Vintage Monday: Marushka part II

It's official, my obsession has begun for all things Marushka. My first piece was introduced just last month here, and now I have acquired a second piece from ebay. Which also features a bird. In my favorite 70s orange. What can I say? I'm a creature of habit.

Flowers of the month: March

Lovely pink tulips for the month of March!

Favorite Friday Recipe: Apple Tart

I made these Apple Tarts last weekend and they were delicious and so easy! Another score from the Pioneer Woman's recipes--you can check out step by step directions and her much more delicious looking pictures here! Happy weekend!

DIY: Kitchen nook

A while back I posted about this DIY key holder that B and I made one weekend. Well we've finally finished our kitchen nook, complete with the key holder to house our keys as well as a little shelf to hold our iphones, chapstick, wallets and other miscellaneous items. One of my favorite prints from etsy rounds out the little cubby and oh I krylon-ed the frame! (here I thought I would be able to go a post without mentioning my beloved krylon spray paint)

Wishlist Wednesday: San Francisco

Planning for a SF trip in April/May and wishing for:

A Beard Papa cream puff


The Farmers Market at the Ferry Building


Because they have these lovely smoked salmon open face sandwiches there


Shopping for spring frocks at H&M


And eating lots of goodies from Trader Joe's


Visiting the See's candy store


For these scrumptious Scotchmallows


And visiting Japantown for cute books, home goods and freshly made mochi

Vintage Monday: marquee letter and table (Before and After)

Today's Vintage Monday items are also part of my Before and After series on the wonders of Krylon spray paint.

First up we have a marquee letter from the 1940s scavenged from an old theater in Neillsville, WI. I got this great letter from etsy.

Before:

I first tried to sand down the letter as much as I could before applying the spray paint but then realized that since the letter was metal and the paint red, coupled with the fact that the letter is from the 1940s, I figured I had inhaled enough lead for the day and decided to seal it all in with many coats of spray paint instead. (note to self: do not sniff letter too closely)

After:



The next item was salvaged from Goodwill. We had been searching for a little table to put in the entry way and while I keep dreaming of a marble top Saarinen, this one will stand in nicely for now.

Before:


I'm not sure what first attracted me to this table--the fact that it was $3.99 or that it had a sticker on the side that said "Property of Austin State Hospital". It was in pretty bad shape with the metal legs rusting and the top of the particle board that looked like it had been gnawed on. However, I felt like this table was worthy of a Krylon intervention and here are the results!

After:

Not too shabby huh? I chose a pearl grey for the legs and a bright tangerine for the tabletop (same as the marquee letter above). I think the colors really help give this table a new life and it now has a new home in our entryway.

I'm still trying to rework this little entry way nook. There are too many edges to keep straight--and I feel like we need something long on the bottom wall to balance everything out--maybe a little shelf?

In this picture: Our home sweet home letterpress print, a little painting by B's mom, and our newly Krylon-ed marquee letter. My new Liberty of London for Target tray sits on the new to us side table. And lovely pink tulips from Jill as March's flower of the month! (bigger pictures to follow)

Favorite Friday Recipe: Classic White Bread (in a crockpot)

There's nothing better than the smell of freshly baked bread, and in this case, freshly baked bread that is super easy to make and baked in a crockpot. A what? Yup, a crockpot!

One of the girls on fashionism posted this recipe and I knew immediately that I had to test it out. I followed the instructions, marveling at how simple it all was, and then I plopped the dough into the crockpot and went about my merry way. Three hours later, I returned to a nice rustic looking loaf of bread to serve with dinner!

Here it is after baking in the crockpot
Cooling on a wire rack: (note I have a larger crockpot so my bread turned out more wide than tall)
The bread turned out heavy and tasty, definitely homemade and perfect with fresh butter (and sugar)


The recipe is below--enjoy!

Classic White Bread

Ingredients:

• 1 envelope (2 ¼ tsp) of active dry yeast
• 1 tsp sugar
• ¼ cup warm water
• 1 egg
• ¼ cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup lukewarm water
• 1 tsp salt
• ¼ cup sugar
• 3 ½ - 4 cups of flour

Directions:

In a bowl, combine yeast, 1 teaspoon sugar and ¼ cup warm water. Allow yeast to foam (5 min). Add egg, oil, lukewarm water, salt, ¼ cup sugar and 2 cups of flour. Beat with electric mixer 2 minutes on low. With a wooden spoon, stir in remaining flour. Place dough in greased 4-5 quart slow cooker. Cover and cook on high heat 2-3 hours. Remove stoneware from slow cooker and let stand for 5 min before slicing.

