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shirt turned tray

What's that saying? "Never blue and green without something in between"? (or something like that) Well unless that something in between in the creamy center of an Oreo, I disagree. I know, I'm just that crazy. Just call me the rule breaker.

Take for instance this $4 tray from Michael's.

Don't fall asleep on me. I know, pretty boring right?
I've been trying to think of a way to tie the green I used on the mirror for the bedroom to something else in the room. And also I haven't picked a color for the walls yet, so I'm stalling with a smaller project. This still totally counts as 'progress in the bedroom' though! (Get your mind out of the gutter)

No problem, I'll spray the tray green. Easy, but still pretty boring.

I thought about a stencil like this
via Pinterest

or some sort of Greek Key inspiration, like I found in these bookcases.
via Bibbidi Bobbidi Beautiful

But I wasn't convinced.

Then while browsing J. Crew, I found this honey.

Now, I'm not drinking. I am aware that is not a tray but rather an article of clothing. But the look is just right. As Uma Therman would say, "Disco."

Off I went to Lowes for the thinest painters tape I could find - .75". I started with a piece down the middle and then worked my way out from there. 

I used a piece of the same size tape for my spacer, so the lines would be as symmetrical as possible. I just moved the spacer piece of tape after each line was set, working my way out to the ends.
Sorry for the Miami Vice lighting in this picture

One taped tray and I'm ready for paint. I love it already.

I knew touch ups would be needed, especially on the edges, so I was pretty liberal with the paint...as you can tell.

I used Navy Blue craft paint, as I couldn't think of a safe way to use Navy Blue spray paint with out a LOT more taping. It did take several coats to get even coverage but it dried super fast so my impatient self was satisfied.

My best Vanna White impression
After letting that final coat dry for a few hours, I pulled the tape for the reveal.

Jackpot. 

I like that the stripes are only inside, like a little surprise. As they say on Happy Endings - so cute!

There are some small touch ups to attend to, but I knew that would be the case. I'll also spray the whole thing with a coat (OK, two coats) of high gloss lacquer to protect it from the years of abuse and use it is in for.

This is going to serve me well as a make-up tray and general organizing type thing for my dresser. And its keeping my momentum going. This weekend, paint color for the walls will be picked! Promise.

Have you spray painted anything lately? Have any touch up paint advice? How do you organize your jewelry?

Focus on the prints





I told you in the previous post I would not wait until Spring will come to wear this shoes... but I don't have to wait for a calendaristic Spring! The weather is perfect now and I'm in the mood for printed pants. I like mixing prints together but wearing just one printed piece, works just as well for me.
Would you wear more prints together or just one, as a focal point of your outfit ?



                                            Pants: Michael Kors/ another great pair here and here
                                            Blazer: vintage / similar style here
                                            Shirt: Old Navy / similar here
                                            Clutch: vintage / similar here and here
                                            Sandals: Marc by Marc Jacobs/ another great pair here and here
                                            Cuff bracelet : St.Thomas / similar here
                                            Collar necklace: made by me
                                            Sunglasses: Ralph Lauren / similar style here and here


love 
Veronica

11 questions

Tag! I'm it. The very lovely Brooke from Inside-Out Design has tagged me and 10 other design bloggers to answer 11 questions about ourselves. She is one crafty genius and one of my very first blogger friends. She's a big inspiration for me and I'm so happy to play 11 questions with her. Thanks Brooke!

The Rules are simple:
First rule - you do not talk about Fight Club...wait, wrong game.
1. You must post the rules.
2. Answer the 11 questions the tager posted for you and then create 11 new questions to ask the people you've taged.
3. Tag 11 people and link them in your post.
4. Let them know you have tagged them. 


May I present to you, Brooke's questions:

1. What is your favorite room to decorate and why? 
I'm a sucker for a good living room. I have a chair obsession and love pretty much all upholstered furniture. The pillows, the vignettes, the lighting. Oy! So many options. So much fun. My Living Room is on the to-do list for this spring/summer.
This baby is in need of an overhaul!


2. Do you have a "Monica's closet" aka a hidden space in your house that's either a total mess or completely undecorated? 
YES! Sadly my bedroom is always a total mess and hasn't had a touch of attention since we moved in. During parties it is always the room we throw all the last minute messiness into and close the door. Sad. This is why its my next project!!


3. What is your favorite room in your house?
That's a hard one as it changes all the time. Right now it is probably a room I haven't really ever talked about - my girls room. There is a lot of laughing and happiness in that room. It is a happy place to be. I'll be posting pictures of it soon. 


