Posts Tagged ‘decorating’

I planted three different types of hydrangeas this spring and two of them did not survive an intense week of rainless heat while I was out of town. One of them did, however, and it’s producing beautiful blooms. I clipped one stem and it’s now brightening up my kitchen.

Yesterday I moved the bowl of fruit from my dining room table to the kitchen counter and brought in a tiny bouquet of daisies. Set into a small creamer  and placed atop a couple of vintage readers, they make a lovely, simple centerpiece for our table (and a cheap one, too!).

Daisies are such happy, friendly flowers. Even these miniature ones are bright and cheerful.

Sometimes I just can’t decide whether I prefer b&w or vivid color.

 

“If I had my life to live over, I would start barefoot earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall. I would go to more dances. I would ride more merry-go-rounds. I would pick more daisies.” {Nadine Stair}

 

{I’m playing with some new watermark ideas and toying with the idea of getting back into photography.}

This past Saturday I took part in my second dance recital of the season . . . my first recital as director of my own studio. Immediately following the performance we had dinner together, potluck style. The whole thing went beautifully from start to finish and I was so proud of all my dancers!

These roses were a gift from my students, presented to me at the very end of the recital.

My post on Monday (the reeaally long one), was about how I spent my birthday. But who says birthday celebrations can only last one day?

Checkout Line Take 1:

Sunday we dropped our car off at my mother-in-law’s and picked up her mini-van, then took off for IKEA. When we arrived, we picked up a loveseat and a slipcover for Bonnie and three long pieces of butcher block countertop for our kitchen, as well as three extra cushion covers for our new sofas . . . from the as-is section because they were missing the rest of the set.

Third Twine’s the Charm:

Outside, we began loading the van. And that’s when we discovered the bucket seats in the middle weren’t removable (the back seat had been taken out before we left). As it began to rain, Michael finagled everything around until the loveseat and counters stuck out just an inch or two. He opened the box of twine on the loading dock. Empty. Down the dock he went, to the next box. Empty. I saw him come walking back empty-handed and directed him to a third box I saw on the other side. Eureka!

Pop! Goes the Vehicle:

Twine in hand at last, he commenced tying down the trunk. He pulled down the trunk and then . . . pop! Back up it went. he pulled it down again and . . . pop! The same thing. His mom’s “smart” van sensed obstacles in the way and wouldn’t close. Finally Michael managed to get it to stay down and got it secured, while he got soaking wet. Then we hopped in the van to drive it into the parking garage. The “door ajar” alarm began to beep. And beep. And beep. sigh.

{image via}

Happy Birthday:

Inside IKEA again, and out of the rain, we headed first to the return counter to return the slipcover we had just purchased – since it was the wrong one! (At least we realized it before we left the premises.) Then we met up with my parents and one of my sisters at the marketplace restaurant. I helped my sister polish of her Swedish meatballs and then my mom bought chocolate cake for all of us. Mmmm. They all sang “Happy Birthday” to me in hushed whispers and we enjoyed my birthday cake and getting to see each other. Then we headed to the marketplace while my parents and sister went to the showroom.

Checkout Line Take 2:

Michael and I made a purposeful, yet not-too-quick jaunt through the marketplace, picking up the chandelier I wanted, as well as a few packs of batteries (IKEA sells batteries at an awesome price), a drawer organizer, a few storage boxes, a pair of curtains, the correct slipcover for his mom’s loveseat, and a kitchen sink. (Yes, really. We bought a kitchen sink.) Back outside we  took everything out of the car, folded the seats down instead of up (thanks to a brainstorming session with my parents), and managed to get everything into the car and the trunk closed. Then my mom called. “Did you remember to get the oil for your countertop?” she asked. Of course not. Why would we have remembered that? Guess we had to go in again.

Checkout Line Take 3:

Mom had told me exactly where the counter oil was, so we were able to walk right in and grab it. We passed my family on the way, so we stopped for a few more hugs then headed on towards the kitchen section. Oil in hand, Michael looked at me and laughed, “Is there anything else we want while we’re here?” I shook my head and we kept on until we got to the next-to-last section of the marketplace . . . the candles. We both spotted a chandelier that we loved, so we picked it up, along with the tapers that went with it. Then we grabbed a few lanterns and a bag of 100 tealights to go with those. Then we made our way to the checkout. Again.

{image via}

My Wonderful Memory:

About half an hour down the interstate, finally on our way towards home, I turned to look at Michael. “We were supposed to get your mom two slipcovers!” Oh well. I guess we’ll have to make another trip sometime.

I should really be a novelist, not a blogger. About four paragraphs into this, I realized it was really getting ridiculously long. But I kept going.

If you want the quick summary, skip down to the end. If you enjoy reading lengthy details about someone else’s life, start here . . .

This past Saturday was my birthday, and Michael had our day sketched out several weeks ago. We had planned to go yard sale-ing in the morning, but we both slept in after staying up late the night before playing “musical cabinets.” (More about that in a later post.)

