Fancy Faucet Giveaway!

Over at Centsational Girl, a really awesome home decor blog, Kate is doing a giveaway for a FREE Price Pfister faucet! I am debating between these two:

But there are plenty more to pick from and also kitchen faucets! Here's how to enter to win:

1. Go to CG's post. Simply leave a comment telling her which on you would want and where you would use it.
   
2. For a second chance to win, write up this giveaway on your blog, and leave a second comment with the link to your post.

The giveaway ends on Monday, October 12th at 8 PM PST. Go give it a try!

I also noticed that Price Pfister is doing their own giveaway of a full suite of their Treviso Velvet Aged Bronze products. Go here to enter. Giveaway ends December 31, 2009!

Woo-hoo! Free stuff!

Halloween Door Decoration

I made an attempt at my own Halloween door decoration. I don't know if I like it though. **grumblegrumblegrumble** I've been in some kind of funk lately. Normally, I can't get enough of myself and the wondrous things I do, but lately I've felt yucky. Anyway, enough of my baggage! Here it is:

I took a Dollar Tree broom decoration and spray painted it glossy black. My finger hurt BAD afterward. :o(

Then I took my mix of Halloween decorations. Most of it was Dollar Tree, but the ribbon was from Hobby Lobby. By the way, only buy from Hobby Lobby when it's 50% off. It gets expensive! Most of this stuff was cheap looking orange and gross so I painted everything metallic since I was so in love with the guilded pumpkin look.

My hot glue gun is hiding in my disaster area of a room, so everything was either floral wired or craft glued on. This is the product:

Did you notice my little peacock feather? I guess I just can't make anything without one! I like how spindly and creepy it looked after I painted it silver.

I was hoping to accomplish a slightly spooky look. Not anything campy like googly-eyed spiders and jack-o-lanterns, but not anything really morbid or bloody either. How did I do?

That entry could seriously use some fake spiderwebbage. And the door is begging me to painted...

So Maybe I can Embrace White Somewhere...

I don't know what spurred it, but as I was watching Millie play outside through the window I thought, how cute would our back fences look painted white? I know, I know, I said I wasn't a fan of white, but how "American Dream" and picturesque is bright white fence? White fences also remind me of how much I used to watch this cartoon video of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

I picture vines crawling up the fence, hanging baskets of flowers every few feet and party lights strung across it.

Green grass would look so lush next to it. We should go Brady Bunch on neighborhood and get Astroturf. Don't think I wouldn't do it!

I don't know when this project will begin, but the weather is perfect for it. Maybe I will buy myself fence paint as a reward for finishing a paper for school that I've needed to complete for - um- months now. I think I might be able to score some cheap outdoor paint from the Goodwill ReStore. Here is a look at our backyard in its current state:

Is this a white trash seating area? Or a Millie-Mudpit blockade? Hmmm...

The extent of our lawn decor. Hello David!

I have some big ideas for this space. Of course I would like a deck or patio with a dining area and a living area. I'd like to have four posts up around one of those areas to hang a fabric canopy from to make it more intimate and enclosed.

I LOVE how window boxes and shutters look. These are a must!

And I'd like to find some random flea-market type decor for flowerbeds, like using an antique headboard or wire dress form as a trellis. I love how this furniture-turned-planter looks like an art installation:

I love this one. It looks almost enchanted, like it came out of a fairy tale:

And who would have thought of taking an out of commission piano and creating a waterfall?!

I know these ideas are not suitable for everyone's likings and I do tend to gravitate towards all things tacky (I prefer "unconventional") but brace yourself my friend. You haven't seen tacky till you have seen these:

So, on that note... Any thoughts? How often do you spend time in your backyard?


P.S. I added this blog to Hooked on Fridays! See what everyone else is hooked on!

Plates as Wall Art!

I've seen pretty plates at thrift stores and plates on crazy clearance from being missing from a set and have always wondered what could be done with them. Look no further!

