Purpose Of Your Trip, Ma'am? Shopping.

My 15 year old daughter 'Audrey' has a passion for fashion and has been desperate to go shopping in the U.S..  'Purplicious' has never met a mall she didn't like and supported her big sister's pleas to do some cross-border shopping.

Eventually the girls wore us down, and we decided to spend our August long weekend shopping in Erie, Pennsylvania where the taxes are low, the selection is great and the stores are new and different.  When we weren't shopping, we were either sleeping or eating.  By noon Monday I didn't think we could carry another shopping bag or walk a step farther.  So we headed home.

Here is our van in the middle of being loaded up for our drive back to Canada...

Mostly we shopped for clothing, cosmetics and back-to-school supplies.  I bought some cute things for the house .... of course!

These are just a few of my treasures:

I saw this ruffled bowl at a store in Canada a few months ago, so wasn't I delighted to find it at a lower price and on sale! Won't it look great filled with apples or little clementines?

I seem to be subscribing to the "you can never have enough pretty plates" decorating philosophy and found these sweet plates.

This pillow practically popped off the shelf at me! You all know how much I love red and this pillow will look terrific on my bench in the foyer once fall comes ... and you know it's coming...

Even though I'm not anxious for summer to end, it's funny how a single red pillow can get a person excited about decorating for fall....


 

Summer Mantel, Had Me A Blast

(Bonus points if you know the reference of my post title!)

The mantel on my fieldstone fireplace got some summer lovin' last week.  I decided to keep the look very clean and simple looking.

Inspired by the white seashell fabric on my new pillow covers, I added a pair of sugar starfish, some new/newish white accessories and refreshed the mirror by painting it Heirloom White.

We already had the hurricane lanterns with the seagrass base. I bought them from Pier 1 Imports last year and noticed when I was there recently that they are still available.

I found the new- but old looking- chippy urn from Pottery Barn and filled it with a small shamrock plant.

The urn needed a little bit of height so I turned the covers from two books inside out and slipped them underneath. (Finally, I have a use for Tori Spelling's autobiography.... don't judge... I loved the original 90210 when I was younger!)

My dog, Harry has barked his opinion a number of times during my family room makeover.  You may recall that he complained about the BM 'Cable Knit' paint sample I was trying out until I painted it over.

Now, he seems to have a problem with the starfish- for some reason he keeps staring at them! Who does he think he is, Tommy Smythe?  This time, I don't care what Harry says, I like them and they're staying.

Painting the mirror white has really lightened the look!  Here is my mantel before its summer makeover.

And after.

The pillar candles that used to be on the mantel have been painted Heirloom White and grouped on a tray with the white shell ball.  I'll show you where this little arrangement calls home soon.


Click here to see pictures of my family room before the updates.

Clean, fresh and bright!

Did you figure out my post title's song reference?

For those of you who are too young to remember, or not as obsessed with musicals as me, the song is from Grease and the opening number is called Summer Nights. (Raise your speaker volume... it's worth your 3½ minutes!)

I'm linking up to http://debbie-debbiedoos.blogspot.com/

  

and Emily's Anything Goes Link Party! at Decor Chick

Family Room Update: Pretty Pillows

Have you ever noticed that the things you aren't very good at are often ones you don't like?

That's not always true.... I have proof!

I love to sing!  However, I rarely know the correct lyrics to all the songs I sing, and judging by the cut-eye looks I get when I do sing, I know that I'm not particularly tuneful. Actually, that was a comment on my second grade report card: "Yvonne is an enthusiastic participant during music class, though she is not often in tune". Didn't stop me. I'm still singing!

And I'm still sewing. I've said before that I'm not much of a seamstress (fact, not false modesty), but I love to sew. I can only manage straight lines, but you might be surprised at what you can create by sewing straight! (or, straightish, as the case may be)

Last weekend I had the joy of making new pillows for my family room, which is undergoing a little freshening up. I'm trying to bring light, bright and white into this room.  I already knew I wanted white fabric for some pillow covers when I visited my favorite Home Decor fabric store.

It ate away at my heart a little to have to leave such gorgeous fabrics at the store.

This white, heavy weight cotton appealed to me and inspired more ideas for how to decorate the family room.

Checking to make sure it looks good with the pillows I already have...

 We have a winner!

I made envelope-style pillow covers, which require only basic math, a little measuring, a quick press with the iron and straight sewing- no zippers or buttons required. There are tutorials all over blogland on how to make this style of cover, but I found Kim's (Restoration House) tutorial very helpful.

