Category Archives: Decor

DIY Botanical & Animal Art

January 3, 2013 By in Antiques, Decor, DIY, Trinkets, Vintage Tags: , , , 4 Comments

diy illustrated bird plates

I love the look of old botanical and animal illustrations, so I was thrilled when my friend Moriya shared an online database that has TONS of botanical literature that is free to download. PS - Check out Moriya’s blog, where she shares fantastic DIY home projects!

The site, Botanicus.org,  is a little hard to navigate, but if you click around enough, you will find scientific illustrations of plants, animals, birds, and more. I spent an entire evening looking through the site, and I ended up printing out a few illustrations to decorate our apartment.

The first two illustrations I printed are these birds:

diy illustrated bird plates

I printed them on off-white card stock for an antiqued look.

diy illustrated bird plates

I then went to Goodwill and bought old, thin, and gold photo frames.

diy illustrated bird plates

They cost me a whopping $2.

diy illustrated bird plates

I trimmed around the illustrations so they would fit in the frames.

diy illustrated bird plates

And now I have lovely and inexpensive dining room decor!

I also printed some fruit illustrations for the kitchen:

diy botanical illustrationdiy botanical illustration

And I have some flowers for our bedroom. I just need to find the perfect frames for them!

Life Lately in Photos — Signs of the Season

December 14, 2012 By in blogging, Decor, Life Lately in Photos, Photography Tags: , , 12 Comments

christmas tree and cat

Hermes loves the tree.

red bird christmas ornament

Shining ornaments.

crystal decanter

Crystal decanter + Christmas lights.

burnett's candy cane vodka

Perfect for hot-chocolate spiking.

starbucks christmas cup

Half-sweet-peppermint-white-chocolate mocha.

pine christmas fence decoration

Loving the look and scent of pine.

It looks a lot like Christmas around our apartment these days. Even Hermes is getting into the fun by knocking our tiny tree over on a daily basis. I’m pretty sure this has turned into a game for him, because he gets a seriously mischievousness look on his face when he does it. :)

 What are you up to this weekend? Chris and I have plans to finish our Christmas shopping. We only have a couple more people to buy for, so hopefully we can knock that out with a one-stop shop at the mall! Most of the presents I have bought are prettily wrapped and waiting under the tree. Do you still have holiday shopping to do?

Other than that, it will be another weekend of R&R for us.

Life Lately in Photos

November 30, 2012 By in Decor, Life Lately in Photos, Photography Tags: , , , , 7 Comments

pennant banner necklace

An adorable pennant banner necklace c/o OASAP. (Notice the twinkling Christmas lights in the background!)

cotton plant

A fluffy plant.

succulent plant

Greenhouse succulents.

bulletin board

Cork board clippings.

rookie yearbook one

What I’m reading: Rookie Yearbook One by Tavi Gevinson.

TGIF! This week went by very quickly. I was busy at work, went to the gym every evening, and we got our Christmas decorations put up! This weekend I’m looking forward to a double date  of dinner and drinks with Karin and Ryan to help them celebrate their two-year anniversary!

What are you up to this weekend?!

A Pretty Plant Stand — Trinket Tuesday

November 20, 2012 By in Antiques, Decor, Trinkets, Vintage Tags: , , 5 Comments

You guys already know that I’m big into houseplants because I go on about it all the time. With shorter days upon us, I knew I needed a new way to keep my plants as close to the window as possible so they can soak in those fleeting hours of sun.

So, two weeks ago when Chris and I went to the Exit 76 Antique Mall, I was on a mission to find a vintage plant stand. What I really wanted was a stand similar to the one Bleubird Vintage has:

bleubird vintage plant stand

But you know how it is when you’re looking for something really specific — it usually doesn’t exist. However, I did find this awesome stand that’s kind of similar, but has a bit more pizazz.

vintage plant stand

Yes, it’s purple. At first I was set on painting it, but the lavender hue is actually growing on me.

vintage plant stand

vitnage plant stand

vintage plant stand

PS – This past weekend Chris and I went to Noblesville and looked in an antique mall there. Can you believe that I found the exact same plant stand as Bleubird Vintage? And it cost a bit less than the one I bought. That, my friends, is the Murphy’s Law of Antiquing.

Needlepoint, Cross Stitch, & Embroidery Fancy — Trinket Tuesday

October 2, 2012 By in Antiques, Decor, Trinkets, Vintage Tags: , , , 7 Comments

wedding needlepoint

Last year for our wedding, my mom made us a lovely little needlepoint to put on display at the reception. It now hangs in our apartment as wall art, and I love it.

I think needlepoint, cross stitch, and embroidery all make fun and quirky decor. Whenever we go thrifting, I’m always on the hunt for a vintage needlepoint, but many times they’re discolored or stained. Or, if they’re in perfect condition they cost a pretty penny.

I would love to learn how to needlepoing/cross stitch, but I fear I don’t have the time and/or patience to learn and then finish a piece.

Here’s  a little roundup of some lovely pieces I found on Etsy:

fox and alphabet needlepoint

alphabet and fox sampler

60s mushroom needlepoint

vintage frog and mushrooms needlepoint

vintage flowers needlepoint

vintage flowers needle work

mini cat needlepoint

mini cat needlepoint

you are my sunshine needlepoint

you are my sunshine embroidery 

Does anyone out there needlepoint, cross stitch, or embroider? I read that the difference among them is the medium that you stitch on, as well as the technique used. Any advice on what a beginner like me should start with?!

