Trunks, Trunks Everywhere!

A girlfriend and I did a little bit of browsing at a few antique shops around town last week and had a blast. One hot decor item right now is the "Trunk". I love this look and happened to pick one up a few years ago at a yard sale for drum roll please...........$10. Below is photo of the beauty in my living room.

I see these in Pottery Barn for quite a bit more that ten dollars. However, if you find one of these antiques for a great price buy it and run! These are hot!

Refinishing your old trunk

1. You can use a slightly damp cloth but let it dry for 24 hrs before moving to step 2.
2. Repaint any sections that you want to touch up with Acrylic paint. Black is a great accent on these old beauties. Let dry another 24 hrs.
3. Spray entire trunk with an acrylic varnish. I like a Satin finish. Let dry 24 hours and your trunk restoration is complete.

Trendy Cowhide!

I have always loved cowhide and it's hot right now! So I've been doing some research and this is what I found out.

Pottery Barn's new magazine has a cowhide pillow on the cover but it is $99. I knew if I looked hard enough I could find exactly what I wanted at probably half the price. Here is what I found.........................

http://www.thecowhidestore.com/ (Don't forget to check out the clearance section) Cowhide comes in a so many varieties that it is hard to choose which one to go with. They range from exotics to value pieces. The average Rugs are 6 ft X 5ft and the extra large ones are 7.5ft X 7ft. That's a lot of floor space.

I have categorized them based on your decor style and this is what I came up with.

Shabby Chic.....which are Salt & Peppered or Longhorn

Modern & Bold.......created pattern & dyed

Romantic & Warm.......Holstein, Exotic and Tri-Colored.

This is what I have decided on for my family room. It is going to look so beautiful and at $179, who can beat that? It will be here in 2-3 weeks. (CAN'T WAIT) I will post new photos when it gets in.

Etched Glass Look

Let's face it the facts; etching glass can be expensive and very time consuming. I have found an alternative with Uppercase Living?

They recently introduced a new "Etched Glass" vinyl. It is stunning and under $20 or less.

Here is a photo of a Monogrammed piece. To check out their website, click on the link to the right.

Melt My Heart

I found this fun craft article in the Wondertime Magazine last week and wanted to share it with you. I have two older daughters, 12 & 8 who love to do anything crafty with me. So I thought we could make these Wax Heart pendants up this weekend, just in time for Valentine's Day. If we have extras left over they will be gifts for Grandma & Friends.

All you need are crayon scraps (like who doesn't have those?), foil muffin cups, muffin pans, scewers, heart shaped cookie cutters & satin ribbon. Below you will find the link to the article from Wondertime.

http://wondertime.go.com/create-and-play/crafts/valentines-crayon-necklace.html

Below are the valentines pendants we made on Saturday! This kids really had fun coming up with new color combinations! Most of all we had a good time together!