DIY project: Faux stone pavers

I just saw this post over at Charles & Hudson, and am in LOVE. I’ve always had a serious fondness for brick walkways, stone streets, etc. Unfortunately neither in my new place (or my old one) do I have a place to use this idea. It doesn’t matter though because I’m totally in love with it.  I’m going to have to store this one away for my future cottage home in the woods.  Hopefully you’ll be able to use this idea NOW. 

Go here to buy the mold.

Flickr Find: Adorable collection of knick knacks…

My Home, originally uploaded by tiny blackberry muffins.

Why am I in love with these little cartoon-ish figurines. I can’t imagine actually collecting them myself, but every time I see them (either on someone’s blog, on flickr, or in a thrift store) I’m immediately drawn to them… like a moth to an old coat.

Anyways…TOO cute. I love Tiny Blackberry Muffins‘ collection.

Retail Me Not — My newest online friend

So if you’re like me (and you probably are since you’re reading this blog), you make a lot of purchases online. It’s not that I dislike buying things from stores, but the reality is that I have VERY particular tastes and specifications. Well, in preparation for moving to my new home there are lots of things that I need get to get. Some things are normal like new locks & paint…and then there are seemingly normal (yet distressingly hard to find) items like an outdoor motion sensor light that doesn’t look like something attached to a prison…or one that’s a wall sconce. I need a light that is a ceiling mount fixture, but it turns out that attractive motion sensor lights are not that easy to find. (I’m surprised!) So after a futile trip to Lowe’s and about an hour of google searching, I finally found ONE. The only one available it seems.  (On the bright side, it’s relatively stylish and wasn’t tooo expensive.) But the best part was that I was able to use my new favorite website www.retailmenot.com to get $10 off. This is about the 5th time I’ve used this site to find free shipping codes, $$ off coupons, etc. And I’m extremely happy with the results. I’ve not paid shipping each time!! Super cool…and I also saved some dough on my new lighting purchase.

Dying for this quilt at UO

So I’ve been dying for this quilt for some time, and now that it’s finallllly on sale I’m completely broke and would rather not add this to my credit card.  However, I’m completely in love with it.  Soooo cute and it’s the perfect summer quilt for when it’s too hot for a duvet (yet still I feel as if I need something on my bed).

 In general I have to say that I’m finding myself really liking some things from Urban Outfitters home section these days.  I don’t even go in there anymore for their clothes (which is disappointing because I used to be able to find good basics as well as great jeans…but I guess I’m finally officially over their target age range.)  Anyways…the point is that they actually have lots of cute home stuff that I find myself wishing I had, such as this adorable embroidered pillow, this cute leaves tumbler, and this chandelier wall decal.  (I hate myself for even admitting that I like a wall decal.  I’ve scorned them for so long…) 

Oh well…soon I’ll be spending time & money on painting & renovating projects.  At least I can dream about these cuties.

Art Star Craft Bazaar: Now taking applications for 2008

Art Star is now taking applications for the 2008 Craft Bazaar that is being held at Penn’s Landing on Saturday May 31st (from 11-7pm) and Sunday June 1st (from 11-5pm). 

This is definitely one of my favorite local things because of the amount of wonderful (and affordable!) art & crafty stuff you can find there.  Last year I wanted to buy one of everything, but finally edited my purchases to one little cup by Little Flower designs & a paint by numbers at someone’s yard sale down the street.   If you haven’t been to one of these, you definitely must go this year.

Sewing slipcovers: It can’t be THAT hard, right?!

I’m currently taking sewing classes, and so far have learned to make a pillow. Not too extraordinary I realize, but I have BIG plans. Once I get settled in the new house (and have a room to dedicate to crafting), I think I’m going to set up a little sewing space to make pillows & bags to sell on Etsy. The other big project is that I want to learn how to sew slipcovers for my furniture. I’m going to start small with a really ugly ottoman (that’s covered in stains). It’s perfect size & weight so I don’t throw it away, but I hide it whenever people come over. Therefore this weekend I went to J0-Mar and bought some cheap-o $1/yd fabric to practice sewing for it. (I don’t know WHAT I was thinking in buying that faux Laura Ashley chintz. I had a momentary brain fart while looking through so many bolts of fabric.)

