POSTED ON NOVEMBER 29, 2010 BY EMILY

Paint is good. It is inexpensive, easy to apply and can transform any room in a matter of hours. We like to paint and find ourselves repainting rooms often. I thought I’d share some of the colors we currently have in our home. They are neutrals {no surprise there} and they go with everything, but be sure to try out a sample in your home to see how the color looks in different light.

T H E   E N T I R E   H O U S E

Our home was painted from top to bottom in a great neutral wheat/gray/beige by Rodda {HFH09 – relaxed khaki}. This is the color that is in our entry, the base coat of my office and the stripes in the boys’ room. However, I can’t find a sample online and I believe Rodda is only found in the Pacific Northwest, so here are some comparable ones I found by holding up my Benjamin Moore {BM} fan deck to my walls.

BM hazy skies {OC-48}

BM grant beige {HC-83}

T H E   D I N I N G   R O O M

BM berkshire beige {AC-2}

T H E    K I T C H E N

This is the color on the top of the walls.

BM texas leather {AC-3}

T H E   L I V I N G    R O O M

Our walls have been this gray-blue for the past few years

farrow & ball light blue

but we’ve just repainted the room with this new color

restoration hardware slate

T H E   N U R S E R Y

This is a soft blue-gray that doesn’t really look like this swatch on the walls. Sorry about that. It is a bit lighter and softer in real life.

Behr rhino {710E-3}

It is pretty similar to the ever-popular Silver Sage from Restoration Hardware

restoration hardware silver sage

The bed & shelves in the nursery are painted this sludgy gray-blue-green {also not very well-represented by this image}

Sherwin Williams rushing river {SW2093}

Need a few more suggestions? Here are a couple of pretty ones:

BM revere pewter {HC-172}

farrow & ball mouse’s back

** NOTE: while you can never get the color to match perfectly, we typically have the paint swatches color matched at our local hardware store. It is not the fanciest paint, but seems to do the trick **

Glass Tile Pendants

Glass Tile Pendants

Remember when I gave a pendant to a random follower? Sad you didn't win?  Well don't fret because I'm going to do a quick run-down on how to make a glass tile pendant.  I first saw a how-to atTrey and Lucy but have seen several other tutorials as well.  Here's my take.

If you're feeling the crafty groove, you can make some similiar to mine - and they can end up costing less than $1.70 each - wow!  Perfect for gifts.  What a great craft - I had one mom comment to me "this is a great craft that spans all ages - my daughter (7 yrs old) could do it and so could I and my mother - and we all enjoyed it!"

First gather your supplies - you'll need:
--a glass tile,
--a bail (that's the hook that goes on the back),
--paper or fabric design,
--diamond glaze and a small paintbrush,
--superglue,
--and a chain to hang it on.

I bought all my supplies from CandyTiles and was really impressed.  I especially like her bundle packs - you don't have to think because it has everything - you can get 20 bails, 20 tiles, 20 chains, and a bottle of diamond glaze for $33.50 - perfect.  And prices get better as you order more - I organized this craft for moms to do at our playgroup and ended up ordering 2 100 Bundle Packs - so make it a party!

** update - 10% off at CandyTiles if you enter "SugarBeez" in the message area when you check out**

Take your tile, and trace it onto your paper.  Then cut it out slightly inside the lines.  You can use an exacto knife but I just used scissors.  Hold it up with your tile on top of it to check the size - you don't want any paper sticking out behind the edge.

Squirt your diamond glaze on the back of the tile - about pea size.  Use a small paintbrush to spread it out - enough to coat the back of the tile but not so much that it's going to ooze.

Then while the diamond glaze is still wet set your paper face-down onto it.  Rub the paper to get a really good seal.

Let dry for 5-10 mintues or longer.  Then squirt diamond glaze on the back of the paper and spread it out with a paintbrush to seal in your paper.  Let dry several hours.  Then using superglue, glue your bails to the back. (Don't use Gorilla Glue - it foams a little so it won't look as clean around your bail)

We had a great time making these - and so will you!

How to Fold a Burlap Rose

How to Fold a Burlap Rose

Hi there fellow burlap lovers!!!
It was so fun when the Ronda Handbag was featured in the spring 2010 edition of Haute Handbags Magazine....!!!!  I was so honored!  Now, as promised:  here are the instructions that were promised in the article:  A a fabulous folded burlap rose made of a strip of burlap.

They are sooooo fun and quite easy to make.....!!!

View this short video to see how.
Have a happy burlap folding, rose making~ kinda day!!!
:)  Crystelle

How to Fold a Burlap Rose

Hi there fellow burlap lovers!!!
It was so fun when the Ronda Handbag was featured in the spring 2010 edition of Haute Handbags Magazine....!!!!  I was so honored!  Now, as promised:  here are the instructions that were promised in the article:  A a fabulous folded burlap rose made of a strip of burlap.

They are sooooo fun and quite easy to make.....!!!

View this short video to see how.
Have a happy burlap folding, rose making~ kinda day!!!
:)  Crystelle

It's a sign~

It's a sign~

Every time I step into my favourite second hand shops I always seem to stop and stare at the pile of silver trays and plates that are constantly accumulating on the shelves.  For the longest time I've been trying to figure out what I could do with them, but no matter how hard I stared at them, nothing would come to me.

And then I picked up the latest edition of Somerset Home.  There it was, right in front of me...the perfect project!

Angela Harris from yourangil.blogspot.com created beautiful objects with these trays to decorate her home and send out affirmation messages to her family.  I was so excited when I saw this, I knew that I had to make some for my house too!

Here are the supplies that I used:

Most important are the trays, the chalkboard paint and a brush, and some tape.  The rest is just fun embellishments~

Steps
1) Lightly clean the area that you will be applying the chalkboard paint to. 

I did a little research on cleaning silver (apparently toothpaste and a soft cloth are the way to go) but I quickly decided that what I loved about thiese little treasures was the patina.  It gives them character and age.  So, I left the rest of the tray alone and continued.

2) Tape around the area that you want covered with chalkboard paint.  This was my first experience using chalkboard paint and I thought that this step would ensure a nice clean edge....sadly it did not.  It wasn't bad but when I removed the tape it did lift some of the paint.  So, if you have an ultra steady hand you can skip this step.  Otherwise, just be super gentle when you remove the tape later on.

3) Paint the chalkboard paint onto the tray.  Give it 2-3 coats alternating the direction of your brush strokes on each layer.  It takes about an hour or so to dry in between each layer depending on how thick you paint it on.

4) Once the last layer of paint has dried thoroughly very, VERY gently remove the tape.  Now for the fun part - embellishing!!  Tie on pretty ribbons, sparkly butterflies, and other things to personalize them.  If your tray doesn't have handles or a filigree edge, you can use a hot glue gun to attach things.

5) Write special messages on the trays for your guests or family members and hang on doors or special places.



Aren't they gorgeous?!?!?  I hung the one above on the outside of my washroom door.

And the one below hangs on the door knob to my guest room.

I thought that I'd be able to set this one on the door casing outside of my studio but it wouldn't stay up there.  I ended up using a 3M Command Strip and sticking it right to the wall.  I love it!