i mustache you a question

I wouldn't necessarily say that I'm very 'trendy'.

I don't have a Keep Calm and Carry On poster.

Nothing I own is chevron patterned.

And you won't find an Eames rocker in my house.

But there's a certain trend I've been on the fence about for awhile and a certain yard sale find finally tipped me over the edge.

Please tell me you see it:

Don't those rungs just scream mustache?!

You can ask my girlfriends I was yard sale-ing with - I purchased this chair {for $5!} solely because the rungs looked like mustaches to me.  And I vowed to turn it into the mustache chair it was meant to be.

Josh didn't see it. When I brought it home and told him I was going to paint the rungs to look like mustaches, he gave me that look. You know, the one where he's like, I don't get it but I don't want to tell you that because I don't want to stifle your creativity or crush your spirit but I'm hoping you'll change your mind. Yeah, that one.

He can be such a wet blanket.

So instead of painting - which is hard to undo without painting over the whole thing when the mustache trend is over - I decided to go arts and crafts style. Mod Podge + cardstock.

My only obstacle was making a symmetrical mustache. I knew I couldn't free hand it - there's a reason I did graphic design over studio art. My drawing skills are, shall we say, less than awesome. But I knew I could make it symmetrical by folding the paper in half and drawing it. 

And who says you don't learn anything cutting out hearts in kindergarten?

Voila! A perfectly symmetrical mustache!

I did this twice more, playing around with different styles of mustaches. I wanted to make a Hulk Hogan style handlebar mustache, but it wouldn't fit on the rungs.

But here's what I came up with:

And I decided to use mod podge to apply it because it's glue - that dries clear - that also would protect it. Just what I needed.

All you do is coat the back with mod podge and then apply it to your surface and then coat the top as well. It's deceptive because when you put it on, it looks like this:

But then when it dries, it looks like this:

This chair is one of the final ones needed to fill up the spaces at the farm table.

 So, my question for you is...

Who wants to sit in the mustache chair?!

diy plate wall

Pinterest has made me a better woman. Seriously. It has me organized, inspired and most of all, motivated. I can be motivated to complete a project by simply seeing a picture.

Exhibit A:

source

I have always loved the look of a plate wall and I actually started a plate collection a few years back, but it wasn't until i saw this photo that I was motivated to finally do something with those plates. 

Looking over my plate collection, I only had a few that were display-worthy and more that I wondered, 'why did I think this was cute?' But luckily I hit the jackpot at a local antique store recently. Jackpot = 6 cute china plates for $3. 

The first thing I did was arrange my plates on the table to see how I wanted to display them on the wall.

This next step may be unique to my situation, but it was oh-so-important in order to appease my tired-of-patching-and-re-patching-nail-holes husband. When he saw what I was about to do, horrific visions of a nail-hole ridden wall that I wanted to change to something different a month later ensued. 

So, in an effort to save my marriage, I opted to use scotch blue painter's tape to protect my walls and my plates from the super-sticky mounting tape that I decided to use instead of nails and plate hangers (which is also a much more economical decision, btw). 

Painter's tape + mounting tape is a great hanging technique to have in your arsenal if a) you rent and need to have hole-free walls b) you like to change things around your house often or c) you prefer to 'eyeball' measurements and don't have the best accuracy with hanging things right the first time (guilty!)

I protected the back of my plate with painter's tape and then applied the mounting tape.

For plates with a beveled edge, I had to apply the mounting tape to the top and the bottom of the edge that would be flush to the wall.

Then I protected the spot on the wall where I was going to attach my plate.

After repeating this process 12 times, I achieved this:

The mounting tape holds up to 2 lbs. so I feel secure knowing my plates will hold.

Each of these plates were chosen with care, but this guy is my favorite:

Although, this one is a close second:

I was even able to hide the chip in my vintage jadeite plate (a 25 cent yard sale find!).

This little wall just makes me smile.

And it looks like I have plenty of room to add more plates!

p.s. Happy Labor Day!! Hope everyone is enjoying a day off work - I know I am!

anthro knock-offs

You know that weekly temptation email that anthropolgie sends out? 

I have a love/hate relationship with that email.

I love anthro's pretty pictures.

I hate being tempted to buy things I don't need.

I love the email style compostion.

I hate that everything is out of my price range.

I love feeling inspired by a single email.

I got this email a few weeks ago and fell in love with these shoes.

But they were about $148 too much.

True to my frugality, I asked myself, Could I make this?

Where there's a will, there's a way, people.

What you'll need to DIY:

Old silk scarf or silk/chiffon-type fabric 

Clip-on earrings

Hot Glue


Take your scarf or fabric and cut it into strips for bow-tying. My fabric was part of an old j.crew headband that I didn't wear anymore.


