Birds of a Feather Decorate Together

This morning I awoke to the sounds of quacking. The Gunn swimming pool had become Lac du duck.

This sighting reminded me of the bird and nest trend and I decided to see what I could find.

There is of course the classic Harry Bertoia bird chair and ottoman. It is available in several color choices that you can view on http://www.knoll.com/ . I think....pink.








Wouldn't this fabric be great as drapes? It is in petal at http://www.robertkaufman.com/ .






This "Early Bird" light fixture would be so sweet in a nursery or perhaps a reading corner. You can find it at http://www.uncommongoods.com/ .

Whimsical kitsch at its best. http://www.find-me-a-gift.co.uk/

Truly fabulous decor is found in London at The Electric Birdcage.

Peep Party Cup

Every Easter I try to make my wee special peeps something special. With the current economy I tried finding inspiration at the dollar store.

I found the paper party cups and crepe streamers in the party section. ~$2.00
The pipe cleaners were in automotive. ??? ~$1.00
The paper crinkle shred was in the gift wrap section. ~$1.00
I had the the lace, ribbon, glue, and vintage paper posies and peeps at home. But I did see new peeps and silk flowers at the store as well.
Using plain white glue that I had purchased for another dollar store project I glued the pipe cleaners onto the paper cup.
I took a small section of crepe paper streamer and gathered it on my sewing machine to create a “cuff” to place around the paper cup. (You could also do this by hand.) I then glued the cuff to the outside of the paper cup.

Then the fun began. I added a wee bouquet of flowers and some pretty lace and ribbon onto the crepe wearing cup. A bit of paper shred and a sweet peep were placed in the inside of the cup.

Here is Sweet Boy’s cup:
A perfectly pink treasure for my Fashionista:

With Easter fast approaching I thought you may be pressed for time so I made an extra 8 cups. They can be found in my Etsy shop.
Happy Spring to all my special peeps! I hope you have been inspired to create your own dollar store treasures.
Laura

Anthro Inspired Dishtowels

I decided to attempt to create a dishtowel as cute as those found in a certain favorite store of mine, but for a bit less money. Ok, ALOT less money. 

 

I began with a stack of towels from the kitchen section at the Dollar Store. You should have seen me searching through an entire wall of towels trying to find perfect colors and construction!

 

I then went home and grabbed my small remaining stash of vintage 1940’s scraps and created a few yo~yo’s. (If you don’t know how to make a yo~yo, Heather Bailey has a great tutorial.) I also sorted through my vintage trims and selected a few quaint buttons. You certainly could use new fabric, trim and buttons, but this was a great way to use what I had on hand.

 

After creating the yo~yo’s I then took a sweet button and hand sewed each button and yo~yo onto the front of the towel. 

  

I then added a coordinating series of trims onto the hem of the towel with my sewing machine. I think they turned out pretty cute!

For those of you who don’t sew, I have stacks of towels that I am currently working on. I have already added several to my Etsy shop.

What have you created from a Dollar Store find?

Laura

Flora, fauna and other fine things

I almost passed right by this orchid trained to grow out of the tree. After that, I began to pay more attention and found this same treatment in numerous yards located in Key West.

The tropical color was just breathtaking.

I wonder if this homeowner ever gets asked for directions?

Does anyone know why so many chicken roam freely in Key West?

It is almost a requirement that all tourists visit the home of Pulitzer and Noble prize winning author Ernest Hemingway. This is the second story view from his home.

There were several lovely Venetian chandeliers in the home, this one was my favorite.

Sculptures in the marbled master bath.

Art Deco era tiles in the downstairs bath.

Archibald Macleish, one of the many six toed descendants of Hemingway's cat that freely roam the property.

Hemingway's office. Do you feel inspired?

Only 90 miles to Cuba and 90 minutes to brush out the wind blown hair.

