So Pretty.

Okay, friends.  This is a benchmark moment for me.  My first blog giveaway!  My palms are sweaty, I want this to go well.. . . 

I’ve recently had the opportunity to learn about a great company making beautiful hand-made jewelry and giving back for a great cause. It's called Jewel Kade! (Have you heard of it?  Maybe you saw it on Ellen or The Today Show?)

Well, It’s a wonderful company started by a creative gal in Alpine, Utah.  The jewelry is adorably vintage and it's all hand made right there in the Utah studio! (a.k.a Not China!)

 I mentioned they give back for a good cause…it’s true!  Five percent of sales from the JK Cares Line goes directly to the National Breast Cancer Foundation or the American Heart Association.  No kidding!  I love a company who is about doing good, don’t you? 

So, my friend Holly has so generously offered to provide a Jewel Kade piece for my first ever blog giveaway!!! 

(I know!  it’s very exciting for me too!)

Take a look at this adorable St. Patty’s Day Charm…

(Swarovski crystals, ladies, .bling! bling!)

This beautiful charm comes with a lead-free pewter ball chain and a sweet crepe ribbon necklace.  Two ways to wear! 

So Listen up, this part is really important. . .

what to do to enter to win. . . 

1.  Follow The Nook. There are 3 ways to follow. up at the top of the side bar.   Leave me a comment and let me know that you are following.

2. Visit Holly's Jewel Kade page here. Leave me a comment and tell me what item(s) you just love!

3. "LIke" Jewel Kade's facebook page and leave me a comment so I know you did!  

There you go! Get to it! I'll be randomly picking a winner soon so that "lucky" person will have their charm to wear on St. Patty's!  No pinching!

xx

Shan

ps: if you're an out of town reader...I'll happily ship to you for free.

A Little Before and After and After

The urge to be crafty really comes and goes. . . 

Recently it came, so I took advantage and got some stuff done! 

Have a look at this... I found a pair of vintage Flex Steel club chairs on Craig's last spring.  They are super cute and retro "as-is". . . 

...

. . .but the fabric is pretty dirty and gross.  Plus, I wanted them for projects. So it was out with the old and in with the new. . . Charcoal Gray. . . 

This was my first ever "chair-with-a-cushion" project.  By the way, cushions are the devil when it comes to upholstering.  Cushions and staples....THE DEVIL.   But in the end the chair turned out pretty good and it sold in a flash on Craig's.   

(Maybe I underpriced?  No worries, I have another one.  Won't make that mistake twice.)

Wondering what I should do with chair #2...I'm taking suggestions...and orders.

*   *   *   *

This one is just an After.  

I didn't get a before shot. sorry.  

My friend, Jess is having a baby girl. (awww.) She had one of those gliding rockers. . . you know the ones that are super practical, but kind of a dud for the eyes?  Well, there is something you (or I) can do about it. 

Have a look....

Just a couple of yards of cute fabric and voila!  Just a touch of pink.  So sweet! 

xx

Shan

Ps..  Can't wait to show you what I'm working on right now. . . 2 words: Orange Velvet.

PPS.  My first Blog Giveaway is on deck!  Stay tuned!

Coffee Table Styling

So, for the past several years I've had this big beautiful coffee table that was so graciously given  to us by Ryan's parents.  I've always loved it.  However, for the past couple of years that we've lived in our house I've felt like the table was just too big for our living room...it sort of was the living room.  So, I posted it on Craig's. 

 Today I said my goodbye and sent it to it's happy new home in...wait for it....Dallas.  Weird, I know.

  {I've done a lot of dealings with Craig's List, but never had anyone 1000+ miles away want my stuff.  it's a crazy story...maybe worthy of it's own post some day}

Anyway, also through the magic that is Craig's List I have acquired my dream coffee table which has been sitting in my basement for no less than 2 months waiting for me to sell the monster.  

Well, this exciting transition  has got me thinking about coffee table styling.  It's a tricky thing, no?  Especially when you've got kids.  There are a lot of different ways you can go...

Organized Clutter

Bookworm's Paradise

Less is More...aka Minimalist Paradise.

