Cafe Curtains

The weekend before last I went to the Springfield Antique Show and I loved it! I went with my Dad and my friend Mary. You should have seen us when we pulled out of there...we looked like the Beverly Hillbillies. The truck was full to the brim with 4 tables, 2 chairs, 3 millstones, vintage tablecloths, sheets, vases, pulleys and glasses, numerous pumpkins and mums, and three very tired shoppers squeezed into the cab. What a day!

The photo above shows the sheets that I made into cafe curtains for the bedroom. When I bought them I thought they were tablecloths, but they turned out to only have the trim at one end...so I decided they were sheets. It made me feel less guilty about cutting them up to make curtains.

It was harder than I thought it would be because I had to use my seam ripper to get the bottom trim off the edge of the sheets. I also had to rip seams out three times! Aaaaargh! I don't believe in ripping seams unless I really have to. I think I was tired. By now I know that things are never as easy as they might first appear, but in the end I am very happy with them.

Cinnamon Squash Rolls

George has really outdone himself this time. These rolls were delicious! And they use up the butternut squash we get from the CSA. It couldn't get any better than that.

The recipe was adapted from a Family Circle Pumpkin Bun recipe that you can see here. George halved the recipe (it makes 12 if you halve it) and substituted squash for pumpkin. He also added nutmeg and a handful of oats (that George- always trying to make it more healthy!).

Probably the tastiest way you will ever eat squash!

Stone Wall and Plants

When we added the screen porch to the house we had to get rid of half the flower bed below it. So Tim Hodge (the mason who made the stone columns) just built us a beautiful wall to hold up the remaining flower bed.

This left me an empty flower bed which was quickly remedied at the Natorp's sale this past Friday. Seven dollar perennials and three dollar mums... I was like a kid in a candy store!

BTW...those lime green beauties are heuchera.

Porch Curtains

Getting curtains for the porch was more of a project than I had anticipated. Originally I thought I would buy Sunbrella curtains for the porch. But when I figured out that I needed 12 panels and they were $80/panel I decided to rethink that idea.

So I bought 83'' sailcloth panels from Target. I washed 2 of them as a test and they shrank about 6'' and were then too short. They looked ridiculous...like my porch was wearing floods!

So then I returned those and ordered 96'' panels from JCPenney and figured I would hem them. But then I realized those panels were only 41'' wide and they might shrink too much in width.

So I returned those and ended up buying the 96'' panels from Target that were an inch wider. I washed and dried them but they were still too long. So I ended up hemming 4 of the 12 panels to about an inch above the ground.

I was very pleased with myself until I woke up the next day and they were all dragging the ground because they had swollen with the dew. I was so mad! But my mom suggested washing them again. And lo and behold...they shrank the perfect amount! So I hemmed the rest and am now done with it!

So if you actually made it to the end of this story, I'm not sure what the moral is. Perhaps that sometimes the problem is the solution.

(Please visit NessyPress.com if you are interested in viewing my botanical linocut fine art prints!)

Porch Pillows

I have had the fabric to make these pillows for months now and I finally found time to make them. At first I was going to make the whole pillow out of the rose fabric, but then I had the idea of just using a stripe of it and I think I like it much better.

I used the instructions on Cottage Magpie as a general guide. The instructions were great. Now I think I want to make some "hot dog" pillows to go next to the arm rests. Ooh, the possibilities!

Vintage Flower Tray

I was super excited to find two of these flower trays at the Burlington flea market. They are perfect for catching fallen petals from flower arrangements.

If you look closely you can see the surface is scratched and worn. It is so wabi sabi and I love it! I am now addicted to vintage flower trays!

Orange Vase

I just had to post a photo of this cute little vase. I got it at Jungle Jim's a couple years ago and I love the smooth feel of it. There were more pieces that matched it, but when I went back for more they were gone. C'est la vie.

Guest Room Ceiling Color

When we bought our house 6 years ago I remember thinking the first thing I would do is to paint the guest room ceiling. The bright yellow is just not me. The only reason it has existed this long is because my mom gave me those cute pillow cases from when we were kids and they have a great 60's pattern with yellow in it.

But it is finally time to change it and I have photoshopped several choices. Please let me know what you think.

Pale Blue
Pale Green
White

Japanese Anemone

I was so excited the last issue of Martha Stewart helped me identify a flower I have had in my yard for years and never knew what it was -- Japanese Anemone. They had a nice story on it. It is a shade perennial that has beautiful, soft, pale flowers and blooms in late summer and fall. The foliage is also interesting and is dark green. I tried to transplant some to my front yard but they failed. If anyone out there knows some tips let me know!

New Illustrations!

I just uploaded a 8 new illustrations to my website. You can see them by clicking here.

I did these for Voyageur Press for a book about snow, but they ended up not using them. I have been meaning to post them for a while now and I finally did it. I am thinking about making them into cards and selling them on Etsy. Enjoy!

Okra Overload!

