Recognition Day Thursday - Cocktail Tables a.k.a. Coffee Tables

Wikipedia states, "A coffee table, also called a cocktail table, is a style of long, low table which is designed to be placed in front of a sofa, to support beverages (hence the name), magazines, feet, books (especially coffee table books), and other small items to be used while sitting, such as beverage coasters. Coffee tables are usually found in the living room or sitting room. They are available in many different variations and prices vary from style to style. Coffee tables may also incorporate cabinets for storage."

With this in mind, two coffee tables caught my eye this week.

Shannon from Shabby to Chic Queen Creek has this as a final result. She stained the top deep cherry, providing an awesome contrasting look with the white legs. It's unconventional because instead of painting the top, she stained it - a rare combination - but it turned out an eye candy. And those details on the legs, perfect! Check her out to see the before and you'll be amazed at the after.



Larissa and Eric from Reef Botanicals came up with a coffee table on wheels. The unique thing about this table is (have a deep breath).... it costs $305 from an eBay auction, but wait. If this same thing is purchased in Restoration Hardware, it'll cost a whopping $1095, plus shipping! Head out to their blog and you'll read the blow-by-blow details on how they acquired and restored it. They made it look easy but don't let it fool you because the time invested in coming up with this look is definitely A LOT. Not only that, with the cute dog on the couch, everything looks great in their living room. I salute you both!

Spring Fling Decorating

That's the beauty of blog parties, we get inspired and make time to decorate according to the season. Moving to our own house gave me the motivation to try something new - DIY-ing and decorating. Admittedly, this is my first time to decorate for spring so I thought, what are the elements that symbolize spring? A bunny, definitely, to symbolize abundance. An egg that promises a new life since every animal springs forth from an egg. The different spring colors such as pastel green, yellow, pink, blue, and purple. After realizing these elements, I set out to dig out my stash of plastic eggs that we used for egg hunts the previous years. Luckily, I also found a bunny and a chick that I remembered buying from 99 Cents Store a year ago.

Flashback a few months ago, I plunged into repainting an $18 Goodwill dresser from this state


into this. I already envisioned at that time that this dresser turned hallway console will serve as our space for seasonal decorating... and this is her maiden voyage.



These apothecary jars that I bought for 50% off from HomeGoods serve as the display containers of our eggs. As all of you moms know, these eggs can come in a variety of colors but I decided that the chick and bunny dictate the colors of the eggs that I put on display, hence the yellow, pink, and green.



As I stared at my decorations, I felt as if there's something lacking.



It's not layered enough, and good thing, I also found these green straws.



Princess One commented, "Mommy, it looks spring-y." Her statement, my friends, confirmed that my decorating efforts are in the right direction.



This is how our "spring space" looks like today. I'm sure it will evolve into something different a few days from now but for now, we'll enjoy it.





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Onto a different topic that I'm also passionate about - reading books. This is my current read and Nate Berkus' introduction struck a chord in the DIY-person in me. He said, "Making your home your greatest pleasure is a luxury we all need to indulge. There's no greater pleasure than to love the way you live. A home should be a reflection of your lifestyle and tell the story of the people who reside there over the years. As our lives evolve, so should our interiors." Isn't that beautiful? I borrowed Nate Berkus Home Rules from our library and in my nickel-ing and dime-ing mind, that's a bargain already :)



Linking up here:

Recognition Day Thursday - Headboards Galore

Headboards have become a home fashion statement lately. Though they come in different flavors - wood, metal, upholstered, cabinet shelving, and the unique ones - they still serve one special purpose in a bedroom: add beauty to it. Since the bed is the focal point in any bedroom, DIY homemakers strive to find a balance between beauty and price, especially in this economy.

To address the beauty and price issue, many creative DIY-ers came up with headboard projects and thank goodness, shared them with us in blogland. I'm very impressed at the creativity of DIY-ers as they showcased their talents in making their own. What makes them creative and astounding is that first, they put an item into good use other than what it is originally intended for. Second, the price is right - ranging from free to less than $100. Third, easy to follow and do it yourself. Lastly, there's this unexplainable WOW! factor that you'll only know once you see it.

First up is Two Ginger Princes' ceiling tile turned headboard. I had an oh-my-goodness-what-a-genius moment as soon as I read her post. She got the tiles meant for the ceiling, for free, mind you, and made a decorative statement in her bedroom. Fabulous job!



Up next is Recovering Craft Hoarder's upcycled headboard in which she got it for free and just spent $3.99 + tax for the spray paint. In her words, "Not the prettiest thing I've ever seen, but I loved the shape." She definitely transformed an ugly duckling into an elegant swan of all headboards, giving this understated elegance in her bedroom.



