The Simply Quirky Life

Chagrin Valley Reviw

2012-01-13T21:12:00.003-05:00

Aloe, Aloe, Aloe Soap:
Dead Sea Spa Soap:
Goat Milk Oatmeal Honey Soap:
Juniper Berry & Comfrey Soap
Marsh Mallow & Lemongrass Soap
Sea Salt & Seaweed Spa Soap:
Seabuckthorn Oil & Tea Tree Soap

Babassu and Marsh Mallow Shampoo:
Nettle Shampoo:
Mud & Clay Shampoo:
Honey Beer and Egg Shampoo:
Soapnuts & Sunflower Shampoo:
Ayurvedic Herb Shampoo:
Chamomile & Citrus:
Summer Sunshine:

Squalane Face & Eye Mousse:
Rhassoul Clay & Yogurt Complexion Soap:
Shea Rose Clay Complexion Soap:

Christmas Tablescape

2011-12-13T21:44:00.009-05:00

Merry Christmas, Golden style!

White beaded napkin from Pier One Imports
Taupe shimmer napkin from Target
Beaded gold napkin ring from Pier One Imports

Metallic placemat from Target
Gold Charger from Michaels
Snowflake plate from Target
Gold Lacquer Salad Plate from Pier One Imports
Small china plate from Noritake in 'Ornament' design

Autumn Tablescape

2011-11-10T18:45:00.004-05:00

Vacation...what you take when you can't take life any more

2011-04-12T09:05:00.008-04:00

Mr. Duck and I took a rather spur of the moment trip down to VA beach last week - and had a great time! I'll update with more later, but for now, I just wantd to show off a few of my favorite photo's from the week - yes mom, this is for you!

Here are some misc photos from the trip

Here are some photos of us

Bedroom Canvas's

2011-03-29T21:44:00.006-04:00

So, I loved the color scheme for the fabrics for the kitchen and dining room so much that I just had to bring some of it into our bedroom as well.

Well, sorta. I still used the fabric from the Michael Miller Antiquity line, in the breeze color collection - including the ephemeral print (which is GORGEOUS, and is the main fabric on my kitchen apron. I seriously am in love with this) the qoutrefoils, damask, and the script print (which is also pretty awesome), all on the champagne silk dupioni fabric as a border.

I think it 'matches' the mood of our house much more so now.

I loved the fabric that I had on the canvases originally - you might have reconginized the same prints as part of my new patio table linens set - but it was too bright compared to everything else in the house, especially in the bedroom. It stuck out like a sore thumb.

I find the new effect to be calming and serene. The best part is, even Mr. Duck said he liked it.
I didn't even have to ask him for his opinion first!

Oh, and those cute white pleated pillows? My newest Marshalls find - at 7 dollars each!

Can you tell I'm really big on textures this year? We have the organic sheets from Target in ivory, as well as the kissing pleat bedspread with its pintucks and buttons. Then we have a white fuzzy blanket on, as well as a white knit blanket - throw in the pintuck shams, and the pleated pillows, and it makes for a monochramatic textured heaven!

Fabric Happiness

2011-03-27T20:38:00.007-04:00

Ahhhh...how I love the feeling of a new pile of fabric.

So, all of our recent spring cleaning has me in the mood to do some spring decorating. My tasks this week involves making new curtains for the kitchen and dining room, and place mats and a table runner for our patio furniture. I bought two completely different sets of fabric for both of them from Jo Anns, and I love them both equally - one is calming and serene, one is cheerful and bright.

The first, for the curtains, is a set of textures. If I had to be honest, I might actually love these just a tad more. It's my favorite cream/ivory/white scheme, all in textures. I picked up some antique white muslin for the lining, tan burlap for the tie backs, and for the panels; a cream/white calico damask , and an ivory linen-look-alike fabric ( I can't remember what it's called, I think it began with an H...), as well as my favorite Michael Miller antiquity fabric in brown for the kitchen valance. I also picked up some cream ribbon and some ivory hem binding.

The second set is based off the colors in the kitchen, actually, even though they will be used outside on the deck - light teal and green. I've got the same 3 prints, but in the 2 colors, for a total of 6 patterns. I'm going to make the place mats out of the damask and the filigree one, and a runner out of the two polka dot ones.

I do love polka dots!

Yarn & Felt Wreath

2011-03-15T20:29:00.000-04:00

Here is a sneak peak of my latest DIY project - a yarn & felt rosette wreath. I love how its bringing a touch of spring into the house in the midst of all of this dreary weather.

Stay tuned for instructions!

Dining Room Bookcase

2011-03-06T12:20:00.003-05:00

Call me build-o-rama queen.

Ok, perhaps that is taking it a bit too far.

Well, ok.

I assembled a bookcase.

I can't even admit to building one with a saw-sander-nails, etc, because I am wayyyy to uncoordinated for that. What I can admit to, however, is mastering one of those pre-asembled ones - you know, the ones with part A needs to be matched up to part 23, joined into part F....you get the idea.

I think the later actually required more intelligence, because damn, those directions are a pain! But alas, I mastered in last night. Without any of Mr. Ducks help! This is rather big step for me, seeing as how I have a habit of screwing up every major project I start, and he has to come to the rescue. But not this time!

Go me!!!!!!

The only thing that I had to get 'advice' on was how to cut out the paneling so we can still use our light switch that was oh-so-conveniently behind my newly placed bookshelf. Opps. Nothing an exacto knife couldn't handle.

And the best part about this whole project, besides the new home for a good part of my milk glass collection? I didn't injure myself once. I don't even have a splinter.

Take that, Mr. Duck!

Now, on to painting cabinets. And installing board and batton. And a new tile floor for the upstairs bathroom.

Yea, baby.

DIY Paper Flower Magnets

2011-01-26T21:56:00.008-05:00

I decided that I wanted to make some unique magnets for our fridge after staring at potato bag clip holders on there forever.
They are much more suited to bags, anyways.
The first thing I did was go out and get the things I figured I would need, starting with magnets.

Duh.

I didn't really have anything in mind, just that I wanted something different and little cottage-like to match our decor, without being too frilly. I wanted to play off the wildflower and herb theme that I've started to create in the kitchen, so I was thinking maybe something with sea glass, or dried flowers, or...something.

I came across these leafs and flowers in two differentt parts of the store, surprisingly, even though they are from the same brand. The flowers came first, then the leaves. It was exactly what I had in mind even though I had no idea what it was I had in mind!

They are cut out from paper, the leafs from a newspaper print and the flowers are from what appears to be books. The flowers do have a pale pink/green tinge to them in certain places, but nothing too bright, so it was perfect.
The leaves were on clearance too!

The leaves came in different sizes, so I organized them all in pairs according to size - then I picked a corresponding flower. The jar of flowers had 12 completely different flowers in it, and they all managed to match up to the leaves. The only complaint I had was that the pack of leaves was said to have 24 leaves, but I only had 23.
That was ok though, because I had a really small flower, so the odd small leaf matched that one.

I started by hot gluing the leaves to the flowers. Low setting is best for this project, if your glue gun has one. The paper is thin and you don't want to burn your fingers!

Once they cooled, I put a big dollop of the glue on there, and put the magnets in it. I made sure to get high power ones, btw, because we tend to stack papers together on the fridge, and I wanted to make sure they held.

When it was finished, I let them cool for about 20 minutes. I didn't want to risk the glue getting on any paper on the fridge.

And that was it.

Easiest project ever. Anyone who isn't afraid of the glue gun can do it!

I love how they look in the on the fridge. And they hold papers well, so its pretty AND practical...

My favorite combination ever!

Vanity Update

2011-01-21T12:23:00.004-05:00

I went to Micheals the other day, and much to my surprise, they already had there spring line of asscories out! A lot of it I recognized from last year (so I'm not sure if they are bringing it out to sell to make room for new stuff or what), but I was able to pick up a few things that I liked last year that I was iffy about then.

Among them were a few white porcelain jars for the vanity. I couldn't stand my old gold set, and have been keeping an eye out for new ones.

These were perfect. The best part was, I already had a vase that I was using to keep my hairbrushes in, so the set matches.

I like matching sets. :-)

So, to sum up this short and random post - head to your Micheals if you need some cheering up from the dreary weather!

PS - pay no mind to the dirty mirror. We are all out of Windex. Just another thing to end to the never ending grocery list....

Fresh Air

2011-01-13T08:56:00.000-05:00

Who made the rule that winter was all about blue and white?

Now, don't get me wrong. I love white as much as the next person, probably even more. But I also love green. And yellow. And metallics.

Because a little sparkle brings a smile to everyone's faces.

Hence today's tablescape.
Winter Tea?
I think that might be kinda catchy.

That bouquet of flowers I picked up yesterday was the inspiration. That, and my new metallic place mats from target. They are weaved to look like grass cloth, but with gold/silver/champagne threads.

I love them. I think they might become my everyday ones, because I have yet to think of something that won't go with them.

Certainly not my champagne chargers I picked up from Micheal for 99 cents each.

I also love milk glass. And china.

And my table runner. It's a sage satin with crinkled edges and beads. I bought it on sale at Kirklands as part of a set. I have the matching pillow on the living room couch, and they match the color of the curtains in the kitchen.

Talk about tying everything together ;-)

The champagne flutes I got from Target last spring, along with the glasses. The China was gifted to me, and the milk glass is from my collection.

Snowstorm

2011-01-12T17:58:00.005-05:00

Everyone up in the northeast here has been experiencing a winter wonderland outside today. It started snowing yesterday afternoon, and continued on into the morning. I had already decided that as long as Mr. Duck didn't have to go in to plow the roads, I wasn't going to complain about it. And miraculously enough, work wasn't even chaos.
It's an unspoken rule in the pharmacy community...you mutter 'snow' and everyone FREAKS OUT, thinking they have to get their prescriptions that VERY minute, even ones that they aren't due for another 2 weeks, because what if they get snowed in until then!?!?!
Right.
Now I know how people in grocery stores must feel. Except grocery stores tend to be a tad bit bigger then our pharmacy. But only a tad bit, you know.
Thankfully, Mr. Duck didn't have to plow. He did stay home from school though in order to shovel me out at work because of my fractured wrist.
He's such a sweetheart.
Because of how much my wrist has been hurting over the past few days (and last night it was looking BAD - my little finger was swelling too), I had asked a co-worker if she wouldnt mind covering my shift today, since she said she needed some extra cash, and she agreed, much to my surprise.
I'm not gonna lie. I came home last night feeling like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders, knowing I didn't have to worry about shoveling myself out in the morning and fighting the pain all day long.
Which, I still did, but its not so bad when I'm not trying to use it.
I expected to be able to stay home all day and do nothing. Snow day, right?
Wrong.
I woke up at 7am to Mr. Duck jumping up and down the bed, proudly exclaiming that his car wouldn't start.
Even if I wasn't half asleep, I still would have been confused and irritated.
He thought it was going to be so much fun to spend the morning with me. And bug me. And make sure I was awake.
Not how I wanted my snow day to start. But it's a good thing it happened, because after he left (with my car) to get some special gas treatment crap (something about a frozen fuel line), I got out of bed and realized I couldn't feel my little finger.
At all.
And I really couldn't tell that I had one, either. I called my hematologist, who had me come in the morning (after I finally persuade Mr. Duck that just because he was an hour late to work did not mean he had to call out to cart me to the doctors. I'm a big girl - who happens to have become very talented at driving one handsomely).
They had to drain a good bit of blood out from under the joint in my wrist, which felt immediately better after doing so. And the best part is - they've decided not to put me in a plaster cast! Yes!!!!

Apparently he's more concernedd about having access to the joint in case of further bleeds then dealing with the little tiny microscopic fracture. Which is a-ok with me. I don't care about a little surface crack. I do care about a joint twice its size and a lost little finger.

Of course, I had to promise to stop using it and keep in in its brace at all times except showering.

And I will try. Because I don't want to have to go through the pain of this morning again.

I came home and straightened up around the house a bit, did the dishes, a laundry sorting, and other types of housewife duties I tend to forgo during the week thanks to work. I even managed to make decent time doing it all one - handed. I put dinner in the oven, sat down with the furbabies, and surfed the interwebz with a cup of tea. I even managed to set the table.

I can't remember the last time I set the table.

I was ableto get a bouquet of flowers while I was waiting for my antibiotic to get filled at the pharmacy after my appointment. I think it adds some cheer to the dinning room during our current white out.

All in all, a good day.

Mr. Duck just pulled up the driveway...time to go eat some dinner.
Gluten free chicken casserole anyone?
It smells good!!

PS - I'm linking up to Tablescape Thursday this week, seeing as how I managed to set the tablet for the first time in eons...

