Spotlight: Hanging Glass Globe Display

I love the emergence of these glass globes I see everywhere! They are adorable, and can be used in SO many different ways.  Affordable too! One of my most favorite sites in the whole world, Design Sponge, featured a really great DIY project recently that uses a cluster of these glass bubbles.  Take a look at the end result:

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Beautiful! Click here to hop over to design sponge and read their detailed tutorial on how to create this beautiful display.  Wouldn't it look great if you added some recessed lighting in that board as well? Shiny tiny bubbles... now we're talkin'.

Or maybe a hanging display of... terrariums!  Hanging glass ball terrariums!  Wow - these things had me at hello. I LOVE terrariums - I've wanted to make one out of those huge wine jugs you see at the liquor store,  but I've never gotten around to needing several gallons of wine all at once. Plus, how would I manage to make a terrarium after that?  Maybe I should throw a party!  In the meantime, these glass ball terrariums are perfect.  They are big enough to hold a few cute plants, and small enough to not dominate the room. They make great  accents that would go nicely in any (or every) room. I've pulled up a few examples, in case you haven't seen them around.  Here's one from Butter Home:

 

Here's two I found on etsy stalker, from Still Lily:

If plants aren't your thing, here's another cute idea: sand and rocks. I also thought of candles, but then a friend of mine said he used candles in them, and they broke one by one, sadly crashing to the ground. Yikes! They're affordable but not that affordable.  So, I guess no candles...

 

These are from Mr. Sparrow, and have a less manicured look, which is also very nice.

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I can't wait to get my hands on some of these. I'd love to have a set hanging around the house - I LOVE plants. These seem to be readily available online, and in a lot of local stores.  Get creative and get our your green thumb.  If you don't have a green thumb, this is the perfect way to start! Terrariums are pretty easy, and if you get "air plants" they pretty much take care of themselves.  Worse case scenario, ditch the plants for a mini beach hanging in your house.  Have a great Monday - is that an oxymoron?  :) Send some pictures if you try this at home!

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Indio & Mid Centry Modern

Recently we took a trip down to Indio, California.  Every time I told someone where we were going they'd say "India?!?" in total shock.  While India sounds really fun, it's hardly a 4 day weekend kind of trip! Indio is just outside of Palm Springs, and most people will probably know it for it's crazy music festival in April, called Coachella.  We went to escape the cold weather of Northern California, get some sunshine, swimming and bbq in. We had a blast!

One of my favorite things about visiting the Indio/Palm Springs area is all the amazing architecture you can find. It's a mid century modern paradise, and totally reignited my love for the period.  I think we're pretty much set that in our next house (more on THAT later!) we will go with a mega mid century modern theme - and you know I'll document the whole thing for you to watch!

So I combined my refound love with my newfound love (pinterest) and came up with a lovely board of ideas, that I'm sure will be three times as big when I'm through.  If you're on pinterest already, click here to head to the board and check it out, and you can follow me there too!  For those not yet on pinterest, here's a snapshot:

And for a little extra eye candy from Palm Springs, take a look at this gorgeous hotel we passed by:

I'm in love! I think it's Holiday Inn owned (surprising!) and it's called The Saguro hotel in Palm Springs.  Here's a link if you want to check more amazing photos.  That first photo was our first view of the place, and they've done something I always wondered why other cinder block hotels didn't do. Paint those patios in different colors and shades! So much better than a massive grey building. What I love most about this hotel is the clean modern lines without having to go entirely minimalist and colorless. Very bright, very fun, and still very simple! Color will definitely be included in our MCM decor in the next house. If I lived in Palm Springs I'd probably take it to this level, no joke here people!  Hope everyone is having a great weekend, enjoy!

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School of Restoration: Striped Round Table

Hello again! Hopefully everyone had a great weekend.  We were down in Indio, California, and it was around 92 degrees midday, it was fantastic.  Today, my next tutorial in the "School of Restoration" series on The Divine Minimalist was posted.  Head over to their blog to check it out, or read ahead here. Enjoy!

Today's tutorial will involve mixing paint with wood stain on a tabletop, which is a favorite look of mine.  I love that juxtaposition! We'll be sanding, taping, painting and staining - so get you're gloves on!  For my table, I chose a round table that everyone has or has had in their house at one time, you'll see what I mean in the "before" shot. Take a look at our finished product though:

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DIY: Chalk Paint

There's been so much talk about chalk paint and how wonderful it is. I have yet to try it, but I'm about to.  First of all, seems like Annie Sloan paints and waxes are everyone's favorite, but they are from the UK and after shipping, we are looking at a very very pretty penny for a quart of paint.  Then I saw a lot of people are just making it themselves, this fits my budget and mindset perfectly!

I've heard chalk paint (like milk paint) has a really great finish.  It's great for ditressing, you can coat it on anything without a primer, yes - even over smooth glossy surfaces! It dries really fast, and is totally safe.  Cleans up with water, requires less coats, and most important - gives everything a really nice hand painted, artistic appearance.  I love the dull finish too, which can compliment a lot of bright colors really well. I really like that right now, bold bright colors that have a soft matte finish. I think it looks great without being the brightest thing in the room.

Here's the recipe that I am going to try, because I love plaster of paris & I have some more projects I need it for, so hey - a two in one purchase, right?  This recipe comes from this refinishing furniture site.  It couldn't be more simple:

"Simply combine the latex paint and the plaster until you are satisfied with its color. If the solution gets too thick, simply add some water."

That's it! Here I was thinking this was going to be a difficult procedure. Ha! There are a lot of recipes too, some use grout, some use glue and actual chalk. I'll be taking the easy route, but be sure to check out the recipes on their site.  For reference, here's another blog that made some of their own chalk paint and put it to the test: Shabby to Chic Designs.

Let's just get to the pictures, that's what we all want anyway (ha!):

 See that distressing?  It's very natural. The paint also has a very soft look, I love it. Photo courtesy of Shizzle Design.

Remember I said that it sticks to glossy surfaces? What's glossier than pumpkins and fruit.. i've lost many a sharpie to the glossy exterior of a pumpkin while carving at Halloween.  Photo thanks: Perfectly Imperfect.

I LOVE that red console table there. Came out really nice. If you have any tips or tricks regarding chalk paint I'd LOVE to hear them, as I'm about to embark on a whole new journey here. I'll post along the way! Have a great weekend!

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Featured on: Better After

A huge thank you to Lindsey over at Better After for featuring my striped table and dining set last week! I was surprised when I saw the feed come through my email.  Check it out on her blog, she even showed the magical 7 layers I pulled off of those chairs! I love the little quote at the bottom, "Holy. Crap." It really was crazy to find that much under there, and especially comforters!

Thanks again Lindsey, have a great day everyone!

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