Thank You

We'd like to send out a HUGE thank you to our February sponsors today. They're a talented bunch, and we invite you to give them a visit!

First up-



If you want to display pretty plates on your walls, Disc Hangers are the perfect way to hang them in style! Disc Hangers are so easy to use, and are completely "invisible", so they don't take away from the things you want to display.

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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Kat's 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.

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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 ideas, read about movies, and on occasion, see photos and read about Maya's own coastal home located in Rhode Island!

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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.

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Amanda's personalized, hand-stamped jewelry would make great gifts for children, friends, aunts, uncles, cousins, nephews, nieces, teachers, tutors, sisters, brothers, Moms, Dads, Grandmas, Grandpas and everyone in between! Oh, and if you don't see a design you're looking for on her website, you can contact her at queenbeedesigns@cox.net to talk with her about making you your own custom piece!

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One of my favorite places to shop on the web- the items on FarmhouseWares.com will help you rediscover clean, simple, comfortable living. Their fresh, new country style has an inviting vintage feel with an eco-friendly twist.

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The Paper Cafe offers a wonderful variety of designer paper lines, including Take Note! Designs, Three Designing Women, Whitney English, Hicks Paper Goods, Donovan Designs, Embossed Graphics, and The Paper Menu. From fun and sassy, to traditional and classy, you're sure to find just what you need for that special note, event, announcement or gift.

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Leen's vinyl decals are the perfect way to personalize your home. They are mess free, easy to install, and there are 42 fab colors to choose from! They can be put on walls, windows, doors, mirrors, and any flat, clean surface.

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For Love or Funny is a wonderfully humorous blog written by author, Lynn Wilson. You'll find posts about parenting, kids, dogs, culinary disasters, and everything in between.

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Greyfreth carries an amazing selection of found and handmade objects that are guaranteed to bring some soul into your surroundings.

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From tables and beds, to chairs and accessories, Hudson Goods carries a wonderful selection of items that will bring warmth, comfort and style to your home.

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At Skimbaco Home, Katja Presnal blogs about all things interior design as well as eye-catching home decor. She's all about living life to the fullest, and she believes it all starts at home.

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Sassy Foto is made up of a group of artists and consultants who utilize their talents to create timeless art forms from your photographic memories. All you have to do is send them a photo, and they'll use it to create a fine art oil or charcoal portrait. Pretty cool, huh?

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Piewacket is written by a commercial & editorial photographer named Lara who loves collecting, decorating, fashion, travel, billiards, reading, cooking, gardening, animals, writing and movies. Lara's goal is to inspire by sharing what inspires her, and she keeps her content fresh and original by using photos she shoots herself.

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The Perfect Little House Company was created to provide home designs that promote a sense of place and character- homes that nurture and look beautiful too. So if you're in the market for plans for the "perfect little house", give them a visit. You'll be so glad you did!

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Make Mine Beautiful specializes in work aprons for women who love to create, need to have everything right at their side while doing it, and want to look pretty in the process. My apron should be here on Monday and I look forward to wearing it daily!

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If you're looking for fun, rustic, silver jewelry- check out Madison Reece Designs. Each piece is handmade when you purchase it. You can even order custom designs too!

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"Juicy Christians" is about sharing your faith and representing Christ in a new way. When people see Juicy Christians jewelry, they ask you about it, and a door is open.

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Inspired by the distinctive blend of relaxed and romantic classics, Haley's Cottage carries beautiful home furnishings with a modern flair.

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Do you have a new camera that has tons of bells and whistles that you don't know how to use? Do you have a blog that you'd like to learn how to take better photos for? If you answered yes, you'll want to check out Angie's online photography courses. In as little as 30 days, you'll have a much better understanding of the features of your camera, and how to apply them.
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Thank you TLC Sponsors- you guys rock!

Layla

Flea Market Style Magazine

I was feeling extra translucent today (I don't get out much, and it hasn't been super sunny around these parts for quite some time now), so when I realized today was actually going to be a pretty day- I decided I should go out and enjoy it for a little while.

First stop, the Post Office to mail our last giveaway winner her sensational soap. Next stop, Burger King. Love that chicken sandwich of theirs! And after that, I headed to Books-A-Million to check out their selection of the latest and greatest in shelter mags. There's nothing like a wall full of brand new, beautifully-shot images of interiors to get my blood a-pumpin! (And since my skin is practically see-thru at this point, I'm sure everyone in the store was well aware of how excited I was too. I'm not joking. I've got purple lines running from my temples to my cheeks right now. It's nuts.)

At my Books-A-Million, the magazines are located all the way at the back of the store. Which is kind of a bummer because if they were closer to the front door I might actually be able to catch a couple of rays. Or in the very least, feel a little less like a vampire. But the walk across the ginormous store was good for me, and before long I found myself standing in front of my favorite chunk of shelves. You know the ones. They hold copies of all of our favorite "regulars"...Coastal Living, Better Homes & Gardens, Country Living, Kitchen & Bath Ideas, 100 Decorating Ideas for Under $100, 100 Ways to Cover Up the Veins on Your Face, 100 Ideas.....

