National Parks Postcards

You may remember that we discovered some great vintage reproduction National Parks postcards when we were at the Grand Canyon.

Well, we saw a similar poster at Great Smoky Mountain National Park yesterday and wondered if we could find more of the postcards for the Eastern parks.  They didn't have them at the Visitor Center, but they did have notecards and we looked at the package to find the website where we could buy the ones that we want.

This is what the Smoky Mountain one looks like and there are others for parks we visited as well.  I'll be placing an order for a few when we get home.  Then we want to put them all in a large frame and hang it in our office with the rest of our travel posters.  So far, all the ones we've bought have this vintage look.  Kinda fun, huh?

Coastal Living

Even though we live in the desert, I love to decorate with a coastal/cottage feel. I guess I'm trying to trick myself into believing that I'm not in the desert. I also like the casual and comfortable atmosphere that it creates. Much better than something too stuffy when it's hot outside, I think.

Because of that, I LOVE Coastal Living magazine! I'm not subscribed right now because I was getting WAY too many mags and not finding time to read them, so I'm simplifying. The cool thing is that even without the magazine, I get their awesome newsletter which still links to some amazing decorating ideas. If you click on the CL link above, it will take you to the latest one.

And can you believe it? This is the first pic I saw. I love the 4 photos on the wall. They are so simple, yet so eye catching in the white room. What a great idea! The hardest part of that would be getting the pics onto a canvas.

If you like coastal or cottage decorating, be sure to visit their site often and click thru their great room ideas, recipes and more.

Little Updates Around the House
The last time Amy and Andrew were here, Amy was giving me a hard time about the fact that I didn't own an apron. I'm not sure why, but I've never really used one in the kitchen. My mom never did either, so I guess that's why I never really thought about it. At some point along the way, Amy has started using aprons, so she was disappointed that I didn't have one to use when she was here. Anyway, I was checking out the new Goodwill store down the street on Saturday and came across this one for just $1.98. Isn't it cute? And it looks like it's never been used! So now, I just need to start using it and Amy, don't let me forget that it's in the bottom drawer in the kitchen when you need it.

Here's another treasure that I found recently at a yard sale down the street for $2. It's an accordion-style shutter with working louvers about 20" wide and a little over 3 feet high. If you notice the Wheaties box on the shelf in the background you can get an idea of the size. It's a little dirty and I'm planning to paint it (black, I think). I plan to put it in the corner of my living room, behind my birdhouses for now. You can see that the corner needs a little something to add height & interest.

Drum Roll Please...
For those of you who aren't on Facebook, here's a link to a series of pictures showing the transformation of our front yard from haphazard, and relatively hideous to clean, neat and hopefully welcoming. Of course, you need to imagine all the plants and trees bigger and with flowers on them. Most of the plants we chose are flowering ones to add color to the desert landscape. We'll have purple, orange, yellow, red, and lavender when everything fills in.

Eventually we'll also be adding plants to the shelves in front of the windows, but I'm on the hunt for the perfect planters and that's taking a little longer than I thought.

I would have loved to have a lush grass lawn and a full cottage style garden, but that's not quite reality for Phoenix, especially if we want to honor water conservation and the fact that we live in a desert that hits 100+ degrees so many days of the year. Plus we wanted to make it as low maintenance as possible for Terry, but still have some usefulness, color and beauty. I'm actually pretty amazed that there are still so many nice plants that will survive in this weather. God is good in giving us beautiful things to look at even in the desert.

You'll see in this 2nd picture that we have a good sized patio for enjoy the outdoors in the cooler weather. We're talking about bringing our copper fire pit out to the front sometimes to enjoy evenings with friends (when it's cooler, of course).

Be sure to click on the link above to see all the steps that it took to get here. I hope you like it.

Why is that door green, you ask?

Sorry, I'm not sure what happened with the pics on my last post. If the ideas sound intriguing go to the website and see what I'm talking about.

Since the pace has slowed down over the summer and I've been feeling a little bored lately, I am trying to do some creative things at home...just little projects here and there to keep the creative juices going.

