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Decorating
Antiques

German Glass Glitter

** I’m sorry I sold out of glitter so quickly.  I just ordered more and will have it back in stock ASAP! ** Years ago, I read an article about German glass glitter featuring Wendy Addison.  I think I even clipped out the article and put it in my old school, pre-Pinterest “idea binder.”  Fast forward to when I started my business. The very first thing I made was hand painted wooden ornaments, but the second holiday season, I wanted to do something different, so I sought out the German glass glitter I fell in love with in that magazine article. I remember getting my first order.  It was so sparkly and beautiful…not like any other glitter out there.  I started glittering anything that would hold still long enough… Paper pinwheels… …Pine Cones … …a metal star found for a dollar at a thrift store that topped the Little tree in the living room last

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November 14, 2013 25 Comments
Decorating

be a rule-breaker

I am not a trained designer.  My degree is in musical theatre, not interior design.  Decorating became my creative outlet when I hung up my tap shoes and tucked away the pancake makeup.  I’ve studied decorating by reading home decor books, shelter magazines, watching HGTV, and by a lot of doing and redoing.  The nice thing about that is I don’t have to worry about all of the things that are proper and conventional and “right” that I would’ve learned had I studied formally.  I just do what I like. I don’t always arrange things in odd numbers.  (Gasp!)  I often mix more than three patterns. (Double gasp!) And I have no trouble mixing shades of blue.  (The horror!) There are all of these decorating rules floating around…don’t paint a small room a dark color, don’t combine this color with that one, use red in every room, use black in

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October 29, 2013 52 Comments
crafts

HGTV.com Christmas Tutorials

The Christmas tutorials I wrote for HGTV.com are live now!  I know a lot of people have been waiting for these, especially the preserved boxwood wreath.  I promised I would link to them when they became available, so here they are… Preserved Boxwood Wreath Boxwood Topiaries Boxwood Kissing Ball I bought all of the preserved boxwood in bunches from a wholesale floral supply website, but they are currently sold out of the bulk boxes.  I’ll keep an eye out for them to come available again and order some for my online shop.  You can preserve your own boxwood…I just didn’t have any bushes to clip branches from!  I found THIS TUTORIAL on preserving your own, which is a much more economical option.  While purchased preserved boxwood is expensive, it will last for years if kept away from direct light and intense heat.  I give mine a spritz maybe once a

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October 29, 2013 24 Comments
Decorating

Sanding, staining, mixing & flooding

I had great plans for today.  I was going to get two furniture pieces finished and fit in e-mail and some photo shoots as paint dried.  The day was going as planned until about noon.  It’s been raining here for two full days.  Hard.  We’ve had a little bit of water seeping into our basement, just because the water table is so high.  This is normal, though, and the water is mostly corralled into channels with the help of some strategically placed towels.  I was busy oiling one of the shoe racks I bought and noticed some water seeping beyond the towels.  I figured they were sopped, so I exchanged them for dry towels and put them on the spin cycle in the washer.  The new towels were soaked in minutes and I realized there was a big problem.  I could hear water splashing.  It was pouring in under the

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October 12, 2013 30 Comments
crafts

Milk Paint Pumpkins

I received a lot of wonderful comments about my blue pumpkins and squash, but several people shared that they couldn’t find them in their area. Well, that gave me an idea… I’ve been itching to play with milk paint since attending the retailer training earlier this week, so why not test some custom mixed colors on a few pumpkins?  I know painting pumpkins isn’t anything new, but I don’t know if I’ve seen milk paint pumpkins out and about.  Given the natural variation in the pigmentation of the paint, I figured it would mimic the variations in the skin of blue pumpkins nicely. So, I started out with mini white pumpkins… …and mixed up six different custom colors.  They’re all variations made with Grain Sack, Boxwood, Shutter Gray, Eulalie’s Sky, Trophy and Kitchen Scale. I have found that these little ironstone mugs are my favorite to use for small paint

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September 27, 2013 48 Comments
Decorating

Fall Decorating Update

 Last time we checked in on my fall decorating, I had plopped a pumpkin in a dough bowl and called it a day. A couple of days later, I went to the farmer’s market up the road for some apples and found the prettiest blue hubbard squash and a fresh kale plant.  Neither were very expensive, so I picked them up.  Then, on the way from my my shopping trip on Thursday, I passed a huge wagon overflowing with beautiful varieties of pumpkins, including the blue Cinderella’s, so I picked up two of those and some mini white pumpkins for $12. I mixed in some pine cones and dried artichokes from my basement to round things out. So, now I have an arrangement in the dough bowl… …and a vignette on the dresser in the family room…     (I love how it looks like these two are nestling up

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September 23, 2013 47 Comments
Decorating

how I decorate for the seasons

I know as a home blogger, I’m supposed to crank out awesome new holiday projects weeks before each season starts.  Well, I honestly don’t do a lot to decorate for the seasons.  I like to throw out a few natural elements…like sea shells in the summer, a few eggs in the spring, some evergreen boughs and pine cones in the winter and I’ll buy a few pumpkins for fall.  So far, I bought one pumpkin at Wegman’s the other day and plopped it in a dough bowl.  Done. I’ll probably pick up a few more as I see ones that I like, but that’s really about it. I already had some feathers in an ironstone pitcher and those look fall-ish, so I moved them up to the living room to give them a more prominent place. The times when I do actually do a project, it’s almost always for an

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September 17, 2013 86 Comments
Decorating

Wax Puck Tutorial

I’m just getting in from enjoying the beautiful Collegiate Peaks in Colorado, so I’ve asked our MMS Milk Paint Primary Educator, Abbe Doll, to share a tutorial with you.  I haven’t had a chance to shoot or write a tutorial on using Wax Pucks, one of our new products, so Abbe, who is a machine, made one for me!  Enjoy! Let me just start by saying I love this little thing! It fits so perfectly in the palm of your hand and creates such fun effects. Here are some benefits of using the wax puck: You can create smooth, precise distressed lines on edges. If you want to expose color under color without sanding down to the wood, this allows you to control the amount of distressing you get It will allow you to expose or bring out the details of that great wear and tear of an old piece,

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August 27, 2013 No Comments

I’m Marian, a painter, writer, and lover of all things creative. From art and antiques to home projects and everyday life, I share my journey in hopes of inspiring you to embrace your own creativity and make beauty in the spaces you live.

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