Happy Pink Saturday!

Today I am participating in my first Pink Saturday  hosted by Beverly. Her lovely blog is called How Sweet the Sound and if you like/love PINK you must go there each and every Saturday for some pink inspration ( I almost wrote pink eye candy, but realized that didn't sound so good after all!! lol)  Personally, I don't have a lot of pink in my house but I am trying to squeeze it in where I can!

Anyways, today I am sharing about a simple window project I made into a little tutorial. You can read more about it here.....

Is it time to go thrifting???

Actually.... any time is a good time for thrifting in my opinion!

However, I tend to go thrifting in the morning after the kidlets have left for school and I have had a bit of blog browsing (with my caffeine beside me!) to inspire me.

Today was no exception. Here are my favorite finds of the day:

I am totally in LOVE with the carved wooden tray. At $14.99 I thought it was a fair price to pay for such a lovely piece. Now I need to decide if I am keeping it brown, or if I will paint it white....choices!!

This is the little silver metal souvenir. It even says made in France on the back, so I guess it authentic!! This little beauty is only 4" wide and I thought it would be light like the aluminum ones I have seen before...but this baby is SOLID!!

Last but not least, I found these cool vintage frames. I think I have a super cool project in mind for them, so I will share when they are done!!

Oh...almost forgot to mention my sweet little clock from the first picture. I have always hated the throbbing red glow of my electric clock....I am one of those people who like total darkness when I am sleeping and that clock seemed to burn through my eyelids! My hubby thinks I am crazy, but it's true!!

Anyways, when I saw this super simple battery clock I decided it was time to chuck the other one and go old school! Now... I only hope the alarm works. Guess I will find out Monday morning, right??

Blessings, 

Karen

For the love of white...have you seen this???

Maria over at Dreamy Whites (another relatively new blog in the blogosphere yet she has over 700 followers already...you go girl!) is hosting an awesome giveaway. 

It ends tomorrow, so don't miss out!

Forcing Nature

I am so tired of the snow and cold....I live in Edmonton and we had the coldest winter ever. I mean...seriously...we were colder than Siberia this year (honestly...check the records!!) and every day when I talk to my Mom she tells me how her daffodils will be blooming soon (hi mom) and that it is raining...again! Like that's a bad thing?? lol

So yesterday when I was at Walmart picking up kitty litter, I somehow ended up over in the craft section getting seduced by all the imitation flowers. I know...they look so cheesy (especially the ones at Walmart!) but at only $1.49 a bunch I couldn't help myself! I WANT SPRING!!!

So for those of you who are winter weary...you fully have my permission to force nature and buy some instant spring....these little snowdrops just made my day.

I finished painting the green mirror I got thrifting the other day. I just didn't seem right to leave it emerald green!! Oh...and I do have other walls in my house so this blog will not feature only my living room!! lol Right now, it is just the most "convenient" spot to take photos (um yeah...did I mention I have three boys? Need I say more?)

I am sharing this over at Faded Charm's White Wednesday.

Come join me!

Inspired changes....

Yesterday I posted about a happy accident I had while re-arranging furniture in my living room.

Well....I liked the chair there so much I did a total re-do of that side of my living room!! 

I was given this old jam cupboard from a very nice elderly couple I met on Kijiji and had planned on re-painting it. However, once I hauled it from the garage into the living room I actually kind of liked the soft, buttery color it already was. So....with a little LOT of elbow grease I managed to get it cleaned up (it looked like some of the jam somehow exploded all over the front/sides of this cupboard....and I'm not talking about the inside yet....yikes!!)

Anyhow... I moved a second chair over to flank the other side of the cupboard....I am terribly anal about symmetry (blame my engineer husband for that one!!) I am not completely happy with the arrangement on top yet,  I quickly grabbed a pair of silver candlesticks and a milk glass compote I had sitting nearby so I could take a photo before it got dark!! Anyways, I will probably work on it a bit more so I have something to post for White Wednesday.

This will be my next challenge....it is the OTHER side of the living room wall. I have never been really keen on the Ikea stuff...too modern for my taste but it has served it's function as extra storage in the front entry. 

