More HomeGoods Finds

I know.. I've put up a few posts about my HomeGoods finds in the past... apparently I'm a creature of habit and since I've found a few fun finds here in the past... I've. been. back. ;) 

This weekend I went to HomeGoods because they are conveniently located next to an out of town craft store. I went with the intention of browsing and should I find something I liked I would of course get it. This time around I think I hit the jackpot. I found items for the walls. 

Three shelves, a candle holder and a candle. All with different personalities of their own! :)

My favorite part about this shelf is the filigree and the brushed brass look. 

I have an idea of where I'll put it in the bedroom. 

We have a large mirror with a golden frame and some filigree as well I'm sure it'll work well with. 

A close up shot of the shelf details... SO pretty! ^-^

This is the 1st piece I saw when I was browsing. This thing is HEAVY! It reminds me of a twist between barn wood and scrolly castle candle holders.

As we were standing in the checkout line I spotted this candle. I loved the detail in the label and when I smelled the aged apple cider I was sold. Though if I decide to light it, that means I will need to find a home for this label! ^-^  

Did you know that in Snow White, the Wicked witch's name was Queen GrimHilde?

I think it's safe to say she helped make this candle ;) 

I really liked the worn look and the hardware on these.  ...and since I'd never seen anything like them before and since there were two I grabbed them both. 

Wooden topside and details.

Thanks for looking at my finds! What kind of styles do you like and what do you decorate your home with? 

♫♪ A Window Shopping We Will Go! ♪♫

To World Market and HomeGoods!

 I like these shops... they offer some fun and unique items... 

whether I decide to get the items or not is of course a different story. ;) 

I normally leave with a bunch of ideas...

 where these items might be used, by what kind of a people and in a setting that maybe doesn't really exist.
But this is why I like window shopping :) ;) 

I hope you like a few of my finds from early last week in World Market!

               Not that I'm a truffle or an oil connoisseur but when I saw this I just had to snap a pic!

 I love the marketing, the colors, the picture. I imagine gray stone counters in an elegant kitchen... 

I love this throwback look. Bringing back the mason jars are we? :) I realize this has been going on for some time. :) This specific one makes me think of gingham in red and white - picnic time!
An idea of times gone by..Ahhh... cookout anyone?

I did get this candle... it smelled delicious! Though I'm trying to cut back on my candle and yarn purchases ;) this one I thought I'd get for a friend. I purchased the candle, found out they didn't use candles and decided to keep it lol. 

Here is my sister agreeing with the me - no need to return it. 
The tahitian vanilla smell makes you instantly happy! ^-^

Later that same week while in HomeGoods with a friend of mine. I spotted this lovely horse head... it reminds me of the Trojan horse story or what a roman horse might look like in a chess game.



I also spotted this painting... after walking around the store a bit, coming back to it, picking it up and walking around with it, periodically glancing down to see if I still liked it... I bought it! lol


Here it is on our wall in the basement...

..and a close up. I love the colors and the dandelions! ^-^

We spotted an adorable notebook too!

 Just look at this wide-eyed owl and all the details around him! :D ;)

For a backdrop I took advantage of my fall colored blanket (in the making). Talk about cozy! No? ;)

I want to eat him he's *so* cute! ^-^

And each page has him looking at you too as you write! AS YOU WRITE! 

You'd think I would have already used all the pages by now with that incentive ;). tee hee

*gazes at owls eyes*

......

Okay - enough of that for now lol :) ;) 

I hope you liked a few of my finds! I had so much fun sharing them with you! 

Do you have a favorite? I'd love to know! ^-^ 

♥ ~Dawn

Cups of Vintage Love...

...abound! ^-^

The newest etsy crush I have is on a shop called LostInIvorySeas which I happened upon while being "lost" in the great etsy abyss!  I love the way they photograph their items, off centered (ftw!)...  complete with a homey background color and what looks to be linen/cotton table cloth... ahhh... so natural... 

then, as I delved deeper into all the items they have to offer I noticed the succulents in many of their vintage cups! 

*I want! I want! ^-^*

Of all the lovely items though I'd say this one is my favsies... 

Cups of Vintage Love by LostInIvorySeas

I very much appreciate the craftmanship of both the cups and saucers. In high school I took a pottery class and know the work that goes into this kind of project. Awe, I miss getting my hands dirty like that ^-^.

Anyways, please check out LostInIvorySeas shop for more home decor items that may have you swooning too ;).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm looking for items to fill a blank frame in the study right now... 



looking up "leaf art" I found this piece. The jury is still out on what I'll be getting for the frame but wanted to share this piece because this is a talented artist! 

I'm inspired to use a few of my own dried leaves as a project like this in the future! ^-^ 

Pin them for later here.

