Opinions needed: Am I in over my head?

Hello and Happy Saturday!

  I don't usually post on the weekends... not that I am opposed to it or anything... I am just usually out.  But, this Saturday finds me at home with the monster... cleaning and trying to get the house a little presentable for a dinner guest tonight.

Ever since I came across this alphabet sampler, I have been a little obsessed... so obsessed that I sort of panic when it isn't minimized on my desktop for me to maximize and admire.

Mr. Hughes assures me that I am out of my league on this... I have never actually embroidered anything, per say.  But... you have to start somewhere right?  But, he knows my patience level pretty well.

So, what do you think... I know some of you embroider... is this crazy ambitious for a first time project?  I love it so!!!  When I first saw it, the kits had unfortunately sold out, so I would only be able to get the pdf.  Which adds a new layer of skill... transferring this to fabric.

So, please tell, me... what do you think?  

Have a great weekend!  Especially you dads that may be reading!

bye for now!

pdf pattern can be purchased here

A Secretary, a King, and a Duck

all walk into a bar and the Secretary orders.....

No, really this isn't a post about a joke.  This is more of a post about the pressing issues on my mind involving the furniture in my house that I love and desperately want to work.  I am seriously obsessing over this in between wondering if I have enough orange and aqua blue pom poms for the 2nd birthday coming up next week.  

Let's start with the Secretary.... that is pretty simple... I even think I know what colors Kate is going to be (isn't Kate a perfect name for a classy Secretary that greets you when you walk in the door?) 

Now, this isn't my classy lady Kate.... I don't have a before photo of her yet, but it gives you an idea of what she sort of looks like, but my girl Kate needs some work... 

And, if you read closely before, you read correctly "colors"  

We are talking special *just for me* colors, and maybe some vintage wallpaper or a fun color on the back of the upper cabinet.  This girl is staying... if you recall a long time ago, I mentioned here that I have been wanting one.... well, I found one while out looking for booth lovelies.  She was was in front of the now beautiful Collette. The guy even asked me what color I would paint her...I think she winked at me and whispered "make me pretty!"

And, a few days later, Mr. Hughes told the guy that he would be out to get her to shut me up (I made that part up, but that sounds like something he would say.)  She is now in the garage, just waiting for baby hughes to turn 2 and for my sister's kitchen table to be painted (I have priorities... and my monster and sister come before my desire to love this lady... plus, I need some time to find the perfect jewelry...)

Now, about that King....

(it is amazing about how many of my posts involve me obsessing over some piece of furniture... maybe I should see someone about this *wink*)

anyhow, back to the matter at hand.  The King...

this is actually a new obsession involving an old one...

(seriously, need  help)

These are 2 twins that Mr. Hughes found on craigslist to shut me up about the 2 cane and wood ones.  We thought we would hang on to them until we moved far away and lived happily ever after.  Well, kids, I just don't think that is happening anytime soon.  And, in the meantime, we could use a bigger bed and a new mattress... did you know 2 twins = 1 king....

So, last night, while Mr. Hughes was out, and I bribed the baby with a Handy Manny movie, I lugged 2 twins upstairs.  Yep... sure did! Mr. Hughes wasn't too happy about it... said some nonsense about me not being as young as I used to be.... what?!?

So, at about 9:30 pm, we constructed 2 twins in our room in front of our current queen.  And, I think it looked great.  Now, there are some technical aspects that will have to be dealt with to make this happen, but that is boring and lets face it, in my house, the Mr's job.

But, here is why I am hesitant...

A. (or do you prefer 1?) The bed will have to go in front of the windows... the headboards are low so hopefully it won't block too much.  I need the light.

B.  We will have to save a buy a new king mattress AND bedding.  I have a lovely duvet that I JUST bought last year.  And, I love it, so hopefully I can size up.

C. I have 2 wonderful, handmade by my Mommy, queen size quilts that she put a lot of time and money into... can I ask her to make me a king.?

Are kings really that much better than queens?  What about blocking that window?  I really do want to know what you think, but just know, I will probably do what I want.

The bright side to doing this is that the Tara could be my nightstand along with a Tara II for Mr. Hughes (that doesn't sound quite right.....)

So, all of THIS got me to thinking... I bet some of you have some pieces that you love, love, love.  And, that you would want to share....

so how about this....

I will do a post or a couple of posts with photos that you can email me with a short description or story about how you stole it from someone or how it was uglier than a kick in the shin at midnight (that was my dad's phrase... I think it lost something in the Spanish to English translation...) before you made it over.

