Faux Tortoiseshell

You guys, it must be spring or something because I'm actually getting sh*t done around here!  Of course, everything is taking about 10 times longer to complete than originally planned, and I'm taking next to zero pictures because I'm the best blogger ever, but I'm still super excited that I'm crossing some things off the list!

#1 - I planted the first stage of our front yard garden this last weekend - two new flower beds and cleaning up a huge amount of weeds/lava rock.  Of course, stupid Austin decided to almost freeze the next couple of nights and some of my annuals are not looking so great, but hopefully they'll recover.  This weekend, I'll get around to mulching the new beds and putting in a few stepping stones.

#2 - My neighbor and I built rolling pantries for our kitchens (she lives on the other side of the duplex so our kitchens are mirrored).  They're based on this idea by Classy Clutter.  I will not be doing a tutorial, but maybe a "lessons learned" post.  It'll be functional, but not my best DIY moment, that's for sure.  They need to be painted and the back installed.

#3 - The boyfriend has been refinishing a pool table for the past couple of weeks and he's almost finished with all of the woodwork.  I will do a post on this later, because he's done such a wonderful job. I know he did all of the hard work, but I'm going to give myself a producer's credit since I gave such great advice. ;)

#4 - The dining room is 80% done.  Maybe even 85%.  It's actually been looking good for a while now, I just lost the cord that charges my camera, so I guess I'm going to either buy a new one or take crappy phone pics.  Tomorrow, I'm hopefully going to be picking up this bad boy from Craigslist for $20.

It's the last piece of furniture I need for the dining room - a coffee station/bar cart (sans wheels).   I'd love to get some mirrors cut to fit in the sunken oval sections and, unless I really dig the finish when I see it in person, I'm leaning towards experimenting with tortoiseshell.

I'm not the biggest fan of faux finishes, but I think tortoiseshell can look super pretty on rounded wood.  See what I mean?



SadieandStella via Pinterest

There are a couple of good tutorials online.  Some blog link I lost along the way led me to this wonderfully detailed tutorial.

Extreme Restoration

I also read through the comments on this Little Green Notebook post and followed Laura's link to The Paint Effects Bible on Amazon.

I guess a trip to Michael's just got added to my list as well.  Isn't that always the case - finish one project (or in my case - step 1 of a project) and add a couple of new ones? 

Have a great weekend!





Goodwill Rug

I finally managed to go thrift store shopping this weekend.  It has literally been months, and I was getting symptoms of withdrawal.  I didn't find any furniture, but I did score this:

It's a gigantic (10x13) Chinoiserie rug - 100% New Zealand wool, made in Egypt.  $30 - no lie.  It didn't even have pet hairs or stains - and it came with a wonderfully thick rug pad.

I wasn't in the market for a rug so I bought it for resale, but when I rolled it out to clean it, I decided it was too nice not to keep.  I replaced our free West Elm rug in the living room (and got a good workout to boot - now I know why people roll up dead bodies in rugs, you can hardly tell the difference).  I like the print in there, I had a few too many solid colors in the space.

I looked up the company, and it looks like similar rugs of this size generally sell for $1500-$1700.  So it was basically 98% off and in near-perfect condition.  Yay for Goodwill!

Library Dining Rooms

I love the look of a library dining room.  It works extremely well because of the combination of two spaces you might not use that much (formal dining room and a library) into a layered and interesting use of square footage.  I tend to like the ones with built ins and a darker, cozier design.

My favorite at the moment:

Peter Dunham designed, from Domino via designing "the life"

Habitually Chic



Simply Beautiful

 

Your Day Simplified

Beautiful Libraries
 

Apartment Therapy

Pics above and below via Victoria Dreste Designs

The one below isn't my style at all, but I love how it translates the idea of a library dining room into the space of a small breakfast nook, but the use of a mirror makes it look a lot bigger.  Fantastic space plan.

Traditions Journal

Free Garden Plans

This is the year we tackle the front yard.  We did a vegetable garden last year with mixed results (lots of growth, but not enough food to make me feel all the work was worthwhile), so I feel a little more confident about my gardening abilities.  I didn't want to try a front yard garden before I conquered my black thumb, because, after all, it will be on full display for everyone to judge and potentially mock.

Right now we're in the budgeting/planning phase.  A great site I found for information is BHG.com - they even have free garden plans which give you all the details from what flowers to buy, to how to properly plant and take care of them.

I like this one for the area near the sidewalk, which has a slight slope.  Plus, we could use a nice path from the sidewalk to the front door since we currently cut across our neighbor's yard, which is probably a big faux pas.

My top 3 goals are to find plants hardy enough (and low-maintenance enough) that they won't die from the extreme Texas heat or my general lack of gardening mojo, that are cheap (you know it), and are mostly perennials so I don't have to replant the entire garden every year.

