Dining Room Vintage Botanical Calendar Wall Art

This post has been a long time coming.  A while back, my sweet, sweet friend Stephanie {Cre8ive Designs, Inc.), knowing I'm a big fan of botanical art, mailed me a vintage calendar (from 1965!) that she wasn't using and was thoughtful enough to reach out to me and ask if I'd be interested in it.  When I said, "of course!" she mailed it to me from California!  I was beyond thrilled and so excited to receive it and see the gorgeous images inside that look like beautiful watercolored paintings.

I knew I wanted to hang a grouping of them, but didn't want to spend a fortune on frames, so I went with my $5 WalMart frames without a mat.

I hung them immediately in my dining room, but did a terrible job- they were totally uneven and I grouped all 8 together on a larger wall opposite the window.  They hung that way for months until my husband was kind enough to rehang them perfectly straight for me onto two walls.  He is so good at hanging pictures, curtain rods, etc., but HATES doing it, complains constantly the whole time, and chides me for not being able to do it myself.  I don't mind, because in the end, it looks like this: 

Straight!  

See how unique and pretty the images are?!

And I kept the calendar part exposed because I thought it added great character to the art.

So I have to give a big ole hug to my friend Stephanie.  I'm so glad I am finally getting to share with you how the calendar looks framed and hanging in our dining room.  And I am so touched that she thought of me and cared enough to consider what would look nice in my home.  I really do take the suggestions of readers to heart and often find myself incorporating your opinions into my design process at home.  

And you know how I "met" Stephanie?  When I found her Pantry Makeover, and then, being so impressed with her fabric lined walls, emailed her to ask about how she did it.  She wrote me right back and we quickly started exchanging emails and checking in on each others' blogs.  I actually ended up lining the back of our sitting room shelves with fabric too.  

If you aren't familiar with Stephanie's story or her work, I encourage you to check it out.  You won't be disappointed.  This girl has major talent and, as you now know, a huge heart.

Target Furniture Find

Lately, I've found Pinterest to be an amazing source of inspiration for decor steals and deals.  I found our Martha Stewart starburst mirror via my friend Amanda's (Amanda Carol at Home) Pinterest board, and then, my friend Stephanie (Cre8tive Designs, Inc.) pinned this settee from Target, which I promptly repinned to my "Yes, Please" board.

I'd been keeping my eye our for a bench or settee for our entryway, and at $249 (on sale), I couldn't beat the price for this Target piece.  I previously had my heart set on a settee from Anthropologie, but I was not prepared to pay $1,000 for it.

So, the Target settee won out.  I had it in our entryway, then moved it to the area under our stairs for now.  I could also envision it at our breakfast table, at the end of our bed, or in our sitting room (it's so versatile I reasoned with my husband).  It photographed more grey, but the Target picture is a better representation of it's true color- has more slate blue in it.

Then I added a lumbar pillow I found at Target over the weekend. 

The nailhead trim is a nice detail.  The settee itself is firm and will provide a couple extra places to sit at James' upcoming second birthday party.  

I'm always somewhat hesitant to buy furniture over the internet, but so far, my bed (from Overstock) and this settee, I'm really happy with.  

*The silver side table is from Homegoods and the vase is Target with botanicals from Pottery Barn. 

GIVEAWAY {Milk & Cookies Canada} Pillows!

The talented Misty of Milk & Cookies Canada is back with a GIVEAWAY for Honey We're Home readers!   Thank you Misty!  We adore your pillows and the affordable and designer fabrics available in your shop:) Check it out!

 

The new hand painted heart pillows are adorable!

Y’all are in for a treat because 

Misty is giving away one pillow cover ($20-$25 value) to one lucky reader!!

She is also providing a 10% discount for orders with

Discount Code:  HONEYWEREHOME.

The discount code expires on March 2, 2012.

To Enter

*Leave a comment on this post

*Visit Milk & Cookies etsy shop (leave an additional comment)

*Follow Milk & Cookies Blog (leave an additional comment)

*Like Milk & Cookies on Facebook

*Tweet, Facebook, or Blog about this giveaway (leave an additional comment)

*Followers/Subscribers of HWH get an additional entry (leave an additional comment)

The WINNER will be chosen via Random.org and announced on Friday March 2, 2012.

Dining Room Lamp Makeover

Slowly but surely I've been working on improving the look and comfort of our dining room.  Over the last several months we've added a rug, mirror, drapes and moved our console into the room.  I also played musical lamps and brought in lamps that were previously in our living room.   The lamps (from Homegoods) have a nice shape and height, but they looked bland against the similarly colored walls and linen chairs.  After seeing Cassie's (Hi Sugarplum) recent lamp debate and Janell's (Isabella & Max Rooms) glossy lamp paint job, I decided to paint these lamps to give them some personality.

I just taped a plastic bag over the parts of the lamp I didn't want painted. 

And chose a blue I thought would compliment the drapes.

 I spayed a thick layer of spray paint on the lamps, but didn't use any gloss.   What a difference!

Then I wanted to see how the lamps would look embellished with some ribbon.  I literally just taped the ribbon at one end because I didn't want it to be permanent. 

I like how the ribbon looks on the shade- but I think the color of the lamp and ribbon is too blue for the room.  I should've chosen a color with more aqua in it to compliment the drapes.  

I will probably end up repainting these since it's so easy to do and there is such a large array of colors of spray paints to choose from.  But I still wanted to show you this project in case you were like me and had never considered spray painting a lamp.  

So easy.  And check out all the fun spray paint colors I found recently at Lowe's.  Now I'm wandering around the house wondering what I can paint next.  You do that too, right?!

DIY {Mini Potted Plants}

With the gift of a few free minutes this weekend during James' nap time, I made mini faux potted plants.  These little guys are so cute and really easy to make, not to mention inexpensive:)  The mini terra cotta pots were only .59 cents each and the long garland was $8 with a half-off coupon.  The pots are less than 2 inches tall- so sweet!

The leafy stem pulled right off the garland- no cutting required.

I cut the potting foam to fit the pot and inserted several stems.

So easy!

Then I went around adding these bits of cuteness all over the house.  The picture below gives you a good idea of the scale of these tiny potted plants.  

I think these would also make great place settings for a spring table.  You could just write your guests' name on the pot in marker.  Super cute!

Happy Monday y'all!  p.s.  It's my B I R T H D A Y ! 

Starburst Mirror (Update to Master Bedroom)

It's a long process, but we are slowly but surely working on turning our master bedroom and sitting area from a dark, cold area into the sanctuary that we want the room to feel like.  I've been trying to lighten up the space and started by replacing our brown leather bed with an upholstered bed.

And in the sitting room, we need to go lighter too.

The sitting room has been totally neglected, except for lining the bookshelves with a silvery paisley fabric.  I haven't even styled the shelves yet!  And the NY bridge photo that was a gift for my husband felt too dark and rectangular for the room.  We need curves.  After pinning this Martha Stewart starburst mirror twice on Pinterest, I figured it was time to buy it!  It was only $35 and it's 30 x 30 inches, available at Home Depot. 

I know starburst mirrors are everywhere, but they were nowhere in my home, and I haven't tired of seeing them.  I think the mirror is a good size for the space and I like how the star of the mirror breaks up all the straight lines of the TV, windows and frames.   

I'm working on replacing the black frames with metallic.  I used two $5 frames from WalMart and kept the original mat.  I have two more that will go where James' photograph is now.  I also need to lower them. (hubby will love more holes in the walls:) 

We are getting there.

I'd love to relocate the leather chairs and replace them with something softer . . .