Sponsor Shout Out #2

Today we'd like to thank the rest of our radical sponsors!
They're a great group of folks, and they're blogs/products are a huge source of inspiration me and Kevin.
We invite you to give them a visit if you see something that tickles your fancy too!

First up- Stanley from Disc Hangers!



If you want to display pretty plates on your walls, Stanley is the man to see about hanging them in style! I got a whole bunch of them last year, and couldn't wait to hang up the plates I had been collecting...





Disc Hangers are so easy to use, and are completely "invisible", so they don't take away from the things you want to display. Awesome!

PS- They are also 100% safe to use on antique and collectible plates as well! Too cool!

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Lisa Leonard from Lisa Leonard Designs



Lisa creates beautiful, simple, meaningful pieces that can be worn with jeans or your little black dress. Her custom jewelry can be hand-stamped with your kids’ names or a special phrase or verse. These are two of my favorites pieces:


(Sweetheart Tree Necklace)


(From Up Here Necklace)

Lisa also makes awesome pieces for men...



Can't you just see one of these with "My Wife Rocks" or "I Love My Wife" on it? :-)

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Dee from Red Letter Words

Dee's faith-inspired art is both beautiful and meaningful. You'll find everything from canvases, to prints, to greeting cards at Red Letter Words.




I love this cheerful, new piece she recently added to her gallery...




Such a fun and friendly reminder!

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Lori from White Flower Farmhouse



Lori believes that simple, country style should be inspired not expensive. So she scours estates, farmhouses, barns and shipyards for antique relics and cast off gems that reflect her signature simple, country aesthetic.

Lori helped us deck out our mantle this past Christmas with a bunch of treaures from her shop...



And I'm still lovin' these vintage movie theater marquee letters I bought from her last year...



I also got a soap-on-a-rope from her recently, and can't wait to use it as an accessory in our guest bathroom!



If you've never visited White Flower Farmhouse, and plan on heading over there today, I must warn you- you are going to want to buy every. single. thing. :-)

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Kristi from Just Simply Southern



Kristi is a stay-at-home Mom, living in South Texas, who loves all things decorating and design. She creates these delightful distressed frames, complete with magnetic button for displaying your most treasured pics...




She sells them in her Etsy shop, which you can find HERE!

(And if you want to check out her fantastic blog, click HERE!)

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Kat from EngLady



Kat beautiful and versatile pieces can be worn at the office, or at an elegant affair. Each piece is crafted of quality metals and hand-selected stones. She designs jewelry as a creative and joyful escape and hopes to impart some of that bliss to those who wear her pieces as well. Here are some of my favorites...





But this one, I got from her last month, is my ultimate fav! (Thanks again Kat!)



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Maya from Completely Coastal



At Completely Coastal you find selected nautical and beach-themed products for the home, including handmade decor by artists and artisans, posters, prints, books. You can also browse beautiful interiors, get inspired by great craft project edeas, read about movies, and on occasion, see photos and read about Maya's own coastal home located in Rhode Island!

Maya recently blogged about the "Nights in Rodanthe" house...



...click on the photo to read all about it!

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Sarah from A Beach Cottage



Sarah blogs about fixing up and decorating her wonderful old cottage by the sea. She's all about low-dough decorating, and her motto is: "if it doesn't move, paint it white"! You will love her blog and hearing how she describes her casual lifestyle by the sea.



If you haven't been there already, you must swing by her place today, and don't forget to check out the rest of her AWESOME before and afters while you're there!

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In other news, we picked up a great new...well, actually old, super inexpensive mirror for the guest bathroom this past week. Here's a sneak peek...



It cleaned up beautifully, and I can't wait to shoot some updated shots of the room with it hanging in place!

And we also brought home something else I'm really excited about too...



Looking forward to blogging about this great old guy next week! :-)

Guest Bathroom Reno - Day 82

Yeah. That's right. I said it. Day EIGHTY. TWO. That's almost three months working in a runty room with no windows and a toilet, thankyouverymuch.

