I'm OK with this type of Scale

In honor of my Mom's birthday today, I wanted to show a collection that was inspired by her.  (But first, here's a picture of her along with me and my husband from a few years ago)  :)

When we were growing up, she had all sorts of great antiques, especially old scales.  She and I were shopping at the Portland Expo a few years ago and she found this one.  She was so excited to have found it in such good shape.

The couple she bought it from were so nice!  They invited us to their house later that night to see their extensive collection of scales, coke machines, general store memorabilia, etc.  It was the most fun ever!!  Not long after this trip, my Mom was diagnosed with cancer.  Eight months later, she lost her battle.  My Dad gave me this scale right after she died.  It absolutely means the world to me.  Every time I look at it, I remember how happy she was to find it and how much fun we had looking at the couple's collections!

I had been collecting my own scales via ebay, the Portland Expo, antique shows, etc.  Here are a few others that I love.

These are all fun as they are so tiny.  I'm always excited when I find them at antique shows. 

Most of my scales are candy or general store type scales, but some are scientific and postal scales.  The scientific scale on the middle shelf here was one of the first ones I bought.  I love the milk glass trays.

The burgundy Toledo scale is another of my Mom's that my Dad gave me.  Love, love, love it too!

Thanks for coming by.  I really appreciate your visits and comments!

Pam

p.s.   I would like to add a BIG THANK YOU to Lisa at Serendipity Chic Design  for sending me these salad tongs for winning her recent giveaway.  I love her blog and love these tongs!

I am linking to the following parties:

A Stroll Thru Life's Tabletop Tuesday

The Gypsy's Corner's Three or More Tuesday

Happy St.Patrick's Day!

I bought these shamrocks (above) a week or so ago from Trader Joe's and they're hanging in there!  I covered the dirt in reindeer moss which I can't get enough of.  (It doesn't die...  Or maybe it's already dead??  anyway, love it.) 

We sent the boys off to school today in my favorite color:

And I attempted to work on the split pea soup that my husband & mom started yesterday...  And the bottom dropped out of the blender which made my pup, Ashby, very happy.

{"Happy St.Pattie's Day to you too Mommy!!!"}

On a related note, the new cabinets are painted now:

I taped the fabric to the backs of the panels because we couldn't find our staple gun.  (The sad part is that now that they're up I have no incentive to search for the staple gun.)  Now I need to get that drywall handled and switch out the plywood top for a stone one. 

But plywood'll work for a little St.Pattie's Day bar tonight. 

Hope you have a great one!! 

 

ps- Thank you so much to everyone who made it out to Apartment Therapy Night last night!!  Desire @ Sukio was an awesome host it and was a lot of fun. Will post some pics on facebook soon!!

If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

Cute Graphics + Ikea = FAB Pillows!

I made some fun and easy pillows this weekend.  I think they turned out great.






I started with this pillow cover that I purchased at Ikea.

I used this graphic that I found on  The Graphics Fairy's blog.  I absolutely LOVE The Graphics Fairy's blog!!   I flipped the image so it would work correctly when I ironed it on the pillow.  You can flip an image in Picasa by pressing Control/Shift/H. 

I bought this package of Jolee's Easy Image Transfer Sheets for White Fabrics from Michael's.  I saw on The Mango Archive's Blog that she used iron on transfers on dishtowels.  I figured it'd work on pillows too.

I copied the graphic onto the transfer paper using my inkjet printer.

  The directions on the transfer paper say not to use directly on an ironing board, so I used our old bread board with an old pillow case over it. Then I put the bread board and old pillowcase INSIDE the new pillow cover.   I didn't want the graphic to somehow get heated to both sides.  (not sure that it would have, but didn't want to find out.)

I ironed the pillow a little, so the major wrinkles were out, but didn't go crazy getting it perfect.

I then cut the transfer paper.  But please note--cut closer to the image than I did here!  This was my first attempt and the transfer paper does show up around the edges. You need a little bit of an edge--about 1/2" is probably good.  

I placed the transfer paper on the pillow cover and made sure it was centered pretty well.

I used an iron without steam set on COTTON.   I put the iron on one spot and held it for 20 seconds.  I would then lift the iron up and set it down on another spot for 20 seconds.  I made sure all of the areas were ironed, especially the edges.  I probably set the iron down at least in ten different places to make sure I got everything.

I peeled the paper backing off carefully and the image stuck to the pillow.

On this one, you can see where I messed up and didn't cut close enough to the image, so you can see the transfer paper.  I did cut the paper closer in pillows I made after this one and they all look great.  Even though the edges show up on this first one, it is not nearly as noticeable once the pillow insert is put in. 

Here's another one I made.  I collect old scales and love this image too! 

I am so happy with my new pillows.  I even made some for birthday gifts. 

Here's the breakdown in cost:  (if you're one of my friends who received this as a gift, you can quit reading now!)  :)

Pillow cover:  $6.00 Ikea

Pillow Insert:  $6.99 Ikea

Transfer paper: $0.60 each Michael's.  (a pack of 10 was $6 after coupon)

Total per pillow: $13.59!

Thanks so much for coming by.  I appreciate your visits and comments.

