Styled mag

Have you seen Styled mag? You can buy it on print or view online. So many great ideas - it's getting my creative juices flowing.

  Styled mag

Etsy motivation

This video from Etsy is getting me motivated! It's very cute. 
Hello Etsy: The Movie from Etsys Deutscher Blog on Vimeo.

Follow me on Pinterest

Follow me and my boards on Pinterest, click here

photo via here

Christmas 2011 Inspiration

I know this might be hard to believe but Christmas is 15 weeks away! It looks like we'll have the in-laws at our place this year. We were hoping to have bought a house of our own by Christmas, but that's looking unlikely so we'll have another Christmas in the townhouse.

My husband and I both agree that Scandinavian Christmases are the best so we've opted not to celebrate like Americans or Australians, but to embrace my Norwegian heritage and do Christmas like the Scandinavians. This year I'm inspired by these photos, found via here.

Lots of gray, green, white, natural wood, and red

I've already got plans for making new fabric napkins (serviettes), napkin holders, and maybe some place mats and a table runner. Stay tuned to see the DIYs.

Have a look here to see the red and white theme I did for Christmas last year.

Garden Tea Party for Two

My brother sent me a link to a fabulous magazine called Kinfolk, where they focus on small gatherings. I love the concept of making even small events really special. I had a garden tea party for two in my backyard today.

All the items at my Tea Party I had on hand. The lace doily was given to me by an Australian lady that lived in Russia (so I brought them back to Australia with me). The cups and saucers are from Russia, the butter knife is from Tallinn, Estonia, and the cloth napkins are from an Bed Bath and Table in Australia.

Homemade Marshmallows

photo via Piece of Cake

I've had such a craving for Marshmallows lately. Did you know you can make them at home? I found this seemingly simple recipe. I'll have to add to my repertoire of recipes to make.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups caster suger (confectionery sugar)

2 tablespoons gelatine
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups desiccated coconut
food colouring (optional)

recipe from taste.com.au

Pinterest Favs

Have you heard of Pinterest? Of course you have! It's a great website that helps keep a repository of your favourite things. I have a few pin boards that I've put together and sometimes I just go through my boards and see what it is I really like. I noticed that I love base colours of grey and white with hints of linen, natural wood, blue, green, yellow, black, etc.

Here are a few of my favs that I've stored on Pinterest.

on my Pinterest

from my Pinterest

on my Pinterest

on my Pinterest

What's your style?

I stumbled upon this fun Find my [Home] Style quiz and immediately tuned out the episode of Wipeout I was watching and took the quiz.

The quiz told me that my style is Earthy Modern and that my design strengths are that I keep up with current trends but have an appreciation for timeless forms and simple lines.

It was kind of an Aha! moment. Not that I didn't already know that I like those things, but for a quiz to tell me that was kind of a confirmation. I automatically thought of this space (featured below) that I've seen on countless blogs and features in Holly Becker's book Decorate. When I first saw the Brooklyn home of Fitzhugh Karol and Lyndsay Caleo my knees got weak. Their home just sings to me! I love the points of interest and the warm natural materials and colours. The only thing I would do to make the space mine is add some different colours; I gravitate towards blues (something the quiz told me, which I totally do), I also love green, grey, brown, and subtle hues of yellow and red.

photos via The Selby

Vintage Lounge

Currently dreaming of new looks for our living room. We're currently looking to buy a house and move out of our rental townhouse. It feels so grown up! But then there's the fun stuff like decorating a new place and being able to paint the walls and put nails wherever we want to. If only I could decide on a style for the new digs.

1. Vintage doily cushions from Revision Design Australia, 2. Krenit mid-century bowl found Vertigo Home, 3. Retro Arco Lamp found via Vintage Looks, 4. Vintage sofa found via Study, 5. Vintage reproduction Pug Poster found via allpostersearch.com, 6. Vintage coffee table found via Soundslike HOME

Craft Drawer Makeover

When we moved to Australia a lot of lovely people had free furniture to give us to get us by for a little while. One piece was this handmade file drawer. I now use it as my craft drawer and have lots of pretty fabrics and supplies tucked away in it. I love it but it needed a makeover. A little bit of paint, new knobs, and some numbers and it has a new lease on life.