and a large sewing needle (i forgot to add it for the picture).

i started by wrapping my pillow insert in the burlap (if you’re wanting it to be more precise, use the measuring tape…i like to wing it).

then pin the edges together, so you’ll know where to sew.

this is where i stopped taking pictures because i wasn’t so sure how it was going to turn out. just take your needle and string and weave in and out around the edge until two thirds of the sides are sewn. are you following that? i’m terrible at tutorials.

next, take the sharpie and write your word or saying onto the burlap.

then take the bakers twine and sew along the letters (after you’ve removed the pillow insert).

you could also cross-stitch to make it more interesting, but i only had an hour free during my son’s nap time, so i had to work fast.

once that’s done, slip your pillow insert in and tuck the last edge inward and sew together and you’re done.

put it next to the cute little owl that started it all and stand back and admire.

and then notice that your thrifted two dollar pillows need pom pom edging and your front porch bench needs to be reupholstered.

Ah, yes, this is what my grandfather must have been talking about when he said, “start with one thing and everything must be changed.”

i guess i have some projects lined up for the next couple of weeks.

that’s okay. i’m loving my pretty little worthless pieces of crap. i mean chotchkies. 😉

chotchkie, chotchkie, chotchkie! such a fun, strange word! 😉

remember the vintage sale i had a couple months ago?

well, i had a few things left over that didn’t sell and one of the items was this old door.

i was kinda glad it didn’t sell because i really liked it and thought it would be fun for something.

a few weeks ago, i was trying to convince my son to play in the backyard with me. he didn’t really want to and i can’t blame him. it’s hot, the grass is very dead, and there’s not a whole lot to do.

so, to tempt him in trying to play in the backyard, i made him this:

i think i might add some clips, so he can also use it as an easel and paint once in awhile.

it makes for the perfect spot to score our baseball games (mini baseball games that is. our backyard is tiny).

he was pretty excited about it for about a day and a half. he has now moved on. *sigh*

time to think of a new attraction for the backyard. i’ve got some ideas brewing.

happy Monday, friends. here’s to a new week ahead!

i can’t believe i actually have antlers in my house.

i’m sure there was a day that if you told me i would want antlers on my wall, i would have given you a raised eyebrow.

well, sometimes i fall into the trends (i resisted the chevron pattern, so i’m feeling okay about the antlers). 😉

i scored some antlers at the Long Beach Flea a few months back and  decided to paint them and make them into a dream catcher for my son’s room.

first I taped off the tips and painted them gold and then painted the rest of the antlers white. then i got a wood slice from Michaels to mount it and finished it off with a piece of burlap.

once that was completed, we sat down as a family (well, my son didn’t really sit down….more like did hand stands in our big chair) and we talked about what our dreams are for him.

we have many dreams for him: to see the world, to be happy, to be purposeful in what he does,

to be a caring person, and most importantly, a man of God.

our boy would throw out some dreams every so often: go on an airplane, or a helicopter, be a policeman.

one dream  of his that is huge (and verging obsessive) is to be a fireman, so that was added to his dream catcher.

it was a fun little project and i’m sure we’ll be adding more dreams on as time goes by.

hope all your dreams come true, sweet boy. mommy and daddy love you tons! xo

is it just me or do toys seem to reproduce in the night?

seriously, i go to bed with a semi-clean house and wake up and there are legos and toy cars and puzzle pieces everywhere! i am constantly rearranging/reorganizing toys to better fit them into our small space.

when i made this project, i didn’t actually have my son’s room in mind. i was just thinking it would be a cool thing to sell at my vintage sale.

well, i had a few lookers, but it didn’t sell and i’m kind of glad because it fits perfect in my boy’s room.

here it is before:

i cleaned the inside and out and then painted the front with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint ‘Old White’ because that’s what i had on hand. then i add some black and white wrapping paper to the inside and some casters to the bottom from our garage that were left over from a diy gone bad. considering, i got this piece from a free pile from a neighbor’s yard sale (it was pulled out of an old craftsman in the neighborhood), and i only bought the wrapping paper, i think it cost me a total of $5. not too shabby! although i might go back and change the knobs….someday.

it fits perfect and my son has all of his favorite toys right at his level.

which means he can also help me clean them up. (hee hee) 😉

have a blessed week friends!

xo

i made some art the other day for our laundry room.

it’s simple and really does not warrant a tutorial (think ball point pen and a piece of paper).

i was inspired by the artwork in my new friend’s house.

plus, i had a couple of old frames on hand that my grandma gave me in my late teens. these silly frames have traveled with me through countless moves. i’m so glad they finally have a home and a cute lil message in them.