Thrifty Tuesday (5)

2011-01-11T07:39:00.006-05:00

Goodwill this weekend was packed. I don't know if it was because of everyone decluttering their homes as part of their new years resolutions (I know I dropped off a ton of stuff!), or if it was because they were having their 50% off sale on their clothes. Either way, it was enough to make me feel catastrophic. I didn't even complain about Mr. Duck following me around (normally it makes me feel antsy), because I figured I had a built in body guard if someone were to try to run me over with their cart or hit me upside the head with a lamp that looked suspiciously like a part of male anatomy which probably shouldn't be made into a lamp...
I, sadly, didn't get the chance to take a photo of it. Use your imagination though, folks!

Mr. Duck was the official basket holder, since I've injured my wrist and am in a sling for awhile. What that really means is : Mr. Duck now has an excuse to follow me around and monitor - and comment - on all of my purchases. Oh well. At least he provides built in commentary during all of my shopping excursions.

Mr.D: Whats that suppose to be?
Me: That is called a Lazy Susan, hun. You put food on it and everyone can push it around so they all can reach it.
Mr.D: Right. Because Susan is obviously pretty lazy if she can't pass around a bowl to her poor kids.

AND

Mr.D: Why in the world would someone want that! *points to a figurine of a rather deformed and scary looking snowman*
Me: Obviously, they didn't. That's why it's here, hun.
Mr.D: No. That's why the world is going to end. Because stupid people make crap like that and then it ends up in our landfills, which are taking over the world and we are all going to end up fat and on a spaceship waiting for Wall-E to come rescue us.
Me: So I guess I can't bring it home then, huh?

I did get 3 things this weekend that passed his critique, though - 2 milk glass serving bowls, and a cool pair of vases that are a sea green glass color and are marked 'made in Italy'. Mr. Duck actually found those and stuck them in our basket before he even asked me if we could get them.
There may be hope for him yet!
I think they will look perfect in our bedroom with a peony or white tulip in each of them come spring. They match the art hanging up it - its the same exact color!

If you want to see a little more of my collection, feel free to click here. It's grown a lot since then, however ;-)

Holiday Art

2011-01-10T18:22:00.000-05:00

After the art fiasco this past weekend, I decided to just call it a day and create my own. Since we have the black and white photo gallery in the living room, and the black shelves with milk glass in the dining room, I decided to stay with the black/white theme - but I wanted to be able to change it up if I wanted.

Which is why I decided to turn it into a 'holiday' wall of sorts. I bought a canvas and several different types of fabrics that have holiday feel to them without being cheesy, and went home and covered the canvas with the first holiday in the line up.

Valentines day.

I then went online and picked out a few quotes that I liked that had to deal with love, and using a typewriter font, printed them out on bright white paper for my own DIY typography.

I decided on the definition of love, a quote from Winnie the Pooh, 1st CorCorinthians 13, and my favorite poem by Rumi.

I'm not sure how I feel about the canvas being in the center of the wall thanks to that pesky light switch, but I love the typography and the fact that I can change it. I'm thinking qoutes about growth & relaxing in the spring, having fun in summer, patriotism for the 4th, etc.

I was browsing shops on Etsy and found a few french graphics I love too, so maybe I'll find a way to incorporate those somehow. Maybe in the kitchen?

A very simple project that worked out perfect for the (small) space.

The Princess and The Canvas

2011-01-09T17:45:00.009-05:00

Once upon a time, there was a princess. The girl was very crafty and was always looking for new projects to do in her spare time, and at this moment, was dissatisfied with her dining room. She thought the wall was in need of some artwork, and so she asked the mirror on the wall (aka, google) what she should do with it.
Days later, she was lost in her search. Etsy, Ebay, department stores...nothing had what she wanted. Everything was the wrong color, the wrong style. Too girly, too weird, too funeral polarish.
Which is why she marched into Kirklands one morning on a mission, armed with a 50 percent off coupon.
She was going to conquer the wall!

After much looking around, and straining a few muscles lifting heavy mirrors and huge frames, she found it.
It was the right color. The frame could be painted white or black (or both, she thought with glee!), but the art was perfect. Abstract enough for her tastes, but still traditional enough for Prince Charming.
She sent a photo of it to her mother (even though their tastes are nothing alike, and the queen did not live with her, but alas, did she really want Prince Charmings opinion?) and got her thoughts on it. The queen liked it, but questioned the size of the space.

The princess thought it was just right - it was one of the smallest pieces of art there!!! It was hidden behind several pieces at least twice its size, and when she stepped back, she could picture it on the wall - and when she told the queen this, the queen was content and told her congratulations on 'the perfect piece'.
She called Prince Charming to inform him of her victory. He told her that he was happy, but to make sure it would fit. She reassured him that it would.

He asked her specifically 'not your version of fitting, princess - but mine. The one that actually works'. She huffed and puffed and said it that it would, and because Prince Charming didn't want to start a fight, he dropped it.

Just to make him happy though, she verified the return policy with the sales associate, and she was set. She saved over 70 dollars on this canvas! It was on clearance, all the stores artwork was on sale, and she had her coupon.
It was a great day, and the sun was shining.
It was difficult to fit in in her car, and she started to hear a little voice in the back of her questioning the size, but she brushed it off, because it was PERFECT.
She drove home with Pandora blaring and the windows cracked (even though it was january, because the princess always like her car windows down). She pulled into the drive way, opened up the backdoor and pulled the piece out. She walked up to the door and immediately her stomach starting sinking...
She had a feeling perhaps it would be too snug of a fit.
She opened the door and dragged it in, too which Prince Charming jumped up from the couch, exclaiming
'I thought you said it would fit how I MEASURE!'.
The princess, starting to realize that it was bigger then she thought, turned and looked at the wall where it was to go. She thought to herself 'well, maybe if we get rid of the frame and just keep the canvas'.
She dragged it over to it, hopeful still.

It was hopeless.

Prince Charming couldn't stop laughing.

'I thought it would...it was the smallest one there....' she replied in a small voice.

Alas, the smallest frame in the store also happened to be twice the size of the wall it was to go on in her house.

The moral of this story, according to Prince Charming, was that Princess was to take a measuring class. This was not the first time this had happened, and while it was funny, it was kinda sad. The princess was gifted with not 1, not 2, but 3 measuring tapes the next day. One for the house, one for her car, and a small one, just big enough for her purse.

Kirklands took the oh-so-perfect artwork back. And the princess was left to carry on her search once more.

Winter Decor

2011-01-06T15:35:00.003-05:00

All the blog updates I've read from others this week all seem to have a common theme.
They don't want Christmas to end this year.
The running trend is that Christmas ended way to early, and that no one had a chance to really enjoy their decorations. And I'm in that boat as well. This was probably my favorite Christmas for many reasons, not just because I loved our decorations so much, but because it was more about family and making memories this year rather then gifts and chaos.

But on that note, I was home so little that I didn't get to enjoy the house and all that we did. Taking down our stockings was rather depressing, as was the removal of the knic-knacks, tree, and all else.
Which is why I jumped for joy when Mr. Duck said, in his rather clueless-but-sweet fashion, "why don't you just decorate for winter? you decorate for everything else!'

Duh.

Which is why we spend a large part of our New Years Vacation curled up on the couch, watching movies on HBO, making paper snowflakes.

Yes, even he, the self professed 'crafts are stupid' king. He even made me a snowflake with little bunnies in it. I was impressed with his skills! (but don't tell him I said that he did it - he'd never live it down!)

Did you ever read the book the twelve dancing princess as a child? In it, the princesses have to travel through 3 different forests...one is made out of gold, another silver, and the last crystal. It always seemed magical to me, and it was was my favorite story. It was the inspiration for the decor around the house this year, and while it doesn't live up to my childhood dreams, I still think it's pretty magical.

I went to Micheals & JoAnns and bought a bunch of stuff that was labeled 'holiday' that was on 50-70% clearance, and presto! No more naked looking house!

The mercury glass acorns ornaments were my favorite thing I bought during my clearance shopping this year. I found them at walmart for a dollar each, and scooped up every one they had - a grand total of 12. 4 are in a silver finish, 4 are in a blue finish, and the last 4 are what I think of a milk glass-meets-mercury glass.
Obviously, they are my favorite.
The garland was never taken down from christmas, and I just added a cheap little white one I picked up in the 70 percent pile at work. The snowflakes we made from a book Mr. Duck picked up a good will (that I had mentioned in an earlier blog post), and the ribbon bows were from the shimmering line at Micheal's. I also picked up 2 five foot glitter/crystal garlands from the same line, and wrapped those around just the top of the banister for a little more sparkle.

Come to think of it, most of my 'winter' decor came from that line. Can you tell I have a thing for metallic and whites?

I made a temporary remedy for the stupid curio cabinet that the kitten broke earlier on - he jumped in and snapped the glass shelf in two pieces. I had some leftover fabric from the valance I used in the kitchen, so I just hot glued that around the doors. I finished it off with some ribbon I bought this weekend though (yea, it looked a little tacky without it) and some charms.
Not great, but it'll do till we can find the perfect bookshelf for the space.

I removed the christmas ornaments from the floral centerpiece on the dresser in the living room, but left the metallic beads and crystal star - they didn't scream 'christmas' to me. I added a white satin table runner, a few mirrors & frosted glass votives from the dollar store, and threw in my favorite lemon lavender candles that were gifted to me this year.
The mercury glass hurricanes came from Micheal's, also marked 'holiday'.
To be honest with you, I'm not sure were there definition of holiday came from, but I sure do like it!

The wreath for the front door was 9 dollars at JoAnns, and I love it! It has snow covered pine cones and metallic silver branches. There goes that metallic theme again!

All in all, I think the house looks festive again. There is something about seasonal decor that just raises your spirits, no matter what the holiday is.
Wouldn't you agree?

Have you put anything up for winter? Or did you just take down the Christmas decorations and say heck with it until Easter? Or maybe you are doing something for Valentines? I'd love to know!

One that note, I'd love to know what Mr. Duck was doing here as well. He never did explain it to me, probably because I got a little irritated once I realized he was using my metallic champagne chargers as a weights and mats for this...

Thrifty Tuesday (4)

2011-01-04T21:16:00.002-05:00

Its no secret that I haven't been able to spend time at one of my favorite places in the whole wide world here recently - goodwill.
Dare I say I think I'm even having withdrawals?
My. Duck and I stopped by there this weekend to do some browsing for furniture (keeping an eye out for a bookshelf for the office) and a book to use for our snowflake project on the banister (which I'll show everyone later on this week).
While we were there, we stumbled across an encyclopedia set - a total of 7 books - from the 1920s, about the 'great war' (obviously pre ww2).
They were gorgeous. The detailing on them was just stunning - gold leafing on the edges and everything. You could tell these were coffee table additions. I can picture in my mind them displayed in an old study, the type with wood wainscoting and dark green walls, decanters and cigars on a cherry desk...

Ahh, to live back in those days.

Anyways, Mr. Duck wanted to buy them (4 dollars each!!!!), but they weren't in the best condition. 3 of them at the spines ripped off and taped back on (with scotch tape, no less - yikes) and they pages were beginning to dry rot. It made me a little sad, actually, to see how they were cared for over the years. As much as I would have loved to have them displayed, and most certainly read, it wasn't worth it to have to worry to be so careful with them.

After seeing their condition, I felt kinda bad for buying a book just to rip up for our snowflakes. But in my defense, it was a 1970s music lovers encyclopedia. Not exactly thrilling material.

But then again, I'm sure the previous owners might have thought the same about the encyclopedia set...

Aside from the book that I went in to get, I came away with one awesome steal. I found these crackled glass candle-holders for 48 cents each. And I'm not talking about thin glass - these babies are heavy.

They are aqua/teal in color, and shimmer in the light. They match perfectly with our towels (seen in the second photo) and just scream 'springtime' to me. As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure I have a similar hurricane glass that I plan on bringing out this year. I love the color, the shimmer, everything.
It'll look great with some simple white candles (not the snowflake one!) and my milk glass.

I never thought I'd say this, but I like the fact that it has a beachy look to it. Perhaps my decor style is changing? Or maybe its because the weather has me feeling kinda blah.

I think I may be getting excited for spring...and it's not even the middle of January yet!

Oh la la

2011-01-03T11:28:00.002-05:00

I started off the year by doing a crucial mistake...something that perhaps, I should have known better to do, but alas, since when have I ever been accused of being smart?
I spent all weekend shopping. Online. Now, in my defense, it was merely browsing...until I stumbled upon these goodies at Pottery Barn...and all hope to save a bit of my Christmas money went out the window.
Our bathroom, after all, deserves a little cheering up for the new year - right? RIGHT!!?!?

On the bright side, I LOVE this set - and the fact that the soap was on clearance makes it even better. Especially since, as Mr. Duck puts it, 'whats the point of having soap we can't use again? And at - OMG how much money for useless soap???'.

