Bright As Yellow

I'm Teaching an Art Class!

2012-01-07T22:50:00.000-05:00

I am so excited to be able to teach my first art class this March! This is for reals on my bucket list. It is for all experience levels and we are going to be taking field trips, too! Here is the listing from the Richmond Visual Art Center website:

Like it says above, it is a 3-Saturday workshop where we will make nontraditional photo collages. It is $170 for members and $185 for nonmembers if you sign up on the website, but (shhhh!) if you ask the art center they actually have a sliding scale for class prices. Also keep your eye out because sometimes they have Groupons.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE if you live in Richmond sign up for this (Anne you are exempt because you will be giving birth!), because if the class doesn't fill up I don't get to teach it. And that would be sad.

Here is an example of a landscape I did with the technique I will be teaching. As you can see it is pretty large (each of those rectangles are 4x6 prints.)

Here is what it the technique looks like applied to something a bit smaller.

And here (hi Louise!) is an example of how it can be used as a way to take a portrait. This one is actually digitally manipulated, unlike the other two.

Please let me know if you have any questions, because I would luuuuuuv to see you in my class this March!

THREE NEW MOTH PRINTS available on my Etsy Shop!

2011-12-09T16:58:00.000-05:00

These three new handprinted woodblock prints are now available on my Etsy site!! They are available individually or as a set of three, and each one is 6.5" x 6.5".

This one is called "Tiger's Eye Moth" because of the color and the 4 "eyes" on the moth's wings.

This one is called "Moth of Death," but most people who see it don't think of a skull but rather that it is wearing big sunglasses. There are actually only 4 of these available in green and the others are a grey/purple.

And finally this one is called "Setting Sun Moth" because I think it looks like it is slowly sinking into the waves below it.

I spent a lot of time on these guys, carving the wood blocks by hand, then inking each one 20-24 times and smoothing the paper over the inked block. I think they turned out great and I hope you will head over to Etsy and take a look!

NEW PRINT available: The Bearded Man in the Woods

2011-12-08T12:55:00.004-05:00

This is an 8 x 10 giclee print of an original graphite drawing entitled "The Bearded Man in the Woods" which is now available for purchase on my Etsy site. The original was drawn in 1999 and was published as the cover of the poetry magazine "Wood Wispers." Each print is numbered out of 30 and signed by me. The print will come unmatted and unframed but is a standard size and would look great with a black frame as pictured!

Here is a detail of the eyes...

I've got lots more to come, just in time for Christmas presents, so stay tuned...

Tournament of Muppets!

2011-11-17T15:43:00.004-05:00

The National Post has brought us MY KIND OF BRACKET...finally!

Brett and I already have tickets for the new movie! So excited!! I've gotta say I hope Beaker wins!

Interior Sliding Barn Doors

2011-11-08T10:36:00.016-05:00

via Barbara Bestor

My mom is redoing our family's midcentury farmhouse, and she wants to use sliding barn door hardware to cover two large glass doors in the den. So this collection is for you, Mom!

These feel Japanese to me, like they belong in a tea house or sauna.

via Sunset

This one is actually made with reclaimed wine barrels! Check out Cliff Spencer's website for his other beautiful doors.

via Cliff Spencer

Pretty reclaimed boards are the focus here with the natural tones and white decor:

via Design Sponge

Love this black and white one. Especially since the black doors are distressed and textural.

via Remodelista

This black, ultra shiny one is super modern:

via Your Home Only Better

Bright yellow with a classic shape and design:

Your Home Only Better via Southern Living

Very classic, industrial farmhouse chic:

Your Home Only Better via HouseBeautiful

This one is kind of eclectic, like a crazy quilt!

via Random Interior Ideas

I don't love the blue in this one, but I like Killer B's tutorial and it looks super easy to make with 1x2's from your local home improvement store:

via KillerBDesigns

I loooove this patterned door in the kelly green color with the exposed beams:

Kelly and Olive via bradfordavenue.com

I think this one is my favorite. It is painted yellow, I believe, but I like the natural ochre effect with the dark hardware.

via HouseTweaking

If I had a million dollars...

2011-10-13T11:56:00.000-04:00

I would buy you a nice reliant automobile, or a monkey. AND THESE things for me...

Kate Spade Trench

White House Black Market shoes and bag

Anthropologie Skirt

Anthropologie cloche hat

Anthropologie dress

1. Rachel Roy Teal Booties 2. Knit Heeled MukLuks

1. BGBG Green Suede boots; 2. Sofft Savona Boots in Kenya

Browsing at These Four Walls

2011-10-12T11:22:00.000-04:00

Brett and I were in Shockoe Bottom the other day (for you non-Richmonders, downtown at the bottom of the hill near the river), and we decided to stop in this amazing store called These Four Walls.

Their website describes the locally-owned store as "an eclectic assortment of hand-selected furniture, accessories, and gifts from around the world. We focus on handmade, one-of-kind finds that we'd be proud to have in our own home." They weren't kidding. B and I LOVED it! It was definitely out of our price range without some major planning, but the things they had were so unique and wonderful we couldn't resist taking some phone photos and sharing this local gem with you.

This table and chair set was the first thing that caught my eye. We have a similar rough looking farmhouse style table in our dining room, but I don't love our chairs. (Of course our dining room table is not an environmentally friendly salvaged wood plank, but it is old and repurposed so I consider that environmentally friendly.) I thought these were the Ghost chairs, but apparently they are made of recycled bottles!! I am on the lookout for new chairs for our dining room and these had me at hello.

Sorry about the quality of this photo. This is my husband next to a gigantic sheet metal moose. They also had a brontosaurus or giraffe or something. Hilarious. Not Beyonce, but still fab! More fab, I would venture.

I loved this painting of a mossy tree that almost heads into the realm of abstraction. I have a solo show coming up in about a year, and I hope to paint some willow branches and bark paintings with a similar effect. Inspiring!

This coffee table on wheels is made of a salvaged bowling alley. So shiny. So pretty. And you don't even have to change your shoes to enjoy it. Nuff said.

And last but not least, I LOVED this white feather Christmas tree. Enough that I might go back for it!

Long story short, this is going to be one of our go-to places for when we decide to make an investment in a peice of furniture the next time. If you come to Richmond, I would LOVE to take you there for some window shopping!

Happy October--Me as Abby from NCIS

2011-10-06T14:41:00.000-04:00

This is me as Abby Scuitto!

This is my favorite costume EVER, except that it is tied with my 2007 June Carter cash one.

Dude, I might have to rock this one again, with some badass boots this time!

I made an ID badge and everything!

Does anyone have any rockin' costumes planned yet??

Happy October--Last Year's Pumpkins

2011-10-05T08:30:00.000-04:00

So now that we are gearing up for Haloween, I thought I would share the pumpkins Brett and I did last year for some inspiration!

Or at least that's my excuse for why I forgot to post them last year...

We did a couple of traditional ones, and then I used a sharpie to draw some creepy pictures on these cool white pumpkins.

They sort of yellowed a little as the month went on, but it added to the creepyness...

And I loved the little gourds and dry leaves interspersed.

Hmmmm what to do this year...any neat ideas?

Maine

2011-09-19T13:30:00.017-04:00

Thrifted lamp/table hybrid rescue

2011-09-13T16:41:00.000-04:00

This is the before photo of this weird little table/lamp hybrid that I adopted from my favorite aforementioned thrift store, For the Love of Jesus. It was just so weird that I couldn't leave it there. And it was $5. Kid of cute/ugly like a troll doll, don't you think?? Just begging for a makeover a la Brittany Murphy in Clueless.

Took it apart, sanded it to get the dents out and primed the hell out of it. It looked kind of pretty white, but I wanted a more midcentury vibe than shabby chic, so I went with a gray tone and put a very shiny clear top coat on. I also thought about yellow, with a gray shade, but they ran out of the pretty gray fabric I liked so I went with gray base and colorful shade.

The shade it came with was just the wrong size and shape so I picked up a pretty new one at the Decorating Outlet (outlet store for Shades of Light) that had a little dent in it. And I picked up this fabric I have loved forever. It has a beautiful chinese lantern plant pattern on it that was NOT linear since the shade I picked had a slight flare rather than a straight drum.

Here is the shade covering in progress. I used spray adhesive to get it on flat and then used Tacky glue to curl under the edges with a meeeelion clothespins to hold it in place while it dried.

Voila! I think it is an improvement, and the poor little thing has a quirky new lease on life!

Still don't know where it is going to go or what exactly I am going to do with it, but I think its really full of funky midcentury charm!

Hanging Plate Wall

2011-08-29T10:50:00.008-04:00

You may remember this post I did a while ago for my friend Meghan who wanted to do a hanging plate wall in her dining room. Well we finally did it!

First we went in search of an instant plate collection: enter Love of Jesus Thrift Store. Its really the largest thrift store in the area, especially if you want home goods or furniture. Plus it has an awesome name!

Meghan's wall is a really intense color, so we decided on a collection of white plates in different textures, shapes, and designs. Below you can see the ridiculous amount of plates to choose from. (btw you can also have an instant collection of brass candlesticks, baskets, bells, and other randomness if you so desire.)

Here is a smiling Meghan with some of her bounty:

Then we went back to her place and traced the plates onto paper so we could see how the various sizes and shapes would look together on the wall without making a million holes in her honest-to-god real plaster walls. This is just one of the design ideas we played with.

She ended up going with a more traditional and symmetrical pattern, but it still has tons of visual interest thanks to the variety of plates. It also really brings out the bright white trim around the room.

I think it looks really fabulous! Thanks for letting me play at your house Meghan!! (On another note we are soon to start a baby mural for her baby due in October!)

DIY Drum Lamp Diffuser

2011-08-25T11:26:00.000-04:00

We didn't have an overhead light in our guest room, which made it really dark. We don't have a way to hard wire it to the ceiling because the air conditioning vent is smack-dab in the middle of the room. My solution was to get a lamp kit and hang it from the ceiling, run the wire across the ceiling and down the wall and plug it in. Then I got a cute drum lamp shade to hang on it. You can find something similar here. The kit had a screw top that allowed me to just screw the drum pendant in and voila! The only problem was that when you were on the guest bed, you could see straight up the middle of the drum shade into the blinding light.

I forgot to take a picture of it before I took it down, so this picture is actually from Young House love, because we happened to have the same shade from the Shades of Light outlet store here in Richmond. This is more or less what you saw from my guest bed, except mine is not hard wired but hanging from the ceiling on a hook.

I didn't want to spend the money on the diffuser, so I decided to make my own, a la Young House Love's tutorial!

I found an old sheet that had a rip in in, and draped it over the drum shade, cutting around the edges until I had a circle slightly larger than the shade.

Here it is cut out and draped before I ironed it out to make it nice and smooth.

Then I removed the banding from around the shade on the bottom. It pulled right off like a charm!

Then I ran a bead of craft glue all along the bottom edge where the hommade diffuser would go:

I smoothed out the large circle and then flopped the drum pendant over so that the bottom edge with the glue on it was touching the fabric and waited for it to dry.

In case you can't tell, this is a shot of the inside of the bottom of the shade with the bead of glue showing.

Once it dried, I flipped it back over (yes, it stuck a little bit to the table, oops), and trimmed the edges very close to the shade, with about 1/4 inch overhang.

Then I reapplied the edge banding to cover the jagged edges of the sheet and make it look nice and neat. I used hot glue for this one. And burned my fingers about a million times until my friend Anne offered to take the gun off my hands while I worked the edges of the sheet under the banding.

Here it is all hung up on the ceiling again, and our guests will no longer be blinded as they read before bed! I know the cord looks kind of crappy going along the ceiling, but you can see in this picture how putting in a box for a hardwired lamp would be tricky in this room because of the way the HVAC is situated. We are going to pain the walls and then hopefully the cord cover will blend in at least on the wall behind the bed.

So the guest room is still a work in progress, but I thought I would share this little project. :-) Since that picture was taken, we have rearranged quite a bit between switching out the beds and moving all the books in the house. Maybe one day it will be all done and I can do a beauty shot!

Thanks to Sherry and John for the great idea!

Operation Bookshelf Complete!

2011-08-22T13:17:00.001-04:00

As I mentioned previously, we really needed bookshelves to corral all of the crazy books all over our house. We went back and forth over building them ourselves from premade cabinets, building them from a plan from Knock off Wood, buying unfinished ones from the Unfinished Furniture Mart, or going to Ikea. Then once we decided on Ikea it was another whole story to try to figure out which shelves we wanted. Billy is very popular and the cheapest, but didn't really fit our needs. We loved Liatorp, but it was too expensive. We eventually decided on Hemnes, and got 5 units--three without doors and two with glass doors. The measurements fit almost exactly all the way across the wall in the living room.

So off to Ikea we went...

Here is the Element in our driveway, showing the amazing flat packaging skills of the Ikea folks. Yes we fit 5 bookshelves into our car!

Here is refresher of the wall the shelves were destined for. The formal living room in our house has been kind of a repository for hand-me-down furniture, art, books, yard sale organizing, whatever--but it is a beautiful room with crown molding and we wanted to turn it into a library.

So Brett and I unloaded the Element and started a kind of assembly line. I am not in any of these pictures, but it was my job to take the shelves out the box, assemble the frame and legs, pass it onto brett and start over with the next one. It was Brett's job to nail on the back, sit the unit upright, position it on the wall and secure it to a stud.

Here is another in-progress shot from the other angle.

After several hours, we had all 5 units assembled and then it was time to put on the doors. We decided to rotate "no doors" with "doors" across the wall for a balanced and symmetrical look that had some visual interest.

We are eventually going to frost the bottom half of the doors so that we can put no-so-pretty things in them like extra serving platters, and then use the top of those to display items and art so that we won't have to dust them.

Here is the finished product! You can literally see that the light was fading by the time we were done...it was surprisingly exhausting! We are so happy with the finished product because it gives us the storage we need and brings out the white crown molding in the room nicely.

So far we have collected all of those random books from around the house and dumped them in just to get them out of the way, but we haven't organized or arranged anything. It is sooo great to have them all in one place and to be able to get some of those shelves out of the way. Like the one in the dining room where the space could be much better used by a console or wine rack!

Has anyone else gotten wall-to-wall bookshelves?? Or are we the only bibliophiles around who can't seem to let go??

Why We Needed Bookshelves

2011-08-21T17:01:00.011-04:00

So we finally went ahead with the planned wall-to-wall bookshelf project! But before I unveil the results, I want to show you WHY it was so necessary. This is embarassing. Please don't call the producers of Hoarders...

We had books in the guest room next to the bed,

and in the guest room against another wall,

and in the art room (I couldn't even really get to these!),

and in the office,

and next to our bed,

and on the landing at the top of the stairs,

and in the dining room,

and next to the tv in the den,

and finally in the living room!

The living room is now the home of ALL the books, which is super useful when someone says "Charlotte, can I borrow that one book about that one thing that you keep raving about?" because I no longer have to scrounge around the whole house and run up and down the stairs to find said book.

whew.

please don't call Hoarders...

Linocuts on the Dock in Wilmington, NC

2011-08-08T15:27:00.010-04:00

Hot Weekend in Brooklyn

2011-07-30T21:39:00.005-04:00

A toasty (100 degrees plus) weekend in Brooklyn, in pictures...

I loved all of the beautiful ironwork on the brownstones.

Brett looking REALLY thrilled to be drinking iced coffee and heading to the Brooklyn Flea. I was thrilled for reals.

The following are things I would have brought home, if I were not taking the subway and the train back to Virginia:

One gigantic metal squirrel. LOVE. We toyed with the idea of this being a weathervane, but decided it did not have the cardinal directions on it so it must just be a giant metal squirrel.

Prettiest old window ever. I would have put screen on the back and used it to display my earrings. OR just hung it somewhere as decoration on a wall.

I took this picture because of the HUGE sawblade, which is amazing. But on reflection, that old phone is pretty cool too.

What I actualy did bring home was 2 "Giant African Porcupine Quills" for my hair of course. And in case I needed a weapon.

Then we had ridiculus Venezuelan food at Caracas Arepas in Williamsburg. Yes we went all the way over there just for this restaurant and yes it was worth it.

Frankly I was a little bit afraid that Brett was going to leave me for whoever made these little balls of heaven: yo-yos. They are fried dough balls with fried plantains and cheese in them. Then you dunk them in molassas. Mmmmm and I had fresh watermelon juice.

