I went to the flea market hunting for a another fixer-upper crystal chandelier.
I found, shall we say, a new kind of crystal.
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Trend Spotting: Sofisticated Crystal
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Vay Kay
It’s August. And like everyone else I know, I am taking a vacation. A blog vacation.
I was planning on taking a two-week break from my regular posting, but after seeing Michele’s plan, I have decided to copy this concept and spend the last two weeks of August posting pictures. Just pictures. Some of them might be outtakes from previous posts, some might be snapshots from my phone, and some might be random stuff that I totally wanted to post, but didn’t because I thought it might be out of context for a blog like this and y’all would think I was weird. But now I realize y’all already know I’m weird, and, honestly, it’s August and hardly anyone is watching; if there was ever a time to let my hair down and be out of context, this is it. Ooo, now doesn’t that sound rebellious?
The next two weeks could be an exciting journey through the randomness of my everyday life, or a tiresome exercise in Narcissism. Either way, I get to spend the extra downtime doing creative work to share with you guys in September, like awesome new DIY projects, various home improvements, and finding new ways to cure eczema with vapo rub. No, really.
I hope you stick around 🙂
While you were gawking at Ryan Lochte’s abs…
While you were gawking at Ryan Lochte’s abs, some Olympians were slugging it out in one of the world’s most ancient and challenging sports: String Game.
For some reason, NBC chose not to include the string game finals in their coverage.
Idiots.
Thank God, it was captured on film and you can view highlight images here today. I don’t want to spoil anything, but team USA may have won.
Look at the power behind that jaw! Those paws…. Those whiskers…Have you ever seen such skill and sportsmanship?
No, me neither.
Under that gold medal lies the heart of a true champion. Congratulations to Lola on this hard-fough victory. Eat your heart out, Michael Phelps!
Door Painting
Thank you to everyone for the input on my living room doors.
I took your advice and settled on Glidden’s Peacock Blue, a vibrant dark turquoise/teal kind of color (although it looks sort of like TARDIS blue in these photos). Either way, I like it. And the pop of tomato red along the edge makes me feel so snazzy. And really, isn’t that what counts most in this scenario?
Next: The dining room. It’s powder pink with white wainscoting. I’m thinking Kermit Green, but we shall see…
National Root Beer Float Day
There are two types of people in this world: People who like root beer, and people who do not.
You can’t force it on people. It doesn’t come natural. You either have it, or you don’t.
For those of us who have it, tonight is our night. Happy Root Beer Float Day!
PS: Wondering what will go well with your root beer float tonight? Click here for suggestions.
Trapped in the Closet
I cannot tell you how uncomfortable this makes me, but I feel we can trust each other so I am going to do it anyway.
I am going to show you my closet.
Hold your breath.
Let’s be honest. There has never been a time in my life when my closet wasn’t at least a little bit messy, but this was out of control. The walk-in closet and pantry are the some of the things I loved most when I first saw the place — and here I was, letting it go to waste.
What’s worse, I stopped using this lovely, giant closet for my everyday clothes and let it become a big slush bucket storage unit. Each morning, as I ferreted through various laundry baskets around the house, my closet was used to store winter coats, old blankets and a selection of unused cat carriers.
This method of storing things almost made sense back in my old teensy apartment, but not here. Not now. Not with this fabulous space. And not with an empty basement, that’s for Hell sure.
So last weekend, in a fit of Olympic enthusiasm, I tore it all down. Everything. It’s going to take a little while until I can show you the finished results, but they are in the works.
While everything was down, I decided to give it a good scrub and paint one of the walls moss green. Don’t ask why. I was still high on painting doors (you’ll see those soon too – lots of painting at Casa Peaches this time of year). I thought I would take advantage of an empty space and slap some paint up there. And gosh, what would it take to do a small wall like this? A pint of paint, maybe two coats? A couple hours to dry with the fan going?
Eight coats.
Let me repeat that: IT TOOK EIGHT COATS OF PAINT.
Actually, that’s a lie. I painted that patch with eight coats to estimate how long it would take to get the results I wanted (EIGHT COATS), but I ran out of paint and weekend after 4 and a half coats. I should have run out and got more paint but I don’t think anyone will see it after I’m finished, and honestly, I didn’t want to throw more money at something that should have been done and finished already.
Stay tuned. The paint is now dry and I’ll be working away at the closet again this weekend. Hope to have something finished to share soon.
Happy weekend 🙂
London Calling
You know you are *Officially Nonathletic* when it takes an Ab Fab 20th Anniversary Olympic Special to get you excited about the games.
…but now that I watched the special last night, I’m all hopped up on adrenaline and athletic fervor. I feel like getting sweaty. Or riding a bike. Or wearing something spandex with a big black swoosh on it.
Tonight, I might just put on some sweat pants and run to the store for daiquiri mix.
Let the games begin!
Update:An hour after I posted this picture it happened in real life. Crazy!!
