Ladder towel hangers

I think the idea of using objects in interesting ways adds so much interest to your home. These ladders were old family heirlooms from my grandparents basement. With a coat of my favorite color of spray paint, they were livened up to give some new life to them and repurposed to hang towels in our bathroom!  

 I think they are pretty cool, how about you?  What objects do you like to give new purpose to?

Distressing about it

I am just loving distressing just about anything. This ugly table got a makeover with some lovin' from me. It brightened up our room, I just adore how it turned out. It was most recently painted black. It was making the room really dark and I wanted a change. I sprayed some sea green and olive green paint over it, sanded down the edges to show some of the black and wood through it and presto! It was that easy. I have a few others of these, I think I may have to tackle a few more of them. I like the detail on the front facing and love how the edges of the legs rough up.  Just love the instant character it got.

Sealed with stamps

We had a beat up old table that worked as a great display of my husbands stamps he'd been saving for years on old envelopes. It was my daughter and I's project for a present for him. We were trying to be top secret about it, but I think he figured us out. It turned out to be quite a quirky little display of stamps. We put them on with decoupage medium, our favorite all purpose good for just about everything goo. :)

Letting go of crafty control is ok, in fact, I encourage it as a mom.

There is little I like better than crafting with my daughter. She is amazed at everything I show her how to do and eager to try it. She can get a little frustrated at her skills, but I keep telling her that is why we practice, to develop them more. I have to remind her I have a few years of experience on her. That I bet when she is as old as I am, she will be so much better.

I was pretty excited to work with my daughter on a project for her room.  We had a new chandelier light to hang in her room and some plain white chandelier shades to customize.  I had my own idea of what to do on the shades, and my daughter had her own as well. 

She had picked out fabric that she liked and wanted to use for her projects. She wanted to simply cover each shade with fabric.  I wanted to do all sorts of fun things to them and make it much more complicated that she did. I envisioned them all the same, using the variety of fabrics she selected.  I had such heartache when she wanted to simply cover them with three different kinds of fabric. Two cotton fabrics and one shiny satin dark pink.  That makes no sense to me. Why not use the three of them on all three shades and do some cool layering and textures. 

I thought- "That's it?!?!" Just simply cover them? 

She knew that that was what she wanted to do though, and good for her, she stuck to her desire to do simply that. "It's my room and my light and that's what I want to do," she exclaimed to me. Well...I couldn't disagree with that, so simple was going to be ok. I tell you though...

I had a hard time letting go of my desire to have 

crafty control on this project. 

But I want her to be able to make her own decisions and stick to it, not having a mom that questions everything and tries to get her to do it her way. After all, there are so many ways to do something and they all have their own beauty.

I showed her how to roll the shade to get the shape that will fit over the shade, she was completely impressed with how I knew how to do that. Kids sure can make you feel so smart sometimes!

Her focus on this project impressed me. 

She knew exactly what she wanted to do. 

It was nice to see her so focused on something. 

This quilt my mom made with her impressed me too. My daughter got to pick out all the fabrics, when I first saw them, I thought-

"Oh no, we have to put that in her room?!?!?" 

My crafty control wanted to take over then too, but I fought it off.  Now I have to say I am quite fond of it and means much more that she picked it all out.  She has such a sense of pride about it too. That is something I couldn't give her by doing it myself. I love that she was so decisive when she was picking the fabric out.  She had a list of colors that just did not sound good together. But, somehow it all worked and brings such a happy focal point to her room!  

I've decided it's much better to let go of that desire for crafty control.

It turned out just gorgeous. More importantly, she loves it and is so proud to tell others that she made it. As a mom, my advise is let go of the crafty control you want to have over your kids to make it perfect in your eyes. When they make it themselves with a little guidance, it's perfect in their eyes...that is what is most important.

Personalized happiness at work

It's no surprise that I like to create little pieces of happiness in so many ways. Finding joy in the small things gives me such satisfaction, especially when I create it myself.  Having an office cubicle that looks like everyone else kinda drives me completely nuts. I have to add little bits of color and whimsy to make it more "me". Below is a little sampling of some of the things you will find on my desk at work.

I had a little fun with my mousepad and some scraps of fabric.

It's different than any other one I have seen. I useed some fabric that I had at home...makes it feel more like my home away from home.  It is comforting to be reminded of my home at work.

Working overnight, espresso beans come in quite handy on the graveyard shift.  I work at Hallmark, and you know...you get a ton of cards working there.  I took a used glass container, cut up a card from a co-worker to use as decoration and made a 5S label for my bean jar. I love it and it's a great way to reuse a glass jar and transform a card into something I look at every day. Looks like I need a refill on my beans though...

 I need a little light therapy working at night. I customized my lamp shade using some Hallmark tissue paper I got in my wedding gift from the Hall family.  It's my way of showing my brand pride while I'm at work, it shines all night long and tricks me into thinking I should be awake.

I love this coffee mug I ordered and designed on zazzle.com of my hubby and I. It says "WE SAID" "WE DO" on either side of the picture. On Zazzle's website, the wide variety of products to personalize delights me.  I went a little crazy on it before my wedding personalizing everything from the ties for the guys with my own unique design to stickers.

The coaster below it, was made in my studio at home during a day of co-worker bonding. We each drew a name and had to make a coaster for their desk.  The one made for me I just loved. It it so colorful and interesting.

We all have cork boards in our cubicles, but you know me, I couldn't deal with the color that everyone else had. So I recovered it years ago in my favorite funk green color with a staple gun so it's removable for future users. It is much nicer to look at. 