Jenny from Evolution of Style created a headboard that added character and architectural interest in her daughter's bedroom. When you read her post, I'm sure all you can say is WOW!.



Thank you for the inspiration, ladies!

Q&A Tuesday - On Linky Party Etiquette and Twilight Books

My post about Etiquette in sending invites to your linky party drew questions worthy of sharing in this post.

Q1. Cindi over at Rustique Art commented,
"SJ~

Great information...thank you! For sure there needs to be more consideration to blog etiquette as the blogging world continues to grow.

Am I reading this right? That I should expect an invite before I participate in a link party?"

A1. Hi, Cindi! No you don't need an invite to join a linky party. What I was trying to say is when a blogger/host of a party invites somebody to join her linky party, she needs to observe this etiquette. I received a lot of invitations to join their linky parties that some I found not really ok at all, so I wrote this post. Hope this clarifies your question.

Q2. Here's a question from the other side of the fence, when you, as a blogger, want to join another's linky party. There's also an etiquette when joining a blog party.

Kristen over at 1 Sew Green Mama wrote, "Thanks for writing this. I am a very new blogger. Not just new to creating my own, but even new to reading them. I discovered wonderful blogs from those linky parties that are so inspiring. I don't have a linky party, but if I do in the future, this will be very useful!! 1 question, for the linker that has not been invited, do we put your button under the post, or can it be on a page, 'Parties I like,' something like that?"

A2. (Note: I don't have the exact words when I replied to Kristen via comment on her blog but essentially the thoughts are the same.)
Hi, Kristen! For the linker that has not been invited but would like to join a host's linky party, just follow her rules. If she says to include her button within the post, then do so. If she didn't specify where but she wanted it to be visible, then feel free to put it in your sidebar or wherever as long as it can be seen. So as not to be considered a gatecrasher, just follow the linky party rules of the host and the linker will be a happy party-goer. If, for some reason the would-be participant disagrees and is not willing to abide by the rules, she better not join at all, or she'll be 'marked' by the host, leading to a deletion of her link (haven't done it yet but some actually do that).

While researching on this topic, I found The Girl Creative's spin on linky party etiquette. Check her post for further enlightenment.

***

Now, onto my bargain books. I read Twilight 5 times; New Moon, 3 times; Eclipse, 4 times; Breaking Dawn, 2 times; Midnight Sun (Edward's version of Twilight) 2 times, not to mention watching the movies several times. I can't get enough of Twilight books that after borrowing them from a niece, I decided to buy them thru amazon. I know, the glaring truth that I'm missing Breaking Dawn is so obvious but I'll own the paperback soon - once I find a bargain, of course :)



Joining this party today:

3 Befores and 3 Afters

This is the After of the evolution of a bedroom post but since my mom's room is an ever evolving room, it's now Before #1 of this post. We are now in the process of personalizing her bedroom and the easiest way to personalize a room is displaying pictures.



This brings us to Before #2. Last year, I scouted for picture frames and found a great deal at HomeGoods. At $4.99 for 2 8x10 oak frames, I was a happy camper! As a result, I bought all of their stocks then (around 18 packs) because I knew they can be put into good use once we bought a house.



And buy a house we did. Fast-forward to the present, I used these same frames when I did a makeover on Princess One's bedroom. However, the original look of these picture frames didn't fit my mom's overall look so she primed them then painted them white, which brings us to After #2 (yes, I intentionally skipped After #1 because we'll get to that later). I learned from Nate Berkus that your house should tell the story of the people living in it and my mom's way of doing that is displaying her pictures along with her grandkids'. I've learned as I went along DIY-ing that as long as I like the shape and structure of an object, no matter what color it is, I've gotta take it, because it can be made fit in a room by repainting it. And that's what we did to these frames.



As of today, this is the latest development in my mom's bedroom. With the pictures hung up, it has a more personal touch and reflects her serene and calm taste. And this, my friends, is After #1.



Before #3 is this bunch of yarns that we've been keeping for more than a year.



I fell in love with an afghan that I saw at Annie's Attic late 2009 so I showed it to my mom. Moms spoil their kids no matter how old they are, don't they? One thing led to another so she started crocheting it for me as her entry to the Orange County Fair. It got stalled when we moved to this house and now that we're all settled in, she finished it this month.



I was thinking of using it as a throw blanked in our living room so I took a picture of it on top of our coffee table.



Then I decided it might look nice as a bedspread. Either way, After #3 lifts up my spirit because of the cheerful yellow flowers. Now, my mom and I are looking forward to the Orange County Fair this year to display her latest creation.




I party here:
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