The truth..the sad reality, is that I really only have 1 choice:

Unorganized Clutter and Tiny Fingerprints...otherwise known as "I Have Kids, Therefore, I Only Get To Enjoy a Styled Coffee Table after 8pm."

But, I will share with you some of my favorite inspirations for coffee table styling...

I love this rustic industrial cart...The aqua tray add great accent color. The vintage typewriter is whimsical.  And I love succulents...living things that require virtually no maintenance from me.  

Again...industrial meets rustic.  I'm always a fan of glass jars filled with pretty things.

This one' from Pottery Barn (PB can do no wrong in my book.)

Everything in this next one is perfect.  The tidy piles of books say, "I read and I'm organized."  

PS.  That chair is killing me. 

Love....

...just kidding. But don't you feel bad for the fish in the end table?  Like they weren't good enough for the coffee table....always dreaming of making to the Big Time...poor things.

I have always admired a deep tufted, upholstered ottoman-style coffee table..but there is no way I can pull this off right now. I would like to make one for someone else though.

Ah. This one actually looks a lot like my new table....again, rustic. industrial.  wonderful.  and I love the forsythia branches!  

Again...a lot like mine, but square.  Perfect for a larger room.  I like the bowl of mossy stuff.

This last one is very pretty.  A group of nesting tables.  Looks like bamboo, but painted in a silver metallic.  Very simply styled.  I love the burst of color from the flowers.

Now, if Ryan would just get home and help me carry her up from the basement, I could get started on my After-8pm coffee table styling...

Love,

S

PS:  Love one of the coffee tables above?  You can find all the links to the original sources here...on my For the Home board over at Pinterest!  

Peek-A-Boo!

Hey friend, there’s a fox in your pocket!

Just made a little something for my nephew…he’s almost one!

Book Review!

 Hey, I just finished another book, that I think you would like...especially if you are a dog lover.

It's called The Art of Racing In the Rain, and it looks like this...

 

I have never read anything else by this author, Garth Stein, but I will tell you that I really enjoyed his style.  The pages turned effortlessly, which is just the way I like it.

So, the book is not about dog racing...in the rain, as the title may suggest.  

It's a wonderful story of a man, a race-car driver {there you go, guys}, his beloved dog, Enzo,  and their life together.  A life full of victories and tragedies.

The narrative voice is the dog, which I originally thought would be, well...dumb, but it wasn't at all.  It captured my heart....and it made me want a dog...more than I already do.

I think you should read it...it's a great casual, recreational read and it won't take long.

I give you 2 pieces of advice...

1.  Kleenex...{I'm a crier and there are a few tender moments.}

2.  Heed the advice that was given to me when I started...."when you get to the part about the zebra, you are going to want to quit, but don't.  Just get through it. "   Good advice.  The Zebra part was....weird.

Happy Reading!

Love,

S

Homemade.

This past Christmas I decided that rather than buying the girls more toys, which I knew that they were going to get loads of anyway, I wanted to make them something to play with. 

Do you cringe at the idea of homemade toys?  

Did you have a bad experience with something your parents slaved and toiled over just to have it wind up in the lame "toys-I-never-play-with" box?

Actually, I do have one memory worth mentioning...

So, my older sister has a September birthday.  One year {I don't even remember how old we were}she got a Cabbage Patch Doll for her birthday.  This doll was beautiful and I was jealous!  

Kelly{my younger sister}, were you as jealous as I was?

I think that the biggest part of the beauty of this doll was that it was BRAND NAME.  AUTHENTIC.  It had a signature on it's behind and it came with a birth certificate!  

Zip forward 3 months to Christmas....I don't remember doing it, but I must have made my desires clear because I was in the middle of opening a present I knew was about to change my life...I was becoming a mommy..sort of.  And there she was...my first Cabbage Pat...wait a minute!  What is this?  A homemade Cabbage Patch Doll???  

Oh no you didn't just give me (and Kel) a knock off!  

...looking back, I am ashamed that I was so ungrateful.  Someone {not my mom or my grandmother, by the way} stitched that doll together carefully and probably lovingly.  And I rejected it.  What a BRAT!!