Pam

Please check out these parties that I've linked to:

The Graphics Fairy's Brag Monday

Between Naps on the Porch Met Monday

Someday Craft's Whatever Goes Wednesday

No Minimalist Here's Thursday Open House

Tales from Bloggeritaville's Thrifty Thursday

Hooking up with House of Hepworth

Somewhat Simple's Strut Your Stuff Party

My Romantic Home's Show and Tell Friday

French Country Cottage's Feathered Nest Friday

Bargain Hunting with Laurie's Favorite Things Saturday

Tatertots and Jello's Weekend Wrap Up

Funky Junk Interiors SNS#73

Debbiedoo's Newbie Party

Dittle Dattle's Amaze Me Mondays

The Stories of A to Z's Tips and Tutorials

I Heart my Crafty Cutter's Party

The Lettered Cottage's Tuesday Tutorial

Our Kitchen/ Pantry Demo & Redo Part 1

You might remember that I have  had a pantry in my kitchen covered by oatmeal-colored painters's dropcloth curtains:

When we moved in it was a gaping hole that exposed a funny little pantry.  It held a LOT of stuff but in the most unattractive, unorganized, RIDICULOUS manner:

{scaaaaaary}

We've lived something like the above photo since we moved in almost 2 years ago and kept it hidden behind the curtains.

{more scariness}

We've planned since Day 1 to eventually tear it out & open up the wall above the closet and then add cabinetry up to the ceiling for intense storage.  Yesterday afternoon around 1:00 we were at Lowe's picking up some top soil and grass seed (our lawn is pathetic) and a pergola when we wandered into the unfinished cabintery aisle.  We knew roughly what our dimensions were and piled a bunch of cabinets into our minivan (kids-in-tow) and set out to demo the existing pantry:

We discovered some old wallpaper & even older linoleum and of course enjoyed Taco Bell & pizza, which we pretty much do every time we have a project.  My husband (Dave) is painting the cabinetry today to match our existing gray-green cabinets:

{Behr's "witch hazel" on our cabinets, photo by Helen Norman}

We need to get the drywall fixed and of course if we were normal people we would have had it done beforehand, but we got too excited to wait yesterday so now that's on my list of things to do this week. 

Here's an in-progress shot of what it looks like now

{very crooked pic- sorry!}

We're going to have small thin hidden doors squeezed on either side of the bottom cabinets and I'm going to cover the center panels in a pale oatmeal linen to break up the big expanse of green & add a little interest.  And hardware of course.  Although it's completely mid-construction and looks trashed I am LOVING the organization!!!  My favorite drawer is full of pasta:

{hello warm fuzzy slippers!}

And the sippy cup & bottle drawer is so easy to get to!!:

On a side note, the grass seed, pergola, and top soil are still in the car.

If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

Organizing the Other Side of the Closet

My husband is very good about putting his clothes back in the closet, but his side always looked messy!  We even put a coat rack in the corner so he could hang his sweatshirts from it.  Truthfully, it always looked terrible!

So, being the one who is overly anal about loves organization, I convinced him that we should add some shelves. 

Since all of the other shelves are painted in here, I got to painting....

Here is the new and improved, clean, organized closet! 

Yes, I am the one who color coordinates all of his shirts.  He used to complain that he didn't have this color shirt or that color shirt.  Now as soon as I get them home from the cleaners (or in the case of the polos, as soon as I've ironed them), I put them away by color.  This has completely eliminated his complaints about his shirt selection.  :) 

The whole project cost only $26. 

Since I try to finish my posts by giving full disclosure--here it is.  My husband couldn't care less about whether he has a bar, coat rack or shelves.  He puts his stuff wherever there is an open spot.  :)  But, I am in the closet several times a day and am a bit of a neat freak. I love that it is now neat and organized.  And we did save the rod so if we ever want to rehang it, we can. 

Thanks for coming by.  I appreciate your visits and comments!

Pam

I am linking to:

Between Naps on the Porch's Met Monday

Wallpaper is up!!

The wallpaper is up in my DC Design House Room and I'm so excited!!   

This grasscloth by Seabrooke  is so natural & textural.  I am a bit in love with it.  The trim is painted in Farrow and Ball's Dimmity which is a beautiful soft cream.  (Farrow & Ball is donating the paint for the entire Design House!! :)

Here's what it looked like before in case you forgot:

"Before"

We still have a lot of work to do but right now we're waiting on furnishings to arrive so fingers crossed everything makes it in time!! :)

And one more thing--  I found this lantern at an antique shop a few weeks ago:

I am {fully} in love with this piece and it will be going in my DC Design House room.  Check out the handblown textured glass.  It's completely worn & aged and beaten up and I'm crazy about it.  I love the filligree at both the top and bottom.  I'm going to have to get it rewired and add more chain and fix it up a bit but I plan on keeping the finish as-is.

Thank you so much to wallpaper hanger Michael DiGuiseppe who so generously donated his time to install the seagrass and also to Blue Door Painters who also generously gave their time for the Children's Hospital Showhouse.  (If you're in the DC-area I highly recommend both of these amazing companies!!) 
The DC Design House will run from April 9th to May 8th. and I hope you can make it :)




If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

A Cute Easter Gift from a Blogger Friend!

The other day Vicki at The Tapestry of Life let me know I'd won a giveaway from her blog.

Yesterday this cute Easter decoration came! 

Thanks so much Vicki!  I love it!

Pam