Alice in Wonderland Labels

Recently Lindsey from Living With Lindsey issued a challenge. Create something cute using only $5 worth of products (or less) found at the Dollar Store. I would like to think I rose to the challenge by creating some unique mailing labels.
I found a pack of 3 x 5 cards that featured graphing squares versus the usual lines. ~ $1.00
I went to the kids section and picked up a simple watercolor paint set. ~ $1.00
In the teachers section I selected one bottle of white glue. ~50 cents
The last thing to go into my basket was a packet of scrapbook paper. ~ $1.00
I then went home and made a blessed mess.
I printed some Alice and Wonderland images found on the computer onto the scrapbook paper and cut them out. I also punched out some fun shapes and printed out the phrase “Where In Wonderland Are You From?”.
I then spent some time playing around with the layouts and then glued everything down. Tip: I placed the images under a heavy phonebook while drying so the edges wouldn’t curl up.
I love the colors in this label.
A vertical layout emphasizes Alice’s long neck.

Sweet springtime shades.
Pretty in pink.
I photocopied all of the labels once they were dry and now all of the packages I send out from my Etsy sales will have a sweetly creative touch.
Did you rise to the challenge?
Laura

My other entries were:
Paper Doily Garland
Anthro Inspired Dishtowel
Peep Party Basket

Springtime Soiree~ Party Favors

This spring I will be attending a few gatherings and parties as well as hosting one. I needed 24 swap gifts  for an upcoming luncheon and decided to share the sweet scents of springtime by creating lavender sachets.

I found 25 muslin bags on Etsy and stamped a sweet tweet onto the front of each bag. (You can use any type of stamp, but make sure your ink works well on cloth.)

Each bag received a teacup full of dried lavender. (I purchased a half pound of lavender on ebay.)

I then typed up “Happy Spring from Decor to Adore” and printed this onto a piece of pink cardstock. (You could use any color.) The greeting was punched out, stamped and hole punched. I then attached the tag to the bag along with a sweet gold button that featured a floral motif. (The buttons were leftover from a past project~ wouldn’t pearl buttons also be lovely?) 

I so wish that there was a “Scratch and Sniff” button on computers because the scent is SO heavenly.

Since I had a bit of lavender left over I filled up a few other bags that I had sewn up.

I also took scraps of various fabric I had on hand and sewed them together to create a bag. After being filled with the dried lavender they were closed with a vintage pin. 

The next few weeks with be devoted to springtime ideas and crafts that I hope you will enjoy.

Laura

Good Friday

A very Good Friday indeed. We arrived back home safely late Wednesday night. I will be sharing wonderful photos of our trip to Key West and Cozumel early next week.
After classes, I spent yesterday afternoon preparing for Good Friday dinner and Easter brunch. I love creating tablescapes and was so happy to see cheery daffodils at Trader Joe's. They were less than $2.00 a bunch and have just the right amount of springtime color for a lovely table.

This lovely nest by Williams Sonoma (http://www.williams-sonoma.com/) will also be on my table. It is currently on sale.

This morning we will be heading to see the "Bunny Man", aka The Easter Bunny, for pictures. I normally do not leave this annual visit so late, but I think this early Easter has sprung up on everyone.

Perhaps we will also swing by Food City, a market with wonderful Mexican delicacies, and see if they have some fun Cascarones. These confetti filled eggs are supposed to bring good luck when cracked open over the recipients head.

I love decorating with eggs. Here is our German feather tree featuring a few eggs we collected in Austria and Bavaria.

On our buffet I have placed German straw rabbits and paper mache eggs.

I love these felt eggs that I found on Etsy (http://www.etsy.com/) by Pinksweetie.
Also on Etsy was this fun necklace by PreciousMeshes.

My favorite eggs by far though are the "Resurrection Eggs" we made several years ago. They are a perfect way to teach children the story of Easter. Much like an Advent calendar, you begin 12 days before Easter and open one egg each day. Each egg contains a bible verse and a small token that represents the verse. There are wonderful sites such as http://www.christian-homemaking.com/resurrectioneggs.htm and http://www.rainbowcastle.org/resurrectioneggs.html that provide instruction on how to make the eggs. You can also purchase the eggs pre-filled at most Christian bookstores or sites such as http://store.dayspring-store.com/reeg.html .

May the gift of His everlasting love be a wonderful blessing in your life. Happy Easter!