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All Things Home

The Story of the Stone Fruit

I shared about my love of stone fruit in a post a few months ago.  It’s marble that’s been carved and hand painted to look like real fruit and it’s pretty convincing.  It’s also usually very expensive.  One rare piece on E-bay can sell for $60 or more.  I was over-the-moon one day when I found stone fruit at Goodwill for $.68 a piece.  I snapped them right up and I was happy with my little collection.  What I really longed for, though, was my grandmother’s stone fruit collection. She had it sitting on her dining room table for as long as I can remember.  I never noticed it as a kid, but after I got married and learned more about decorating and antiques, I fell in love with her stone fruit.  When my grandfather passed away last fall, I really wanted to get the stone fruit.  It wasn’t about

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Latest Thrift Store Yield

I stopped by my local thrift store yesterday and found a beauty of a birdcage.  I have been looking for one for a while and I saw this one tucked up on a shelf.  Lately this thrift store has gotten a little pricey with certain items and this was $12.00, which is not dirt cheap, but I thought it was worth it.  It had a few nicks and dings and was filthy, but it was otherwise in great condition. I gave it a good scrub and rubbed some Dark Walnut stain on the dings.  So, now it looked good…what do I do with it?  Candles seemed like an easy and obvious choice. I set off my smoke alarm as I took this picture, but I love how it looks.  Great ambience…candles and a smoke alarm.  Very calming. Well, the snow is falling right now and it looks like we’re going to

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My French Settee

I bought this Country Home book several years ago and it made me want a white, slipcovered French settee.  On a side note, does anyone else miss Country Home?  Family Circle was not the same at all and a ridiculous substitution for my subscription.  Anyway…I loved everything about this sofa and I just had to find one. Fast forward about seven years and I found my French Settee.  It was at a yard sale for $50.00. That’s a great price, but it had been used as a dog bed and was totally gross. I vacuumed up all of the dog hair, scrubbed it with upholstery cleaner, aired it out and sprayed it with lots of Febreeze. I then slipcovered it with a tied on cover to keep the wood details exposed.      The quilt is to protect it from my cats, who like to nestle in the down cushion.  A quilt is easier

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Gold Leaf Tutorial

I was asked if I would do a gold leaf tutorial and I was happy to share how easy and effective this process is. I purchased an entire armload of large, dated frames at an auction for a quarter.  I was not quite sure what I was going to do with them at the time, but the auctioneer looked at me and almost pleaded with me to take them off his hands.  These two frames were in that lot. They are clearly 1960’s-70’s style frames and not at all my taste. They had an interesting texture that seemed like a great candidate for applying gold leaf. In this tutorial, I’m showing you how to apply gold leaf to a frame, but you can apply metal leaf to almost anything. First of all, make sure your surface is clean.  Also, what’s underneath the leafing may peak through, so make sure it’s

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Half Canopy Tutorial

I have received a huge response from my half canopy, so I am following up with a tutorial.  I try to keep all of my posts from being too wordy, but this one will be the exception.  Now, I did not take pictures while sewing, but I’ve included a drawing and I’ll talk you through it.  The sewing part of this tutorial assumes that you have some sewing skills and can figure it out.  If you don’t sew, never fear!  Try making this with some pretty cotton sheets or some premade curtain panels.  This project looks fancy and complex, but it’s actually very simple.  All of the sewing is just going in a straight line.  If you can sew in a straight line, you can make this. Sewing Ok, here’s the fabric you need to replicate this look on a queen sized bed in a room with 8′ ceilings.  10 yards

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A Rough Morning…

I had a rough morning.  My 1 1/2 year old has been sick and either he’s crying or wants to be held.  This extra attention to the sick child has made my 3 year old demanding and fussy.  After being cooped up in the house for most of the week with this dynamic, I finally lost it.  My wonderful husband could hear that I was rapidly becoming the mommy monster and I needed a break.  He came home early and gave me 3 1/2 glorious hours to do whatever I wanted.  I decided to take a very long, very hot shower first.  Then, I headed out to hit a few thrift stores and pay a visit to Hobby Lobby.  Our Hobby Lobby is pretty new, so we don’t have much of a clearance section, yet.  Today, however, there was an entire aisle of clearance items.  I found this metal cloche

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Thrifty Finds & Sneak Peaks

I treated myself by hitting Hobby Lobby and Goodwill last week and came home with a bunch of goodies.  I found this small ornate mirror for $2.97 at Goodwill.  It’s plastic, but I love the shape and the antiqued mirror. I can’t wait to paint it up…it’s going to be amazing. I bought 4 vintage hangers for $.97.  I also found this damask curtain panel and brown and aqua curtain topper, both brand new from Target. I’m not going to use them as curtains, but the fabric and trim are perfect for my bedroom. I hit the 90% off Christmas aisle at Hobby Lobby and bought 3 large bunches of silk poisnettias for $9.00(originally $75) and these mirrored snowflake ornaments for $.20 each.  Every mirror on every snowflake is broken, so I’m not sure if that’s how they are supposed to be or they are all broken.  Either way, I think

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More Christmas Sales

I can’t believe I forgot to show you one of my best Christmas presents!  A few years ago the diamond fell out of my engagement ring.  We looked everywhere, but never found it.  It was only a quarter of a karat, but its worth was greater to me than any monetary value put on it.  We could not afford to replace it at the time, so I’ve just been wearing 2 wedding bands.  I’ve been looking longingly at rings since I lost my rock, but we’ve never found one that I liked that we could afford.  A couple of weeks ago, we found this beauty on sale.  Hello, bling!  Come to my finger.  I also hit Target yesterday and found some great Christmas decor that was now 75% off.  I loved these glittered leaves and bought every one that was left in the store (about 15.) I ended up paying

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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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