Keep calm and carry on, hun. And if I see one of these babies in the shower with you...

Well, lets say 2011 will be a wonderful year for you *grins innocently*.

How did you start off 2011? Anything interesting, exciting or not?

2011

2011-01-02T03:18:00.002-05:00

Its my new years resolutions to follow through with at least one resolution.
This year, I will smile. Often, and sincerely, not because I feel as though i have to, but because I want to. Life is too short to be miserable. And on that note...this year...I will remember those I've lost, not with tears or sadness, but with laughter and joy. They brought me happiness, and i will continue to let their spirits live on by providing others the same.
This year, I will take time to be introspective - I wont spend my day rushing from one task to another, to the point of exhaustion at night. I will do my damnest to get my lazy arse out of bed - maybe before the sun rises (easier to do in winter, I kn0w) - and have an extra hour in my day.
Ok, maybe that's a stretch. But I will try to wake up early and give myself - ME - a half hour of time. No cleaning, no fretting, no studying or planning. Just a cup of tea and Pandora.
...And 2 furbabies. Unless they are channeling my inner laziness, which I know isn't true laziness on my part (thank you, anemia) but is on theirs. Because their life consists of naps, eating and play time. And more naps.
Cats have it so easy.
This year, I am not resolving to loose weight. Not because i don't need to - i do - but because that's not a once a year goal. It's now. My physical therapist said i can go back to swimming and yoga now...hence my brand spanking new YMCA membership card. Well, its not new. But i do have my new name on it. Which is kinda new, right?
I will read this book - squirrel seeks chipmunks. Not just because it has an adorable cover and seems to be written just for me, but because I miss reading. I don't have the time to blog anymore, much less read. If I can finish this book, I'll consider it a victory. If i can finish this blog entry, ill crown myself 'a-is-for-awesome Mrs. Quack'.
This year, i will remember to take my ADD meds, before Mr. Duck patiently (mostly) reminds me. And because i remembered to take 'em, he wont have to remind me. Its a win win.
Speaking of Mr.duck....this year, I promise to not take him for granted. I'll make him feel cherished and loved and appreciated. Even if he does grind his teeth so loud at night it wakes me up.

Which is why I'm writing this at 3am.

This year, I will be awesome. I will feel accomplished, and I will be content.

This year will be OUR year. That, and our dentists....after we pay him for the work I have just decided Mr. duck will be getting. I can't stand this anymore.
Perhaps our future adopted kids wont mind us dipping into their 'bringing home fund' to fix Mr. Ducks grinding issue. Its for the peace of sleep- uh, mind - too.

Happy 2011. Lets enjoy the last year before the world ends!
Joking.
Kinda. Sorta. Maybe? Who cares. It's gonna be a great year. Because I said so.

Winter cleaning?

2011-01-01T18:44:00.008-05:00

After bringing in the new year playing Wii with Mr. Ducks brother and sister-in-law, we decided to get cracking on one of our New Year Resolutions...cleaning up the dungeon.
Which most people would refer to as the basement, but seeing as how we've been treating it like a catch-all for the past 6 months, it feels more appropriate to call it a dungeon.
You see, Mr. Duck just installed central air/heat throughout the house. It involved a lot of holes in walls, missing ceilings, and just overall chaos. The basement happened to be ground zero for the project, and even after he finished it, it remained ground zero.
But alas, no more. We are cleaning it up, and turning it into the craft nook/rec room that we had always planned to use it for. No more gigantic closet wanna-be!

Here is the progress thus far today. I'm impressed with how much I was able to get done in my part of the basement, but seeing as how I didn't have 50 billion boxes of nails and tools and other things that I couldn't begin to tell you as to what they were, just that they had wires and bolts...well, its not exactly a fair competition. He did have the bigger mess to deal with after all.
But for only a days worth of work, I say we are in the lead, regardless ;-)
I still have no idea how I am going to decorate the craft nook once I get finished. My original idea was to do whites/pale blues/greys with silver/blue/white accents, but I'm not sure anymore. I figure organizing the mess will give me plenty of time to decide - after all, the rec room has to be decorated too, and since they are connected, it should be somewhat cohesive. And while I'm at it, the downstairs bathroom, laundry room and office still need work...

Ahhh, welcome, 2011. Let the decorating begin!

Cameo Wall

2010-12-31T09:37:00.005-05:00

I'm trying to figure out which wall I would like this art on. I found the silhouettes thanks to the wonderful world of google, along with the PNG oval frames (which I'm note sure if I am going to use for all 5 images - I might keep them for the top 2 and look for something simpler for the bottom 3). The cameo's will be printed as decals from a seller on Etsy, along with the L, if I can't find a wooden cut-out I like. Now comes the hard part - where to put it. I've got to stop coming up with ideas and then looking for places to put 'em - its too much of a pain ;-)
I've narrowed it down to 2 different areas. The first being the larger wall in the right side of the basement, the part that is my craft room. You know, the part that has the billion built ins?
The second idea was in the dining room, along the back wall. My fear with doing it there is that it will make the whole space look too busy - don't forget, you can see my photo gallery wall from the dining room, so perhaps too gallery is a bit overkill? Or maybe not? What are your thoughts?

DIY Stockings

2010-12-01T19:16:00.001-05:00

I had an image in my head of what I wanted our stockings last year, and I couldn't find them anywhere. I wanted a set, with the same patterns and colors, but mismatched - and it had to be in the 3 sizes. No wonder I couldn't find them anywhere! Needless to say, at Thanksgiving this year I got a bit bored...and decided to start sketching our 'forever' stockings - and Mr. Duck liked 'em so much that he took me to JoAnn designs that night to buy the fabric for them on our way home.
The fact that all their fabric was 30% off was simply a sign that it was meant to be ;-). We found 5 fabrics that we liked - 3 cottons, and two taffetas. One cotton was cream and had gold glitter Christmas stars throughout, and the other was a burgundy with a white damask/candy cane design. Of the two taffeta,s one was a solid burgundy, and the other was a burgundy with a gold beaded scroll design. And the 3rd cotton, the one for the inside lining, was a burgundy/white/olive green striped fabric. Matching, without being too perfect. And not the typical bright red that personally, I can't stand. I orginally had planned on doing white with gold and silver, but Chuck said he really wanted it to be more traditional, and I don't mind the burgundy.
Marriage IS about compromise, folks ;-)

The two larger stockings templates came from a dollar store stocking and one of ours from last year, and I free-formed the smallest one. I used the directions from the videos here and here as guidelines, and added a ridiculous amount of trim I picked up from JoAnns and 'borrowed' from my mothers sewing collection.
Thanks, mom ;-).

In my opinion, the most tedious part of the project was attaching the fusible webbing to the fabric. Complete and total pain, and almost makes me not want to make stockings for our kids when we adopt 'em. We'll see if I remember what a pain it was when we come to that.

I didn't want to sew our names onto them, because I figured once we had kids I wanted them to be able to personalize their stocking with their own name tags every year, and it would give us a chance to change 'em up. This year, I found gift tags in the dollar section at Target - little plastic ornaments that were bright pink and green. Nothing a bit of primer and gold paint couldn't spruce up, and painted our names on those, attaching them from the corner of each stocking.

We couldn't be any happier with how they turned out. Mr. Ducks stocking is white pom-poms, mine is beads and pears, Justices is jingle bells, Mulders is lace and roses (yea, I know - not very masculine), and Waddles is stripes of each of the 4 fabrics with gold lace.
Not sure how we are going to make the stockings for our kids, yet - we made sure to buy plenty of fabric, but by that time rolls around, I'm sure I'll have thought of something.

To see more photos, click here.

Happy One Year Anniversary!!!

2010-10-25T21:12:00.000-04:00

This was the dinner that I came home to last night after work. Therefore, I've made it official - my husband couldn't be any sweeter. He even dug out the tablecloth from the trunk that holds all the stuff from the wedding to use - and got a cake similar to the one we had from the same bakery.

It's been a great year, Mr. Duck. Thanks for putting up with me throughout it all - and here is to many more!

Diamine Monaco Red Ink Review

2010-10-09T15:35:00.003-04:00

A decade together

2010-10-03T20:47:00.003-04:00

With our 1 year wedding anniversary just around the corner here, I thought I'd make a cheesy little collage of the past 10 years together. After all, this is our 'decade' anniversary. It's funny to see us grow up throughout the photos!

1930's Waterman Add's

2010-09-29T15:30:00.004-04:00

The latest 'mini project' I decided to do was in our office...and it involved buying some new photo frames and mats to
a. have them all the frames in the office (mostly) match
b. replace one that had broken
and
c. to use for my won-der-ful Waterman Adds. What are these, you may ask? They are from The Literary Digest, circa 1932-1934, and they showcase my dream pen- a waterman ninty four. I got them for an awesome deal a whole back, and they've just been sitting in the closet, all wrapped up.
But not for much longer! Now I just need to figure out what wall I want them hanging on....

Pretty neat, eh?

2010-09-23T23:21:00.002-04:00

Wow...it's been awhile, guys. A long while. An entire season has gone by, in fact.
Yikes.

To be honest, I forgot about this place. I've been focusing more on keeping up my notebooks then I have an electronic blog.

But perhaps it is time for that to change. The world is bigger then a few sheets of paper, and I need to remember that. I think.

Stay tuned to find out.

Hair Photos

2010-06-12T16:05:00.007-04:00

So over the past week, I've been sitting myself down in front of youtube (much to the annoyance of Mr. Duck) and teaching myself how to do a few things with my hair. Wearing it down all the time is causing it to get to be a knotty mess, and I don't like ponytails cause they give me a headache. So, here are a few of the compromises I've taught myself (rather patiently, I may add) to add some pizzazz to my everyday look.

First off, here is my new hair color. Dark Red blonde with strawberry blonde highlights. I used the ION color brilliance line, and I love the way it turned out!

Gibson Tuck

Dutch Braid Pigtails

Inside-Out French Braid (aka, a Dutch Braid)

French Braid

Half Up/Down french braids

Herringbone Braid Pigtails

Trinity Bun Half Up (poorly done)

Lazy Wrap

My new hair-toys (and earrings) from Israel.

Our Wedding Album

2010-05-20T12:36:00.024-04:00

So after 6 months of reworking our album and two weeks of stalking the FedEx site, following where-in-the-world-our-book-was-in-the-USA, it arrived! I felt like a kid at Christmas time opening up the package.

First, though, let me tell you bit about the company I ordered it from and their software program. Blurb is a company that lets you make your own books - either photo or text - for pretty good prices. It's a professional flat bound album by any means, but it's as close as you can get without being a professional photographer. And I like it better then MyPublisher or Snapfish, and ESPECIALLY Kodak, because it's not cheesy looking. It looks like something you might buy at a bookstore, and there is no limit on the amount of photos you can use - plus, you get full creative control.
You have two options when making a book - using their program, BookSmart, or making your own pages (to the measurements of the book size you are ordering) in a program like Adobe or Photoshop and uploading them into the program itself.

For our album, I did a combination of the two. Since the new version of BookSmart lets you customize your photo layouts, that was all I needed for about 80% of the book. But on the pages where I wanted 3D effects, two page spreads, etc, I went ahead and used Adobe and slurped them into the program.

Very easy. Very addicting. I probably changed the book at least 10 times between our wedding and when we finally ordered it 6 months later. It was a running joke between Mr. Duck and I that it was my 'baby'.

My favorite thing about Blurb is the quality of the paper and the images. The paper has a good feel and thickness to it, and the images are supburb. We used low-res images for the wedding part of the book because that was all our photographer would give us, and it still turned out pretty good. Crisp and vibrant, though with a trained eye you can tell the difference between those and the high-res we have scattered throughout, too.

There are only three downsides with the book that I ordered, and two are my fault, not the blurbs. The first is, because of the thickness of the book (I think its 420 pages), there is some image loss in towards the middle of the book near the spine, where the pages can't fully spread apart. I should have realized this would happen going into it, and for the most part it turned out ok - but on a few of my two page spreads, I should have allowed more leway. On one spread in particular, I lost about an inch of photo.

The second is, in my impatience to receive the digital images from my photograher, I started working with the proofs that I had - you know, the ones with the copyright images on 'em? When I finally received the low-res images from them, I switched them all out...with the exception of one, that managed to get past both me and Mr. Duck. I had had Mr. Duck look over it before I ordered it, to make sure that nothing like that was in there, along with spelling mistakes, etc (since I'd been staring at it for so long that things like that were bound to get past me). He gave me the go-ahead, so I thought we were in the clear...until we were looking through the book and saw that one image. My jaw dropped, and Mr. Duck scooted away from me before I even had the chance to say anything and went 'opps'.
Yea, opps. Oh well. Looking like we have a pirated photo is no big deal, right? Besides, lesson learned. If we order another copy later on, I'll know to fix those 2 things.