Anywho...Homemade gifts don't always go over too well.  But, allow me to redeem my childhood self, and tell you that some time later my dad crafted us some awesome couches and chairs for our Barbies and I played with them endlessly.  I wish I had known to save them....they were quality construction.  

So, back to the present day. I decided I wanted to make the girls a front loading washer and dryer and I wanted to do it on a shoestring budget.  

I scoured Craig's List and Goodwill for the pieces to be the basic shell of the miniature appliances...here's what I found...a couple of laminate book cases at Goodwill.  $11/each (which is actually a little more than they are worth...can one haggle at Goodwill? {I was too shy to try.}

I knew that there were plenty of tutorials out there on how to paint laminate furniture, so I purchased them, despite the fact that they were the wrong color.

**Note: I do wish I had spent a little bit more time on the process of painting the laminate.  It is crucial to get this step right or they will chip and scratch...which may very well happen anyway with kids...**

I had a little bit of MDF {medium density fiberboard} from some previous project that I used to make doors and control panels.  I also had some paint left over from previous projects.  Finally, I had 2 sets of casters {wheels} from some Rubber Maid storage cabinets that I never put the casters on.  

Perfect example of how "I think I'll save this seemingly worthless thing..I might be able to use it someday.." is totally valid.

Supplies I bought:  Hardware including hinges, door pulls and these little latchy-catchy things that hold the control panels on and the doors closed...$12 for all, a couple of frosty glass round trivets from the dollar store...$2. I also walked the aisles at Lowe's to try and find some kind of trim pieces for the fronts...I can't even tell you what they are or what they are for.  What I can tell you is that they were originally black and they cost $2.50 each...so $5.

Me, my jigsaw and my friend, Jon's power drill donated our time.  FREE.  

First, measured and cut out the doors and control panels.  Then I traced and cut a circle in the middle of the door for the window.

Then I painted.  I used some oil based paint on the inside since I knew it needed to be super strong {kid proof?}. The lavender for the outside is a mixture of a light silver gray and pink that I mixed together.  

After everything was good and dry, I glued the trivets on for the windows, screwed the trim pieces over those and attached all the hardware and casters.  

{selecting and attaching hinges and latchy-catchy things is a little bit complicated, but it's boring and tedious, so I won't go into it.}

The final step was to put some details on the panels. I used some little wooden crafty pieces for the knobs.  

When it was all done they came out looking pretty good! I was happy with them and the girls loved them...still love 4 weeks later...let's hope it lasts.

Love,

S

PS: I did eventually get a real Cabbage Patch Doll with the signature on the behind and the birth certificate...but I don't remember anything about it, not a single detail.  

Next Stop, Memory Lane

A couple of months ago I was at our Trinity Church worship gathering and the were playing Keith Green....

woah!  Blast from the past!  

Care to guess my age?

Keith Green was actually my parents' music.  But, I grew up hearing it at our house.  I told Ryan how nostalgic I got listening to this music, so he bought me a Best of Keith Green album.

{born in '79}

Okay, this music is pretty cheesy...but it stirs something up in me.  Something so sweet and familiar...like Muppets, and Fraggles and Annie....sigh, sweet memories.

Anyway, listening to Keith Green reminded me of something from when I was a kid...my parents had records...vinyls.  And one of Keith's records had a picture of his wife, Melody, on the back. It looked like this...

Do you know that I SWORE that was my mom on the album?!  

And why was she making a finger cross with that furry man?

This is why I thought that....

This is my mom in high school...isn't she pretty?

Well, needless to say, I was pretty glad that things didn't work out with the furry man and she married my dad so that me and my sisters could be born and listen to Keith Green's, So You Wanna Go Back to Egypt, while dancing around like goof balls. 

Kids have funny minds, don't they?

I have a lot of these good memories from my childhood...do you?

Love,

S

**UPDATE:  my mom just told me that I thought that John Oates of Hall and Oates was my dad!**

Interior Design 101

Do you know what a crémone bolt is?

