Housewarming Herbs

I found this box at a garage sale, it had probably been used as a gift set for wine. Even though it had a strange purplish stain on it and was missing it's lid, I was looking forward to transforming it!

Some friends of mine had just moved into a new place and I wanted to give them a housewarming gift. I love having fresh herbs in my kitchen to cook with and I thought they would as well.

My local farmer's market had just started selling herbs for the season, I chose basil, thyme, parsley and oregano. Luckily the little square pots they came in fit perfectly side by side!

The box was made of a soft wood that I wanted to try my hand at carving. I printed out and transferred the letters onto the box with carbon paper. I got out my tools from a printmaking class I had taken years ago and after outlining the design with an exacto knife I started carving out around the letters. At first I wasn't sure how it would turn out but after completing one letter I could see it was going to look great.

When all the carving was done, I painted the whole box a soft black. Next with light grey paint I used a dry brush technique to bring out the raised areas and give it the aged look I was going for.

Fantastic Frames

This is my living room before I got my new couch and redecorated. I had this beige leather one for a few years that was passed down to me. I took it because I needed a couch, it was in good shape, a neutral color...but I never really liked it! Since I didn't like the couch much I never really hung anything above it because it felt kind of temporary.

When I finally bought my new couch this is when I began to decorate and create the kind of living room I had always wanted.

I had been collecting old frames for several years, some weren't that old but some belonged to my great-grandfather in Scotland. I was never really sure what to do with them or what kind of photos or images would do them justice. I decided to hang the frames empty, after all they did feel like works of art.

From this close-up, you can see how all of the frames have a gold undertone but are very different in shape, size and detail from one and other.

This is one of my favorite "works of art" in my home.

Pot for a Plant

This metal plant pot was in the clearance section of a decorating store. It was discounted and discounted again....

To give this ugly pot a different look, I decided to cover it in jute string. I made several braids and used my glue gun to stick them to the pot. The sections between the braids were wrapped with the jute and glued every so often to keep them in place.
I bought a cherry tomato plant which looks great in my new rustic pot.

Favorite Things: Beautiful Bobbins

My grandmother did a lot of sewing and I inherited her sewing kit. I've always loved these old wooden bobbins of thread, their labels and bright colors are a work of art.

Bookcase for a Boy

My clients for this project were a sweet young couple who wanted me to refinish this bookcase that had been given to them by a friend. Since they live in a beautiful but not overly spacious old home, storage is always important for them. Even though this bookcase was painted an awful green they still saw that it had potential and would fit perfectly in their son's room.

We chose a medium brown paint color to compliment the other furniture in the room and I suggested adding distressing in some spots to antique it.
Once I sanded the bookcase and started applying the paint I knew that it was going to turn out to be a beautiful piece!

I used a drybrush paint technique to apply a lighter color to the edges and to highlight the recesses on the doors. In other areas I used a darker paint to give the piece an aged look.

This is Lucas, so excited to help his mom fill up the bookcase with all his toys. The doors are at just the right height for him to open and get his toys out to play with and hopefully if all goes well...keep them organized!