Saturday, February 19, 2011

{ Effervescent Etsy's No. 2 }


the black apple
portland
Since Etsy is awesome enough to have a 'featured' artists email they send out - I came across this fabulous artist! If you've ever tried to search the Etsy site, you might be aware it can be really overwhelming! For:

1) HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of artists post their creations, 
    and
2) HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS are incredibly amazing!

Another thing I really love about the Etsy emails, is they come in every day - and each one is a different theme! The artists featured usually have something to do with the theme which makes shopping around all the more fun :)
This artist was under the Vaudeville Variety Hour.

Monday, January 24, 2011

{ Gypsies: Trendy Thrifts - Dishes }



















Have I mentioned how much Saver's feels like my best friend? I spend wayyyyyyyy too much time there. (Its embarrassing). Over the last 5 months I've collected pieces that one day, I hoped, would make up the perfect table setting. Well, patience is a virtue my friends. Yes, indeed.

.....Okay, your bug eyes are scaring me. You can't do this you say? Your brain is already going into overload? Don't even break a sweat: Its super super easy. (And fun!) Go on your next scavenger hunt with these few simple tips and you'll walk out of there with your hands full of precious goodies!

1) Look for unique patterns

2) Look for your favorite colors but complementary colors. (Pictured is: White, sanded red, sea-spray green, canary yellow and robins egg blue) But, you could do this with many many color combinations.

3) Buy in bulk. Make sure there are enough in each set to work.
    I found:

  •  6 Large white dinner plates - 2 different designs totaling 3 each
  •  3 sanded red salad plates
  •  3 white salad plates
  •  3 sea-spray green appetizer plates
  •  3 sailor's stripe blue and white appetizer plates
  •  6 robin's egg blue dessert plates
  •  6 Elegant sipping glasses
           (I gave these names to the plates because they were thrifted :)

4) Check for dings, rust stains, chips or (worst of all!) cracks. 

5) As you build, remember to mix solids with prints for balance and aesthetic (see picture below).

6) Relax! Collect over time. :) Start with whichever sized plate strikes your fancy and build from there. 

Below I've collaged the pieces I've bought, marked with corresponding numbers and their price. (Just click to enlarge.)


































1) Small Serving Plate/Butter-knife Plate in Canary Yellow - $2.99 (splurge)
2) Large Rose Garden Pattern Dinner Plate in White - $1.49 ea
3) Medium Salad Plate in Sanded Red - $.49 ea
4) Small Appetizer Plate in Sea Spray - $.29 ea
5) Large Water Ripple Pattern Dinner Plate in White - $1.49 ea
6) Medium Rose Garden Pattern Salad Plate in White - $.49 ea
7) Small Appetizer Plate in Sailor's Stripe Blue and White - $.29 ea
8) Medium Dessert Plate in Robin's Egg Blue - $.49 ea
9) Medium Elegant Sipping Glass - $.69 ea

Also, this is our home decor now for spring. I can't wait for the warm sunshine on my skin and baby birds on the lawn!





Happy Spring and Happy Thrifting!!! I want to hear all about it!

Sunday, January 23, 2011

{ DIY: Chic White Fruit Display }

In our dining room, we've been keeping our fruit in a woven basket with hand-towels. At first, when I was very much into the 'farm look' I was all for it - and glad to have not spent one penny on the set-up which really was pretty charming. However...as you read previously - I'm so into modern/simplifying with a touch of whimsy now. I am not.at.all into the very odd mod colors like browns with orange, that weird military green or greys with red. YUCK. (sorry if thats your decor) I'm all for the very types of colors you see here on the blog = bright and happy, with just a touch of nostalgia. <3

Anyhoot, I've been looking for a cake stand - turned fruit display for about two months now. Mostly at thrift stores because anything resembling it is at least $20 bucks elsewhere. Plus! I wanted to try my hand at transforming an object by paint. Last night I was at Savers (a thrift shop).

FINALLY. There.It.Was. I snatched that thing so fast off the shelf I'm sure the person next to me probably thought I was possessed. I couldn't believe I found it and pretty much floated through the store to the registers with a huge smile of glee plastered on my face. So! Below is the DIY for turning a cake stand into a chic fruit display. Enjoy!

Chic White Fruit Display

Supplies:

1)  Medium Sized Paint Brush
2) White Acrylic or Interior Paint (Used: Behr's White on White Interior Paint Sample Size, $3 @ Home Depot, both non-toxic)
3) Newspaper or Paper Bag for surface protection
4) Food-Friendly Gloss Lacquer for Acrylics or Interiors to seal the paint and create shine. (Home Depot) Must be used outside where ample ventilation is present.



















