Out of Messes Comes Beauty

...

Since I'm tired of waiting for things to start budding and flowering outside I decided to create a little new life inside. Made quite a mess while doing so.

...

...

One of these days I'm going to have to just flat out insist that the husband install the cabinets in my laundry room that will house the slop sink that's been sitting in the basement for 6 years. That way I won't have to destroy the kitchen with my "projects".

...

...

Finally decided on what to do with a few of the many apothecary jars hanging around the house. I LOVE these things. I started collecting the original ones from antique stores and flea markets over 15 years ago before they started to be made in China and mass marketed.

...

...

Gorgeous! I must say that I am proud of myself for the collection of little ferns and plants that I found to put in these. This little red guy is so bright - picture doesn't do him justice.

...

Final resting spot by the front door. At least for now.

BRING IT ON ..........

SPRING THAT IS ............

Out the front window ................

Back porch ....

Yes - I love the snow and the shapes that Mother Nature makes with it. I live in Colorado for a reason and learned to ski before I learned to run .....

But give me a f 'ing break - I am ready for some green grass and cherry blossom's ...........

Did you know?

Got the itch to go see and smell some green seeing as it's snowed here every day for the past week. So we went to the uppity garden center. This is were I get my ideas from but rarely buy from . BRING ON SPRING!!!!!


This little ditty looks a little misplaced from the Alice and Wonderland story. Gonna have to try something like this on the front porch this year.


The youngest one thought that it was going to tip over at any minute - so of course she had to pick all the plants out to save them. Bad baby girl!


The girls wanted flowers SOOOOO BAAAAD (major whining here) and wanted them now! Well I was not about to pay the prices that this specific center charged - 7.95 for a 4" pot of perennials. NO WAY! So I bought seeds and fiber filled biodegradable pots. No peat was used in the production of these pots.


Did you know?
1. It takes about 220 years to replace the peat stripped from land in one year.
2. Harvesting peat releases carbon dioxide - a known greenhouse gas.
3. Peat Bogs have the amazing ability to remove harmful impurities from water.
4. Peat Bogs hold 10% of the worlds fresh water.
5. Areas of Europe have mandated not to use peat by 2010

WHO KNEW?????

Guess we'll just have to wait about 4 weeks to see how the seed these 2 little sprouts planted survive. They will be smothered with LOVE....

Pearly King & Queen

While I was perusing the latest Room Service catalog I found this chest painted indigo blue and embellished with shell buttons. Beautiful !!!

photo courteous of Room Service

The very first thing I thought of was the of Pearly Kings and Queens from London. I was fortunate to see a group of these colorful characters in Covent Garden on my first of many trips to England many years ago. They left quite an impression on me.

A Pearly is a person dressed in a traditional cockney costume covered in mother-of-pearl buttons. These costumes were treasured heirlooms, hand made and sometime representing much of a family's material worth.

They were originally elected by costermongers, street traders, to safeguard their rights from rivals. Costermongers have been an important part of London life for more than 1000 years. The "costers" would sew lines of pearl buttons down the sides of hand-me-down trousers, waistcoats, and caps to show their pride of place.

The history of the Pearly Society is quite an interesting one beginning with one small boy in 1875, Henry Croft. History here ... Pearly Society.

The Societies & Organisations that The Pearlies have helped reads like a role call of many famous Charitable institutions – with sums raised running into millions.

The PEARLY KING OF CAMBERWELL states " ... it is not just the direct fundraising that Pearlies are famous for – their unique and honourable traditions which have been built up over many centuries have enabled them to act as ambassadors at home and abroad – adding to both tourism and trade – visitors to our shores still expect to see something of our heritage, pageantry, and costume".

jessitaylor.etsy.com

A "Pearly" ring from etsy ....

OldWaysforTheseDays.etsy.com

Vintage Mother of Pearl Pin Shank Buttons from etsy seller.

All photos of Pearly Kings & Queens via Flickr pool

Promises Made In Haste

Ah, the sweetness of Spring! Daffodils blooming, lilacs budding, bird songs increasing, and the promise of fresh strawberries.

Had to go in to the local big box home improvement store last week to purchase caulk so that I could once again fill the ever expanding spaces of the crown molding in the oldest daughters bedroom. Front and center of the entrance were the bulb displays, 1/2 of them filled with strawberry pips.

$3.98

My youngest -LOVES- strawberries. Cries for them. Has fits for them. Wants them in cereal every day. Will gladly get a tummy ache from eating too many of them. Warning Mommy moment coming ..........Said she will poop in the potty for them. Light bulb moment!!!!!

