Thursday, May 30, 2013

My Family Believes - Kitchen Wall Decor



I've seen so many cool "Family Rules" signs around this past year.  You know you have too.  But I couldn't find one to say just the perfect things --- so I made my own version.



Project #1:  I found this old divided wooden box at a garage sale for $1.  I wish I would have taken a photo of it before we (with my husband's help) ripped the glass out and spray painted it.  There were so many old, ugly items glued on it and we did our best to remove them.  There was some glue and a bead that I couldn't pry off without risking breaking the whole thing.  So I just painted over it.  I knew that when I covered the sections with paper, I could hide the imperfections.


This paper is part of Basic Grey's Origins line (an oldie but a goodie).  And there were chipboard elements to match.


You like how I used this bird to cover up that glued bead?




Project #2:  I found this {previously} silver platter at that same garage sale (score!).  I spray painted it to match my yellow and brown kitchen and added some paper embellishments.  I was a bit baffled when it came time to hang the plate.  But those amazing Scotch mounting tapes worked great.  


Shortly after moving into our new house a year ago, I searched for hours to find the perfect fabric for my new kitchen theme - yellow and brown.  Everything that has yellow in it these days is mixed with Gray.  I love that combo but it just wasn't going to mesh well with my furniture and other decor in my adjacent living room.

Then finally - I found it!  This floral print is part of the Origins Collection that Basic Grey put out a few years ago.  I was especially excited that I would be able to find matching scrapbook paper to complete my projects.  Thanks to embellish IT! for still carrying some of this old collection.  I knew I could count on you!


Project #3:  This was my final kitchen project - covering up these glass doors.  I love the look of glass doors but cabinet space in this house was at a premium and I couldn't use it all for the "pretty" stuff.  If you didn't already know, you can buy tiny little rods that attach to cabinet doors.  This was the perfect solution.


Hope you enjoyed my kitchen crafting projects.  Tell me about yours...



Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Cruising the French Riviera

We just returned from a fabulous cruise in the Mediterranean on Azamara Club Cruises.  In case you have never heard of this wonderful little cruise line, it is owned by Royal Caribbean and is a boutique line.  What they do is they have longer stays, more overnights and night touring in their ports of call.  If you have ever been cruising and wished that you could have gone out that evening and enjoyed the city lights, or the theater, or an event, then this is the cruise line for you.  It sails with only about 700 passengers, so for a cruise ship, it is considered small.  However, it has all of the amenities of a larger ship and in addition, includes many other things that make it feel more like a club, such as complimentary drinks. 

We were in Marseilles from noon on day one until 6 PM the next day.  That gave us time to explore the port on the first afternoon. 


Then the next day, we booked a boat ride to a nearby island (20 minute ride) and explored some amazing scenery on a hike.  It was so beautiful!  It was like we found a hidden gem.  We were practically there by ourselves.  That is the beauty of being on a smaller ship!
When we were in Cannes, France, they were setting up for the Cannes Film Festival, which will be from May 15-26, 2013.  We found the red carpet going up to the Grand Auditorium.  We took a picture on the red carpet.  I know that it will be hard for you to tell us apart from the movie stars that will be there next week!  We had fun doing this.

In Monte Carlo, we rode along where they are going to be having the Grand Prix at the end of this month.  They were putting up the guard rails and signage.   Lots of enormous yachts were in the harbor awaiting the event.  Because they had overnight stays in port, we were able to go to the Grand Casino in Monte Carlo at night.  It was fun to mingle with the rich and famous for one night.  Then we were back to our ship.  It was hard to go to bed because the view from our balcony on the ship was calling to us!  The ship was docked right downtown.  We could see the castle where the Prince of Monaco lives, a giant yacht that we heard was owned by somebody who was related to the royal family and the Grand Casino all lit up at night.

It was while we were sitting out on the balcony the last night that my husband and I really "got it".  We truly understood what the Azamara Experience of longer stays, more overnights and night touring really meant.  It meant moments like this.....

Give us a call if this looks good to you!