Zombie Apocalypse

We got a little crazy with the cheese wiz this year for Halloween...(I don't know what that means but my brother says it so it must be cool!) We are usually so busy getting the kids ready for Halloween we don't have much time for creative costumes. A witch hat is my go-to most years. But all of the stars aligned this year for EPIC costumes for my hubby and me. So many people have been affected by Hurricane Sandy and we have felt separated from most of the devastation here in Utah, but as there often is, the silver lining to a hurricane is interrupted air travel. A "silver lining" you say?! Yep! My brother is a commercial airline pilot by day, but his real talent lies in scary Zombie make-up! He was a Music Dance Theatre major in College and ROCKED his theatre makeup class. He hasn't flown much in the last week because of the crazy flight cancellations. Soooo I got a call at 6:30 A.M. on Halloween from him offering his services. Did we want scary Zombie make-up? Uhh yes. By far the best part was the costumes were 100% FREE. I love that!! The clothes came from my thrift pile and the blood was a recipe I found online that is super simple. Our teenage boys thought we were Rock Stars (and they are not easily impressed.)  3 hours later we looked like this.... 

In case you can't remember what we look like in "Real Life Pre-Zombie Apocalypse"

Off to Mexico today to get some sun on our pale undead cheeks and sand between our rotted off toes.... 

linking up here

styled

I had the awesome {and by "awesome" I mean BIG and DAUNTING} opportunity to completely restyle, and decorate a family members house last week. They are trying to sell it and the feedback that they recieved was that the house looked "dated". It is only 12 years old. The problem was that the furniture placement and most of the linens light fixtures and accessories were dated. The house has beautiful light and a great floor plan. It just needed some updating. Of course the budget was VERY tight, but that never seems to scare me. I love a challenge. I found out they needed some help and jumped on a plane to Texas less than a week later. I had 4 1/2 days to work my magic on 3 bedrooms, a kitchen and breakfast area, dining room, family room and 3 bathrooms.
big breath....

        The Big Reveal

                  (I really felt like I was hosting my very own D.I.Y. show!)

***disclaimer: most of the "before" pictures came from the MLS...not great quality, but you get the idea

Family Room before:

                                          and after....





The Entry:


My intention was to paint this dresser, but the homeowner wanted to leave the natural wood so I framed a map I found in a vintage board game and added a few new and thrifted accessories. voila!




a new rug



vintage bag I found at the Goodwill for $3.99....a steal




The Kitchen/ Breakfast Room:



this table was FREE! I just painted and distressed it to add some color to a very beige kitchen.









still a few holes in the ceiling to fix...but what a difference from the lighting fixture before!

Here is a sneak peek of the rest of the house....



Coming soon.....

linking up here:

crickets....

No I haven't been abducted by Aliens! I was knee deep in a Style/Redo/ Ginormous project in Texas last week and I'm working hard to get pictures up. Until then....


image via

Happy {almost} Halloween!



sewing advice...

I was knee deep in a new sewing project this weekend when I came across this {very popular} image on pinterest...I could definitely use this advice. Maybe this is why I have had a creative block lately? My sink full of dirty dishes and 5-day-in-a-row-crazybun-hairdo is wreaking havoc on my sewing mojo. Really girls, would you ever get any sewing done if you checked off all these boxes?

strip quilt

I managed to finish a strip quilt for my brother and sister-in-law's baby just in time. The baby isn't due until the first of November, but I gave them a baby shower last week and I wanted to give it to her then. I was literally sewing the binding on the night before the shower...I'm not usually that last-minute-thrive-on-chaos, but this time it couldn't be helped! If you need a darling and fairly simple quilt pattern, this one is for you. The fabric is Moda "A walk in the woods". It has Little Red Riding Hood as well as mushrooms and cute mischievous foxes on it. Perfect for a little baby girl.

Here's how I did it:

My quilt measured about 42"x 46" once I squared it up. If you want to make it larger, just make sure your 2" and 3" long stripes are the length you need. I have made this style of quilt before, on my daughters bed as well as one I mad for a gift, and they always go together quickly. I opted to have a professional quilt this one, because I wanted it to be special (and I was running out of time at this point!) However, at this point you could free motion quilt it on your machine or even tie it the old fashioned way.

The quilt pattern is a very simple flower. I did not want it to distract from cute pattern on the fabrics.

I think this might be my favorite quilt yet!

linking up with wow us wednesday

Molly Ringwald

Am I dating myself when I say that Pretty in Pink along with 16 Candles defined my teenage years? I love this dress Molly Ringwald's character made...truly a D.I.Y. moment...

Martha Stewart Living magazine recently published a short essay written by Molly Ringwald about her love of gardening. I think it was written just for me...my teen idol and gardening? A match made in heaven.