Sneak peek revealed: B's new poker table

Here are some pictures of B's completed project--a poker table!

He did an amazing job cutting all the pieces (I think there are 4 in total: the baseboard, the bumper, the track, and the board beneath the velveteen). He also fit in wooden pieces on the bottom so the table would be able to sit on a 6 ft folding table and stay in place. I helped a bit with stretching and stapling the foam, vinyl and velveteen. Oh and I'm especially impressed with the cup holders and stain he did on the racetrack--doesn't it look so professional? Especially when you consider it all started like this and this.

So spread the word (all 6 of you), Friday nights are officially poker night! (Texas Hold'em style)

Wishlist Wednesday: spring flowers

I know it's not officially spring yet, but it sure feels like it here, with the sunshine and cool breezes, leaves budding and flowers blooming. It also doesn't hurt that I'm on spring break! :)

Today's wishlist: ranunculus flowers--I am in love with these and I dream of having a garden and houseful of these! (the above pic is mine from last year, the rest from lovely google images)


Also to welcome Spring, my wishlist includes this Snow Covered Fields dress from Anthropologie (where else?)

Found: Liberty of London for Target favorites

I'm a little embarrassed to say that there might be some Targets in town where I am easily identified by the employees there. Not only because I've been there too frequently in the last week but also because I might have lurked quite a bit while they were still putting out the Liberty of London merchandise on the endcaps. In fact, a few of them were rather nice and let me look at the display list while I waited for them to open the boxes and place items on the shelves. Which I would then take and place in my shopping cart. I thought we could just save a step and have them load it all into my cart but that seemed presumptuous...

Here are some of my favorites from the collection:

Liberty of London for Target cake tier


Liberty of London for Target dessert plate and acrylic tray (can't figure out which one to place on the entry table)


Liberty of London for Target planter

Vintage Monday: Easter bunnies!

Today's find comes from the Citywide Garage Sale. I was super excited to go this past weekend--there are always some great finds. B was good enough to hang in there and go with me, even after our morning gardening class (more on that to come soon!).

Unfortunately due to all the out of towners for SXSW, everything was mostly picked through by the time we got there. I did manage to get a few more vintage wooden spools of thread (who knows what I'm going to do with them but I can't stop collecting them!) and these little bunnies here. They called out to me as I was walking past the booth and I figured with Easter just around the corner, why not? And with my savvy bargaining skills all of them came home with me for $3!


I love how they all are brightly colored and have different little expressions on their faces. And that their ears have a bit of pink in them--just like my Link dog!

Found: Liberty of London for Target paper goods

B and I stalked 3 Targets last night and got lucky at one of them in the stationery section. There were binders, file folders and notepads, all in these great floral patterns.

Here's what I got! These will be perfect in helping us organize our much neglected study.

Liberty of London for Target 3 ring binders

Liberty of London for Target ile folders (6 in each packet includes 3 different patterns)

Wishlist Wednesday: Liberty of London for Target

Yet another post about this collection--can you tell I'm excited? There is a lot of positive press about this collection and the popup store in NYC is garnering rave reviews. The official release date is March 14 but there have been sightings online and in some stores. Not to mention the scalpers are out in full force on ebay already. I really hope I'll get to see most of my wishlist in person at the store. I guess I'll be going to Target every day for the next week or so!

More items I'm eyeing

Spring dresses!!


Girl's dress (snagging this one for my niece!)
Clutches
Umbrella and rainboots

Vintage Monday: magazine rack (Before and After)

The other day I spent more than half an hour in wondrous rapture at the Krylon spray paint section at Home Depot. There are so many colors and finishes available and all for just $2.99 a bottle! I tried out the spray paint on a couple of items salvaged from Goodwill and wow I'm hooked! The paint really transformed the pieces and I'm glad to be able to give them a second life in our home.

Magazine rack before:

Magazine rack after:

On display in the living room:

ps: yes I know that there is a great debate about whether it is a magazine rack or a fireplace log holder but for all intents and purposes, it is a magazine rack in my house.