Wordless Wednesday

(Summer wedding! Congrats, Erik and Amber!)

I'm Still in Love With Turquoise

I may have run out of turquoise spray paint, but I'm still in love with turquoise, as is evidenced by the following...

Source: polyvore.com via Natalie on Pinterest

(Except I'd wear grey Toms instead of sandals, and I probably wouldn't have the courage to wear polka dots.  So not the sweater.  Especially since it has a bow, which isn't really "me".)

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Beth at Babyette is gorgeous, as is this lovely sling!

Source: thediydish.com via Natalie on Pinterest

Source: nattybydesign.blogspot.com via Natalie on Pinterest

Ok, maybe this (and the next one?) is blue.  Whatever.  I love it anyway.

Source: etsy.com via Natalie on Pinterest

Source: polyvore.com via Natalie on Pinterest

Source: insidetheloop.tumblr.com via Natalie on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Natalie on Pinterest

I have a necklace by this etsy seller with dark brown beads, and I love it.  It's really sturdy, AND when a bead broke (our fault all the way)  the seller was a total dream to work with and fixed it at no extra charge.

So... turquoise.  Just seems like summer to me!  :)  What colors are you loving right now?  Gray seems to be making a big splash right now, especially with yellow...

Pinterest-ing

Home inspiration board...

Style inspiration board...

I've been enjoying Pinterest... such a fun way to collect inspiration pictures and ideas!  :)  You can see my boards here.  I can't decide whether I need to have lots of specific boards - individual rooms of the house, for example - or just big boards of broader things, but either way it's working and I've found some really fun ideas to inspire future projects.  If anyone needs an invite you can email me or leave your email in a comment!

Also, Micah says I can paint our piano. Yesssssss.  But what color? 

paint it turquoise! paint it turquoise!

It wouldn't be fair to Martha to blame her for my recent spray painting spree, but I do just love this cover and since it has turquoise in it it seemed a fitting photo to kick off this post!

My husband recently bought me two cans of turquoise spray paint.  So far I have painted two lamps, two dinner plates, a glass bottle and lid, a few clothespins, a disposable diaper box with the flaps cut out (they make great storage bins, they even have handles!) and the lid to a kitchen canister.  :)

I had forgotten how relaxing it is to watch something transform with paint.

How refreshing it is to create something that will stay that way... unlike the good dinner or carefully made bed or folded laundry or clean dishes, all stacked in place.

Those things all have their own unique sense of satisfaction and accomplishment, but there is an added satisfaction, for me, in knowing that unlike many of my tasks which are done over and over and over, this will stay and look good (hopefully) and not revert to it's previous state.

 Although sometimes an undo button might not be such a bad thing, like when I accidentally did not cover quite enough of the sidewalk while painting the second lamp.  A friend suggested I spray paint it grey over the turquoise, but my husband objected that it might look as if I had covered up graffiti on our sidewalk.  I refrained from saying that technically he would be within reason to consider my spraying the sidewalk turquoise as graffiti, but I think he has enough reason to roll his eyes at my liberal use of spray paint without that, thankyouverymuch.

Anyway. Without further ado, here is one of my projects that I'm particularly pleased with.  I purchased a set of two of these lamps at a garage sale for $3 quite a while ago, and we've been using one as our office lamp.  I didn't like it, though, and I had originally planned on spray painting it all white... but then I had the turquoise... and I thought it would be really cheery and fun with it.

I have a quick tip for you if you're spray painting a lamp... if you have a dead light bulb (the one in our office lamp was dead - thank you procrastination!), then put it in/leave it in before painting.  It will save you the trouble of masking the round hole there to keep from gunking up the light bulb socket! I saved the turquoise bulb from the first lamp and used it on the second.

I love it.  :)  It makes me smile to see it, especially since I switched out the (rather staid) shade that had been on it with this funky one.  It seems to fit with the turquoise better.

Have you revamped anything lately?  :)  Do you think one can ever have too much turquoise?  And do you know of anything that needs sprayed turquoise?

'Cause I'm looking around my house persuading myself that everything I see does not need to be turquoise... or does it...

Also, if you haven't seen House of Turquoise... :)

The Night Shift

Love this! :) Happy Monday!

Some Favorite Children's Books

 Scuffy the Tugboat and His Adventures Down the River

I LOVE Scuffy. It has been one of my favorite read aloud books for many, many years... our copy is one I gave to one of my brothers many Christmases ago, and he passed it on to our little ones so it could give more enjoyment.  I love the storyline -  Scuffy is discontent where he is, so he sails off to find adventure, and then realizes that he really does need the man with the polka dot tie and his son, and wishes that he were back with them... and just as he is entering the ocean, which has no beginning or end, the man and his son scoop him up and he is safe again.

