An Inspiring Week

I missed my favorite parts of last week - Wishful Living and An Inspiring Week. And where I left off with "An Inspiring Week" wasn't all that fabulous. Hopefully this week you will agree that my inspiration is much much better. I've really been too busy this past week to do much of any crafting or sewing of my own, but I'm always on the lookout for adorable things that inspire me or simply put me in a good mood.

First on my list is this awe-some bed from the linen house. I want a bed like this so bad. One that just looks comfortable and inviting and says "come snuggle up on me and rest." It's one of those you know you could lay on in any position, snuggle the covers up under your chin, and be so perfectly comfortable. I am quite happy that we have upgraded from a wire-poking-you-in-the-back uncomfortable sofa bed to a king size bed. That's quite the blessing, really. But this bed here - oh this bed! I want you.

This is hillarious and adorable at the same time. I really think our Max needs one of these sweet bow tie collars. Most of the time I don't think our dog could get any more adorable, but then I found these and I changed my mind. He needs one whether he agrees with me or not.

I'm pretty sure I made something like this when I was a kid. It inspired me to start thinking like a kid again and look at everything from a creative point of view. I found it while surfing around on this blog.

While surfing around on this blog, I saw this lamp. It's delicious. I want it. I'm sure I could figure out how to recreate it, but for now I'll admire this one.

I thought these were super creative and it's the first crafty thing I've seen that I cannot figure out how to recreate. Therefore, I want one. If I can't recreate it, it's worth purchasing. :) Go to the site and see more of these cute things.

And last but not least.... something I shared on Twitter and Facebook earlier in the week. There is nothing cuter than this video. NOTHING. I still cry from laughing every single time I watch this (and I've watched it a lot!). Even if you take your eyes off the video and just listen to the baby laugh, it's still just as cute.








What inspired you this week?

An Inspiring Week

It's 9:45pm and I should be cleaning the house like crazy because my in laws are in town and want to come over tomorrow to see our new place. It's such a wreck in here. This is a lot more fun though, so here I am. :)

I don't know if it's the weather or the stress in my life but I'm finding it harder and harder to find inspiration in things. Maybe all of you should suggest some new blogs or websites that you think I might enjoy. In the meantime, here's what I've discovered that was worthy to share with you.

These cityscape stamps are lovely. I do not "stamp" for a hobby, but I am starting to really enjoy it and could see myself getting deeper and deeper into creating more things using stamps. I received a set of alphabet stamps for my birthday and I am loving them. It's so much fun to create little homemade cards or stamp names on things - like my daughter's valentines to her classmates. I could have so much more fun adding these to some cards or artwork.

While it's not really not something I can be creative with, this dress does make me want to cut loose from everything going on in my life and get all dolled up and have a night out on the town for no reason at all. I'm certainly not as spontaneous as I used to be, and at this price, I don't think I'll be planning that night out on the town any time soon. Still, it's gorgeous and I am coming up with so many ideas in my head of places I'd love to wear it. So I guess it really does inspire some creativity.

I'm still on the search for a way to make my bathroom completely perfect to my vintage tastes. I'm always on the lookout for the perfect (affordable) mirror and I may have found it thanks to this fabulous tutorial on creating your own "antique" mirror. What do you think?

before

after

And while I'm at it, I think this tutorial would be fabulous for creating some cheap but beautiful wall art. Wall art can be SO expensive, but finding the right frame at the thrift store, maybe a couple of coats of paint, and the right vintage or cheap fabric can bring you something beautiful for so much less than store bought wall art.

And umm... that's about it for this week. It's been a long week here on Birch Street but I have definitely been inspired to get out this week and see what catches my eye.



What inspired you this week?

An Inspiring Week

I've been completely out of sorts this week. You'd think being snowed in for a week, I would have found tons of things online that inspire me. But that's not the case. I actually struggled to find inspiration this week. What I did find, I think is really great, but wish there was a little more to share with you.

First up... is this recipe for Barbecue Chili with Corn. Why? Well other than the fact it sounds delicious, there are actually no bottles of BBQ sauce that go into this. The barbecue flavor is all in the ingredients. I'm sure there's some sauce in the can of beans, but not an entire bottle like I would have expected. It's also less than 500 calories per serving.