It's a long piece of door and window hardware {french origins} with a latch at both the top and bottom.  When the lever is turned it releases the latches at both ends, allowing the door or window to open.  

crémone: pronounced kre-mone.  

Aside from it's practicality, it is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful pieces of functional hardware there is.  It says, "look at me, I'm French...therefore I am lovely."  I think it's one of the best examples of form and function married in a perfect union.

If you see one...appreciate it.  

It's not something you'll come across all the time...unless you spend most of your time in historic landmarks.  

crémone.  très magnifique!

Don't Rock the {zucchini} Boat.

Last night I took a chance in the kitchen.  

Lately I have been trying to cut the fat...vis-a-vis cutting the carbs.  

By the way...I {heart} carbs.  

{sniffle sniffle}

Here's another thing...I don't really love veggies.  It's not that I'm against them, but I just don't prefer them. But I know I need to eat more of them, so this recipe was an attempt to get more veggies in me. 

I was surfing around on one of my favorite sites...it's a very {P}interesting site. I found a recipe that inspired me to try something...stuffed zucchini boats.

Here's how it went down...

Grab 2 medium zucchinis.  

 Maybe just a bit smaller than that.  Actually, this is what happens when you give up on your zucchini plant...it makes monster zucchinis.  Fact: After about 15 minutes of  grating that bad boy I had enough zucchini for about 12 loaves of bread!  Not.Too.Shabby.

Give 'em a good scrub, cut off then ends and slice them in half lengthwise.

Using a spoon, scoop out the seedy part, creating a boat.
You'll put the filling the boat.

Place them face down on a shallow pan in just enough water to cover the bottom of the pan.  

Bake them on 350 degrees for about 15 minutes while you prepare the stuffing...

Then I made a mixture of meats, savory spices, and vegetables.

For 2-3 zucchinis (5-6 boats) I used a combination of...

1c. ground turkey browned with garlic and onion (I used minced/dried onion this time)

1c. browned Italian sausage

{I had the sausage for something else...
for a healthier version, just do a second cup of  ground turkey or lean ground beef, but be sure to season it with Italian seasonings.}

1/2-1c. sauteed mushrooms  

{I'm sure you could just throw the mushrooms in with the meat while it's browning to save yourself some time and dirtying another dish}

**you can get a creative as you want here...maybe throw in some tomatoes, peppers, turkey pepperoni, Italian croutons, whatever!**

1/2c. savory tomato sauce, marinara, or pasta sauce...again, whatever!

Note: This stuffing is a great "make ahead".  Brown 1lb. of each of the meats and some extra veggies and throw it in a freezer bag for another fast dinner!  

DING! 

 Zuchs are done!  Don't turn off the oven!

Drain the water from your pan and turn the boats right side up.

Fill each boat with the stuffing mixture.

Top off your boats with a sprinkle of mozzarella or whatever Italian cheese you like.

Back into the oven for 15 minutes to heat and melt the cheese.

DING! Here's what you have....

I wonder if my kids could be tricked into eating something that I called a "boat"?  Doubtful.  

You know, this would be a great summer dish when you can just grab a pair of zuchs from your garden!  

If you try the recipe...let me know what you think.

Love,
S

Transform

How about a little Before and After?  I love a good transformation.  Don't you?

 First, a little back story...Last year right around this time I got this itch to learn how to reupholster.  I posted about my first project here.  I've done a few things since then, including refinishing a large antique buffet, which is actually one of my very favorites.  You can see it here.  I love to find pieces that need a face lift and transform them into something pretty and new. 

{...and then sell them. I don't have room in my house for this stuff.}

It's fun and it allows me to be creative.  

Have a look at a small sampling of my pet projects....

Before..nasty, dingy, gray

After..glossy and bold.  {Go Colts?}

This next chair had such an interesting shape. I had to transform it. 

Before...

{the real before is that it was cane...that needed to be re-caned.}

I added the plywood....

 padding....

 and fabric. 

Then I furniture waxed her up and voila....

One more.  

These little cuties I found while running in my neighborhood with my friend, Holly.  It was dark and rainy and I spotted these little treasures in someone's curbside trash pile.  After our run, Holly helped me load them up in the van, which felt a little like weird, like pillaging.  Still..I took them.  Their loss, my gain.

