Category Archives: Miscellaneous Diversions

Is your home dog scented?

Posted on August 10, 2012 by | 6 comments

A while ago Holly Becker over at Decor8 had done a post about each home she visited having its own signature scent.  I thought about that recently and wondered if our scent is dog scent.  Not cool and not really what I want people to be overwhelmed with when they walk in the door.

These little furry mugs might be cute, but their “eau de dog” is not.  Especially Sophie.  She can stink it up like no one’s business.  So for the last year or so, we have been buying incense sticks from DivineScentsations on etsy.  Spice Orange flavor to be exact.   It’s the only thing I’ve found that seems to combat the dog smell but not just layer another stink on top of the dog stink (kind of like the bathroom sprays — I don’t really think they help.)  Also these sticks don’t burn up immediately like some of the cheapy ones you can get at the big box stores which is nice.  You get a nice slow simmer of smell. 

For a while, I had a wood incense tray on the mantel but inevitably some would ash out of the tray and I would be left with a mess.  The other day I had a brainwave and decided to try out my houseplants as incense holders instead.  Here we have “Jazz Hands” the little tree/plant (not sure what it is, a co-worker gave me a cutting which I almost killed and then nursed back to life).

Jazz Hands is holding my incense stick so nicely and all the ash just crumbles into the dirt and you don’t have any mess! 

And here’s the little stink bombs themselves as I tried to snap photos of the mantel this morning – hanging out and living the life.  The “I’m so spoiled I have my own pillow and toys and things and I’m bored with them go get me some more” life. 

So long story short, I would say that our home’s scent is “Spice Orange”.  It’s nice and subtle and not too sweet or sickly like some of the home sprays or scented candles I’ve come across.  Although, for variety we have also tried some other flavors from DivineScentsations like Butt Naked, Balsam Pine (around the holidays), and Gemini and Libra (the husband’s and my zodiac signs, respectively.  Oddly enough, we each seemed to prefer our own Zodiac scent.) 

Does your home have a scent?

Anyone else ready for the weekend like I am?  I’ve got some more bathroom projects up my sleeve and the husband and I have been discussing some changes in the music room as well.  Enjoy yourself – Cheers, CT

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Posted in Around the house, Dogs, Miscellaneous Diversions

Dip It?

Posted on May 3, 2012 by | 7 comments

When the blogger’s away . . . . she’s working on more projects so she can have something to blog about?

Or she’s having a melt-down about her job/future/creative career path and can’t get to the computer?

Take your pick . . .

At any rate, this blogger is back with a question – should I dip it?

Let me clarify — there seems to be a growing trend of furniture/decorative items that are partially painted/dipped.  Case in point, these gorgeous chairs I first saw on Desire to Inspire —

 

Now I have 4 matching chairs being hoarded in my basement and I’m thinking they might look a lot better getting this “dipped” treatment . .

What do you think?

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Posted in Around the house, D.I.Y., Design Diversions, Furniture, Miscellaneous Diversions

A little weekend update . . .

Posted on April 23, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Kitchen update soon, promise.  First here’s a little update . . .

Sophie got a Thunder Shirt . . .

And learned how to pose for camera.

Shenanigan became a chameleon as I tried to photograph our little tree/plant that I’ve named “Jazz Hands”.  (He may have been a little upset with me by his annual vet visit followed by a nail clipping that morning).

Earth Day recycling of all the random things that have a plug at Rex (Recycling Extravaganza).  Although it was a little un-earth friendly because they made us all queue up and drive through to the different drop off stations . . . . I’m not complaining because we had been stockpiling some broken appliances for a while (two humidifiers, a hair dryer and straightening iron) along with so many outdated technology components.

And after playing back-to-back gigs Friday and Saturday night, JT snagged a new guitar off Craigslist . . .

That’s a hard-working lumberjack.  (Please help me convince him to get the paisley pick-up covers.  It would make that guitar pretty B.A.)

Not bad for two days off work.  There’s more, like some projects around the house (kitchen!) but those are coming soon — I PROMISE!

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Posted in Around the house, Dogs, Guitars, Miscellaneous Diversions

Oh the ways the internet can amuse

Posted on March 29, 2012 by | Leave a comment

One of the nice things about using WordPress for this little ol’ blog is that it tells you all the search terms people use to find you. 

 Things like “dog manicure”

and  “help my husband has a guitar addiction!”