 

                                  One of our board book favorites is Barnyard Dance!  It was a gift to Nathan when he was born, and we've loved it ever since. It has a fun rhythm and shows all the different farm animals dancing.  It has a lot of "moo" and other animal noises, which makes it a toddler favorite, and the fun pictures also make it a good book to entertain the baby during church.

 "Bounce with the bunny.  Strut with the duck.  Spin with the chickens now- CLUCK CLUCK CLUCK!"


We also have another board book by Sandra Boynton called The Going-To-Bed Book- it is fun and is our current diaper bag book, for distracting and calming a wiggly little one in church or elsewhere. :)


It has a really fun cadence to it as well...

"And down once more, but not so fast, they're on their way to bed at last.
The day is done.  They say good night, and somebody turns off the light."


And of course, we love the classic kid books...
- Green Eggs and Ham,  Bears On Wheels, Make Way for Ducklings, The Little Engine That Could, Corduroy



As you can see, we're bookworms, and it seems to be passing on to the next generation!  I think we better get some more bookcases soon, because these are all  full already...  are any of these your favorite stories too?  Have any others we should put on our library/wish list? :)

(contains affiliate links, FYI)

Tweetering

Just a PSA that I've succumbed to the twittering. If you already have as well, you can follow me here.

As an aside, does anybody else think its creepy that people "follow" you? If I noticed people following me on the street, I'd be a bit freaked out...but apparently it's a good thing if they follow you on Twitter. Huh.

Great Giveaway at Amoretti!

If you haven't been following the Amoretti blog, hop on over there and check out the latest giveaway. A Carry On, Jeeves dishtowel (!), the book itself, and a package of Penguin Wafers (which look very tasty) in addition to a Skirty!

Quotable

Give a man a fish, and you'll feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he'll buy a funny hat. Talk to a hungry man about fish, and you're a consultant.
- Scott Adams

In Which I am a Super Hero...

You can entertain yourself making your own here. I have to say, though, I was a little disappointed that a laundry basket wasn't one of the choices for accessories... ;-)

p.s. This is all Jenni's fault. ;-)

Do you have rhinotillexomania?

I certainly hope not. But if so, here is a helpful guide from WikiHow, on how to stop picking your nose.

There are also insightful warnings included at the end, like this one-
"See your health professional if straight-talking and self-reasoning don't work. You might be suffering from compulsive nose-picking (rhinotillexomania) and this may need medical and/or psychological treatment and intervention, especially if it relates to a traumatic event in your life."

Now, this is FRIDAY news!

Hackers Crack Into Texas Road Sign, Warn of Zombies Ahead

How to sew baby shoes...

Doesn't this look fun? I'm just posting it as a way of filing it away for myself, so I don't loose it in the myriads of bookmarks I have. I think these would look so cute in a dark chocolate corduroy, and I bet it wouldn't be too hard to add some details that would make them look more like "real" shoes!

Jenni did this, and I realized that although this type of list has been floating around for a long time, I haven't. So here it is. Feel free to do it too... just let me know in the comments so I can read which ones you've done! Just boldface the items that you HAVE done, and leave the rest normal…

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain.
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch (is cheesecake an art? how about photography?)
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train (yes, but we didn't have overnight berths, so it was NOT very comfortable... plus the conductor came by regularly to see our tickets, waking us from our fitful slumbers)
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29 Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33 Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors (some of them, anyway)
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41 Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45 Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60 Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Gotten flowers for no reason
64 Donated blood, platelets, or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66 Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67 Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt (the top is done, which I think means I can count this one.)
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79 Seen the Grand Canyon in person (those of you who know me well will understand why this one amuses me... for the rest of you who don't know, I lived there for several years of my childhood)
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating (I've done part of this, I guess... I shot a deer, then helped later wrap up the steaks... I definitely missed the middle part there, with the evisceration, but I've done that with chickens many times so I'm counting this one anyway!)
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a lawsuit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Christmas decorating!

Meredith at Like Merchant Ships posted recently on decorating with what you have, and posted a lovely photo of her aunt's mantle, which was decorated beautifully and had glass cylinders with oranges and cryptomeria. When I read her post, I was amused by the similarities between her aunt's mantle and my piano top decorations! (Which aren't done, I'm going to decorate the wreath still, and add a table runner... and see what else ends up there!)

I had the cranberries already (I brought them home in a vase with flowers that had been a table decoration at a wedding reception we attended), and the way-too-tall-for-almost-anything candle, and the vase...
Of course, it looks better with the candle lit, at night, but my attempts to get a picture of it in that lighting were less than successful. :-)

Where Go the Boats?

by Robert Louis Stevenson


Dark brown is the river,
Golden is the sand.
It flows along forever,
With trees on either hand.

Green leaves a floating,
Castles of the foam,
Boats of mine a-boating—
Where will all come home?

On goes the river
And out past the mill,
Away down the valley,
Away down the hill.

Away down the river,
A hundred miles or more,
Other little children
Shall bring my boats ashore.