 I've done a lot more. And there are plenty more projects to do.

{Ryan *claims* that I have 7 chairs in the basement waiting for a new home...}

Happy Long Weekend, friends!

Love,

S

Channeling My {inner} Beyonce

So listen to this...This month I celebrate my 1 year Zumba anniversary!  Exciting!   If it hadn't been for a group of my girlfriends dragging me to this class, I'm sure it would have never happened.  I could never really visualize myself strutting about and dancing in front of...well...anyone!  I usually do my exercising ALONE.  But the girls got me to go and now I love it!

When I Zumba, in my mind I like to think I look like Beyonce or  Britney in one of those epic dance sequences...flawless in my steps and absolutely no part of my body {that isn't suppose to} is jiggling...

Do you remember that episode of Seinfeld when Elaine danced at the party and she thought she had great moves, but really she was terrible?  Yeah, I think that episode might play out in my real life every Monday night.  :) hehe. {Thank goodness we are in a high school gymnasium, which means NO MIRRORS!}

But after it's all done, I'm a sweaty mess, which is, after all, the point.  

Regardless, it's been a year and no one near my has fallen on the floor in uncontrollable laughter, so that's good.    I'm going to stick with it.  It's a great work out and really fun. 

I will say, not all Zumba classes are equally good...it has a lot, no, everything to do with the instructor.  My instructor, Jess, is amazing.  Right now, she's preggo and it's just the cutest thing you've ever seen!  She choreographs most of her routines and she uses great music....some of the songs are even my guilty pleasures...I mean, when else would it be okay for a girl my age to "get down" to Britney Spears and Nicki Minaj?   

So, if you are an Indy friend, join me!  Your first time is free!!  And if you're not an Indy friend, find some Zumba in your neighborhood and give it a try!

Love,

S

Celebrate.

Last night we celebrated Desi's 3rd birthday!  Her birthday is actually New Year's Eve...which we spent in the van on the highway.  {sorry, Des}  I suspect she's always going to have to settle for a post-birthday celebration.  

But, last night we had a good time with family.

Happy Birthday, Desi!  You are growing up fast.

Review

Anyone looking for a good read?

I am a what you might call a "binge reader".  Meaning that go through phases when I am obsessed with reading.  I can't get enough of the words, you know?  And then after I've had my fill I just stop.  And maybe I won't pick up a book for months...Am I weird?  Well, I think I might need to loosen my belt, because I can feel it coming on...

A little over a week ago we loaded the kids into the minivan and headed out on our annual post Christmas road trip to the land of our childhood...St. Joseph, Missouri.  I'm sure you've heard of it.  No? Ok.  Well, Ryan (my guy) handed me a book and told me I should, no, MUST, read it.  So, I obliged and packed the book away for the trip.  

This book was SO. GOOD.  I loved it!  I actually read it in about 5 hours!   I'm going to tell you a little bit about it.  I hope you'll get yourself a copy and read it too.  I don't think you'll be disappointed...

Shall we get on with it?  yes?  okay, here we go...

The book is called A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller.  

(Maybe you've read him?  Blue Like Jazz?)  

It looks like this...

Synopsis...in a nutshell...

After the success of Donald Miller's, memoir, Blue Like Jazz, the author, himself, is approached by a team of screenwriters (one of whom I visualize as Leo from That 70's Show.) who want to write a movie about his life.   As Don learns what elements are necessary to create a great movie story he realizes that those same elements are what can make a great Life Story as well.  Inspired not to live a boring life, Don sets out to create memorable moments in his life story.  Hiking the grueling Inca Trail in Peru, cycling across the United States for the cause of Clean Water and facing a lifelong fear of finding his absent father, are a few of the inspiring moments that Don shares with readers.

There are a couple of reasons that I loved this book.  

1. Donald Miller is an excellent writer. Funny like a close, personal friend one moment, and seriously insightful and wise the next.  The best of both worlds, wouldn't you say?

