Herb box giveaway to celebrate a new adventure

I received such positive feedback from my post about my spa inspired bathroom and a lot of it had to do with the box that Mr. H made for me to keep my lavender in. If you missed that post, you can read it here.

Well, the wonderful comments you left inspired me to create more herb boxes out of wine crates (with a little help from Mr. H)!  I don't know if you have tried to find wine crates, but it's not an easy feat.  After scouring all of Denver and surrounding areas, I finally found enough to make a few boxes and have opened up an Etsy shop to sell them!  I am so excited about this because I've never sold anything on the internet before, not on eBay, not on Craigslist, so this adventure will be really fun for me (I hope). 

To celebrate the opening of my Etsy shop I am hosting my first giveaway!  If you'd like a chance to have one of the boxes as your very own all you have to do is follow me on the Google Friend Connect (GFC) button on my side bar and leave a comment letting me know what you plan to put in the box.  I think they're perfect for herbs like lavender, sage, or eucalyptus but I know how creative all of you are so let me know what you'd put in it!  Feel free to leave a comment even if you don't want to enter the giveaway!

The giveaway ends Friday, October 4, 2013 at 7:00pm Mountain Time.  I'll announce the winner on October 5, 2013.  The box you see above will be the one I'll send to the winner (lavender not included.)

My Etsy shop is called Sweet Inspired Market. You can visit my shop here and on my side bar.  Because of how hard wine crates are to find, there are only 5 boxes listed for sale right now but I will add more as I am able.

 

**UPDATE**-Posted on October 4 at 7:01pm Mountain time: The giveaway is closed now. Thanks to all of you who entered! I will announce the winner on October 5th. Good luck to everyone! -Khammany ♥

I got flowers! Just kidding

What's worse than not getting flowers? Getting flowers and finding out they aren't for you!  That's what happened to me on Saturday.

I saw something moving on the front porch so I went out and found a balloon tied to a beautiful vase of flowers.  I quickly tried to remember the date to see if it was a special date for me...hmmm September 21st, that didn't seem like a significant day for me but I was excited anyway. 

Well, it didn't take long to figure out this mystery...the note card read, "Anne and John, Congratulations on your special day.  May you have a lifetime of happiness together." Cue the Debbie Downer music "wah, wah".  Obviously Anne and John were getting married.  The address was correct and I recognized John's name as a previous owner of our house but the funny thing was he hasn't lived here since 2002, and there has already been another owner of this house in between him and us!  So the people who sent the flowers knew him well enough to know he was getting married, but not well enough to know he had moved 11 years ago!

While I was trying to justify to myself why it was okay to keep the flowers, Mr. H picked up the phone and called the florist to inform them of their mistake.  Gee, what a good guy.  Even then I was still hoping they would say, "Thanks for being so honest! You can just keep them and we'll send out a new arrangement to their correct address." No such luck. They told us they'd be back to pick them up. Oh well, at least I got these pretty snapshots while I was pretending they were mine.

I made a baby....quilt!

I've mentioned before that I am not a seamstress but I can use a sewing machine and sew a semi-straight line. So with those two skills I thought I would try my hand at making a baby quilt!  

I was inspired by my friend Jamie who is 8 months pregnant.  Last month she was telling me about how she and her husband could not agree on the bedding for the crib and after looking at the photos she showed me on-line, I told her, "Hey, I could try to make you a quilt!"  I wasn't trying to decide the bedding choice for them, this would be more of a quilt to lay the baby on in the living room or just to snuggle in.  She gave me a very doubtful look but tried to sound positive and said, "Okay...go for it!"  She is such a sweetheart and wouldn't say it herself, but I could see it in her face that she was thinking, "Oh gosh, she's going to make me a baby quilt and I'm going to have to pretend to like it!"  

We knew the baby was going to be a girl so I went to Hobby Lobby and picked out the fabric you see above.  I cut the patterned fabric into 1 square ft pieces for the front and used the pink fabric for the back.   Here it is all sewn together!  I think it turned out okay for my first attempt at making a quilt!

