Under a blue moon

Friday's Favorites

Flickr Favorites (please click link to see the source of these beautiful images)

• Very clever way to repurpose an old dresser and disguise the fact it houses all sorts of electronic gizmos:  Disguised media center
• I love these coasters.  I would paint them white though.  These are pretty cute too.
• Adorable owl necklace (we have an owl we hear at night some time) (seriously - the necklace is so unique and so affordable)
• DIY Patina with vinegar and salt.  I have some brass charms - I'll try it next week and post my results
• Try not to smile while you watch this video.  Go ahead - just try

Happy Friday!!  We are finally getting some much needed rain around these parts.  I plan on staying inside the entire time and just puttering around the house.  I have a quilt binding to do so maybe I'll work on that.  

Hope everyone has a restful weekend planned!

1.18.12

This is what Winter looks like on our property.  

Our property has a creek running across it.  The only way to get to the other side is by crossing these teetery, wobbly suspension bridges (there are two of them).  The other side is left to its own devices - just wild and overgrown.  Two acres of oak trees, berry bushes and the occasional poison oak plant.  I know this because a few years back we were having a bit of a property line dispute with our neighbor (um hello?  That fence is 60 feet over onto our side of the property line....) and I had to run across the bridge and over to the corner of the property to talk to the surveyor and I got poison oak all over my bare ankles.   

I took this picture yesterday for part of my 366 project.  A picture a day for 366 days.  I started to do this last year and petered out by the end of January.  This year I've decided not to get to hung up if I miss a day here and there.  

The idea is to a.) Get used to taking pictures all the time.  And b.) Get better at taking pictures.  I suppose I can throw in c.) Get better at editing pictures.  

If anyone wants to follow along I'll be posting them in a Flickr set.  And occasionally you'll see a date stamped picture here on the blog.

1.16.12

I call this picture "waiting for Spring."  Garden shoes and wellies are by the ready.  

This is taken in my garage, lest you thing I keep my muddy shoes on the counter in my kitchen or something.  It also explains the chippy counter top and the cobwebs.  

I was actually trying to take bird themed photos for a blog post but the light wasn't cooperating with me outside so I can't show you my newly hung bird feeders.  

The two white cans on the workbench hold bird seed.   One holds Nyger Thistle seed and the other regular bird seed.  I bought the cans from Ikea and I love them.  Perfect creamy white.  Even utilitarian things can be lovely.

I did manage to get my garage cleaned this past weekend.  First Spring cleaning project completed.

Of course now I just need to wait for Spring to show up.  And the birds. 

Friday's Favorites

Flickr Favorites (please click link to see the source of these beautiful images)

• Adorable idea for a picnic or bbq (it's not bad enough I'm rushing Spring - now I'm talking Summer activities??)
• Another baking mystery revealed!  Make your own sprinkles!
• Vintagey looking labels via Martha and Staples.  
• Gorgeous earrings in my favorite combination: Gold and the palest turquoisey green or these - a little simpler but just as pretty
• I'm kind of all about lists lately, aren't I?  Well here a good one with solid organizing tips

I'm thinking what this blog needs is a lamb.  Don't you?  Think of the posts and photos it would generate.  I wonder if you can rent one each Spring and then turn it in when it starts chewing on your hydrangeas.  

I have a serious case of Spring Fever - it's the unseasonable weather we have been having.  I'm even thinking of launching into a Spring cleaning project this weekend - the Garage.  Ugh.  We shall see.  I may not be as motivated when I wake up on Saturday morning.

Have a splendid weekend everyone!

1.12.12

Form over function.  Yes I bought toothpaste merely because I liked the tube.  

It does get decent reviews but I have a notion they are from like minded people that want to justify spending $14 for a tube of stinking toothpaste.  

Ignore the date on the photo. I'm trying to do a 366 project (a photo a day for 366 days), similar to last year's.  Last year I made it until the end of January.  Let's see how long I last this time.  

1.11.12

I thought we needed a palate cleanser after all the decorating/crafty type posts I've had lately.  

Plus it's written in Belle's contract that she is featured on my blog at least once a month or there are dire penalties. 