(Yes those are all guitars that have come or gone or still reside in our house within the last three months.)

The most popular are “lab corgi mix” (that’s Shenanigan – and really he is the most ridiculous dog)

For instance, while lounging on the sofa the other night, we look over to see little Shenanigan hanging out on and behind the new pillow I made (crochet!).  That long little nose always needs a pillow to hold it up. 

Or, a different day, he needed the crochet pillow for his front end and another pillow for his back end.  Sophie declined all pillows for the comfort of flat out snoozing on her side . . .

So.  Lots of dog pics.

You internet users has also searched for us via “music room floor plan” or “music room layout”:

Do you have a music room in your house?  I’d love to see it.  What about a lab/corgi?  I love those too (along with all other mutts and dogs in general).  Do you give your lab/corgi doggy manicures?  Or do you have a husband with an affinity for buying, keeping and selling guitars?  Let’s chat.  We might have a lot in common.

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Posted in Dogs, Guitars, Miscellaneous Diversions

Lights Out!

Posted on March 1, 2012 by | 4 comments

Dejected by a long week of short days and high stress at work, it seemed like we needed a little unwinding in the evening.  Ally at From the Right Bank had posted a sweet blog letter (you can read it here – note her blog was hacked and she has been having some trouble with images) from Heather describing a power outage and I took inspiration.  We decided Tuesday was “Lights Out Night” and grocery shopped accordingly. (Salmon and lobster pinwheels with baked potato, steamed broccoli and a broccoli risotto, so good.)

And husband bought me some flowers.

We didn’t really go all the way “lights out”, we just said no TV or internet.  We made a nice dinner, had some red wine and settled in on the sofa to read Steinbeck (The Pearl for me, East of Eden for JT).  All in all a great night and I think this is a tradition we will keep.

While digging through the box of candles for ones to light up, I inadvertently brought one upstairs that had a little history attached to it . . .
 Yep, that may or may not have been the high school dance that started this whole crazy thing.  We didn’t actually burn it, but put it out on the table for grins.  Also, JT’s cousin made those incredible turned wood candle holders as wedding gifts.  Love.

You guys may think we are just wine drinking slackers over here but some progress was made.  The kitchen is now bluer.

The ironic thing is that when we bought the house the kitchen was painted a soft blue color and had this lovely blue plastic laminate countertop (prepare your eyes for a hideous picture . . . )

Oh the horror.  It’s come a long way baby.  I’ve got my mind set that March is going to finish this one.

Another little kitchen item was installing some more functional storage solutions – #1 a Grundtal rail system from our last IKEA trip.

I’m noticing red wine was involved in this project as well.  Hey, it’s good for the heart and I am all about heart health.  Also, while I understand the mechanics of power tools, I try to avoid operating them at all costs as I am left-handed and convinced one will kill me.   JT is kind enough and right-handed so he’s the power tool man.

Since we have a grand total of 8′-6″ of countertop with accompanying under-counter storage, having a nice way to store some of our pots and pans is something we really appreciate.  It’s still simple, clean and miles away from that tower of clutter shelving we used to have but gives us a way to really maximize our tiny kitchen.

So that’s it for this week.  We’re just hours away from another weekend and I’m hoping to get some more Grundtal installed but also have some family moving duties to attend to.

Don’t forget – life is what you make it.  If you want more evenings drinking wine and reading classic literature with your high school sweetheart, then take Nike’s advice and JUST DO IT!  Or maybe you want something else like more time playing Scrabble.  JUST DO THAT TOO.  Maybe a project might not get finished as quickly, maybe you’ll have to wait one more night to pay some bills but it will all be worth it in the end.  The blue kitchen will just have to wait (although I am absolutely loving how that kitchen of mine is  coming together! . . . )  All in due time.

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Posted in Around the house, Design Diversions, Kitchen, Miscellaneous Diversions

Grow where you’re planted

Posted on February 27, 2012 by | Leave a comment

So many new(ish) vintage/thrift/retro stores are popping up all over St. Louis right now, that it’s making my weekends busy trying to get out and visit all these places (First world problems).  The next shop I was targeting is MoModerne, an antique/retro store down on Cherokee Ave (also spotted through Mr. Modtomic’s blog – he keeps me up to date on local shopping hot spots!).  I started following them on Facebook a while ago and they have been posting beautiful images of beautiful furniture.  I’ve wanted almost every item they’ve posted.   So, out of fear for my wallet, I stayed away for a while.  Then an opening in our calendar popped up this last weekend and I dragged JT down to see the place.