Just to be clear…the brown & pink fabric is for my first attempt at a handbag. I have plenty of leftover stuff though…and since I’m such a newbie at sewing it’s nice that this fabric cost so little!!

Oh yeah…does anyone of you have any experience sewing slipcovers?  I found this guide online… but would appreciate anyone’s input.

How fabulous would this look in my bathroom?

Mixing tiles, originally uploaded by Anna Linder.

It’s like a giant patchwork quilt of color. So fab. Too bad, I’m more of a white tile / grey grout kinda girl. I can daydream, can’t I?!

How do you feel about hardwood floors in a kitchen?

I’ve only had limited experience with hardwood floors in a kitchen, but with the reality of an impending kitchen renovation looming I realize that I’m going to need some ideas on what to do with my new kitchen floor.  Currently it has disgusting linoleum floors…and the floors are slightly uneven so tile is not an easy option.   My friend has a source for me to get recycled pine barnwood floors at a reallllly good deal, but I wanted to get some feedback first.  Any thoughts?

Here comes spring…and time for enjoying the outdoors with a camera

In today’s Ping Mag, there’s an article called “Play around with a Toy Camera.” It’s an article that tugs at my personal heartstrings because I’m in LOVE with my Holga…as you can tell by going here to see my favorites. Anyways…this got me to thinking about how the weather here in Philadelphia is finally getting warm and feeling like Spring. And what is my favorite thing to do when the weather turns warm?! Head outside with my trusty toy camera and take lots of pics of random stuff that catches my eye.

To celebrate the joy of lomography & spring…I headed over to Etsy to find something eyecatching. And Dripstick’s photography definitely caught my eye. I have a passion for Danish bicycles so…this is awesome. And what other better thing to do when the weather is warm? Head outside on your bike. Head over to Etsy and check out more of Dripstick’s prints.

More refrigerator talk on the web

So if you’re like me and you read Apartment Therapy on a regular basis, then you’ve probably been reading about Liesl’s Fridge Saga or another reader’s question about small refrigerator brands. Well, I have my own refrigerator drama these days. I just sold my current house…and have bought a new one. One that needs a lot of work…and a new kitchen. The one that’s there now has the following issues:

1. 12″ deep wall cabinets. (I don’t even know if that’s deep enough for a plate?)
2. A seriously icky mold problem under the sink
3. A weird DIY “textured-spackle” backsplash
4. Heinous vinyl flooring
5. Floral wallpaper
6. A sink that’s stained beyond belief
7. No dishwasher, garbage disposal, or working vent
8. A stove & refrigerator that would be fine if I was renting…but let’s face it…I’m not
9. Not a ton of space to work with

Sooo…basically my plan is to start ripping out and putting back in as soon as I close on the house.  I’m hoping to eat takeout until it’s done so that I never have to clean that disgusting fridge.  (Ha!)  Anyways…because of the relatively small footprint of the kitchen, I have been looking for a small counter-depth fridge.  It turns out that those practically do NOT exist.  Ugh!! I’ve been combing the internet looking for possibilities that don’t blow my entire budget, and have found very little.  But one of the biggest things I noticed during this process is that virtually no websites have good detailed photos of appliances.  It’s SOOOO frustrating.  How can a retailer NOT show you what you’re about to purchase when you’re going to spend thousands of dollars?!  It’s frustrating…to say the least.  It’s this way with stoves, refrigerators and basically everything.

So as usual I went to the Philadelphia Home Show several weeks ago, I checked out the 24″ freestanding stainless Liebherr refrigerator.  It was soo great.  And had the bonus of having a tiny footprint.  I love that it was TALL, but was not very wide or deep.  Obviously you sacrifice some cubic feet for style & compact size, but it’s pretty amazing.  Unfortunately it cost over $3500.  Therefore it didn’t fit my budget, but I did take photos of it so that if anyone else is looking…it would be there to help them out.  Meanwhile, the search for MY perfect small counter-depth fridge continues.  Here’s the exterior & interior.