bakers twine - use #5

the 'may flowers' open house is today and tomorrow in the gift shoppe.

i always like to do something special for those that visit, usually i (or my mom) bakes something. remember the cupcakes from my last open house? well, i'm mixing it up this time. with spring in the air every person that makes a purchase will receive flower to plant.

i just got the six-celled packs they sell at any flower shop. i tied them up with some baker's twine and sky blue gingham fabric. wouldn't this make a great favor for a wedding, shower or dinner party?

have a great weekend everyone!

your own art is the best art {part 2}

so, i took some more pictures. i would LOVE to know which one(S) are your favorites! don't forget to include the ones from my post ealier today.

your own art is the best art

last summer i purchased a louisa weeping crab apple tree. when i purchase it i was told it would have pink flowers in the spring. so, , i'm excited that it survived the winter. and second, aren't the flowers beautiful?

as i mentioned before i am not a professional photographer and i just use a basic, basic digital camera. so i may not win any awards, but i am thrilled with how they look. do they look ok?

over the past two days i've probably taken 200 pictures or more of these little flower. thank goodness for digital cameras! about 180 of those 200 are deleted. these are some of my favorites so far (yes, i'm going to take some more pictures). what i want to do is get 9 or 12 pictures i really, really love. print them out (maybe 8x10), frame them and hang then along a wall or above a bed. who knows?

i just think they need to be seen, rather than sitting lost in my computer. right?

last year i did a similar project in my dining room with pictures that carried the color scheme of my dining room. remember?

i just think art that you create is so much more unique and special. and original! no one else will have something quite like it. that's cool.

AND...

i love, love this scribble art i saw the other day over at young house love.

looks amazing. right? and so professional. add it to my increasingly long to-do list. you can see the full tutorial here.

i know it's really basic and simple, but i just think it's brilliant. i do.

two words ...

... love it!

Upholstered Slipper Chair - West Elm

just so you know ... daylilies

remember last week i showed you how i added some day lilies to my little backgarden project?

so i didn't really explain. some of you may already know, but daylilies are quite amazing. Probably 8-10 years ago (wow, that's hard to believe) my mom planted four daylilies. over time the plants got pretty big, along with their roots. why are they so amazing you ask? well, once they are establish you can easily split the daylily to plant somewhere else or to give to a friend! it's super easy... just grab a shovel and dig (at least that's what I do) ... just make sure you get some roots and you are good to go.

this video will explain it better...

From my mom's four plants over the past two years i think i 'stole' over 20 daylily plants!! amazing. right? they do start small, but grow so quick! and the best part is, they are already acclimated to this climate so their chances of survival are that much better. look a bud is coming already!

This process works with most perennials too! I have another little flower bed full of perennial from pieces of others plants. in fact, last year my neighbor's sister gave me a piece of a hosta that was from a plant that was originally on this property some 50 years ago or more! too cool. welcome back hosta!

I am used to the standard yellow day lily, but i wanted some red/orangish ones to plant along the strip of my side walk that leads to my front door (i'll show you when the arrived and i get them in the ground). ebay never seems to disappoint, so i did a little search and found exactly what i was looking for! and they were only a dollar a piece. nice!

last year i planted annuals (impatiences, i think) and it cost me around $35 to do so, and they didn't even look that great. then in the fall, they had to be dug up and thrown away. (i hate that part.) not this year ... i'm using daylilies! i only spent $24 on my and i will never have to plant them again. sounds like an amazing deal to me.

how have you made your planting easier and thriftier?

april showers ...

... bring may flowers! and aren't they beautiful!

this weekend join us at Old Charm for anonther fabulous Open House!!

Friday & Saturday :: April 30th & May 1st

Noon - Five

Free gift with every purchase and check out our facebook page for a coupon for 15% off one item!

We hope to see you there here!

inspired by ... vivaterra

wow. so i just got the new vivaterra catalog in the mail yesterday and i want about 60% of the things in the catalog. although, while i love this catalog, in my opinion, some of their prices are just absurd! i don't understand how things can cost that much. honestly.

anyway. here are seven of my favorite things. some are actually priced appropriately or on sale. others may just act as inspiration.

Railroad Tie Console Table

more of an inspiration piece here. not paying $800! anyone know how to weld? love this whole collection.