My writing utensil mug I painted over 10 years ago at one of those paint your own pottery stores.  I have used it on my desk where ever I have been since then. My taste hasn't changed much, I still love it. 

I manage the party department, hence the party letters. I like to say I party all night long.
~Whoo Hoo~

Even my time adjustment box I had to decoupage with some tissue paper. I can't leave anything to be just plain I guess. I sometimes just look at things and brainstorm on ways I can transform them in even just the simplest of ways. I am a big fan of rearranging. In fact, after I took my break and took some pics on my desk, I rearranged it all. Ah, such satisfaction. That is also the only way I can get myself to do a good cleaning. It's how I trick myself into being neat, which I have a tendency not to be most of the time.

 There is a big trend in personalizing...I think I fall right into it. 

It just makes your surroundings feel more comforting and more you.

Unusually Silly Decor!

When decorating, I find it much more entertaining to keep a sense of humor, whimsy and a little bit of happiness inserted in design.  It is fun to surprise others and make them smile.  All over the loft, we have elements of silliness.  We just can't take ourselves to seriously.

This deer rack (?) just cracks me up. We are not the hunter types. This, in my house, just makes me smile strangely.  We got this from my new found birth mother & her boyfriend.  The day I met her, my daughter was fascinated by the deer head in their living room.  They told her it got stuck halfway in running through the house. This reminds me of that day meeting her.  I remember a letter she wrote me when I was born said she liked to decoupage, so I always thought I would like to do that because it must be in my genes.  I wanted something to make us all smile and think of that day and my new found relationship with her.

We are suckers when we see a unique sign. This one was found on first weekends in KC where there is a tremendous following for finding treasures in the west bottoms area.  We got it as a wedding present to ourselves...we thought it would make a crazy headboard! Since both sides are funny, we decided to hang it so you could see both sides.  The other side says "Whirls for the Girls".  I like the "OH BABY WHAT A Sensation" side the best.  Perhaps because of our love of advertising and signage, we tend to like our art spelled out with words.

We just giggled when we thought of this in our non-traditional bathroom. Bathroom humor makes everyone chuckle with a little awkwardness while their eyes wonder in deep thought on the pot.  It's great to see peoples reaction to it. I think we leave it there for some shock value.

More bathroom humor. We can't get enough of it. Sometimes it's on the entrance to our bathroom...other times it's by the tee pee paper. Shhh!!!! Quiet on the potty chair! 

Inspiration for a shower...need I say more. So cute.

Yes, of  course this hangs over the toilet...duh!!!

Time limit on the toilet. I know...this is getting out of hand. We have a parking meter there often as well. Pay for your time....time limit expires and you get a ticket!

Another crazy sign we couldn't pass up for it's uniqueness. Could you imagine this?

We hide "the hand" all over the house to surprise each other. Sometimes it's peaking from under a towel, around a mirror, under a pillow or bed. It's just out silly way of having fun. I know....we're an interesting family.  "The hand" even follows us in suitcases to make us laugh out loud when we are unpacking somewhere.  It's our way of saying I love you...with the dead looking creepy hand.

Admit only one in the bathroom.  

We don't follow the sign's instructions very well most of the time.  

Need I say more? Enough said.

And the ever cool CAMPUS QUEEN lunchpail, complete with thermos inside! I'm waiting for my daughter to appreciate this enough to want to use it at school just to be a little different than a disney princess bag for a change. Until then, it's on my shelf by my chair...because it makes me smile! 

I'm sure there are many that don't share our sense of humor in decorating, but smiling at silly things around you isn't so horrible. Lighten up a little. Live a little. 

And...as my hubby always says...

HAVE FUN!

~REvEaLaTiOns~

Those that know me may have a perception of me that I am an extrovert, a social kind of person that loves to be surrounded by people. I walk around downtown visiting with neighbors and store owners and stay involved and busy to the point that people wonder when I sleep.  I have a secret for you.

I could be a complete home body. I love being home. There is something about home that makes me so happy just to be...home. Nothing gives me greater comfort, makes me feel at ease and makes me feel like I can be me.

 (I have an obsession with painting my home's walls) 

I love quiet time. I love TIME. Time to be. Time to learn. Time to be inspired. Time to create something that makes my soul smile and boosts me from my insides. That is what art does to me. I create art in my home. Being surrounded by my own art as well as the art of those I admire, my daughters art and my husband's art just makes me feel good.

I know. You are thinking- your husbands art?! I bet you didn't know David could be crafty!  He's made glass jewelry, slumped wine bottles in the kiln, cut glass, helped refinish furniture, got into demo when we remodeled a building...and this guy never used to do all this stuff! He did cut and paste a paper together for a long time, so he was 'organizing advertising paper crafty'...but I don't know that he ever claimed that as an artistic talent before.

Guess what he is doing right now?! Cutting out stamps from letters that he has saved for years.  I mean YEARS AND YEARS. He wants to decoupage them on something yet to be decided. I am so excited to see what he does. I love to see he and my daughter create. I sense their accomplishment and pride when they make something that didn't exist until they created it. If you think about it, it will be like the old cut and paste newspaper advertising days. I think he could get into this stamp decoupage project.

I will never forget the time my husband and I made our headboard out of 3 old doors that came out of the store downstairs.  (Thanks to Debi for the fabulous painting already on the doors). David was so stinking excited and proud of what we created together. On our loft tours he gives, he always beams over telling people we made that together.

I think that means I should plan some more David and Mer family projects to build together in our home. Oh who am I kidding, I have a never ending list of projects to do! My list never ends.