GETTING CRAFTY FOR EASTER

Easter is four days away.  Here's a simple . . . and I mean simple idea for your Easter table.

I was inspired by an Easter picture (see below) I saw on Martha Stewart's website.

Image via Martha Stewart

While the picture described the egg decoration, I was drawn to the what was holding the egg.  Since I don't own any egg cup holders and wasn't going to buy any; I knew immediately I wanted to create a similar look to hold my decorative eggs.

I found gold colored, mini cupcake holders and used them to create my look.  You basically glue either ends of the cupcake holder in place (back to back).  Let it dry for a couple of minutes and voila . . . you have an egg cup holder!

 

decorative egg purchased at Pier 1 Imports

Gold foiled cupcake holders purchased at Michael's craft store

 

Stay tuned tomorrow to see my Easter tablescape reveal!

xo,

TURN IT UP TUESDAYS . . .Folk, Rock and Soul

 AMOS LEE

Amos Lee (photo via website here)

On this week's Turn it Up Tuesday is musician, singer-song writer, Amos Lee.

Lee was born Ryan Anthony Massaro in Philadelphia, PA.  He was a second grade school teacher and bartender before pursuing a musical career.  It was during his college yeas that he developed an interest in music and was inspired by John Prine (specifically, the album, Great Days).

Lee is described as a male version of singer, Norah Jones.  He has a folksy, bluesy sound with a country twang.  Lee's voice is soulful!  This is what one New York Times music critic described Lee:

"Amos Lee has a honeyed singing voice — light amber, mildly sweet, a touch of grain — and the tendency to feature it squarely, without much fuss or undue strain." (quote taken from here)

He is very passionate about his music and when he sings, you can tell it comes from a place deep within. 

Lee has recorded five albums.  The popular ones you may have heard are Violin and Arms of a Woman.

His fifth album recently released in October, entitled "Mountains of Sorrow, Rivers of Song").  Songs from the new album are: Johnson Boulevard and Chill in the Air.  You can also watch the album trailer Mountains of Sorrow, Rivers of Song

Here are some of my favorites from his different albums:

Mission Bell album:  Learned A Lot, Behind Me Now and El Camino (featuring Willie Nelson) and Jesus.  I love how they are all sitting around in a circle just singing and playing . . . jamming to the music!

Last Days at the Lodge album:  Street Corner Preacher  (great a sense of the mix of folk, rock and soul) and my other favorite song, Windows are Rolled Down
 
If you haven't heard of Amos Lee, I hope I've inspired you to add him to your playlist.

xo

DINING ROOM PROJECT (Part 1)

Last year (around this time) we completed our dining room project; adding crown molding, wainscoting, and trim to give the dining room more character.  Thanks to the inspiration from my fellow bloggers, this post is a two part series to the updates we did to our dining room. 

The first part of this dining room project was giving the room character by adding molding and giving the room a new paint color.  The original paint color was dark.  After four years, I was tired/bored of what I had and wanted a "lighter" look.  Looking for the right paint color was key.  I wanted it to flow with the rest of the existing rooms in our house.

I searched the web for inspiration ideas.  My inspiration came from Kate at Centsational Girl.  Kate's wainscoting project was her living room (seen here and here). 

Our project was a little different in that we didn't add any paneling to the existing wall.  It's a new house so we didn't want to rip up the base molding.  So, we added chair molding and my husband made picture frames for a wainscoting look; painting everything a glossy white (on the bottom). Adding a fresh new, lighter paint color made such an impact on the room. 

Here's a before shot of the dining room; along with photos of the project. 

Room color was Benjamin Moore Yorktown Green with a platinum glaze on top.

Walls have been primed, all furniture, windows and baseboard have been covered and ready for remodel

 Marking the wall, adding measurements to start making the picture frames.

Chair rail is up and top half of frames are in

Picture frames are done on one wall. 

Other side of wall complete. 

 

 

New wall color (custom color and similar to Benjamin Moore's Early Morning Mist and Stingray)

Dining room put back together days before hosting Thanksgiving!

 




A huge thank you to Kate @ Censational Girl for the inspiration!  For those of you who do not follow her, I strongly suggest you do. She is super talented and such a giving person. I don't know her personally but her blog speaks for itself.

Check back in tomorrow for Part 2 of this dining room project, where I share another added piece to this dining room.

TORY BURCH - NEW HOME COLLECTION





Tory Burch recently launched her new home décor line.  Some of the pieces in her collection were inspirations from her travels and her family traditions growing up. 

I'm really loving some of the pieces in her collection.  Although not a huge collection, you can tell the pieces in her collection are very personal to her. 

Here are some of my favorites on my wish list.  And, just in time for the holidays (hint, hint).



I think the three monkeys needlepoint pillow is sooo cute!  I love how she paired this with the rest of the design.

The leopard needlepoint pillow is also a favorite of mine.  I love the long eyelashes!



Really loving the acrylic ice bucket and coasters.  And, the brass wine opener so UNIQUE!

Here's a closer picture of the brass wine opener.  Pretty cool, huh?



Any man or woman would enjoy this piece to add to their bar collection.

Tory Burch's Robinson Nut Cracker. Named after her parents. Playing homage to her family's tradition
of shelling and eating nuts during the holidays.  The is hand-cast in brass with a signature "T" logo. 

 



Picture frames and brass box.  I don't think I've seen a brass box before now.






 

You can see Tory Burch's full collection on her website here.  What are some of your favorites?

(All photos taken from Tory Burch's website)