So, if you want to participate, send me your stuff at 

michelle at vintagejunky dot com

 If you have a blog, be sure to send the link so I can link to you in the post... I thought we could so it this way instead of a McKlinky.  I would love to have them by August 12 so I could get the post together by the 16th (that's a Monday, Friday seems too obvious!)  Oh, and here are the rules (sorry) it needs to be furniture and it needs to be vintage.  Oh, and you have to love it!  If this is super popular, then maybe I will have to split it into a few posts.... what do you think... are you game?

Well, kids, that is all I have for you today!

Bye for now!

there was never a duck... just put that in for funsies

I Just Keep Adding to the List

We got the latest Southern Living at work yesterday and it was really pretty incredible.  They are becoming more like my beloved Cottage Living.  One photo in particular made me take the magazine home and scan it so I could show you a potential project:

First of all, amazing room.  But, this maybe the perfect solution to my 2 story foyer problem.  It is a big expanse of white and a little dull.  And, I have been tempted to put some mirrors or photos going up the stairs, but most things just get lost.  I really wanted to add wainscoting to break up the wall and white a bit, but I promised no major projects... I think that Mr. Hughes would consider cutting many miters to make up the little boxes like we have in the dining room major.  So, I am thinking about adding a picture rail on wall and doing this.  We are going to tack up a piece of molding this week to see if it looks silly just on one wall.  If it does, then I will find a place, either in our powder room or in the upstairs hall.

Then, during my daily blog reading, Little Green Notebook introduced me to Whitewall & Co.  I have been wanting to do wallpaper in a small dose for awhile now.  And, I had considered stenciling, but it seemed so....ehhhh...  Plus, I hadn't seen many I liked and I didn't know if I had the patience to do it.  But, these stencils are really amazing.  Take a look:

And, they have registration marks to make it easy to line up and do the pattern repeat.  So, this will be happening... maybe in the upstairs hall, maybe in our little water closet (knowing my level of patience, it will probably be the water closet.)

I just keep adding to my list...  I did go buy and get the paint for Baby Hughes' bathroom last night and Mr. Hughes found something out in the garage that I had forgotten all about and it is going to be perfect.  But, the pirate towels from PBK won't be in till February and they are one of the really important parts.  So, what are you working on....

Copy Cat

Photo from Mecox Gardens

I am sure some of you remember the lovely planter that I blogged about awhile ago. You can buy it here for $1950. Isn't it absolutely fabulous? The last time I checked though, I haven't one the lottery or put on a winter coat and found $4000 in the pocket ( I wanted 2!) So, I am hopeful that since I went and stole the photo and the idea that someone will buy them from Mecox Gardens. Everyone else can make the vintage junky version for about $40 each:

Do you like it? I can't really take credit for this at all, except for the painting. Mr. Hughes built them. I wish I could give you dimensions and a schematic, but he built one to the size we needed and then copied it. What I can tell you is that we used leftover wood from the deck, lion's head door knockers (about $7 each), and feet from antique bathtubs ($32 for 2 sets of 4.) Mr. Hughes built the planter and placed the feet at a 45 degree angle so that it would set level. He then used a cobalt drill bit to drill holes in the feet at an angle. He said that it was important that you drill the screws into the wood, but miss the prong that was originally used to attach them to the tub. Sounds confusing, huh? If you want to know more about this process, email me and I will have Mr. Hughes explain it better. He then screwed on the door knockers (we purchased these off ebay, but I have seen them at flea markets before.) I then painted everything a creamy white with the hopes that it will weather and the rust will come thorough and make the paint flaky. They are already rusting a little I may add a grey glaze to age it a little more. I will probably put a fern or a boxwood in them next year, but this is what we found that was big enough at Home Depot. So, I know this wasn't the best tutorial, I apologize. I will promise to try to take during photos next time!

Have a lovely weekend!

Creating a Chalkboard for a Lonely Spot

www.seejanework.com

Isn't this great? I was looking at seejanework and I found this great removable chalkboard. Removable sounds like the best part. But, the design maybe not quite what I was looking for. You see, I think this area in my kitchen needs love.

It used to be home to my beloved doggie's bowls. But, sadly, it is now bare. So I was thinking that I could encourage Baby Hughes' creativity from the very start and paint a chalkboard there. What do you think, those of you that have chalkboard paint on the walls? Is it a dusty mess all of the time? I have even thought about buying the magnetic paint to paint on first and make some cool magnets for him to play with too, but that paint is a little pricy for such a small project. And, I was thinking, if I am going to paint it, why not do it in this brackety design?

www.scrapsandmoredesigns.com

So what do you think? I am not usually this indecisive. I know it is just paint, but I just painted those cabinets. Still, it needs something.....

PS. In unrelated news, look what else I found on seejanework. Wouldn't these be the best wedding gift? Even though I am not a newlywed anymore, I may have to get these for our luggage.