I'd Rather Dance, I'd Rather Dance

This made me smile (and miss teaching my little ballet girls).

Hope you do too!

One of my favesie songs by Kings of Convenience.

Enjoy & happy Wednesday!

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Paper Crafts

I love paper crafts. Check out this really neat blog I follow, the Jones Design Company.

She's really awesome, and has fabulous ideas. Sometimes, when I'm too tired to come up with my own craft ideas, I'll search the web for fun tutorials, and teach myself something new. I found one on her site that I just love. It's a wreath made from old book pages. A perfect project for a book lover. It's just darling & easy to make. Check it out here.

Some photos of my finished product!

I just love how elegant and fluffy it looks.

Hope you all enjoy this grey and rainy Monday. Perfect day to snuggle up with some tea or coffee, read a book, or work on a project!

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Finally!

New Dress, New Boots!

Well, free time has not been on my side these past few weeks. Remember that dress I was working on for my birthday dinner, well I never quite got it done. And then thing after thing kept pushing it further down the to-do list. Well, thanks to a relaxing Saturday spent in, I finally got it all finished!

Here are a few photos of it!

I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. Every time I finish something, there are about a million things I don't like about it, or wish I would of done differently.

I'm a perfectionist, what can I say...

Also, the way I'm standing (in the first few photos) makes them hem look uneven, but it's not, in case you were wondering:)

Well, enough about that.  Now onto bigger and better projects!

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Dining Room

So, we're project people in our house. It seems that as soon as (but usually before) we finish a project, another 5 have been added to the list. I've just accepted the fact that this is who we are. Personally, I love them. I love making new things and updating old things.

We did a few projects over the weekend. For some time now, I've loved all the frame collages that have become such a 'thing' for home decor. Over the past weeks and months, we've slowly been collecting old frames from thrift stores like Goodwill or Habitat. Finally, we got some of them up on our wall. I want to add more, but it's a good start I think. We went with black and white photos to give it a unified look, since all the frames are mismatched. And we chose some of our favorite designers, musicians, artists and inspirations.

We also have this lovely dining room set, from the 50's I think, that my husband purchased from a yard sale years back. It had been selvaged from a flooded house, and we just love it. He had recovered the seats once before, and we did it again after we were married. And... we did it yet again this weekend! Like they always say, third times a charm!

As you know, I'm in love with animal prints and hides. He (Lee, my husb)  works at a furniture company, and has access to fabric and leather remnants (yay for me, the sewing lady!) for dirt cheap. I mean a couple dollars a yard for high quality stuff. He surprised me this week and brought home this gorgeous mint leather, and some partial hair-on-hides! I was thrilled. We used this beautiful spotted cream and caramel hide for our two end chairs. Seeing as there are only the two of us, we keep those chairs on either side of the piano. The other four chairs we covered in the mint leather. sigh...I'm so in love with them.

My hand was sore from all that staple gunning...but they turned out beautifully. I smile every time I walk by and see them.

Here they are...

 

As always, thanks for looking!

Hope you're all enjoying this gorgeous spring weather as much as I am.

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Dreams...

Today, I'm reminding myself of my dreams.

"Remember this: No one will ever be as excited about your dreams as you are. Oh, encouragers may come. Pray so. Some may even be helpful, generous, magnificently generous, but they can never feel what you feel. No one can ever know the inner exhilaration, the surge of spiritual energy, the utter delight in your soul, for it is, after all, your dream and your soul."

Dream,  Mark Rutland

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Opening Ceremony

Opening Ceremony, est. 2002,  is a multifaceted company comprised of shops, showrooms and private labels. It joins emerging talent and designers from around the globe. They have developed relationships with brands and designers from around the world, offering a platform for young talent to grow their businesses. 

Their mission statement: 

"Opening Ceremony appropriates the mission statement of the modern day Olympics from the founder, Baron Pierre de Coubertin. In 1896, he transformed what the Greeks had created into a modern day business venture. The Olympics were founded under the guise of creatively merging sports, business, and global participation. Opening Ceremony takes from this foundation and applies these elements towards fashion. Each year Opening Ceremony has introduced a new country to its home team."

Here's some of my faves from their S/S11 line...

Check them out.

White. I've been loving white. Normally, I am not the person to buy white, because I feel like I would immediately spill on it, or ruin it before I got to wear it. But I've been wanting some cute little white pants for spring and summer. What do you all think of white wear?

Cheers!

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Lonny Magazine

Let me introduce you to one of my most favorite online decor` magazines,

Lonny Magazine. 

 Even though I wish I had a hard copy of it to sit on my couch and flip through, it's still fun to click through the pages they've filled with beautiful designs and ideas. 

I especially loved this issue.

Take a peek...

Ahh, I adore this chandelier. I can't wait till I have a house and can have one of my own. They had some lovely ones in some of these rooms.

I love this last room. So bold and elegant. 

Happy Monday folks! 

Thanks for stopping by,

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P.S. Oh yah, so for those who care, I didn't quite finish my dress yet, but it's coming along nicely. I'm hoping this week will allow me enough time to do the finishing touches, and then, I can post a few pictures for you. 

Fabulous Fur

So, I'm sort of obsessed with leopard print...or animal prints in general.

It was my birthday yesterday, and it was wonderful. I love getting bouquets of flowers anytime, but especially for my birthday. It was sort of a tradition in our house full of girls growing up. You were bound to wake up to a bouquet of flowers on your birthday, if not more! My sweet mother-in-law surprised me at work with flowers and a card. And I got some from my husband. Sigh...now my house looks all pretty and spring-like.

 Well, I like to make dresses for special occasions, like birthdays or weddings. I found this leopard print inspired fabric and fell in love with it. So I bought some to make a birthday dress for myself. My darling husband is taking me out tonight, and I have much to accomplish if I want to wear it out. I'll post a picture of me wearing it with my new Frye birthday boots soon!

In the mean time,

here's some spotted pieces I'm in love with...

bench

clutch

beautiful chair

room

coat

rug

shoes

My Mother gave me some leopard print flats for christmas and I just adore them.

Next, I'm saving up for a hide/rug. I already have it picked out and everything! It will semi-finish our living room we've been decorating the past year and a half. I'll post picture sometime soon.

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Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel

Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel

August 1883-January 1971

French fashion designer

I love Coco.

I love the logo.

I love the clothes.

I love the scent.

I love what she did to fashion.

I love the 1920's.

I love the little black dress, 

& 

don't we all?

Here's the lovely lady herself...

As quoted by Chanel, "Luxury must be comfortable, otherwise it is not luxury."

It was in 1926 that the little black dress was born, thanks to Coco Chanel.  It was nicknamed the Ford of Dresses, because the mass appeal rivaled that of the Model T. 

The Little Black Dress

I wear Coco Mademoiselle and just love it. But there is something 

about No. 5 that I just like so much. Maybe it's because it was her first scent. I think i'll wear it one day.

Thanks Gabrielle, for being a fashion inspiration.

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