We have a garden!
Well, not an official, traditional garden. It’s a patio garden. Despite the fact that we have a gigantic yard, I love the idea of having my flowers, vegetables and herbs close at hand. You see, all of Cinderella’s animal friends live in the yard and would no doubt devour I anything I plant. So until I get better at managing both the plants and the animals, I decided to go easy on myself and grow my plants as effortlessly as possible. In pots. On the porch.
True to form, I wanted to think creativity about choosing interesting containers to hold the plants. I just used two gray tall planters we already had for the Kordana roses and pink impatiens, a small gold pot I found at my favorite thrift store for the fire-red savlia flowers, an old martini glass I found at a yard sale years ago for the white impatiens, an old silver pot for my sweet basil and two pots left behind by our landlord for the Patio and Roma tomatoes. I found the little glass table in the basement, left behind again by our landlord as well as the silver pitcher and white tall pot, which I placed on the old plant table below the patio.
Volia! Patio garden sans the animals.
I was a bad daughter, granddaughter and daughter-in-law this year; I’m sending out my Mother’s Day cards the week after. Because I’m late I have to send handmade cards that are beyond. What better way to express my gratitude than with gold leaf?
It’s so very simple: crisp white card stock and gold leaf flakes. Glue paper in desired area, allow five to ten minutes to become tacky, then apply gold leaf flakes to glued area. Use application brush to smooth out the flakes.
Instant paper glam.
Posted on Frugally Sustainable.
I’m on a huge kick of discovering amazing interior designers. Enter Albert Hadley. I discovered him in Veranda magazine on a recent business trip. My eyes nearly popped out of my head when I read that he was born in Nashville and just passed away here in March. Veranda’s article on Mr. Hadley was short and sweet; a collection of quotes from his former colleagues and clients. Here are some of my favorites:
Louis Grunwald (client): Parish-Hadley was like a Renaissance guild where he really taught the people who worked for him. You could cite twenty big names who started off in Albert’s hothouse and went out on their own, from Bunny Williams to Brian McCarthy to David Kleinberg.
David Kleinberg (designer): He was incredibly generous with praise, making sure clients knew what our participation was.
Bunny Williams (designer): He was the most private man. Almost monk-like. He lived in the same simple apartment forever. He bought incredible pieces for clients, but for himself, he loved finding a piece of furniture on the street and having it painted by an artist.
My favorite kind.
I hail from a creative family in which many members enjoy and thrive on making something just out of what they have at their fingertips. I happen to be one of those members. There’s something very fulfilling to me about transformation and the elevation of simple things into a more powerful form than it’s original state or purpose.
I’ve been a little obsessed with painting the rooms in our house lately. So when I noticed that all of the colors I was looking at were so beautiful together, I decided to make a little art. I envisioned the color swatches in shades of dark olive, moss green, slate and deep gray accented with crimson cut into strips and gradually varied from darkest to light.
It was as simple as that. I cut the swatches into thin strips and glued them to a heavy paper in gradual variations from darkest to light. I overlapped each color with the next for a unified look.
It’s definitely not rocket science artwork, but I love the impact it has on our living room. It brings all the colors together harmoniously in a simple, graphic way.
Posted on Frugally Sustainable.
The next time you want to add some beautiful, rich color to your living room, kitchen or office, you don’t need to run to the florist. Look no further than your own backyard.
I love accenting my rooms with just branches from the shrubs that surround our house and grow in the backyard. We’re lucky to be blessed with a sky-high trees and lots of bushes, so I just take my scissors out and choose branches that have variations in color and height. Then I arrange them in urns and vases as varied as they are. Branches last quite a long time and look lush and shiny for weeks. It’s a very organic way to spruce up your living space for absolutely free.
Chic and free? Perfectly lovely.
Posted on Frugally Sustainable.
My absolute favorite thing about life right now is having enough time. A lavish, ungodly, unspeaking amount of time for doing basically whatever I want. For painting and cooking and cleaning and creating and shopping and, best of all, exploring with Mr. Stix. And hosting close friends who are in town for special occasions!
I’m a recovering urban addict, so I had covered up my desire for the simple life by trying feel important by staying busy. But I’ve found my true north, and enough space to do a lot with that time.
I love that the young wives in my generation are being drawn to the home but are not void of entrepreneurial ambition. A focus on home life is putting our perspectives where never should have left. I call these women domesticpreneurs. Very sexy, don’t you think?
If you’re even the least bit creative, you may have run into some of the same problems I have about the originality of your thoughts or projects. In a world so close to our fingertips, it can be daunting to feel like you’re producing something new and valuable. When I discovered “Steal Like an Artist” by Austin Kleon I had to buy it immediately. And I’m so glad I did. Austin has helped me understand that no idea is original and that it’s all up for grabs as long as the grabbing is authentic to you and your point of view. All of this is a process and it’s one to enjoy. Creativity will come out eventually as long as you do the work of creating something that resounds within you.
My recommendation: get it now!
In my search for a silky printed summer bag, I sampled the idea of transforming a vintage silk scarf into a delicious little hobo bag for the warmer months when I want to keep everything more lightweight. I’m sure you’re like me and love the prints on scarves but don’t have a huge need for them in your everyday style. This is a great way to effortlessly incorporate color and pattern to your look for little investment.
Posted on Frugally Sustainable