Succulent Wreath

i like one pictured in the catalog better. again, total inspiration piece. i'm loving all the new wall gardens/living walls. have you seen them? cool. right? (oh and i just subscribe to that magazine. told you i was obsessed!)

Black River Stone Mat

Not sure i'd like this for a bathroom, but i'll take two! one for my front door and one for the back. they are on sale and the price seem somewhat reasonable.

Temple Bells

these are actually one of my favorites. again, on sale and a pretty good price. i'm going to save up for these. i think they would look ah-mazing hung from my trees (once they get a bit bigger of course [i do want to find a little buddha for back there too!).

Buddha Bowl

awesome idea! just love these (in the white of course). i'd use mine for cereal. i actually have some large mouth mugs and i don't like them for coffee/tea. the wide opening seems to make the beverage go cold to quick ... but i love a handled cereal bowl!

Pink Quill Volcano Plant

such a cool plant. planted in a lava rock of sort that holds moisture. too cool. too cool.

Topiary Garden Forms

i freakin' love topiary forms! of any shape and size. i'm just so attracted to them. and these ones are just great, and on sale! love it!

i hope you likes my finds. what were your favorites?

just an update on the garden

remember last week i showed you the progress on my little mini garden project?

well on tuesday i got some daylilys from my mom's house, broke them up and planted them.

see?

they are quite small at the moment, but should fill in quite nicely. here's hoping they root well and survive!

i think the 'green' was much needed. next i want to get some large rocks in the woods behind my dad's house. i would just go do it, but it's probably going to take 3 or 4 people to lift one rock. thank goodness for older brothers. right?

to say i'm a bit behind is an understatement

sorry i didn't get back here yesterday. wow. i decided to put in a new ventilation fan in my bathroom. i figured it would take about an hour... maybe 1.5 hours. wow. was i wrong! 4 hours later and seriously frustrated, i finished.

maybe things like that are why my unread magazine stack looks like this...

yes. yes. i do subscribe to a lot of magazines. and i love them all for their own unique reasons. you could call it an obsession. (wait till i show you all the articles, pictures and recipes i've torn out of past magazines)  usually i have plenty of time (or excuses) to get lost in them, but lately the pile just keeps climbing. (in fact, i think there is another dozen or so in a basket under my bench in my kitchen.... who knows?)

i've even stopped flipping through them the moment i see them in my mailbox. they just get stacked on the pile.

i need some serious magazine time...


to drool over the 50 pancake and waffle recipes in may's food network magazine.

or how i can upgrade my garden for $75 in may's this old house (i wonder if i could hang a swing on my porch... hrmm)

and then the new martha stewart living came earlier this week. look at those colors!! if i was a color story. that would be IT! orange and green with a splash of red. beautiful!

or maybe i should start with january's (yes, i am THAT far behind) better homes to figure out how to get organized.

it's supposed to rain all next week. perhaps i'll catch up then.

made my day ...

... check. it. out!
click HERE.
i'll be back later.


oh.. and on a seperate note, did you watch Glee last night? wow. so amazing. i really do love the show! Sue's performance of vogue. come on!? awesome. but my favorite was the end number of like a prayer. you can watch last night's show here or here. or if you are not a fan of the show (which i don't know how you couldn't be) at least watch their version of vogue here. i love being able to watch tv on the intnert. who needs dv-r?

do you think they mind?

hellowdy! so, over the past two days i've literally taken hundreds of pictures of the blooms and buds and anything else pretty sprouting around my house. (dispite the fact that i'm sure my neighbors and everybody driving by thinks i'm crazy with my camera inches from my subject... and probably standing/sitting/laying in the most peculiar fashion.)

but i don't care. they can think what they'd like.

anywho, i love close up shot of flowers and buds and pretty much everything. I just use a basic point and shoot camera (nothing fancy here - although i would like to get a 'fancier' one without spending thousands - i'm open to suggestions).

i was wondering today as i was snapping and snapping and snapping if these guys (and ladies) mind me getting all up in their business.

i know i would never let someone take a picture of me this close!

back up.

but aren't they beautiful?

i guess when you are this stunning you really don't mind how close people get.