Last weekend we got okra from our CSA (Hazelfield Farms). I have to admit, it is not my favorite vegetable to eat, but boy is it breathakingly beautiful! The linear ridges and slender curve, the pale green color, the fine hair, and its cute green cap all make Okra irresistable. Why have I never noticed it before!

I had a great time arranging okra. I had so many photos it was hard to narrow it down. Below are some of my favorites. I think you can click on them to see them bigger.

Screen Porch

Below are some photos of our screen porch project. It is finished and we are super excited!

The first photo shows the back of our house before we got this crazy idea.

This is a wonky sketch I did to show the builder and the architect what I was thinking.

And this is the finished porch!

Our architect was Eric Hagenaur and our builder was J.D. Sandipher. Thanks to them, and numerous others, we now have a screened porch.

Of course I have been getting all worked up about decorating ideas. In fact, I am working on a little something that will be blogged about soon. I am so excited about it that I can hardly sit still. In fact, I am going to Hobby Lobby right now to pick up some supplies. Adios chicos!

Bowl O' Tomatoes

I was so excited by this bowl of tomatoes. The way the cute shapes and the orange, yellow, and red colors of the tomatoes mimic those of the birds on the bowl just makes me all giddy!

The bowl was another great find at the Burlington Flea Market. It is vintage Pyrex and is so me! The pattern is called Friendship and this bowl is part of a set of nesting bowls (what a great name!). I just found this cute website called Pyrex Love that gives more info and has some good photos of the other bowls in the set.

FYI - Those tomatoes are heirloom tomatoes from our CSA that George made into a very tasty tomato herb focaccia bread!

Frame Makeover

So I finally finished the framing project for my flea market bird prints. When I originally bought these inexpensive frames at Home Emporium and they were gold I thought, "Oh, I will just spray paint them a different color. It will be easy!" (famous, last words).

It ended up being quite a project. I first tried to paint them with some nice metallic paint I bought at Michaels but it beaded up. It was then that I realized, "Uh oh...this might require more than I thought." It ended up being a five step process:

1. Sand the frames.
2. Spray with grey primer.
3. Spray with satin nickel metallic paint.
4. Hand paint with champagne gold metallic paint.
5. Age it a bit with gunmetal grey metallic paint.

Multiply that by six frames and it ended up taking me a while. Below you can see before and after.

Vermont Wedding

Last week we had the pleasure of attending a beautiful wedding in Vermont. George's cousin was married in Plymouth Notch at the Calvin Coolidge Historic Site. The church was built in 1840 and had beautiful hardwood ceilings.

This barn was perfect for photos of the bride and groom.

The reception was held at the Hawk Mountain Resort and was amazing. The favors were cute little bottles of Vermont maple syrup that had everyone's name and table number. Everything was beautiful. Congratulations Emily and Mike!

Flea Market Bird Prints

I couldn't believe my luck when I found these prints at the flea market for 50 cents a piece! I fell in love with them immediately and was super excited to see they had a mockingbird and woodthrush because my husband studies these birds.

Of course it has been a project all by itself to get them matted and framed. I bought some inexpensive frames from Home Emporium thinking, "Oh, I will just re-paint them. It will be easy!" Easier said than done. I tried to paint them this morning but it turns out I need to prime them. I'll post one later if they turn out. Wish me luck!

Hobnail Vase & Vintage Tablecloth

A couple Sundays ago I went to the Burlington Flea Market for the first time and I loved it! It is about 20 minutes south of Cincinnati at the Boone County Fairgrounds in Burlington, KY. I had a great time and bought several items which will soon appear on the blog.

This Fire King hobnail vase was one of my finds. You can't see it in the photo, but it has a very cute scalloped rim. I just love the vintage look and feel of the knobby milk glass.

I also got this incredibly adorable vintage tablecloth. I tried to walk away from it at the flea market, but I kept finding myself thinking about it so it came home with me. And look how great it looks with that hobnail vase...so cute!

Notebooks and Wrapping Paper

I recently made the above notebooks for some friends of mine who were graduating. I have been excited to use some of the flower designs from my new book Decorative Flower and Leaf Designs by Richard Hofmann. It is a great book just chock full of lovely flowers!

I made them using Snapfish. Instead of using photos, I just make my design in Photoshop and upload a jpg. Sometimes it takes some fooling with it to get the image where I want, but it usually turns out great. I have made mugs, books, and notebooks this way.

When I went to wrap the notebooks I realized I was out of wrapping paper so I decided to print some using the same design. Now I always have wrapping paper at my fingertips!

Father's Day Succulents

This year I decided to make my dad a succulent arrangement for Father's day. My goal was to buy one plant and use the rest from the yard.

This was also really driven by this cute container I got at Hobby Lobby. I lined it with moss and then with chicken wire to give it strength. Then I filled in with dirt, then plants, then pebbles.

This little bloomer came from Natorp's. Oh, and the beautiful urn is my neighbor's. Thanks again John!