4. What made you decide to start a blog?
I've been designing, whether it was my bedroom, dorm room, apartment(s) or house since I was able to move a chair. I look at this blog as a creative outlet, a chance to learn and share with a wonderful blogging community and also a way to look back on all of the projects I attempt. 


5. What is the best decorating tip that you've learned from another blog?
The best thing I've learned is not from one blog in particular, but several of them - not everything you try is a home run and that is OK. Its OK to strike out. And usually those big busts lead to an even better idea.


6. What is your favorite movie?
There are so many bad movies I watch over and over again because I love to study the interiors. Sex and the City for example. Good gracious they are bad (especially #2) but I watch them over and over again. Mr. and Mrs. Smith - I get upset every time they hurt that wonderful house. Do your shooting outside! 
As for real movie loves, I quote move lines all the time so I could never pick just one favorite. A few that come to mind are Gone With The Wind, anything by John Hughes or Thank You For Smoking. 

7. What is your favorite food?
Sushi is something we do on date night, so that represents happy adult time to me. However, my go to comfort food will always be pizza. (homemade - I make a mean pizza)


8. Is there a decorating trend that you hate and why?
Get ready to throw rocks and burn my car - I'm kind of over chevron. There, I said it.


9. Do you prefer baking or cooking?
I actually really like both.


10. What is your all-time favorite blog post? (That you've done)
I would say my gallery post because it all came together so fast and it was such a big change. Although, my spray painted lampshades are a close second because I am still so surprised by how well that worked. I will say though, I've got a lot of good projects up my sleeve that I'm pretty excited about too.


11. What project have you completed that has made the biggest impact, visually or otherwise, in your home?
My kitchen. We did this prior to the blog but it was a long, blood sweat and tears kind of project. We wanted to make as many updates as we could without making any huge (aka expensive) changes. I'm happy with how well it has been updated with very little money spent. 

So there you have it. A fun Monday glimpse into the weirdo that writes these posts. :)  Now to pass along the fun, here are the 11 bloggers I'm tagging.

Megan at A Lived in Home
Erin at Clementine + Olive
Diane at Diane Again
Colleen at Lemondrop Dreams
Charmaine at My Best Friend Craig
Meg at Nutmeg and Company
Amber at Simple Dwellings
Andrea at Strawberry Chic
Megan at Sugar Megnolia
Elizabeth at The Mustard Ceiling
Camille at The Vintique Object


These are all very talented ladies and I encourage you to check them out if you haven't already.


Your questions are:
1. What room in your house would you change if you had an unlimited budget?
2. What is your decorating trend prediction for 2012?
3. If someone where to show up at your house right now, would it be presentable? (i.e. - clean)
4. What was your favorite blog post?
5. Music or Movies?
6. If you had your own show on HGTV, what would it be called?
7. What is your favorite low budget project?
8. What was your first decorating disaster?
9. What was your first decorating success?
10. What is the one design related task you hate doing? (i.e. painting trim, sanding furniture, hanging curtains)
11. What is your favorite cocktail?

Nouveau In!!!




Definitely, shoes are something that I cannot resist; therefore, here is another pair! Black and white Marc by Marc Jacobs. Certainly, I will not wait until Spring to wear them. Soon I will have a post with them :)


love
Veronica

Jasmin K bag !


A wonderful gift, this Jasmin K  bag just arrived at my door :) This is a great  collaboration between me and Indeeyo.com and they gave me the opportunity to choose an item from their website, Et Voila !!!
Parka, leather jacket, and sporty neon blouse is my outfit for today! Lately, I buy many sporty items and I am happy to go back again to sneakers and t-shirts, but this time with a different approach ...you will see more soon :)
Thank you very much for reading!


                                           Parka jacket : Green Envelope /similar style here and here
                                           Leather jacket: Martin+Osa/ similar style here
                                           Sporty blouse : Hind /similar style here and here
                                           Jeans: Almost Famous
                                           Ankle boots: Sam Edelman / similar here and here
                                           Belt : Ritz
                                           Ring : Vince Camuto
                                           Sunglasses: Ralph Lauren
                                           Bag: Indeeyo.com

hugs
Veronica

Fake Maple Syrup: Bernard Coleman, U.S. Man, Guilty Of Selling Fake Syrup, Faces Up To 3 Years In Prison

Fake Maple Syrup: Bernard Coleman, U.S. Man, Guilty Of Selling Fake Syrup, Faces Up To 3 Years In Prison

BURLINGTON, Vt. - A Rhode Island man has pleaded guilty in Vermont federal court to selling mislabeled maple syrup.