The third problem is with the company's dust covers they offer for the books. They are gorgeous - high sheen, vibrant images, etc. But they are VERY flimsy. I knew this when I ordered the book because of several others I had ordered before in the past, and tried to come up with an idea to protect it from tearing, etc. The only thing I thought of was laminate contact paper. I knew I was going to loose the gorgeous, professional looking sheen of the cover, but its a small price to pay to protect the cover from spills and tears.

Without further ado...here we go!

This was when I first opened up the package.

It was like opening up a little treasure ;-). The cardboard protected it thoroughly during shipping, too.

Mr. Duck looking over it.

The high-gloss dust jacket.

The contact paper I bought to cover the cover with.

The directions.

I wanted to do a test book first, to make sure that it was going to turn out ok and that it would bend, etc. I used an old book that I had previously ordered from Blurb that I didn't mind possibly ruining, and practiced with that.

It turned out ok, so I took a deep breath and went ahead...

This is what the laminate looked like.

Measuring out the piece to cover the dust jacket.

Smoothing out all the air bubbles (with a plastic gift card, no less!)

I used a toothpick to go over the parts that had been folded over, just to make sure it was fully flexible.

And the finished product!!

Here is the spine of the book - you can see how well put together it is here.

And here are some photos of a few of the pages.

And this is where it resides now - in a wrought iron bookstand I bought for 40% off at Micheal's.

Which happens to be under our wedding guestbook mat ;-)

I love it. I absolutely, positively love it. So go ahead, make a book with them - what are you waiting for? Mine, which is a 7x7 hardcover and 420 pages, cost me a grand total of 65 dollars. I won't even tell you what it would have cost to go the professional route. Plus, I got to have full creative control, include pics of us dating and the wedding planning process, as well as our honeymoon. All the photos that guests took are in here too, along with our vows, invites, everything. I used several digital scrapbook kits with frames, backgrounds and graphics throughout it too - nothing too cheesy, though ;-).

Its more of a scrapbook then an album, really.

If you want to look through the whole thing, here you go!

Evermore | Make Your Own Book

I'm ALIVE!!!

2010-05-19T13:04:00.001-04:00

I'm still here, folks.

I'm just having some trouble typing right now. Last week, I had a klutzy moment and tripped off a stool and messed up my arm a bit. Nothing a visit to the ER, x-rays, draining of some blood that was pulling under my elbow, and some heavy duty painkillers along with bandages and a sling can't fix.

What can I say? It's just another day in the life of the klutz that is me.

Anyways, it was my right arm, because it's only fair that when you injure yourself, you've got to do it so you can't do anything for weeks afterwards. But I've been babying it like the doctor told me to except while I'm at work, when I just grin and bear the pain, and it's getting a lot better. Today has been the first day that I've taken the sling off - well, at home, anyways; so I figured I'd sit down and blog like crazy.

Because even though I'm mildly handicapped right now, that doesn't mean we haven't done a ton of projects around these parts! We got the floors/paint to redo the upstairs bathroom, our wedding album arrived, found some artwork for the entryway, and a whole lot more!

So, be prepared for Blogging overload over the next few days.

You can't say I didn't warn you ;-)

And in case you were interested...this is the photo Mr. Duck took before we headed to the ER, about a 1/2 hour after said injury. Who could have thought bruises could happen so quickly?

2010-05-11T09:26:00.004-04:00

Mr. Duck bought me the comforter I've wanted since we got married - it was completely unexpected and super sweet! We had originally had it on our wedding registry, but we've been waiting until it went on sale to get it. It was 70 dollars well spent!
It's from Target, and it's their version of the expensive West Elm knockoff. I love it. We bought it in the king size, even though we have a queen size bed, because of the reviews about it being too small on the website. Better safe then sorry, and I'm glad we did - it fits perfectly!

Here are some photos. Don't mind the crappy lighting, they were taken at 10pm. It was still a little wrinkled when I took these, but some wrinkle releaser sprayed on it did the trick. I woke up this morning and it looked fine!

I love it - it's so cuddly! Even Mr. Duck made a comment about the fluffiness factor.

So, that settles it then. I love Targets bedding. We have the organic sheets in natural, the cloud blanket from their Shabby Chic line, and now the Kissing Pleat bedspread.

Which makes for a very happy Mrs. Cat! Now if only I could get out of bed this morning...

PS - sorry about the two different colored curtains. I'm debating which one I like better!

Scrapbook Calender Fun

2010-05-06T23:46:00.004-04:00

One of my favorite shower gifts from my Bridal Shower was this Scrapbook calender from Mr. Ducks Cousin. I love it. At the beginning of every month, Mr. Duck and I sit down and work on a 'layout' together. At first, it was just a hoppodge of photos that we had laying around...and then Mr. Duck came up with the idea of 'what interesting thing can we do with Justice' and the calender has since taken a life of it's own!

This was the first page.

November, after we got back from our honeymoon.

December. I wanted to do a Christmas layout, but we just never got around to it.

January. The two photo's are taken at the same place - the local fair - but 5 years apart. It's nifty to see how much we've changed!

February. In honor of Valentines Day, we did a 'love' theme. A little tidbit about us - we use a lot of post-it notes in this household. An average of 5 or 6 a day. Mr. Duck hides them around the house for me to find, or leaves little reminders for me in the morning. I'll do the same for him for when he gets home from work in the afternoon. I keep some of the more sentimental ones hanging on the inside of our kitchen cabinets.

March - this was entirely Mr. Duck :-)

April was a bad month for Mr. Duck and I for a few reasons...and our calender shows it. It's blank. A lot was going on, and both of us didn't feel like doing a fun layout. So it just hung up, plain. It probably would have made us happier if we had done something, but you live, you learn.

But alas, May is here - have some cheer! This is the current page, full of goofy moments between us. We sat down yesterday afternoon and put it together, and everytime I see it in the dining room I smile.

I really did marry my best friend :-)

How about you guys? Do you have anything whimsical that you and your spouse do as a tradition? I'd love to hear about it!

FYI - I'm participating in Flaunt it Friday over at Chic on a shoestring! You should check it out :-)

Springtime Flowers

2010-05-05T10:00:00.000-04:00

Mr. Duck and I went to a local nursery the other day...here are some photo's of the pretty flowers that they had there!

The Wonders of Spray Paint

2010-05-03T18:17:00.004-04:00

Everyone, meet my new best friend: Krylon Spray Paint in Satin Brushed Nickel Metallic. He and I are getting along very well these days, as shown over the past few weeks here. He transformed our bedroom dresser and end table...but he had bigger goals.

Such as these!

Mr. Duck and I are slowly replacing/repainting all the brass fixtures in our house. Here is what we've done so far.

Vanity Hardware before:

Vanity Hardware after:

Toilet Paper Holder Before:

...and after:

And last but not least...
Here was the fixture that was at the top of the stairs. Ugly 80's style, but nothing some paint and a good cleaning couldn't fix!

Before:

After:

Next up will be repainting the brass hinges on our kitchen cabinet doors, but we are doing more research into that before we undertake it. To replace all of them would be a small fortune, and since it's not that big of a deal, we don't want to waste money on it. We do want to make sure that the finish will last. Have any of you ever tried it?

Dresser Hardware Makeover

2010-04-30T15:56:00.000-04:00

This dresser/end-table set came with Mr. Duck when we moved in together...I love the cherry finish on it, but have never been crazy about the brass handles. I wanted to keep the wood tones to keep the space warm, though, so painting the dresser was out of the question. However, I could spraypaint the original hardware to a more modern color...which is exactly what I did with Krylon's spraypaint in Satin Nickel.

Here are the before photos.

After I scrubbed the hardware down with a toothbrush.

Setting everything up to be painted.

This was how it looked after I applied 2 coats of a gloss sealant on each knob.

And the after photos!

I also took the silver glitter metallic paint I used on the lamp on my end table and the frame on the dresser and repainted the frame holding the poster. I really like how it turned out!

I didn't get the chance to finish the hardware on the end-table. Two of the 3 plates were stuck to it, and Mr. Duck has yet to figure out a way to get them off without destroying the wood. But here you can see the difference between the old and new.

Not too bad, in my opinion. I think it looks a lot fresher now, without being over-the-top.

Important Health Notice

2010-04-29T16:31:00.000-04:00

y/n ~Do you have feelings of inadequacy?

y/n~ Do you suffer from shyness?

y/n~ Do you sometimes wish you were more assertive?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, ask your doctor or pharmacist about Margaritas.

Margaritas are the safe, natural way to feel better and more confident about yourself and your actions.

Margaritas can help ease you out of your shyness and let you tell the world that you're ready and willing to do just about anything.

You will notice the benefits of Margaritas almost immediately and with a regimen of regular doses you can overcome any obstacles that prevent you from living the life you want to live.

Shyness and awkwardness will be a thing of the past and you will discover many talents you never knew you had.

Stop hiding and start living, with Margaritas.

Margaritas may not be right for everyone.

Women who are pregnant or nursing should not use Margaritas.

However, women who wouldn't mind nursing or becoming pregnant are encouraged to try it.

Side effects may include:- Dizziness- Nausea- Vomiting- Incarceration- Erotic lustfulness- Loss of motor control- Loss of clothing- Loss of money- Loss of virginity- Table dancing- Headache- Dehydration- Dry mouth- And a desire to sing Karaoke

WARNINGS:-

The consumption of Margaritas may make you think you are whispering when you are not.-

The consumption of Margaritas may cause you to tell your friends over and over again that you love them.-

The consumption of Margaritas may cause you to think you can sing..-

The consumption of Margaritas may make you think you can logically converse with members of the opposite sex without spitting.

Please share this with other women who may need Margaritas.

xoxo

Botanical Wall Art: Finished!

2010-04-28T21:16:00.000-04:00

Really - I mean it this time, everyone!

I started the project a few weeks ago here, but because of how hectic life has been around these parts, I never got the chance to hang up the frames. Tonight, however, Mr. Duck went ahead and put them up for me...yay!

Here was his oh-so-scientific way of measuring things out.

And using a level...

And some more measuring.

Alas, though, after an hour, the wait was over! The project that started this blog off is finally finished!

I need to upload some photos in better daylight (its 9pm here, so I had to make do with using the flash on the camera) but you get the idea.

We decided to center the frames on the wall, not with the vanity. Because it's more likely the vanity will move before those frames do ;-)

And here is that side of the room. I'm thrilled with how it turned out.

One project done...many more to go!

Thrifty Tuesday (3)

2010-04-27T18:42:00.004-04:00

Today's Thrifty Finds comes from the Local GoodWill store. Mr. Duck and I went last week, and here are some of things we (well, basically I) spotted.

This awesome record player/console table was a whopping 10 dollars. Mr. Duck actually wanted to get it, but we couldn't think about where we would put in in the house.

A TV stand that Mr. Duck was going to get get for our huge TV in the living room now. It was 20 dollars, and as soon as I saw it I came up with a plan of how I'd like to refurbish it. That was, if our TV would fit in it. Mr. Duck measured it with the tape measure he keeps in his car, and measured the TV. 2 inches two big. Damn.

And the running theme of the day...lots and lots of milk glass!
I loved this little milk glass vase. The problem was, though, that it was little. I couldn't think of where I would put it. But it was neat.

We bought this candle holder set, and put tall black candles in them. They are sitting on top of the curio cabinet in the dining room now.

And to end this post, here is Mr. Squirrel. :-)

Spray Painting Disaster

2010-04-26T19:51:00.006-04:00

I was suppose to go to class today, but it was canceled...which was frustrating it and of itself, but that's another story. I had asked off specifically for today, only to have been able to work all along.

Anyways, since I had a weekday off since the first time in over month, I was somewhat confused as to what I was suppose to do. I sat on the couch, twiddling my thumbs and looking at the window and the overcast day we were having, when I had a lightbulb moment.
Lets spraypaint!, my mind told me. If it hasn't rained yet, then it won't, my mind whispered to me. I fought with it, I truly did.
But spraypainting won.

Off to the local hardware store I went to buy some spraypaint. The following are some photo's from the trip there. Dark and overcast, chilly, but no winds and no humidity. Besides, the weather sad it was suppose to be foggy and cloudy all day. No showers, thunderstorms, nothing like that. I had a good feeling about this.

I picked out the color I wanted - Rustoleum Metallic Titanium Silver. It has a very faint sparkle to it, and since both the pieces I wanted to do were small, I thought it would add a bit of pizazz.

I brought the first piece I wanted to transform - your ordinary run-of-the-mill black frame, and lightly sanded it.