This baby is an arepa. They are shells of polena (or cornmeal, or whatever you want to call it) around delicious fillings. Mine was avacado, white cheese, and plantain. Brett's was pork. The sauce on the side was some kind of guava sauce that tasted like a cross between a curry, a mustard, and a chutney. And just for shits and giggles, here is a shot of the sidewalk bathtub flowerbeds. :-D

Have a great Sunday! Tomorrow we are off to Maine...

Third Anniversary

2011-07-05T13:19:00.000-04:00

Happy Anniversary B! I love you, and can't believe all that we have done in these 3 short years. xoxo Charlotte

Ongoing projects goal--MET!

2011-06-28T11:40:00.000-04:00

Well, we decided to go ahead with the bookshelf project, AND I GOT 12 of the PROJECTS DONE!!! That was pretty darn close to my goal of 13, no?

1. Replace overhead fixture in art/spare room.
2. Finish painting art/spare room.
3. Finish painting guest room.
4. Add homemade diffuser to bottom of drum shade a la here.
5. Sew cute dog crate cover.
6. Sew waterproof covers for outdoor furniture
7. Make unflattering Forever 21 dress into pretty skirt
8. Finish blanket for project linus
9. Finish chocolate brown crocheted pillow cover I blogged about
10. Turn all of my stretchy crew neck gap tshirts into Vnecks
11. Totally redo shoe storage
12. Revamp weird hexagonal lamp/table from For the Love of Jesus Thrift
13. Buy new knobs for my bathroom
14. Turn huge candle from TJ Maxx into pretty wooden fruit bowl
15. Revamp necklace storage
16. Make wedding shadowbox
17. Restore antique pew
18. Add handle to freestanding Ikea Pax pantry for laundry room
19. Replace hideous kitchen cabinet hardware
20. Attach legs and casters to storage ottomans to fit under our trestle table
21. Add magnetic closure to antique vanity drawer
22. Reupholster vanity bench
23. Finish subway art
24. Turn large body painting into tryptich.
25. Turn brass sections of Nana's navy lamps silver.

You guys have already seen the dog crate cover and the necklace holder, but I have a lot more to blog about now! I crossed off a couple of them, even though the project kind of morphed. For instance, I got the brass parts of the lamps covered, but am totally not satisfied with the look. So the project is technically "done" per my earlier goal, but to B's dissatisfaction it is still taking up the dining room table because I don't like how it turned out. More about that later.

I didn't add the casters to the ottomans...but I did buy decorative upholstery nails to add to them as well...so that project got bigger instead of done.

Also, I didn't exactly add magnetic closure to the vanity drawer...instead, I had my dad take a look at it and he said adding the closure might decrease the value of the antique. So instead he removed some little stop blocks someone had added to the inside of the drawer along its life, and greased up the current hardware, and it works like a charm.

ANYWAY...The BOOKSHELVES LOOK AMAZING!!! We went with Hemnes from Ikea, three without doors and two with, and they fit perfectly along the wall. We haven't "styled" them yet, but I am just so happy that there are no longer books EVERYWHERE.

Sorry no pictures today, but I promise some juicy ones soon.

xoxo

Charlotte

I've been busy...making prints!

2011-06-27T11:38:00.000-04:00

These photos are from the studio. I'll let you know when this edition of 30 linocuts will be available on my Etsy shop!

Poltergeist OR How Dominion Power Skeered the Little Green Kittens Out of Me

2011-06-24T11:15:00.002-04:00

SCENE:
B and I are happily getting ready to warm up some blueberry muffins left over from the weekend first thing Monday morning. The coffee is done brewing (thank god). Then all of a sudden--FLASH, FLASH, FLASH, *powering down noise*. The scent of electricity (that makes your little nose hairs tingle) fills the air, followed by burning plastic.
END SCENE

No folks, our house was not built over a native american cemetery, so I immediately decided the wisest thing to do was cut off the power to the entire house and call George the electrician. Before breakfast. I asked him if he dealt in electrical mysteries, and happily he agreed to come out to our house on an emergency basis at 10am.

It turns out that the neutral wire from the transformer to our house broke, and that happens to be the one that regulates how fast power comes into your house.

After the utilities man came out, dug in our yard, dug in our neighbor's yard, and replaced the wire, here is what we ended up with:

NO oven (new, thankfully still under warranty)
NO microwave.
No bedroom TV
No cable
No internet
No bluray player
No dvd player
No fan in the bedroom

Thank the lord the power surge fairy did not bother our a/c, fridge or freezer or some heads wouldabeen rollin.

So the Fios people are coming out to look fix our cable/internet this afternoon, and GE is coming to fix the oven Monday.

George the electrician called me back Monday night and said, "well sweetie, you make'em pay for that!"

Here is one time when that Bar card will actually come in handy!

xoxo

Charlotte

One Point for Organization: Coarkboard Necklace Display

2011-06-15T15:38:00.000-04:00

I got them all up on the wall where I can see them! Can I even tell you how much better it is getting dressed in the morning when they aren't a tangled mess??

The beautiful framed coarkboard was $30 from Home Goods, and its huge.

Now if only I could do the same for earrings and bracelets! But that, my friend, is for another to-do list...

Dog Crate Cover for Mack

2011-06-14T15:18:00.000-04:00

Allow me to introduce you again to Mack, our rescue dachsund/border collie/who knows what sweetie. He sleeps in a crate in our room at night, and loves it to be covered with blankets like his personal little cave. It kind of reminds me of when you were little and wanted a fort under the kitchen table.

Here is a "before" photo of his crate with blankets draped over it per his liking. HOWEVER, not to my liking! I think it looked so sloppy and we needed our blankets back. (Don't worry, he normally has a pillow in there to sleep in, it was just in the wash when I took these pictures.)

So I decided to sew something nice and tailored to cover it up in a little bit of neater fashion. Voila the finished product:

I picked out this really cute, thick black and white dog-print fabric from our local fabric outlet U-fab, and went to town with the sewing machine.

I measured the back, sides, and top of the crate, and leaving a 1/2 inch seam allowance all the way around, I pieced it together and pinned it right-sides together.

Here you can see it partially done, with the back and top sewed together and one side pinned on.

And here is the almost-finished product: at that point I just had to sew it into a 3D shape. I left off the front so he could see out.

Then I hemmed all the way around the edges...

Here the crate is all nekked:

And here it is as the finished product.

I'm pretty sure he doesn't know the difference but I think it looks so much cleaner. The basket on the top is where we store his and Lolly's treats, brushes, etc. She sleeps on a dog bed on the floor (not so much of a fan of the crate as her brother!)

It was super easy! Let me know if anybody wants one as a christmas gift!

xoxo

Charlotte

If I had a million dollars...Anthropologie

2011-06-13T11:17:00.002-04:00

Two Ottomans and a Console

2011-06-10T12:54:00.000-04:00

here

I mentioned in my ongoing project post that I am working on adding casters to two storage ottomans for under our trestle table/tv stand.

Well, here are some lovely inspiration photos that I kept in mind! Obviously mine are not nearly as high end, but a girl's gotta start somewhere...

here

here
here

here

Vanity Bench Reupholstery Completed!

2011-06-09T12:21:00.000-04:00

Here is the lovely, renewed vanity bench that goes with the vanity in my guest room. I love the turned wood handles that come up the side--I think that gives it such a unique shape. I can kind of imagine it in a medieval castle or something...

And here is what it looked like before, in our sad farmhouse. It needed a good shining up and new seat badly. I think the last person who upholstered it was my great-grandmother Hazel, probably in the 1950s. She used pretty nailhead trim, but I went the lazy girl's way with staples, trim and glue.

First I cut off the old seat and kept it for a template. I traced it onto brown paper.

Then I used the brown paper as a guide to cut out my new fabric--a pretty basketweave pattern tone-on-on tone with some stretch in it. I wanted my bench to be pretty cushy, so I made sure to keep about 3 extra inches all around to accomodate the new foam.

It had old upholstery straps on the bottom which were rotted away, so I threw them out an had my dad make me a new bottom with some plywood. Then I got a 4 inch piece of foam, cut it to size, and wrapped it with some quilt batting (crib mattress size).

I seem to be missing the picture of it done with the staples showing, but you can kind of see them in the photos below showing how I applied the trim. It was on sale at Hobby Lobby, and I got "about yea much" of it, figuring I could estimate how much I would need. HAH!

See the staples? First I cut out 4 small pieces to go around the curved corners and glued them on, turning the end under and gluing it with hot glue so there wouldn't be any frayed edges.

Then I again folded under the edge of the trim and matched it up at a right angle with the pieces draped over the corners.

Here it is with one side done:

AND HERE IS HOW MUCH TRIM I HAD LEFT OVER:

BOOYEAH! I must admit it would have made me feel a little bit better to have some more in case I messed up, but no harm no foul, right?

Here she is again, next to the old piece of upholstery. I removed. She is so happy that she is in a nice clean house and now our guests can use her to sit on to take on an off their shoes, or to apply their makeup at the vanity!

P.S. It really helps to have an extra hand when applying the trim with the glue gun. Thanks Anne!!

Ongoing projects--update!

2011-05-27T13:50:00.001-04:00

Ok, here is my progress on my Ongoing project post from last week:

1. Replace overhead fixture in art/spare room.
2. Finish painting art/spare room.
3. Finish painting guest room.
4. Add homemade diffuser to bottom of drum shade a la here.
5. Sew cute dog crate cover
6. Sew waterproof covers for outdoor furniture
7. Make unflattering Forever 21 dress into pretty skirt
8. Finish blanket for project linus
9. Finish chocolate brown crocheted pillow cover I blogged about
10. Turn all of my stretchy crew neck gap tshirts into Vnecks
11. Totally redo shoe storage (PROGRESS--I picked up the last shelf at Ikea!)
12. Revamp weird hexagonal lamp/table from For the Love of Jesus Thrift (PROGRESS--I finished painting and clear coating it, but the fabric I bought to cover the shade didn't work, so I had to get another one)
13. Buy new knobs for my bathroom
14. Turn huge candle from TJ Maxx into pretty wooden fruit bowl
15. Revamp necklace storage
16. Make wedding shadowbox
17. Restore antique pew
18. Add handle to freestanding Ikea Pax pantry for laundry room
19. Replace hideous kitchen cabinet hardware
20. Attach legs and casters to storage ottomans to fit under our trestle table
21. Add magnetic closure to antique vanity drawer
22. Reupholster vanity bench
23. Finish subway art
24. Turn large body painting into tryptich.
25. Turn brass sections of Nana's navy lamps silver.

So 4 finished projects in a week isn't bad right? At least I am making progress! Unfortunately my goal was 13 by the time we start doing the shelving, but I am SO CLOSE to finishing #25, #20, #19, #18, #14, #13, #12, and #11 that I think I can at LEAST get close to my goal!

On the bright side, one reason I had such a long period with no posts was because I didn't actually have anything done--now there should be a deluge!

My new lunch spot

2011-05-26T13:28:00.003-04:00

This is a place of serenity, right outside my office steps. The leaves of the willow trail in the water, and I can hear a bullfrog (although I haven't spotten him yet, darnit.)

There is a male redwing blackbird that hunts for food for his mate that is nesting in the tall marsh grass nearby.

One day I saw a lizzard. Another day I saw a bunny.

I wish I could just work there instead of my desk!

Little Green Notebook HodgePodge Staircase

2011-05-26T11:18:00.000-04:00

here

I love this.

Happy Spring!

2011-05-25T20:24:00.003-04:00

Forsythia is my favorite.

I picked up this wreath at Ben Franklin Crafts and then added some real forsythia in for a while...then I filled it in with EVEN MORE fake forsythia when the real stuff started to look bad.

It makes me happy when I come up the front steps after work. Let's hope a bird doesn't nest in it this year!

Kitchen Inspiration: White Cabinets with Gray Panels

2011-05-24T01:42:00.000-04:00

I also like this kitchen, and it has nice black granite countertops like ours. The floor is really awesome, but we have toffee colored ceramic tile to bring in to the design scheme instead. What I think is interesting here is that the cabinets have been painted white but the inset panels are a slightly different color. I don't think it would be too hard to experiment with something like this--its a small area to repaint if you don't like the finished look!

If I had a million dollars...

2011-05-22T15:27:00.000-04:00

L.L. Bean Signature

Kate Spade

Talbots

L.L. Bean Signature

Ongoing Projects

2011-05-20T10:30:00.001-04:00

It has been brought to my attention that some people don't have dozens of projects going on at once. I think it's normal, right!? Some of them are AAAALLLLMOST DONE...and I would like to get this list down to half of its current size before B and I embark on doing wall-to-wall bookshelves in our living room! GOAL identified...GO!

Here is what I currently have going on--these are all projects that have been started in one way or another, and not yet finished:

1. Replace overhead fixture in art/spare room. (Status--capiz shell chandelier bought and in closet. Closet also contains several light hardware pieces that *may* allow me to attach it to our ceiling...)

2. Finish painting art/spare room. (Status--everything is painted, I just have to use the magic solvent goop to get the paint off my hardware and window panes)

3. Finish painting guest room. (Status--trim and windows are painted, but I still need to paint the walls)

4. Add homemade diffuser to bottom of drum shade a la here. (status: I ripped up an old sheet to use for the fabric, but haven't taken down the shade yet.)

5. Sew cute dog crate cover (status--have bought 2 yards of fabric and draped it over the dog crate. I might need to buy another yard.)

6. Sew waterproof covers for outdoor furniture (status--have bought a bolt of awning fabric and drawn out patter plans in notebook)

7. Make unflattering Forever 21 dress into pretty skirt (status--have made skirt but must still transfer beads formerly on collar onto hem. does anyone know how to bead by hand?)

8. Make blanket for project linus (status--all knit squares are crocheted together but still must make border and actually mail it)

9. Make chocolate brown crocheted pillow cover I blogged about (the back side is knitted but I haven't even finished crocheting one square for the front)

10. Turn all of my stretchy crew neck gap tshirts into Vnecks because they are more flattering (4/8 done)

11. Totally redo shoe storage (done except for taking old shoe racks to goodwill and buying one last shelf from ikea because i counted wrong)

12. Revamp weird hexagonal lamp/table from For the Love of Jesus Thrift (have sanded, primed and painted it dark gray, and have purchased plain lampshade and new fabric. Must still coat with poly, put back together, and cover lampshade with fabric)

13. Buy new knobs for my bathroom (I painted 5 out of 6 of them white and then lost the 6th one. oops)

14. Turn huge candle from TJ Maxx into pretty wooden fruit bowl (I have put it in the freezer to make it easier to remove the wax and dumped out the candle--but now there is leftover wax on it and it is just living in our freezer)

15. Revamp necklace storage (have bought huge corkboard and frame but have not yet transferred necklaces or hung it on the wall)

16. Make wedding shadowbox (have gathered wedding programs, invitations, and other souvenirs but not bought shadowbox)

17. Restore antique pew (I have bought marine grade varnish and my dad has made a replacement arm rest. oh and i also poured nasty stuff over where one side was rotting to make it stop. But I haven't painted the replacement arm, attached it, or actually varnished the thing.)

18. Get freestanding Ikea Pax pantry for laundry room (We did this, and have put it together and filled it with stuff. BUT I still need to attach the handle on the door.)

19. Replace hideous kitchen cabinet hardware (I did this yesterday on the cabinets, but still have to drill holes on one drawer to put on the last drawer pull)

20. Attach legs to 2 storage ottomans to fit under our trestle table/tv stand (I bought the legs, stained them, and attached them to the ottomans--but I still have the casters I bought in a drawer and have not yet put them on.)

21. Add magnetic closure to antique vanity drawer that keeps falling open (bought magnets, have not yet attached them)

22. Reupholster vanity bench (have reupholstered it, but have not yet covered the staples with trim that I bought)

23. Make subway art (I have put together the wood base and had the words enlarged. I have bought the vinyl. I have not so much done anything else...)

24. Turn large body painting into tryptich. (I have the huuuge canvas, but I need to make 3 frames for it and cut it into pieces so we can hang it somewhere!

25. Turn brass sections of Nana's navy lamps silver. (I spray painted one of them silver, didn't like it, re spray painted it pewter, don't love it, so I bought rub-on metallic silver paint stuff...)

Our new granite countertops

2011-05-14T09:47:00.000-04:00

I know this is a little bit late, but I have been so focused on backsplashes and cabinet colors that I forgot to post! Here are some photos of our lovely new Uba Tuba countertops with the new stainless range and dishwasher. These were taken before we installed the new faucet...

And one with some gratuitous Lolly tail...