Wait a second.
What was that last one called?



(Okay, no more skin jokes, I promise.)
:-)

As my over-stimulated, yet overjoyed eyes continued to make their way across each and every row, two hot pink words suddenly stopped them dead in their tracks.

"Huh? Hold up. There's no way. It's not supposed to be here 'til the 23rd?"

But much to my surprise, it was the magazine I was secretly hoping to find there today. I couldn't help but let out a little burst of excitement as I pulled it up and out of the rack...

I just stood there looking at it. Beaming and reading, reading and beaming. It was so much fun to finally see it after all these months of wondering what it would look like!

After a ten minute chat about why I was so excited with a very nice lady who happened to be standing next to me at the time, we hugged good-bye and I raced up to the check out counter. Even though I had originally wanted to spend some time outside of the house today, I simply could not wait to get back to it and read my new magazine.

So I'd like to send out a BIG thank you to Matthew, Ki, Linda, Sarah, Jenny, Tim, Heather and Stacey for creating another thing for this "homie" to be happy about today!



It's one of the most beautiful, fun and informative magazines I have ever had the pleasure of reading and I will certainly be referring back to it for inspiration in the future!

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In other news, Kevin and I will be re-guesting this nest this weekend, and I look forward to sharing some updated photos of it next week!

Have a happy weekend-

Layla

PS- There's a little ditty about TLC on page 29 of Flea Market Style magazine. Thanks so much to Linda for including us!

This post brought to you by...

Houzz Ideabook: Pillow Talk

Since buying our beloved fixer-upper back in 2007, we've pretty much been working on all the background stuff. Walls, ceilings, painting, re-painting, flooring, etc. But one day (over the rainbow) I look very forward to reeeeally decorating this happy little house too.

At the tippity-top of my decorating to-do list is throw pillows.

We got our sofa and chair-and-a-half at Total Liquidators in Montgomery, Alabama, and we've really enjoyed them for the past couple of years. The fabric looks and feels a lot like velvet, so they're super comfortable. The throw pillows that came with them are nice and plump, but they're not the most exciting pillows you've ever seen, and I'd love to hide them inside some more colorful covers at some point.

Move your cursor back and forth over the photo below to see what I mean...



Boy what a difference a few, fun throw pillows makes, huh?

For more throw pillow inspiration, check out my latest Houzz Ideabook.
It's called "Pillow Talk", and you can find it by clicking on the badge below!

Pillow Talk

Houzz

Hope you're having a great week!

Layla

:-)

This post brought to you by...

Guest My Nest - Tybee Island (Sneak Peek!)

I'd like to introduce an upcoming nest we'll be guesting sometime this Spring.
Meet "Just Beachy"...



It's a 2-story, single family home that sits on Tybee Island, just off the coast of Georgia near Savannah.



Owners Jimmy and Laurie invited us to come check it out, and of course we were ECSTATIC about their offer!



I've been dreaming about visiting Tybee Island ever since I met author, Mary Kay Andrews. She also has a house on Tybee she calls, "Breeze Inn"...



Check out some of Jimmy and Laurie's "before and after" shots:

Here's the kitchen before...



...and here it is after!



And here's the upstairs den before...



...and here it is after!



Looks like a pretty fun place to stay, eh?

:-)

You can see more photos of the house (and inquire about reservations) HERE, and Laurie and Jimmy's personal website is located
HERE

I look forward to writing a more in depth "Guest My Nest" post about our experience in the house, and on the island, after our trip.
(And of course we'll shoot lots of photos and video while we're there too!)

In the meantime, if you've been to Tybee Island, I'd love it if you'd leave us a comment about your experience there!

Happy Wednesday,
Layla

:-)

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Dining Table Transformation - Q & A's

Thanks for leaving me such sweet comments about my dining table re-do!
A few folks asked some questions about it, so I thought I'd answer those here today.

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What type of sander did you use to sand the original finish off?

I used a Ryobi hand sander I bought a couple of years ago from Home Depot...



I think it was around $30.

First I went over the whole surface with some 50 grit sandpaper. Then I went over it with an 80 grit, and finally with a 120 grit pad. I wanted it to be nice and smooth. (The higher the grit, the finer the paper)

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Why did you poly first, then paint?

I used poly first so that when I sanded back the paint, the right color would show through. I didn't want this color to show through...



I wanted this color to show through because it's was a closer match to my blinds...





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What is a "sanding block"?

It looks like this...



You can wrap whatever grit sandpaper you want around it. You can find them at any home improvement store.

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How did you sand in the grooves?


I took the sandpaper off my sanding block and folded it up like this...



Worked like a charm!

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What do you mean by "dry brush"?


Dry brushing is when you load a dry paint brush with paint, then remove most of the paint with by blotting the bristles on a paper towel before dragging it lightly across the entire length of the surface you're working on.

I used our Purdy brush to dry brush our table...





It is the best paint brush ever, and it's completely changed our painting experience.
(I'm not kidding!)


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What type of paint did you use?

I used water-based paint.

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Good luck fellow white-washers.
May the force be with you!

Layla

:-)

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