1) Cover in the first coat of paint. Let dry. (You can lightly sandpaper before you begin painting to hold the paint better, but I didn't here)

After it drys it will look like this:


















TIP: Its good to lift your project up after its been painted to avoid the paint gluing the paper on the bottom to your project.

2) Apply a second coat of paint and repeat until dark wood undertones are no longer visible. (This project took 4 coats total) Let dry.

3) Cover project once in a food-friendly coat of gloss lacquer for paint sealant and shine. (still need to do this myself, not pictured, ooops!)

Enjoy your new creation!







































This project was super fun and super easy! I painted it 4 times within 3 hours the night before and the next morning it was totally dry, and if I had the gloss lacquer I could have swiped a coat on very easily! Have fun!

{ FrouFrou Fashion Finds No. 1 }

       Give some love here.

So, I just found the cutest store online! Perhaps I am a little late jumping on the band wagon, but I still wanted to share the love. This store is in the same price range as Anthropologie for dresses, for example, and each one is very unique and so well made! Lulu's has a fabulous selection! Below, I've made a collage of some of my favorites, along with prices, and added their site to my Candied Apples List to the Right ----- >

Take a look and enjoy!


1)  Skillfull Seamstress Grey Floral - $40.00
2)  Lipsmacker Ruffle Pink -  $43.00            
3)  Suerat's Fancy Floral -  $41.00
4)  Islands are Forever Silk Party -  $79.00
5)  City Sidewalks Ivory Grey -  $52.00



Saturday, January 22, 2011

{ Effervescent Etsy's No. 1 }


holli
argentina

Happy Saturday to you! I was serenaded out of bed this morning by the sing-song of hammers on my neighbor's roof at 8:30am. nice. Who lets these people work before 10am on a Saturday!?

Anyhoot..when the incessant pounding looked as though it wont be letting up anytime soon, I jumped out of bed, put on some snugglies because it is F.R.E.E.Z.I.N.G in Texas (???) and thought, now would be the perfect time to continue my World-Wide-Web search of all things whimsical, lulling, illusory, utopian, mirthful, romantic and curious. (say that 5 times fast) And...share them all with you!

I spend most of my relaxing time scanning the net for these sorts of things...and I have to say that I was first set off on this change of eye when I passed by a DARLING Toddler's bedspread by Fabler, which I convinced my mom to buy for my neice. When in Ikea... (but we'll save that for another post)

Now, this change of eye has taken over my whole life. My closet, the rooms in my house, my blog, gifts to friends or family. Its the zapper and I'm the moth. (Someone save me now!) My eye is constantly scanning every inch of my love nest here, to see how/where I could make some pixi-dust change on the cheap - and cute! (annnnnd, share them with you!)

As I was jumping around on random blogs, to which I found/added many new friends, I came across a feature for this artist, who's samples of watercolor art/print I've collaged below. She is FABULOUS! I want to buy each and every one of them for my kids! (when they come - but hey, I know their coming!) Even now I'm considering buying some to frame for my niece. She loves little creatures like these! And, I think for a child, these sorts of prints are so wonderful for the enrichment of their imagination and creativity!

Five stars for this lovely artist. You can find her Etsy shop here. To enlarge the pictures below, just click.


1) Take a Walk                      ::  $15 usd
  2) Foxy Print                          :: $5.50 usd
    3) Sofi and the Fish                :: $20.00 usd
    4) Stowaway Migrating II       :: $35.00 usd

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

{ Illusionist - Great Reads No 2: Water for Elephants }


Water for Elephants
Sara Gruen
Non-Fiction
----------------------------------

SYNOPSIS
During the 1930's, as a young man, Jacob Jankowski was tossed by fate onto a rickety train that was home to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. It was the early part of the great depression, and for Jacob, now ninety, the circus world he remembers was both his salvation and a living hell. A veterinary student just shy of a degree, he was put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie. It was there that he met Marlena, the beautiful equestrian star married to August, the charismatic but twisted animal trainer. And he met Rosie, an untrainable elephant who was the great gray hope for this third-rate traveling show. The bond that grew among this unlikely trio was one of love and trust, and, ultimately, it was their only hope for survival.

BIRDS EYE:  Coming Soon.