So now we are onto installing under cabinet lights, deciding on the tile backsplash, and deciding what we want to do to resurface the cabinets. White backsplash with coffee colored cabinets? Colored backsplash with white cabinets? Ceramic or glass? Painted or stained? eek!

Rainbow Pancakes

2011-05-13T16:10:00.000-04:00

flikr

Happy Weekend!!

Kitchen Inspiration: White Cabinets with Black Panes

2011-05-10T15:23:00.003-04:00

In this kitchen we have the following: brown floor, dark countertops, nickel accessories, stainless appliances. CHECK--have all of those in my kitchen. I am checking out how the wood between the panes in the cabinets are painted black, and how that plays off of the dark countertops...I like...

I think that the backsplash is ceramic in this photo, but you could get the same glossy look with glass.

Sorry I have no idea where this picture came from (oops...)

Beautiful Bed

2011-05-06T14:23:00.002-04:00

How could you worry about anything in this bed?

I don't necessarily love the room, but I want to sleep in that bed. It looks like the most restful, comfortable place in the world. Now, how can I adapt it so that you can't see doggy hair?! Maybe do it in gray or a warm latte color? This photo is from british furniture company www.chicshack.com, and they don't say on the website where the bedding is from!

Turned Wood Pendant Lights

2011-02-12T13:04:00.001-05:00

via Black White Yellow

Aren't these the most beautiful pendant lights you have ever seen??

It makes me want to take that woodturning class at VisArts just to make some for myself!

They are created by the Carroll Street Woodworkers in Toronto.

Organization: Under-Cabinet Wine Glass Racks

2011-02-11T13:49:00.001-05:00

We have this funny little cubby in our kitchen cabinet that would be perfect for cookbooks or to an in-cabinet wine rack. HOWEVER, when we moved in, it became a dumping ground for all things that we didn't know what to do with. THEN it became wine glass storage. (Please don't ask about the moose on the fridge, k? k.) OH, BTW you can see our nasty old counter tops and ugly cabinet hardware LOUD and CLEAR here, right?

We picked up 3 of these under-counter stemware racks from Bed, Bath & Beyond for about $5.00 each...

Then I watched as my husband contorted himself into a pretzel in order to drill pilot holes...

Installed--you can't see them at all from standing!

Look how much extra storage we have now! The stemware is out of the way, we can use the counterspace, and our most-often-used cookbooks are at our fingertips rather than in the bookcase in the dining room.

Easy fix, I recommend it highly. This probably took us all of a half hour to install, and it was SO worth it!

I NEED my old couch to look like this!

2011-02-10T13:05:00.004-05:00

Some of you may remember a loooooong time ago, I posted about an old couch I want to reupolster. Here she is:

I saw a similar couch in an old domino magazine that the editor had hauled back all the way from a Paris flee market! I don't know if you can see the pretty carvings along the bottom, but trust me: she has good bones.

Low and behold, I came across this photo on Design Sponge, and my heart all but stopped beating...

via Design Sponge

The fabric is Cole & Sons' "Woods," which is also available as wallpaper in a bunch of colorways. I neeeeed my couch to look this beautiful. Glossy black oil paint on the wood trim, sophisticated Walden Pond on the cushions. I would love it forever! Now, where can I get that fabric and how much is it going to cost me???

The Kitchen Update Begins!

2011-02-09T13:06:00.001-05:00

We are going to update our kitchen--I hesitate to say "renovate" since we aren't tearing down walls and are keeping quite a bit as is. I don't actually know how this happened...my normally frugal husband actually got the ball rolling (whaaaa???), and I am not one to argue! I don't want to take any pictures yet, because we have only just gotten started, but here is a sneak peak!

This is the lovely new range that replaced our 25 year-old bisque one. Our old oven didn't really broil as much as set off all the smoke detectors in the house, and it had old electric heating elements that were a real pain to keep clean. I am SOOOO looking forward to this spill-proof ceramic top. It also has a warming burner and a quick boil burner.

Here is our new dishwasher!!!! I think it looks kind of like a spaceship. It actually cleans the dishes, is quiet, and has its own built-in disposal. Did I mention it is shiny?

So we have installed the dishwasher and oven/range, but everything else is the same right now. I like to say our appliances look like the Jetsons and the rest of the kitchen still looks like the Brady Bunch. :-)

And here is the BEAUTIFUL new granite countertops we have ordered! They called to say they have started fabricating it, but we don't know yet when it will come in. I am personally quite excited about doing the demo on our old counters which are stained and also "bisque."

Once we get the new countertop installed, then I am going to take a long hard look at our cabinets and decide whether they just need new handles, or whether I want to paint them a clean and glossy white. We are for SURE getting new pulls though, as the ones we have are HIDEOUS. *shudder* I have already started taking the old ones off, and I like the cabinets much more already.

More kitchen updates as they come!

Roman Shades

2011-02-03T03:58:00.000-05:00

So there has been much in blogland about DIY roman blinds made from mini-blinds; Newlywed Diaries, Little Green Notebook, and Craftzine all have great tutorials. I think that is a fabulous idea, and fully intend to try it, but sometimes you've gotta work with what you've got. Which is not mini blinds.

When we moved into the house, the previous owners left the window treatments. Unfortunately the kitchen and dining room were both country/burgandy themed, and as a BRIGHTS person, I just couldn't deal for more than a moment or two with the unbleached-and-burgandy gingham roman blinds in my kitchen breakfast nook.

I took them down, along with the burgandy valances and coordinating gingham ones in the dining room. *shudder* That left the dining room with a burgandy tone on tone brocade shade and a burgandy toile valance. I can live with it.

The kitchen desperately needed something to shield us from the neighbors and insulate our single-paned windows, so just taking them down wasn't an option. After noticing that the gingham blinds looked like they were homemade, I decided to dismantle them and use them as a pattern for my own.

I found some tablecloths, placemats, and napkins I really liked at Marshall's, and bought enough of the table clothes to make 4 roman blinds.

***ASIDE: I know, I know, I LOVE matchy sometimes, but I just can't help it! I blame mom for the Kelly's Kids clothes she forced me into at a young age: no matter how much I hated it, apparently it made some impression on my developing grey matter!***

Well I layed them out in the dining room and cut the tableclothes slightly larger than the blinds. Then I realized that I would probably need some kind of backing fabric, so I cut an old sheet to use as my backing and sewed it to the tablecloth fabric. Then I realized I probably didn't even need to take the existing blinds apart as I had planned--I just folded over the raw edges and sewed the backed tablecloth fabric AROUND the fugly gingham! I then ran my machine down the center of the blinds a couple of times so that the fabric wouldn't bunch up when the cord was pulled and VOILA! Brand new custom blinds!

I think they go swimmingly with my yellow Kate Spade discontinued pattern, don't you?? It just makes me so happy to be in this space...I try to keep the table set so that Brett and I don't use it for a mail dumping station, etc.

The kitchen and the family room are the most often used rooms in our house, so I am really really happy to have them both made over to our specifications.

There are more big plans for our kitchen coming up soon, so stay tuned...

Meet Mack

2011-02-01T14:01:00.003-05:00

a.k.a. "Mack Attack," "Mack Man," "Macster," "Big Mack," "Little Mack," "Mackadoo," ... you get the picture...

He's the brand new addition to our family! We adopted him from Henrico Humane Society last weekend after fostering him for a couple of weeks to make sure he got along with Lolly.

We know a little more about him than we did about Lolly when we got her from Nicholas County Animal Shelter in West Virginia. Here's Mack's story:

Mack is from Scott County, Virginia. He was one of 10 doggies confiscated by the local pound from an animal hoarder. He was taken to the Scott County animal shelter, which soon afterward decided to renovate. Since it was a kill shelter, they were going to just euthanize all the dogs before the renovation.

Luckily for Mack, Henrico Humane stepped in, and one of their fosters, Lori, took in Mack and 2 of his buddies. They named him MacDougal, but we shortened it since he is such a little guy! He loved playing with the goats and horses at Lori's but she decided to foster him out so he could get socialized with people and overcome his shyness.

Unfortunately his foster family lost him when his leash broke, and he was running alone all over Interstate 64 in the Richmond area for several days! The rescue community rallied and they were able to catch him and bring him home just before new years. He went back to Lori's, and then we met him and fell in love.

He is a super sweet little boy who loves to cuddle and lets his big sister bully him with good humor. We are working on teaching him his name, wearing a leash, and just getting him used to human contact! We learned last night that he has a heart murmur, so wish us luck when he gets his heart imaged soon. Keep your fingers crossed that it is manageable.

Meghan's Request: Hanging Plate Arrangements

2011-01-31T17:26:00.000-05:00

I was at my friend Meghan's house the other night, and she asked for advice on how to arrange plates on a wall in a fun, modern way. I think she is afraid of 1.) the plates making her space look too formal, and 2.) the plates making it look like grandma's dining room.

Well Meghan, here are my thoughts. There are 2 ways to modernize your plates. The first way is HOW you hang them, in other words the arrangement. Second, the colors you choose for the plates AND the walls can make a big difference.

I have scoured blogland and the internet and rounded up some of my favorite modern/quirky/fun hanging plate arrangements just for you, my dear!

via Imperfectly Beautiful

I like the one above because of the striking and classic black/white theme. I think it would pop more if it were on a colored wall, but the white one makes it a little more traditional, especially because the animal print could get out of hand.

via Decorpad

This one is a little bit of a mishmash of colors, but what makes it cohesive is the strong visual line the plates make as they make your eye go across the room. I like the quirky arrangement next to the very symmetrical and traditional botanicals on the other wall. This has a very "collected-over-time" feeling, like the plates might have sentimental value. Also you COULD add to it easily since it is in a free-flowing pattern.

via Flikr
This is one of my favorites. It is trendy right now with the gray walls, but you could do this on any color and make a bold statement with the all white plates. It has formality because of the symmetrical arrangement, but the bed keeps it from being fussy. This wouldn't be NEARLY as fun in a formal room.

via Erica Good's Facebook Profile

Another example of an arrangement that keeps your eye moving. This is practically the same idea as the one above from Decorpad, but with all white plates. Also compare this to the one from Flikr to see how white plates can be used in a traditional symmetrical arrangement, or in a more flowing way.

via Sunset

Love this one. This is almost like a Kate-spade-esque salon art wall, but with plates instead of art! The white chair and white walls make the designs on the plate the stars. I think this one is very modern, but quirky rather than bold like the hotel bed above from Flikr.

via Canadian House and Home

These plates are VERY traditional, but the arrangement makes it hip. Very sweet. They remind me of bubbles heading up the wall.

via Harper's Bazaar

LOVE LOVE LOVE! Yes, because it is yellow, but it would get at least 2 loves if the walls were turquoise or kelly green or even coral. This is an outstanding example of how to use color to make your plates a statement.

via Apartment Therapy

A symmetrical arrangement with traditional colors, but it has a gothic, moody feel because of the dark walls that keeps it fresh.

via Burke Decor

This is sweet, but the asymmetry and bold contrast of the plain plates to the bright ribbon keeps it from being dated or boring. (p.s. you can buy this set as-is.)

via Country Living

This one isn't my favorite, because if it weren't for the text it would be kind of boring. However, I do like that the arrangement has movement. I guess the plates aren't really my style!

via Apartment Therapy

And finally, this one from apartment therapy shows how, with a little bit of planning, you can really incorporate hanging plates into a larger design plan for your room. THIS ONE GETS MY VOTE MEGHAN!!!

What do you guys think? Does anyone have plates on their walls? Any words of wisdom??

Project: back yard

2011-01-27T15:23:00.003-05:00

Here is a drawing of my yard from above:

As you can see, its pretty big, and has a nice fence for the doggies. However, it drives me nuts that the landscaping looks like someone started to terrace and take care of the left side, but stopped years ago. Chaos has taken over! I really want to make it look like someone cares about it. The grassy part of the yard is good for the most part, but the far right side by the fence gets really boggy. Since we have moved in, we put in the bed to the left of the porch, planted the daylilies outside the fence by the road, and planted the redbud tree. I really like the forsythia and the holly, but there are FAR too many trees in general. I love that we have established, mature trees, but 11 is a bit much! Especially because most of them are oaks which make the soil very acidic and the yard very shady. I want to take down some of them, but Brett and I disagree about which ones and how many.

So to make a long story short, I am in the midst of planning out my dream yard. Does anyone have any suggestions? I want to keep a good bit of the grass, and make the rest of the yard look cared for and planned. The grassy part tends to get too wet, so any suggestions about what would suck up a lot of water on that side of the yard would be great!

Bikram 60 Day Challenge

2010-10-05T15:46:00.010-04:00

Image from here

I have decided to finally do a 60-day Bikram Yoga Challenge. As many of you know, I went through a Bikram-tastic phase during law school because I was looking for a form of yoga with little to no sun salutation action since my wrists were injured. I went faithfully during that 4 year period, but haven't been since I moved to Norfolk for my first job out of school. After I moved, I went to a couple of other yoga classes, including hot yoga classes in Virginia Beach, but it just wasn't the same and didn't really "stick." I have been meaning to go back to Bikram since I moved back to Richmond, and have even bought 2 Groupons for classes, but just haven't gotten my pants into gear!

For those of you unfamliar with Bikram, it is a type of yoga where the classes are 90 minutes long in a 104 degree room with 40% humidity. It is supposed to make you more flexible because your muscles are hot, so you can go deeper into the yoga poses. I do like the increased flexibility, and I LOOOOVE the hot room especially on cold or rainy days. But the real reason I love Bikram is that when you are finished , you are so hydrated (from chugging) and so loosy goosy that there is no room for anxiety in your body. ANYWHERE.

The Challege officially started on October 1, so I am starting 4 days late. My first class will be tonight, and I am going to try to go to just one class every day this week, to get back into the groove then maybe start doubling up next week to make up for lost time.

I am really looking forward to the whittled obliques gained from Half Moon Pose,

and the superfun backbends in Camel

and Standing Bow (the one pictured at the beginning of this post). I love those poses, which are hated by less flexible folk, because they are easy for me.

I am NOT looking forward to Balancing Stick

or Standing Head to Knee pose,

because they require actual strength and balance, which I have none.

I read this series in Oprah about a new challenger, and I have also recently learned of this blog, and I am curious as to what kinds of results I will have--physical, spiritual, mental? Maybe by the end, I will look like the picture...which is going to be my desktop for the next 60 days as motivation!

Life is too short

2010-10-04T15:05:00.000-04:00

There are three happiness killers:

doing work you do not love and are not passionate about,

surrounding yourself with people who you do not really like
(someone who just fills time),

and living somewhere that does not let you be you.

Just stop it.
Life is far too short.

- Richard Florida

Beautiful and Peaceful

2010-09-13T10:12:00.000-04:00

Watch this video. Feel yourself get stronger. :-)

1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die

2010-07-13T10:13:00.005-04:00

I consider myself an avid reader, especially of novels. Most of these lists I do pretty well on, but this one totally crushed me! I haven't even heard of a lot of them, sadly. I was browsing Kate Spade's "Things We Love" list on the website, and came across this list. It is from 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die: A Comprehensive Reference Source, Chronicling the History of the Novel. Do ya'll do as badly as I do? I am not counting the movie version, but I am counting audiobooks when I check them off. I think it brings me to 76/1001. How about you guys? Are there any I haven't read that I should absolutely check out right now? Let me preface your response with the fact that Middlesex is on my nightstand. And I must read more DeLillo.