This is how it looked after the first coat - it had a very wet sheen, and not much sparkle.

I was feeling a little 'blah' about it, and was considering going back out and getting something else, when I decided to wait and see how it looked after the second coat.
It turned out amazing. This is where it is at in the Master now. The shimmer is subtle unless there is direct light on it - then it just sparkles!

I then took the second thing I wanted to spray paint - the stupid black and gold lamp on my in table - outside, and gave that a quick cleaning and sanding.

After two coats (which should have been further spaced apart), this is what it looked like. There was small drip mark on the middle part of the vase, but I wasn't too bothered by it - it gave it a marble effect, and I was just happy it wasn't black anymore.
It was bigger than the frame I did, so I wanted to leave it outside for as long as possible to let it dry and to have the fumes fade.

With time on my hands to kill, I decided to head on over to the library and pick up a few books to read. When I left, the weather was the same - perhaps a little colder, but nothing that concerned me.

I lost track of time in the library, as usual, because when I left (about 45 minutes later), it was starting to drizzle. I rushed out to my car, books in hand, only to realize that the wind had picked up a lot.
Now, we live less than 4 minutes (driving) away from the library. I thought I'd be able to beat the storm and get home in time to get the lamp inside. However, about a minute later...it started to downpour. Winds were howling, and people were pulling off the side of the road, the rain was so heavy.

Perfect. Just wonderful.

I drove through it all, pulled in front of the house and didn't even bother turning off the car yet, ran inside (getting completely drenched) and out to the deck to rescue the lamp.

Alas, it was too late. It was ruined. Little bubbles had started forming, the wind had plastered leaves to one side of it, and rain streaks were evident throughout it all. I put in on the kitchen counter, feeling defeated, and went to go turn off my car. It continued to rain for the rest of the day, causing a small flash flood throughout our area - thankfully, we weren't effected, but the other side of town was.

After the lamp dried, I put it back in the room. It doesn't look too awful bad...not great by any means, but it'll do for now. At least it's not black though, right? It looks somewhat better, right?

Ah, who am I kidding?

So folks, I've been taught a lesson. If the skies look like this...

don't spraypaint. Watch TV, read a book, wash clothes. Don't listen to the little voice in your head saying 'oh, it'll be ok'. Because it won't. My poor lamp is evidence of this!

I Dream Of Kitchens

2010-04-25T10:48:00.001-04:00

I think I found the perfect kitchen. Only problem is...it's not in my house. It looks like it could be, though - a very similar layout.

So....whats a girl to do but perform some remodel magic?

That's right, everyone. Mr. Duck has finally relented!!! Ok, maybe relented isn't the right word...after 2 months of not so subtle hints, he finally gave up. I get to paint the cabinets white!! And with all the money we've been saving, we can go ahead and get a new countertop (I'm thinking a gray quartz) & put some glass inserts in 2 of the upper cabinet doors.. But alas, I digress. Let me show you my dream kitchen, courtesy of googiling 'farmhouse gallery kitchen'. I do love google!

Imagine switching the blue walls out with our green walls, and the tile with our wood floor, and the dark countertop with a light grey, and presto!!

Imagine transforming this....

To this!

Mr. Duck isn't crazy about the backsplash over the stove. I've liked it since I first saw it in Lowes last year, and tried to persuade him to use it. He said it looked like aluminum foil. I think it's reminiscent of Victorian tin ceilings.

I'm not picky, however. As long as the end result is bright, airy and cheery - and has white cabinets instead of the horrible honey oak we have the 'pleasure' of looking at now - I'll be happy. Really.

And in case that kitchen wasn't drool-worthy enough for you, here are a few more images (from Country Living) that I've gathered in my kitchen inspiration folder - since it's now a dream that's on the horizon. Home Depot, here we come!

6 Month Wedding Anniversary

2010-04-24T17:53:00.001-04:00

That's right, everyone. Mr. Duck and I have become two of those dweebs who celebrate half-year anniversaries. In our defense, however, it was our first six months as being married. Give us a break ;-)

The day started off with Mr. Duck bringing me (and Justice) breakfast in bed. He took this photo before waking us up. Justice got some chicken, and Mr. Duck made me eggs, gluten free pancakes, strawberries and bacon. Yummmy.

We spent the day relaxing in bed. It was my first day off in about 2 weeks, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was fun just being able to lay down and talk all day with each other too...and of course, Justice.

Mr. Duck bought me flowers and a card in honor of the occasion. He managed to find white/green hydrangea's, and even arranged them in our vase for me. He's a very talented man (I would have never guessed he know how to cut flowers at a diagonal, etc).

Justice liked the flowers too!

Here is a close-up of them. So pretty!

We are a bunch of goofballs. After I took a shower, he surprised me with....

Sweets! He bought two parfaits - one coconut for him, and cherry for me. I'm telling you folks, if you can't compromise on something as important as this, you are better off just getting each of your own thing. Your marriage will be happier!

Anyways, he also took out some ice cream we had, and put some of that chocolate shell stuff on top of it before putting a 'six' candle on top of the ice cream. And lighting it. And singing the stupid 'I love you song' from Barney. I couldn't stop laughing.

We decided to eat desert while watching a movie.

We rented a movie from the local Blockbuster Kiosk, Angels and Demons. It was actually a really good movie - I liked it a lot. Mr. Duck thought it wasn't very suspenseful, but the ending surprised me.

All in all, it was a great day. And I couldn't be any happier! Happy six month anniversary, Mr. Duck! It's been a wonderful 6 months together, and I am looking forward to many more!

Life Unexpected

2010-04-23T13:52:00.010-04:00

Wow...it's been awhile, you guys. I just want to post and say that yes, I'm still alive, and I'm sorry for my unexpected hiatus this past week.
At the beginning of April I started a job at a different pharmacy that is closer to home (it's about a minute away), and between that and classes, I haven't had the chance to really sit down in front of the computer aside from bills and school.

Fun, fun. At least I the dress code here is business casual, because all the CPhT's have to wear a lab coat. You better believe I'm burning all my red and khaki, now!

I've also had some stuff going on with my health that has had be feeling below par, and that's had me feeling down - both physically and emotionally. And who wants to blog about happy stuff when they are feeling a tad bit depressed?

Anyways, I'm gonna try to set aside time every other day for the blogging world, because there is only so many drug stock bottles a person can look at daily before loosing their mind. Looking at decor is ten times better. And who knows -perhaps it'll make me put some things in perspective.

On a brighter note...tomorrow is Mr. Ducks and I's 6 month wedding anniversary!

It's amazing how quickly the time has gone. He left me a note this morning saying not to make any plans for tomorrow, because he has 'plans' for us.

I like plans ;-)

I really did marry the sweetest guy in the whole world.

Thrify Tuesday (2)

2010-04-13T13:56:00.008-04:00

So, today's trip was to a local discount store called Ross. It's a mix of Home Goods/Marshall's/TJ Max, with a good bit of junk scattered around some really neat finds. I found a two things that, if I had room laying around for things that I didn't really need, would have made it home with me...

Anyways, today's finds were mainly kitchen oriented, but I found a few decorative pieces as well. So without further ado...

I liked the middle frame the best - the flue de lis one. And with a price tag of 4 dollars each, I thought that it was pretty good buy, even if there are a bit on the over-the-top side.

This wrought iron sconce was a whopping six dollars, and I thought it would have looked perfect hanging on either side of the deck in the backyard. However, they only had one, not two. Go figure.

This porcelain teapot set was 12 dollars, and the lace edgework is something I haven't seen before. If it had been in white, it would have been perfect for our dining room!

They didn't have an 'A' mug! If they had, I would have bought both the A and the C (Mr. Ducks and my initials), because each one was a dollar! Grrr! I can NEVER find anything with my initial! It's so frustrating! The L mug is our last name, though...but it's not the same :-(

How cute are these mugs? Mr. Duck and I have been looking for the perfect size mug for us (aka, a huge one) and haven't had much luck. These were the perfect size, just not quite to Mr. Duck's style. I thought they were awesome, though.

A little known fact about me...I collect perfume bottles, and have since I was a little girl. One of my favorite ones was given to me by Mr. Duck for my 16th birthday, and was hand blown in Egypt. This one was pretty cool, and by far the biggest one I've ever seen. And for 19.99, it wasn't too badly priced (seriously, these things can get expensive).

...I really wanted this cake stand. REALLY wanted it. Like, more than anything else in the store. The colbot blue matches our dinnerware, and after a thorough examine, I discovered the glass didn't have a single crack. 3 dollars, folks. It was painfully hard to walk away from...but I did it. I was strong. And we were able to buy milk instead of having 2 cake stands - and while Mr. Duck may enjoy cake, I doubt he'll see the benefit of having two of the same thing ;-)

And the second thing I REALLY wanted was these white trivets. They had 2, and I might actually go back and get them, because we need a few. Who can mess with pretty and practical? We eat a lot of rice around here (I'm gluten intolerant) and there is only so much putting the pot on the table that Mr. Duck can stomach. I even got his ok to go back and pick 'em up if they are still there...highly unlikely, but still. They had hooks on them too, so we can use them as decoration as well (I was thinking of the back splash behind our stove).

I really hope they are still around tomorrow!

Living Room Redo

2010-04-12T19:25:00.013-04:00

I discovered this photo over at BHG a few months ago, and have been thinking about a way to incorporate it into our home. I love the mismatched/eclectic look of it, but how it all looks pulled together at the same time.

Enter our Living Room.

This was before I decided to gather up all the random frames we had in boxes around the house and hang them up instead. Mr. Duck really wanted a 'family' wall in the living room, and this was my first attempt to please one of his few decorating whims.

However, the scale was poorly off and the frames were always crooked. So, it was my BHG photo wall to the rescue!!

Now, imagine a photo here of me spraypainting half the frames glossy black and half of the glossy white outside. The fumes must have gotten to me, because I forgot about getting my camera out for what would have been an awesome before shot (the frames I gathered up were every color/wood tone under the sun, and I wanted them all to match in color as to make it look unified).

*NONEXSISTENT PHOTO OF ME SPRAYPAINTING UGLY FRAMES*

We boxed out the area we wanted to have the frames at, and started measuring.

It was a lot more difficult than we thought it would be. This was an hour into the process.

And an hour after that...

Then I had to make sure each frame was level.

Like this.

Still working on it....

The finished product! Ta da!!!!

A close up of the wall - pay no mind to the horrible mat job on the top row, far right and bottom row, far left. I didn't have any mats and just used scrap paper.

The first of the two little black frames holds our monogram, along with our 'The -----'s, est 2009'. The second of the frames has the quote 'Family - we may not have it all together, but together we have it all'. I couldn't think of a more fitting saying to describe us!

This is the living room now (see the kitty in the window?)

Another angle of the wall

I like how it compliments the black shelves and white milk glass on the dining room walls. It blends it together while still making it a distinct room.

Because my Sister-In-Law gave us her tv a few weeks ago, we had to move our dresser to make room for it.
Since we are now back to the original dilemma of not having anywhere to put a larger television, the TV is just sitting on the floor. We have yet to find a TV stand/cabinet that we like for it and fits in that corner.
Mr. Duck has talked about building a built-in there, that way it fits perfectly and can provide more storage.
Yay for marrying a handiman!
Here is where we are keeping the dresser now, along with a milk glass compote and a white frame.

And just to refresh your mind...

BEFORE

AFTER

Total cost? 10 dollars for the 7 5x7 photos. The 4x6's were printed out on our home printer using photo paper. The frames we already had, gathering up dust in boxes, and the spray paint was leftover from other projects.

I still have to buy 2 mats, but all in all...not too shabby for DIY on the cheap.

Granddad

2010-04-09T01:16:00.004-04:00

I started working on the wall collage for above the couch in our living room tonight - I'll be posting photo's tomorrow.
I also have a sinus infection and have felt 'blah' all day, to the point of procrastinating some of the papers on HIPPA I have to do for work. Before Monday.

I'm not the brightest one, I know. But I have this cotton-ball fog going on, and every time I read a certain word I thought it was something else to the point where I was just getting confused and it was creating a headache and I just said to hell with it. And spraypainting the picture frames for the living room this morning didn't help matters.

On a sad note...I miss you, Granddad. My mom's dad died 14 years ago today, and has been missed greatly since then, as cliche as it sounds.

I know you miss him a lot, mom. I love you. And to cheer you up (since I know you are reading this) have a look at your parents and cute little 'ol me in that ATROCIOUS dress you put me in for my baptism. Seriously, you wonder why I grew up to be such a klutz? Look down and remember!

