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.

Sew...I sewed my first projects! I am addicted...quilts, pillows and more!

   I grew up in a home with an amazing seamstress mom who sewed all my dresses for dances, made a quilt for my bed, sewed curtains and pillows like it was just something you whip right up. My mom made my bridesmaid dresses, my flower girl dress and my wedding dress for my weddings. She can always be counted on to help with Halloween costumes or something just for fun that she threw together with scraps. Watching my mom sew is such a memorable part of me growing up. I've always aspired to have her sewing skills. 

   Part of why I didn't start sewing earlier was that I rarely found fabrics that suited my non-traditional taste. Fabric just didn't do it for me.  Now, however, I have found fabrics I love that inspire me to make stuff. I am blessed to have a such a talented mom that came over to help me with sewing lessons and together we figured out my sewing machine and how to thread it right.  I've decided that was the hardest thing about sewing.  

   I am in process for two near matching lap quilts that fit over you perfectly in the recliner.   I am pondering finishing them off like the blankets that fold into a pillow, a "quillow". They were made popular in the 80's I read- a quilt and pillow- genius idea!  It gives you an extra added spot to put your feet in and keep them warm as the weather gets cooler. 

     My sewing enthusiasm led me to redo all the pillows on my couch with fabrics I had found I loved. I reused all the stuffing to make them and they make the room so happy and less drab and dreary. It seems I was putting them together in record time and my husband and daughter I think were quite impressed that I made 9 pillows in no time at all.

     I was pleased I used some of my recycled coffee bags as the backs of the pillows I had been waiting to do.  Somewhere I have a really cool long skinny flour sack I need to find and transform! I have been saving it for years as a to do project when I tackled my sewing machine. The time is near now....I sense lots more projects on the horizon!  What are your favorite sewing projects or crafty projects? I want to try more!!!

Create your own glass jewelry party!

I am constantly inspired by having jewelry parties in my studio.  It is great to have people discover their inner artist confidence. When the treasures come out of the kiln that they created, I am excited for them and feel a sense of pride for what they made.  I imagine their excitement when they get compliments on their jewelry and they exclaim proudly, I made it!  Gives me a little slice of happy in my world. 

This past weekend, I had one of my birth mom's best friends come over with her sisters and friends. There is something relaxing about a bunch of gals huddled over their art work making decisions about design while talking about life that is just such a great way to spend a few hours. It keeps me inspired.

Glass jewelry making party, September 2011.