Update: A couple people asked me when the Ab Fab Olympic special will re-air. Answer: I don’t know. If you know, chime in the comments. I do know it was part of the 20th anniversary series — If you missed out on them, you can watch some episodes online courtesy of LOGO.
Another Update: Yes, you can tell how I photoshoped this by looking at the shadow on her lapel. Caution: Booze and inextinguishable flames don’t mix!
CHA Recap
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| Vicki, Hailey, and Alexa having a good time at the iLovetoCreatebooth. |
Thank you to the folks at iLovetoCreate for inviting me to join them at the Craft and Hobby Show (CHA) this week. My previous experience with trade shows had been mostly non-fun stuff with non-fun people and spokes models (read: Hooters girls) wearing nearly non-visible pants. Not what I would call “a good time.”
But this was not that.
This was like, well, if the Emerald City was a craft store, this would be it. So many new products to see and test and ‘make-n-take’, and so many wonderful people to meet.
People at CHA get uber creative when it comes to finding interesting ways to display products. As a former/failed window dresser, this is an art I can appreciate.
1. Have you ever seen anyone bedazzle a garment with fonts? Me neither. Look for Alexa’s Andy Warhol inspired dress in an upcoming issue of Cloth Paper Scissors magazine.
2. Tape. Tape. Tape. I don’t think I have ever seen so many colors and varieties of adhesive tapes in my life. Is it a trend? I don’t know, but it appears that pattered tapes are the new Pokemon cards for crafters.
3. My camera couldn’t hardly pick it up, but this whole antebellum style dress was made from paper flowers and sparkly crystals. My heart just about busted when I saw this beautiful thing.
4. This 1980’s Madonna style dress was made by Marisa, who was, get this: the grand marshal of the Duct Tape Parade. Yes, there is a duct tape parade and a Duct Tape Festival. I told you guys, tape is big!
5. If you have been following Craft Wars on TLC you will recognize this awesome play house! It was on display for a raffle (I didn’t win), but I do have Craft Wars to thank for one of the items on my bucket list: Watch a reality TV show in the presence of one of the people on the show. Well, lucky me, I got to watch Craft Wars in the presence of dozens of other crafters, including Craft Wars winner, Andrea Currie and her crafty sister Lisa Fulmer. I was so happy for them both!
Modern Mermaid Pillow
I’m big on mermaids these days.
I’m not sure if it’s a trend, or if it’s because my two-year-old niece Abigail has thing for Disney’s The Little Mermaid, or if it’s because I want mermaid hair…but whatever it is, I like it.
Mermaids are turquoise. Mermaids are swirly. Mermaids are sequined.
In other words: what is there not to like?
I decided my house is far to pink and orange. I want some swirling turquoise flair. I want some mermaid….and now I have it. Shazam!
Materials
- Tulip Watercolor Tie-Dye Kit
- White Cotton (I used an old pillowcase)
- Permanent marker
- Spray bottle (optional)
If you have ever worked with tie dye before and liked the resulst but found the process messy or difficult to control, this kit is for you. It’s just the same as using a box set of watercolor paint except it’s fabric-safe. Just dip your brush in water, rub it around on the paint pot, and brush it over the fabric.If the color is too bright, just spray with water and watch the color run.
I stared with a basic chevron pattern as a base because I like the contrast between layers of geometric color and swirly, flowery black patterns on top. Alternatively, I could have drawn with the a marker first, then filled in the lines like a coloring book. Oh well, next time. I was in the mood for doodling this time. Then again, when am I not in the mood to doodle?
The end result was a little psychedelic looking. Not that psychedelic is a bad thing, but you know, this is my house. I want it to look like Under the Sea, not a Phish concert. So I tempered it by trimming the pillow with black and white stripe fabric. Cool beans, huh?
Thank you to Tulip/iLovetoCreate for sponsoring this post.
Check out their site for oodles of other fabulous tie dye projects,
The Zebra Rug
Good News: My ten-plus years of fantasizing about owning a zebra print rug are now over. Thanks to a 75% off sale with free shipping from Rugs USA, I got an 8’x10’ zebra print rug for $65, delivered in less than four days. Woot!
Bad News: No less than 30 seconds after I unrolled it, Lola marched right to the center of the rug and threw up all over it. Thanks, Lola.
Good News: That part about “easy to clean” was no lie. Just hot water and a little dish soap – looks good as new.
More Good News: Lola apparently wasn’t finished, as just when I went to the kitchen to toss out the soapy paper towel, she walked right back to the rug and threw up again. It’s a good thing I liked this thing or I would be feeling hella guilty trying to return a rug twice graced with cat vomit.
That poor rug.
Just look at her face – you can tell she is going back for more.
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PS: If anyone else is looking to buy an area rug, Rugs USA is still offering 35% off and free shipping on most of their modern rugs. It’s worth a gander.PPS: As if talking about cat vomit didn’t make it obvious enough: this is not a sponsored post. I just like a good bargain. In general, if I see an especially good sale going on I’ll post it on facebook – follow me here.