Lorenzo Duran Silva Leaf Art

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

Lastly, this lovely work of art my sister shared with me... she had found it on facebook. 

This beautiful video shows the amazing things one can do with their body after working and disciplining themselves... this is *so* graceful! These two seem to dance flawlessly! 

So much strength, poise, control & trust! 

Though the song doesn't have words watching them is so inspiring! I had to share!

Ahhh art! :) 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It begs the reminder though... if no ones told you lately :) ;)... you have your own beauty... unique only to you... let your light shine :). 

Source : Spiritual Inspiration on Tumblr

xox ~Dawn

Antique Tables are Mostly Awesome!

Well they are! ^-^ I mean.. you just don't *see* detail like this anymore these days people! Amiright?  ;)

A few years ago someone posted up on freecycle that they had a solid wood table, made in the 1930's, they didn't have chairs or the leaf that would have gone with it, but they said all the right words, "table" solid wood" & "antique" - I was intrigued! After finding out I was the first person to respond to the post, I proceeded to rope the mister into driving to the ladies house to pick it up! We brought the ole beaut home where my sister and I wiped 'er down with olive oil and appreciated the shine it brought out in her! :) Its been a few years and we haven't invested in chairs because shortly after acquiring said table, we found that my 6' 4" mister could not fit underneath it and sit comfortably. Womp, womp.

Antique Beauty - 1  

Comfort for the Mister - 0

Lesson learned.. Antique tables are mostly awesome ;) you see reason now right? :) It has been a few years we've lived with the eye candy of a table but I *want* to have dinner with people and sit around a table with chairs. At present we use the coffee table in the living room to pop a squat around and don't tend to have large groups of people over for a formal dinner... come to think of it we aren't really a formal kind of family, but we want people to be comfortable when they do visit and sometimes that means we need more sitting room. Ya dig? :) So in short, this table needs to go to allow us room for a new one complete with chairs and a leaf!

Insert craigslist, a bunch of snapshots and some know how... I'll be put together a listing soon to sell this lovely. 

The stats: 

- Made by The Seng Co. in Chicago Illinois

- 29 inches tall

- 47 3/4 inches wide

- 65 3/4 inches long

All the levers! ..Okay it's just a few pics of the same one ;)
Just look at that craftmanship!

By the time I get responses about this the table it might already be gone,  but I implore you - oh people of the Internets to please tell me - what do you *know* about this table? Is this oak or walnut wood I'm dealing with? Whatever happened to The Seng Co.? They were around from the early 1890's to the late 1950's known for their impeccable construction and then seem to have vanished.  I want a story to go along with this piece but I only have the stats I shared and the little I found about the company online. Any antique connoisseurs care to share?? Hmm O.o O.o It's okay if not... I hope you enjoyed the pics! :) ♥ Dawn

192 Brown Circles - DONE! :D

I'm so excited - the first round of brown circles for the study blanket is done! All 192 of them! :) now to get to my favorite part - the green! ^-^

192 brown center circles! :D Let round 2 begin! 

Study Blanket Squares Update - 33 out of 192

 Here we are! 33 squares done and attached to each other just a bit bigger than a rug or baby blanket. We aren't  stopping there though folks! :) As the post title reads - this is just part of the beginning. At least 192 in total will be created and stitched together before I go to town on the edging... of which I'm looking forward to! :) I have a book with 150 crochet edges to choose from so it will be fun browsing the options when the time comes! :) 

Study Blanket in Sunburst Flower Granny Square Motif 33 of 192 connected! 

Study Blanket in Sunburst Flower Granny Square Motif 33 of 192 connected! 

 Because I found I really enjoy working with the green on 2nd round I've been working on the first level of brown and have a total of 81 done (what's on the blanket is included). Below you are looking at 48 brown circles :D. I'd say my favorite part of the whole blanket is the green because there isn't a whole lot of it - but there's just enough that it pops and makes the colors dance!

48 brown squares! :) Only 111 more to go! ;)

 I'm hoping to shell out a bunch more brown circles tonight but wanted to share the progress since it's been a lil while since I've given a status on this project.

 I have a custom order for a friend I need to tackle this weekend too - a custom carabiner :) similar to one I've done before but with a different embroidered symbol.

I hope you're having a good week! Any projects brewing in your neck of the woods?

As always thank you for reading! :) ♥ Dawn

Newest Center Piece For Our Table!

Something about the  way a sphere looks is so pleasing to me. :) When we were looking at houses years ago I remember seeing a rubberband ball in one of the downstairs bedrooms and thought (even that) was pretty cool! I've seen a few pretty temari balls on Etsy in the past as well and appreciated how they are each a wonderful work of art!