Okay, fine. I haven't spent half as much time in there as Kevin has.
No, on any given day of the week you'll find me working in my spacious (it used to be a master bedroom), yet undecorated, home office that has three, count 'em, three big windows.

(Here's a sneak peek of my office. I shot this photo the day of our Nest magazine shoot.
The room is much messier now.)

Truth be told, I think Kevin is starting to look at the guest bathroom sort of like it's his arch nemesis at this point.



Don't get me wrong, he is loving how the room is shaping up, and he can't believe that he is actually responsible for its so-far-so-good transformation- but after EIGHTY TWO days of back-breaking, stinky, dusty, wet, sticky, messy, seemingly never-ending work, and having to tightly strap more than one piece of equipment to his face at a time, he is definitely ready to wrap this puppy up! Plus, he's a big "natural light guy". I'm tellin' ya, the stuff seriously dictates his mood. There's nothing like a dimly-lit room to majorly mess with his mojo.
I just keep rooting him on and assuring him that all his hard work will pay off in the end! (At least I hope it does!) :-)

Anywho...as you can see in the photos below, we changed our minds about installing the beadboard ceiling. For some reason whenever I announce a design decision out loud, I always end up doing something different. Announcing things is like the kiss of death. That poor beadboard never had a chance. :-)
Instead, Kevin removed the drywall ceiling, and uncovered the original tongue-and-groove wood planks that were previously hidden above it...



The color of the wood matches the top of the farmhouse table, the new flooring and the new mirror (more on that next week) just perfectly.



Of course we had to document this part of the reno on video, so that we could watch it when we're too old to rip down ceilings and install crown molding anymore...



Happy Weekend!

Layla

Houzz Ideabook- Beyond the Bed: Decorating the Wall Behind Your Headboard

This weeks Ideabook is all about the wall beyond your bed.
Click on the badge below to check out how some fellow Houzz members made their headboard walls look even happier!

Beyond the Bed: Decorating The Wall Behind Your Headboard

Houzz- Kitchen Design, Bathroom Design and More»

Browse by Space and Style- For Example:

Traditional Kitchen · Contemporary Bathroom · Mediterranean Living Room · Traditional Bedroom · Modern Dining Room · Modern Homes · Modern Patio · Modern Landscaping ·

Find Home Improvement Professionals- For Example:

Los Angeles Architect · Los Angeles Interior Designer · Los Angeles Contractor · San Francisco Landscaping ·

Don't have a headboard yet? Not to worry- My ideabook also contains links to some great tutorials that will teach you how to build one!

Angela Walker Jewelry Giveaway Winner

Congratulations to...



Becky!



You're the winner of the Angela Walker Jewelry Giveaway!



Just drop Angela a line at angelawalker@speakeasy.net to claim your pretty prize!

:-)

Inexpensive, Handmade Valentines Day Craft Idea

With Valentine's Day right around the corner, and a non-existent budget to shop with, I've been searching the internet for free-yet-fun gift ideas this past week. I fell head over heels in love with the following project and I thought you might like it too. :-)

"Library of Love"



Here's what you'll need to get started:

- Some type of small box to hold your library cards
(I used an old recipe box that holds 3x5 cards)

- Several sheet of heavy, white card stock

- Scissors

- Good memories!

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First, make a list of special dates, moments, and memories you want to include on your cards.

Next, using the Card Catalog Generator, create a custom card for each special memory you'd like to include in your box. The Card Catalog Generator will allow you to replace the book numbers with special dates, and the book titles with whatever you choose to title your card. You can also add what are called "scribbles" in three different places on each card. The really add to the vintage look of the cards.

Finally, print out each card and cut them out. They print out at 72 dpi, and they're a little smaller than 3x5, so you might need to adjust the size of them in another program before you print them out if you want them to be 3x5's. I used Photoshop to enlarge mine, and they since they're only 72 dpi, they did print out a little blurry, but they're still clear enough to read, as you can see in the photos above.

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Thanks to Grace Light at Poetic Home for posting this awesome idea, and happy crafting y'all!

Layla