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Floral Marquee Peace Sign – Peace, Love and DIY

November 28, 2016 by CORINNA HENDERSON

peace-love-diy-graphic

I just absolutely love wooden cut outs at the craft stores. I’ve spent lots of time on that aisle looking over everything dreaming of possibilities. One I’d never even noticed until recently is the charming peace sign cut out. We sure could use an extra reminder to bring peace into our lives which is why I sore this little challenge: Peace, Love and DIY.

Here’s the gist. The four of us each picked up a craftwood peace sign cut out. Then the rest was up to our own imaginations!

I’m still not entirely over cute marquee signs. And I hadn’t had the chance to try my hand at creating one yet, so this felt like my opportunity.

Supply List:

Peace Sign

Stand of 10 count lights

Faux Floral

Hot glue & gun

Drill with bit to fit lights

How I Created A Floral Marquee Peace Sign

The possibilities are endless with these blank wooden cut outs. Here are 3 more ideas to get your creative juices flowing and hopefully you’ll be inspired to create your own version!

From Cassie Bustamante:

Peace Sign Makeover

From Ciburbanity:

Peace Sign Makeover

From Little Vintage Cottage:

Peace Sign Makeover

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Colorful bohemian thanksgiving tablescape

November 7, 2016 by CORINNA HENDERSON

This time of year sure does fly by quickly doesn’t it? We’ve already whipped past Halloween and now it’s time to gear up for Thanksgiving. It’s overwhelming and so exciting! I really enjoy taking dedicated time out to focus on thanks and giving.

Do you enjoy this time of year? I know a lot of people love Thanksgiving because they love the foods offered. Me? not so much. As a vegan, I find this holiday to be one of the more difficult ones. I never want my friends and family to go out of their way for me. But the decorating. Oh boy does the decorating get me excited! This is my first attempt at a full Thanksgiving tablescape.

A huge “Thank You!” goes out to Lindsay of The White Buffalo Styling Co. for inviting me to partake in this Thanksgiving tablescape themed Blogger Stylin’ Home Tours. You can always start on her blog to work your way through all the tours.

And since this is a round robin style tour, you’ve most likely stopped here from my incredibly talented friend Cassie Bustamante. I know, I know. She’s a tablescape genius. You really ought to also make sure you’ve checked out her Kid’s Thanksgiving Tablescape and all the work she’s done on her daughter’s bohemian bedroom.

So I guess we’ll jump into some pictures with occasional commentary then? Have a seat!

I like to keep it simple. Dishes from the dollar store, inexpensive punches of color from the drinks, thrifted dishes and napkins and pops of warmth from the butternut squash, wooden bowl and salad forks and little decorative accents spread about. The predominantly blue table is given life with pops of yellow and green.

To help give the table a carefree, relaxed vibe, I chose to mix different sets of silverware, plates and napkins. They’ve all got a similar vibe which helps them work together in this setting. Having some matching elements like the placemats grounds all the craziness.

The napkin rings, the bowls, and candle holder are thrift store finds. You’ll never go wrong bringing in second hand elements to a space. Actually, all of the chairs and the table were thrifted too now that I’m thinking about it 🙂

Menü:

Vegan Meatballs in a homemade tomato based sauce

Tossed romaine and iceburg lettuce with shredded cabbage, shredded carrots and yellow grape tomatoes

Croissants

Sparkling orange peach drink

Riesling wine

So, where will you be sitting? Pick any seat! It’s yours, friend.

Recreate My Tablescape With These Items:

Wine Bottle Basket

Wooden Bowl

Asian Painted Bowl

Placemats

Salad Forks

Wooden Napkin Rings

Napkins

Indigo Mudcloth

Elephant Salt and Pepper Shakers

If you’re not terribly elaborate with your tablescape decorating, I hope you’ll have found this to be relatable and/or inspiring. The whole set up didn’t cost all that much! And everything can be used again for other occasions and decorating. That’s my favorite way to decorate.

And now for the fun part, continue the round robin and get inspiration from some of the finest designers I’ve ever come across (yeah, I know- it’s crazy I’m amongst this talent, ha!). The next stop goes live tomorrow at 6 am EST and you’ll go to Michael of Inspired By Charm. Enjoy!

If you haven’t seen the tablescape Lindsay from The White Buffalo Styling Co. put together, then you’re not done! Go there now.