What did I find but a little bullet planter waiting to come home with me. (I’ve been dreaming about them for a while – see my posts here and here.)  Perched high up on the shelf, I didn’t notice it until a second perusal of the place prompted me to snatch the tag off of it before anyone else in the store could make off with my find.  When I checked out, the guy said they used to have a bunch of the big ones too.  Why, oh why did I wait so long?

I don’t know what kind of plant this is and it’s one of the few in the house that I haven’t named, but it’s looking pretty gosh-darn happy in its new home.  It feels pretty good to wish and wish and wish for something and finally find it. 

In related plant news Little Walter, the tree, seems to be doing better.  He finally stopped dropping leaves and seems to have stabilized.  I potted him in the IKEA wicker woven basket/planter I snatched up on our IKEA trip the weekend before last.  It was the only thing like it in the plant area and even the check-out lady seemed a little intrigued/puzzled by it.  All I know is it had a plastic liner for plants but a nice woven white/blue-grey pattern I couldn’t resist.   I keep moving him around the living room, but for now he’s living here:

The height isn’t quite right so he’s perched on one of the Target Alto stool knock-offs.  We’ll see.

What else.  Well, since we were down on Cherokee for MoModerne, we also checked out the Mud House (found through Third Story(ies), another STL blog).  I had a yummy chickpea salad sandwich.  I never would have thought of chickpea salad but I sure am glad the Mud House did.  They also had great interior space and some fun, funky artwork.  Another plus — they play good music.  It can be hard to not run out of a restaurant screaming if they play bad music.  There have been times where we have considered leaving the grocery cart in the aisle and abandoning our grocery shopping because the store used to play such bad music.

And the Oscars!  I made “murder” cupcakes (red velvet) complete with Ryan Gosling’s little face as an inside joke for JT’s movie-watching dudes. They were actually pretty easy to make with my handy 1″ diameter punch (plus toothpicks and some good old-fashioned Elmer’s glue).

All-in-all a good weekend.  On to a great week, right?  I had a small epiphany this weekend.  A little late but here’s what I realized:

Life is what you make it.  So be sure to make it what you want.

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Posted in Around the house, Design Diversions, Hand Crafted, Miscellaneous Diversions

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Feels like Monday . . .

Posted on February 21, 2012 by | 1 comment

JT and I took a little “staycation” day yesterday.  Being neither government employees or educators, it was not a work holiday but rather our personal holiday from work.

Really, I kind of needed a couple of days of recovery and rest following a Saturday “Ikea-or-bust” road runner trip. 

There’s more info on what I picked up at Bolingbrook to come (see the new home for Little Walter on top?) . . . some of it is making it’s way into the kitchen, which is slowly making it’s way to blue . . .

It kind of looks like a Smurf was murdered in there right now.

One little project I did tackle was some “T” hooks gifted to us (once again — did I mention they give good gifts?) from JT’s brother and sister-in-law.  I had them hanging around for a while in their original orange . . . .

And then got all “crafty” on them and went for two shades of blue . . .

It didn’t really do it for me, I wanted something simpler and cleaner so I undid my blue handiwork and painted them with the Sherwin Williams Shoji White instead.

Much better and now Sophie and Shenanigan’s leashes are always on the ready.  Pretty much just like Sophie and Shenanigan themselves whenever we put on our running shoes and grab a plastic bag . . . “The shoes and the bags!  They mean business!”  (My very poor  memory of a Patton Oswalt stand-up about the dog figuring out it’s going for a walk)

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Posted in Around the house, Dogs, Hand Crafted, Miscellaneous Diversions

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Spray Paint is a Girl’s (New) Best Friend . . . or maybe Value Village

Posted on February 8, 2012 by | 2 comments

Forget all that talk of diamond’s being a girl’s best friend.  (And really forget those open heart diamond necklaces, gag!).  What a girl really needs is a good thrift store and a can of spray paint.  In my case, Value Village and my new can of Valspar Deep Sea Diving.

When Paul had his coming out party yesterday, I didn’t mention his new accessory — the lamp.

Paul McCobb secretary desk as a bar

Paul came home with us on Friday night and I had done a quick scramble around trying to find just his right accessories.  I tried out the Ikea “globe/blob” lamp on him but it was too bright.  The other lamps in the house were too tall.  I knew I wanted some big artwork there as well so I hit a few area thrift stores to see if there were any large frames or canvases I could McGuyver into something better.  No luck. 

