a treat for me: new crewel!

I might have a bit of an addiction going on here!

How could I resist this adorable, only a dollar, thrifted crewel? A tiny piece of vintage craft past? And of course the colors – purple and yellow – go so well with my sunroom as does the floral motif. Love it!

Halloween mantel & mirror

I figured I better post this early enough for someone to do something with any inspiration they might derive from seeing it!

The mantel features a few new things for me: 

The round mirror
I bought this mirror at IKEA with grand intentions of putting it in my garden like this. Well, I never really felt like I had the perfect spot and it hung in my garage for an embarrassingly long time. I was getting ready to put up Halloween things and I thought it would like nice, especially with the black frame. I actually like it a lot in this spot and it certainly feels good to make use of something I already own!

The ceramic pumpkins
Only 50¢ each at a garage sale this summer! They have such lovely expressive faces. They are hollow in back so I think they originally served as planters of some kind. I am going to keep my eye out for more of a similar size as I especially like how they look sitting in a row.

The little ceramic ghostie
I picked up this little cutie just a few days ago at a thrift store for 99¢. I think I am particularly fond of ceramic holiday items because I grew up with them. Once upon a time my mom took ceramic classes and finished and painted various items that populated our home around the holidays.

The greeting cards and the framed monsters are things I use every year. Both are easy and inexpensive and very flexible as they can be placed on virtually any surface. I focused on using the card with black silhouette designs to play off of the black edge of the mirror

Easter basket upgrade

Similar to the way I decorated my older daughter's basket long ago, I am now beautifying a basket for my younger daughter.

Before – your basic thrifted treasure. If there is one thing that is plentiful at thrift stores it is baskets:

Painting with older sister's help. I just used some extra house paint from the basement:

Some fabric on the inside along with some strips of fabric scraps as "grass" on the inside:

thrifting treasures

For the upcoming mermaid party: ocean tablecloth & fabric + white seashells

For a future project: wreath base. Take a look at these wreath projects that I  admired in the past and have yet to make!

freedom to decorate

 I just finished reading about, admiring, and absorbing the visual feast presented by the homes featured in the book Undecorate: The No-Rules Approach to Interior Design. The basic premise of the book is that you don't have to be a professional interior designer or know all the "rules" to do a fabulous job decorating. The homes featured were often of people who have a creative bent or profession but I did feel like there was a bit more variety in geography and lifestyle than there were in the book Details (which I wrote about earlier on this blog). I especially noticed there were more households with children featured.

While you might be looking at the book and thinking "my house is not the big" or "not everyone lives in a New York City loft" I think there are still ideas and inspiration that can be applied to your own life. I myself was especially inspired by the items people chose to frame and hang on the wall. Not everything was official "art." Some of it was simple snapshots, art created by their children, and there was even a healthy dose of thrift store finds represented. None of it had matchy matchy frames and it looked great all together on the wall. I am going to have to take a second look next time I go thrifting. I don't often study the framed prints and art at second hand stores. Perhaps I have missed a great treasure!

old wreath given new life

This old autumn-themed grapevine wreath was easily upcycled into something fresh. I just stripped off the flowers and leaves (they were glued on) and snipped the wires holding on the corn. The vines offered easy places to tuck in evergreen branches and holly. I didn't even have to use wire or glue myself, which will make it all the easier to use this base again.

Let this be inspiration for an old wreath that might be hiding in your basement or garage!

I hung it outside on the garden gate. Now just picture a light coating of snow frosting it…