2000 Thanks!

Happy Sunday to all my friends and lovely readers! I just popped in to send a little "Thank You!" note to my Pinterest followers. Yup, I've reached 2000 followers and I've never been more addicted to pinning... It's (very) time consuming, but also fascinating - and a place to meet new people of incredible taste! 

So let's see what I've been pinning lately - and for anyone who is interested in discovering new ideas and spaces, you can FOLLOW ME ON PINTEREST anytime :) Thank you once more <3

Still life

A simple grey bed

Spring colors

Serene styling

Monochrome Gift Wrapping

Natural herbs have become my best friends! You can see how I've played with their delicate hues and intricate designs here and here. Now I thought of celebrating their beauty by incorporating them into a subtle gift wrapping in the same color. Here they are: monochrome gifts!

There are several ways you can apply the dried herbs while keeping a minimalist appearance of the gift wrap, as you can see in the photos below:

Just wrap the gift box in soft lavender and put the twig on top. Secure the gift with a single line of wool.

For the black gift wrapping I used a little bit of black washi tape to keep the berries on top of the box.

Or you can tie together two twigs with thread, then add a drop of glue onto the craft paper gift wrapping!

The monochrome gift wrapping is super-easy to make if you stick to these simple rules:

1. Choose your natural twigs and berries first, then find color-coordinated paper in similar shades.

2. Use little or no yarn at all (same goes for ribbon, tags or other embellishments).

3. Less is more - don't overcrowd the gifts. But you can be as creative as you can :) Enjoy!

Linking up to these lovely parties.

And some of them require a backlink in the actual post, so here they are:

http://adiamondinthestuff.blogspot.ro/   http://www.myuncommonsliceofsuburbia.com/   http://www.blackberryvine.blogspot.ro/   http://www.cedarhill-ranch.com/   http://diycraftyprojects.com

http://www.sew-much-ado.com/   http://www.elizabethandco.blogspot.ro/   http://thelifeofjenniferdawn.blogspot.ro/

http://www.houseofhepworths.com/  http://www.theshabbycreekcottage.com   http://www.the36thavenue.com/

http://www.frommyfrontporchtoyours.com/  http://www.theartsygirlconnection.com/   http://www.somewhatsimple.com   http://www.commonground-do.com/   http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.ro/   http://www.funkyjunkinteriors.net/

http://www.redouxinteriors.com  http://www.myrepurposedlife.com/  http://www.alittleknickknack.com

http://itsahodgepodgelife.blogspot.ro/   http://www.504main.com/   http://www.atthepicketfence.com

http://www.shabbynest.blogspot.ro/   http://romantichome.blogspot.ro/   http://chiconashoestringdecorating.blogspot.ro    http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.ro/  http://thefrugalgirls.com/ http://www.remodelaholic.com    http://thededicatedhouse.blogspot.ro  http://www.blissfulanddomestic.com  http://www.craft-o-maniac.com/  http://www.bystephanielynn.com/   http://diyhshp.blogspot.com/   http://makingtheworldcuter.com/  http://betweennapsontheporch.net/  http://www.delineateyourdwelling.com

The Gourd In The Glass Jar

Should I say "The gourd cloche"?

Or better yet "The gourd terrarium"?

No matter how hard I try, it seems impossible to come up with a good title for this post. Friends, this is the big reveal to yesterday's post and its burning question. How to decorate with a gourd that has pointy bumps on each end and doesn't want to stand upright?! It upsets my OCD... So my solution was to put it in a bowl full of gravel. Even better, I put the gravel in a big empty glass jar (recycled, of course - see it here full of paper-whites) and then I put the gourd on top of the gravel. It doesn't stand vertically, but it's enough for my design sensibility.

The gourd in the glass is now good enough to star in a pretty fall vignette. If you're not sure where to start in creating a vignette, click here to see my tutorial on how to make a balanced vignette following a few simple rules. As you can see in the first pic, I chose natural elements and neutral colors for the arrangement. We've got everything: wood (the desk, the blank Russian doll), glass (the jar), metal (the vintage can), wax (the candle), ceramics (the mushroom salt shaker). The whole thing forms an "A" shape, for instant eye attraction. The whole thing is sitting pretty on the desk. So I created a vignette inside a vignette!

Talking about personal history, almost every single item in this pic has a special meaning to me, so I love it even more:

- Let's start with the desk: my dad bought it for me when I was 9 and I've had it ever since.

- The round brown sign was written freehand by my sweet Ana from Uituka, who is a master of typography. Don't ask me what is says, because we wanted to say "Division of labor" but in the end she came up with this untranslatable joke in Romanian.

- The blank Russian dolls are a birthday gift from my friend July. I've wanted a blank set for ages and even found some good deals on Amazon, but now I can't to paint them!

- The succulent is a gift from Sigrid's mom, from the most beautiful autumn garden I have ever seen "live".

- I stole the vintage tin can from my grandma, it was a tobacco box from the 1930s.

- And I saved the best for last: in the last pic you can see my cat Anais hidden inside the desk box. She does that to protect my cards and illustration from fading, right?