2000s
1. Never Let Me Go – Kazuo Ishiguro
2. Saturday – Ian McEwan
3. On Beauty – Zadie Smith
4. Slow Man – J.M. Coetzee
5. Adjunct: An Undigest – Peter Manson
6. The Sea – John Banville
7. The Red Queen – Margaret Drabble
8. The Plot Against America – Philip Roth
9. The Master – Colm Tóibín
10. Vanishing Point – David Markson
11. The Lambs of London – Peter Ackroyd
12. Dining on Stones – Iain Sinclair
13. Cloud Atlas – David Mitchell
14. Drop City – T. Coraghessan Boyle
15. The Colour – Rose Tremain
16. Thursbitch – Alan Garner
17. The Light of Day – Graham Swift
18. What I Loved – Siri Hustvedt
~~19. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time – Mark Haddon~~
20. Islands – Dan Sleigh
21. Elizabeth Costello – J.M. Coetzee
22. London Orbital – Iain Sinclair
23. Family Matters – Rohinton Mistry
24. Fingersmith – Sarah Waters
25. The Double – José Saramago
26. Everything is Illuminated – Jonathan Safran Foer
27. Unless – Carol Shields
28. Kafka on the Shore – Haruki Murakami
29. The Story of Lucy Gault – William Trevor
30. That They May Face the Rising Sun – John McGahern
31. In the Forest – Edna O’Brien
32. Shroud – John Banville
33. Middlesex – Jeffrey Eugenides
34. Youth – J.M. Coetzee
35. Dead Air – Iain Banks
36. Nowhere Man – Aleksandar Hemon
37. The Book of Illusions – Paul Auster
38. Gabriel’s Gift – Hanif Kureishi
39. Austerlitz – W.G. Sebald
40. Platform – Michael Houellebecq
41. Schooling – Heather McGowan
42. Atonement – Ian McEwan
43. The Corrections – Jonathan Franzen
44. Don’t Move – Margaret Mazzantini
45. The Body Artist – Don DeLillo
46. Fury – Salman Rushdie
47. At Swim, Two Boys – Jamie O’Neill
48. Choke – Chuck Palahniuk
~~49. Life of Pi – Yann Martel~~
50. The Feast of the Goat – Mario Vargos Llosa
51. An Obedient Father – Akhil Sharma
52. The Devil and Miss Prym – Paulo Coelho
53. Spring Flowers, Spring Frost – Ismail Kadare
54. White Teeth – Zadie Smith
55. The Heart of Redness – Zakes Mda
56. Under the Skin – Michel Faber
57. Ignorance – Milan Kundera
58. Nineteen Seventy Seven – David Peace
59. Celestial Harmonies – Péter Esterházy
60. City of God – E.L. Doctorow
61. How the Dead Live – Will Self
62. The Human Stain – Philip Roth
63. The Blind Assassin – Margaret Atwood
64. After the Quake – Haruki Murakami
65. Small Remedies – Shashi Deshpande
66. Super-Cannes – J.G. Ballard
67. House of Leaves – Mark Z. Danielewski
68. Blonde – Joyce Carol Oates
69. Pastoralia – George Saunders