it seems they are designed for people to get up close. maybe.

don't you love tulips!? i wish they lasted all year.

but then again, maybe that's what makes them so amazing and beautiful.

a little allium bud. just planted these bulbs last fall. so happy to see you guys!

not quite ready to open.

tada!

wow. now that's close! but ah-mazing. right?

and a little apple blossom i had to remove from my espalier. but it found a home in a vase in my kitchen.

i wonder what will come up next?

inspired by ... sarah's house

hey everyone! hope you had a nice weekend. it snowed here and was/is quite cold. i honestly can't take it anymore. spring/summer, wherever you are, please hurry.

thank goodness for my cozy quilt, tv and a good book. speaking of tv, do you watch sarah's house on hgtv? it is by far, sorry candice, my favorite show on that network. sadly (or maybe not so much), it has become the highlight of my week! and let me tell you, this week didn't fail.

if you don't know, this woman (Sarah Richardson), buys a house (or in this case a farm) and resigns the whole thing. you could say she's a 'house flipper', but she's so much more than that.

this week she did the main bath in her farm house.

stunning right? and i got goosebumps when she used gray and yellow. (remember i mentioned i wanted a grey and yellow room) and my goosebumps got goosebumps when she did it with a country twist. amazing.

this bathroom isn't huge on space, but she takes advantage of every inch she can. i love that. i can't ever imagine living in a big house where it's a struggle to fill every space. i love a smaller home where you actually use every room and take advantage of every space...comfy and cozy. anyway, the vanity is an old workbench she painted, added a marble top and sink. perfect. vintage light fixtures and a marble floor. so cool.

told you it was country. look at that sweet duck! (well, it's kinda ugly...kinda, but i think that's why i like it!)

a beautiful modern shower with glass enclosure. see the black stripe in there? they are little bitty black tiles with subway tile below and a molding tile above... brilliant!

and the clawfoot tub. amazing. totally vintage with a fresh coat of yellow paint. beautiful. and those curtains. super pricey ( i think $130 a yard.. wow!) but totally worth it right?

so, there are several pages you can check Sarah out. please be prepared to be inspired. Here's the list. (spoiler alert... be warned if you are watching the show... it actually airs in Canada first, so some of the images on these sites are showing images of rooms that haven't aired yet on hgtv in the state. not a huge deal, but i was a little disappointed to see some of the spaces finished before seeing the process on tv.)

anyway, here you go. i'd love to know what you think!

HGTV Canada - Sarah's House

HGTV - Sarah's House (and i personally hate the HGTV (US) website.

not user friendly ... at all. agh.

Sarah Richardson Website

Sarah's House on Facebook

oh, and my friend, kim, over at newlywoodwards did a great post about sarah last week. check it out!

summer reading list ... 2010

first things first, welcome to all of those visiting from thirtyeight20 (isn't their house beautiful) and notes from the heartland. these lovely ladies both did a post about inspired by charm here and here. thanks so much for the generous, kind and thoughtful words! this is what it's all about!

so, even though i will probably only finish one of these books this summer (as i mentioned before i'm not a big reader ... even with blogs, i just tend to look at the pictures and skip the text... but i'm trying to be better) i still think it's important to have a summer reading list. a good excuse to relax, to be selfish and spend a moment (or several) lost in the pages a book.

to make things easy for you, you click on the book title below each image and it will take you to the appropriate amazon page. cause if you are anything like me, you need to read the reviews before purchasing. and if you have read these books, please let me know your thoughts. or maybe i should switch one book for another? the only book i bought (and am currently reading is the lovely bones) nothing else is set in stone. (oh, and i did have one honorable mention... or maybe a fall read. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. Its seems like it may be a series of books? anyone read any of them? thoughts?)

so many questions... to little time.. anyway, here goes..

The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold

reading this now. so far, so good!

The Happiness Project ... - Gretchen Rubin

 i'm sure you all heard of this. she had a blog, and great inspired videos.

The Last Song - Nicholas Sparks

want to read before i see the film.

The Help - Kathryn Stockett

Adventures in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass - Lewis Carroll

i can't say i've actully read this. sad, i know. but i want too.

Little Bee - Chris Cleave

i think i'm most excited about this one. i will read this after the lovely bones.