In the essay entitled "A Garden Grows Up", she shares her heartache over losing a pregnancy and how she found solace in her New York City rooftop garden. In her words;

Then, nearly six months later,

the unthinkable happened:

I lost the baby. I found almost

nothing to fill the emptiness—

no books, no films, no theater, no

people. It was a very solitary

sadness. To my surprise, the one

thing that did make me feel a

little better was venturing up to

the roof alone and putting my

hands in the soil.

And so I set about rebuilding

the garden myself. I hauled

bags of dirt up the six flights of

stairs, stripped the trellises,

and painted them chartreuse.

When it came time to plant, I

couldn’t settle on a color scheme,

so I chose all of them. I planted

pink fringed tulips that resembled

little girls’ dresses and a

large maple tree with kelly green

leaves and coral bark. Perhaps

inspired by her new surroundings,

the peach tree made a

miraculous recovery, producing

enough fruit for one whole pie!

My garden became a destination

for many of my friends,

but on September 11, I was there

alone, surrounded by my

trees and flowers, watching the

towers come down.

Molly Ringwald's second book, When It Happens to You: A Novel in Stories (Harper Collins) came out on August 23,2012.

 Thanks for being such an inspiration!

 

American made...

I am always on the hunt for vintage props to use when I style a party. I came across this gem a few weeks ago at an antique store. I was back-to-school shopping and frankly, couldn't justify a ME purchase, but I couldn't stop thinking about HER...So I went back today and she was still there, peely paint and all. After I brought her home I looked up the history of the company (printed on the front). I was even more excited when I found out that Penn Scale Manufacturing Company is still in business. They have been in business since 1923 and still manufacture scales.They are located in Philadelphia, PA. I love a great vintage find, but a good story about an American made product is even better!

                                    Come see me at a wow us wednesday here.

Is it really over?

Is the Summer really over?? Say it isn't so...I have been a bit absent this week enjoying the last few late nights with the kids,new kitten (don't they smell scrumptious?!), school shopping and back to routine craziness... here are a few instagram images of it all...

What is your favorite end of summer tradition?

{a visit to the} DIY Blogger House





 I finally made it the DIY Blogger house at the Salt Lake Parade of Homes last week. I wasn't sure what to expect, although I had seen a few pictures online of the design. I have to say I was impressed! These women are amazing. The designs and DIY projects throughout the home were very cohesive. I can't imagine that was easy considering the amount of people involved.(Brian Clark, the designer,Bangerter homes, the builder, and 5 bloggers!) Here are a few highlights:

The office is largely made up of DIY projects and thrift store re purposing...could you just die for the chandelier?!



The Living room is beautiful in soft greens and beachy blues. The highlight is the MDF grid ceiling

beautiful Family Tree

Love the barn door to the mudroom

You can see more of the girls from the Super Star Blogger Team here,here,here,here and here
Thanks for sharing your talents!



10 LBS of pure style

My Instyle magazine arrived today. I literally almost needed a muscle man to carry it in the house and up the stairs. It must weigh 10 lbs. I think I might keep it by my bedside in case I need any sort of weapon, for an intruder, not for someone that lives in my house of course! I'm not exaggerating when I say that all I can think about is curling up on the sofa with a cupcake, a diet coke and my beloved Instyle. But, alas there are pencils to buy and back to school errands to run...maybe tomorrow my love...

inspired by London

Okay I will admit I have been hesitant to post anything about the Olympics/London inspired paraphernalia/my love of the Union Jack, for various reasons which are really sort of dumb...but true. Firstly, I like Winter Olympics better than Summer. I feel like I have a right to because we attended almost every event during the Salt Lake 2002 Olympics and we could see the ski jump from our kitchen window. Our kids had the entire month of February off of school and it was almost a crime not to enjoy all the craziness! It was an amazing experience...I highly recommend having an Olympic Games in your home town, If you can swing it! Secondly ,I feel like a traitor to my country because I like THEIR flag almost as much as ours...Do you want to throw tea on me? It is just sooo cool. I resisted for months buying or making anything Union Jack related, but Anthropologie knocked it out of the park on this one...Artist Becky Oldfield uses vintage flags to create art that is beautiful no matter which side your ancestors fought for in the Revolutionary war. Happy Olympics!

                                                     Art here.

maxi and a metro map

too many fires,not enough rain...cool crisp fall days where are you?

stripey maxi skirt here//paris metro map iphone case here.

Hello Seattle

Here are a few Instagram pictures from my girls trip to Seattle. My sister-in-law hosted us..thanks Sara! My daughter turned 13 in June and I decided along time ago that when she was old enough I would take her on a girl's trip every year. This was our inaugural trip and I can hardly wait until next year. We ate ourselves sick at Pike's Market, went to Trader Joe's at least three times ( love that store). We took a boat out to see the Killer Whales...ahem Orcas, but they were too shy. Had an amazing lunch in Friday harbor and stayed in a condo on the waterfront where we could saw the most amazing sunsets and homeless. We did a little vintage shopping and enjoyed the Seattle aquarium. The weather was sunny and hot, just the way I like it. If you haven't been I highly recommend it.