(before)

it’s not perfect. in fact, i think i forgot to dot an i. whoops. oh well. i like it and it works and the quote inspires me.

(after)

so, there you have it.

see you all tomorrow for the upstairs tour of the big yellow/big green house!

remember this beauty?

it now looks like this…

a good friend of mine just got married this last weekend and i got to transform this beauty into a cork board for their seating chart. the wedding was at a beautiful location in the hills of Brea, California. the decor was based around a classic vintage theme (think 1920’s glamour), so this frame fit perfect. i wish i had more pictures from the wedding and the after picture of the seating chart, but my camera died (bum!).

i now get the pleasure of using it as a jewelry cork board.

and incase, you are interested in making one of your own, here’s a supplies list that you’ll need:

1. cork
2. scissors
3. frog tape (to secure the cork board to the existing chalkboard. you could also glue it down, but i like the option of being able to convert it back to a chalkboard, if i change my mind. which, will probably happen because, well, that’s what i do). 😉
4. staple gun
5. fabric

directions: since i don’t have step-by-step instructions (diy fail) I’ll do my best to walk ya through it. just take the existing chalkboard, cut the cork to the size of the chalkboard, tape the cork to the board around the edges, lay the board flat on top of the fabric and pull the fabric tight as you staple gun it around the back, then pop it into your frame. you’re done. i think if i were to do it again, i might add two layers of cork to have a deeper cushion to push pins into. instead, i just pushed the pins down into the cork, not straight back (hopefully, that makes sense?).

another little fun re-do i got to do for the wedding was my old trunk (actually, it’s my husband’s from his childhood, but what’s that old saying….what’s yours is mine, what’s mine is mine?). 😉

here’s the before (with a little frog tape because i am an impatient diyer):

it was a little rough inside. i liked it, but it was way more rustic then what they were going for at the wedding. so, the beautiful bride and i got to go shopping for fabric and we found this gorgeous deep blue velvet (the couple’s colors for the wedding were colbalt blue with touches of gold…let me tell you, i was in Heaven because those are my favorite!). then i just used frog tape to put on top of the old paper inside and used a hot glue gun to attach the fabric into place.

and now the after:

the mr&mrs. used it on the welcoming table to collect gifts and cards as guests arrived.

i looooove it! it was a little more time consuming than i had thought, but well worth it! i had originally thought i would take the velvet off after the wedding was done, but i like it so much i think i’ll keep it on! in fact, a funny story (or funny to us) about this trunk is that the bride’s brother (who i grew up across the street from) came up to me and said, “i like your chest.” um. thanks? he was quite embarrassed when his wife informed him that it was called a, “trunk.” HA! it became a good laugh for the rest of the evening and we might still be laughing about it. it’s okay, M, i like my chest, too! 😉

hope you all had a fabulous thursday!

lets talk about my kitchen for a sec.

it.is.ugly.

okay, not that bad, but it definitely is not my favorite room in our house. it’s small (with not a lot of counter space), no dishwasher (except we recently purchased a portable one that we can roll over to the sink…a pain, but better than nothing), and it has the ugliest wood paneling you ever did see (sometimes visitors tell me they think it’s quaint. and then i mention that we should add it in their kitchen and then they agree: it’s ugly).

(before diy: removable wallpaper was added)

also, i don’t think i mentioned this before, but we are renting our little old house, so the wood paneling has to stay. ugh. to remedy my eyes from the burning glow of orangey wood paneling, i came up with a plan to disguise it temporarily.

it now looks like this:

(after diy: removable wallpaper was added)

the idea for this wallpaper came from this blogger (i’m probably going to mention her a lot….it’s one of my constant reads in blogland). she painted her design on her walls, but since i’m renting and painting was not an option, i came up with a plan for a removable wallpaper.

here’s how i did it.

supplies: contact paper, scissors, pen or pencil, exact-o knife (forgot to add it for the pic, oops), and a design stencil. i got mine here.

step 1: trace design

step 2: cut out design

step 3: stick design to wall

it’s that easy.

it’s not perfect, but i’m okay with that. once you step back, the design takes over and each little imperfection is masked (or at least i tell myself that).

you might want to start your design in the middle of the wall and then just work your way out.

eventually, your design will start to appear on the wall.

it doesn’t take very long. maybe an hour to trace, cut and stick a wall this size:

and the best part, is that it’s removable. so, when you are ready for a change, or move out, just peel each piece off and you’re done! your landlord will never know!

i’m sure there are a zillion different patterns and colors of contact paper you could use.

hope it inspires you to get creative and have fun!