Under a Blue Moon

Friday Favorites

Photo collage

Reading Material ◊ scalloped fabric garland ◊ Untitled ◊ Enamel Bowls

Some days you just need to start your day on a positive note
If you like miniatures and doll houses then this Instagram account is for you: @mini_home_beautiful. It features miniature interiors from all over and all photos are credited to their original owners so you can find even MORE accounts to follow. Down a rabbit hole I go….
Some pretty pink things: Gorgeous small box that looks like it is made out of pink mother of pearl (actually it’s resin) and pretty pink dishes. Ice cream anyone?
I am a longtime fan of Benita Larsson. I used to follow her blog and was broken hearted when she ended it back in 2013 (It’s still up to read). She has a new YouTube channel where she shares her tips for organization and cleaning. Even if her minimalist style isn’t your thing you can certain appreciate how exceptionally tidy her home is.

Happy Friday! How has your week been going? Can you even believe it is already March? I can’t.

I came down with some sort of crud on Tuesday and I’m still battling it. It can’t decide if it is a cold or the flu. Just general sore throat, overall achiness and fatigue. All I’m good for is sipping tea and rewatching the Gilmore Girls. Who, in retrospect, are rather annoying but I want to live in Stars Hollow so I keep watching.

Unless I snap out of it that is the plan for the weekend. I hope your plans are more exciting!

Have a lovely weekend.

Desktop calendar – Free!

(Vanity chair making a guest appearance since my desk chair isn’t camera ready…)

This year I have been making my own desktop calendar to use as my background on my computer. I figured I might as well share them with all of you in case anyone else likes that minimal look for their desktop or laptop screen.

I made three versions of it. A pale gray (which is what is actually pictured above – for some reason my monitor always reads really pink in photographs), a dusty rose and kraft paper.

These are all rendered in 1920 x 1080. To save the image click on the link and the image will open in a new tab. Right click on the image and select “Save image as…” and save to your computer.

I’m not sure how to update a background on a Mac but on a PC you right click on your desktop background and select “Personalize.” You can then browse to the file location of the picture you want as your background.

Gray desktop calendar

Dusty rose desktop calendar

Kraft paper desktop calendar

If this is something that is popular I’ll do it every month. I’m going to do it for myself anyway so I might as well share!

Vanity chair slipcover

I rarely show pictures of my bedroom, mainly because it is a bear to photograph. It is on the north/east corner of the house so it tends to be really dark and then add in the windows which always get blown out in photos. I did my best.

Anyway, this isn’t about the poor lighting in my bedroom. It’s about a quick project I whipped out yesterday on a whim. I have had this vanity chair for about eight years and when I first bought it I immediately painted it a champagne gold color to match the mirrored vanity and I reupholstered the back of the chair. I just never got around to doing anything about the seat.

Rosie is here to supervise. It was covered in a gold striped, satiny material that had seen better days. I toyed with the idea of recovering the seat but then decided that the easier route would be to make a slipcover for it instead.

Since eight years had passed I have no idea where the fabric for the back came from. It is a thicker cotton. I just recently bleached a drop cloth for another chair recovering project and decided it was a close enough match.

To be honest, when it comes to making a slipcover for anything you just have to wing it. I draped my fabric over the seat and made some markings and then just had at it. This one was pretty straightforward. I cut the corners off on the back and then pinned darts in the front.

When I hemmed those corner cutouts I reinforced the corner by stitching back and forth a few times. The hem is quite narrow right there.

At first my plan was to make ties for the back but after trying it out I could see that the fabric was too stiff and my bow looked rather pathetic.

Plan B was to shorten the ties and use velcro to close them together. Much tidier and better looking.

I also toyed with the idea for doing a box pleat ruffle along the bottom, but again, thought the fabric’s thickness wouldn’t lend itself to that application so I did a simple crotchet lace trim instead. If I was to do it over I would have lowered the tabs on the back to be even with the bottom of the fabric (where the lace is attached) so I could extend the lace to the tabs. Then the lace would overlap over the back legs. Ah well. Next time.

I did add pleats to the two front corners to add in a little bit of ease across the front.

All in all a pretty easy project. It only took a couple of hours (if you don’t count the eight years it took to get started…).

