Plate Idea

Every one in a while I'll check out one of the scrolling articles on AOL when I pick up my mail, and occasionally they have design articles from this lady Kelly Edwards. Today's article was about decorating your walls without paint and the picture above was one of the suggestions. I have lots of cute plates that I've picked up at garage sales or whatever, and Dan and I used to buy a plate on every vacation we took, so I think this would be a cute idea for displaying them.

Oh, and her other tip? Vinyl wall decals!

I guess I didn't win....

....a Pottery Barn Kids Playroom makeover, nor did I win a Container Store closet makeover, but I am determined to win the Real Simple Williams-Sonoma Kitchen Sweepstakes! You can enter every day until November 19. :-) None of you won and didn't tell me, did you????

Aren't these so cute?

While I was tending my not-very-busy garage sale on Saturday, I decided to pass some of the time by reading a Family Circle magazine. While thumbing through I came across a recommendation for these bowls, and I thought they were so cute. They also come in pink and red and can be found on the LaPrima Shops website. They'd be really cute for appetizers or snacks or just to have sitting around in the kitchen. And it says they come packaged in an "elegant gift box." Ooooohhhh.....

Paper Source

These adorable paper flowers are the first thing that drew me in to the Paper Source store in Oak Park. I just think they are so cute and fun...but I'm not exactly clear what to do with them. I just think they would be fun to make (thinking of Heather right now, who loves all things made with folded paper) and I'm sure I could find some use for them. Maybe on a gift or package?

I love the Paper Source. Tons of cute stationary, paper, etc. Makes me feel really crafty just to go in there. :-)

Hall of Frame(s)

I've been wanting to do some type of picture wall for a while now, but keep worrying that things will look really cluttered. I think my options are either the hall upstairs or the wall going up the stairs. I really like collections of frames when I see them in magazines or pictures, but I'm just not sure I could pull it off. But, I really would like to display the billions of pictures we have (mostly from Portrait Innovations :-)), and would also like to put up some picture of family members, like parents, grandparents, etc.

Sandi and I saw this picture in the Pottery Barn magazine a couple weeks ago and I really like it. I like that by putting all the frames side by side, you eliminate spacing issues, etc. and even though there are lots of different frames, putting them together like this seems to bring some kind of uniformity.

I also like these layering ideas, but I think it would be harder to do a whole wall that way. It would be cute somewhere else, though.

All of the pics above are from the Pottery Barn website, and I also found a cool area there called "Stylehouse" where they have interactive design tools and helpful videos. I found this video (under Video Library click on Design and Style Tips and then scroll down to the New Family Wall) that gave some helpful hints on hanging large arrangements of frames. I'm not sure I would be that meticulous, but a good idea nonetheless. They also have some really cool tools like this "Planning Your Space" workbook and other room design tools. Who knew?

Wall Stickers

A while back I was cruising the clearance endcaps at Target and came across some wall stickers by Dwell Studios in the baby department. They were marked down from $10 to $2.50, so I picked up several packs each of these designs:

I have realized that I may be in love with wall stickers. I stuck the little cherry blossom ones in our bathroom (but realized a damp room may not be best) and the animal ones above Gabe's bed and a few in Caleb's room. I'm not sure what I'll do with the polka dots, but they are so easy to put on, stick really well (except in the bathroom, but it might have helped to dust the wall first) and add instant decor to the walls!

Then I made the mistake of looking for them on Etsy, and they have a TON! If you just search, you'll see what I mean, but I am totally fascinated with them now and am trying to think where else I could use them! It's so hard to choose, and they're fairly inexpensive, which is nice. It's also so much easier than painting something elaborate, and if you get tired of it, you can just take it down!

If anyone would like a set of one of the above, just let me know. I know I have at least one extra of each and there are quite a few stickers in each one.

It's fun to dream!

Real Simple is having another sweepstakes; this one for a dream closet! I'm going to add this, along with the one for the playroom, to the sidebar on the right. That one is hard to find, but you can still enter everyday until October 13, so maybe the chances will be better now that it doesn't show up on their home page! For the closet one, you can enter every day until October 19.

Good luck, and remember, we split the winnings. :-) (j/k)

P.S. I also found a link at the bottom of the RS home page (realsimplerewards.com) that has links to sponsor contests. Maybe I'll go into full-time contest entry?

Land of Nod

Land of Nod is to Crate and Barrel what Pottery Barn Kids is to Pottery Barn. :-) I got their catalog in the mail today (not sure why, because I don't think I've purchased anything there), and do they ever have some cute things. In particular, I thought these little suitcases were super cute and could be very handy for storing things with small parts, like Mr. Potato Head or our set of astronuats. They seem like a deal at $20. I am becoming slightly obsessed with baskets, bins and containers for toy storage, but amazingly still don't have a great system.

I also thought this was the cutest Tulip lamp. I must say that while I love being a "boy mom," a little girl's room would be super fun to decorate. :-)

I have no idea where I would put this, but I also thought this Daisy chandelier was adorable.

On a side note, I saw that this wall art had Caleb's name on it. Gabe was perusing with me, so I asked him, "What does this say?" to quiz him and he said "Caleb!" How did he know that!?

Trying Something New

I am not entirely sure where I'm going to go with this blog, but I really wanted an area where I could organize my thoughts about things that I like and ideas I'd like to try. I also wanted to have a record for myself of decorating and home improvement projects, befores and afters, etc. Blogs seem to be an easy way for me to organize and track things, and with the ability to transfer them into a book at some point, I've become a huge fan. It's also possible that I just wanted another beautiful template from Shabby Creations. I chose this title because I thought it best described my style, if I have such a thing. "Hodgepodge" may be more like it. :-) I've also been inspired by some "lovely" blogs that I came across. One in particular happens to be a girl that went to my high school, la la lovely things. She, and those on her blogroll, post lots of pretty things and ideas and they're really fun to look at. While I think this will be more specific to my own home, ideas and goals, I've definitely been inspired by some of those blogs. So, feel free to read, or not. :-)