When we finally got up, we drove down the road and had breakfast brunch at the diner. Biscuits and gravy . . . our favorite. Then we made the trip into town, where we caught a couple yard sales before they closed down, but didn’t find much worthwhile, except the delicious freshly-squeezed organic lemonade we bought from a young entrepreneur.

Finally we hit the thrift stores, consignment shops, and antiques mall. There was one particular consignment shop that I’ve recently heard lots about and I really wanted to stop there, so Michael drove to that part of town and we spotted it . . . and the completely full parking lot. We drove down the road a bit and then turned around and checked again. Still full.

Since there was another shop across the street, Michael suggested we check that one out first and then come back. So we browsed around for about half an hour and then looked across the road at Consignment Connection’s parking lot. Three available spaces! But before we could cross the street, all three spots were snatched up!

I was disappointed, but we still had time to come back later. We went further down the road and stopped in at another thrift store, where I could have spent three days just browsing their book section. Then it was time for a quick stop at Wendy’s for a Frosty before making one last pass by Consignment Connection. I scanned the parking lot and saw one space . . . and watched as someone pulled in right before us.

We gave up on Consignment Connection and drove back towards his mom’s house, stopping at an antiques mall and several thrift stores on the way. We didn’t buy anything till the last shop, where I purchased three pairs of children’s tap shoes, a board game, a belt, and this:

The cashier asked me if I had a hideous light up right now that I was going to be replacing with this. When I told her that I was going to be painting it, she seemed a bit relieved, as well as intrigued (she asked me to bring in a picture when it’s finished). Now I just have to decide whether I want to hang it in the kitchen, the living room, or my craft nook.

This thrift store was our last stop, but the day wasn’t over yet. We stopped by my mother-in-law’s house and convinced both her and my brother-in-law to join us for a round of putt-putt. I lost, as usual (I’m horrible at it, but it’s still fun), but made up for it when I putted my ball into the return and hit the “free game” slot. Now Michael and I can go back another time and just pay for one admission.

After mini-golf my mother-in-law took us out to eat, then Michael and I headed home, with one last stop to make. This time it was to the grocery store, so he could get me a birthday cake (and I could close my eyes and pretend not to see when he bought trick candles ). There’s one particular brand of frozen pizza that I really like and love to have as a snack so, since we were planning to watch a movie when we got home, we went ahead and grabbed one of those as well.

Back home at last, we heated up the pizza and munched on it while watching Brian Regan. When the show was over, I was so tired and so full that we skipped the cake all together and just went to bed. It was a wonderful, happy birthday, even though my birthday cake is still sitting on the kitchen table, untouched.

Saturday was over but Sunday, and more birthday cake, were still to come.

The Summary

Saturday was my birthday. Michael took me out to brunch. Went to yard sales. Didn’t buy anything. Went to thrift stores, antiques mall, and consignment shop. Bought a chandelier to re-do. Played mini-golf with my mother-in-law and brother-in-law. Won a free game. Stopped at the store for a birthday cake. Not hungry for cake once we got home and ate. Had a wonderful day.

Yesterday we finally got new sofas. One sofa and one sofa bed, to be exact. They’re from IKEA’s Ektorp line and had to be slightly assembled upon arrival. Somehow I managed to unpack them, move them into the right places, assemble the arms and put the feet on, and put on all the slipcovers . . . entirely by myself.

I did need help pulling the cardboard out from under the sofas, as it required one person to pull on the cardboard while the other one lifted the sofa, but I really wanted as much of it as possible to be completed when Michael got home.

Turns out that he had a surprise of his own. I’ve been watching these birdcages at Target (they’re candle holders), hoping they would go on clearance eventually so that it wouldn’t be quite so big of a splurge. Well, Michael had me sit down on the new couch and close my eyes. When he told me I could look, there were four birdcages sitting on the floor! He got them for me for my birthday, but decided to give them to me a little early. They go perfectly with the few other decorations in the living room.

Michael’s mom blessed us with her old loveseat and sofa when we got married, and we’ve been incredibly grateful for them. However, that’s not stopping us from being thrilled to go from this:

to this:

{These were a gift from my mom for the first of my three dance recitals this spring!}

It doesn’t take a designer bouquet to pretty up your house. Something as sweet and simple as a $5 bunch of daisies or tulips will do quite nicely. Consider placing them in more than one vase, or in something unique, such as an old coffee pot or several colored Coke glasses.

If you change the water and snip off the bottoms of the stems every other day, you’ll prolong the “life” of your flowers. Don’t toss the entire arrangement when a few of the blooms begin to wilt . . . just get rid of the spent flowers and rearrange the one that are left.

Clearance flowers can also be a great way to save money on flower arrangements. Look over the bouquet carefully and see if there are a good amount of nice blooms or buds left. If there are, you can toss the wilted flowers and arrange the remaining ones into a new display.

What other ideas do you have for creating floral displays without spending a fortune?