When I was at Home Depot the other day, I picked up one of these cans of RustOleum Chalk Board paint that can be made into custom colors. Unfortunately the colors shown on the can I bought were a little different than these shown at the link. These are updated with a bit more variety. Anyway, I had a can of Spring Green made up for a few projects around the house. BTW, the standard green and black can also be found in spray cans.

As soon as I got home, I painted the inside of the hall closet door, as you can see above. Here's my thinking...this door is directly in front of you when you walk in the front entrance. This way, if Terry or I are not crossing paths for some reason, I can leave him a note on the chalkboard and leave the door open, so there's no way that he'll miss it. Pretty cool, huh? I'm debating about painting the door between the Family Room and Laundry room the same way, as shown here at this great looking blog called, The Inspired Room (I'll have to go back to visit that one.) Not sure yet if I want it visible all the time...could look a little messy. What do you think?

The original reason that I bought the paint, was that I saw pics somewhere (in a magazine, I'm guessing) of some glass canisters with chalkboard labels and loved the idea!

First of all, you can clearly label and re-label any containers that you have so there's no guessing what's inside. Second, you can customize the color to match your decor. Third, you can re-purpose old containers to make them all spiffy and help save the planet with recycling as well. Just imagine all those glass jars in your house or that you see for pennies at yard sales or thrift stores (Linda) that could be dolled up with chalkboard labels and ribbons, then given as gifts or sold on Etsy or at your next community craft sale. This photo (left) will give you an idea of what I'm thinking. These labels have a more ragged edge than the ones I saw before, but you get the idea. You can go either way with that, make them larger or even round if you're skilled at painting. Once I get some finished, I'll post more pics.

Here are some other really great and unique ideas that I came across while searching for the photo of the canisters.

Tins with Chalkboard Labels - you could also do this with round tins of cookies or other goodies with a pretty ribbon and kind words for a teacher or friend
Chalkboard wall calendar - Martha Stewart's site
Chalkboard Idea Globe
I like this repurposed recycle bin with Chalkboard label
There are more great ideas here at The Pleasures of Homemaking - I think I'll steal the idea for the galvanized tub to do with my drink tubs for get-togethers. OH, and I can do the same on my large glass beverage servers to label, water, lemonade, tea, etc. AND on my coffeemakers for Regular and Decaf!

Wow! The possibilities really are endless! Let me know what else you've thought of for this great paint.

OMG and check out these amazing colored chalkboard MARKERS here!!! These are the kind that you see used often at restaurants to display their daily specials. I think they're worth looking into.

So do you have enough inspiration for the day? If you come to my house and see everything painted with chalkboard paint, you'll not it got a little out of hand. Have fun creating!

Next time I'll show you the fabric I bought for my sweet little fabric birds and we'll see if we can find a pattern for fabric quail. Has anyone seen one? I heard it's out there but haven't had a chance to look.

Birds...

Check out these adorable fabric birds that my dear friend, Linda discovered on The Yvestown Blog on her April 27th post. She's always on the lookout for great ideas to pass along, which is such a huge help! The post even has a link to the pattern, which I just printed out and it looks SUPER SIMPLE.

Linda suggested that I make some for my branch in the living room, which I agree is an awesome idea! I've had trouble coming up with something for summer and this just might be the answer. I think I even have time to do some sewing.

Now I just need to find some appropriate fabric.

Thanks, Linda!

Oh and speaking of birds, remind me to tell you Terry's latest bird story...kinda sad, but hopefully not tragic. Let's just say that no one's going to be calling him Dr. Doolittle anytime soon. I have pictures too. Stay tuned...

Interior Design Color Trends...it's fun to be ahead of the curve.

Check out this cool website for Colour Lovers! I do love color!

This link shows one of the latest trends in interior design colors. Green and White!

I've had those colors in my kitchen for a couple of years and have been adding more as I grow more in love with it. Here are a few pics from my kitchen below.