Pink And Black

I'm in the mood for Autumn colors! Is it wrong to picture PINK as a lovely color for this season? I think not, because I feel... so inspired! So I just added a little black, for balance. I also love how the clear glass bowls add texture to my little ensemble :) What color is your Autumn? 

Chaos On The Bedroom Wall

Holy moly! I can barely remember how to edit a post! But here it is - just a peek from my bedroom, where unfinished projects keep piling up (pun intended). Having two jobs has left me with no more time for pretty much anything else, hence this mountain of unfinished business. Hopefully, I shall complete them before Christmas :)) 

So what have we got here? A tree branch, which was supposed to be a beautiful pink magnolia DIY project. I stuck it in an old vase, which is gonna undergo a groovy paint job. My cardboard cubicles, painted white almost completely. A box filled with fabric scraps for future gift wrapping projects (because I LOVE mixing paper and fabric). And the washi tape moodboard, slowly but surely sinking into oblivion...

Light Blue Something

I remember a sweet band from the 90's, called Deep Blue Something. So I'm posting about... light blue something. I'm in the mood for summer and this pale blue is a great reminder of the joys ahead of us. In the first pic, there's one of my beachy photo frames from last year, and below some origami paper boats, also made last year.

Then, there's a little Russian doll and her best friend, the little pouch I got as a present from Lisa...

Also I could think of these beautiful cardboard eggs made from blue pattern paper

My simple blue vases from the dollar store, so pretty with their textured glass

And most of all, I'm glad that I don't have to see this icicle against the blue sky, for a while!

Random Happy Home

Oh my, time flies by so quickly! The plants on my little balcony are doing just fine and the house is filled with little treasures, like this Chagall postcard that I bought in Paris and the exotic butterfly from the Natural History Museum in Sinaia. Outside, some days are rain and some days are snow. With just a glimpse of sunshine in between.

Speaking of Paris and Sinaia, here is another treasure from my travelling days. It may seem like an ordinary fridge magnet to you, but for me it holds dear memories. I also loooove the style of the illustration! The colors of this magnet go very well with the cobalt blue pot on top of the fridge and also with the orange tea towel, don't you think so?

There are so many things that I wanna post on my blog, but life seems to get in the way. I don't even have time to hear the thoughts in my head sometimes. I am busy at work - mostly because I am very slow at doing things these days, so I never seem to finish my projects. Perhaps it's just a side effect of bad weather and prolonged exposure to grey skies :)  And now you have proof that I didn't change the Halloween art gallery in my living room :)))))))))))

There's nothing to present here, except books, plants, candles and pillows in everyday life at home.

But here I do have something to present, even if you could have already met each of the three characters in the above picture. From left to right, there is a winter scene DIY box covered in craft paper (where all my scraps of textiles come to live in perfect harmony until the next project). I made this box as a gift to myself, after doing this gift box for my friend Raluca. Then there's the neon pumpkin, which amazingly shows no real signs of decay.  Last but not least, the little wooden sailor completes the procession.

Winter Valentine, Anyone?

Hello, dear friends, my big question is how to embrace Valentine's Day AND a real wintery weather. Do you steal kisses in the snow? Do you snuggle inside a dream cabin, in front of a giant fireplace? Or do you simply ignore all that and have the best cake at the mall :)))) I'm kidding, this was just a pretext to play with my wooden hearts. Did you think I would only use them for making an Advent calendar? And did you think they came in just one size? And I also thew in a beautiful white shell, because summer is practically around the corner. Or so I keep telling myself.

Random Happy Home

Many times, this post title gives me the shivers. Is it really a happy home? Am I just one of this authors who make pretend, when their life is not what they pictured it would be? Well, it's not an unhappy home (praise the Lord!) and beautiful surroundings DO make me happy - especially with the gloomy weather and all. But these days the house is really happy, because there were a lot of changes in the study. Out with the couch, in with the day bed. Move the desk around, move the bookcase. Hence the bare corner, with nothing but the bare herringbone floors and the DIY faux wallpaper, during the process of redecorating...

I may have forgotten to plant the tulip and the hyacinth bulbs at the right moment, but nature keeps moving on. The potted narcissus bulbs that I've already had for some years keep making new green leaves, year after year. Of course, this is not a sure guarantee that we'll have yellow flowers, but we'll surely have the long green leaves :))) On the right, just a sneak peek into my next photo shooting, so please be patient...

Touches of turquoise are all over my kitchen counter. On the left, you can spot one of my most recent thrift finds, a tall turquoise glass with an intriguing amphora shape. It matches the backdrop of the Ikea melamine tray, don't you think? On the right, some very last chrysanthemums from my little balcony make a contrasting bouquet for the blue pitcher than you can also find here.

Also, the handsome potted coconut deserves a closer look. It may not be the star of my Valentine bedroom, but its arched silhouette completes the look of the room and adds a touch of life for these dark sky days of late January. Speaking of which, let me remind you that tomorrow is the beginning of a new month. So don't forget to come back tomorrow if you need a free printable February calendar!