Light It Up

There have been some lighting updates going on in the Goodman household.

If you have a keen eye, you may have noticed a sneak peek when I shared my Thankful Branch on Friday.

I found this vintage rattan lampshade and two others in my thrifting adventures. I just loved the look of it and thought it would be sweet as a hanging light fixture over our kitchen table.

This is what we inherited when we purchased the house. Not bad. Just not our style.

All we did was purchase a regular pendant light from Lowe's sort of like this one

 and replaced the cover that came with it with our lampshade.

New vintage lighting that is totally our style.

It may get a coat of spray paint one day, but for now its original state is perfectly beautiful.

It's twin brother is for sale in the shop.

Next up, the mudroom lighting.

In the mood board for the mudroom, I showed you this lighting inspiration.

source

So, one of the vintage lampshades I bought wasn't in the best shape. It had some dents and some of the rattan was fraying. But I still knew it had the potential to be awesome. I removed all the rattan so that all I was left with was the metal frame.

And this is what I got.

A pendant style light fixture wouldn't work in this small space, but I love the look of exposed bulbs.

So we just mounted the frame behind a regular old light socket.

We got one of those cool edison style light bulbs. I think I'm in love.

I almost put up this guy instead (another thrift find). I was obsessed with it and thought it would look sweet spray painted all one color. But it didn't jive with the overall look of the mudroom. You'll see what I mean. So, I put him up in the shop and he quickly found a happy new home.

Very anthropologie-esque wouldn't you say?

And for those of you who have been asking, the mudroom reveal is indeed still coming.

Let's just say I'm having curtain issues.

Happy Monday!

copycat

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. 

I tend to believe that for the most part. And in this case, it's especially true.

Not even one week after I saw this post on Young House Love, I received my copy of Boden in the mail. I love getting catalogs, what can I say. 

And wouldn't you know, it had that same 'Squeeze the Day' ad that YHL hung in their gallery wall.

Well, if you remember when we made our gallery shelving, I had a few frames sitting empty.

One being that big yellow frame on the top shelf.

So I decided to follow suite with YHL and add this fun play on "Seize the Day" to our gallery shelving.

I added some wrapping paper as a background to help the art stand out and fill up the frame.

It's a perfect fit for this yellow frame.

While I'm at it, let me show you some other new pieces I've added to the gallery shelving.

How adorable is this embroidery art? I bought it and three other embroidery pieces at an estate sale.

The other three equally adorable pieces are for sale in the shop.

A vintage yard sale frame that got a vintage-style edited photo of us from Easter.

Here's another, from the same yard sale, that frames one of my Katie Daisy cards.

So, are you flattered or annoyed by imitation? 

felt pinecone, felt good

If you're crafty, then you know that the mood to craft often strikes at odd times.

I had been feeling under the weather and had just awoke from a two hour nap. Feeling refreshed, the mood to craft struck. It was 11 p.m. What, none of you nap at 9 p.m.? I get crazy on the weekends, I tell you.

Here's the product of my mood:

I followed the directions from this tutorial from Family Circle. My only beef with it was that it didn't have pictures. I like tutorials with pictures. So, I'm gonna one up the Family Circle - I offer you pictures.

Forgive the basement lighting, it was 11 p.m. mind you.

Here's what you need:

2 colors of felt

hot glue

freezer paper

iron

skewer

the template

Select two complementary felt colors - I chose brown and yellowy-brown. Using an iron on medium heat, adhere freezer paper waxy-side down to both pieces of felt. 

Trace the pinecone "petal" template onto the paper and cut out shapes. 

Peel off freezer paper. Make a hole in the center of each petal with sharp scissors. Make petals sets, using one of each color. 

I found using an exacto knife to make the hole worked well.

Slide petal sets over a wooden kitchen skewer in the following order: A, B, B, C, C, B, B, A, D, D. Alternate the position of each petal so that they resemble a pinecone. Between every petal set, place a very small square of felt as a separator. Cut the excess dowel with scissors. Glue the E petals into a cluster and glue to the top of the pinecone. 

To make a stem, cut a small circle of felt with pinking shears and make a hole in the center. Insert a thin strip of twisted felt through the hole and glue the circle and stem to the bottom of the pinecone petals.

Et voila!

And here's it's happy new home on the fall mantle.

I'm thinking of making a few more to gather in a bowl. Just waiting for another mood to strike.

These would make a good homemade ornament for Christmas, don't you think?



Shared at: Blackberry Vine, Not Just A Housewife 

this & this

Update: SOLD
Snatch up this set of vintage wooden blocks from the shop...

and add this fun decor to your child's room....

or be able to take this kind of photo.

where I get it...

I already shared with you how my love of thrifting began when I was a little girl going to yard sales with my mom in pursuit of stuffed monkeys for my collection. Well, my dad has always been great with his hands and loves to give old things new life by refinishing them. We share that love. 

Check out his most recent project:

It is a 1948 Philco AM radio that he got at an antique mall near where they live. The owner wanted $20 bucks but he got him down to $10! It was manufactured in 1947 and sold in 1948. It is model number 48-1263 - it sold for $199.00 back in the day! It was really dirty and full of spider webs and nests... but that all came out when he gutted it. (Apparently, I did not inherit my father's fearlessness of spider webs and nests.)

This is what it looked like when he brought it home:

It had an old tube type radio and a record player. That is why the front opens so you could play records.

Having gutted all of the old electronics, he washed the whole thing with Murphy's Oil Soap. He took apart the tuner glass and cleaned everything and then put it back.

He took the knobs from the radio (the shafts the knobs fit on to) so it would look functional.

The wood was really dried out so he polished it with a wood polish made from beeswax. This type of product is very "green" and the wood loves the beeswax. It also helps to brings out the wood grain and nourishes the wood.

He added his own stereo equipment and now has a statement piece that sounds great and looks really cool!



Great job, Dad!

Erin, Michael, and Mark, I call dibs when mom and dad have to downsize!

happy halloween

If I had it my way, this is how I would offer candy to my trick-or-treaters.

But instead, this is my plan...

...minus the be scary part judging by my costume track record:

Hippie and Lunchlady

Vampire and Brian Fantana from Anchorman

The Batman Team (I'm Batman in this picture.)

Malibu Barbie. In cold weather. It was 2005, gimme a break.

Happy Halloween, everyone!

branding: mon tresór

You may not know this about me, but by day I am a graphic designer working for a local church and various freelance clients, and by night I am a crafter/DIY-er/blogger.

I haven't been taking on a ton of extra freelance graphic design projects because I feel like my plate is kinda full, but when my friend Steph asked me to help brand her business, mon tresór, I couldn't say no.

I love making logos and designing business cards. Plus, I love Steph's products - she makes the most beautiful baby blankets.

Steph is my ideal kind of client - she sent me some ideas she had for what she wanted and then she trusted me to do my thing. One idea that she mentioned was including some sort of 'french bee' in her logo since mon tresór is french for my treasure. I couldn't get away from this idea because I had seen Steph wearing this gorgeous bee necklace with her sons' initials attached.

 photo by the ever-fabulous A.M. Photography

So, I took that idea and ran with it. And I love the end result.


I knew I wanted to incorporate sewing into her business cards because that represents what her business is all about. So I thought it would be fun to put her information on tags that could be sewn onto kraft paper business cards.


These are easily customized with thread color and stitch pattern.


I was so excited to give her the final product.

Be sure to visit the mon tresór etsy shop and show some love.


For graphic design inquiries, please email me at honeysuckleblog@yahoo.com.