If I could afford it, I'd change the colors in my house nearly every season. I try to keep neutrals for the permanent areas like walls, floors, etc. so I can have as much flexibility as possible to change colors around. My biggest hurdle right now is my red (Pottery Barn) sofa that I bought at a yard sale before we moved in to the house. The sofa itself was a great price and is an awesome piece, in a slipcovered style. I thought I'd be able to buy more slipcovers for flexibility, but it turns out the slipcovers cost more than I'd normally pay for a new sofa, so that hasn't been in the budget. I don't really prefer those really loose slipcovers with no definition, but I was glad to see recently that Pottery Barn has come out with a more tailored slipcover that's not as expensive as the standard ones. They're still over $100, but I hope to be able to get one of those in a neutral maybe sometime this year. Then I can go crazy with my accent colors any time I want and look for inexpensive pillows, and decor on clearance and at yard sales, etc. That would be so much fun for me!

By the way, I bought this green & white tray and bowl at Target (on clearance) for a total price of $6. Cool thing is that I can use it for decor, and also for serving pieces.

I just used it last night, in fact. I'll be posting later about our get together with some old friends. Suffice it to say for now that there was much singing and music. There were 3 guitars, a banjo, a mandolin and harmonicas (all Terry's) until nearly 2 am! What a blast we all had! I love it when lifetime musicians get together and jam. You can just see the joy that comes thru in their hands and voices. This is what God created them to do and they are in "heaven"! Imagine what heaven will really be like with all those amazing musicians there! WOW!!! Can't wait.

Our house is almost finished being painted too! It turned out a little lighter than I expected but it's growing on me. We also repurposed an old french door to be a gate to our little atrium.

More to come on all this...

Have an AWESOME EASTER!!! Filled with the love of family and friends and the joy that comes from knowing that God loves you more than life itself! Ponder for a few minutes how that can even be possible...because it is!

Valentine Branch
I'm finally getting around to posting pics of my branch decorated for Valentine's Day.

I added a metallic heart garland this year and I left up many of the snowflake decorations that were up there for the winter holiday season, since February is a snowy month in most parts of the world.

I must say that the Valentine decorations are one of the sets that go best with the red sofa and other red accents in the room.

My pastel Easter Egg decorations are up now and I'm not sure what I'll do after that...

Any ideas?

If you haven't visited recently, be sure to scroll down and see the last post of Coffee Cup History below.

Seasons Change
Worked on getting out some Spring and Easter decorations today. I took down the Valentine's decor off my branch too. I'll have to post that later if I have a chance.

Here's the branch with Easter Eggs.

I realize that since the outdoors don't change much here with the seasons, I'm forced to change things inside just to have some variety of color and view. I get bored when things stay the same too long. It's the decorator in me. Fortunately, Terry doesn't seem to mind too much.

I also rearranged the living room after the holidays. Here's the new view. This one also shows what the branch looked like with our Christmas cards on it.

Shredder likes the new arrangement because she can sit on the back of the sofa and soak up the sun in the morning. Now I have my eye out to get a new slipcover for the sofa. Pottery Barn has some now that are quite a bit cheaper than the standard ones. I'll probably look for some kind of a neutral so I can change all the accent colors as much as I want. The red is a bit limiting, although I've found ways to work with it over the last few years.

Decorating Dreams...
If you have a chance to get furniture with slipcovers, it's a great idea! I love the fact that I can change the covers to get a new look without buying a whole new piece of furniture. The two chairs and ottomans in my living room are from Ikea. They were originally intended to be in two different rooms, but have found a home here together in the living room. As you can see from the before and after photos, one had a navy cover and the other one was tan, which was fine, but not the best. Cool thing is that I found these white slipcovers at Ikea for CHEAP. I forget exactly what they were but somewhere around $20 each or something. I wouldn't even be able to buy the fabric for that price. Anyway, normally I wouldn't choose white, but since we don't have kids at home anymore and since I can just throw them in the wash, I thought it'd be worth a try. I had the yellow print fabric from some that I had bought to make pillows (which I never got around to) so that helps where people's feet go. I like the white since it's more summery.