Oly Bed Knock-Off

This is the Oly Studio Diego Bed.  It's gold, has spindles, is textured.  I'm sure it costs an arm and a leg (I found one quote of $5,450).



via Zinc Door and Pinterest

It's famous.

High Point Market via M.A.S.H. by Tiffany

My favorite thing about it is the combination of canopy and upholstered headboard.  Because I want both.  But since I dislike the notion of losing an arm or a leg (or both), I thought this cheap-o version could fit the bill.

Lauren King Metal Canopy Bed - Overstock

Gold leafed, of course.  It doesn't have the texture or spindles of the original, but I think the streamlined version would still be pretty.  Only $296.99 currently.

Nude Motorcycle Jacket

I made my Spring wish list of clothes to buy a couple of weeks ago.  A lot of the pictures I saved on my Pinterest inspiration board featured a nude or khaki coolored blazer. 



Polyvore - Untitled #69 by bbs25

via Pinterest

However, since I'm also looking to buy both a coral and a navy blazer, I decided to branch out and look for a proper jacket.  I liked this look "in-my-closet" put together on Polyvore, which inspired me to start searching for a nude motorcycle or bomber jacket.

Since it will be 150 degrees here in Austin by April, I thought the earlier I bought it, the better.  And, of course, I wasn't going to spend a lot on it.  I've been looking for a pair of nude heels and I realized my skin looks much better with a pinkish/light nude color that a darker one, so I thought I might apply the principal to my nude colored jacket as well.  I ended up finding two lighter choices.

 

Kohl's Hydraulic Moto Jacket

This one was at Kohls, on sale for $67.99, down from $98.  Plus, there was a 15% off coupon code at Retailmenot.com.  I liked the rose gold accents, but thought it might read too shiny/cheap in person.

 

Faux Leather Motorcycle Jacket

The second option (and the one I ended up going with) was at New York & Company.  On sale for $44.97, down from $89.95.  I added a $5 nail polish to get the total up and used a coupon code for $20 off of $50 - so end the end I paid $34.97 before taxes and shipping (total after $46.50).  I'm actually not swept off my feet by the picture (and New York & Company's website doesn't feature a lot of detail shots), but for the price I thought I had to give it a try.

 

via Pinterest

In case it doesn't work out, I have been researching options of a nude cropped or bomber style jacket.  I liked the picture of Lauren Conrad and her jacket from Kohls, but they don't sell it anymore.  However, New York & Company does have this one:

 

Faux Leather Cropped Jacket

It's more expensive - $89.95, although there are frequently coupons for $30-50 off $100 purchases.  We'll see, though.  Hopefully my original (cheaper) purchase will work out.

Garnier Moisture Rescue Rave Review

I've recently become an addict to watching beauty channels on Youtube.  As a girl who rarely wore make-up in my 20s, it's been a bit of a transition for me to wear it (almost) everyday of my 30s.  I simply didn't know anything but the basics, so I've been experimenting with lots of different products.  Meanwhile, my face has been getting drier with lots of splotchy red spots.  So, I did my Youtube research and stumbled across some rave review for Garnier's Moisture Rescue Refreshing Gel Cream.  It was around $8 at CVS, so I gave it a whirl.  I bought the Dry Skin version because my skin was really suffering.

Of course, everyone's experience will be different, but I have never been more pleased with a beauty product's performance, especially compared to their claims.  If I knew it was going to work so well, I would have taken before and after shots, really!  After washing my face one night, I put it on and instantly felt like my skin was smoother and deeply moisturized.  The next morning, all of my cracked and flaky patches were gone!  After a week of using it twice a day (in the morning before my make-up ritual, and at night after my cleansing routine), my skin has developed a lovely texture and even a bit of a glow.  It's a bit of a miracle cream, in my opinion.

Just so no one thinks they've stumbled on a sponsored, fake review - I also bought Garnier's BB Cream at the same time.  I knew from several Youtube reviews that this was not really comparable to the Asian BB creams everyone raves about, or even the more expensive BB creams from companies like Smashbox and Bobbi Brown.  But they also said it was the best of the drugstore BB creams, so I thought I would give it a shot.

Not nearly as impressed.  It provides very little coverage and doesn't really even out my skin tone like it claims.  It's basically a tinted moisturizer, but I have been satisfied with it as a primer (especially when I compare its $12 price tag to the $30 I paid for my Too Faced Poreless Primer).  It does have a bit of a glow to it and doesn't leave my skin greasy, while also feeling light.  It seems to help my make-up last most of the day (and my skin loves to absorb make-up).  I like that it has SPF, although 15 is kind of low.  So I'd give it a B for performance/cost, although a C- if I was expecting the "Miracle Skin Perfector" the box claims.

Anyone have any miracle/loved beauty products they can recommend?  I only recently realized I can return make-up to CVS if I don't like it - which was such a revelation.  No more paralysis over trying new shades.