brighten your world with spring touches

 I don't know about you, but I'm so over winter! 

Here in the Chicago 'burbs, we got socked with another snow storm

 a couple of days ago. And then I ended up having to go to immediate care 

yesterday because I have conjunctivitis. Yep, yucky "pink eye".

 How and where I picked that up is anyone's guess. Since I can't control the

 weather, I can at least control the decor inside my home, right? 

Buh-bye heavy blankets on the couch, pine cone fillers in vases, 

and darker decor. Hello to bird's nests, brighter colors, chicks and bunnies.

So here's what I've been playing with in Comfy House the past couple of days.

Top shelf of the ladder bookcase got a makeover with clear glass bottles.

The owls that were up there are now happily cohabitating on top of a bookcase

in the downstairs family room.

These beads in the dish were from a necklace that my mom brought back

from Cancun, Mexico many years ago. I haven't worn the necklace in years;

it was big and clunky. So I took it apart and used the beads as a filler.

The china cabinet got an update to lighter colors and some of my rooster collection.

Cute child's plate from Goodwill - 49 cents.

 Bunnies on a shelf...

Remember the picnic basket I got from Goodwill? I set it beside the chair in 

the office and made a little vignette on top of it.

 It's spring fever.  That is what the name of it is.  And when you've got it, 

you want - oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly 

makes your heart ache, you want it so!  ~Mark Twain

Linking to Jen's Creative Friday Linky Party

keeping it real ~ pajama party day

 When Claudia at Mockingbird Hill Cottage announced that on Monday, March 4th,

she was going to have a pajama party, I knew I was in.

Truth: When I'm at home all day, especially in the colder months, I'm in pajamas.

Pajamas come in all sorts of styles ~ cotton, flannel, silk, nightgown; or, if you're like me,

yoga pants and a t-shirt. Sexy? Not so much. Comfortable? Absolutely.

This is embarrassing, but we promised Claudia we would do it. 

Show ourselves in our pajamas. Here goes....

I made Tim take a full-length picture and another of me in my usual blog position.

Yikes! Nothing like a reality shot when you see your fat roll. 

Notice also, the fluffy blanket where the kitties sleep (where were they?) and the

well-used scratching post. Oh - and you can kind of see my new glasses in this

picture. They're a darker full-frame with a tint of blue and lighter brown on the sides.

My previous glasses were a light blue and silver half-frames. And I realized I'm wearing

my typical pajama outfit in this older photo too - another t-shirt and a hoodie. I usually

wear a hoodie over my t-shirts when I'm chilled. Which is most of the time.

 

 I've just been in the kitchen cooking like a mad woman, so I'm not cold right now.

Otherwise, I'd have on a hoodie. I have my yoga class tonight, so I got an early

start on dinner. Smoky Chipotle Vegetarian chili. I also have beer bread baking

in the oven. Both recipes are from Eating Well With Others.

 What do you wear on your days at home? Do you go out in public in your pajamas?

I'll go to the mailbox or work in my yard in my t-shirt and yoga pants, but I don't

run errands in this attire! If you're so inclined, join me, Claudia, and the others

at her PJ Party today!

 

thrifting pleasures

Been doing a little treasure hunting again...

 This vintage picnic basket is in perfect condition. It was marked at $9.99 -

not bad. But I got it even cheaper using a 15% off Goodwill coupon,

plus another 5% off with my Goodwill Club card. Score! Not sure exactly how

I'm going to use it yet. I know I want to use it for some kind of storage and as

a decor piece. Still "playing" with possibilities. 

 Being a cat lover, I'm a sucker for most cat-themed items and I also love blue and white.

These cuties are salt and pepper shakers, but I'm using them as decorative tchotchkes.

More blue and white! I don't think this bowl is really worth anything. The markings

on the bottom were hard to read, but my husband thought it said, "Made in China."

Rats. Oh well, I thought it was cute anyway. I'm using it to hold potatoes.

Love this Bailey's sugar and creamer! Again, not worth a ton of money or anything; saw

them for $12 on eBay. But I paid half of that and I think they're just darling.

 I love little glass trays, especially if they're artsy. With the colors in my family room

being black and orange, I knew this would look nice on the side table.

I figured it was just an inexpensive piece from World Market or a similar store...

 but I saw the sticker on the backside said Fringe Studio in CA. Looked it up

when I got home and they sell for anywhere between $10 - $25. Again, not anything

terribly expensive, but I felt good having paid only 99 cents.

 Two more kitties! Obviously handmade. I wish there had've been more. They'd

look so cute piled in a basket.

 Have a beautiful Saturday. The sun is finally shining here. :-)

Sharing my favorite things at Mockingbird Hill Cottage and

The Self-Sufficient Homeacre Blog Hop. Pay these gals a visit!

useful ways for baskets around the house

 I took a look around my house and realized how much I rely on baskets.

In the living room, I use one to corral cat toys....

and another beside the coffee table where I read and blog. It holds books and

magazines that I'm currently reading, my notebooks (I could do another whole blog

post on those!), and and paperwork that I need to go through.

 

 On top of the coffee table, I have a large basket-tray that holds more books

(I read several at a time), bookmarks ~ and a friendly little bird.

Baskets can be simply used as a decorative purpose, too.

 

 In the kitchen, I have baskets on the counter to corral coffee and tea items.

Keeps stuff looking neater, I think.

And this wire basket is just the right size to hold cloth napkins.

