I am absolutely enchanted by succulents. They don’t even look real they’re so perfect and orderly (and I can keep them alive). I remember my grandma having hen and chicks growing on the rocks in her backyard (but now that I think about it, it was probably my grandpa who put them there since he was responsible for the dahlias and iris’ growing in the yard) and now I have planters of them on all my window sills.
My succulent “garden”
The Austin Cactus and Succulent Society (yes, such a thing exists – isn’t it wonderful?) is having their annual succulent sale at Zilker Botanical Gardens on April 14th and 15th and I am way more excited than is probably necessary.
What do you think? Are you a fan of succulents?
Source
Source
Source
Source
Source
How often do you buy yourself flowers? They’re one of my indulgences.
Well, one of my many indulgences.
I believe in self-gifting.
Nothing extravagant, just a $4 bouquet of carnations or daisies or mixed flowers from the grocery store. I know this sounds cheesy and corny and kind of out of character for me, but my little bouquets are just enough to make the day feel special and make me stop for a whiff as I walk through the house. I really think we should all take the time and do this more often – treat ourselves to something that we traditionally wait for others to give us, because in the words of @JenKCunningham, we fucking deserve it.
But please, no baby’s breath.
PS
Wouldn’t it be awesome to have a fund so that people could buy themselves a $4 bouquet every so often? All our internet friends sign up, throw what they can afford in a pot, and once a week we PayPal someone $4 with a note to treat themselves. I’m loving this idea.
I got together with two especially crafty and Pinterest addicted coworkers this weekend for the First Annual Tipsy Wreath Making Party. I spotted this wreath from Design Sponge and thought sure – why not pick the most labor intensive wreath I can find for my first time ever making a wreath. And why not throw in sharp pins and alcohol to make it really interesting!
It actually wasn’t that daunting and I’m really pleased with the way it turned out. Here’s how it’s done…
No, that’s not pepperoni. I had to do a little pre-party crafting and spent about 2 hours cutting 400 3-inch felt circles. Super sharp crafting scissors are a must.
Once all my felt circles have been cut, all I needed were some pins (I prefer flat head since they are easier to hide) and a 12-inch foam wreath form. I folded the circles in half twice to form a rosette and stuck my pin through near the point.
I placed the rosettes around the wreath OCD style, fluffing and repositioning as I went, and voila! Two hours and three glasses of wine later, I had my finished wreath.
And I only stuck myself with a pin once.
Didn’t even draw blood. (She says proudly.)
I added a vintage glitter poinsettia because I can’t leave well enough alone, and hung above my living room couch for all to admire.
My tipsy-wreath-making-partners-in-crime were equally as successful with winter foliage, marshmallows, and ornaments.
Are you getting crafty this holiday season? What have you made?
My ex-husband (How weird is that. I’m officially a divorcée.) moved out last weekend. Since I’ve been left with a bit of a modge podge of belongings (admittedly, not as shabby as what he left with) I feel the need to redecorate. Fresh things up a bit. Out with the old. Make everything more Corrin (because believe it or not, I did try to make the place a little more man-friendly these past eight years).
I have dark wood furniture in the bedroom and I like it paired with silvers, grays, and dusty purples. (It also matches the gray, white, sea green theme in the connecting bathroom so yeah for looking like I’ve got my shit together!) I nabbed all the bedding on sale at Target but went with solid purple shams. I scored that Moroccan pouf from Niemen Marcus last summer for $15 so I’m excited to have it finally match the rest of the room. I found lamps similar to the Johnathan Adler one pictured for $35 at Homegoods that I stupidly DID NOT BUY and once I realized the error of my ways THEY WERE GONE. I am remorseful, but I will find an acceptable substitute.
Grand total for the bedroom: $265
The living room is a little trickier because it’s one giant (I use that term very loosely) room that contains the television area, office, and kitchen. I’m also working with existing furniture (moss green with plum trim), curtains (pictured above), and color scheme because I’m divorced (So weird!) and broke. TJ Maxx had an entire aisle of mercury glass lamps for $45 each so I’ll be picking up two of those for the end tables. I’m going to swap out the kitchen curtains to match the patio curtains and I like to use dining placemats on top of all the tables because I’m an old lady and they are much cheaper than table runners. I now have an empty television console (bye bye TV) where I’d like to display some books and the Jonathan Adler dachshund bookends are kind of perfect. And kind of pricey.
Grand total for the living room: $425
So, what do you think? Do big changes make you want to change your surroundings? Is this a peak into my psyche? An avoidance tactic? Or just a new start?
