Eclectic, quirky, and sometimes edgy…this is how things look from my front porch.




Sunday, August 21, 2011

Dollar Store Crafts Blog

Part of my Sunday routine this time of year is biking to Starbucks and reading the Sunday New York Times.  I am a New Yorker at heart, although I split my time between New York and the Hartford, CT area when I was a kid.  I get a vente skinny vanilla 7-pump three Equal latte and go through the whole paper at my leisure.

In today's Times, there was a great article about Dollar Stores which I think all you "frugalistas" would enjoy:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/02/business/02dollar.html?pagewanted=all

The article refers to this cool blog:

http://dollarstorecrafts.com/

Just sayin'

Bird Brained in the Living Room


I mentioned the little beadboard cupboard above in my last post.  I found it on a trash pile outside an old church.  Judging from what I found inside, it was from a juvenile Sunday School classroom.  I think it has good karma!   I found the smaller box at Goodwill last week.  I couldn't find any reasonably-priced bluebirds to put inside, so I spray painted some Dollar Store birds instead.  Not very Elle Decor, but it works for me.
My livingroom used to be decorated in shades of cranberry and cream, as you can see in the memorial post to my Little Bit.  My living room is dark, because I have a porch across the front of my house.  The colors just contributed to the darkness, so little by little, I changed over to a blue, yellow, and white cottage-y look.  Finding the mirror for the fireplace helped brighten things via reflection.  The mirror looks fabulous with the glow of reflected candles in it when I put a candlestand down in front.   The whole area looks so much brighter.    Thank you Goodwill for $5.25.

I have to thank Daisy Cottage Kim for the bold use of color.  What a living doll that girl is.  My palette isn't the same, but she taught me how to make a room look like me.  I also learned that all the colors don't have to be "matchy matchy."  I wouldn't have picked up those shutters if I hadn't read her blog. 
My next three jobs are to paint the floor lamp white, paint the flagstones around the fireplace off white, and actually sew the chair cushion covers.  Don't tell anyone, but all I did was tuck the vintage sheets around the two old cushions.  I have to fix that before my friend Elaine, the professional decorator, comes for Bible study.  She is QUITE Elle Decor.  O! the horror if she fiddled around with that cushion!