playing with oil paints

When my grandmother passed away, she left me a whole slew of oil paints, some of which were too old to open, and others of which were still usable. A few weeks ago when I had an afternoon off I decided to try my hand at modern art oil painting.

Here is my trio of paintings:





I shall title them "confetti western 1, 2, and 3". Try not to get too blown away by all that raw talent.

I think one day soon I am going to make a more earnest attempt to paint something that looks like something. but for now I've got these stunners!

my little stool.

Recently I decided to try and make myself a (very) simple vanity for the bedroom. It had to be pretty narrow, medium wide, and most of all, simple. The vanity remains a work in progress (built, but not painted yet). When I saw the scraps, I decided that I should make myself a litte upholstered stool.

How I made it:
1. two scrap pieces of 1x12 pine, cut to square (top and bottom, two rectangles of even length for sides (I think they were like fifteen inches long?).
2. Screwed them all together with wood screws.
3.I used an old cut up towel across the top (although if I were being proper and not cheap I could have used batting), and stapled three sides down. then I stuffed some batting under the towel to make it cushiony, and stapled the fourth side down
4. Arranged fabric across the top and around the sides, held in place with thumb tacks while working, and whip-stitched all the seams using strong embroidery thread.

The fabric was some that my friend Aaron brought back from Africa as a souvenir, and has been sitting unused in my fabric pile for quite some time. I think it looks pretty cute.

Total cost for this project: $0.00.

Imagine my surprise then, the other day, when I was perusing the offerings of Anthropologie and stumbled upon this:



not exactly the same, but pretty darned close. total cost for this ottoman: $200.00.

not bad for an afternoon project!

peach blossoms!!!

Look what our peach tree started to do this week!


Dallas has terrible summers and bipolar winters, but her springs are pretty unbeatable.

silver arrangements

One of the things that I see ALL The time when I go thrifting is old silver-plated serving pieces. Of course, when I get them they look pretty horrible...


but If I see something that's nearly black and fairly heavy, I have a hard time not buying it. As a result, I now have a pretty impressive silver collection.
(same piece after some elbow grease)


One day when we have a real dining room, I'm planning to use my collection of silver-plated platters and serving dishes to make a gigantic disco-classical-fabulous arrangement on a wall



Imagine this, but less big, and SHINY. It would reflect light around like a mirror, but without making me stare at myself throughout an entire dinner. Sure, it would require some elbow grease a few times a year to take everything down and clean, but it would look awesome. Which is a justification for many, many things.

I'm thinking I could make a decent sized arrangement for about $100 if I trolled the thrifts for a few more pieces (plus the cost of silver polish).

Another pretty option would be hammered aluminum. Hammered aluminum serving pieces were popular in the 1940s and 1950s, and although less popular, they are still made today Ethan and I started a collection when we got a large platter for a wedding present. I have bought two more pieces since, and I love them.

They are readily available on Ebay and I've seen a few in the thrift stores. If you buy a piece new, it's super shiny, but over time they get a dull patina. I think these would also be beautiful hung on a wall. Or anywhere, really.

books need a pretty house, too.

I am a book nerd. my idea of a perfect date is to go to the biggest used book store in town, buy an armload, and then take them to a hole in the wall bar and read. I am lucky enough that Ethan also thinks books and beers make a pretty sweet combination, so I get to have my perfect date pretty dang often. As a result of the frequent book-buying, our shelves are getting pretty crowded. I've got two shelves that started life in my parent's house. They are huge, oak, and really, really, heavy. The above image is from May. notice that they were completely full at that time. full bookshelves+ never wanting to get rid of any + buying several books per month= unruly, unsafe piles.

I've decided that the next time we move (aka June), Salvation Army is going to have to do some heavy lifting and haul the big old bookshelves away. They are not terrible to look at, but they are REALLY heavy, and I can't buy another one for my expanding collection. There is also some water damage (hidden by placement). I am going to replace them with these:


And to make it look more awesome, I am going to paper the backs with this:


Not sure yet about black or white bookcases. but I am sure that the back will be lined with the most beautiful paper in the entire world.


Other options:


white and gold... makes me think of Liberace.


pink and gray large marbled. less wild than my turquoise choice and maybe more modern.

in a dining or living room:


plus

For someone a little fancier and girlier than I am, in a dining room.


The above, painted charcoal gray, bright green, or white, plus:

a sunny and preppy option

The best part is, if you used a non-permanent method of affixing the paper (like double-sided tape) then you could switch out the whole background for about $15 per bookcase. The paper is all archival-quality, sold in fairly large sheets, and ridiculously less expensive than if you were trying to buy actual wallpaper with a similar design. Plus, books traditionally have marbled paper in the inner binding, so It's extra fitting.


All of the furniture above was from Ikea. The paper is all from papermojo.com.

fabric stalking success

It may sound weird to some people, but I have habit of stalking yarns and fabrics online without actually having a specific use in mind for them. Recently (as in the past year or two) I've loved Ikats. I know they're really trendy and they're probably going to be uncool in a few minutes, but I still think they're fun. they are soft and graphic at the same time. I also love the varying color combinations that have come out. I am pretty picky about what colors types of fabrics I will put in my house; I don't really do any traditional toiles, checks, or florals, because every room in our house is used equally by both myself and Ethan, and I think that rooms used by both of us should be balanced masculine vs. feminine.