By the way dad, I love how you were told (through my sister on facebook) that my cellphone died/was lost/committed suicide/is fish food and left me a voicemail on said phone saying 'how you heard about it and wanted to make sure I was ok too'. Because leaving me a voicemail on a phone I didn't have access to is something I would totally do too ;-)

Gotta love family :-)

Bad Day

2010-04-08T23:55:00.004-04:00

So, for the past couple weeks I've been spending weekday morning's hiking as part of my get-my-butt-in-shape plan. I drive over to Cunningham State Park in Thurmont, Maryland with my camera, IPOD, phone and water bottle and try to take a different trail every few days. The following photo's are from this mornings particular trip.

This park is known for it's waterfall features, and after I hike up to the falls (taking a good bit of photos on my way, of course) I climb to the top of the falls and sit and meditate/pray-whatever-you-want-to-call-it for awhile.

It's been incredibly helpful, not just to my body but to my mind...the past month has been complete chaos here, and I've found myself just needing ME time.

Well, this morning as I was sitting at the top of the falls, admiring the beautiful views and listening to Mozart, I saw a Copperhead snake.

A big, scary one at that.

I jumped up from my sitting position on a cliff (part fear, part startle), and unknowingly to me, my phone wasn't in my pocket all the way...

Yep, you figured it out. My phone fell out of my pocket and tumbled down the 78 foot waterfall.

Lovely.

After saying a few choice words and attempting to see if it was in reaching distance (I couldn't even see it), I gave up and went home. After pulling into the driveway, I made my way over to our neighbor, whose teenage son was home and asked to borrow his phone for a moment. He looked at me a little weird (I've never really talked to him before), but got his cell out for me and I called Mr. Duck.

I started off by saying that this was his wife calling, the one who bakes and cleans for him, and who loves him unconditionally no matter what.

Perhaps not the best idea, because he immediately freaked.

I tried to tell him (before going into details) that the important thing was that I was OK, that I had no broken bones and no damage.

Which made him think I was in the ER (i'm known for my klutziness). After assuring him that I was a-ok, he bombarded me with questions about our camera.

I may have broken 4 cameras in my life due to said klutziness, and lost one of them (right before our wedding, coincidentally) but why he thought I'd be calling from a unknown number due to a broken camera is beyond me. I guess if I were in his shoes I'd think the same.

I finally blurted out about the snake and my phone and was met with silence (on his end, anyways. Our neighbor was laughing at me). When he finally started to talk (obviously a tad bit upset) he asked if the power was on when it fell, and if it was he was going to go look for it after work because of the GPS chip.

I think it's a lost cause, but we didn't have any phone insurance on it and I'm not crazy about buying a new one when I'm 3 months out from being eligible for an upgrade (ie, a practically free phone). I've already dug out a few of my old phones, but I can't find any of the chargers for them....how typical. If it had been me who organized all of our electronics, I'd know exactly were they would be. But that's Mr. Ducks domain, and it shows ;-)

You think he's crazy for going to look for it? I feel HORRIBLE about this - this is just like me, and I know he's gotta be more upset then he is letting on. I know if I were him and he were me I'd be furious.

And the worst part is, I just started a new job, and have been talking daily with my boss...so if and when he calls me this afternoon, he's going to be talking to the fish at the bottom of the falls instead of me.

I'm sure that will make for a great conversation :-/

And because this is a photo story, here is a photo of were my phone is probably now resting. As if you can call being suicidal and jumping out of my poor pocket and drowning and giving me a migraine 'resting'.

I think it's safe to say, bye bye phone. You've been a pain and have had more things gone wrong than right since I've gotten you, but I'll miss you regardless because of your awesome touch screen and the fact that I just spent 15 dollars on new ringtones.

Here is a memorial photo. RIP.

Tablescape Thursday

2010-04-08T20:24:00.001-04:00

So, another Thursday has come over at Between Naps on The Porch, and since I'm not feeling very creative, I figured I'd just show everyone what our everyday place settings at the table looks like. Nothing fancy, no extra's - just the things you need to enjoy a tasty dinner. Oh, and flowers...because I love flowers!

For those of you who are interested, the placemats, napkins, gold chargers, water and wine glasses, bowls and plates (basically, everything) are from Target - the dinnerware is from their Home line in the Medallion Pattern. The vase and milk glass are thrift store finds, and the mirror/runner is leftover from our wedding.
I made the napkin rings myself, and the flatware was a wedding gift.

The light was poor in this photo, the blue is actually a lot more vibrant than it shows here. I thought something was missing, though...

So I added this plate under the vase. Much better!

Head on over to BNOTP to see all the lovely tablescapes this week! - I can guarantee you they will all be lovelier than this was!

Hello, Warm Weather!

2010-04-07T02:49:00.006-04:00

So, in honor of our first 'summer' day here in Maryland, Mr. Duck and I decided to celebrate by having good 'ol breakfast-dinner out on the deck, along with some homemade daiquiri/smoothies. Perfect! I combined a few different recipes that I found online, and added my own twist to it, to get the perfect smoothie. Here is how you make it.

You need one banana, a bunch of strawberries, an orange and a lime. Go ahead and split the lime and orange in half, and put one half of each aside.

You'll also need 3/4 cups white grape juice, 1 cup smoothie of your choice (I love mango, so I went with that), 4 oz's of light rum and an 8oz can of sliced peaches in syrup.

In your blender, pour in the entire can of peaches, the banana, a few strawberries, and some sugar (I think I used a teaspoon).
Use the puree setting to blend.
Then add the white grape juice, the smoothie, and the rum, blending it in with the puree mix.

Take the halves of the
orange/lime and squeeze the juice into the whole mixture.

Pour into a pitcher and place in the refrigerator to chill.

When you are ready to serve, take your remaining fruit and slice a few pieces of each one, placing them in the pitcher and on the rim. I went and added strawberries to each of our smoothie glasses as well, just for decoration

Tasty decoration at that!

We have yet to buy a patio set this year, so we
took our console table from the living room and
moved that out onto our deck and used our bench for seating. It may not be classy, but it does the trick!

Dinner-that-wasn't-dinner-but-more-like-breakfast consisted of gluten free pancakes and biscuits, scrambled eggs, leftover ham and sweet potatoes from Easter, and green beans (yea, I know, random. But Mr. Duck really wanted green beans).

Oh, and of course our awesome daiquiris.

Because of how bright the sun was, we ate our breakfast with sunglasses on. Our next-door neighbor saw us and laughed....but it's all good.

And then after dinner, my poor tired husband took one look at our sleeping cat and decided he was jealous. In order not to be outdone, he decided to take a nap as well. I just sat here at the laptop catching up on schoolwork.

And that, everyone, is how we enjoyed the first day of warm weather.

National Tartan Day

2010-04-06T19:04:00.042-04:00

Whoo hoo! The Irish have Saint Patrick's Day, the African Americans have Kwanzaa, the Germans have Oktoberfest, and the Chinese have, well, the Chinese New Year.

It's about time I finally get a holiday!

Today is MY day. Well, mine and everything other Scottish-American out there.

It's National Tartan Day!

Yes, that's right. Tartan day. They couldn't come up with anything more creative, I suppose. It's such a shame, too, because it seems we are only known for our plaid...and red hair...haggis...short tempers and Braveheart.

*thinks*.

Yea, I think that's all we got going for us. And some of that isn't even worthy of mention (haggis, blech!)

I am ashamed to admit that I don't have a lot of cultural decor going on here in the house...bits and pieces here and there, and I bring some plaid out at Christmas, of course.
I have a scarf made out of the fabric of our family tartan that I've worn every winter for the past 4 years (the photo at the top was taken when I first bought it) - it was handmade in a shop in Skye, and I love it dearly. I also have our family crest as a nick-knack packed up in a box somewhere, as well as a tartan teacup/saucer set.
And for Christmas this year, by Grandmother made us this cozy fleece blanket and sent it to us (cause she's awesome like that!)

I guess I am a disgrace to today's holiday. The Irish get good beer and shamrocks...I get plaid.

Such is life.

Do you celebrate your heritage through your home decor? Let me know!

Thrifty Tuesday: One

2010-04-06T00:08:00.009-04:00

So, I've decided to start something new here in TheCatSaidQuack Land...Thrifty Tuesday. After seeing things like BNOTP's Tablescape Thursday and Jenny FreeStyles Moodboard Monday, I figured I might as well just jump on the bandwagon! In case you haven't already figured it out, it's just that - every Tuesday, I'll post about thrifty finds that I discovered that week, or showcase someone's elses.

And for my first post, I'll show you what all I came home with from GoodWill yesterday. I spent a whopping 7 dollars there, and came home with these goodies. If I had thought about it, I would have taken photo's of everything in the store, but for the first time in my life, I didn't have my camera on me! I'll try to do that from now on though, like I've done before here in the past.

My first find is this colbolt blue vase for 1 dollar. It matches our everyday table settings (see me holding the plate in the background?) perfectly! We have matching blue water and wine glasses, so it looks like it's a set.

Another 1 dollar find was this glass pitcher - which is a lot heavier than it looks! It needed a good cleaning, but once I got the grime and dust off of it and made it all pretty and gleaming, it looked brand new. Perfect for a summertime batch of Sangria :-)

I can't leave a thrift shop without milkglass....it's a flaw in my DNA. Really. So when I saw this 70 cent milk glass egg holder/shot glass/thingamabob, I had to have it. I mean, 70 cents? I can find loose change in my car to cover that!!

And the most expensive thing I got was a 4 dollar poster. I've been wanting to replace the photo/paper (cause, I really couldn't call artwork) that I had in there, and this was the perfect opportunity. It's a bit modern, with almost an microscope look to the image, with blue/green undertones. Basically, it's made for the Master Bedroom. And it finally gave me the kick I needed to spray paint the black frame white.

I do love Goodwill. The hunt for awesome stuff amidst junk is always fun!

The Project From Hades

2010-04-05T19:03:00.011-04:00

This project was nothing but a gigantic headache. Basically, everything that could have gone wrong...went wrong. But when I see the finished results, I smile and think it was all worth it - but that didn't keep me from a splitting migraine on Saturday and spending the day swearing.

First off, it took me over a month to find botanical prints that I liked. I spent 3 weeks searching Good Wills, Thrift shops and ebay for books on the cheap with no luck - until my wonderful husband discovered this site for me. Perfect! I saved about 15 of my favorite prints, and brought out my trusty 'ol photo editing program. I did a 70% duo tone effect to tone down the colors, and added a mid tone sepia to the whole image. I then went and added a 'sketch' effect to it, to make it look more like the sketch it was and less like a photo, and added a vintage film grain to that.

A few days later, when I decided which ones were my favorite, I went to go print them...only to get 2 prints done and our printer to run out of ink. Not a big deal, but I was frustrated. The next morning, I went to Best Buy to buy some more ink, and managed to score a 'duplex package', which included the ink in color and black, as well as 150 pages of glossy 4x6 photo paper - yay!!! And it was only a dollar more than buying the color and black ink separately.

I stopped by our Family Dollar on the way home, to pick up the 9 8x10 frames that I had seen there the day before for 2 dollars each (I couldn't pick them up then, but I had planned to go back the next day). I went in the store, grabbed my little basket, and skipped to the aisle...

Only to discover EIGHT frames. I felt like crying. I asked the salesgirl if she had anymore in the back, and she went and looked for me, but no luck. And since I was tired of the whole thing at this point and just wanted it done, I didn't want to wait a week for the next shipment. So I sat in the aisle there, looking at the more expensive frames, trying to figure out how I was going to make this work. I finally decided on picking up the 8 cheapo frames, and then one of the expensive (even for a dollar store) frames in a different style, along with 2 matching 5x7's. I figured I'd have to find two more images, and change how I was going to do the layout, but it was better then spending 3 times the amount on cheap frames then what we had budgeted for.

So, I get home, take out the glass and backs, and stack them up on our couch. I went and changed into my work shorts and a tank top that I didn't mind trashing, put a bunch of newspaper out on the deck, arranged the freshly cleaned frames, and get out the store brand spray paint Mr. Duck had picked up for me the day before.

5 minutes into spraying, I realized the paint wasn't sticking. The 'wood' frames from the DS were actually plastic, and the cheap spray paint wasn't going to cover it. Lovely.

So, I threw the stupid can of spray paint across the yard, and marched on over to the local hardware store. In my fit of frustration though, I forgot what I had been wearing (I didn't even put my glasses back on before I left, I just wanted to go and hurry back) and walked into the store to discover 4 teenage guys staring me down.
My trash outfit? Yea, not appropriate for public.
I realized what I wearing as soon as they started ogling me, and proceeded to run for the Fusion spray paint, pay for it (awkwardly, at that) and drove back home.

I finished spray painting the frames, and went inside to change out the ink in our printer.