PROLOGUE:
Only three people were left under the red and white awning of the grease joint; Grady, me, and the fry cook. Grady and I sat at a battered wooden table, each facing a burger on a dented tin plate. The cook was behind the counter, scraping his griddle with the edge of a spatula. He had turned off the fryer some time ago, but the odor of grease lingered.
The rest of the midway- so recently writhing with people - was empty but for a handful of employees and a small group of men waiting to be led to the cooch tent. The glanced nervously from side to side, with hats pulled low and hands thrust deep in their pockets. They wouldn't be disappointed: somewhere in the back Barbara and her ample charms awaited.
The other townsfolk - rubes, as Uncle Al called them - had already made their way through the menagerie tent and into the big top, which pulsed with frenetic music. The band was whipping through its repertoire at the usual earsplitting volume. I knew this routine by heart - at this very moment, the tail end of the Grand Spectacle was exiting and Lottie, the aerialist, was ascending her rigging in the center ring.
I stared at Grady, trying to process what he was saying. He glanced around and leaned in closer.
"Besides," he said, locking eyes with me, "it seems to me you've got a lot to loose right now." He raised his eyebrows for emphasis. My heart skipped a beat.
Thunderous applause exploded from the big top, and the band slid seamlessly into the Gounod waltz. I turned instinctively toward the menagerie because this was the cue for the elephant act. Marlena was either preparing to mount or was already sitting on Rosie's head.
"I've got to go, " I said.
"Sit," said Grady. "Eat. If you're thinking of clearing out, it may be a while before you see food again."
That moment, the music screeched to a halt. There was an ungodly collision of brass, reed, and percussion - trombones and piccolos skidded into cacophony, a tuba farted, and the hollow clang of a cymbal wavered out of the big top, over our heads and into oblivion.
Grady froze, crouched over his burger with his pinkies extended and lips spread wide. 
I looked from side to side. No one moved a muscle - all eyes were directed at the big top. A few wisps of hay swirled lazily across the hard dirt.
"What is it? What's going on?" I said.
"Shh," Grady hissed.
The band started up again, playing "Stars and Stripes Forever."
"Oh Christ. Oh shit!" Grady tossed his food onto the table and leapt up, knocking over the bench.
"What? What is it?" I yelled, because he was already running away from me. 
"The Disaster March!" he screamed over his shoulder.
I jerked around to the fry cook, who was ripping off his apron. "What the hell's he talking about?"
"The Disaster March," he said, wrestling the apron over his head. "Means something's gone bad - real bad."
"Like what?"
"Could be anything - fire in the big top, stampede, whatever. Aw sweet Jesus. The poor rubes probably don't even know it yet." He ducked under the hinged door and took off.
Chaos - candy butchers vaulted over counters, workmen staggering out from under tent flaps, roustabouts racing headlong across the lot. Anyone and everyone associated with the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth barreled toward the big top.
Diamond Joe passed me at the human equivalent of a full gallop. "Jacob - its the menagerie," he screamed. "The animals are loose. Go, go, go!"
He didn't need to tell me twice. Marlena was in that tent.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunday, January 9, 2011

{ Illusionist - Reading List: Sneak Peek }


Sweet Alternate Universes - wait for me!
I'll be visiting you in no time :)

(Click to enlarge)


These little prettys were salvaged from Savers (a Southern Thrift Shop) for probably close to $20 total at max - and many of these are Best Sellers! I've paid anywhere from $ .99 - $1.99 per book. I've had to put many more down that I would have preferred to buy as well...some that I still think about and wish I had! Each time I go to visit, I try to only walk away with less than $10 worth (I've only made about 3 trips thus far), until I've read into them a bit - but some are too good to pass up. So, when I'm snuggling into bed at night, with my lamp light on and a fresh cup of water by the bedside, I peek over at this happy little stack and am flooded with giddyness - each and every time.

---------------------
The List

Man and Boy Tony Parsons
The Known World Edward P. Jones
White Oleander Janet Fitch
Gentlemen and Players Joanne Harris
Charming Billy Alice McDermott
Out Stealing Horses Per Petterson
The Glass Castle Jeannette Walls
The Hours Michael Cunningham
One Thousand White Women Jim Fergus
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie Alan Bradley
Best Friends Martha Moody
What the Stones Remember Lane
The Time Traveler's Wife Audrey Niffenegger
The Reader Bernhard Schlink
The Heretics Daughter Kathleen Kent
The Memory Keepers Daughter Kim Edwards
Mother of Pearl Melinda Haynes
---------------------

Reading Complete (Since Oct 2010):
(Reviews have started here)

Water for Elephants Sara Gruen
Harvesting Ice Lawrence Cirelli
Bel Ami Guy de Maupassant
The Widower Liesel Litzenburger
The Birth of Venus Sarah Dunant
Evermore Alyson Noel
The Secret Life of Bees Sue Monk Kidd
Bel Canto Ann Patchett
---------------------

Currently Reading:

Three Junes Julia Glass