Happy Mother's Weekend!

Mother's Day? Pssst. Not in this house.  Between trying to make my mom feel special and being made to feel special by my husband and son, one day just doesn't cut it.  

Today has been as close to perfect as things can get in my world.  The three of us started the day by heading to an estate sale. No Jenny Lind spool chairs, but I came across a box of costume jewellery necklaces.  

Nothing at the sale was priced at all, so I asked how much they wanted for the whole box.  

Are you ready?  $3.00. 

This picture isn't great, but it shows the 18 necklaces I wound up with. 

The long dark teal one got some air time around my neck for the rest of the day!

We meandered along to another sale a few blocks over where they REALLY knew how to host a tag sale. Everyone there was wearing money belts and they had food and drink!  Hank was treated to a big chewy chocolate chip cookie.

I found these pictures:

They are seven water colours of various landmarks throught the world.  I like the pictures, but more importantly the frames match my hallway decor.  At $7.00 for the lot, there was no passing them up!  Best of all, they have a Simpsons tag on them!  If you're not Canadian and born later then about 1985 you won't have a clue what I'm talking about. Suffice to say Simpsons was a department store that closed down in 1991.  Seeing their branding is a blast from the past!

My mom came over for afternoon tea.  I made her an angel food cake from Better Homes Cookbook.  I bought some bright flowers put the shortly trimmed flower heads in bud vases, tea cups and egg cups.  Boy it looked nice.  Nice enough to take a few pictures, but I forgot to put the memory card in so that moment is lost forever.  Ahh well.  My mom appreciated the effort and that's all that mattered.  

I got her these adorable ceramic and gold goose measuring cups from Anthropology.

It went over well!

We went to see my sister and when I returned Jason surprised me with my Mother's Day present: he fixed my bike!  I'll be honest.  I haven't ridden it since he bought if for me in 2007 (eep), but Hank loves to go for rides with Jason and now I can join in too!  We went for a 40 minute cruise around our neighbourhood and down by Lake Ontario.  It was so picturesque.  I forgot how freeing it feels to ride a bike.   It was truthfully the best gift.  What a day! 

Tomorrow we have another Mother's Day family event and some relaxing.  I hope you're enjoying your weekend and appreciating all the moms and mom-like people in your life.  

Happy DIYing!

A new obsession, quite literally overnight.

Alicia over at Thrifty & Chic has a great blog and on Mondays she reviews model homes in her area.  This past Monday she showed this navy blue and pink themed home.  I noticed the living room chairs with the bead-style spindles right away.

Alicia's picture of the living room

My immediate thought was that they were a vintage find, repainted and reupholstered.  Between Monday and Friday I thought about these chairs more and more.  Last night the obsession culminated into a google search frenzy.  Where to begin? What to look for?

The bead-style of the turned leg reminded me of a Jenny Lind bed

Jenny Lind bed from Land of Nod

  So I started my search there.  Sure enough, Land of Nod has a Jenny Lind style chair:

Land of Nod - $999

Something in my searches led me another name for this little beauty, a spool chair.  This seem to get the best results.  Lay-Z Boy actually sells one too for between $1,500.00 and $1,700.00.

Another retailer, Z-Gallery, sells a similar item for $599.00

Z Gallery

I'm dying to get a couple of these beauties into my living room space but buying two just isn't in the budget right now.  I'm convinced I will be able to find something at an antique market, flea market or consignment store.  It's probably going to to take a while, but I'm patient.  With garage sale and antique market season upon us, my dream might not be so far off.   Speaking of which, I'm headed over to an estate sale and some garage sales this morning.  Wish me luck!

What are you obsessing over lately?

Happy DIYing!

More office updates

My work office is coming together. This is how the unfinished cork board looked

Here it is with some washi tape to jazz things up

I bought three inexpensive rolls to cover the board and some other pieces.

Once I started, I pretty much went to town with it! Washi tape is so easy and fun!

The book shelf isn't done, but it's looking better!

Lastly, I bought this little guy. 

A metal alligator is just so pleasantly unexpected. I couldn't pass him up!

He may have a face for radio, but I love that toothy grin!

Happy DIYing!

Mini Office Update

I bought a couple small items to style my bookshelf.  Ultimately, the shelf has to contain my files since it's a functional shelf and I have to keep my files organized using the filing system common to my office which isn't exactly pretty (although very functional).  I wanted a shelf or two to be more appealing.

I went to Target and found this beautiful faux coral

It is large enough to make a statement on a shelf without taking up too much space.  I bought a couple frames from the clearance section as well (the Nate Berkus line is amazing). 

I can't make any permanent changes to the office space or the furniture so I'm looking to apartment and dorm-dwellers for inspiration with temporary design ideas.  I bought blue poster tack and I intend to use it with some wrapping paper to cover the interior of my book case and make it a little more special.  I need a paper that is pretty, doesn't look cheap and thin, has a subtle and light print,  is preferably matte finish and doesn't cost a fortune.  I may be looking for a long time. 

I'm also interested in Washi Tape.  Have you heard of this stuff?  It's pretty decorative tape that comes in a thousand different designs, styles and widths.  I definitely think I can do something with it!

Washi Tape from Michaels

There are tons of cute projects on Michaels website and I haven't even touched Pinterest yet.  I have a couple ideas for some blah office supplies. 

Happy DIYing!