Before Christmas I picked up a bunch of kitchen items from a freecycler. In the mix of items was this amazing aluminum (?) colander. The colander has holes that make up stars adorning the sides, they arent' perfectly placed either adding to its charm! I decided I wasn't going to use it for its original purpose because its so ornate, lets put it on the table! :) 

A few months after receiving the colander I was browsing etsy and stumbled across a shop called BinkyLoveCat that has a wonderful mix of items, home decor, vintage items, knits, etc. Well nestled in her shop I spotted two wooden balls with stud decorating and HAD to have them :). It was such a pleasure working with Liz and I was elated to receive the balls! :) I plan to add a few more treasures as I find them but wanted to share what I have so far! :) 

This is currently our table center piece! I hope you like it! :) 

Study Blanket Squares - 19 out of 192

I want the study blanket to be a pretty good sized blanket. Not quite as big as a twin blanket but not as small as a throw blanket either. I did some digging on the internets and decided 73 x 51 inches was a good goal to shoot for. I measured my finished granny square swatch and it's 4 1/4 inch squared, ;) of course :). Doing a bit of math I realized I was going to have a blanket 12 squares wide by 16 squares tall or vice versa ;) to get close to my number of 73 x 51 inches and still allow a bit of edge work to be done. I can appreciate that crocheted blankets are forgiving in that should I work up my 12 x 16 granny squares blanket and find I want it wider or longer I can just add another row of squares :). I could be wrong, but I can't see sewing a quilt being that forgiving. Just saying ;)

Naturally I'm now aware that I will be making a total of 192 of these warming granny squares. O.O It's going to be great :). I don't know how long it will take as I may be asked to work up something for the shop as I work this up, (this reminds me I have a keychain to make!). But I will be faithful to share the my granny square progress! Last night I purchased 5 more Saffron skeins having done the math there as well to see how many would be needed. The color was on sale for $1.99 a skein which helped me clean out their lot of it ;). Oh yes, I'm in it for the long haul now. :) 

Here are the pics of 19 completed squares - as you can see I am joining the squares as I go. :) 

Sunburst Flower Granny Square Swatch Test

Last night I stayed up way past my bed time just to get this baby worked up but I'd say it was worth it :). Though funny enough, I'm sure I had a hard time sleeping after working the square up because I was pretty excited about the outcome lol :) This design is called Sunburst Flower Granny Square by Kasa Amend. I found it on ravelry as I was browsing through all the granny square motifs they have :). I had gone back to my post about the study colors and while this granny square pattern wasn't either of the two I though I might use it was fairly similar to flowers in the snow... sunburst flower is a bit puffier but that's why I like it ;)

Wanted to share some pics and the links to the patterns for others before I got into laundry and more crocheting  ;) I hope you're having a great week! Best, Dawn

Study Blanket Color Idea...

By Study I mean the Study Room in our house - mkay? Not hey, I'm studying... I should grab this study designated blanket... that's just silly... or is it? I like to coordinate things... but lets not limit ourselves mkay? :)

Mkay I'm ready to get on with this post... just one more mkay after this though - mkay? :) K :) 

I am on my second cup of decaf just now... but it feels like I might have... (this is when I ran upstairs, checked the coffee bag and realized I made regular coffee...) ...have made regular... a really strong regular coffee... crap... how I will get to sleep tonight I'm not sure - meh. Here I thought I was super excited about the colors for this blanket... sigh.

Awe wells - so this past 3 day weekend for me :) I took on a room in our house that has been left destitute because we found out we had to fix our siding, our roof, our windows, etc. to stop the leak that was happening in the Study ceiling. We've had the house for a little over 3 years so I was really looking forward to digging in, super cleaning, painting and primping this room and make it part of my "nest"... my home if you will ;). What an undertaking though! :) I promise to share pictures with you of the progression once I have the Study reasonably decorated. It's a bit bare bones at the moment. 

Of the yarns my grandma gave me I have 4 hanks of the lovely earthy green and the thick brown in the middle I have 2 hanks. I might unravel the yarn as I go to give it a worsted weight instead the current chunkiness it has going on, this will make it go farther too for this project :)  

...and yes... you are welcome... the desk, and walls are a "sneak peek" of the study :) muha ;) 

I present from bottom to top Saffron by Lion Brand, Brown by LeeWards, Green by LeeWards and Coffee by Red Heart

I'm thinking of doing a granny square blanket unless I find another design I like better... at the moment I plan on using this ravelry pattern: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/free-smoothfoxs-tea-for-two though I think the square favors solid colors. Still debating :) Maybe this one... http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/flowers-in-the-snow ...still granny square but the color change is eye candy! :) We shall see.. I hope you like the colors! I'd be elated to clear up some of my yarn stash and put it to use... just have to decide and start now huh? lol ;)