The Little Things — Treat Yourself Tuesday

September 18, 2012 By in Antiques, Decor, DIY, Trinkets Tags: 12 Comments

paris my sweet book and essie

My dad always says that I’m “easily amused.” Which, long story short, means that I don’t have a hard time finding things to laugh at or be entertained by. I also don’t have a hard time finding little, inexpensive ways to treat myself. Whether it’s a new nail polish, a new book, a new show on Netflix, or some fresh flowers that I can arrange in my antique vases, I know how to appreciate the little things in life.

book and flowers

My treats this week: New Essie polish — Recessionista from the Stylenomics Collection. A new book about an American Copy Writer who moves to Paris to write for Louis Vuitton. $1.50 flowers to arrange in my great grandma’s vase.

How are you treating yourself this week?

Wall of Mirrors, Part II — Trinket Tuesday

September 4, 2012 By in Antiques, Decor, Trinkets, Vintage Tags: , , 6 Comments

Why can’t every weekend be a three-day break?? My weekend included lots of lounging, some delicious meals, a little shopping, and lots more fun. But more on that later :)

On Sunday, I woke up early and drove down south to meet my mom at the Lawrenceburg Antique Fair. The rain held off long enough for us to see everything.

antique fair costume jewelry

lawrenceburg indiana antique fair

We had walked around almost all of the booths, and I was losing hope that I would find anything that I wanted, when I saw this sweet mirror that would be a perfect second mirror for my wall of mirrors! (Check out my wall of mirrors inspirations HERE!) And my new mirror was only $15! I love its scalloped edges and floral etching.

antique mirror

I thought it would be goofy to have two mirrors randomly placed on a wall, so until I get more I hung this McCoy love birds planter on the wall between them. I got this piece from Salt Creek Antiques & Gifts during our trip to Metamora.

antique mirrors

I think I’m well on my way to a nice collection!

Did you have a nice weekend?

The Blues

August 23, 2012 By in Decor, Photography, Trinkets Tags: , , 4 Comments

blue dresser decorations

Blue candlestick. Blue jewelry box. Blue bowl.

blue and yellow wedding photo

Blue details in wedding photo.

blue makeup brush holder

Blue makeup brush holder.

blue oxford shirt jcrew

Blue oxford.

french blue blankets

Blue blanket + Hermes.

larimar ring

Blue larimar ring.

blue glasses bar cart

Blue on the bar cart.

Do you have an all-time favorite color? I always feel like I have favorite-color ADD because one week I’m loving pink, the next yellow, the next orange. However, I think if I had to choose just one favorite hue, it would have to be blue.

What’s your favorite?

 

Candle Inspiration — Trinket Tuesday

August 21, 2012 By in Decor, Trinkets Tags: , 8 Comments

Although I love burning candles year round, I definitely think cooler weather makes me think to light them more often. Yesterday evening was cool and a little breezy, so we opened our windows. I lit all the candles in our apartment and the breeze + the scent + the warm look of the flames was so nice!

I think candles make great decor, especially when grouped together with other candles and trinkets. It makes for very elegant and romantic decorations.

Here’s some gorgeous candle displays to inspire your decor.

candles in fireplace

I love the idea of candles in your fireplace, via Cupcakes and Cashmere. I’m going to try this this winter as long as our cats leave the candles alone!

back of toilet decor

Peony, Paris, mercury glass, candle. Have you ever seen such a chic “throne”? Via A Girl, A Style.

wine bottle candlestick

Use an empty wine bottle as a candle stick. Let the wax drip for a cozy effect, via danheller.com.

coffee table candles

I love the look of a cluster of varying-sized candles in monochromatic color. Via Better Homes and Gardens.

quartz candle holders

These quartz candle holders via VivaTerra are on my must-get list!

Do you love candles as much as me?

Bar Cart, Revisited — Trinket Tuesday

August 7, 2012 By in Antiques, Decor, Drink, Trinkets, Vintage Tags: , , , , 5 Comments

vintage glass bar cart

spirits glasses / vintage olive picks / bar tools & ice bucket / depression glass plate / wine glasses / champagne glasses / shaker / martini glasses / rocks glasses / decanters / margarita glasses / tumblers / bitters / kahlua / mama juana

what to put on a bar cart

what to put on a bar cart

I already featured our bar cart on here, but it was before we had our nice camera and there have been a couple updates and additions since then!

In case you didn’t see the post the first time, Chris and I searched high and low for a vintage cart for a long time. They weren’t particularly hard to find, but they were all so expensive. We finally found this metal, wood, and glass cart at Midland for the right price.

Since we moved to our new apartment, the cart sits in our dining room, and it’s perfect for entertaining. Admittedly, we don’t usually have too much liquor on hand, but when we have people over, it’s fun to stock the cart with whatever beverage our company likes and to use our nice glassware for entertaining them. Our hope is to one day have a special nook in our house to keep the cart (particularly on a hard floor…it’s precarious rolling this Lenox and Riedel-filled cart around on carpet!).

Anyone else have a bar cart or a special place for storing glassware?

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