The schoolhouse chalk board is an antique I found when we lived in Vancouver (for just $5) and could really use a new coat of chalkboard paint as it is very difficult to write on. 

Here is the TO DO list:

1. Move out all furniture

2. take down chalk board

3. fill/sand holes in wall

4. paint wall (maybe a soft blue...

or taupe to be safe!!)

5. move dresser from living room into front hall

and then the fun part begins.... figuring out what to fill the wall with!! I really like the whole "empty frame" thing I have seen on a few blogs....or maybe a mirror (maybe that green one) with an arrangement of mismatched saucers....or maybe the chalkboard again....TOO MANY IDEAS!!

I think I will need to go dig through my idea files and see what I can come up with.

Until then...see you tomorrow!

Karen

For the love of weekends....

Rarely do I get to have such a relaxing weekend. 

Saturday morning we did a little thrifting with the family. 

Our boys love this family sport  activity as much as I do! I found a cool mirror (only $9.99 for the front entry I think) that will be getting a new paint job today, as well as a pair of cowboy boots I have been hunting for (a steal at $14.99)

 I was pretty pleased with my finds.

On Saturday evening I hosted my monthly Bunco group and we shared a huge chocolate fountain 

with all the fixin's in between rounds. I have never eaten so much chocolate in my life and now I think I won't be touching the stuff for a few weeks! I moved some of my furniture around to accommodate the dozen ladies who were coming over and found a new vignette that I had to take a photo of....I love what happens when you find a surprising new arrangement by accident!

This striped chair is from my dining room. It is from a set we found on Kijiji and they were originally stained with ugly southwestern type fabric on them...they begged to be painted & re-covered! I used Ikea "Lenda" fabric (it reminds me of linen but much less expensive and with kids, they may need to be re-done a few more times!!) and then painted "feed sack stripes" on them.

Now I see I need to add a bit of artwork or maybe an arrangement of white plates in that empty spot on the wall. Will it compete with the stripes?? Or the other photos?? How much is too much??

After the late night (ok...1 a.m. is late for this gal!), I had a truly lazy Sunday. 

In the afternoon, I crawled into bed with a huge stack of books...

...and when I got sleepy I took a nap.

Pretty glorious!

White Wednesday

Today is my first time playing along with Kathleen's White Wednesday theme over at Faded Charm. Since this is a brand new blog, I obviously have lots of things you have never seen before, so I will just show a few (and that way I can stretch it out over a few weeks worth of pics!!)

This is a small part of my white collection housed in my china cabinet....I love all the curves.

I also love old suitcases...they're not only great for extra storage room, they make a great little table! The white enamel pitcher was a Christmas gift from my hubby this year!

I admit I have a weakness for little ceramic pitchers, too...and I can't seem to leave a thrift store without one (or two!)

Hopefully tomorrow I will have an update on one the little tables I have been working on!

Blessings, 

Karen

Anticipation!

....coming to a book store/grocery stand Feb 23, 2010

144 pages of scrumptious flea market finds that

are sure to make my knees weak!!

I can hardly wait!!!

Somehow we always come home....

...with things like this in the back of our truck!!

lonely little table....this one screams RETRO RED to me!!

This is definitely going to be a white shabby chic piece

This is a sweet little table...maybe a robin's egg blue?

Ron and I had one like this when we first got married, but over the years (and many moves later) we left it behind. It might be hard to part with this little vanity when it is re-done!!

This awesome bench is an Ethan Allan piece that has seen better days as far as the finish goes. All together, we got two of these, and two armchairs along with a mortise & tenon type table that seats 8. This was the only set we paid for and even then we got all 5 pieces for only $50!!

Now the hard part will be deciding which project to start on!!

Introductions please....

Wow....the first post on this shinny new blog. I only get to do this once!! I suppose that I should introduce myself. My Name is Karen and I will be writing a blog about my business venture with my wonderful hubby, Ron. We are calling ourselves Urban Whyte. Together we will upcycle all sorts of furniture into cottage pieces and once-of a kind treasures. Onward we go.....paint brushes in hand!!

Karen & Ron