The color inks went into the printer fine...the black, though? Yea, it didn't fit. It was the same number I was suppose to get to match the printer, but since nothing was going right, it had to just follow in the whole projects footsteps. Thankfully, I still had some black ink left in the old cartridge, so I put that back in and printed everything out with that so that Mr. Duck could look at it when he came home. When I went to do the two 4x6 prints though, it printed out on photo paper (not a big deal), but when I went on to continue the rest of the 8x10's, they were printing out on the 4x6 paper. It took me about 20 minutes to figure out how to fix it (it's a new printer, and I haven't used it much). The rest of the images printed out a bit smaller than the other ones, but since I was planning on burning the edges, I thought it wasn't a big deal.

I brought my freshly printed papers downstairs to trim them up on my paper cutter, and for some reason decided to lean against the edge of the couch to get something...and sliced my knee open on the stack of glass that I had put there. It didn't hurt, so it took me a few moments before I realized it - I looked down and saw blood on the couch and on the frames, saw my knee, and made the connection.

Perfect. Just perfect.

I went and iced it to try to get the bleeding to stop with no such luck, so I went and took some of my injectable medication (I have a bleeding disorder which makes cuts like these a PITA). 60 minutes, clotting medication, gauze and ice later...still bleeding. I was getting really pissed at this point (couch and carpet were bloodied, and the knee was starting to hurt) and was getting ready to call Mr. Duck and tell him I was going to the ER for stitches for this stupid less-than-an-inch wide cut when it finally slowed down.

Because I didn't want to test my luck, I sat on the couch and cut to size the scrapbooking paper I was going to use a mats for the photos, as well as the excess paper of the prints. I had all the papers stacked, and figured I'd be able to cut them all at once...forgetting that I had smaller prints on top.

That's right, you figured it out. I cut off the bottom of 7 of my prints. Of course, right?

At this point, I didn't care anymore...I just wanted it done. When Mr. Duck came home, he helped me burn the edges off the prints to make them look more vintage. I've done this before for scrapbook pages without any problems, so I figured this would be relatively easy. NOT. The computer paper I printed on was cheap, and the whole print burst into frames.

Not small little flames...as in, the paper self-combusted.

After putting out the fire, I just walked away to take a bath to de-stress. Mr. Duck went and reprinted the sketch that caught on fire, and taped the prints to the scrapbook mats before he framed them.
I came downstairs to discover all the prints assembled, and looking pretty amazing. Mr. Duck thought they looked awesome too (and coming from him, Mr-I-Can't-Tell-The-Difference-Between-French Country-and-Shabby-Chic, this meant a lot).

Now if only the whole process wasn't such a nightmare.

Mr. Duck has to add some wires to the back of the cheapo dollar store frames before we can hang them up in the bedroom, but here is how the whole thing will look on the wall.

They will be displayed above my vanity, on the far right of this photo.

The whole project (not including ink for the printer, which we needed anyways) was 35 dollars. That including the scrap booking paper for the mats, the frames, 2 cans of spray paint, and the wires to attach to the backs. Not too bad, IMO.

Misery Loves Company

2010-04-04T22:56:00.000-04:00

My lovely husband decided that he didn't need sunscreen this weekend, and is now paying the price for it - he has a sunburn on his arms/neck and back of his legs that is blistering, it's so bad. I put aloe vera on him tonight when he came home from work, and we've been laying in bed watching TV (well, he is - I'm blogging). He put the bed sheet up to his neck to keep the breeze from the fan from his skin (it's that painful, I guess) and this is the conversation we just had, starting at a commercial from a show he's watching.

Mr. Duck: Cccaaattttt.....I'm comfy under these blankets.

Me: I'm glad, hun.

Mr. Duck: Cccaaattttt.....I want to flip through the channels.

*I look over and see the remote laying on his chest*

Me: Let me guess...you want me to turn the channels for you.

Mr. Duck: Please *puppy eyes*.

*proceeds to change change channels, then go back to the show he was watching. a few moments later...*

Mr. Duck: Cccaaaaaattttt. My nose itches!

Me: Would you like me to scratch it for you?

Mr. Duck: uh huh.

*I proceed to scratch his nose*

A few minutes later....

Mr. Duck:Cccccccaaattttt !

Me: Yes?

Mr. Duck: I want to pet Justice! (our cat, who was sleeping at Mr. Duck's feet)

Me: I can't pet Justice for you, sweetie. Sorry!

He proceeds to whimper and complain, until just now...

Mr. Duck: Ccccccccaaaaaaaaaaattttttt!

Me: What is it now?

Mr. Duck: I want to turn Justice into a monkey!!!!

Me: Put sunscreen on next time, ok? Please?

He's so cute when he's miserable...but, of course, he's miserable. Sigh.

Windchimes

2010-04-03T23:02:00.013-04:00

HAPPY EASTER, EVERYONE!

(I have a special fondness for Faberge eggs, hence these particular holiday photo)

I bought two little windchimes at JoAnn Designs yesterday that were on sale for 2 dollars each. I love the little marbles in them, and the way they sparkle in the sunlight. I hung them up on the underside of each of the handrails on the stairs leading to the front porch.

So pretty!

New Kitchen Light Fixture

2010-04-02T22:41:00.001-04:00

So, a grand 5 months after we moved into our house, we finally put up a light fixture in the kitchen. That's right, folks...we've had a very lonely lightbulb dangling from the ceiling since our wedding...classy ;-).

Honestly, I kinda forgot about it being there. When I went to go take a photo I'd realize, oh, we still haven't gotten a light fixture, better go out tomorrow and do that, and then forget about it the next day. And then it would happen again, and again, and before we knew it, 5 months had gone by.

Mr. Duck surprised me yesterday afternoon by asking me if we wanted to go out...I was rather comfy on our couch, reading some stuff for work, and wearily asked why when he answered with 'oh, just to go to Home Depot and to buy a kitchen light. But if you don't want to go, we can just stay home and watch a movie'.

You better believe I was dressed and out the door in 10 minutes flat!

It took us awhile to find one that we both liked...my tastes tend me to a little more modern, whereas Mr. Duck is very traditional. We were going to walk out with a Oil Rubbed Bronze fixture (after begging and pleading with him to allow me to spray paint it nickel to match the rest of the kitchen) when we walked past this fixture, which we had somehow missed in our 45 minute debate.

The perfect blend of modern and traditional...and most surprisingly, cheap! Extra money for the European Vacation fund!

Off to home we went, where my lovely electrician husband promptly took down the lightbulb (while I was doing a little happy dance)

I unwrapped the globe from the box, eager and inpatient to put it up. The one thing I told Mr. Duck is that I didn't want a boob light - you know, the semi mounts that have a little medallion thing on the bottom that resembles a nipple? Anything but a boob light, which resulted in comments from him all night about how cool it would be to have one since we could add brighter lightbulbs to give a boob job, etc.

Sigh.

Finally, the globe went up, and the light switch was turned on...

TA DA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is amazing how much brighter our kitchen is now - I was joking about needing sunglasses just to sit in the dining room. I had no idea how dim it was in there until we added this thing...we opened up a kitchen cabinet and could actually see into it. It was amazing, I tell you.

Sorry for how blurry this photo turned out - it's just to give you an idea of the brightness.

This beauty was definitely worth the wait...and now, I love Mr. Duck even more for surprising me!

Easter Tablescape

2010-03-31T15:34:00.004-04:00

I got out some of my milk glass pieces, added some daffodils from the backyard to some pale pink jars, and added some fake grass and jelly bean eggs to martini glasses for a rather festive table this year. Now if only Peter Cottantail would hurry up and get here!

I am participating in BNOTP Tablescape Thursday - you should check out some of the other amazing Easter tables!

Sexual Assault Awareness Month

2010-03-30T16:57:00.007-04:00

Very few people know that April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, much to my chagrin.
Now, I'm normally not one to shove political/religious/fill-in-the-blank views down peoples throat, but this is different.
This is something that effects EVERYONE, regardless of gender, religion, race, sexuality.
And the only way that a difference will be made is if we step and be part of the solution.
I'm sure you have seen the PSA's, and know the rather stark statistics...1 in 6 women, and 1 in 33 men will be sexually assaulted...and only 40% of those will be reported.
BE THE SOLUTION is trying to raise awareness by having everyone change their facebook/twitter/myspace photo's to them holding up a flag, showing their solution.

Did you know that it's not illegal in Ethiopia to rape a woman? It's actually an acceptable practice. And the man that rapes you gets to 'keep you' if he so chooses? Or that if you report your rape, you are forced to marry your attacker by their police?

I pray to God that America doesn't end up the same way.

The only way things can change FOR THE BETTER is if everyone is aware of what is going on. Mr. Duck and I are stepping up...will you?

Another Persons Trash...

2010-03-29T22:08:00.008-04:00

...is another persons treasure! A neighbor of Mr. Duck's family was getting rid of a bunch of stuff this weekend, and was more than willing to give us a few pieces - nothing a bit of soap and pain can't fix up!

Magazine Caddy

In table/shelf thingy

Cat Scratching/lounging post. Justice loves this!

Console table.

My Sister-In-Law is moving out of her apartment this week, and was getting rid of a few things that she didn't need/want anymore...and gave us her TV.
Yes, that's right. We now own a grand total of 5 TV's. I think it's ridiculous, but we are going to sell the little tiny one that we had in the living room (since I've believed we didn't have space for any of the bigger ones), and switch out the one from the office to the basement, and vice versa. The one in the master will stay, since that fits perfectly in the nook in the wall.
I might have to move the dresser, which I didn't want to do, but Mr. Duck is really excited about having a large TV in the LR, so a little compromise may be good. Who knows where I will end up putting the dresser, though.

For now though, it's staying on the floor, much to Justice's delight!

Bedroom wall almost finished!

2010-03-28T13:32:00.004-04:00

So, after spending 2 weeks trying to find a cheap book of botanical prints, I gave up. Not on the wall itself, but on being able to find nice big prints, and was debating whether or not to go the photography route. Just as I was getting ready to buy a book of bright and crisp images at GoodWill, I stumbled across this website last week and quickly saved a few of my favorite images from a book that was published in the 1800's. After applying a few photoshop tricks to the images to make them look more muted and antiqued, I came up with the final results!
Now, I'm debating whether or not to spend the money to get them printed as an 8x10 at a photolab, or to just print them out here at home. They are public domain images, so there aren't any copyright issues...just...money ones.
Anyways, here are the finished results. I did 11 images, though I am only using 9 for my wall. Not sure which nine yet though!

Justice

2010-03-27T13:38:00.003-04:00

With the sun shining and the weather warming up, our cat has decided to move. He now resides in the window in the living room, only leaving to eat and use the litter box. He doesn't see a problem with this current situation, and when I tried to explain that he needs to leave his window occasionally, this is the look I got.

I give up.

Cute find at K-Mart (of all places)

2010-03-24T20:14:00.005-04:00

I was killing time at the local K-Mart when I found both of these aprons, each 11 dollars. Both are cute, have pockets and are made out of pretty sturdy fabric.

Problem is, I like both - one matches our kitchen decor, one matches my personal style. Such a dilemma!

Spring Cleaning

2010-03-22T19:18:00.009-04:00

Yesterday, the weather was perfect. No joke. There was a nice breeze going, 70 degree's, with just the right amount of clouds in the sky for me not to have to obsess over reapplying sunscreen every 30 minutes. Therefore, Mr. Duck and I decided to spend the day doing some much needed yard work after church in the morning. We've had a growing list of things to do for awhile now, but with all the rain and snow we've gotten, it's been impossible to even think about starting on it. I think we knocked out a good chunk of it though, starting with...

- Fixing the siding near the roof line. We had a horrible windstorm that managed to tear off a piece last month, and Mr. Duck finally had the chance to go up there and fix it. Granted, it required 'borrowing' our neighbors roof, but they weren't home, hence not minding too much.

- We also cleaned out the creek bed behind our house and attempted to rake up the surrounding area (which was full of broken branches from the blizzards this year). We found a few boxes of eggnog, several plastic bags, and egg cartons floating around, which makes me wonder which of our neighbors is addicted to eggs.

This was the creek after we finished. Much better!

- Project number 3 was the most time consuming...cleaning our deck. Since our house was a foreclosure, we knew that the deck hadn't been taken care of in awhile...we just had no idea how deep the mold and mildew went in the wood. After doing some research online, we decided to use a mixture of 3 parts water to 1 1/3 parts oxygenated bleach, and used a scrubbing brush throughout the deck. This was the before photo...

This was the environmentally friendly bleach we used for the mixture. It happened to be the only bleach we had in the house (most of our cleaning products are seventh generation, now that I think about it)

Mr. Duck did one part of the deck, I did the other.

