New plants, Part 2 of 4

If you are anything like me you sometimes often buy things that you don't need or have a place for because you just really freakin' want them. Well, that was the case with this brass planter I bought last summer.

It was filled with fake ivy, but I saw it's potential and for only $2 I needed it. Except, that I actually didn't need it. It's floated around my house for the last year. Sometimes it is on the built in shelf in my kitchen cabinets and sometimes it's in the linen closet holding random crap, but the dream was always to put plants in it. It is the perfect size for planting a lot of small plants since it's about 18" long and 5" wide. 

So, I finally did it using most of the 20 succulents I bought online (more about that here). 

My first step was to get rocks or stones for the bottom of the planter for drainage. I looked at the store but couldn't find any so I went rogue and got rocks from my backyard (have I mentioned my backyard is a mess?).

After rocks came soil and then plants.

#bobbuttbomb

I really like it! I've seen a lot of planters like this online filled with succulents, actually most of them are just loaded with succulents, but I spread mine out a little because I still had a few other planters I wanted to fill. Now *fingers crossed* that I resist the urge to over water them!

New plants, Part 1 of 4

I love houseplants. I like how they look and the health benefits I'm told they provide. But my love for houseplants is in no way related to how well I can care for them. I suppose I am better than some since several of my plants have been alive for many years (the oldest is seven years old) but some aren't so lucky. I planted a terrarium (my 'how to' here) about two years ago and since then all but one of the succulents have died. What can you do? Plant new ones, I guess.

I purchased a set of 20 succulents on Amazon. It was weird to buy plants online and even weirder to open a package full of styrofoam peanuts and plants, but it actually worked out great. At big box stores succulents can be $3-4 a piece, but my set of 20 succulents was (including very expensive shipping) $39 which makes each plant $1.90... a pretty good savings! BUT since I have an Amazon rewards card, I had points to put toward the purchase and my total price was only $17! Which makes each succulent only $.85! I got really excited about that, especially since plants are fickle, living things that sometimes die. 

First up for a makeover is my terrarium, which has seen better days. 

BEFORE: It was a baby deer massacre in there.

 AFTER: Ah, everyone is alive and well.

Much better! This is part one of four of "What I did with 20 succulents" so stay tuned. Also, if you are wondering, yes, I did do this project while still in a cast. I know, dirt/plants/water + a cast sounds like a really bad idea, unless you are a genius like me and you invented this:

Recycling and resourcefulness at their best! 

A Baby Greenhouse

Okay, it's not a greenhouse for babies (although that could either be adorable or horrifying depending how you interpret the meaning) but it is a tiny greenhouse and it's freaking adorable. Let me start at the beginning. I've been obsessed with this greenhouse from IKEA since I first saw it online a while back (I gushed about it here) but I haven't been to IKEA in about two years so I was satisfied with admiring it from afar. That is until my parents made a trip to IKEA and asked me if they could pick anything up for me. A day later, this baby was in my house (and it was only $19.99!).

Of course, the hitch in the plan was that I was attempting to assemble something from IKEA with my dominant hand in a cast, but dang it if I am not obsessively determined/this thing was actually easy to assemble. 

I like that it has three settings: 

1) Propped open

 2) Open

 3) Closed

Alright you got me, I am guilty of buying something that I don't have a place for or anything to fill it with, but I kind of don't care because I like it so much.

I envision it filled with little baby plants and other little objects, but one step at a time. For now, I am just enjoying having a tiny greenhouse on my dining room table.

New Art: Irvington Edition

The home tour is inching closer and in preparation for the tour I got news and a gift. The new is that, despite all the information to the contrary, my house wasn't actually built in 1925... it was built in 1922! How did I come by this info? An Irvington historian told me. Every home on the tour was researched by a historian who gathered as much information about the house as possible. All the information was interesting but the most surprising thing was that my house is three years older than I though. Crazy, huh?

I also got an awesome gift. Every year before the home tour there is a poster contest. As a one of the homeowners on the tour I got a signed copy of the winning print (done by Paula Nicewanger)!

via Facebook

Isn't it lovely? Even better, when I got home I found that the 10"x15" print fit perfectly in a frame I bought for $2 at a yard sale last summer. The frame was a dull wood color so I did a quite spray paint job to make it look a little more modern. If you are wondering how I spray painted something while wearing a cast on my dominate hand, the answer is, my cast now has spray paint on it.

