PHFR all in one

Every once in a while, I stumble across a thing that fits the whole "Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real" philosophy.

Today I give you....

Crocheted Stones.

(idea from here)

Pretty? I think they are.

Funny? Rocks covered in yarn...yeah, my hubby thought it was.

Happy? Well, they make me smile every time I look at them.

Real? Don't think it comes much realer than rocks from our beach.

Cost? $0.00 - I had the Aunt Lydia's cotton crochet thread and as I mentioned above, the rocks are from our beach. Time? about 20 minutes per stone -my crochet skillz aren't fully mad yet. A quick, happy little project that makes me smile and bemuses my husband. I call it a "Win-win"!

Click over to check out the other PHFR posts! 

My inspiration

“My home has evolved and materialized into a group of loved things: A comfortable, never boring, memory-laced, mismatched collection to which I add and subtract.” – Lynette Jennings

At the risk of dating myself, I remember watching Lynette Jennings' design show back in the early/mid 90s. One design idea she utilized was taking a favorite item (for some people, it's a napkin) and using that as inspiration for design. For the longest time, I had a piece of wrapping paper tucked in my dream book. But just recently, I figured out my inspiration has been right in front of me all along.

This painting hangs in our bedroom area. It's called Winter Whites by a PA artist, David Armstrong. This barn is about 30 minutes from where I grew up in Central PA. The colors read a little different in this picture: it actually has more turquoise, russet and creams.

I think this would be a great companion piece to add...someday.

I think this one is absolutely lovely, too.

Vintage linens

Hi, I'm Dusa and I'm addicted to vintage linens. I buy them, repair them, wash them, iron them, then tuck them in a drawer waiting for the 'perfect' time. Which never seems to arrive. So I decided to do something about it.

Here, I added two similar doilies (and a crocheted medallion) to some small pillows.

I matted this one on some fabric and hung it in a thrifted frame.

(And yes, there is one under the lamp, too)

Ditto for here. But I think there are only so many linens I can hang before the CatMan complains about living in a granny house.

Any ideas how I can utilize more of my stash?

Buried

Buried in a friend's garage, under coats of paint (who paints fabric anyway??), was this little treasure. It has come to live with me, stay tuned for the makeover.

What is wenge, anyway?

It would be the Benjamin Moore version of the Hershey's purply-brown chocolate bar wrapper.

(Those white spots are glints off the polyurethane, not chips in the paint!)

A reminder of what the bench looked like before.

(wave hi to the reclusive, seldom seen Meepus!)

This is how I found it 15 years ago, tucked away in a big barn of antiques in Cambridge VT. I liked the chippy state. But recently, I wanted to change it up. The paint was a way to add depth without adding another wood tone to our space; it's neutral without being bland.

Palette Inspiration

From the side of a yogurt container. Liberte's Coconut yogurt to be exact. I love this color chart. A little too cool for our Vermont apartment, but still very soothing and classy. Where have you found inspiration?