Pottery Barn Goodness

I was thinking that my son might have been feeling a little left out in recent weeks, what with my daughter having her first child and our first grandchild.  Although, they are grown {he was 20 in June}, I like to spend time with both my kids.  We picked a day to spend some time together before college started up for him again and Thursday {most of it anyway} was it. 

We decided to go to the outlet mall since we both needed some things and made the Pottery Barn Outlet our first stop.  {May I digress for just a moment to ask when did outlets stop carrying deals?  I noticed earlier this year on our trip to PA that outlets we went in had the same price as the regular store!  So where’s the bargain here?} 

This pillar candleholder {$17.99} was one of the first things I picked up.  With it’s wide base, I am looking for it to be cloche-like rather than used as a candleholder.  Now I just need to find the cloche part.

I totally got this 16 x 26 pillow cover {$19.99} after seeing that my sister at One Cheap B*tch got one a couple of weeks ago.  Love it!  I did not, however, get the pillow insert.  I am sure I can get a fairly decent priced one at Joann’s with a coupon or sale.

I just draped it over my black-and-white-chandelier-drapery-panel-transformed-into-a-lumbar-pillow in my living room to see how it would look.

Lastly, a set of numbered napkin rings with the best price of the day at $9.99 for the set of 6.  I played with my camera settings in Macro, too, so be patient with my pictures below.

In Sepia setting.

In Neutral setting.

 

I walked around the store with this pillow in my arms the whole time. 

For $39.99 down from $59.99, I was seriously considering getting it.  {Meanwhile, it’s $49.00 online ~ go figure}!  It wasn’t just a pillow cover like the one I did buy.  In the end though, I couldn’t justify the $40.00 and it just ticked me off that an “outlet” pillow was $40.00. 

At any rate, we had a good day together and I got just about everything on my list!

Reminder that my giveaway ends tonight!  You still have time to enter!

Book ‘Em

I love books and that means I have them just about everywhere in my house.  Some of them are in the process of being read, some are out for display, some are actually in my bookcase, and one or two are put on the side for me to remember to lend to my Mom.  

Photo courtesy Neiman Marcus 

I recently did a post where I covered plain metal bookends, that you can get just about anywhere, with scrapbook paper.  I found some decorative bookends online and thought I’d share them as well.  It seems there is a bookend for any theme lately and with the holidays not too far away {OMG, did she mention the holidays?!?}, these would make a nice gift for the book lover on your list. 

 From Inglenook Decor

From Restoration Hardware

From Restoration Hardware

From Ballard Designs

From Ballard Designs

Functional and pretty! 

Emergency Blog Contact

I came across a post by Maggie at Just Between You And Me this morning, which was inspired by a blog post written by Shell at Bungalow Bling because a blog friend of hers has been MIA for some time now and she is concerned.  The lovely and talented LuLu Kellogg created the button above for Shell {and all of us really} so that we can know what’s going on with a bloggy friend that we have not heard from in some time. 

I hope you will read Shell’s post {which is in the link above}.  I have put the button on my own sidebar and made my sister, Jeanine at One Cheap B*tch my emergency contact.  I could get my daughter on here to do a quick post as well. 

{Courtesy of Cathe Holden}

I guess none of us think that we are important enough to someone we’ve never met before, that they would care if we are not posting or commenting.  I can tell you that I have “clicked” with many bloggers that I have “met” and I would be concerned if I didn’t see a post or comment from them in a long time.  This blog that was supposed to be just an extension of my business has given me friendships that, honestly, I don’t really have time for in real life.

I hope that you will consider using this button and have someone be your contact.   Even if you just need a break from technology.

Of course, I have to add before I end that my giveaway for the lunch tote is still running and ends on Friday, August 20th. 

Let The Swap Commence!

Swap partners have been assigned and notified!  I am reprinting the protocol {from the original post} below and if you have any questions please email me.  Don’t be afraid to email your partner and introduce yourself, and find out a bit more about their likes and hobbies.

How, What, Why, Where, When:

• You’d need the larger plastic container for size {mine had strawberries in it} and we’ll do little items. 
• You’ll be paired up {or trio’d up depending on how many people join in}. 
• You’ll need to check out your partner’s blog to see what kinds of things they like or are into. 
• We will swap anything from embellishments that others can use in their own crafting or something you’ve found/seen that just screams your partner’s name.  It does not have to be just crafty things.
• Everyone must be signed up by August 15th and I will send you your partner’s information a couple of days after that. 
• Swaps should be mailed to their recipients by August 31st.

The items in the container would probably be decoration enough because they are clear and all the beautiful things will show through, but feel free to decorate the container as well. 

Once you’ve received your swap package from your partner, feel free to blog about it and share your goodies!  That’s one of the fun things about doing a swap {besides opening the package and seeing all the goodies}!

If you didn’t get to join in this swap hopefully you’ll be able to join in on the Cocktail Napkin Swap I am planning for the beginning of November.  Stay tuned for that!

A Tiny Change

You might recall my posting about this box.  It is one of the items I picked up at Goodwill a couple of weeks ago.  I believe it is a greeting card organizer/holder and I had been looking for something similar for just that purpose.  

 It’s in good shape and clean; I just didn’t care for the floral on the top of the lid.  So I grabbed some scrapbook paper that would work with the existing colors and something new ~ paper tape {or some name like that}.  I cut the paper to fit the top and applied that with some Mod Podge.  Once that dried I did a coat on top of the paper.

 When the top coat of Mod Podge had dried, I used this paper tape all along the edges of the paper.   This works for me because I tend to cut things crooked ~ and that’s with my reading glasses on!   This is my first time using this tape and I really like it as not only another adhesive type tool, but also for what it adds to a project.

 For that portion of the lid where it meets the base, I clipped the back off of a button and hot glued it on to the existing “dot”, which you can just see in the first picture above. 

 Just a little bit of bling!

Not a major project by any means, but I like this organizer a lot better this way.  Now I just need to get some cards to fill it with!

 Before

    

 

 

 

 

After

 

 

 

Linking up with

Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps On The Porch

It’s So Very Creative at It’s So Very Cheri

There’s still time to enter my latest giveaway for a lunch tote here!   Ends August 20th!