Take your clip-on earrings and either dismantle it so you just have the clip part or if your earrings are small enough, you can just glue your bows to the top of the earrings.


Attach your beautiful bows to a pair of flats.


I love my version better for the sheer fact that no money left my pocket - I used fabric and clips I already had and attached them to shoes I currently wear.


Thanks for the inspirational emails, anthro.

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baby girl nursery mood board to real life

Three months ago, I posted a mood board that I created for my friend Kerry has she began the journey of creating a nursery for her baby girl. 

She knows I love a good reason to redecorate a room, so she indulged me and asked me to help her out.

So, over that past several months we've been working to create a beautiful room for her baby girl.

Without further ado,

Welcome to Baby Sebastiana's Nursery:

Kerry created this beautiful wreath for Ana's door and it is the first thing you see when walking into the room. I love the rosettes she made.

Kerry's inspiration piece for the room was her crib bedding. She found this set at Pottery Barn and we built the rest of the room around the colors.

I found this bunny at a thrift store. It was plain wood, so I spray painted it pink and gifted it to Kerry.

I love the way the bunny is perched by the crib, looking up in anticipation of Ana's arrival.

This bird mobile is handmade by Kerry. She used the tutorial from spool and hand-sewed the birds in colors that matched the crib bedding.

This is Kerry's favorite side of the room. It bright and colorful and holds many special items.

Behind the flowered door is a wardrobe that would make any girl jealous.

Let's just say she's going to be one well-dressed little girl.

Kerry and I had so much fun thrifting and yard saling to find items for her nursery.

Both of the shelves and the bookcase were yard sales finds, as were many of the items on the shelves.

p.s. I told you she loved the bunting!

Everything pictured was either thrifted or gifted.

I made Kerry the Virginia print with a heart over Lynchburg - Sebastiana's birth place. :)

The tan frame pictured below is the "Baby's Creed" - this hung in Kerry's room as a child.

It was important to Kerry for the room to have a 'collected' look. 

Many of these books Kerry has collected over the years.

This entryway shelf was also a yard sale find. A convenient place to hang her sling and diaper bag.

More treasured thrift store finds. 

This is my favorite side of the room.

I love this collage wall for the sheer fact that each piece is so unique.

And that I was with Kerry when she got almost every piece!

L to R: Fabric hoop from yard sale. Embroidered print from yard sale. Metal scrolled bird from Salvation Army. Silhouette of Patrick (Kerry's cat) made by me (idea from young house love). Vintage floral print from Goodwill. Vintage yellow plate from Estate Specialties. Matching embroidered print from yard sale. Love bird stamp from yard sale. Silhouette of Foxy (Kerry's dog) made by me. Fabric hoop from yard sale. Vintage plate gifted from a friend. Katie Daisy "You are my sunshine" print gifted from me. Vintage floral print from Salvation Army. Grand total = $10

This vintage dresser was a curbside find (free!). It was in terrible condition but Kerry stripped, sanded and painted it back to life. The glass knobs she added are perfect.

The dresser will double as a changing table. 

Kerry is doing cloth diapering. Her wetbag was made by Orion and Wren.

And that concludes the nursery tour.

Did that mood board come to life or what?!

While I was there taking photos, Kerry did a little inventory and totaling:

The only brand new items are the crib/mattress/bedding and the glider,which were gifted, and the chandelier! She estimated that she only spent around $75 out of pocket to decorate this nursery - over half of this total belongs to the chandelier alone! 

Kerry, thanks for allowing me to help you create this beautiful room for Sebastiana. You did a lovely job. The only thing missing now is the baby!

dreaming of fall

I know summertime inevitably flies by when you're in school, but I thought it might seem to stay a little longer when the seasons don't effect my life so dramatically. But alas, I blinked and now the summer is pretty much over.

I have been getting a little giddy thinking about cardigans, plaid, and my favorite boots. I found a beautiful vintage plaid shirt the other day at goodwill and I believe it was the catalyst. 

Choosing a first-day-of-school outfit was always the silver lining in the gray, looming cloud of going back to school for me. It started in highschool, but even in college, I used to love the way I walked a little taller on that first day of the semester, wearing the outfit I had meticulously chosen.

I have to laugh thinking back to freshman year of college, where I'm pretty sure my first-day-of-school outfit included a pink poncho quite similar to this:

Yeah, those were a hot item in 2004.

So, even though I'm not going back to school, I thought I'd bring back the joy and dream up a first day of fall outfit. First day of fall = Friday, September 23.

Here's what I'm putting together from (similar) items I already have in my wardrobe:

Anyone else miss those first-day-of-school outfits?