Anyways, lately I've been stalking the Robert Allen Khanjali fabric in
Peacock

and Glacier:


The other day I went with my Mom to Jo-Ann's to go look for fabrics for her to re-cover a chair in her bedroom. and guess what I saw peeking out from the red-tag sale remnants area? six yards of the peacock colorway for $6 per yard. This stuff is usually $16-$20 if you look for it online! so I bought it all. I think I'm going to use some to change out some pillows on our sofa... and save the other five yards until I think of some good way to use them. I may have to go thrifting to find something that needs to be re-covered. because what we really need is more furniture in the garage waiting for a re-finish.

little pretty things

A couple of things that are making me happy right now


My jars of vintage buttons- each jar was $7 at an antique store in Cleburne. the local yarn store charges about a dollar for a SINGLE vintage shell button. So $7 for a whole jar was an awesome deal.


Part of my jewelry collection; I keep all my cuffs and bracelets in a bowl next to my jewelry box. The pin is one that was my grandmother's.
I know the idea of displaying jewelry is not a new one, but seeing this colorful little pile makes me happy.

not mind-blowing things, just small parts of my house that give me joy. and no, I have no idea what to do with all the buttons. I probably need to figure out how to make a button hole on the sewing machine I have permanently borrowed from my sister. if anyone has any hints, they are welcome.

pillow talk

this post is not going to be as racy as the title may suggest. But it's still thrilling. I went to Horchow Finale today and scored a sweet deal on a really pretty hand-embroidered pillow!

It was originally $212.00 (who in the world spends over $200 for a PILLOW? that's insane. It's a pillow. The Finale price was $140.00, which is still insane. But then I looked... was there a smudge of green on the tag? That would mean 75% off! I took it up to the register. My hopes were trampled by a discontented-looking old lady who DENIED the green smudge, then walked away and left me at the register without ringing me up for my other purchase:

A younger, kinder salesperson came to the register. I explained my dashed hopes of green smudginess, and she took pity on me. Long story short, I got the pillow (down-filled, hand-embroidered, feminine loveliness!) for $34.00. If you come over, I'll let you touch it, but only if you wash your hands first. That pillow is technically worth more than my couch.

everything's coming up chrysanthemums...

Today was my last day of enforced dysfunctionality. It's been a heck of a ride. In case you're wondering, yes, my grade did stink (I wasn't getting my hopes up), but so did the other student's and we have addressed the powers that be to appeal and try to fight the woooaahhh...man.
The good news is, I got to sleep for SEVEN hours last night even though I was on call, I got finished today at around 10 AM, and then I got to go home. Then I went to Lowe's and bought some terra cotta pots and a bunch of plants to make myself a container garden in front of my front door. I of course called my sister to ask her what I should plant (and by that what I really meant was what can't I kill?) and she told me to get something tall, something short, and something viney that droops/spreads. I took her advice, and this was the result:


Charming, no? of course after I finished I read the back of my bag of dirt and it said "NOT FOR POTTED PLANTS!!! KEEP OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN. ALWAYS WEAR GARDEN GLOVES WHEN HANDLING THIS SOIL"... after I had happily been digging my hands into it for like twenty minutes. Oh well, my hands aren't burning just yet so I think I'm probably safe.
My sister told me I should be careful about what I'm bitching about on this blog... looking back, I haven't used any names, and I haven't said anything that I didn't also tell to my course director, resident, and other classmates.
This weekend is for fun only. Next Monday I start at the VA... on a team by myself. I'm already dreading the undivided scut!

Have you ever wondered how Donna Mills, the star of the hit 1980s TV show Knott's Landing, got her signature wonderful look? well you're in luck, because in 1986 she put out a video series called "The Eyes Have It". I'm sharing with you.

Basic skin care with yogurt and cucumbers


Don't forget, you want to look natural... not BE natural.


Don't forget to feather your eyeliner!


Fabulous work makeup. lavish on the mascara.


For those special evenings when you really want to shine, turn heads... be that special woman! give yourself over to romance and glamor.


This may look like it will hurt, but it won't.


you're welcome.

aaahhh

I'm only 144 questions away from being FINISHED with usmleworld already. I'm going to own those suckers tomorrow. And my friends from church are planning a wine and hors d oeuvres party next Monday night which will be a perfect follow-up to a long day of testing!
During one of my very short but necessary study breaks today, I stumbled upon some lovely gold and chalcedony jewelry from Banana:

I love chalcedony but I don't have any and I probably won't get any for a while (at least not until my new loans come in) but if anyone wants to get me a spontaneous gift of jewelry, you know where to find it. The only thing I might worry about is that last necklace making noise. It's one of my biggest pet peeves in the world when I can hear my jewelry tinkling every time I move. I have a pair of earrings that do that and I only ever wear them if I know I'm going to be someplace LOUD.
I'm off to sleep, because it keeps me beautiful(ish). mwoah!