Feliz Navidad

Just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! The hubby and I celebrated with my mom and family last night (which is traditional for Latinos). My mom always makes soo much food and so we had to eat lots. It's always special spending Holidays with our loved ones. Today, we rose much too early for me and assisted in the preparations of the Christmas meals provided to the homeless by our church. Although I was cold and tired, it was definitely worth it. The hubby woke me up by reminding me of the good Karma we would receive. In a few, we're off to what I know will be fantastic feast prepared by my fantabulous girl Kristin. We can't wait. Let the stuffing begin!

Feliz Navidad y Prospero Año!

Thankful

I can't belive it's been a week since Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful weekend. My family came up (and down) to see us in the city and the hubby's brother flew in from Ohio. I got to see my brother's girlfriend's baby bump. Their little boy will be the first grandchild for my parents and I will get to be an aunt! I can't wait. We're so very excited to meet Corbin in March.

I slept in a lot, ate a moderate amount of turkey, consumed a lot of sugar, and enjoyed our beautiful sunny weather. We did a lot of touristy things since the hubby's brother was in town, but they were all things I would have liked to have done on any day off. We visited the SF Zoo, which I hadn't been too since I was a little girl. We walked the beach and picked up sand dollars. We saw the King Tut exhibit. We ate a lot of my favorite foods from childhood (since I grew up around SF) and enjoyed some new restaurants. It was overall a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. The hubby and I truly are blessed and  very appreciative.

{one of my favorite pictures from our weekend. it cracks me up}

I'm too tired to go look for our camera to load up all the pictures from this weekend. So, I'll come back later to add some. But, so now, here are a few of the things we are most thankful for.

1. a happy home

2. each other

3. my hubby's dimples and blue eyes

4. being employed

5. healthy food

6. our health

7. love

8. our furbabies

9. family

10. snuggle time after dinner

11. teamwork..go team johnson

12.sunshine

13. funny movies/netflix

14.hot water

15. burt's bees lipbalm

16. wet doggie noses

17. down pillows

18. healthcare

19. plants (I have at least 1 in every room. The living room currently has 6)

20. chocolate croissants

21. tea!

22. public transportation

23. a new and kind doctor

24. conditioner

25. phones!

...the list could go on. Don't tell the hubby, but I'm most thankful for him.

Mission Impossible?

{image borrowed from here}

Now answer me this...Is that fabulous wall design something I can do on my own? Should I wait for the decor stencil kit on my Christmas list? Can I paint it in a lighter color than chocolate brown and get away with it in our SF rental (poop. I miss MY house)? I can just paint one wall before we move right, right? no biggie...hmmm...I wonder what the hubby would say. Possible? Oui o non?

So I'm totally loving the stencil thing lately. I'm definitely not alone in this love. I mean, how could you not love the looks of the lovelies below?!

{images borrowed from there}

You can get your very own and might I add, reasonably priced, stencil from Whitewall and Co. 

Sweet

Love this. Light aqua + yellow + white = adorable.

Can I get some horns with that?

There's this shop over on Valencia that I have recently fallen in love with. When the hubby and I first came upon this delightful place all he could say about it was that it was "Weird" and "Why would anyone want to buy stuff there?" A few days later he mentioned that he'd brought up this unusual shop with one of his coworkers and the hubby didn't get the reaction he was expecting because the guy apparently seemed offended. I guess I'm not alone in my weird shop love.

On my day off this week, I decided I had to visit. Now what could possibly be weird about this store? Let me just say that one of the first things you see when you enter is a mounted horse head with a horn added to it so as to make it appear to be a unicorn. Weird or interesting? Aside from that unique object, they have an amazing collection of taxidermy framed butterflies (I love!) and an amazing array of plants. My personal faves being the succulents. They have beautiful vintage botanical prints, amazing artwork, and random bits and pieces. There is soo much to look at and as my title states, lots of horns. Mounted animals galore as well as the unusual in the style of the unicorn.

While I was there I had to pick up another succulent and a lovely ceramic (orange) flower pot. As I was walking towards the register, I was stopped by a plant on a plaque. No dirt needed there. They had a detailed description on the plant and the care it requires. I instantly decided I needed one and now I'm on the waiting list for a small one (since they didn't have any in stock on Wednesday). Meet Staghorn Fern. Mr. Fern if you please.

                                       {yup, it's got horns, too}



{how about this one in your living room?}


I guess even the nursery part of the store couldn't avoid having horns. Based on my little research on the net, you can buy one not on a plaque and then mount it yourself. All you need is some moss, some kind of string/tie, and a plant. Easy as pie. You can find out exactly how here!


{images courtesy of google search}

Stripes to the rescue

Can I please have this?

{elle decor}


Tufted head board? Check. Wooden dresser. Check. Beams across the ceiling. Check. Stripety-stripe art. I need me some stat!

Finally!

Yup. I've finally taken some pictures of a few things that have been getting done around this casita. One was Moe the sad chair from ages ago. I am this close to getting it done. The others are a pair of roman shades I made for the window in the area beside the kitchen.