I thought it would be fun to personalize it so I traced a "g" into some fabric and hand-stitched it on the back.  G is for Gianna!

It was so much fun that I'm going to make a quilt for my friend Julie who is due this winter. She's having a boy! 

 

New black and white photographs in foyer

Our front foyer is done in a black and white theme.  This past weekend we added two more black and white photographs that I wanted to share with you.  Here are close-ups and information on the two additions.

Mr. H took this photo two years ago.  I loved it as soon as I saw it.  It took two years of nagging encouraging before he finally printed and framed this so I could admire it everyday.  Mr. H was leaving work and had to stop to get gas.  When he pulled into the gas station he noticed this young man pumping gas into an old Volkswagen Bug that seemed to have been turned into a bit of a roadster.  Mr. H knew he couldn't let this shot pass him by so he walked over to the young man and asked if he would mind having his picture taken.  The guy gave Mr. H a strange look but said he didn't care.  Mr. H quickly snapped a few photos and this one was my favorite. I love the open engine and the young man with his tattoos and sleeveless T-shirt and the way he's just nonchalantly looking off into the street scene.  He looks like he could be on a movie set.  Speaking of movies, don't you think he looks like Leonardo DiCaprio?

The other addition was taken in Paris. It is a silhouette of someone walking through one of the entrances to the Musée du Louvre.  Silhouettes are one of Mr. H's favorite things to photograph and this one happens to be me.  He dropped back a few steps behind me to snap this photo.  I like how the glass pyramid lines up with the Louvre Palace, blending old with new. The way one side of the gate is open and one side is closed makes it feel like I was granted the privilege to walk through, that the gate was opened just for me.

As you can see from the top photo there is still room for one more photo at the top of the wall.  We're still trying to decide on a photo that we love enough to hang there. 

If you're interested in closer looks of the other photos, you can visit a previous post about them here.  Just scroll down towards the bottom of the post.  I hope you've enjoyed seeing the new additions!

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Savory fig and goat cheese appetizer

It must be the season for figs! I've been seeing them everywhere!  Good thing for me because we had some friends over for dinner the other night and I needed to make some sort of appetizer. I was inspired by the dates stuffed with goat cheese I had a couple weeks ago and thought, why not stuff the figs with goat cheese?

Here is what I did:

• Quarter the figs about 3/4 of the way down
• Stuff each one with goat cheese
• Brush each one with olive oil
• Broil on High in the oven for about 15 minutes
• Take them out of the oven and sprinkle with sea salt and black paper
• Drizzle them with honey
• Serve with balsamic vinegar for dipping

The sweetness of the ripe figs and honey complemented the richness and warmth of the goat cheese so well.  The balsamic vinegar added the perfect amount of acidity to balance out all the mingling flavors.

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Spa inspired master bathroom renovation

I don't think there should be any rooms in your house that you just hate going into. I believe your home should be a haven and you should love being in any and all parts of it. I really did not like my master bathroom so I couldn't wait to do something about it. 

Both bathrooms in our house had carpet in them when we moved in last fall, wall-to-wall carpeting that had been installed in 2000. That was the main reason I dreaded going in there everyday. Old stained carpeting.

My vision for the master bathroom was to turn it into a spa-like bathroom...for me!  (Mr. H could use the guest bathroom.) This project was done before I joined the world of blogging but I wanted to share it with you because I enjoy the bathroom so much everyday.

This is what the bathroom looked like before.

What I wanted to do to create my spa bathroom:
1) REMOVE THE CARPET and install porcelain floor tiles
2) Get a new vanity with a double sink which meant we'd have to move the toilet over
3) Install new lights above the sink
4) Install a mirror above the sink
5) Replace all the wall tile
6) Refinish the tub and replace the faucet 

I wanted cool colors for a relaxing calm atmosphere. My color preferences were a bluish/greenish "spa" color, white, and gray. Here is what I finally found. This is my first attempt at a mood board (that's what they're called, right?) so bear with me!