Friday Favorites

Photo mosaic

Untitled ◊ Muffin Tin Candle holder ◊ l is for light pink ◊ vintage rose plates

I needed a new laptop tote and found this one at Target. The color is a gorgeous pinky nude color and it looks way more expensive than it is. Funny story: At my last interview I used a black tote bag to carry a folder with copies of my resume, a water bottle, notebook, pen, etc. When I got home and I pulled everything out of it I found a pair of black underwear that must have been in there since my last overnight get away. Oh my god. Can you imagine if I accidentally pulled them out when fishing around for my notebook?
Isn’t this a gorgeous Savannah apartment on AirBnB? I’ve always wanted to visit Savannah
23 emotions people feel but can’t explain. Vellichor, for sure
Day drinking with Seth and Ina

Happy Friday everyone! My mother in law is coming to stay for the weekend so the house is all sparkly clean. Why is it our house is only really cleaned up when we are expecting someone over? It’s generally tidy and we aren’t slobs or anything but the realization someone else will be viewing the space makes one notice the grubby door jambs and dust under the furniture.

I do need to figure out what to cook while she is here….Do you ever get in cooking ruts? I find myself there right now and I’m not inspired to cook anything. I need to pull out some of my old cookbooks I haven’t looked at for a while and see if anything catches my eye.

Have a wonderful weekend!

A few bits and bobs

Etching by Elizabeth Quandt

Over the past couple of months I’ve picked up a few things at antique stores. I thought I would share them today.

The first thing is an etching by Elizabeth Quandt (top etching). I thought it would look nice grouped with my etching of Pirate’s Alley that I picked up in New Orleans a couple of years ago. I don’t know anything about Ms. Quandt except that she was born in England but lived in California at the time of her death in 1994. The few pieces of hers that I can find on the internet show she had a fondness for chairs as subject matter.

Note to self: Get non-glare glass for the Pirate’s Alley etching….

Lace tablecloth

The next thing is a beautiful lace tablecloth I ordered from @bluelinencottage on Instagram. It is about 36″ across and I don’t have a table that it will fit on (and drape properly) so at the moment it’s just a giant doily on our kitchen table. Goodness I do love me some lace work.

Here’s a close up so you can see the details. Also pictured is a chandelier bobeche I bought to pair with candlesticks. I actually bought two of them. I think they add a pretty, sparkly detail to an otherwise ordinary candlestick.

My next two finds were rather serendipitous. A few months back I had favorited the small Homer Laughlin platter on Etsy. Fast forward a month or two later and I picked up the little Homer Laughlin pitcher at a local antique store. I didn’t realize it was the same pattern until I saw the Etsy seller (whom I also follow on Instagram) feature it in an Instagram post. I snapped it up immediately. The floral design is exactly the same but the platter says “Hudson” on the back and the pitcher says “Republic.” The only difference is the platter does have a gold ribbon detail on it that the pitcher does not. I do not know much about Homer Laughlin except if a piece of iron stone catches my eye nine times out of ten it is a Homer Laughlin piece.

Another view of the etchings. See? They do look lovely grouped together.

The hallway you see here goes out to our garage. I’m thinking of making a gallery wall on the side with the sconces. The opposite wall has a big window looking out to the backyard. I always thought the pair of sconces were kind of in a strange spot. I think the previous owners had a picture of some sort between them. I want to do a grouping of ornate frames with family photographs in them. I have been going through my stash of frames and have about nine of them in various sizes that I will paint all the same color (a bronzy gold color). Stay tuned for that project.

New weekly Bullet Journal spread

bullet journal

I’ll be honest. Since I have been unemployed I find myself struggling to keep up a bullet journal routine. My job was very much task driven and it was crucial to stay on top of what needed to be done and to be able to keep track of due dates. Bullet journaling was essential in keeping me organized and sane.

But since I haven’t been working I find myself forgetting to update and follow my weekly journaling. The irony is I could really benefit from a bit more structure and organization to my days. With this in mind I’ve been playing around with different layouts that will work better with my current situation.

I’m also trying to allow a little more creativity into my bullet journal. When I was working I didn’t think it looked super professional to have a notebook festooned with washi tape and color coded inks open on my desk. Now that I’m really the only one that might see it I’m trying to be a bit more creative. I’ll always be a minimalist when it comes to my journal but I am trying to add some color and areas to include inspirational quotes and reflections of the day.

I’ve created a really terrible YouTube video showing the products I’m currently using and a speed through of setting up the layout. I want to get better with videos and the only way to do that is to practice practice practice. The talking part is awkward but I’m sure I’ll get better at it. I’m also figuring out my equipment and editing software. It’s all a journey – and to pull from one of my quotes “The expert in anything was once a beginner.”

If you want to skip directly to the speed through go to 6:28. I list all the products I used in the description box.

I love the medium of videos so I hope to do more. Rick made an overhead stand for my camera so I can easily record crafting, bullet journal and cooking videos. I doubt I’ll ever show my face but I hope to get more comfortable talking on camera.

If there is any topic you would like to see let me know. And if the videos aren’t your thing that’s okay too. I’ll always have a companion blog post to go along with them.

White desk with flowers and pink tea cup

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