My Thoughts On Upgrading My Hot Water Heater

October 25, 2016 by CORINNA HENDERSON

For the past year, I’ve enjoyed having a brand new hot water heater in my home thanks to my partnership with Rheem in bringing you information and experiences regarding their company. Today I wanted to pop in and have a very candid and real post detailing my thoughts on the whole experience from finding a contractor, to the pick up and install to actually living with the unit. I hope you find this bit of raw unorchestrated real talk helpful.

There were so many variables at play with my own personal hot water heater upgrade. It made it absolutely necessary to bring in someone who knew what they were doing. Our previous hot water heater was located in our garage. Which isn’t even attached to our house. When it was winter, we never had hot water because of the length the water travelled before it even got to our house. And then our unit was working infinitely harder because it was constantly battling the surrounding freezing temperatures come winter.

We absolutely had to move the unit. And honestly, I expected this decision to have a bigger impact on our utility bills than it really has. You can see the previous 2 cost comparison reports I did here for Winter and here for Spring. But the reality is that we came out of pocket quite a bit purely for comfort.

I pretty much have hot water wherever and whenever I want now. And as I mentioned before, I have osteoarthritis so having hot water to soak in directly impacts my quality of life. And truly, honestly, this past year of life has been significantly better than previous years. I’ve spent less time cocooned under blankets praying for Spring and I’ve been a lot more active. While it would be a stretch to claim that was all because of hot water, it definitely did make a difference.

how to control your hot water temperature and modes from your smartphone- econet

One thing I haven’t touched on much since we first installed the unit is the econet. Surprisingly, this has been an awesome feature. I didn’t think I’d use it. I like being able to temporarily bump up the temperature when I’m out hiking in winter so that I can have a steamy hot bath or shower when I get home. I don’t normally have to do that but the few times I’ve done it, it’s been awesome.

I’ve also never realized how convenient it would be to have a user friendly digital display. The hot water heater was always something that just sat there and I left it alone because I found it daunting to mess with. I no longer avoid my hot water heater, but rather work with it to maintain a comfortable home.

I’m certainly not a professional and I couldn’t tell you much difference between a Rheem unit and a competitor. I can tell you that I haven’t had any negative experiences with the unit. A year later and it functions perfectly. I haven’t been dissatisfied once. When I’ve gone to do something, it’s gone smoothly. When I have a question, the manual and website make information easy to find. Looking around, their prices seem competitive.

Getting to know Rheem as a brand has been a joy. I hope you’ve enjoyed coming along on my experiences going through a remodel involving the movement and upgrade of a hot water heater. Next month will be my final monthly post in this series, and it’ll be another cost comparison. But I’ll definitely be sure to pop in with more thoughts later just to keep you in the loop.

Thrift Score Thursday

October 13, 2016 by CORINNA HENDERSON

Has it been 7 days already? Goodness! This time of year is a strange one. The season changes so fast and holidays fly by. I almost forget to stop and smell the… I have nothing blooming flowers right now. Fresh air? Sure, let’s go with fresh air.

Amidst the chaos of time moving more quickly, I have not even driven past a thrift stire. I know, it’s quite shocking to me too! Last week I shared my two cute Halloween finds. Did you see how I used them to decorate my fireplace mantle?

Between not thrifting anything recently and being out of town this week, I thought I’d take the focus off of me and instead focus solely on what fabulous scores you’ve all shared.

Before we jump into that though, I wanted to give you guys a heads up that next week your hosts will be taking a break. But we’ll all still be on our blogs and Instagram so make sure you check in on us to see what else we’really up to.

And, last thing, since #thriftscorethursday is as much about us as it is about you, I’d love to hear your input! Any ideas or suggestions are always welcome. Let us know what you’d like to see!

I rug you❤️

A photo posted by •••••M••••• (@o0mckenzie0o) on Oct 10, 2016 at 6:54pm PDT

AND…

Love this cabinet my husband found for me. Girls don’t want diamonds we want great junk!! #graysattic #harrisburgarkansas #arkansasshops #rustic #junkdrunk #supportsmallbusiness #smallbusiness #librarycabinet #vintage #vintageshop #fleamarketstyle #fleamarketdecor #thriftscorethursday #EHfinds

A photo posted by Grays Attic (@graysattic) on Oct 9, 2016 at 7:14am PDT

Wanna Play? Here’s The Rules!