1. Benjamin Moore Quiet Moments

2. Daltile 3 in. x 6 in. White Modular Wall Tile from Home Depot

3. Jeffrey Court Carrara Mix Mosaics 12 in. x 12 in. Marble Wall Tile from Home Depot

4. George Kovacs Wall Sconce in Brushed Nickel with White Fabric Shade from Amazon

5. White Double Bathroom Vanity with White Marble from home design outlet center

6. Economy Liona Tub Filler with Hand Shower from Signature Hardware

7. Calypso Azul Turquoise Rug from Caron’s Beach House

8. Palais 12in x 24in porcelain floor tile in gray from World of Tile

I did the design but we hired a general contractor for the construction. Here it is all put together! The mirror is not on the mood board because it was custom made for the space. I special ordered the frame from Hobby Lobby and then had the mirror cut at a local glass shop.

Since taking these "after" pictures, we have added a box for dried lavender on the wall for a heavenly scent (seen at the top of the post).  Mr. H made it for me out of a French wine crate. I love it so much that I made it my very first blog post here.

The bathroom is so relaxing and enjoyable now!


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Artist Stephanie Birdsall demonstration

Farmhouse by Stephanie Birdsall

 Art can reflect the soul. With the careful mixing of hues and strokes, an emotion or moment in time is captured.

Framed art is one of the main staples of home decor. Everyone's tastes vary, but most people will agree that hanging something on the wall that reflects your style and tastes makes your house more of a home. It creates the feeling and atmosphere that you want your home to exude.

I love spending idyllic Saturday afternoons in art galleries looking at paintings and wondering if the artist had an underlying meaning in the painting and maybe if you look hard enough you will understand the message, or maybe what you see is all that is meant to be seen, nothing more.

This past Saturday I had the opportunity to watch an artist in action. Saks Galleries hosted a demonstration by artist Stephanie Birdsall. Stephanie received her formal training at the City and Guilds of London Art School in England. She currently lives in Arizona but has plans to move to Denver by the end of the year.

To me, it's a privilege to see a work of art come to life, to see the process that the artist goes through. For this demonstration, she painted pansies. As she painted she explained her process, why she was adding a stroke, or taking one out, and how she was layering colors.

Stephanie didn't finish this piece that afternoon but here are some of her pieces available at Saks Galleries.  My favorite is Farmhouse, the one you see at the top of this post. I wish I could take it home!

Red, White and Blue by Stephanie Birdsall

Wild Roses by Stephanie Birdsall

Lilacs by Stephanie Birdsall

Forgotten Tea by Stephanie Birdsall

Festival by Stephanie Birdsall

If you'd like to learn more about Stephanie and to see more of her work, you can visit her website at stephaniebirdsall.com.

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Fall, how I love thee

The Company Store

Autumnal. Don't you just love that word? Say it out loud. It just sounds so poetic and literary. It conjures up images of walking outside on a dark chilly evening in a warm cozy sweater, stepping on wet leaves. Look up and you see a large tree with orange and yellow leaves. The wet leaves shimmer in the moonlight. I love fall. I know many of you love summer but I usually start wishing for fall in June.

It's still pretty warm here in Denver and I hadn't really started thinking about fall decor too much but then I got a catalog in the mail. I had never heard of The Company Store but we're still receiving mail from the previous owners and the catalog arrived. I fell in love with the cover photo. I love the colored glass bottles and how they complement the colors of the leaves. It got me in the fall decorating spirit so I went searching for more inspirations. Here are beautiful fall decor ideas that I want to share with you.

HGTV	Martha Stewart

Fire, one of my favorite elements of fall. Whether it's in a fireplace or burning candles, fall is not complete without fire. 
 

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Leaves in shades of yellow and orange look beautiful in glass vases.

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HGTV

Pretty centerpieces for hosting intimate dinners with close friends. Can you hear the laughter and clinking wine glasses while classical music or jazz plays in the background?

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I can't wait to bask in the warmth and coziness of my favorite season.

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Common Ground: Be Inspired this Fall