2.  The whole point of this book!  Inspiring me to make more of my Life Story than a series of mundane moments.  AND, I want my kids to have exciting Life Stories too, so until they are able to write their own stories, I'm responsible for theirs too.

May I treat you to a few of my favorite selections?  Enjoy...

If I have a hope, it's that God sat over the dark nothing and wrote you and me, specifically, into the story and put us in with the sunset and the rainstorm as though to say, "enjoy your place in my story.  The beauty of it means you matter, and you can create within it even as I have created you."

You can call it God or a conscience...I believe there is a Writer outside ourselves, plotting a better story for us, interacting with us, even, and whispering a better story into our consciousness... 


...the Writer, who was not me, was trying to make a better story, a more meaningful series of experiences I could live through.


...when you are a better character, your story gets better too.
I began to realize the stuff I spent money on indicated the stories I was living.  By that I mean the stuff I spent money on was, in many ways, the sum of my ambitions.  And those ambitions weren't the stuff of good stories...


The ambitions we have will become the stories we live.  If you want to know what a person's story is about, just ask them what they want.  If we don't want anything, we are living boring stories, and if we want a Roomba vacuum cleaner, we are living stupid stories.  If it won't work in a story, it won't work in life.

We think stories are about getting money and security, but the truth is all comes down to relationships....I knew a story was calling me. I knew I was going to have to see if my father was alive. And once you know what it takes to live a better story, you don't have a choice.  

A good storyteller doesn't just tell a better story...he invites other people into the story with him, giving them a better story too.

...I was a tree in the story of a forest, and it was arrogant for me to believe any differently.  Ad he told me the story of a forest is better than the story of a tree.

...the night after we talked, Jason couldn't sleep.  He thought about the story his daughter was living....He realized he hadn't provided a better role for his daughter.  He hadn't mapped out a story for his family.  And so his daughter had chosen another story, a story in which she was wanted, even if she was only being used.  In the absence of a family story, she'd chosen a story in which there was risk and adventure, rebellion and independence.  "She's not a bad girl...she was just choosing the best story available to her."

If I got any comfort as I set out on my first story, it was that in nearly every story, the protagonist is transformed.  He's a jerk in the beginning and nice at the end, a coward at the beginning and brave at the end.  If the character doesn't change, the story hasn't happened yet...the point of the story is the character arc...the change.

...I'll tell these things to God, and he'll laugh, I think, and he'll remind me of the parts [of the story] I forgot, the parts that were his favorites.  We'll sit and remember my story together, and the he'll stand and put his arms around me and say, "well done," and that he liked my story.  And my soul wont' be thirsty anymore. 

*  *  *  *  *  *

You know that feeling you get when you're looking dead on into a new year?  One might say, resolute.  I don't know if it's just that the beginning of something that can be characterized as "new"  brings on an immense sense of hope and renewal.  A chance to change or improve.  That feeling that you haven't screwed it up yet.  I like that feeling.  Reading this book at the dawn of a brand new year added so much to the experience for me.  

 So there you have it...A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, by Donald Miller.  You will love it.  

Get it here.

Love, 

S

PS:  do you even like book reviews?

Nook.

A nook, by definition, is a secluded or sheltered space or small, often recessed part of a larger room. 

Doesn't it sound dreamy, warm, cozy, even?  I am always drawn to a nook.  When I read the definition of the word  I sort of lingered on the word "sheltered".  A nook is a safe place.  Like a cocoon.   You really can't fit a lot of people in a nook either.  Just a few...and it's close quarters, so those people have to be those that you really want to snuggle up with.  Like family and close friends.  I'm going to fashion my life to be like a cozy nook, not too big, definitely not overly crowded.  Just enough room for my special someones.  And when those special someones enter, I want them to feel warm, welcomed, loved and safe.  Cozy.  

Okay, so back to the literal nook...

I, myself, am a lover of small spaces.  And like I said, I love a good nook.  Here are a few of my favorite nooks...

If I could build a house, it would be full of small, cozy spaces and nooks...nooks everywhere!  

PS: if any of my favorite nooks speaks to you in such a way that you simply must know where I found it...you can look here at this very "interesting" site where I keep track of stuff that truly inspires me.