I hope you're having a great week! I'll share what I can when I can! Thank you for reading! :D ♥ Dawn

The White Room.. Decorated

It's done! It's been done... for a while. Though I was hoping to post pictures when I gotten a bed frame I liked and had a new home in the house for the trunk but this is reality and its been far too long without sharing, so here are the pics :)











I love how it feels cold, yet cozy... for now I have no vision for the walls and have found in the process of decorating the house that I like mirrors... we have at least one in every room except the sitting room upstairs. I like that mirrors reflect light and open up the room, frames can be ornate as well which add to the decor but mirrors are hard not to love :)

I hope you enjoyed the update! :) Happy decorating everyone! Thank you for reading!

UPDATE 9/8/13:

I've since gotten a daybed scrolly frame from a freecycler for this room! :) I also was able to move the trunk into the study and acquired a samller night stand. I will of course need to piant the night stand at some point but it makes a much better nightstand than the file cabinet I had there before ;). The room has gotten a bit more "white" since I last took pictures... here are a few updates...

My little vintage pillow...

That's right.. it's mine! All mine! Well, until someone buys it ☺. For now I'm holding it nice and safe with the other items wishing for new homes right now that I sell from my shop.

I must tell you though, I got a new camera from the hubs for Christmas and I'm now having fun with the pics that would have otherwise been trashed if it weren't for effects from picnik.com!

Tonight I was going through photos I want to update for the shop and found this one in a file - picnik to the rescue! I'm in love with it! Might there be a market for old vintagesque (<---tee hee, not a word ;))pics? I dare say... yes...

Room Picture Ideas

I realize, I haven't unveiled any one finished room here on the blog just yet - rest assured this will happen! ^-^ I want to be able to post the "final" product of the rooms but things are a bit disheveled at the moment and not everything has a "place" just now. SO stand by :0).

Meanwhile, I'm kicking around some ideas in my head and loving some pictures of fellow etsians that I may decide to incorporate into the scenery of the house.

I suppose I should preface that a move I am fond of is Fried Green Tomatoes. I love the raw homey feel of the town they are in and how there isn't anything brand spanking new, don't touch or sit on. Instead there is a feeling of every bench, booth or chair being free reign for any town folk or stranger to have a seat in.

Then of course you have another of my favorites - Anne of Green Gables/Avonlea where they use everything they have with a "waste not, want not" mentality. The trails and places Anne discovers are picturesque and the colors of the season they are in paint the scenery. It's so inviting and I love it!

In both movies people don't have a whole lot of access either so while their homes are cozy, they are not over done. The rooms are a haven, a place to go and escape the noise outside - you won't find a cell phone here :0) lol :D.

Right, so with all that in mind I move on to the pictures I'm being drawn to - soothing, dreamy, rich in wonder and possibility. :0) If you please ;).

These artists are in no certain order - only thing I require is you enjoy the pictures and feel free to check out their shops for more! ;)

Katya Horner of Slight Clutter Photography has many, many lovelies in her shop - however my eyes tend to specifically feast on this picture:

Breaking Through

and another just this morning caught my eye (though in truth, they are all eye catching, I'm looking for certain rooms and color schemes though :0)) this one in particular for our bedroom:

Wonderland

and this one possibly for "my" room:

Gratitude

not that your minds eye is fixed on these images allow me to share that Slighclutter is currently having a sale - here are the details as you will find them on their shop announcement...

CURRENT SALE #1 is 20% off 16x16" and 25% off 16x20" fine art prints in the Large Prints set. Runs through August 10th.

CURRENT SALE #2 is an ongoing Buy One, Get One Free ("BOGO") sale for purchases of prints 12x12" and smaller. Please see details in the "shop policies" section. Does not apply to "set of four" listings.

Now to unveil another artist with some amazing talent - ThisYearsGirl

And while again many of the pictures in this shop are positively alluring I've been coveting this one the most lately and WANT for my room ;0)

The Queen

It reminds me of how we each carry burdens, many all our own... while yes, we can share them with others we are the sole bearers of most and we all need a place we can go for a reprieve and comfort ourselves. You might have guessed I really like trees - something about them.. tall, strong, silent, comforting.

Next Artist to mention -

love this one - I'm thinking of it for the bedroom, but there is no way I can get all of these pictures I'm sharing - :0) Sharing anyways! ^-^

JudeMcConkey's Photography

The Fern

******************

Karcharz

The Door Still Opens

******************

InMostLight

Feel the Magic in the Air

and since I've shared a novels worth here lol :0) (AND I'm running out of time!) I'll end here. I will update soon! Thank you for reading and viewing! :D Enjoy! All the best, ~Dawn