Now the red Pottery Barn sofa was bought at a yard sale for a third of it's normal price and I was so excited. Red isn't one of my favorite colors, but I've made it work over the last few years. I would really love to get a new slipcover for it though, because it definitely dominates any direction I can go for the room's color scheme. I think a denim would be nice or a blue ticking stripe or even white or a cool slate blue. I've even thought of black, but I'm afraid it might fade too easily...not sure. Mainly I want something that's somewhat neutral so I can change out the accent color easily. They're pretty pricey at PB though. I was trying to see if the Ikea sofa slipcover would work on it, but so far no success...I still haven't given up though.

Anyway, I've been having visions of a new beautiful color scheme of black, tan and white (with punches of another color changed thru-out the year). I would hang black and white print (maybe toile) drapes (nothing too frilly) and add a few black & white checked pillows and other accessories painted black. I think it would really dress up the room, but still be comfortable. I could even paint my dining room chairs black to tie in that room. I've seen examples in bedrooms and bathrooms, but not much in the living room yet. I just need to do more searching. Picture the comforter below as curtains and the pillows as throw pillows on the white and black (or tan) furniture.

I even saw some amazing black and white print dishes similer to the ones below that I could put in my white hutch that would be very cool as well. Of course it would be a work in progress and I'd be bargain hunting all the way...

The back part of the house would still be more beachy with blues and greens, but I think there's enough separation between the two...not sure about the whole thing. Just mulling it over. I think it would go well with all the white and tan that's already there though.

What do you think?

More treats from the Beach House:

Wow! I've been so lax in my blogging...just too much going on and not enough energy at the end of the day. Today I was able to spend the day at home, so I got caught up on a few things around the house as well as email and reading my regular bloggers. Now I'm more motivated to post.

This time I'll share a few more of my favorite photos from the beach house. It was such a fun place with little treasures all around as you'll see from these shots. Sandy is a great decorator. She's made the beach house beautiful, inviting, comfortable and fun!

I just love the fly swatter clock. Isn't it adorable? The fly is the second hand, so it's constantly moving.

The hula girl lamp is perfect for southern California and the frog prince fountain sits at the corner of the jacuzzi. How fun is that!

The two other shots are from the guys practice times. What a treat to be able to listen to them play all those oldies for hours.

Fall Decorating in Arizona
Remember when I mentioned that I had found the perfect branch for my house? Well, this weekend I cleaned it up and varnished it and now it's hanging in my living room. I thought it was appropriate that it have Fall leaves in October, so that's what I did. The silk leaves are hanging from little clips on hooks that I bought at Ikea. I think their original purpose was for curtains.

I'm looking forward to doing lots of fun things with my branch. How about icicles and snowflakes in the winter, Christmas ornaments in December, Hearts at Valentines' Day, Family photos at birthdays, etc. I'd love to hear other ideas as well.

Here's a closer shot and a few other pics of fall decor. See, we have ways of making it seem like Fall in the desert even if it doesn't really look like it outside.The Grandma Perkins sign is special because I found it pre-made at a craft store in Ohio (where I grew up) and my grandmother really had a pumpkin patch or more like a roadside fruit and vegetable stand. I remember one year she ran a special for all the pumpkins you could carry for $1. It was so funny to see all those big farm boys trying to carry as many as possible to the cashier without dropping them. Oh and her name really was Perkins! How cool is that!

Before and after:

I mentioned that I did some updates around the house on Labor Day weekend and here's the first project.

Lesson Learned: This day reinforced to me how much more I would be able to get done at home if I could work a 4-day week. (Even if they were 10-hour days.) I am realizing more and more, that I do so much better if I can start on things as soon as I get out of bed. I don't stop for breakfast or to get cleaned up for the day, I just dive into the task at hand and work until it's done, carrying my coffee cup or water around with me and literally grabbing bites to eat as I get hungry. I just don't have that same energy or motivation after work and we usually have social or church plans on the weekends. I truly believe that if I had a day at home when most everyone else is at work, I could tackle all those projects that have been piling up over the years. ...so that is my prayer and goal...that we would find a way to do that this year.