We want you to participate! Hit up your local thrift stores, craigslist, yard sales, estate sales, side of the road, anything! Thrifty doesn’t necessarily mean from a thrift store. We want to see your good deals, wacky finds and treasures.
Don’t feel like you need to save those finds for Thursdays! Yes, features are shared on our blogs and Instagram on Thursdays, but we’re all checking in on (and using!) the hashtag all week long. So, when you see/find it, feel free to share it!
Want to get featured? Add the #thriftscorethursdsay hashtag, Follow the hosts (@the_gathered_home, @cassie_bustamante, @adesignerathome and @maggieoverbystudios) and tag a friend to play along, too!
Each week, Cassie from Primitive and Proper, Brynne from The Gathered Home, Maggie fromMaggie Overby Studios and Myself (A Designer At Home) will pick a favorite thrift score or two to feature! So please note that by linking up with #thriftscorethursday, you are giving us permission to share your finds via social media or on our blogs.

The best part? There are 4 regular posts to check out every Thursday! Yup, you’ve got more thrift scores to look at. I know you’re not disappointed. Ha. Click on my beautiful cohost’s faces below to check out what they’ve scored and featured.

Dec-O-Ween: My Halloween Mantle

October 11, 2016 by CORINNA HENDERSON

Hey there! It’s October and that means we get to focus on having some fun decorating for Halloween. I’m so excited to actually decorate this year with the addition of my teal fireplace mantle. Mantles are so fun to play around with!

So my contribution to Gretchen of Boxy Colonial‘s Dec-O-Ween week is sharing how I’ve decorated for Halloween on my mantle. I sure hope you love it!

decoween

Not much else of my decor has changed from my Fall home tour. Instead I like to decorate the porch and the mantle and leave the rest of the decorating fall neutral.

Deco ween Halloween mantle

And by “neutral,” I mean as neutral as a maximalist loving gal like myself can get.

Decoween

I don’t pick up many items from year to year, but this cute “EEK” from Target’s dollar spot had to come home with me.

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You may have noticed it’s a little spider crazy here. I took fishing line and randomly hot glued plastic spiders to it to mimic a kind of spiderweb invasion.

I really like spiders.

2016-10-10-11-35-58-1

2016-10-10-11-35-59-1

Any Alice in Wonderland fans out there? Imagine my excitement when I found this Cheshire cat at the thrift store.

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And in true Corinna fashion, I decorate with a lot of plants. Plants, kitschy decor and color. That’s my formula for a space that makes me happy.

Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by. I hope you’ve found an idea or two or three you can use for your own decor. Don’t forget to visit the other tours in the Dec-O-Ween series and pin your favorites!

Check out the remaining tours for all your Halloween decorating inspiration:

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

Sunshine and Munchkins

Gathering for Halloween

October 6, 2016 by CORINNA HENDERSON

Hey guys and happy Thursday!

It’s officially October which means all the “early Halloween decorating stigma” is officially over. Have you been popping in to your local thrift stores and checking out their Halloween merchandise? They normally start putting it out the same time big box retailers do around here.

I picked up two pieces recently I’d been wanting to share with you all. I don’t want to spoil a surprise I have for next week so I have a very boring photo to show you. Next week though, pop in to see them styled!

Thrifted Halloween decor

I think you can create such a unique and interesting look by mixing old seasonal decor with a few pops of new decor with the funky and truly one of a kind stuff you run into at the thrift store. As always, if you’re not yet thrift shopping- start!

Time for MY FAVORITE #thriftscorethursday entries!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Leigh Fager (@leigh.fager.interiors)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by h e l m c o l l e c t i v e (@helmcollective)

Wanna Play? Here’s The Rules!

We want you to participate! Hit up your local thrift stores, craigslist, yard sales, estate sales, side of the road, anything! Thrifty doesn’t necessarily mean from a thrift store. We want to see your good deals, wacky finds and treasures.
Don’t feel like you need to save those finds for Thursdays! Yes, features are shared on our blogs and Instagram on Thursdays, but we’re all checking in on (and using!) the hashtag all week long. So, when you see/find it, feel free to share it!
Want to get featured? Add the #thriftscorethursdsay hashtag, Follow the hosts (@the_gathered_home, @cassie_bustamante, @adesignerathome and @maggieoverbystudios) and tag a friend to play along, too!
Each week, Cassie from Primitive and Proper, Brynne from The Gathered Home, Maggie fromMaggie Overby Studios and Myself (A Designer At Home) will pick a favorite thrift score or two to feature! So please note that by linking up with #thriftscorethursday, you are giving us permission to share your finds via social media or on our blogs.