I've been making tons of these reuseable grocery bags from old tshirts and even some little purse/bags for my girls using their old shirts. It's kept me sane and hopefully I'll be able to sell some to make up for hubs not being able to work much this week due to the blizzard that rolled through and snowed us all in. How much would you pay?

This pillow is soooo adorable! One of these days I'll have great sewing skills like this... but for now I'm happy to have made my patchwork sewing machine cover. This pillow overwhelms me at the moment.

This Cow Bento would surely get my children to eat healthier, right? They do actually eat pretty healthy but there are days they get in these crazy moods and refuse all food and it makes me sad. This would cheer us all up for sure. I need a cow cookie cutter ASAP!

I'm pretty sure this patchwork chair from Urban Outfitters would be perfect for the little space we do have left for extra seating. I want extra seating in our living room so badly, but without putting the couch in front of the window (which I hate for so many reasons) there's just a little open corner for a chair. This would do the trick without sucking up floor space. And I love that it's patchwork which inspires me to sew more often. Alas, I do not have $250 to spend on it. It would be a splurge to spend $50.  I do have a birthday coming up and if anyone out there has an extra $250 to spend, I'll give you my address where you can have it shipped. :)

And um.... this is quite possibly the funniest commercial I've seen in a while. It brings me back to happy memories of my childhood. Even if it doesn't do that for you... it's soooooooooo stinkin' cute!







So let's hear it! What inspired you this week?

An Inspiring Week

Here are the things inspiring my creativity this week....

This website is hilarious. It also doesn't make me feel so bad about how bad the bad things about this house are. Sure, we may not be able to remove that ugly wallpaper - but it could be worse! This website features photos people use to try to sell their homes and it's just horrible! lol

I really want this tea towel calendar to hang on my wall in the kitchen. I remember my grandmothers always having cloth calendars on their walls. There are tons of them on this website, but this one was my favorite.

JJ Heller, recently bought some of this $150 wallpaper for her Phoenix home. I adore it so so so so much. It's like it was made just for me. Definitely wallpaper I wouldn't mind hanging in our home. But at $150 for a double roll, I think I'll have to vicariously live through JJ Heller instead.

My friend, Tasha, tweeted this picture of an adorable heeled shoe that I would really love to wear. It's available at Tulsa's Shoe Gypsy store. And at $95 a pair, they will probably never make it home with me.

 

 I cannot wait to start on a project like this Dahlia Flower Brooch. I may not get around to it by Valentine's Day, but it would make a pretty special Mother's Day gift, too. (Another fabulous find thanks to JJ Heller)

And in case you didn't see me post this video over on Facebook, you may view it now! This video gives me hope that I can do anything. Who knew kazoos could even sound like that?









What's inspiring you this week? I'd love to hear about it!

An Inspiring Week

I've found a lot of things that have inspired my creativity this week. Now I'm going to share them with you....

Although we don't have permission (yet) to switch out our tacky wallpaper, I am loving this one from Home Depot.

If I were ever to have another baby (which is impossible now) I think they would be wearing this all of the time. It even has a super cute hat and booties to match.

I really really want this Whale Tissue Holder in my house. There is also one in red (and other colors).

These rain boots were recently spotted on Suri Cruise but I want them for my girls SO badly. I could never afford a $40 pair of shoes though - for anyone in the family. And of course, I'd need two pairs so the girls could be the same. Actually, make that three because my stepdaughter would want them too. $120? Heck no. Can't do it. Not even for something this cute.

I'm taking a short break from my sewing business to learn how to make this. It's what I decided to use my vintage fabric for. So far I've screwed it up a few times, but I'm figuring it out by trial and error. I've never tried patchwork before, but I think I'm catching on.

  

Last but not least, have you watched this video? This guy found a roll of film and is looking for the owners of it. BEAUTIFUL pictures and I love how the guy in the video describes what the photos mean. lol I do hope he finds the owners of the film and creates another video about it.