1900s
70. Timbuktu – Paul Auster
71. The Romantics – Pankaj Mishra
72. Cryptonomicon – Neal Stephenson
73. As If I Am Not There – Slavenka Drakuli?
74. Everything You Need – A.L. Kennedy
75. Fear and Trembling – Amélie Nothomb
76. The Ground Beneath Her Feet – Salman Rushdie
77. Disgrace – J.M. Coetzee
78. Sputnik Sweetheart – Haruki Murakami
79. Elementary Particles – Michel Houellebecq
80. Intimacy – Hanif Kureishi
81. Amsterdam – Ian McEwan
82. Cloudsplitter – Russell Banks
83. All Souls Day – Cees Nooteboom
84. The Talk of the Town – Ardal O’Hanlon
85. Tipping the Velvet – Sarah Waters
~~86. The Poisonwood Bible – Barbara Kingsolver~~
87. Glamorama – Bret Easton Ellis
88. Another World – Pat Barker
89. The Hours – Michael Cunningham
90. Veronika Decides to Die – Paulo Coelho
91. Mason & Dixon – Thomas Pynchon
92. The God of Small Things – Arundhati Roy
93. Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden
94. Great Apes – Will Self
95. Enduring Love – Ian McEwan
96. Underworld – Don DeLillo
97. Jack Maggs – Peter Carey
98. The Life of Insects – Victor Pelevin
99. American Pastoral – Philip Roth
100. The Untouchable – John Banville
101. Silk – Alessandro Baricco
102. Cocaine Nights – J.G. Ballard
103. Hallucinating Foucault – Patricia Duncker
104. Fugitive Pieces – Anne Michaels
105. The Ghost Road – Pat Barker
106. Forever a Stranger – Hella Haasse
107. Infinite Jest – David Foster Wallace
108. The Clay Machine-Gun – Victor Pelevin
109. Alias Grace – Margaret Atwood
110. The Unconsoled – Kazuo Ishiguro
111. Morvern Callar – Alan Warner
112. The Information – Martin Amis
113. The Moor’s Last Sigh – Salman Rushdie
114. Sabbath’s Theater – Philip Roth
115. The Rings of Saturn – W.G. Sebald
116. The Reader – Bernhard Schlink
117. A Fine Balance – Rohinton Mistry
118. Love’s Work – Gillian Rose
119. The End of the Story – Lydia Davis
120. Mr. Vertigo – Paul Auster
121. The Folding Star – Alan Hollinghurst
122. Whatever – Michel Houellebecq
123. Land – Park Kyong-ni
124. The Master of Petersburg – J.M. Coetzee
125. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle – Haruki Murakami
126. Pereira Declares: A Testimony – Antonio Tabucchi
127. City Sister Silver – Jàchym Topol
128. How Late It Was, How Late – James Kelman
129. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin – Louis de Bernieres
130. Felicia’s Journey – William Trevor
131. Disappearance – David Dabydeen
132. The Invention of Curried Sausage – Uwe Timm
133. The Shipping News – E. Annie Proulx
134. Trainspotting – Irvine Welsh
135. Birdsong – Sebastian Faulks
136. Looking for the Possible Dance – A.L. Kennedy
137. Operation Shylock – Philip Roth
138. Complicity – Iain Banks
139. On Love – Alain de Botton
140. What a Carve Up! – Jonathan Coe
141. A Suitable Boy – Vikram Seth
142. The Stone Diaries – Carol Shields
143. The Virgin Suicides – Jeffrey Eugenides
144. The House of Doctor Dee – Peter Ackroyd
145. The Robber Bride – Margaret Atwood
146. The Emigrants – W.G. Sebald
147. The Secret History – Donna Tartt
148. Life is a Caravanserai – Emine Özdamar
149. The Discovery of Heaven – Harry Mulisch
150. A Heart So White – Javier Marias
151. Possessing the Secret of Joy – Alice Walker
152. Indigo – Marina Warner
153. The Crow Road – Iain Banks
154. Written on the Body – Jeanette Winterson
155. Jazz – Toni Morrison
156. The English Patient – Michael Ondaatje
157. Smilla’s Sense of Snow – Peter Høeg
158. The Butcher Boy – Patrick McCabe
159. Black Water – Joyce Carol Oates
160. The Heather Blazing – Colm Tóibín
161. Asphodel – H.D. (Hilda Doolittle)
162. Black Dogs – Ian McEwan
163. Hideous Kinky – Esther Freud
164. Arcadia – Jim Crace
165. Wild Swans – Jung Chang
166. American Psycho – Bret Easton Ellis
167. Time’s Arrow – Martin Amis
168. Mao II – Don DeLillo
169. Typical – Padgett Powell
170. Regeneration – Pat Barker
171. Downriver – Iain Sinclair
172. Señor Vivo and the Coca Lord – Louis de Bernieres
173. Wise Children – Angela Carter
174. Get Shorty – Elmore Leonard
175. Amongst Women – John McGahern
176. Vineland – Thomas Pynchon
177. Vertigo – W.G. Sebald
178. Stone Junction – Jim Dodge
179. The Music of Chance – Paul Auster
180. The Things They Carried – Tim O’Brien
181. A Home at the End of the World – Michael Cunningham
182. Like Life – Lorrie Moore
183. Possession – A.S. Byatt
184. The Buddha of Suburbia – Hanif Kureishi
185. The Midnight Examiner – William Kotzwinkle
186. A Disaffection – James Kelman
187. Sexing the Cherry – Jeanette Winterson
188. Moon Palace – Paul Auster
189. Billy Bathgate – E.L. Doctorow
190. Remains of the Day – Kazuo Ishiguro
191. The Melancholy of Resistance – László Krasznahorkai
192. The Temple of My Familiar – Alice Walker
193. The Trick is to Keep Breathing – Janice Galloway
194. The History of the Siege of Lisbon – José Saramago
195. Like Water for Chocolate – Laura Esquivel
~~196. A Prayer for Owen Meany – John Irving~~
197. London Fields – Martin Amis
198. The Book of Evidence – John Banville
199. Cat’s Eye – Margaret Atwood
200. Foucault’s Pendulum – Umberto Eco
201. The Beautiful Room is Empty – Edmund White
202. Wittgenstein’s Mistress – David Markson
203. The Satanic Verses – Salman Rushdie
204. The Swimming-Pool Library – Alan Hollinghurst
205. Oscar and Lucinda – Peter Carey
206. Libra – Don DeLillo
207. The Player of Games – Iain M. Banks
208. Nervous Conditions – Tsitsi Dangarembga
209. The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul – Douglas Adams
210. Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency – Douglas Adams
211. The Radiant Way – Margaret Drabble
212. The Afternoon of a Writer – Peter Handke
213. The Black Dahlia – James Ellroy
214. The Passion – Jeanette Winterson
215. The Pigeon – Patrick Süskind
216. The Child in Time – Ian McEwan
217. Cigarettes – Harry Mathews
~~218. The Bonfire of the Vanities – Tom Wolfe~~
219. The New York Trilogy – Paul Auster
220. World’s End – T. Coraghessan Boyle
221. Enigma of Arrival – V.S. Naipaul
222. The Taebek Mountains – Jo Jung-rae
~~223. Beloved – Toni Morrison~~
224. Anagrams – Lorrie Moore
225. Matigari – Ngugi Wa Thiong’o
226. Marya – Joyce Carol Oates
227. Watchmen – Alan Moore & David Gibbons
228. The Old Devils – Kingsley Amis
229. Lost Language of Cranes – David Leavitt
230. An Artist of the Floating World – Kazuo Ishiguro
231. Extinction – Thomas Bernhard
232. Foe – J.M. Coetzee
233. The Drowned and the Saved – Primo Levi
234. Reasons to Live – Amy Hempel
235. The Parable of the Blind – Gert Hofmann
~~236. Love in the Time of Cholera – Gabriel García Márquez~~
237. Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit – Jeanette Winterson
238. The Cider House Rules – John Irving
239. A Maggot – John Fowles
240. Less Than Zero – Bret Easton Ellis
241. Contact – Carl Sagan
~~242. The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood~~
243. Perfume – Patrick Süskind
244. Old Masters – Thomas Bernhard
~~245. White Noise – Don DeLillo~~
246. Queer – William Burroughs
247. Hawksmoor – Peter Ackroyd
248. Legend – David Gemmell
249. Dictionary of the Khazars – Milorad Pavi?
250. The Bus Conductor Hines – James Kelman
251. The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis – José Saramago
252. The Lover – Marguerite Duras
253. Empire of the Sun – J.G. Ballard
254. The Wasp Factory – Iain Banks
255. Nights at the Circus – Angela Carter
256. The Unbearable Lightness of Being – Milan Kundera
257. Blood and Guts in High School – Kathy Acker
258. Neuromancer – William Gibson
259. Flaubert’s Parrot – Julian Barnes
260. Money: A Suicide Note – Martin Amis
261. Shame – Salman Rushdie
262. Worstward Ho – Samuel Beckett
263. Fools of Fortune – William Trevor
264. La Brava – Elmore Leonard
265. Waterland – Graham Swift
266. The Life and Times of Michael K – J.M. Coetzee
267. The Diary of Jane Somers – Doris Lessing
268. The Piano Teacher – Elfriede Jelinek
269. The Sorrow of Belgium – Hugo Claus
270. If Not Now, When? – Primo Levi
271. A Boy’s Own Story – Edmund White
272. The Color Purple – Alice Walker
273. Wittgenstein’s Nephew – Thomas Bernhard
274. A Pale View of Hills – Kazuo Ishiguro
275. Schindler’s Ark – Thomas Keneally
276. The House of the Spirits – Isabel Allende
277. The Newton Letter – John Banville
278. On the Black Hill – Bruce Chatwin
279. Concrete – Thomas Bernhard
280. The Names – Don DeLillo
281. Rabbit is Rich – John Updike
282. Lanark: A Life in Four Books – Alasdair Gray
283. The Comfort of Strangers – Ian McEwan
284. July’s People – Nadine Gordimer
285. Summer in Baden-Baden – Leonid Tsypkin
286. Broken April – Ismail Kadare
287. Waiting for the Barbarians – J.M. Coetzee
288. Midnight’s Children – Salman Rushdie
289. Rites of Passage – William Golding
290. Rituals – Cees Nooteboom
291. Confederacy of Dunces – John Kennedy Toole
292. City Primeval – Elmore Leonard
293. The Name of the Rose – Umberto Eco
294. The Book of Laughter and Forgetting – Milan Kundera
295. Smiley’s People – John Le Carré
296. Shikasta – Doris Lessing
297. A Bend in the River – V.S. Naipaul
298. Burger’s Daughter - Nadine Gordimer
299. The Safety Net – Heinrich Böll
300. If On a Winter’s Night a Traveler – Italo Calvino
~~301. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams~~
302. The Cement Garden – Ian McEwan
~~303. The World According to Garp – John Irving~~
304. Life: A User’s Manual – Georges Perec
305. The Sea, The Sea – Iris Murdoch
306. The Singapore Grip – J.G. Farrell
307. Yes – Thomas Bernhard
308. The Virgin in the Garden – A.S. Byatt
309. In the Heart of the Country – J.M. Coetzee
310. The Passion of New Eve – Angela Carter
311. Delta of Venus – Anaïs Nin
312. The Shining – Stephen King
313. Dispatches – Michael Herr
314. Petals of Blood – Ngugi Wa Thiong’o
315. Song of Solomon – Toni Morrison
316. The Hour of the Star – Clarice Lispector
317. The Left-Handed Woman – Peter Handke
318. Ratner’s Star – Don DeLillo
319. The Public Burning – Robert Coover
~~320. Interview With the Vampire – Anne Rice~~
321. Cutter and Bone – Newton Thornburg
322. Amateurs – Donald Barthelme
323. Patterns of Childhood – Christa Wolf
324. Autumn of the Patriarch – Gabriel García Márquez
325. W, or the Memory of Childhood – Georges Perec
326. A Dance to the Music of Time – Anthony Powell
327. Grimus – Salman Rushdie
328. The Dead Father – Donald Barthelme
329. Fateless – Imre Kertész
330. Willard and His Bowling Trophies – Richard Brautigan
331. High Rise – J.G. Ballard
332. Humboldt’s Gift – Saul Bellow
333. Dead Babies – Martin Amis
334. Correction – Thomas Bernhard
335. Ragtime – E.L. Doctorow
336. The Fan Man – William Kotzwinkle
337. Dusklands – J.M. Coetzee
338. The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum – Heinrich Böll
339. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – John Le Carré
340. Breakfast of Champions – Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
341. Fear of Flying – Erica Jong
342. A Question of Power – Bessie Head
343. The Siege of Krishnapur – J.G. Farrell
344. The Castle of Crossed Destinies – Italo Calvino
345. Crash – J.G. Ballard
346. The Honorary Consul – Graham Greene
347. Gravity’s Rainbow – Thomas Pynchon
348. The Black Prince – Iris Murdoch
349. Sula – Toni Morrison
350. Invisible Cities – Italo Calvino
351. The Breast – Philip Roth
352. The Summer Book – Tove Jansson
353. G – John Berger
354. Surfacing – Margaret Atwood
355. House Mother Normal – B.S. Johnson
356. In A Free State – V.S. Naipaul
357. The Book of Daniel – E.L. Doctorow
358. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas – Hunter S. Thompson
359. Group Portrait With Lady – Heinrich Böll
360. The Wild Boys – William Burroughs
361. Rabbit Redux – John Updike
362. The Sea of Fertility – Yukio Mishima
363. The Driver’s Seat – Muriel Spark
364. The Ogre – Michael Tournier
365. The Bluest Eye – Toni Morrison
366. Goalie’s Anxiety at the Penalty Kick – Peter Handke
367. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings – Maya Angelou
368. Mercier et Camier – Samuel Beckett
369. Troubles – J.G. Farrell
370. Jahrestage – Uwe Johnson
371. The Atrocity Exhibition – J.G. Ballard
372. Tent of Miracles – Jorge Amado
373. Pricksongs and Descants – Robert Coover
374. Blind Man With a Pistol – Chester Hines
~~375. Slaughterhouse-five – Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.~~
376. The French Lieutenant’s Woman – John Fowles
377. The Green Man – Kingsley Amis
378. Portnoy’s Complaint – Philip Roth
~~379. The Godfather – Mario Puzo~~
380. Ada – Vladimir Nabokov
381. Them – Joyce Carol Oates
382. A Void/Avoid – Georges Perec
383. Eva Trout – Elizabeth Bowen
384. Myra Breckinridge – Gore Vidal
385. The Nice and the Good – Iris Murdoch
386. Belle du Seigneur – Albert Cohen
387. Cancer Ward – Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn
388. The First Circle – Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn
389. 2001: A Space Odyssey – Arthur C. Clarke
390. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? – Philip K. Dick
391. Dark as the Grave Wherein My Friend is Laid – Malcolm Lowry
392. The German Lesson – Siegfried Lenz
393. In Watermelon Sugar – Richard Brautigan
394. A Kestrel for a Knave – Barry Hines
395. The Quest for Christa T. – Christa Wolf
396. Chocky – John Wyndham
397. The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test – Tom Wolfe
398. The Cubs and Other Stories – Mario Vargas Llosa
399. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel García Márquez
400. The Master and Margarita – Mikhail Bulgakov
401. Pilgrimage – Dorothy Richardson
402. The Joke – Milan Kundera
403. No Laughing Matter – Angus Wilson
404. The Third Policeman – Flann O’Brien
405. A Man Asleep – Georges Perec
406. The Birds Fall Down – Rebecca West
407. Trawl – B.S. Johnson
408. In Cold Blood – Truman Capote
409. The Magus – John Fowles
410. The Vice-Consul – Marguerite Duras
411. Wide Sargasso Sea – Jean Rhys
412. Giles Goat-Boy – John Barth
413. The Crying of Lot 49 – Thomas Pynchon
414. Things – Georges Perec
415. The River Between – Ngugi wa Thiong’o
416. August is a Wicked Month – Edna O’Brien
417. God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater – Kurt Vonnegut
418. Everything That Rises Must Converge – Flannery O’Connor
419. The Passion According to G.H. – Clarice Lispector
420. Sometimes a Great Notion – Ken Kesey
421. Come Back, Dr. Caligari – Donald Bartholme
422. Albert Angelo – B.S. Johnson
423. Arrow of God – Chinua Achebe
424. The Ravishing of Lol V. Stein – Marguerite Duras
425. Herzog – Saul Bellow
426. V. – Thomas Pynchon
~~427. Cat’s Cradle – Kurt Vonnegut~~
428. The Graduate – Charles Webb
429. Manon des Sources – Marcel Pagnol
430. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold – John Le Carré
431. The Girls of Slender Means – Muriel Spark
432. Inside Mr. Enderby – Anthony Burgess
~~433. The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath~~
434. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich – Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn
435. The Collector – John Fowles
436. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest – Ken Kesey
437. A Clockwork Orange – Anthony Burgess
438. Pale Fire – Vladimir Nabokov
439. The Drowned World – J.G. Ballard
440. The Golden Notebook – Doris Lessing
441. Labyrinths – Jorg Luis Borges
442. Girl With Green Eyes – Edna O’Brien
443. The Garden of the Finzi-Continis – Giorgio Bassani
444. Stranger in a Strange Land – Robert Heinlein
~~445. Franny and Zooey – J.D. Salinger~~
446. A Severed Head – Iris Murdoch
447. Faces in the Water – Janet Frame
448. Solaris – Stanislaw Lem
449. Cat and Mouse – Günter Grass
450. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie – Muriel Spark
~~451. Catch-22 – Joseph Heller~~
452. The Violent Bear it Away – Flannery O’Connor
453. How It Is – Samuel Beckett
454. Our Ancestors – Italo Calvino
455. The Country Girls – Edna O’Brien
~~456. To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee~~
457. Rabbit, Run – John Updike
458. Promise at Dawn – Romain Gary
459. Cider With Rosie – Laurie Lee
460. Billy Liar – Keith Waterhouse
~~461. Naked Lunch – William Burroughs~~
462. The Tin Drum – Günter Grass
463. Absolute Beginners – Colin MacInnes
464. Henderson the Rain King – Saul Bellow
465. Memento Mori – Muriel Spark
466. Billiards at Half-Past Nine – Heinrich Böll
~~467. Breakfast at Tiffany’s – Truman Capote~~
468. The Leopard – Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa
469. Pluck the Bud and Destroy the Offspring – Kenzaburo Oe
470. A Town Like Alice – Nevil Shute
471. The Bitter Glass – Eilís Dillon
472. Things Fall Apart – Chinua Achebe
473. Saturday Night and Sunday Morning – Alan Sillitoe
474. Mrs. ‘Arris Goes to Paris – Paul Gallico
475. Borstal Boy – Brendan Behan
476. The End of the Road – John Barth
477. The Once and Future King – T.H. White
478. The Bell – Iris Murdoch
479. Jealousy – Alain Robbe-Grillet
480. Voss – Patrick White
481. The Midwich Cuckoos – John Wyndham
482. Blue Noon – Georges Bataille
483. Homo Faber – Max Frisch
484. On the Road – Jack Kerouac
485. Pnin – Vladimir Nabokov
486. Doctor Zhivago – Boris Pasternak
487. The Wonderful “O” – James Thurber
488. Justine – Lawrence Durrell
489. Giovanni’s Room – James Baldwin
490. The Lonely Londoners – Sam Selvon
491. The Roots of Heaven – Romain Gary
492. Seize the Day – Saul Bellow
493. The Floating Opera – John Barth
~~494. The Lord of the Rings – J.R.R. Tolkien~~
495. The Talented Mr. Ripley – Patricia Highsmith
~~496. Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov~~
497. A World of Love – Elizabeth Bowen
498. The Trusting and the Maimed – James Plunkett
499. The Quiet American – Graham Greene
500. The Last Temptation of Christ – Nikos Kazantzákis
501. The Recognitions – William Gaddis
502. The Ragazzi – Pier Paulo Pasolini
503. Bonjour Tristesse – Françoise Sagan
504. I’m Not Stiller – Max Frisch
505. Self Condemned – Wyndham Lewis
506. The Story of O – Pauline Réage
507. A Ghost at Noon – Alberto Moravia
508. Lord of the Flies – William Golding
509. Under the Net – Iris Murdoch
510. The Go-Between – L.P. Hartley
511. The Long Goodbye – Raymond Chandler
512. The Unnamable – Samuel Beckett
513. Watt – Samuel Beckett
514. Lucky Jim – Kingsley Amis
515. Junkie – William Burroughs
516. The Adventures of Augie March – Saul Bellow
517. Go Tell It on the Mountain – James Baldwin
518. Casino Royale – Ian Fleming
519. The Judge and His Hangman – Friedrich Dürrenmatt
520. Invisible Man – Ralph Ellison
~~521. The Old Man and the Sea – Ernest Hemingway~~
522. Wise Blood – Flannery O’Connor
523. The Killer Inside Me – Jim Thompson
524. Memoirs of Hadrian – Marguerite Yourcenar
525. Malone Dies – Samuel Beckett
526. Day of the Triffids – John Wyndham
527. Foundation – Isaac Asimov
528. The Opposing Shore – Julien Gracq
~~529. The Catcher in the Rye – J.D. Salinger~~
530. The Rebel – Albert Camus
531. Molloy – Samuel Beckett
532. The End of the Affair – Graham Greene
533. The Abbot C – Georges Bataille
534. The Labyrinth of Solitude – Octavio Paz
~~535. The Third Man – Graham Greene~~
536. The 13 Clocks – James Thurber
537. Gormenghast – Mervyn Peake
538. The Grass is Singing – Doris Lessing
539. I, Robot – Isaac Asimov
540. The Moon and the Bonfires – Cesare Pavese
541. The Garden Where the Brass Band Played – Simon Vestdijk
542. Love in a Cold Climate – Nancy Mitford
543. The Case of Comrade Tulayev – Victor Serge
544. The Heat of the Day – Elizabeth Bowen
545. Kingdom of This World – Alejo Carpentier
546. The Man With the Golden Arm – Nelson Algren
~~547. Nineteen Eighty-Four – George Orwell~~
548. All About H. Hatterr – G.V. Desani
549. Disobedience – Alberto Moravia
550. Death Sentence – Maurice Blanchot
551. The Heart of the Matter – Graham Greene
~~552. Cry, the Beloved Country – Alan Paton~~
553. Doctor Faustus – Thomas Mann
554. The Victim – Saul Bellow
555. Exercises in Style – Raymond Queneau
556. If This Is a Man – Primo Levi
557. Under the Volcano – Malcolm Lowry
558. The Path to the Nest of Spiders – Italo Calvino
559. The Plague – Albert Camus
560. Back – Henry Green
561. Titus Groan – Mervyn Peake
562. The Bridge on the Drina – Ivo Andri?
563. Brideshead Revisited – Evelyn Waugh
~~564. Animal Farm – George Orwell~~
565. Cannery Row – John Steinbeck
566. The Pursuit of Love – Nancy Mitford
567. Loving – Henry Green
568. Arcanum 17 – André Breton
569. Christ Stopped at Eboli – Carlo Levi
570. The Razor’s Edge – William Somerset Maugham
571. Transit – Anna Seghers
572. Ficciones – Jorge Luis Borges
573. Dangling Man – Saul Bellow
~~574. The Little Prince – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry~~
575. Caught – Henry Green
576. The Glass Bead Game – Herman Hesse
577. Embers – Sandor Marai
~~578. Go Down, Moses – William Faulkner~~
579. The Outsider – Albert Camus
580. In Sicily – Elio Vittorini
581. The Poor Mouth – Flann O’Brien
582. The Living and the Dead – Patrick White
583. Hangover Square – Patrick Hamilton
584. Between the Acts – Virginia Woolf
585. The Hamlet – William Faulkner
586. Farewell My Lovely – Raymond Chandler
587. For Whom the Bell Tolls – Ernest Hemingway
588. Native Son – Richard Wright
589. The Power and the Glory – Graham Greene
590. The Tartar Steppe – Dino Buzzati
591. Party Going – Henry Green
~~592. The Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck~~
593. Finnegans Wake – James Joyce
594. At Swim-Two-Birds – Flann O’Brien
595. Coming Up for Air – George Orwell
596. Goodbye to Berlin – Christopher Isherwood
597. Tropic of Capricorn – Henry Miller
598. Good Morning, Midnight – Jean Rhys
599. The Big Sleep – Raymond Chandler
600. After the Death of Don Juan – Sylvie Townsend Warner
601. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day – Winifred Watson
602. Nausea – Jean-Paul Sartre
~~603. Rebecca – Daphne du Maurier~~
604. Cause for Alarm – Eric Ambler
605. Brighton Rock – Graham Greene
606. U.S.A. – John Dos Passos
607. Murphy – Samuel Beckett
~~608. Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck~~
609. Their Eyes Were Watching God – Zora Neale Hurston
~~610. The Hobbit – J.R.R. Tolkien~~
611. The Years – Virginia Woolf
612. In Parenthesis – David Jones
613. The Revenge for Love – Wyndham Lewis
614. Out of Africa – Isak Dineson (Karen Blixen)
615. To Have and Have Not – Ernest Hemingway
616. Summer Will Show – Sylvia Townsend Warner
617. Eyeless in Gaza – Aldous Huxley
618. The Thinking Reed – Rebecca West
~~619. Gone With the Wind – Margaret Mitchell~~
620. Keep the Aspidistra Flying – George Orwell
621. Wild Harbour – Ian MacPherson
622. Absalom, Absalom! – William Faulkner
623. At the Mountains of Madness – H.P. Lovecraft
624. Nightwood – Djuna Barnes
625. Independent People – Halldór Laxness
626. Auto-da-Fé – Elias Canetti
627. The Last of Mr. Norris – Christopher Isherwood
628. They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? – Horace McCoy
629. The House in Paris – Elizabeth Bowen
630. England Made Me – Graham Greene
631. Burmese Days – George Orwell
632. The Nine Tailors – Dorothy L. Sayers
633. Threepenny Novel – Bertolt Brecht
634. Novel With Cocaine – M. Ageyev
635. The Postman Always Rings Twice – James M. Cain
636. Tropic of Cancer – Henry Miller
637. A Handful of Dust – Evelyn Waugh
638. Tender is the Night – F. Scott Fitzgerald
639. Thank You, Jeeves – P.G. Wodehouse
640. Call it Sleep – Henry Roth
641. Miss Lonelyhearts – Nathanael West
642. Murder Must Advertise – Dorothy L. Sayers
643. The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas – Gertrude Stein
644. Testament of Youth – Vera Brittain
645. A Day Off – Storm Jameson
646. The Man Without Qualities – Robert Musil
647. A Scots Quair (Sunset Song) – Lewis Grassic Gibbon
648. Journey to the End of the Night – Louis-Ferdinand Céline
~~649. Brave New World – Aldous Huxley~~
650. Cold Comfort Farm – Stella Gibbons
651. To the North – Elizabeth Bowen
652. The Thin Man – Dashiell Hammett
653. The Radetzky March – Joseph Roth
654. The Waves – Virginia Woolf
655. The Glass Key – Dashiell Hammett
656. Cakes and Ale – W. Somerset Maugham
657. The Apes of God – Wyndham Lewis
658. Her Privates We – Frederic Manning
659. Vile Bodies – Evelyn Waugh
~~660. The Maltese Falcon – Dashiell Hammett~~
661. Hebdomeros – Giorgio de Chirico
662. Passing – Nella Larsen
663. A Farewell to Arms – Ernest Hemingway
664. Red Harvest – Dashiell Hammett
665. Living – Henry Green
666. The Time of Indifference – Alberto Moravia
667. All Quiet on the Western Front – Erich Maria Remarque
668. Berlin Alexanderplatz – Alfred Döblin
669. The Last September – Elizabeth Bowen
670. Harriet Hume – Rebecca West
671. The Sound and the Fury – William Faulkner
672. Les Enfants Terribles – Jean Cocteau
673. Look Homeward, Angel – Thomas Wolfe
674. Story of the Eye – Georges Bataille
~~675. Orlando – Virginia Woolf~~
~~676. Lady Chatterley’s Lover – D.H. Lawrence~~
677. The Well of Loneliness – Radclyffe Hall
678. The Childermass – Wyndham Lewis
679. Quartet – Jean Rhys
680. Decline and Fall – Evelyn Waugh
681. Quicksand – Nella Larsen
682. Parade’s End – Ford Madox Ford
683. Nadja – André Breton
684. Steppenwolf – Herman Hesse
685. Remembrance of Things Past – Marcel Proust
686. To The Lighthouse – Virginia Woolf
687. Tarka the Otter – Henry Williamson
688. Amerika – Franz Kafka
689. The Sun Also Rises – Ernest Hemingway
690. Blindness – Henry Green
691. The Castle – Franz Kafka
692. The Good Soldier Švejk – Jaroslav Hašek
693. The Plumed Serpent – D.H. Lawrence
694. One, None and a Hundred Thousand – Luigi Pirandello
695. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd – Agatha Christie
696. The Making of Americans – Gertrude Stein
697. Manhattan Transfer – John Dos Passos
698. Mrs. Dalloway – Virginia Woolf
~~699. The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald~~
700. The Counterfeiters – André Gide
701. The Trial – Franz Kafka
702. The Artamonov Business – Maxim Gorky
703. The Professor’s House – Willa Cather
~~704. Billy Budd, Foretopman – Herman Melville~~
705. The Green Hat – Michael Arlen
706. The Magic Mountain – Thomas Mann
707. We – Yevgeny Zamyatin
708. A Passage to India – E.M. Forster
709. The Devil in the Flesh – Raymond Radiguet
710. Zeno’s Conscience – Italo Svevo
711. Cane – Jean Toomer
712. Antic Hay – Aldous Huxley
713. Amok – Stefan Zweig
714. The Garden Party – Katherine Mansfield
715. The Enormous Room – E.E. Cummings
716. Jacob’s Room – Virginia Woolf
717. Siddhartha – Herman Hesse
718. The Glimpses of the Moon – Edith Wharton
719. Life and Death of Harriett Frean – May Sinclair
720. The Last Days of Humanity – Karl Kraus
721. Aaron’s Rod – D.H. Lawrence
722. Babbitt – Sinclair Lewis
723. Ulysses – James Joyce
724. The Fox – D.H. Lawrence
725. Crome Yellow – Aldous Huxley
726. The Age of Innocence – Edith Wharton
727. Main Street – Sinclair Lewis
728. Women in Love – D.H. Lawrence
729. Night and Day – Virginia Woolf
730. Tarr – Wyndham Lewis
731. The Return of the Soldier – Rebecca West
732. The Shadow Line – Joseph Conrad
733. Summer – Edith Wharton
734. Growth of the Soil – Knut Hamsen
735. Bunner Sisters – Edith Wharton
736. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man – James Joyce
737. Under Fire – Henri Barbusse
738. Rashomon – Akutagawa Ryunosuke
739. The Good Soldier – Ford Madox Ford
740. The Voyage Out – Virginia Woolf
741. Of Human Bondage – William Somerset Maugham
742. The Rainbow – D.H. Lawrence
743. The Thirty-Nine Steps – John Buchan
744. Kokoro – Natsume Soseki
745. Locus Solus – Raymond Roussel
746. Rosshalde – Herman Hesse
747. Tarzan of the Apes – Edgar Rice Burroughs
748. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists – Robert Tressell
~~749. Sons and Lovers – D.H. Lawrence~~
750. Death in Venice – Thomas Mann
751. The Charwoman’s Daughter – James Stephens
752. Ethan Frome – Edith Wharton
753. Fantômas – Marcel Allain and Pierre Souvestre
754. Howards End – E.M. Forster
755. Impressions of Africa – Raymond Roussel
756. Three Lives – Gertrude Stein
757. Martin Eden – Jack London
758. Strait is the Gate – André Gide
759. Tono-Bungay – H.G. Wells
760. The Inferno – Henri Barbusse
~~761. A Room With a View – E.M. Forster~~
762. The Iron Heel – Jack London
763. The Old Wives’ Tale – Arnold Bennett
764. The House on the Borderland – William Hope Hodgson
765. Mother – Maxim Gorky
766. The Secret Agent – Joseph Conrad
767. The Jungle – Upton Sinclair
768. Young Törless – Robert Musil
769. The Forsyte Sage – John Galsworthy
770. The House of Mirth – Edith Wharton
771. Professor Unrat – Heinrich Mann
772. Where Angels Fear to Tread – E.M. Forster
773. Nostromo – Joseph Conrad
774. Hadrian the Seventh – Frederick Rolfe
775. The Golden Bowl – Henry James
776. The Ambassadors – Henry James
777. The Riddle of the Sands – Erskine Childers
778. The Immoralist – André Gide
779. The Wings of the Dove – Henry James
~~780. Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad~~
~~781. The Hound of the Baskervilles – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle~~
782. Buddenbrooks – Thomas Mann
783. Kim – Rudyard Kipling
784. Sister Carrie – Theodore Dreiser
785. Lord Jim – Joseph Conrad