No big deal right? Yeah, well the small challenge of living in zone 5 could pose a problem. Nothing that tender is going in the ground right now unless you want to kiss it goodbye. March is our largest snowfall month.
...
Answer! We'll get a strawberry jar, plant it and set it inside in the loft which faces West. Put it outside when the threat of freeze has past. Strawberries by May! Maybe by then the 3 year old will be out of pull-ups.

You would think that if the big box home improvement stores are putting out strawberry pips that they would also have the pots to plant them in, right? So very wrong you are. Went everywhere looking for them - Lowe's, Home Depot, etc. Even those places that we never go because I don't believe in their business practises - ie K-Mart, Wal-Mart, etc. NO FRICKEN STRAWBERRY JARS TO BE FOUND.

$127.00 - soil, plants, jar

So off to the high end garden shop we go. A place I LOVE but is expensive. Yep, they have strawberry jars. Nice ones at that. Cheapest one there is a terracotta one for 69.00. For another 20.00 I can get a glazed one. What the heck - what's 20.00 when your looking at 70.00 already? . . . . . . See above for purchase.

$9.95 a bag

On the way out the door, after I already paid, I see a display for Strawberries In A Bag .... 10 plants, bag, and soil ...$9.95

Them better be some damn good strawberries !!!

Follow up forthcoming.....

Never Intended To Be ...

I so want this for my entry way by the front door. What a statement piece. The colors in this buffett are amazing - so warm and lovely. It screams "Touch Me"!!!

Daniel Pohl never intended to be a furniture artist. He'd studied drawing and painting at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and collected folk and outsider art for nearly 30 years. He began making furniture ten years ago to display his collection, and became intrigued by the way the furniture could become almost sculptural and canvas-like.

Pohl works from his home studio in central Wisconsin, using traditional cabinetry techniques, mortise and tenon joints, and dove-tailed drawers. Most of the pine and poplar he uses comes from the woods outside his back door.

The painting of the piece is where Pohl's experience as an oil painter takes center stage. He applies layers of traditional paints, made of powdered pigments, corn syrup, and vinegar, over a primed and detailed base layer, increasing the complexity of the designs until a kaleidoscope of colors emerges to greet the waiting eye

Pohl likes to think of his finished pieces as "functional art" rather than "furniture," as his work doesn't seem to sit in a room so much as breathe and, he hopes, inspire.

All photos and verbage from The Artful Home

MIA

Yo Ho, Yo Ho - been MIA for the past 3 weeks due to that dreaded crud that went around the entire familia unit.

Then my BFF and her two little sweeties from Chicago were here for 2 weeks - Good Times!

I've got some great ideas for posts - hopefully back up and running at least a few times a week.

Happy Spring

.....

Through the Looking Glass

Loving these plates and mugs from Urban Outfitters - Good 'ole Alice in Wonderland, my favorite childhood story.

These are the original illustrations of John Tenniel from 1865. Pretty amazing to think that this story of Lewis Carroll's has never been out of print and has been translated to over 125 languages.

I have passed on the love of Alice to my girls and they love acting out different parts of the story. Hopefully when they get older and find out all the back story to Alice they won't want to "experiment".
My oldest was Alice for Halloween this past year. She really loves to be anything over the top girly. I'm in trouble - I never was a girly girl.

Etsy Love

Melissa Moss is one of my Etsy faves. The color! The movement! Her paintings elicite quite an emotional responce. A little organic. A little natural. A little ... hmmmm. They speak to you as if there is a whole entire hidden world that they want to tell you stories about.

"moon"

This is my favorite one - very romantic and errie. A little (Tim) Burtonesque - waiting for Johnny Depp to peek out from behind the tree trunk.

"lura"

"oase"

"ehno"

She also has a website. Would LOVE to see her stuff in person.

February Bloom Day

Mother Nature blessed us with snow for Valentines Day - so forget about anything bloomin' in the garden. Lot's of lovelies in the house tho ...

Finally making a show 2 months late - wanted these for the table at Christmas time. Not sure what I did wrong that made these beauties wait so long to bloom this year.

Left over pails of Gerberas - used for the center pieces at the surprise party - have their pretty faces turned toward the sun.

These beauties are one of my favorite flowers. For some reason I can never keep them alive - inside or out. Too wet, too dry, too fried .... ugh!

I am SO excited! The Colorado Garden & Home Show starts this weekend. It's my favorite escape from the Winter blues. This year the main garden is supposed to be a forest with animals, mystical creatures, trolls, fairies and a giant tree that comes to life. Come on folks - I have 2 baby girls so of course this is going to be a huge hit for a family outing.

Note to self ...

NEVER EVER TALK ABOUT A PARTY FOR NANA AND PAPA IN FRONT OF THE 3 AND 4 YEAR OLD WHEN IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE A SURPRISE PARTY!!!

.