Fifty-year-old Bernard Coleman of West Warwick, R.I., said he initially sold pure maple syrup over the Internet. But when the price of syrup increased, he decided to make his own out of water, sugar and maple flavouring. He said he made the syrup in his home and sold it since 2009.

A couple who bought about $220 worth of syrup from him doubted that it was authentic and had it tested by the state Department of Agriculture Consumer Protection. It was determined to be made from cane sugar.

Coleman pleaded guilty Thursday to introducing adulterated food into interstate commerce with the intent to defraud or mislead. He faces up to three years in prison.

the everygirl

As I start to shake my kick-off-the-weekend cocktail, I wanted to share a fun site that launched this week.

The Everygirl was started by two great bloggers, turned virtual friends, turned real life friends. And these girls are covering it all - style, food, home, jobs, everything. A very cool site with many pin worthy items.

The Everygirl
So as you enjoy your weekend peace, make sure to surf over and enjoy!!

Happy Weekend!

GOP Debate WarMongers Target Iran - Miltary Industrial Complex

GOP Debate WarMongers Target Iran - Miltary Industrial Complex
Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists , the hopes of it's children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a Cross of Iron. In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists, and will persist." Dwight D. Eisenhower Jan 17, 1961

Bill Maher Blog Huffington Post Today...

The Republicans sure have the right symbol with the elephant. Republican debates are nothing but elephants in the room.

The biggest of which must be: to someone out there who's hurting, they spend the whole two hours yammering away about earmarks and illegal immigrants and contraception and every other peripheral, wish-I-had-the-time-to-worry-about-it issue they can think of.

Then there is the elephant of how they all -- with the sometime exception of Ron Paul -- nod along to insane statements just because they don't want to ever look like they're to the left of anybody, on anything, especially the evilness of Barack Obama. So Wednesday night when Newt said the president of the United States had a history of practicing infanticide... yep, yep, yessir, that's what he does all right. Clubs infants like baby seals in his spare time. Ike played golf, Kennedy liked boating...

Ron Paul said foreign aid just helps our enemies. Which, I believe, would make Israel and Egypt our two biggest enemies. Yup, yup, hate foreign aid. A meaningless percentage of the budget, btw.





Newt said where government becomes the central provider of services, it's a move towards tyranny -- yeah, except in all the countries where it isn't, like all of Scandanavia and much of Europe. Today a barium enema paid for by medicare, tomorrow Poland.

And isn't a highlight of every debate when Mitt Romney takes umbrage at being accused of the best thing he ever did in his life -- Romneycare? Something he should be proud of? Last night he took out his dueling glove and declared that when he was governor, he made sure there was NO requirement from the church to provide morning after pills for rape victims. They will be punished with a baby, as Jesus would want. Mitt's attitude is always, "How dare you accuse me of helping people or being compassionate! Why, I'll have you know I'm every bit as much of a cold hearted bastard as any of these other pricks up here with me!"

"But Mitt, we have a picture of you giving money to a homeless person."

"I did NOT give a bum money! I was paying him to blow me!"

This Republican field over the last year has been such a comedy gold mine -- which I have compacted into a stand-up special I'm doing Thursday night, February 23, called #CrazyStupidPolitics -- it's free, and it's live-streamed on Yahoo! 10:30 Eastern (with a mindblowing announcement at the end). I apologize for the shameful plug, but I just want you to have a good laugh! Thank you Arianna, you're the best... and now back to our blog.

The biggest elephant in the room tonight for me was Satan. All day, TV news was talking about Satan because of Rick Santorum's dug-up (but, no doubt still accurate) comments about Satan from 2008. It just shows you how when someone is a nobody politically speaking -- as Santorum was in 2008 -- you can say any kind of crazy shit and it's not newsworthy. But when you are seeking the highest office in the land... in the world -- it really worries me that you believe in demons and a personified creature named Satan.

People get mad at me for using the phrase "this stupid country", which I sometimes do -- but, I'm sorry -- Satan? In 2012? This elephant is not only in the room at the debates, but everywhere on TV today where people were talking about this and not breaking down in the middle and screaming, Wait a minute -- We're modern people, surely we don't give any credence to this comic book character that was created in the bronze age!! It's barely worthy of a children's story, and people take it to the Oval Office -- Bush did -- and it affects their thinking and our lives. Why is Santorum so against contraception? Because there's a line in Genesis about not spilling your seed. A random brainfart from some desert dweller 3,000 years ago, before people knew about germs or atoms or round planets, and it gets written down and passed down and in 2012 people like Rick Santorum are still too R-word to see that, and that's why some woman in Akron, Ohio might not get birth control.