1800s
786. Some Experiences of an Irish R.M. – Somerville and Ross
787. The Stechlin – Theodore Fontane
788. The Awakening – Kate Chopin
789. The Turn of the Screw – Henry James
790. The War of the Worlds – H.G. Wells
791. The Invisible Man – H.G. Wells
792. What Maisie Knew – Henry James
793. Fruits of the Earth – André Gide
~~794. Dracula – Bram Stoker~~
795. Quo Vadis – Henryk Sienkiewicz
796. The Island of Dr. Moreau – H.G. Wells
~~797. The Time Machine – H.G. Wells~~
798. Effi Briest – Theodore Fontane
799. Jude the Obscure – Thomas Hardy
800. The Real Charlotte – Somerville and Ross
801. The Yellow Wallpaper – Charlotte Perkins Gilman
802. Born in Exile – George Gissing
803. Diary of a Nobody – George & Weedon Grossmith
~~804. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle~~
805. News from Nowhere – William Morris
806. New Grub Street – George Gissing
807. Gösta Berling’s Saga – Selma Lagerlöf
~~808. Tess of the D’Urbervilles – Thomas Hardy~~
~~809. The Picture of Dorian Gray – Oscar Wilde~~
810. The Kreutzer Sonata – Leo Tolstoy
811. La Bête Humaine – Émile Zola
812. By the Open Sea – August Strindberg
813. Hunger – Knut Hamsun
814. The Master of Ballantrae – Robert Louis Stevenson
815. Pierre and Jean – Guy de Maupassant
816. Fortunata and Jacinta – Benito Pérez Galdés
817. The People of Hemsö – August Strindberg
818. The Woodlanders – Thomas Hardy
819. She – H. Rider Haggard
820. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde – Robert Louis Stevenson
821. The Mayor of Casterbridge – Thomas Hardy
822. Kidnapped – Robert Louis Stevenson
823. King Solomon’s Mines – H. Rider Haggard
824. Germinal – Émile Zola
~~825. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – Mark Twain~~
826. Bel-Ami – Guy de Maupassant
827. Marius the Epicurean – Walter Pater
828. Against the Grain – Joris-Karl Huysmans
829. The Death of Ivan Ilyich – Leo Tolstoy
830. A Woman’s Life – Guy de Maupassant
831. Treasure Island – Robert Louis Stevenson
832. The House by the Medlar Tree – Giovanni Verga
833. The Portrait of a Lady – Henry James
834. Bouvard and Pécuchet – Gustave Flaubert
835. Ben-Hur – Lew Wallace
836. Nana – Émile Zola
837. The Brothers Karamazov – Fyodor Dostoevsky
838. The Red Room – August Strindberg
839. Return of the Native – Thomas Hardy
840. Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy
841. Drunkard – Émile Zola
842. Virgin Soil – Ivan Turgenev
843. Daniel Deronda – George Eliot
844. The Hand of Ethelberta – Thomas Hardy
845. The Temptation of Saint Anthony – Gustave Flaubert
846. Far from the Madding Crowd – Thomas Hardy
847. The Enchanted Wanderer – Nicolai Leskov
848. Around the World in Eighty Days – Jules Verne
849. In a Glass Darkly – Sheridan Le Fanu
850. The Devils – Fyodor Dostoevsky
851. Erewhon – Samuel Butler
852. Spring Torrents – Ivan Turgenev
853. Middlemarch – George Eliot
854. Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There – Lewis Carroll
855. King Lear of the Steppes – Ivan Turgenev
856. He Knew He Was Right – Anthony Trollope
857. War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy
858. Sentimental Education – Gustave Flaubert
859. Phineas Finn – Anthony Trollope
860. Maldoror – Comte de Lautréaumont
861. The Idiot – Fyodor Dostoevsky
862. The Moonstone – Wilkie Collins
~~863. Little Women – Louisa May Alcott~~
864. Thérèse Raquin – Émile Zola
865. The Last Chronicle of Barset – Anthony Trollope
~~866. Journey to the Centre of the Earth – Jules Verne~~
867. Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoevsky
~~868. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll~~
869. Our Mutual Friend – Charles Dickens
870. Uncle Silas – Sheridan Le Fanu
871. Notes from the Underground – Fyodor Dostoevsky
872. The Water-Babies – Charles Kingsley
873. Les Misérables – Victor Hugo
874. Fathers and Sons – Ivan Turgenev
875. Silas Marner – George Eliot
~~876. Great Expectations – Charles Dickens~~
877. On the Eve – Ivan Turgenev
878. Castle Richmond – Anthony Trollope
879. The Mill on the Floss – George Eliot
880. The Woman in White – Wilkie Collins
881. The Marble Faun – Nathaniel Hawthorne
882. Max Havelaar – Multatuli
883. A Tale of Two Cities – Charles Dickens
884. Oblomovka – Ivan Goncharov
885. Adam Bede – George Eliot
886. Madame Bovary – Gustave Flaubert
887. North and South – Elizabeth Gaskell
888. Hard Times – Charles Dickens
~~889. Walden – Henry David Thoreau~~
890. Bleak House – Charles Dickens
891. Villette – Charlotte Brontë
892. Cranford – Elizabeth Gaskell
893. Uncle Tom’s Cabin; or, Life Among the Lonely – Harriet Beecher Stowe
894. The Blithedale Romance – Nathaniel Hawthorne
895. The House of the Seven Gables – Nathaniel Hawthorne
896. Moby-Dick – Herman Melville
~~897. The Scarlet Letter – Nathaniel Hawthorne~~
898. David Copperfield – Charles Dickens
899. Shirley – Charlotte Brontë
900. Mary Barton – Elizabeth Gaskell
901. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall – Anne Brontë
~~902. Wuthering Heights – Emily Brontë~~
903. Agnes Grey – Anne Brontë
904. Jane Eyre – Charlotte Brontë
905. Vanity Fair – William Makepeace Thackeray
~~906. The Count of Monte-Cristo – Alexandre Dumas~~
907. La Reine Margot – Alexandre Dumas
~~908. The Three Musketeers – Alexandre Dumas~~
909. The Purloined Letter – Edgar Allan Poe
910. Martin Chuzzlewit – Charles Dickens
~~911. The Pit and the Pendulum – Edgar Allan Poe~~
912. Lost Illusions – Honoré de Balzac
~~913. A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens~~
914. Dead Souls – Nikolay Gogol
915. The Charterhouse of Parma – Stendhal
~~916. The Fall of the House of Usher – Edgar Allan Poe~~
917. The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby – Charles Dickens
918. Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens
919. The Nose – Nikolay Gogol
920. Le Père Goriot – Honoré de Balzac
921. Eugénie Grandet – Honoré de Balzac
~~922. The Hunchback of Notre Dame – Victor Hugo~~
923. The Red and the Black – Stendhal
924. The Betrothed – Alessandro Manzoni
925. Last of the Mohicans – James Fenimore Cooper
926. The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner – James Hogg
927. The Albigenses – Charles Robert Maturin
928. Melmoth the Wanderer – Charles Robert Maturin
929. The Monastery – Sir Walter Scott
930. Ivanhoe – Sir Walter Scott
~~931. Frankenstein – Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley~~
932. Northanger Abbey – Jane Austen
933. Persuasion – Jane Austen
934. Ormond – Maria Edgeworth
935. Rob Roy – Sir Walter Scott
~~936. Emma – Jane Austen~~
937. Mansfield Park – Jane Austen
~~938. Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen~~
939. The Absentee – Maria Edgeworth
940. Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen
941. Elective Affinities – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
942. Castle Rackrent – Maria Edgeworth

1700s
943. Hyperion – Friedrich Hölderlin
944. The Nun – Denis Diderot
945. Camilla – Fanny Burney
946. The Monk – M.G. Lewis
947. Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
948. The Mysteries of Udolpho – Ann Radcliffe
949. The Interesting Narrative – Olaudah Equiano
950. The Adventures of Caleb Williams – William Godwin
951. Justine – Marquis de Sade
952. Vathek – William Beckford
953. The 120 Days of Sodom – Marquis de Sade
954. Cecilia – Fanny Burney
955. Confessions – Jean-Jacques Rousseau
956. Dangerous Liaisons – Pierre Choderlos de Laclos
957. Reveries of a Solitary Walker – Jean-Jacques Rousseau
958. Evelina – Fanny Burney
959. The Sorrows of Young Werther – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
960. Humphrey Clinker – Tobias George Smollett
961. The Man of Feeling – Henry Mackenzie
962. A Sentimental Journey – Laurence Sterne
963. Tristram Shandy – Laurence Sterne
964. The Vicar of Wakefield – Oliver Goldsmith
965. The Castle of Otranto – Horace Walpole
966. Émile; or, On Education – Jean-Jacques Rousseau
967. Rameau’s Nephew – Denis Diderot
968. Julie; or, the New Eloise – Jean-Jacques Rousseau
969. Rasselas – Samuel Johnson
~~970. Candide – Voltaire~~
971. The Female Quixote – Charlotte Lennox
972. Amelia – Henry Fielding
973. Peregrine Pickle – Tobias George Smollett
974. Fanny Hill – John Cleland
975. Tom Jones – Henry Fielding
976. Roderick Random – Tobias George Smollett
977. Clarissa – Samuel Richardson
978. Pamela – Samuel Richardson
979. Jacques the Fatalist – Denis Diderot
980. Memoirs of Martinus Scriblerus – J. Arbuthnot, J. Gay, T. Parnell, A. Pope, J. Swift
981. Joseph Andrews – Henry Fielding
982. A Modest Proposal – Jonathan Swift
~~983. Gulliver’s Travels – Jonathan Swift~~
984. Roxana – Daniel Defoe
985. Moll Flanders – Daniel Defoe
986. Love in Excess – Eliza Haywood
987. Robinson Crusoe – Daniel Defoe
988. A Tale of a Tub – Jonathan Swift

Pre-1700
989. Oroonoko – Aphra Behn
990. The Princess of Clèves – Marie-Madelaine Pioche de Lavergne
~~991. The Pilgrim’s Progress – John Bunyan~~
~~992. Don Quixote – Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra~~
993. The Unfortunate Traveller – Thomas Nashe
994. Euphues: The Anatomy of Wit – John Lyly
995. Gargantua and Pantagruel – Françoise Rabelais
~~996. The Thousand and One Nights – Anonymous~~
997. The Golden Ass – Lucius Apuleius
998. Aithiopika – Heliodorus
999. Chaireas and Kallirhoe – Chariton
1000. Metamorphoses – Ovid
~~1001. Aesop’s Fables – Aesopus~~

How To: Wall Hook Leash Holder

2010-06-09T15:26:00.000-04:00

I really wanted something cute to hang Lolly's leashes on because they were living in a pile on the floor next to the door. To my dismay, there aren't that many cute ones out there for sale!

There are several available on Amazon, but I just wasn't finding what I wanted. A few of the options out there:

That last one seriously scares me.

Then I saw this tutorial online and decided to make my own!

Here is what I started with--its kind of cute, but the seashell on it is a little bit amorphous and weird so I didn't feel bad about the next part...

...which is ripping it off by wedging a screwdriver under it and pulling! Then I took all the hardware off and put it aside so I could put it back on later once I re-surfaced the plaque.

Then I spray-painted it black.

And took some fine grit sandpaper to the edges to distress it a little bit and let that pretty blue paint show through. Problems though...First, it wasn't shiny enough for me, and second, you could still see where I pulled off the seashell. What to do, what to do?

Modge Podge to the rescue! Oh yes, high gloss is so pretty! I cut out a piece of black cardstock (or you could use scrapbook paper, or any paper you have that is smooth without any tooth) that was the exact size as the inner square.

I then spread some Modge Podge on the back of the black paper square and placed it over the inner square, and then covered the whole thing in Modge Podge to make it uniformly shiny and protected.

Now for the fun part (ok the other part was fun too!)

I picked this metallic-effect silver polymer clay so that my design would pop out from the black background. As you may have noticed, the blog I got the idea from put a photograph in the middle rather than going this route.

I made a cute little dog bone, and then spelled out "Woof!" and baked it in my oven according to the package directions. I thought about putting "Lolly's Leash" but then was afraid of getting jinxed. Yes seriously.

A little bit of super glue, and let it dry...then return all the hardware to the holes they came out of.

This is a neat trick for hanging things on the wall for people like me who are not good at math! Take a piece of tape and put it across both holes. Poke through the tape in the locations where the nails will go. You can now remove the tape, and you have the distance you need to space your nails on the wall. No measuring tape necessary! Just stick the tape to the wall, eye it where you like it, then put the nails in through the holes you poked.

Et Voila! The prima donna with her new lease holder!

This project was seriously the cheapest, easiest, quickest one I have done yet. It cost me about $10 and took only a few hours, even accounting for the time for the paint and decoupage to dry! It is such a huge improvement because now the leashes are not on the floor where they catch pet hair and are hard to find. Whoop whoop!

How To: Garden Twig Trellis

2010-06-04T17:52:00.000-04:00

Remember those peas? Did you peek underneath them to see what they were growing up? That's right, I made a trellis for them out of twigs that we found in the park and in our yard! This is all you need: sticks,

scissors, and twine!

The first step is to find several sturdy, larger sticks to be your vertical supports. My bed is 8 feet long and has 4 vertical sticks breaking it into 3 sections. You need one on each end and then a few in the middle. Those plants in the bed are lettuce--the peas were just seeds when I built this.
Once you pick those larger sticks out, then you want some medium sticks--not as big as the vertical supports, but also not bendy. I made them in 3 levels, slightly overlapping at each vertical support.

Here is a close-up of how I attached the sticks to one another. Just cut off a piece of twine about a foot long, then wrap it around one of the sticks a couple of times. Now criss-cross the strings over each other, and wrap it around the other sticks. Repeat that, then tie a square knot and cut off the extra. If you are really serious about your trellis lasting, you can use liquid nails and screws, because the twine will disintegrate after a few years in the weather.

Once you get your main three levels of horizontal supports, you get to start with you first diagonals. Now pull out sticks that are pretty long, and very flexible. I used green twigs from a recently-pruned crape myrtle, but I have also read about using willow.