Here they are layered in one grouping:




And I think this is my favorite way of displaying them. The plates in these pictures climb up the walls like bubbles floating:
















This one cracks me up. A school of fish plates!


Cute, huh?

Style A.D.D.

Lately I have felt a tad frustrated while dreaming up possibilities for our home. I don't like that something I should enjoy can leave me feeling, well, blah. It bothers me that I don't have a "style." It is evident that I have a color scheme -- blue, green, and brown as my neutral -- but what is my style? Cottage? Global? Contemporary? Modern? Or is it that wonderful word "eclectic," a fancy way of saying that you just throw it all together and hopefully it somehow meshes?

What don't I like? LET'S MAKE A LIST! (Don't worry, I'm limiting the list to home decor-related dislikes.)

1. Black. Nothing in this house is black. I don't usually go for pink, orange, peach, or yellow either. I definitely gravitate toward blue and green. Like seaglass. Or peacock feathers...

2. Delicate, dainty things. In most cases, I'm not into lace and ruffles or delicate glass vases. I enjoy feeling like I'm home, not in a museum, or worse, a Martha Stewart-esque home. You know, those houses that say, "You wrinkle my bedspread, you DIE!" or "Don't DARE bring your coffee cup near my white pillows, white carpets, white furniture, white curtains, and various other white textiles." (Oh yeah, did I mention that sometimes I have issues with white? Evidently I should have been a mermaid since blue and green are it for me. More to come on my issue with white later. Bet you just can't wait.)

3. Sloppiness and disorganization. I hate sloppiness, but I do know I contribute a fair amount to the mess around the house. I tend to throw laundry, shoes, and jewelry anywhere and everywhere, and I dread doing dishes so there is almost always something in the sink, just waiting for me. Oh, and don't EVEN watch me cook. You will cry. But I would like to have a place for everything. If things are messy, I don't really feel at peace.

So that doesn't say much about style. What DO I like, you ask? I don't know that I can list it all out. Some things "click" and other things don't. I do love vintage things that find a new purpose. Here are some examples.

Old flatware and serveware that now serve as hooks, storage, and memo holders:

Vintage screen doors, iron scroll gates, and coat racks that are now pot racks:

A vintage blue enamel kettle that is now a vase:

The end of an old rake that now holds jewelry:

Urns that have now become towel or magazine holders:

A dollhouse that is now laundry room storage: (I don't think I could handle this in my house now though. Thanks, Betty Ren Wright.)

Like the nerd that I am, I looked up "eclectic" in some online dictionaries. My favorite definition explained "eclectic in this way:

"Not following any one system... but selecting and using what are considered the best elements of all systems."

I think that pretty well sums me up. I suppose I'll just continue like this, grabbing ideas from all sources, no matter how different (from Pier 1 to Pottery Barn to thrift stores and yard sales) and just hope it all goes together!

No-Carve Pumpkins!

I'm loving the gloomy, rainy fall weather we are having right now! The only downside to it is this:

Millie the Mud-Puddle-Loving Dog

But Lauren got me pumped up for fall! Though I will not be doing much seasonal decorating since we're pretty strapped, I can't wait to put some of these inspiration pics into action!

Since sharp knives + Olivia= a trip to the hospital, I bring you No-Carve Pumpkins!

Funny Argyle Pumpkins:

Black and White Pumpkins:

More traditional Halloween-colored pumpkins:

And my favorite... Gilded pumpkins!

How gorgeous is that entry!? I love that they are sparkly and metallic but not gaudy (at least no to me anyway.) They are also neutral to go with any color scheme and just seem like a beautiful, grown-up way to decorate for fall. I love all the shiny doodles that some of the pumpkins have. Imagine a garland of them intertwined with twinkle lights! **Sigh**

Here are some instructions I found on how to get that look:

Project Info, How to Guild a Pumpkin, and How to Guild Video. (The video is annoying, but informative.)

How do you decorate for fall? And no one better post a pumpkin butt picture!