This is what happened when you scrubbed the deck with the mixture....it reminded me a bit of hydrogen peroxide with the way it foamed. The only disturbing thing was that it foamed bright green (the mildew and mold coming up from the wood, I guess)

The creepy alien goo worked though, because here is the after photo. HUGE difference. We just need to refinish the deck now.

We used the mixture on the banisters and rails, but with a sponge, not a scrub brush. It removed the buildup there as well.

And because it's springtime, I thought I'd leave you with a couple photo's of the few flowers that we've planted thus far...yellow and white pansies, and daffodils. Oh, how I love flowers!

Wedding Season begins!

2010-03-21T17:56:00.012-04:00

So, yesterday wedding season began with the nuptials of Mr. Duck's cousin, Brandon. He's an awesome guy - I've known him since we were kids, and he and his now wife (wow, that's gonna take some getting used to saying) just bought a beautiful townhome down the street from Mr. Duck's aunt - how awesome is that? The two of them look so happy when they are together - and yesterday it was so obvious how in love they are.
They couldn't have blessed with a more gorgeous day for their wedding...the weather was absolutely beautiful, to the point where I was just a tad bit jealous....
*thinks back to the pouring down rain during our wedding...*

ANYWAYS.

The ceremony was a beautiful country chapel, circa late 1800's.

Wedding programs.

They had a saxophone player play worship/praise songs while everyone was being seated. So incredibly awesome. He had the guests singing along at one point...it was very enjoyable.

My lovely sister in law - she has the prettiest smile.

The church's stained glass window, along with my in-laws in the corner there.

The whole wedding party in front of the church.

They had everyone blow bubbles afterward...talk about bringing out the inner two-year-old in all of us.

Reception Table Centerpieces

Cake. A very yummy cake, may I add...

Their first dance...so sweet :-)

Father Daughter dance

Everyone dancing!

The bride wore red shoes under her dress.

One of my favorite photo's of Brittani.

My husband wouldn't dance with me (what is it with men and dancing??) so my sister-in-law did. Cause she's awesome (and a much better dancer, IMO).

The aforementioned husband and I. Pay no mind to my bangs here...I was having a bad hair day.

My favorite photo of Brittani. Seriously. Look at how happy she is here...obviously, she doesn't realize how crazy our family is yet ;-)

Dancing some more. The ring bearer started breakdancing at one point, to the point of removing his tie. Highlight of the reception, by far...

The happy couple!

It was a great day, as you can tell. I just love weddings! Well, the ones where I'm not the one being photographed, that is. Like mine ;-)

Introducing The Furbaby

2010-03-19T21:45:00.000-04:00

Everyone, meet out cat, Justice. He's awesome and you'll be seeing a lot of him around these parts.

Justice, say hi to everyone out in the blogger world!

Milk Glass

2010-03-17T16:34:00.010-04:00

So, in case you haven't already realized...I have a huge thing for milk glass. I love the classic look of it and how timeless it is, as well as the 'hunt' to find new and unique pieces. Not to mention, I love the color white (and brown, but that's another story all together...). They stopped producing the stuff in 1980something, so it's neat to know that what I have is all that will ever be.

Anyways, there is a thrift store in the town where I grew up that I enjoy visiting every time I go and see my mom. It's your typical small town consignment store, with lots of random stuff and some neat furniture pieces that are probably worth a lot more then what the owner sells them for, but that's the joy of it all - finding a bargain ;-)

I stopped by last time I went and saw her just to browse and to see if I could find any cheap furniture (hey, newlywed on a budget!). I didn't find any furniture this time, but I found something that in my humble opinion, is much better.

MILK GLASS MECCA

I spent over 30 minutes examining over 35 pieces there, deciding which ones were in the best shape and would look best with my collection (and that I could afford). It was rough, I tell you...I just wanted to snag up about 70% of it all and run out the door (the other 30 percent I already had). But alas, I am a good girl...and I did no such thing. (also, I knew I would trip and fall at some point and all of my beloved prizes would end up in pieces, along with a few bones).

And that was just part of their stock - they had cabinets full of it in the basement (where I conveniently forgot I had my camera, oy vey!). I'm not a huge fan of hobnail pieces unless it's got something else going for it, so that knocked a few things out of the running. A few of the bowls I really had my eye on though, and if we had the space, I would have picked them up.

I brought home 15 dollars worth of vases, as well as a few cute little containers (votives, perhaps? they are too small to be compote glasses). This is where the finds are now residing in the house...

I love the little feet on these...I have votive candles in them now, until I can find something more creative.

So, this just goes to show...visiting parents can be a good thing :-)

Wall Decal

2010-03-17T01:45:00.008-04:00

I was spending yesterday afternoon browsing the aisles at AC Moore (I got out of work early, though not by choice, but it did give me some much needed down time after my weekend from hell) when I saw their selection of wall decals. Now, I've been trying to think of the perfect quote for a custom decal for the past few months, to use above the green chair in the living room. This has given me many a headache, so it was no wonder that when I saw this generic Faith Family Friends decal, I thought...hey...this will do (and it will save me money on pain relievers!). The shades of green and blue fit with the color scheme of both rooms, and despite it looking a little...much...I picked it on up (along with the stuff I needed for our new plaque for the front door, but that is for another post!)

I finally got around to putting it this afternoon. I didn't do above the chair like I had originally planned because I thought it would be too long (even as 3 lines, as the photo on the box described), so I went ahead and stretched it all out along the bulkhead between the two rooms.

The finished result...

Eh. I'm not sure if I like it or not. Mr. Duck's reaction when he came home pretty much said it all...
"holy heck, what did you do??".
It's removable...but at the moment, I'm too lazy to take it back down. Who knows, maybe it'll grow on me.

Or maybe I should have just put it where I originally wanted something to begin with.

Oh well. The search for the perfect quote for an Etsy Alchemy continues...

Here Comes Peter Cottontail...

2010-03-16T23:31:00.011-04:00

With Easter right around the corner, I'm thinking cheery thoughts, and that is showing in my decor. Here is the latest thing in our house...an Easter Tabletop!

I made these placemats out of scrapbooking paper, and had them laminated at the local Staples.

Table for two.

The place settings are mismatched, but I like it that way :-)

I am obsessed with milk glass.

And fresh flowers...always have to have flowers somewhere in the house, even more so when spring is finally here!

The tablerunner is left over from our wedding

I love glassware - the more unique and colorful, the better!

The little appetizer bowls are currently holding chocolate Easter eggs, but that will change come round dinner time...

I think the Easter Bunny will approve of the decor, don't you?

This is my first time participating in TablesScape Thursdays over at
Between Naps On The Porch.
Check out all the entries!

Also, I found this great how-to site for information on designing tablescapes for those of you who are just starting out.

April, uh, March showers...brings flowers?

2010-03-12T13:31:00.012-05:00

Mr. Duck and I were talking the other day about landscaping our yards and the vegetable/herb gardens that we are planting next week. We haven't decided on the veggies or herbs yet, but we picked out the flowers yesterday and figured out where we are planting them. I'm getting excited, even more so since the weather here is gloomy, rainy and just overall depressing. We came up with these mock-ups in photoshop:

The front yard.

We already have a lilac bush under the window behind the tree, so that will stay. We are going to plant some dahlia's under the tree that way when the leaves start falling off in Autumn, we will have a pop of color there. I'm also going to plant some mixed flowers in 3 separate flower boxes, two on either side of the porch and one under the bedroom window above the door (the other two windows will have air conditioner units in it for at least the first half of summer this year - Mr. Duck is installing central heat/air this summer or fall). On either side of the sidewalk and going in front of the porch will be a Scabiosa/Nasturium mix (one blooms in spring/summer, the other late summer/fall). It'll be nice to have those pops of colors out!

And the backyard:

This is the view from the deck, and is pretty much self explanatory. We already have the fig tree there in the corner, and are planning on possibly putting in a pathway to the gate in stone (maybe). On the other side of the yard will be the veggie garden, and under the deck will be the herb garden. Flowers will be in the back of the yard, and if I can find a few that grow well in shade, I'll plant those around the reading nook in the back corner.

Looking into the yard:

Same thing, except here you see the air conditioner unit we will be putting in on the left side of the deck, along with the flower box under the kitchen window where I will be planting some poppy flowers. As soon as we get the money, we are going to buy a patio set for the deck and possibly a fire pit, and move the bench on the deck to the yard. The little stone bench under the deck (partially covered by the snow here) will be moved to under the tree.

I can't wait :-)

Here are the packets we bought...

Springtime!

2010-03-10T22:36:00.004-05:00

While I was on my break tonight at work, I took a walk around the store to see what the new seasonal stuff we had gotten in. Towards the back, where we have patio stuff at, I saw that we had seeds out this year - a first for us. I got excited and proceeded to think about what all we were going to be getting here soon, because just yesterday the hubby and I were talking about how we were going to landscape the front yard and about his vegetable garden and my herb garden in the back. We are still trying to figure out just how much sun each section gets, but this weekend/week we plan on building the two beds for his veggies and get some new soil for the front yard's flowers.
For now (mainly because I am exhausted), I leave you with these photo's of how I spent my break tonight...looking at these goodies!

The Catch-All Redo

2010-03-09T18:59:00.001-05:00

So, several years ago, I found two little desktop thing-a-ma-bobs at Ross (a local discount store, similar to Home Goods or Marshall's). It fit the theme I was going for then, of an old world/medieval look to my old bedroom.

However, since they've now found a place in our house in the kitchen to keep all the little things that find their way to the counters and to hold our mail, it was no longer doing the trick.
Now granted, the kitchen doesn't really have a theme yet. It's just kinda...there. However, the walls are a light green, and there are blue accents, so I decided to go with that something that worked along those lines.
I went to Michaels and picked out some scrap booking paper that I thought would look do the trick- it's a cream background with vintage blue flowers and old postmark stamps on it. I also picked up a small tube of acrylic paint in a bright navy.
I came home, and traced out the templates to cover the oldworld map paper with the help from my handsome husband (who couldn't understand why I wanted to cover them). I then painted the sides and fronts that had been black/gold with the paint, and let dry. Afterwards, I used good 'ol Elmers glue to adhere the new pattern...and whala! New catch-all station!

Before....

...and after.

Now if only we could do something about those counter tops...

Good Will

2010-03-09T16:37:00.001-05:00

So, after seeing Little Green Notebook's blog today and looking at the photo's she did of her parents room, specifically of the botanical prints on the one wall, I had a light bulb moment.

I immediately thought of this empty wall in our master bedroom which has been driving me crazy...

....and realized I could do something like this!

Perfect.

Jenny said that she got her photo's from a book she found at the library's sale rack, and so I decided a good place to start would be the local Good Will store. So, off to the store I went (well, after feeding the furball)...I figured, what better way to spend my day off?

The parking at this particular Good Will is horrendous. 12 spaces for the entire store, and not a single one was available when I pulled up. Nor was there any side street parking. So, I drove back to the house, and decided to just walk there...took 20 minutes, but hey, it's exercise, right?

Despite the store having a large selection of books on gardening and flowers, they were mainly photography books or full of text - and I wanted something with a little bit more vintage feel. I was surprised at the price of them...the most expensive book I found was 2 dollars, with most of them coming in around 75 cents. I'll have to remember this for my next project.

A few other things caught my eyes on my way out, some of which, if I wasn't dirt poor at the moment, would have come home with me. Things like this...

I was thinking it would be perfect in the bathroom to hold mouthwash, compared to the little jar I have up there now...however, it had was more of a pitcher then a decanter, and I can't think of what it could be used for around here.

I also found these little jars for 50 cents each...it would be cute on a vanity or perhaps in a kitchen to hold spices, since the rubber seals on them were still in great condition.

I debated whether or not to get these - the set of 3 came in at 3 dollars, and they were the perfect shade of blue for the bathroom upstairs. If they were just a tad bit bigger, I would have gave it, but as it was, they were too small to hold anything of use, such as salts or oatmeal.

I've been keeping my eye out for a small cocktail table for next to the closet in the living room as a place to put key at, my purse, etc. This was WAY too big, but the lines of the legs caught my eyes, and I figured with a good cleaning/sanding/paint job, as well as refinishing the iron top, it would be cute in our basement. Price: 8 dollars. I hope it's still there next week.

And of course, I always walk by the vase section, trying to find some new milk glass pieces. These two were new, but they didn't have a set, and I'm kinda OCD about sets - and they weren't similar in height, so it would have looked good together. Oh well.

This little lamp was adorable...it was about 8 inches high, and a pretty shade of blue. I spent a few minutes trying to figure out what type of shade would look good with it (round, perhaps) before realized it may just be a touch too modern for our space. Shucks.

Good Will is always full of goodies. This little trip reminded me of that, even if I did come home empty handed. The next day I get off, I'll have to check out our libaries sale section and see if I get just as lucky as Jenny. And of course, there is always Amazon...