And as far as Rick's claim tonight that even though he holds these beliefs, he wouldn't legislate them? Bullshit -- he said states absolutely had the right to outlaw contraception. That's the same thing -- as an officer of the government, he should take the opposite position. Ron Paul would.

My favorite moment of the debate was the last question, when they all were asked to summarize themselves in one word: Ron Paul said "consistency," and you know what? I have no argument with that. It's true, and he's earned it.

The other ones however, I think I could find a more honest word. Mitt Romney said "resolute." I would have gone with "shapeshifter." Or perhaps "irresolute." Rick Santorum said "courage" , whereas I would have said "Bellevue." And Newt Gingrich said "cheerful." I was thinking "pus."

One other thing: in the overtime, I heard Ron Paul make the point to John King that his foreign policy was similar to Eisenhower's, how Ike avoided getting militarily involved in Vietnam or the Suez Canal and got out of Korea. Because he was a military man. Ron Paul served, also -- the other three not so much. I know it will never become law, because it would require a constitutional amendment, but I don't think it would be such a bad thing if you had to have served in the military if you wanted to be president. Kennedy also avoided war where many would not have. After him, though, we got into the era of non-servers and draft-dodgers, and used the military like a toy. Ex-soldiers understand it's not. And the president is Commander-in-Chief -- shouldn't you have served some time in an organization you're the head of?

I hope this was the last Republican debate. Well, I say that, but I'll need the material after I use up an hour of good jokes tomorrow night, so, fuck it, keep going.

Last bullshit call: In his closing statement, Rick Santorum said that in the race against the Evil One (no, not that Evil One, he was talking about Obama), the president would have the media in his pocket (yeah, except Fox News, lots of newspapers, all of radio... ), and way more money. Huh? Sheldon Adelson this week said he might give $100 million to Newt Gingrich! If he'd give that to Newt who has no chance, he might give more to Romney. And he's just one old cranky billionaire who hates Obama, there's a whole gaggle of them.

And Sheldon, if you want to blow money so bad, just walk into one of your hotels in Vegas and go to the Roulette table.



no, you're a knob and tube

Progress made!!

I can cross #4 off my 2012 goal list! That blasted crooked, crappy, creaky (and any other c adjectives you can think of) chandelier is gone.

You may remember it was a lovely 80's brass when we moved in.

I sprayed it black immediately and it stayed that way for a few years.

Until its most recent life in white.

Its had shades, no shades, round bulbs, candle bulbs. You named it, I've tried it. I should say here that this is a classic chandelier shape, and in many cases I really do like it. However in this instance it always felt like putting lipstick on a pig.

It had also been hung way too high and, the cherry on top, several of the arms were loose and crooked and all tightening attempts would fail. Usually resulting in a shade popping off and landing in your salad. True story.

So after years and years of hearing me complain about it, my parents were kind enough to give me a new chandelier for Christmas. WAHOO!

Now normally this would be an hour project on Saturday as my husband has hung many a light in his day.

However, since the table is off center, I wanted the light centered over the table, rather than centered in the room. We've had many guests bang their head on that chandelier, so it was really for the safety of those I love. I know, I know, I'm a giver.

Luke, being the wonderful husband he is, said no problem (while rolling his eyes) and headed up to the attic. Not a problem was the verdict. We measured, figured out where the new hole needed to be and he got to cutting. A perfect hole for a plaster ceiling I would say.


Now all he needed to do was move the wiring over a few inches, drop it thru the new hole, install and enjoy.

It was all going just too well.

Enter knob and tube wiring. For those not familiar with it, its kind of like asbestos - best not bother it if you don't have to. And really, comparing something in your home to asbestos? Never a good sign.

Apparently the wire was just a few inches short of reaching the new hole. And my husband's many attempts at getting a new wire to connect to the old wire were just not working. Something about the grounding of the wire blah blah blah. All I heard was 'electrician needed'.

Damn.

So while we waited for the electrician, we patched the old hole and painted the ceiling. And when I say we I mean Luke did the work and I said "looks great babe."

A week later the electrician finally arrives and after a lot of grumbling and several "You sure you want me to do this lady? You know that whole ain't in the center of the room?" I had my new wired and ready hole.

And now....

tahdah!

I love it! Its warm, more to scale for the room, and it gives off a really great glow.

It also gives off a saucy reflection in the mirror.

But of course, nothing is ever 'done'. Now I've got to fix the curtains. But that's another story for another day.

For now, I'll just enjoy my new lovely lady. Have you had any electrical projects lately? Been able to cross anything off your resolution list yet? Ever had an electrician tell you "whatever lady, I guess its your house."?