Space the diagonals evenly, and weave them in and out of the horizontal supports. Alternate how they are woven as you go across (the first one front-back-front, the second one back-front-back). Then tie the diagonals to the horizontal and vertical supports as you go.

The last step is the second set of diagonals. If you did your first diagonals left-to-right, then this set should go right-to-left to form Xs and diamond shapes.

Again, weave them in and out alternating directions, and tie them to every other stick everywhere they naturally touch. They should be tight at this point, and you shouldn't need the twine to make them stay for a minute--so you can put them in temporarily, then step back to make sure you like the placement before you tie them on.

Here are a couple pictures of the finished product before the peas got their start:

I'm not gonna lie, my fingers hurt pretty badly by the time I was done because I tied so many knots!

And here are some pictures of the trellis covered in delicious peas! (Also the raised beds got a fresh coat of barn and fence paint in the meantime.) I wish I had take a few "during" shots so that you could see the vines as they climb.

The plants in front of the peas are (right to left) peppers, eggplant, and zucchini.

You can really see in this one how the little tendrils grip the trellis to pull the plant up.

You could make a trellis like this for any climbing plant, like clematis, roses, honeysuckles, or trumpet creeper. Does anyone else have a trellis they love? I would love to see pictures!

I'm Loving: Mar y Sol Handbags

2010-06-03T14:35:00.004-04:00

These handbags from Mar Y Sol are so bright and cheery I want one of each! I love the wooden details, structure, and natural texture. And they are actually affordable for a regular gal like me!

I bet you can guess which one I like the best...

Give Peas a Chance!

2010-05-31T20:40:00.005-04:00

We grew peas in our garden this year, and we picked them and ate them last Saturday. Here they are in all of their plump glory hanging on the vine. Brett is totally crazy about fresh peas, so he was super excited.
And here is some pea shelling action for your viewing pleasure...

An aerial view of the whole system at work:

We steamed them and served them with grilled scallops and corn on the cob...mmm summer!

Lemme upgrade ya....Part 2

2010-05-27T10:35:00.003-04:00

I know this is a departure from my usual topics, but for those of you who know me, I am a shoe fiend. FIEND. And I am just so excited about my new comfy, exuberant flats that I am living in!

for the next installment of Lemme upgrade ya, I bring you these flats from Restricted. They have replaced my old brown tweed ones. These seriously lift my spirits when I look down! They also come in black and tan, but why would you pick those when you can have ORANGE?? I think the only way I can get away with wearing these all the time is because they are flats. With a rounded toe. Just imagine pointy toed heels that are orange suede with studs. yikes! Ok, dad, you are saying yikes right now about these, I hear you.

I think they look mighty nice on Eileen's blue porch furniture, no?

Lemme upgrade ya....

2010-05-25T09:48:00.003-04:00

Ok so not so much Beyonce style like Hermes belt and Gucci cuff links, but I AM upgrading my flats.

I have learned that just because a shoe is flat, it does NOT mean its comfortable! A few of the things that really count in cute flats are breath-ability, stretchability, and padding. I know this isn't very PC, but I totally think its worth it in a shoe to get leather. (sorry cows!) If you have pleather, you probably won't get any breath-ability or stretchability.

I had a gold pair that I REALLY wanted to like, that I bought to take the bar exam (in Virginia, you have to wear business attire while you take the test...and I didn't want to wear heels), but they got really scuffed up. So I went over the scuffs with a gold paint pen, but it turned out being the wrong color gold...anyway, they have been sitting in my closet for a few years now. So I decided to chuck them and replace them with....

TAH-DAH!

These beautiful new metallic, breathable cutout flats from Dolce Vita! I am really liking them and they go with absolutely everything. They also feel like sandals because of the cutouts but have a little bit of a dressier or more proper feel because of the closed toe and heel.

Stay tuned for more upgrades...from plain black pvc ballet flats and brown tweed that hurt my feet to the new, more fun and young versions! Did I really mention my new, younger and less formal work environment? :-D

Coolest Phone Ever

2010-03-10T15:12:00.003-05:00

I need to have this phone!

via Etsy

Remember when you were 12 or 13, and you wanted a phone in your bedroom DESPERATELY (ok when I was 13 and I wanted a phone desperately...), and you just had to have one (espeically one like this, or this)?? Well that's how I feel now. These have been floating around on Etsy and Ebay, but I am waiting until one is a little cheaper. The one pictured above is $68.00, while the brand new ones at PB Teen (below) are only $49! (Unfortunately they don't come in yellow.)

So now you all know. If you see one for cheap, pick it up for me and I will pay you back! Or get it for me for my birthday! OR, does anyone know of somewhere that sells a new version in yellow?

Mood Board Monday

2010-03-08T14:56:00.004-05:00

This is a mood board I put together for the pewter + sage Mood Board Monday. I've been wanting to do this for so long, but every Monday I forget. This time I actually remembered in time to participate in the fun!

We had to plan a room around the Andalusia Rug from West Elm:
This is about the color of my living room, and it is the one room in the house that is totally incoherent. So here are some of my current wishes and dreams for that space! Husband are you paying attention? :-D

Charlottes Mood Board Monday 03.08.2010 by charlotteannette on Polyvore.com

Items in this set:
Moravian Star Pendant - Ballard Designs, $140
Laurella Chair by Woodson & Rummerfield, $2,505
Vivre - Voyage - Discover - Collect - Shop: Home Decor, $450
West Elm Natural Tree-Stump Side Table, $200
Branch Side Table : Target, $125

Chocolate Brown Crocheted Pillow Cover

2010-03-04T14:12:00.003-05:00

I was browsing in one of Richmond's higher-end fabric and decor shops the other day(Williams and Sherrill), when I came across this pillow on a very Ralph Lauren-esque bedding display. So pretty! I love the deep chocolate color and the cozy texture.

I also love the big buttons on the back and that you basically get two nubby pillows in one.

Almost $70 seems reasonable for this pillow, right? WRONG, because I just taught myself how to crochet! AND I just happen to have a plain chocolate brown pillow hanging out in my bedroom that is crying out for some adornment.

Here is a close up of the front of the pillow.
I'm thinking the front is 9 granny squares, and the back is two plain knitted pieces, one with button holes. Wish me luck!

What I'm Loving at Pier One

2010-02-25T13:38:00.002-05:00

I went into Pier One yesterday on a whim, and fell in love with about 50 things! I brought home the wood collage mirror, but I don't think its going to work behind my sofa. I already have the yoga frog, and he sits by my front door in a very zen state. Seriously thought, Pier one is looking really good and is so affordable!

Loving at Pier One by charlotteannette on Polyvore.com

Items in this set:
Pier 1 Imports - Ikat Wing Chair, $370
Pier 1 Imports - Round Capiz Shell Mirror, $300
Pier 1 Imports - Hayworth Vanity & Mirror, $160
Pier 1 Imports - Elephant Table, $100
Pier 1 Imports - Coral Lamp, $99

People at Pier One, please send me presents!

Discombobulated

2010-02-04T20:52:00.006-05:00

I've been feeling quite discombobulated lately--I think it's just a function of all the changes that have been going on in my life lately with work and my schedule and traveling and whatnot. It's left me wanting to overhaul my closet, my decor, my LIFE!!

via Jordansuskind's Flikr page

I went through the closet and flushed out 7 bags worth of clothes for goodwill (which I valued at Goodwill's website at almost $500--heya tax deduction!). And now I am looking around my house feeling like nothing is cohesive or expressive of who I am and where I am going with my life!

One thing design-y folks recommend for defining your style or mood is creating an inspiration book or folder. Unfortunately, this can't be done immediately and I want instant results!! So I turned to the world of online style quizzes...

There is this one from HomeGoods, authored by the former editor of Domino, Deborah Needleman. It said I was Elegant Classic, which is fine and all, but it didn't really help me concretely.

Here is another one, this time from Ethan Allen. Incidentally, I have horrible memories of being stuck in this store for hours with my mom in the 80's. Eeech. Anyway, it has much improved in the decades since! It says I am "Villa/Verdigris," but last time I took it I believe I was "Metro/Groove." Harumpph. Whatever that means, I can't afford any of their furniture, but I super love this Rand Wing chair! Look at it from the side.

Then there is this one at Sproost, which says I am 55% Vintage Modern, 36% Southwest Style, and 9% Zen. I like it!!

Here is what is says about Vintage Modern:

Vintage Modern

Flea Market anyone? You know you are drawn to modern furniture and interiors, and yet you really don't like a space that feels cold and sterile. And who could blame you? And that's why Vintage Modern is so appealing to you. Though the backdrop of the room, the walls and windows, are many times white or monochromatic, the furniture and accessories have the color, shape and texture to bring the warmth into the space. The great thing about Vintage Modern is ease of mixing different styles in the one space. You can have a new modular sofa mixed with a great pair of chairs that your grandmother purchased in the late 1950's and the new and old work appear as though they were destined for each other. What's great is that even if you don't have time for swap meets and garage sales, so many of the pieces from the mid-century were so great that they have been remade and mimicked year after year.

Materials

The other great thing about Vintage Modern is how low maintenance it can be — fabrics such as cotton, microfiber or ultra-suede and leather all look great and function even better. So whether you are having a cocktail party with friends, or kids are in the picture, the room and the furnishings can handle it. Because the style harkens back to the early twentieth century, the innovative developed during that time are very popular: acrylic, plastic and fiberglass, chrome and steel, and molded plywood. Concrete floors, countertops and furniture are also very popular and lacquered finishes are very common.

Colors

When it comes to color, walls are seen as backdrops for the room. Neutral tones of gray, white, beige and brown are very common and black is a common accent color. Pops of color on the art, furniture and accessories can vary dramatically based on the person, however very common colors are teal blues, army greens and yellow as well as deep oranges and bright reds.

And here is what it says about Southwestern Style:

Southwestern Style

Though the new frontier may no longer be so new, the styles design that evolved in those regions are making a comeback. The Southwestern home has Spanish and Mexican as well as Native American influences. Earthy textures and tones and vibrant colors create warm and inviting spaces. When you hear Southwest you most likely think of desert landscapes and hot, dry environments. The rugged nature of the exterior translates literally and the pieces in the home have a similar sturdy and rustic feel. Neutral backgrounds mimicking sand and earth are livened up with handmade pottery in bright colors and woven rugs and baskets.

"There are distinct characteristics in the southwestern style that can easily be explained by imagining a desert scene. Picture all colors of the desert, the green of cactus, the red mountains of the Grand Canyon, and the Native American heritage that comes from the Arizona, New Mexico regions of the United States.

There are two types of southwestern style. The all natural organic version, with over scaled furniture made from log pole, and the use of rugged materials such as iron, stones and wood. Then the city version of southwestern with plastic cactus decorations and wall hangings, coyote figurines and the use of peach and teal coloring.

Materials

Textures and natural materials are essential in Southwest Style. Pine is a very popular wood, though there are many different rustic woods that work very well. Other natural materials such as leather, suede and animal hides as well as cotton, hemp, linen and wool are very popular and help reinforce the rustic aspect of the style. Pewter and wrought iron work well and natural stone and terra cotta tiles are very common. The main pieces in the room are subtle in color and texture and much of the color and interest is brought in through the rugs and accessories. Nail head trims are common, as is leather fringe. Cowboy themes are very popular and oftentimes you will see scenes depicted on throws and pillows and accessories.

Colors

For color — think of the primary colors: red, blue and yellow. Earth tones such as brown, reds, and yellows are very common. Rooms have neutral backdrops with pops of vibrant colors in the rugs and accessories. Turquoise is also very popular because of its roots in Native American jewelry and many times you will see green brought in with actual potted plants and cactus.

I think this is one of the best style quizzes I've taken...what does it say about you? Is it on the mark?? There are a TON more out there...did I miss any that are good?

How to: Cute Custom Magnets

2010-01-30T02:41:00.001-05:00

One of my major goals starting this new job has been organization and starting new systems to keep things that way. One thing I got to help us out has been a whiteboard. There are three of us, and I split the board into 3 columns so that we can all see what we have on our plates. Little did I know that the new whiteboards they are making are magnetic...how fun is that?? Our whiteboard didn't come with any magnets, but I didn't just want to use anything.

So I started shopping for magnets. I loved these...

Thirty-seven dollars?? For magnets?? no thanks!

I also liked these little crown ones, but they were almost $4 each.

So I decided to run over to Michael's to see if I could make my own.

I found these plain magnets for $2, and these little beads for 99cents a pair.
Glued the beads to the magnets,

And viola! Easy, custom magnets that are so much more chic and pleasing to look at than industrial ones they sell at the office store!

And now for some hot cocoa and bailey's, and watching the snow...

(and yes, some lawyers like to knit...)

**the names and information listed on the whiteboard above are in no way representative of our actual clients, and have been listed soley for the purpose of illustrating how the board is used**

It's Monday, and I've got the Peacock Blues...

2010-01-25T10:17:00.002-05:00

It's Monday. I really want to be back in bed. It's raining, and muddy, and gray. We painted two coats of ceiling paint over the two coats of drywall primer in the mudroom over the weekend, and you can STILL see the drywall seams. So frustrating! But peacocks make me happy, so here is a little collection I've put together to raise my mood!

Peacock Blues by charlotteannette

Items in this set:
House of Harlow 1960 Peacock Necklace in Gold @ Singer22.com, $110
Vivre - Voyage - Discover - Collect - Shop: Furniture, $7,000
Hand-tufted Peacock Wool Rug (4' x 6') | Overstock.com, $88
60" Round Peacock Printed Rug, $58
Plumage Shade, $110

Inspired by: Goldfinches

2010-01-18T22:15:00.003-05:00

So I discovered Polyvore, finally! It's been on my list of things I'd like to play with for a while now, and here is my first ever set:

Inspired by: Goldfinches by charlotteannette on Polyvore.com

Items in this set:
Birdcut Sideboard, $1,498
Garden Treasures at Lowe's: 3'5" Branches Bench, $298
Side Tables, Accent Tables & Wood Side Tables | west elm, $199
who's the fairest mirror, $148
Modern Furniture, Contemporary Furniture & Home Decor | west elm

In West Virginia, my mom has the best luck with beautiful birds at her feeder. We don't get any in my yard here! Out of the cardinals, titmice, wrens, woodpeckers, chickadees, mourning doves, nuthatches and other little guys, the ones I am most inspired by are the goldfinches.

Do any of you feed the birds? Any tips??

Happy 2010!

2010-01-01T06:02:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year!!!

Dreadful Pink Chair Makeover--Part 3

2009-12-31T06:01:00.000-05:00

The final installment! Then I can just sit on these freakin' chairs all year and quit talking about them...

AHEM

anyway...

The icky pinky and gold "before":

As you know from Part 1 and Part 2 of the chair makeover posts, I decided to paint the frames a pretty shiny black and upholster the seats with some bold fabric I found at Ikea.

To get started on the upholstery, I had to make seats for these babies. They were originally caned in the 1920's or 1930's, but the caning was looong gone by the time I got them, and some of them just had a hole. Some of them had some plywood over the hole.

I got busy with a cut open grocery bag and traced the seats to make a pattern:

Then my dad and I cut out plywood seats on a band saw and finished the tricky edges off with a jigsaw, and I was left with this:

So, armed with my four plywood seat bottoms, I picked up some foam cushions and some batting from the fabric store:

I laid the seats on the cushions and then cut them to fit. Then I did it three more times!
Then I used some spray adhesive to stick the cushion foam in place, and wrapped the seat bottoms and the foam in quilt batting.

Then I stapled the quilt batting into the wooden seats. Then I repeated. Three more times. (I'm not going to keep saying that...you get it, I can tell!)

Lookin' good so far!
Then I laid out my fabric and made sure the pattern was going the direction I liked. Actually I messed up and cut it square, but wanted my pattern to go diagonally. whoops! I do these things so you people don't have to make the same dumb mistakes! Luckily it worked out anyway...but that explains the odd-looking pictures coming up!

Liiiike this one. The corners aren't actually supposed to point in like a junior-high-school note that you flick across the aisle to your friend, they should be parallel to the sides...
but it all turned out cool, I tell you!

Next I took my paper bag pattern and cut out four black interfacing pieces to finish the bottoms of the seats and tuck in all the messy edges left from my stapling.

See? Much neater in case someone sees the bottom of my chairs.

Now the seat bottoms are upholstered and ready to be attached to the chairs. The first thing is to pick a screw that will go all the way through the chair frame and the wooden seat bottom without going too far up in the cushion and poking you in the bum!