She sent a warning via a vole that she let loose behind our bookcase/tv cabinet in the livingroom.  When I got home last night Rick had all the books and whatnots off the shelf and had to remove the trim pieces that connect the bookcase to the cabinet in order to move the bookcase to get the vole.  

She said next time it would be a bat.  

1.10.12

In case it isn't obvious I've become rather besotted with Hobby Lobby over the last few weeks.  We just got one in our town this Fall and while the merchandise isn't all that new or different than what I can find at JoAnns or Michael's - the prices are really appealing.  If you wait a week the item you are interested is bound to go on sale for 50% off.  Or you can download a coupon for 40% to use on any one non-sale item.  

No I am not on their payroll.  

Before Christmas I bought a pair of tall, lidded jars (50% off, of course) and I filled them with an assortment of silvery ornaments and had them on my entryway table.  When Christmas was over I put them in the attic.  

Then I saw this picture.  

Back up to the attic I went.  Back down came one of the jars.  And off to Hobby Lobby I went.  

I wanted a less colorful version so my little birds are speckled white and brown.  I couldn't find any eggs the size or color I wanted so I made some with Fimo Clay.  The little nest was straw colored so I dabbed on some raw umber paint to darken it up.  Then, on the branch, I wired some left over leaves from some millinery flowers I used in another project.  

I arranged it all in the jar with a few big handfuls of moss.  

I like how it has a vaguely Natural Science Museum diorama feel. 

 

1.8.12

If you live in Northern California you know we have been having a very mild Winter so far.  And every year, around this time, we are tricked into thinking Spring is imminent.

We'll have a week of mild temperatures and you'll get all lulled into thinking Spring is on the way and you'll start planning your rose bed and your picnics and then bam!  It's Winter again.

I decided to bring a little faux Spring into the house until the real thing makes a proper appearance.  Our grocery store was selling the plant combo above for about $7.  Not bad for a little taste of Spring.

The bucket it is sitting is from Hobby Lobby.  I bought a set of three of them for $4.50 (50% off their normal price).  Not bad - a buck-fifty for each little bucket.  I painted mine white because, well - just because I wanted to.  

Friday's Favorites

Flickr Favorites (please click link to see the source of these beautiful images)

• Isn't this a pretty interpretation of an Adirondack chair? Rick doesn't know this but I have a 2012 To Do list for him too.  I think I'll add this to it.  
• And this too
• Lovely birdhouse out of reclaimed materials (this one sold but she has others).  I thought this was a fabulous idea for a bird feeder (first picture in the slide show).
• Tricia Foley has always been one of my favorite interior designers.  Never fails when I see a picture in a magazine that makes me go "ooooh" it is a Tricia Foley design.  Well I just found out she has FOUR different blogs!  In the Country | The Perfect Thing | The Table and The White List  
• 12 Things Happy People Do Differently

First week back to work wasn't too bad.  I think we should pass a law that the work week is only four days long, don't you?  That would make things a little more tolerable.  

I hope everyone has a splendid weekend planned.  We will have a house guest so I need to come up with a nice dinner for tonight.  The weather has been so lovely and mild that I might uncover the bbq and grill something.  

Happy Friday!!

1.4.12

Okay so my oatmeal post wasn't a resounding hit.  I still think it is a genius idea.  

We'll just get back to our regularly scheduled programming of sparkle.

I do have some fabulous readers here on Under A Blue Moon.  Patti, who just so happens to live near me and turned me on to the Under the Freeway antique fair (officially known as the **Sacramento Antique Faire) a few years back, is one of those readers.

Anyway - Patti emailed me and asked if she could send me some bits and bobs she had.  I find it hard to resist rhinestones so I accepted her gracious offer, figuring she send me a few broken brooches and loose beads.

Well imagine my delight when a very heavy box arrived a week later stuffed full of all kinds of beads, rhinestones, parts of necklaces and bracelets and the like.  

I can't wait for creativity to strike me so I can put them to good use.  In the mean time I'm just enjoying sorting through them and petting them.  

Thank you Patti!  This was such a treat.

**Sacramento Antique Faire is this weekend (1/8/2012 6:30am-3:00pm) if anyone is in the area.