 

In my office, I use baskets to store and organize scrapbooking and art supplies.

This basket on the floor holds my current projects. I have other baskets on the

closet shelf that I use for more scrapbooking supply storage.

 Most of my baskets are found at thrift stores, but this little cutie came from

Hobby Lobby. It holds a variety of my art pens and small notepads.

You know I couldn't do a post on baskets without showing you how they

hold some of my beloved books, right?

 

 Even Brian gets a basket to hold his current reading material. This basket

fits perfectly under his nightstand.

 I love how these baskets from IKEA fit perfectly into the cubes (also from IKEA).

I'm using these baskets to hold our board games. We love board games and

actually play them often. Even my teenage nieces love to play board games

with us when they visit!

 What do you use baskets for in your home?

 

bedroom gallery wall

 Hello, friends!  I spent the weekend in Des Moines, Iowa.

I traveled with a friend whose college son was performing in the musical,

Next to Normal. I'm glad we had sunny, clear weather for travel as it was

snowing before we left and now it's snowing here once again. It's coming down

fast and furious with whipping winds. My son works for a pizza restaurant where

he's one of the delivery persons, and his manager was actually considerate enough

to call him and tell him that their restaurant was not doing deliveries tonight.

This mama is relieved!

Even though I plan on re-doing my entire bedroom, including the wall

color, I was tired of looking at the plain, boring walls ~ so I created a small

gallery wall above my grandma's secretary desk.

I simply shopped my house - went through my collection of pictures,

frames, and mirrors that I have stashed in my basement.

My grandma's desk is a beautiful piece, but it's missing the handles on the

front, which makes it really difficult to open. I think this piece would also benefit

from a re-do with paint.

 

I got this jewelry stand at World Market. I like how it can hold a variety of

jewelry...bracelets, rings, and earrings.

And, I used a cake stand (thrift shop!) to hold some perfumes.

I like using household items in unexpected ways.

Thanks for visiting with me today. I love and appreciate all your comments!

Linking up with Cozy Little House Tweak it Tuesday.

snowy friday musings and doings ~ or ~ of plants, art, and cats

  Hello friends, and happy Friday from snowy Illinois.

I am so sick of winter...the gray skies, the cold, the snow.  Seems never-ending

at times. I was supposed to leave this morning for Des Moines, Iowa with my friend,

but our road trip is delayed because of the snow storm that hit the Midwest yesterday.

We'll be leaving tomorrow morning instead. My friend's son attends college in

Des Moines and is performing in the musical, Next to Normal. That's the main reason

behind the road trip. We'll be staying overnight and coming home Sunday evening.

The puttering and creating around Comfy House continues. I've always loved plants

and in just the past couple of years, have had a fondness for succulents. From articles

and photos I've seen in magazines and on Pinterest, terrariums are once

again in style, too. Last time I was at Goodwill, I found a couple of glass bowls

for only $1.99 each, and I thought they'd make great terrarium containers. I obviously

have a long way to go with creativity in creating terrariums, but it's a start.

 This one needs major help. The Christmas cactus plant is simply way too tall

for a shallow planter. I'll need to dig it up and put it in its own taller container and find

a shorter succulent to plant in its place.

There's just something about a grouping of plants in front of a window that's

so beautiful...

 or even clustered together on a dresser top in a spare bedroom. The Poinsettia from

Christmas is still doing pretty well!

 Speaking of creating, I tried my hand at a couple of other new art projects.

A couple of weeks ago in a blog post, I showed this simple paper art page
 that I made. I went to Hobby Lobby to look for a mat and frame, but no luck.
This page was 6x6 and it seems impossible to find a pre-cut mat and simple frame
 that fits this size of paper.

So I went to Plan B. I'd never worked with Mod Podge before, but couldn't hurt to

try, right? I took a piece of canvas and spray-painted it blue, then glued the paper

to the canvas and added some letter stickers. Then I used Mod Podge over the whole thing.

Learned the hard way that you don't want to use Mod Podge on anything that
 is raised - such as the hearts on this paper! So now the hearts look rather flat
 and funky, but I'm slowly learning that things don't have to be perfect.
 Pretty good is good enough. At least the process was fun. :-)

And the two white squares with black ink designs leaning against the books?

Those are Zentangle drawings. Have you heard of Zentangle? Here's a great

explanation from tanglepatterns.com:

Zentangles are miniature pieces of unplanned, abstract, black and white art
 created in a very structured method from an ensemble of repetitive patterns
 on a 3.5-inch (89 mm) square paper tile. They are not only exquisitely beautiful,
they are fun and relaxing to create.The process of creating a Zentangle® is a
 form of “artistic meditation” as one becomes completely engrossed in making
 each pattern, deliberately focusing on “one stroke at a time”®.
The creativity options and pattern combinations are boundless.
And anyone can do it!

 I took a class the other night on basic Zentangle. There is so much to learn

and it obviously takes a lot of practice! The tile on the left was my first one - I did

that in the class. The tile on the right is the one I worked on at home the other night

until 1 a.m.! I've been looking at various web sites and youtube tutorials to learn

more and practice more patterns.

I have a "bad tummy" today. I think it's because of the slight anxiety I have

about going away tomorrow. So while the laundry is going and I'm watching the

snowflakes falling gently out the window, I think I'll make like Monkey and Zippo

before continuing on with some housework. I usually don't indulge in lying around

and reading until right before bed, but I need that little bit of rest today.

 Just in case you were wondering where Clementine was...