Tip: Some of my pillows were extra plump and I found that by adding three or four extra inches to the fold over flap I was able to get crisper corners.

Front of the pillow

Back of the pillow

Tip: It wasn't easy to find inexpensive down pillow inserts, so I checked the clearance section at HomeSense and found down-filled pillows for only $10 a piece. I replaced the store bought covers with my own.

The new pillows have really lightened the look of the green corduroy sofas. 

 Lots of comfy pillows.

The black wall sconce to the left of the sofa has been painted white.  New white accents co-ordinate well with the white pillows.

I also found a fantastic dragonfly print, so I bought one yard and made a 6th pillow cover.  I think this pillow is my new favorite!

I felt like Martha Stewart as I whipped up pillow after pillow! I might even try out the zig-zag stitch on my sewing machine!

Thanks for visiting!





 

Fun Family Photo Cubes

It's true that I always have a 'what's next list'.  In fact, I started to plan a new arrangement for my giant apothecary jar two weeks ago.  I liked the black and white vintage look of my newsprint Easter eggs and decided to create a display with a similar feel.

I love family photos from past and present. Mr. StyleBurb recently organized all of our family pictures and burned them onto DVDs.  I wanted to somehow turn those pictures into black and white cubes for my apothecary jar.

I selected a wide variety of photos from our immediate and extended family. There are baby pictures of my husband and his sister next to baby pictures of our own three children.  You'll see that I used a combination of head shots and group shots for interest.

My idea for these photo cubes was hampered by my lack of technical skill, so I consulted my Personal Assistant (aka Mr. StyleBurb) to help kick start this project. If I can learn how to do this, anyone can... believe me!


Step 1  Gather copies of all the photos you want to use and crop them to be square.  A few group shots are good for variety, but the majority should be close-ups.

Step 2  Load the following template into your favorite photo editing program.

Click on this template to view it full size and then save it to your hard drive.

Step 3  Import your cropped photos on top of the cube template and resize them to fit within a square.

This is a screenshot of Photoshop Elements as the picture is being resized.

Tip: You can duplicate photographs on opposite sides of the cube.  Only one side will be visible at any given time.

Step 4  Print the finished sheet. I used a black and white laser printer.  By changing the printer settings you can make a variety of cube sizes.

Step 5  You'll need your second grade 3D geometry skills to cut, fold and tape/glue the flat sheet into a cube.

Here are my photo cubes ready to go...

 

I layered the bottom of the apothecary jar with green moss.

 

You see different photos from every angle.

A black and white picture of black and white pictures!

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Vintage Treasures

My family and I had a great time visiting my mom and dad last weekend. I had a lot of fun shopping with my mom in a vintage/thrift store that recently opened in my home town. I've got lots of pictures to show you!

The store is packed with great finds. You can get a serious case of whiplash from turning your head too fast to look at all the treasures!

I really liked the gate-legged table. The dark brown chair (on top of the table) had such a lovely shaped back. 

I spy a little toy train and three antique dolls.

The store used to be my favorite (and only... I grew up in a very small town) five and dime store. I spent a lot of allowances in this building as a little girl!

I took home a number of sweet treasures last weekend. I was excited to find the small round table (pictured above) - it's exactly what I've been looking for!

I don't have spots for everything I bought, but some things I couldn't pass up.

The glass bottle is an 8 oz baby bottle from the 1950s and cost $3.  I love vintage baby items- not sure where to put it.

At $5, I couldn't pass up this slightly rusted coal furnace plate. I think it's fabulous.

I have a place on my mantel for this small crock (only $6). I love the greenish spots showing through the finish and the rustic opening.

This round table is going to get a little makeover- I've got the perfect spot for it!

I paid $12 for the table.

My dad bought this 2 gallon crock for me.

I had the crock sitting in my foyer beside the bench ...

... and then realized it would be perfect to hold these...

I think the hydrangeas look perfect here!  My family thinks the hydrangeas are fake- they are most definitely real!

My parents have a beautiful home in the country. Some day I'll have to show you more pictures of their house. My mom just put two red and white checked wing chairs in front of the bay window.  There is a forest behind their house with black bears, coyotes, porcupines and other wildlife.  Thank goodness these animals aren't around during our daytime visits!

My dad built this blue hutch in the pantry for my mom. I love the colors they chose.

It's a perfect addition to their country kitchen.
 

I also found something great for my family room, but I'll show that to you later!  I'm still working on the family room updates. The weather has been uncooperative for spray painting, so hopefully the temperature will warm up and I'll be able to finish some projects!



I'm linking up to these parties...