Fire Pit Project

My son is seven and among his favorite things "behind Legos and before sweets" is making an outdoor fire. He's not a pyro or anything like that. He just likes shootin' the breeze around a campfire and roasting marshmallows. As I write this, I realize that his request for a fire pit may have been one elaborate ploy to consume marshmallows. Ah, well, taken again by a child.

Yesterday he and I procured some circular stones and built a small fire pit for our small back yard. As my mother-in-law said, its big enough for fun but small enough to quell the chicken's rotisserie fears. We'll be firing this baby up as soon as the rain clears, but until then, take a look at our latest edition to the back yard!

DIY Flour Sack Roll

This year, I've been making a handful of gifts for family and friends. Nothing spectacular, mind you, just some upcycled materials re-fashioned into something useful. One of my favorite projects is a brush or crayon roll. It can be filled with markers, pencils, paint brushes, make-up brushes, knitting needles, crochet hooks, screw drivers, or silverware!

This year, I've been using vintage flour sacks to make my brush rolls. The nubby texture is beautiful. I tie my rolls with ribbon or hemp twine. I don't have a pattern, although there are lots available. Instead, I free-hand the rows of stitches on the sewing machine.

What hand made goodies are you making and baking this year for the holidays?

Make Your Own Garden Structures

My backyard has seen a lot of changes this year. We tore out a dead tree, built a new patio, replaced the fence, created a vegetable garden and are in the process of planning for backyard chickens, which will arrive in the fall. However, the new addition that has brought me the most pleasure in the garden is the arbor my Mom and Stepdad built for me this winter. I have spent many happy hours lolling in that bench swing dreaming and scheming.

Now that I've attended to the more practical aspects of our backyard reconstruction, I would like to add a little more architecture to the space. I am also interested in adding some surface space on which vines and taller plants can grow. This will increase the greenery foot print and create some vertical visual interest. I have a power drill, a saw and lots of scrap wood and paint. These seem to be the ingredients for a DIY obelisk. I will probably be using THIS tutorial from Cottage at the Crossroads or THIS one from Flower Patch Farm House. But until I can get started, I'll be browsing different shapes and styles like the ones below for inspiration.

DIY Hemnes Side Table Hack

I have a pair of matching black Hemnes side tables from Ikea. They're great looking cheap little pieces, one of which I bought from the As-Is section of the store. Now that I have a new bed with a lower platform profile, I need shorter side tables. It's all part of my bedroom makeover.

Yesterday, I chopped three inches off of the table legs. Now they're the perfect height for my bed! I also spray painted some gold accents to freshen up the look of the tables. I also wanted the tables to fit in with some of the midcentury pieces I brought into my bedroom as part of the makeover. Here's what I did and what tools I used.

I removed the bottom three inches of the legs using a ruler, a pencil and a power saw. I sanded down the edges. Then I taped off another three inches of leg in preparation for spray painting. 

I spray painted the tips of the legs and the drawer pull using Design Master Spray Paint in Antique Gold. I found it at Michaels. Ta da!  40 minutes top to bottom. I'll be sharing my full master bedroom reveal in the coming week - just as soon as I get my artwork back from the framer!

Houzz Tour | Nat and Dana Pugh

Last week I posted a little sneak peek at Dana Pugh's house. And as promised I'm back this week with the whole she-bang! I love covering homes for Houzz.com because I always meet the most creative home owners. Dana is an interior stylist who spends her days knee-deep in vibrant paint samples, bold patterns and flashy home accessories. But when she returns home from work, she needs a palate cleanser. Neutrals reign supreme at the Pugh house.

Dana and her husband, Nat, have created a serene, creamy-hued dream home using natural materials, vintage furniture and lots of unique found objects. To see the full article and see more photos of Dana's home, click HERE.

photos by Sarah Greenman

Once again, check out the full article on Houzz by clicking HERE.

Find Dana blogging at Tattered Style

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Painted Potting Hutch

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday! 

We're still rolling around the house in a food stupor. 

How about you?

I finished my potting hutch! Given the ice and wintery weather, I haven't had time to set it up or use it much. But I have big plans for this baby and hope to make it 'central command' when my garden gets going in the spring. I painted it bright turquoise with a can of gloss "oops paint" from Home Depot. I also painted the knobs white and left the glass in tact for now. Here's a peek:

Family Manifesto

As I settle more and more into my role as "mama" (my kids are 3 and 6), I yearn for repeatable traditions and celebratory patterns to share with my children. My goal as a mama is always to create a healthy sense of wonder and simultaneously, a sense of confident emotional safety for my children. At this particular time of year, I tend to draw hearth-side and ruminate on the way in which I want to live my life. So, in the spirit of intentional living, my little family sat down a few nights ago to create a Family Manifesto.