I hung it in the dinning room corner that I updated a few months ago (here). I think it looks great!

Again, apologies for the blurry pictures, but dude, I'm doing the best I can with this cast. 

H&M Home Line

Who doesn't love H&M? I tend to forget about it but then I do remember it I get excited because of all the cool, cheap stuff. The amazing news is that H&M just launched an online home store! Yep, I couldn't be more excited either because it combines my two loves, cool cheap stuff and online shopping.

Here are a few of my favorite things:

$5.95 cushion cover

$14.95 cushion cover

$4.95 tea towel

$9.96 cushion cover

$12.95 storage basket

$12.95 cushion cover

$9.95 bath mat

$14.95 cushion cover

$9.95 bath mat 

(I had to include this obvs, it's my name... spelled correctly!)

$6.95 hand towel

$4 cushion

$12.95 wooden box

So what do you think? I'm excited, but who know if I'll actually ever buy anything. Although, that horse pillow is singing my song. 

Home Tour To-Do List Updated

This September my house will be featured in the Irvington Home Tour which I mentioned here. I'm still really excited about it, but since getting back from my trip and my subsequent hand surgery I have lacked the energy/ability to attempt nearly all of the projects I so ambitiously assumed I would get done in time (for the full list click here, but be warned, it is a ridiculously long list). It was, in fact, 18 items long. Yeah... sometimes I really overshoot things. So my new and improved (and much more realistic) list is 4 items long.

1) Replace/Get blinds in the living (currently only two of the four windows have blinds).

2) Hang the TV (I already have the mount).

3) Buy new plants to replace some of mine that are looking sort of sad.

4) Clean, just like, everything.

Bonus items:
* Build sofa table to replace my 'faux' table I created (here).
* Re-grout shower


From the day I get my cast off till the day of the home tour I have 25 days. I'm not sure yet how quickly I'll have full use of my hand after the cast comes off, but I think that completing these four tasks (with the possibility of two extra bonus items) within 25 days is reasonable.

Wish me luck!

A Swiss Souvenir

I've discussed my love of souvenir collecting several times (here and here), but it bears repeating that I love buying things when I'm traveling to bring home and display. My gallery walls are like storyboards of my life so adding things from my travels only makes sense. It all started with my ink and pencil drawing collection but I expanded to other items like a painted feather from Mexico when the right drawing didn't find me. While in Switzerland I couldn't find a drawing I liked but I did find something equally cool. 

I'm assuming what I got is considered very touristy in Switzerland but since I live in Indiana and I know very few people who've ever been to Switzerland I don't think too many people will judge me. I decided to place it on the big blank blue wall in my bedroom which is currently awaiting further direction. Until I decide what I want this wall to function as, a little 3M hook makes my new piece temporary eye candy.

Have you ever seen a fabric calendar before? It felt nostalgic to get this piece for several reasons. One, it is a good reminder of my trip (the chalet I stayed in is very similar to the one depicted) and two, my Grandma used to have fabric calendars and she even made me a quilt of them once (which is now in storage because it is threadbare). I especially like all the iconic imagery in black and white, it's graphic while still being sweet and vintage looking. Also, as soon as I saw it I knew it would look insane against my blue wall. Switzerland is surprisingly expensive, but I'm really glad I decided to grab this piece.

(If you are annoyed with how blurry these pictures are you may direct your complaints to my cast, which makes taking pictures a nearly futile adventure.)

I'm Alive!

Are you still there dear readers? I wouldn't blame you if you aren't. I disappeared for quite a while, but I'm back now!

As I mentioned here, I decided to take a month off and travel. I went to Switzerland! It was amazing. Seriously, Switzerland is beautiful, I highly recommend it.

What I don't recommend is falling on a wine glass while in the Alps .... yeah, 11 stitches later I was good to go. At least that is what I thought then. A week later when part of my hand was still numb I went to see a surgeon who said I most likely had nerve damage but it could wait until I got back to the States. Cut to me back in the States having hand surgery to reattach the nerve I severed. It wasn't exactly what I had planned for my stateside return, but what can I do?

My hand currently looks like this:

As you can imagine, typing is difficult at best. House projects will most likely be taking a backseat for the next few weeks while I recover and let my hand heal. 

But I still have a lot of tricks up my sleeve, er cast, so I'll try and keep the content coming.

I hope you all are having a lovely summer!