Once you find your screw, get enough of them to put 2 to 4 in each seat bottom. You really want to use as few screws as possible to preserve the integrity of the chair frame. In my case, I might want to refinish these and get them caned in the future, so I only used 2 in each chair.

Here is Brett's drilling pilot holes and putting the screws in through the bottom (my hands were too tired from putting in twelve BILLION staples)...
Et voila! Here is the lovely finished chair!

The wonderful thing about this project is that when I get tired of that fabric, I have already done all of the tough work making the seats and putting on the cushions. All I will have to do is pick out fabric, pull off this stuff, recover the foam and batting, and screw it back onto the frame.

What do you guys think? AT least tell me its an improvement from the chairs' previous life in the hayloft!

Dreadful Pink Chair Makeover-- Part 2

2009-12-30T06:24:00.004-05:00

Remember that time, last August, when I was going to reupholster 4 chairs?? Just in case you've forgotten, Here is Part I. And just to jog your memory, here is a picture of what the chairs looked like after we hauled them out of the hayloft:

When I last blogged about the chairs, I left you with four different fabric choices for the new upholstery. Here are the newly painted black chairs with the fabric choices displayed. Ummmm yeah...I didn't pick any of them!

I ended up falling in love with Patricia, one of Ikea's fabrics. I picked up two yards of it for a whopping $16.00! Here it is on the Ikea website (although its only available in-store):

And here it is draped over the chair on a pillow to see what it would look like. Actually, here it is draped over the chair in three different directions...

First we have horizontal:
Then vertical:

And finally, the big winner, DIAGNONAL!!
So I know I made you all vote and wavered and waffled...well its because none of those fabrics were meant to be! Stay tuned for the final upholstery tomorrow! (I love me some good suspense!)

Dreadful Pink Chair Makeover--Before and After

2009-12-29T15:35:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful December and is rested up for the new year! I am going to sign off of 2009 by showing off the results of my long-term chair makeover...

Here is the Before & After just to whet your appetites!

Before:

And After!

Ta-da! Stay tuned for the transformation in Parts 2 and 3 of the saga...

Second Upholstered Brooch Display

2009-12-16T06:53:00.000-05:00

After I made an Upholstered Brooch Display for all of my old brooches, my mother-in-law Jane said she wanted one as well!

Brett and I found this beauty of a frame at Marshalls for $5.00. Unfortunately it was a dingy gray, and it looked so much better once I painted it a shiny white.

Here is the finished product! I upholstered it with some fabric I happened to have from covering a lampshade. When I make these, its difficult to pick a fabric because you want it to be interesting and pretty, but you don't want the fabric to overwhelm the brooches you display on it. I thought this one would work well, and it is very delicate and feminine with the details on the frame.

I really hope Jane likes it! No one tell her before Christmas please!!!!

Jennifer's Pretty Christmas Card Display

2009-12-15T06:32:00.000-05:00

After reading my post from earlier this month, Alternative Ideas to Traditional Christmas Wreaths, reader Jennifer sent me these pics of her beautiful Christmas card display. It was inspired by the photograph I featured from Traditional Home Magazine's holiday decorating ideas. It looks so nice, and I like that she put it on the inside of the door where she can see it everytime she comes down her beautifully-garlanded staircase!

Here is a closeup:
Nice work Jen, and thanks for the pictures! Does anyone else have an unusual way to display their Christmas cards?

Sophisticated Autumn Placemats

2009-12-14T07:30:00.000-05:00

I really wanted some fall-themed placemats for the big Thanksgiving meal we had with Brett's side of the family. I found this one at TJ Maxx, but I needed 12 and could only find 3. So I decided to try to replicate them myself.

Of course I realize its a little late for a tutorial for a Thanksgiving placemat, but this would be gorgeous with colors for Christmas (reds and golds) or New Years (bues and silvers) as well!

I tried to get together fabrics that looked like the ones in the placemat--a chocolate brown taffeta for the back and the medium-sized piece; a bronze satin for the large piece on the front; and for the small piece a gold duponi silk. We cut them to size with a half-inch border all the way around each piece to allow for the seams.

This left me with the four sizes below, and twelve pieces of each size: 2"x 14"; 8" x 14" and 12" x 14". The final placemat size is 19" x 13" .

I also got some pieces for the appliqued leaves, but it didn't work out so well when I tried to applique them onto the taffeta so I nixed that idea! Of course, if I hadn't waited until the Sunday before Thanksgiving to try to make 12 placemats, I might have been able to make it work...maybe next time!

After cutting everything to size and ironing everything (blech), I ironed-on craft interfacing to the backing pieces to give the placemats some body and to help them hold their shape.

And then pinned them in place to wait for the front to be pieced together.

To piece together the three strips to make the top, I cut a 1" x 14" strip of paper grocery bag and pinned it down the center of the small piece. This gave me a line to follow on my sewing machine as I sewed it to the other two peices.

I then put the right sides together and pinned the small duponi silk piece to the brown taffeta piece.
I made sure the foot of my sewing machine followed the line provided by the grocery bag.

I then pulled out the pins holding the duponi silk to the taffeta, and ironed them out straight. Then I put the right sides of the silk/taffeta piece and the satin piece together, pinned them, and zipped right down the straight line provided by the grocery bag again.

Here's what it looked like when I took the pins out:

And this is what the wrong side of the top of the placemat looks like when its sewed together:

I then pinned the right sides of the top and the right side of the bottom together.

The beauty of this is that the interfacing is now on the outside and will eventually end up inside the placemat where no one will be able to see it. SO I used it to trace a 13" x 19" rectangle with pencil and then followed the line again with my sewing machine foot.

I sewed all the way around with the exception of a small area on one side. You can make that area as small as possible--just large enough to be able to fit your hand through will be fine.

Once it is sewed up almost all the way around, snip the corners diagonally as shown below and snip all the way around so that there is only about 1/4" of seam left outside the thread. Then you reach inside and turn the whole thing inside out. Then iron it smooth and hand sew up the small hole you used to put your hand through.

Here is the result!

I was super happy with the way my placemats turned out, and it was quite a learning experience. There are a couple of things I would have done differently if I did it over again! 1.) start sooner, 2.) use less delicate fabrics (I actually melted some of the taffeta with the iron!), and 3.) check to see if the fabric is washable before buying it!

Anyway, I managed to save myself quite a lot of money by making these instead of buying them, and hopefully they will last for years!

Gilded Pinecones! Holiday Decorating on the Cheap

2009-12-13T21:43:00.002-05:00

Lately I have been seeing pine cones and acorns for sale. FOR SALE. PEOPLE, we can't get rid of these things, they are a nuisance, and someone is paying $8 for 10 of them?? Anyway, I decided to try my hand at making some gold pine cones of my own! Brett and I took Lolly for a walk and picked up some pinecones of two different types: white pine and Virginia pine. When we picked them up, some of them were closed because it was cold, so I put them on a cookie sheet in the house for a week to let them open.

Then I picked up some metallic paint from the craft section of Walmart--I picked gold because my dining room has warm tones, but silver would work as well, and so would flocking them to look like they are covered in snow.

Here they are being sprayed on my front stoop on a cut up paper bag:

And here they are as my Thanksgiving centerpiece! Add a red or green velvet ribbon rather than this one, and viola! Christmas. Add an orange one and viola! Halloween.

I arranged them around a candle in the center of my hurricane glass, making sure the flame would not be near any of the flammable pinecones of course!

Then I cut out some metallic scrapbook paper and made place cards for each guest. I propped each placecard up with one of the smaller pinecones to tie it in with the centerpiece.

Here is a closeup:

Just for the sake of full disclosure, I DID try this with acorns, and they SPROUTED ROOTS!!! Anyone know how to prevent that from happening?? Anyhoo, I got about 20 gold pinecones for the price of the spray paint, so eat that, big box decor store!

Alternatives Ideas to Traditional Christmas Wreaths

2009-12-02T20:06:00.005-05:00

The traditional Christmas wreath has me bored to tears. There are plenty of fun wreaths out there made of everything from oranges to birdseed to ornaments, but those tend to be expensive. I started wondering...what kinds of door decorations are out there for those of us who want a wreath alternative?

Here's what I dug up:

I love the idea of vinyl decals on your door for some Christmas Spirit! This one says "Welcome Santa" but there are plenty of others out there that say other things or are pictoral.
Urban Expressions via Etsy

This is a fun DIY take on a wreath: a giant homemade snowflake!
Supersnowflake via Family Fun

I also like the idea of hanging a wooden sign like the snowman below.
Via Squidoo

This one is what I actually did to MY front door this year--wrap it up like a present! My ribbon is candy-cane striped and I think its absolutely adorable. I did this for windows too years ago at my parents house.
via Hubpages

I think this one is the most creative. If you did it on your front door, you would have to have a clear storm door or something to keep the cards from blowing away. I never know what to do with Christmas cards, and this is a great idea. Just pin them onto some ribbons and hang them from your door to display!
via Country Living

Does anyone else out there have any ideas for those of us who have had it with boring old wreaths? Please share! Even send me a picture of your beautifully-decked-out house and I will post it!

I'm Here!

2009-12-01T16:15:00.002-05:00

So with all of the holiday hullabuloo blogging has fallen by the wayside lately. We had Brett's whole family at our house over the Thanksgiving weekend, which made for some happy chaos and much dog walking. I made the cranberry sauce, sweet potato pie *with gingersnap crust*, and mini cornbread muffins *with whipped honey butter.* We have had leftovers. We have rebelled from leftovers and ordered in Chinese.

We have put up our brand new Christmas tree and decorated it with home made popcorn garlands and not home made candy canes (we spent the money on the tree and have nothing left for ornaments!). We have decorated our house with garlands and lights and bows. We even started a Christmas puzzle which I spent FOUR HOURS unable to step away from last night.

We have not so much cleaned up...

But I'm here and I'm being artsycraftsy!

Upcoming posts for December include:

1.) Microwave Peanut Brittle!
2.) The Unveiling of the Upholstered Ugly Pink Chairs
3.) Adventures in Sewing Holiday Placemats
4.) Holiday Wreath Alternative Door Decorations

Stay tuned...

Sad Vanity Bench Makeover--Part II

2009-11-17T06:39:00.000-05:00

Just to refresh your memory, here is the poor little vanity bench's "before" shot:

..and here she is after I sanded her and painted her gray:

For the seat, I got a yard of Amy Butler's yellow fabric, some batting, some high density foam, and the seat my dad made to fit on the bench.

The first step is to line the foam up with the seat, and then cover it with the batting.

I doubled up the batting, stapled it down, and then laid out the fabric so that it was oriented on the top in the right direction.

Then I stapled the fabric around the cushion using the around-the-clock method I have described before in the Brooch Display and the Footstool Makeover. This one was a little bit tougher than usual because the foam extended a little beyond the edges of the seat because I had to be extra careful when I stretched the fabric.

Then I stapled on some firm interfacing to hide the ugly underside and tuck in all of the edges.

Finally, I found some screws that fit in the old holes under the frame and screwed them into the bench...

...and then flipped over and admired my new bubble bath caddy/ vanity stool!

Like I said before, I'm not sure about the gray color on the wood and would love some suggestions for a frame color that would really make the yellow fabric pop! Anyone? Bueller??

Sad Vanity Bench Makeover--Part I

2009-11-17T06:36:00.001-05:00

Here is the "Before" photo of the vanity bench, one of the pieces that I dug out of our barn last summer. I needed a bench of some sort in my bathroom to sit on while I put on makeup and to put magazines and stuff on during bubble baths, so I decided to try this one out.

I took it outside and sanded it (with a foam sanding block...what a fabulous invention!) and then wiped it down to get it ready for painting.

I had my dad cut out a new seat for it and reinforce it with some scraps he had laying around.

Here it is with the new seat--fits in perfectly!
I wanted to use the yellow Amy Butler fabric I have had lying around which has a gray and cream design on it. I couldn't find any gray paint (WHAT? its such a hot color right now! see, How to Decorate with Gray), so I decided to use primer and then cover it with a high gloss clear. Doesn't matter so much now since I want to change the color anyway, but at least its primed!
Here she is, all primed and ready to go. She looks SO MUCH better already, and you can see the pretty channel designs on the side whereas you didn't even notice them before because she was so scuffed up.

Check out Part II tomorrow for the upholstery and the finished product!

Before and After--Sad Vanity Bench

2009-11-16T06:44:00.000-05:00

This is the before picture of a very sad vanity bench from our barn. It could probably have been refinished, but I am waaaaaaay too lazy to do that!

Before...

After...This is the after picture, and I think I am going to put it in my bathroom so I will have somewhere to sit my book and wine glass during bubble baths! I don't know if I like the gray on the bottom--any suggestions for another color? I was kind of thinking of a peacock blue or maybe a rich indigo. Thoughts?

Stay tuned this week for details on the vanity bench's transformation...

I've been kind of mentally MIA for the last week or so...I started a new attorney contract position last week and am trying to figure out how I feel about it. I definitely miss being at home with Lolly all day, but this opportunity is something that might let me work part of the year and have some more time to devote to my art. Keeping my fingers crossed!

Beautifully Recycled Glass Bottles

2009-11-05T11:54:00.000-05:00

Via Beautiful Rust's Photostream on Flikr

I have noticed that some very creative people are doing really gorgeous things with old glass bottles! From wine bottles to mineral water, they are ending up as everything from stained glass windows (my favorite) to drinking glasses. I have always loved the colors of sea glass and wine bottles (hence my collection of 100+ white wine bottles saved up during law school...RIP!). It seems like such a shame sometimes when you have to get rid of them. I applaud these people for taking the initiative to reinvent those beautiful everyday objects!

Here is a round-up of some of the more impressive results I have run into for your viewing pleasure:

My first and favorite is this "stained" glass window by Daniel Maher. Check out his other beautiful work on his website here. Aren't those bottle bottoms beautiful?

Daniel Maher via Apartment Therapy Re-Nest

Pendant lamps, with a tutorial on how to cut your own bottles on Apartment Therapy's Unplugged.
Via Apartment Therapy Unplugged

I have seen these slumped bottles before at the Neptune Festival in Virginia Beach and Arts in Park here in Richmond. They can be used as wind chimes, incense burners, cheese plates, etc. However, I really love the photography in this shot, so here one is as a spoon rest!

Minty Fresh Fusion via Etsy

I love the colors on these Rolling Rock drinking glasses. I must say that I haven't ever had a Rolling Rock, but that's beside the point. You can find sets similar to these made out of everything from sake bottles to IBC cream soda. I think its a great idea, especially if the bottles are from a favorite microbrewery or kitschy old fashioned drink.

YAVA Glass via Etsy

A pretty mobile takes advantage of the fact that glass looks best when the sun is shining through it!

CD Childs via Etsy

The obvious thing to do with an old glass bottle is to use it as a vase right? Well, only after sending said glass bottle through a particle accelerator with some uranium apparently...

Twice Baked Art via Etsy

I like this necklace because of its simplicity. Most of the glass pendants out there are highly manipulated and showy...this one highlights the beauty of something that most of us probably never look at twice.
Minty Fresh Fusion via Etsy

Does anyone own any recycled glass bottle products, or have you made any of your own? Please share!

I Just Made My First Sale on Etsy!

2009-11-04T12:40:00.004-05:00

I just sold my set of three "Dove" Silhouettes to someone who loves yellow as much as I do! whoop! whoop!

I'm a rock star, I'm a rock star! Seriously, this is such an amazing boost for me. *SMILE*

I've Been Featured on "When I Grow Up"

2009-11-03T16:23:00.004-05:00

Woohoo! My previous post "Brave" is featured on Michelle Ward's wonderful blog, "When I Grow Up!"

Michelle has been a wonderful, thoughtful, insightful creative coach for me, and I encourage everyone to take a look at her blog and consider her services.

Shout out to my classmates Steph, Faith, and Julie!!

Tree Papercut Silhouettes

2009-10-28T06:36:00.001-04:00

This first one is more traditional in color, but I kept it a little more modern by making the white kind of pearly rather than flat.

This silhouette is placed over a watercolor doodle I did. I think if I keep doing papercuts, this is the direction I will go.
The next two are winter trees--I chose the blue-gray and silver because I thought it was more elegant and winter-themed, but I think I might do a couple more in gold and green and red for Christmas.

These are the last papercut silhouettes for a little while people, I'll give it a rest! These are also available on Etsy.