But I did find this naked little white ceramic lamp base for $2.52 and a very sad country-style lampshade for $1.21 in two different aisles at Value Village.

One visit to the backyard “spray booth” later . . . .

And things are much happier.  All for $3.73 and a can of spray paint I had already used on another project. 

The artwork next to it was something we had picked up on a family trip to Memphis a few years back.  It’s an old flyer for a concert or something. . . As a happy accident, it contained the blue color that is now starting to pop up all around the house.  I propped it up on a little Ikea (!) easel.  I still have some ideas in mind for the big “statement piece” that will go behind there, but whenever that is ready, it will have a little light to light it up.

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Posted in Around the house, Miscellaneous Diversions, Thrifting

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New Year’s Goal (semi) accomplished

Posted on January 6, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Yay!  Husband did his first post.  I love the band picture.  Hopefully there are many more to come.  Now, back to the weekend.

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Posted in Guitars, Miscellaneous Diversions

Monograms and sheepskins

Posted on January 6, 2012 by | 2 comments

For those of you who have been reading this for a while, you know about my (slight) obsession with the letter “T” and also with sheepskins.  They are addictions I’m not sure I want to cure. 

Imagine my surprise when my family and friends picked up on these idiosyncratic obsessions of mine.  Maybe that puts them in the category of enablers.  At any rate, it makes me one lucky lady.

For Christmas this year we did a name swap/draw on my side of the family.  It turns out my mother drew my name. (Hi Mom.)  Great gift #1 was a large “T” for my growing collection on the mantel.  I wanted to customize it a bit more so it paid a visit to my backyard spray booth (which is a cardboard box top.  Fancy.)

That little black handle is the best $3 I ever spent.  I got it at Home Depot and it clips onto the top of a can of spray paint so you can grip with your whole hand and get a nice easy layer of spray paint. 

Et voila . . . . . it is now the new theme color of teal/sapphire blue and proudly displayed on my restyled mantel.

It looks so happy against the new white wall.  On the ottoman you’ll also see the big  red book of “Design*Sponge at Home”, another great gift from my mom.

See anything else new on the ottoman?  Remember a few posts back when I was agonizing over the Anthropologie $800 fleece flounce throw?

JT was a good husband and got me the Z Gallerie alternate and at about $50, it is so much more affordable.  I didn’t have to promise to wear it as a coat every day and sleep under it every night.  I can’t put it on the bed or the sofa because Sophie and Shenanigan will do inappropriate things to it.  So for now it is adorning the ottoman where I can rest my feet on it at night and revel in its sheepy softness (and it’s actually faux so no real sheep were harmed.  Win and win.)  And it’s teal/sapphire. 

Shenanigan will still do circus dog tricks sometimes and stand on the ottoman so I put a tray on top of my new throw to protect it a little better.  I used to have a long rectangular dark brown tray on the ottoman which popped nicely off the white vinyl.  I had to switch it around a little and mixed in a white round tray instead to give some contrast off that teal fur goodness.  The tray also is an old friend who visited the backyard spray booth — it used to be red.  I’m telling you, I’m crazy with the spray paint. 

And back to the monograms we go – did you think we were done with “T”s?  My mom has a friend in Kansas City (Hi Barb!) who is a whiz with a sewing machine.  She has one of those uber-fancy digital ones that I dream of owning someday after I learn to master the Kenmore basic model I have now.  Mom sent Barb some plain napkins and Barb sent these beauties back . . .

(PS – I took approximately 29 pictures of these place settings to find one picture that I liked.  JT saw the table set and asked if we were having a dinner party he was unaware of.  Just staging things for the blog hon. That’s normal, right?)  They’re very subtle which I like, kind of tone on tone.  Barb made us a set of white monogram “T” napkins for use at our wedding (7 years ago!) and I still have them but white is a bit unforgiving for daily use so I’m happy to have a set of the tan color as well. 

So that wraps up the story of monograms and sheepskins.  I am enjoying them all thoroughly.  My other great gifts will be the subject of an upcoming post — it involves artwork and I’m trying to get them all framed and hung before I post but I may just give in and share before I can get it done.  We’ll see.  Have a great weekend everyone!

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Posted in Gifts, Hand Crafted, Miscellaneous Diversions