The idea was inspired by Amanda Blake Soule's book Rhythm of the Family, in which she outlines ways for a growing family to live in harmony with nature and with each other. It's a great read if you haven't seen it. Our family manifesto is basically a contract between the myself, my husband and our two children that outlines how we'd like to spend our energies. It is a reflection of what we deem important in our day-to-day life. We'll be doing this four times a year at the beginning of each season since the needs of the family will undoubtedly change as we do.

We've framed the image below and hung it in a prominent place in our home for quick reference and frequent reading. My 6-year-old came up with the first four, but they're all goals that every family member agreed to and endorsed. I think this will be a wonderful way for our boys to help direct the course of our home life, but also a great exercise in collaborative living.

New Bed = New Room

"I love your bedroom! Why are you changing it?" The reason is simple really. My husband and I need a new bed. The canopy is lovely, but my son, who has Cerebral Palsy among other things, keeps cracking his head on the corners of the hard wood, threatening to fall from the bed, which is rather elevated and insists on crawling under the bed only to be met with years of dust bunnies and other icky stuff. And as all of you decor obsessed readers know, a new bed means rethinking the whole space!

I don't use Polyvore much - or at all really - but for this project I wanted to put a few things together to see what it might feel like. So here is my crappy mock-up. Again, this is not what the room will be, just a feeling of the room.  The walls are already painted in a sable gray/brown called Ashwood by Behr. It's a little lighter than the color of the bed and I love it. So that won't change.

Here's what I already have in place. We've removed the yellow Ikea canopy bed to make room for our new midcentury style upholstered platform bed. We got the new bed from a store in Dallas' Bishop Arts Disctrict called Simply Austin. It arrived earlier this week. Oh, it's so wonderful!

There is also a window above the bed that I have to work with. I already have the black Hemnes Ikea side tables, but I'll be taking a few inches off of the legs to create the right height for the bed. I may also dip the legs in brass colored paint to give it a metalic look. And I also have a pair of wonderful midcentury club chairs in yellow. Remember these guys I picked up last year on the Dallas Craig's List?

I really want to create some surface space on the side tables for books so I'm going with wall sconces. After looking around, I was floored by the expense (sheesh). Then I found this pair of swing arm sconces at Amazon for a good deal. 

source

For months, I've been watching the amazing art work of Jenny Andrews Anderson on her blog, My Favorite and My Best, wishing that I might be able to purchase one some day. This month, the fates aligned and I have acquired a wonderfully colorful piece, ready to be framed and hung on the wall of my bedroom. It's called "You Can't Play the Drums", which is funny because my husband is a great drummer, and it measures 24" x 18".

Art by Jenny Andrew Anderson

So, goodbye beautiful canopy bed...

I have loved sleeping on you for the past five years.

Stay tuned for the reveal - before Christmas is my goal!

Houzz | Recycled Bohemian Greenhouse

Most of you know that I'm a home tour contributor at Houzz.com. My most recent article is not a home at all, but rather a greenhouse. Thank you to Brandi, of My Flights of Whimsy, who introduced me to her mother, and greenhouse owner, Carolyn Pace. I love unique spaces, and Carolyn's greenhouse is really special.

Carolyn says she’d rather be up to her elbows in dirt than cooking in the kitchen. So when a small tornado demolished her backyard pole barn, the Centerville, Texas, resident worked with her husband, Gary, to transform the damaged structure into a greenhouse. “The old barn was falling apart; walls blowing in the wind and full of debris,” says Carolyn. “The tornado came through and created the perfect place for a greenhouse.” Now Carolyn can nurture her “green babies” all year long.

Click HERE to read the full article and see all of the photos!

And don't forget to enter our current giveaway from Octavia Bloom Jewelry.
You could win a $60 gift certificate! To enter, click HERE.

I'm going to make a potting hutch.

You know how furniture just makes its way into your life? A friend stores something for a friend and then asks you to store it for a while and then the piece slowly becomes yours as you realize no one is coming for it?  I've got this dining room hutch that doesn't really fit with our decor, but it's been in my house for two years now and I can safely say, it's mine.

This week, I'm going to cover this bad boy with turquoise paint and move it into my backyard where I will jimmy-rig it into a potting table with tool and chicken feed storage. Here's a shot below of the hutch (far back corner of the photo). I'll probably just take the upper cabinet doors off the hinges so that I don't have glass in the back yard.

I picked up a can of "oops" paint at Home Depot a few weeks back for 5 dollars - bright turquoise in a semi gloss - perfect for an outdoor project. I'll throw a base coat of Kilz on the hutch before painting and I'll be ready to go!

Hopefully it will look like the examples below. 

So stay tuned for the reveal on Friday!