Anyway, this particular project was really no big deal. I had bought 3 different sets of curtains and curtain rods at Ikea a few months ago (white, brown and aqua). I had some ideas where I wanted to use them, but hadn't decided for sure. So on Monday, Labor Day, I woke up with the challenge of actually doing something with the curtains that had been sitting in my scrapping room for all those months.

Now here's the sad and scary part. As I was getting them out of the bag, I noticed that the receipt was still in there. When I looked at it I was shocked to see that I had bought them on September 2nd, 2006! LAST LABOR DAY!!!! Talk about procrastination or poor time management or something! I just couldn't believe it. Pretty sad, that I hadn't made time in a full year to hang a few curtains. WOW!!!

So, the project itself was simple. As you can see, I decided to use the brown curtains in the office to cover the closet. We had removed the old metal louvered doors that were in the house when we moved in because they were in pretty bad shape. So until we find a more permanent solution, the guitar storage needed to be covered (sorry Terry). I think the chocolate brown looks great with the "Little Pond" blue walls and the dark wood of the desk. The room also looks so much more tidy as well.
Just an added note for anyone who might know... I have been trying to find mirrored sliding french doors to use in the closets, but haven't seen anyone who carries them. If you have any ideas, please pass them on.

And just for fun, here's my screen saver. Isn't it cool? It matches the room and makes me feel like I'm still sitting on the veranda at Crater Lake, enjoying the view. Love it!

There's still more to come on my Labor Day projects. This is just the first one. Enjoy!

Here are a few treasures that I picked up when I was in Ohio to add to my coastal themed home in the desert.

Click on the pic of the towels to see the close-up. They had a different hand towel for each day of the week...all with a beach theme. They were awesome! I wish I could have bought them all.

I found the towels and the "Sailing" sign at the same store, where I also ran into a woman that I went through school with. Her name was Sandy Lane and she remembered me after more than 30 years! How crazy is that! Talk about a small town! It was so strange.

I found the divided wooden box at the candle store where I also found these candles and votive holders. It's hard to tell from the picture how nice the blues are, but I love the colors.

We also found these vintage Ohio notecards at an antique shop and some old Vermilion postcards as well. I love the notecards with the sailboats on it and the one with the barn too. I may have to frame those and hang them up.

I'm looking forward to finding more "beachy" treasures when we go down the Oregon coast on vacation in July. Can't wait!!!

Scrapping Room:

As you may have noticed, my posting has slowed down. This seems to happen when I'm gearing up for a big event at work. We have a 4 day retreat coming up with 35 couples coming March 1.

I'm coordinating the event so there's lots still to do. So I'll be a bit distracted over the next few weeks.

I did want to show everyone a sneak peek of my scrapping room that I'm setting up. The first picture is before (well it wasn't really that bad. I embellished a little, but you get the idea).

The next picture is about halfway there. I love all the fun Ikea organizers on the wall and am having fun filling them up. I found the clear topped tins online. I'll post later where I got them...great prices!

I'm about 3/4 of the way done now, hoping to finish this weekend, then I'll post the final product. I'm very excited! There's even enough room to set up a 2nd table if someone comes over to scrap with me.

One quick post, then I'm outta here for today!

Just a little tease about our Bisbee trip. This is a branch that we saw in one of the local Mexican restaurants (Santiago's) when we visited in December. I also saw a similar branch in a magazine with photos hanging from clips. I LOVE IT!!! I'm not really into ultra-modern things but somehow I think this is cool. You could change the decorations with the seasons. I'm thinking I'd hang things from those drapery clips from Ikea. Things like photos or Christmas ornaments or postcards or mittens or whatever strikes my fancy.

Now I'm on the lookout for the perfect branch. Let me know if you see one.