First up, the roman blinds. I have to apologize for a lack of pictures throughout the process. I'd been pretty good about doing so, but for whatever reason, I didn't take any for this project. I believe it's because I was using Jenny's tutorial over at Little Green Notebook and didn't think it was necessary to take my own. Now, I realize that maybe I should have because I added a step or two. Anyhoo, here they are:

{step I added: sewing white muslin to the front fabric and then turning it inside out before gluing the whole thing together}

{I wanted a white liner on the back}

{another step: adding grosgrain ribbon with fabric glue. I love orange}

Moving onto the wingback chair:

{scary before}

{not so scary almost-after}

{ I still have to sew the cover for the seat cushion. I've been slackin'.}

{ignore the imperfections please. it was my first time}

{pattern up close and the jute/cotton cord I'm running around the edges of the chair. another thing I still need to do!}

The work. Man. What a pain it was to remove what seemed like 126,286,636,364 staples and then putting ALL those staples back on it for the reupholstery. For most of that work I used my hard core business NOT electric staple gun. My hand hurt. A lot. Then, on a visit to my local little hardware store I spotted my savior. An electric staple gun...with a trigger...and lots of power...for $40!!! I guess I thought an electric staple gun would have been expensive, but I was wrong. It made the rest of the project a lot more pleasurable for my hands, but still not pleasing to the ears of the doggies and probably the people living in the upstairs flat. Oh well.

As far as putting it together, I basically worked in reverse. I found the supplies at an upholstery store in town and then did some research on the internet. I know it's not perfect, but it's good enough for me.

I'm overall very pleased with these two projects and of course the projects are neverending around here. I've got some faux roman blinds for the office I'm making tomorrow (yay, for Veterans!) using the fabric below. I again found a great deal on ebay; 5 yards for $25!

{amy butler henna paisley in blue}

I will have to remember to take pictures this time.

Color me

This is totally my color palette at home. I've mixed in a couple different oranges and a bit of basil green.
I love this room and I didn't want to lose this image.

{image courtesy of everything leb}

Martha, I love you

I don't care what others say. I know she has loads and loads of people that help her come up with all these fabulous crafts, but I don't care. I want to grow up to be the Latina Martha, or "Marta." =)

{seriously martha...so chic}



{oh martha...just love the color and that bench/settee thinger....just fabulous!}



{martha, I just love this whole look. too bad those benches probably cost a butt load}



{you know martha, I've been meaning to do this with a canvas...but a magnetic board...so clever}



{martha. can you just toss me some of your antique fabric to make a looker like this?}



{martha, we must be related because I love orange too!}


The images above are from Martha's "quick and easy upgrades." For her DIY instructions, visit her here!

Inspiration for an Inspirational Space

{images from inspiration for decoration}

To Bamboo or not to boo...

{Bamboo Loveseat on Craigslist} 

Could this work if painted yellow, or white, or green and recovered? hhhmmmm...

{seriously. look at this green bamboo with my fave color: orange

Image found here.}

I nearly peed my pants

I most definitely did cry from laughing so hard and I'll admit there were a number of snorts. So ladylike, I know.

If you haven't visited Jenny over at my favorite and my best, then you must immediately. You will live longer if you do.

Recuperating from a Decorating Catastrophy

{the guestroom}

{other side of guestroom}

{small hallway outside of guestroom, office, and bath 1}

{long hallway. so I decided against the long painted runner once I found these for $30 at TJMaxx. all my colors...perfect!}

{living room. sorry for the late night pictures.I'm looking for something to put on the wall above the tv. it looks so lonely}

{the wall opposite the sofa. it's still a work in progress, but I'm loving it. oh, and there's my chair. I'm almost done now. I only have the seat cushion to sew}

{the doggies and their favorite chair on the little landing in the master}

{one side of the master. I also feel like I need something on the space above the bed. I need ideas}

The office still needs a lot of work since it's been the hardest to organize, so I'm not including any bland photos. We're totally lacking in storage space and so it's been a struggle trying to find a place for all the hubby's music stuff and all of my craft supplies. It doesn't have any color in it, but I'm thinking a combo that works with orange is in the cards.

I am working on replacing the chairs in the living room with two of these:

{option 1. one of my fave's}

{option 2}

{option 3. another fave}

{option 4. love the shape, but not totally convinced about the fabric}

{option 5. LOVE the shape and like the color. the pattern is lovely. this is probably the most practical}

So, what do you think? I'm leaning towards option 1 because the modern and relaxed shape as well as the pattern will prevent our living room from seeming too stuffy. But, option 5 really is a great shape. I mean, just look at that looker in this living room. It just really makes me want to get one like that.

{Image from Design Sponge}

The prices range from $150 to $370.00. I know, sorta a big range. Either way,  I think these Tarjay options are great, especially with a 15% discount for purchases over $125, free shipping, and apparently an extra discount from the hubby's employer; they are worthy of all my pennies. I really love the Dolce chair I bought from Tarjay a few years ago. The doggies have loved it a lot too since they've worn in out. It's comfy and the right size for our place, so I'm guessing all of these will be around the same size.

Also, since our ceilings are all higher than the ones in our home in Petaluma things are feeling a little mini in the rooms. Any suggestions on how to "lift" our spaces? Affordable options for decorating the walls? I was thinking maybe some architectural object like a decorative door?

Thoughts?