Barnaclebutt

Covid 19 Diary day 23 of Quarantine

2020-04-06T00:04:00.002-07:00

Hi Friends,

I haven't been here in forever but it feels like a covid19 quarantine diary is something future me and my people might be interested in so here I am.

Yesterday I made two pleated face masks with sewn in filters for my mom and dad. Today was spent in the spiraling confusion/conviction that I had not made the BEST possible masks. Hours were then spent researching what the best diy face mask is. I watched eight billion youtube videos and read a few hundred articles discussing everything from filters, to washing, to donating, to fabric selection and then I sat at my sewing machine with a dull headache and sipped diet coke.

Eventually I made a mask. Then I made Marc try it on. Then I made him listen while I explained the reasoning behind all of my decisions concerning fabric and filters, washing, donating and ALL THE THINGS. I complained extensively about all the conflicting information out there. I noted a few improvements I could make to the fit so I went back to my machine and made prototype 3.

Marc tried it on and we agreed it is pretty good.

In an effort to save myself from a repeat of today I cut out a bunch of fabric for that pattern so I will have to sew those masks tomorrow. Now I'm sitting in bed looking at more face mask videos and questioning everything.

It occurs to me that this might be the lamest post I have ever written. Forgive me. This was an impulse write. Tomorrow will be better.

Love,
Shelley

Fall Baby Shower | Welcome Little Pumpkins

2017-07-28T20:27:00.002-07:00

Last year I planned a baby shower for two of my dear friends, Leah and Lacie. They were both expecting little girls and they both love pretty pastels and florals. Since the shower was in October, I decided to go with the theme "Welcome Little Pumpkins." I love how everything came out so even though it's almost a year later I thought I'd post the photos and some tips for planning a girly, pumpkin-y fall baby shower.

Isn't this the cutest invite?! It's from Miss Pok-A-Dot's shop on Etsy. It's my favorite, and the one we used, but there are a lot of other sweet ones on Etsy. Try searching "pumpkin shower invitation" to see the widest range.

Normal people cannot decorate all the areas of their home for a party. Or maybe just I cannot. Either way, I think you get the most bang for your buck by choosing to focus on decorating a few areas really well rather than spreading your decorations over the whole house. I decided to decorate my entryway, the food table, and my fireplace mantle.

For the entryway I taped up paper fans and a quicky banner that I made. Here's a link to similar paper fans. I also made some tissue paper pom poms that I hung there and over the table in the dining room. Here is a link explaining how to make the tissue fans, it's super easy but you can also buy them pre-folded for you on Etsy. I'm just cheap; I'd rather do the folding myself :-)

The chalkboard was a last minute addition and although my chalk artwork is only meh, I did want to share my hack for making it. I simply took the glass out of a white frame I already had and put in a piece of black paper, then I wrote on it with a white paint pen. Easy peasy.

I love those two sweet moms SO MUCH!

More paper fans and a banner on the mantle. To make a quick and dirty banner I just stack my fabric and cut a bunch of triangles, then I sew the edges along a piece of coordinating ribbon.

The last and best thing I did was make a ton of these fabric pumpkins in all different sizes. They were scattered on the food table, the drink buffet and the mantle. I already wrote a post about how to make them; please click here if you'd like instructions. They are very quick and easy to do.

People on Pinterest are able to color coordinate their food for parties. I am waaaaaay too invested in taste to sacrifice yumminess for all pink food. The best I can do is pink gum balls and pink sodas. C'est la vie!

How to Paint and Stencil Tile with Chalk Paint

2017-06-27T14:18:00.001-07:00

I just finished painting my entryway tile for the second time and I love it soooo much! I love it so much in fact that I'm going to share how to do it with you so that if you too have ugly tile floors that you hate you can fix it in one day. Yay!

I should probably talk about the stars first, though. They make me so darn happy. I do realize that a galaxy of stars on the floor isn't everyone's cup of tea, but they are mine. I love how they make me feel that I am walking into a magical home. A kind of Hogwarts-ish home.

One of the best things about decorating your home is that it's yours. The decorating police aren't coming; you can do what YOU like. When I look online and in magazines I see a lot of white, minimalist homes. They look great, but guess what? That is so not my style! I used to worry that the way I decorate was too "off trend," but lately I'm realizing that the things I do that are the most funky and unexpected are often the things that make me smile the most. Also, the design world is huuuge, even if your style isn't the "it" thing of the moment, there is inspiration and validation out there.

If you're wanting to add a little whimsy to your home, painting the floor is a great way to go. You can, of course, make it as conservative or as crazy as you want, and if it ends up looking like a hot mess you can always paint over it. It's about as low commitment as you can get!

This is actually the second time I've painted my entryway tile with chalk paint. When we moved in it was this awful orange, and I painted it blue.

original post

That blue held up to heavy traffic really well for several years, but this year we had massive rain here in Northern California and our entryway flooded at least three times. After spending several nights under water the paint started bubbling up in a few places. It had been wet before from mopping or rain tracked in, but this was extreme and unusual water exposure. I'm totally comfortable painting again because we are going (I sincerely hope) to fix our flooding problems before the rainy season comes again.

Alright then! Here's how you do it.

Supply list:

*sanding sponge if tile was previously painted

*floor cleaner like simple green

*scrub brush, rags, bucket of water

*chalk paint-I use Annie Sloan, it doesn't need primer and it sticks to almost anything

*2" angled paint brush-I like the Purdy brand

*2 or 3 disposable paint pans, the third is only if you are stenciling a design

*paint roller labeled for a smooth surface

*clear varnish

*paint pad for applying varnish

*small touch up brush if you stenciled

1. You probably won't need to do this, but in my case step one was to sand all of the places where the paint had bubbled up. If the tile you're painting was previously painted then you should do this too.

2. Vacuum and then wash the tile really super well. I like to use the cleaner Simple Green and a good scrub brush. Really get in there and give it some elbow grease; you want to get the tile as clean as you can so the paint will stick. Rinse/wipe with a rag and clean water.

3. Once the tile is dry begin cutting the edges of the floor using an angled brush and your base color. I used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in the color "graphite," which is fancy talk for black.

4. After the edges are cut it's time to roll. Use a roller cover that says it is for smooth surfaces.

Bonus points if you can get your husband to help with the rolling :-)

5. Chalk paint drys pretty quickly, within about two hours you should be able to begin stenciling. Put on clean socks and be prepared for the paint to show where you walk. Even though it is dry, there will be scuff like marks from your feet. These will go away when you seal the paint. Get ready to stencil by putting your second paint color in paint pan, lining a paper plate with several paper towels, and getting a small roller brush with a foam roller.

Place your stencil down. Lightly load your foam roller with paint and then roll it on the paper towel plate until it is nearly dry. If your roller is too wet the paint will bleed under the edges of the stencil. With one hand hold the stencil firmly on the ground and roll the paint with the other hand.

I'll be honest, I had some trouble with the stencil. The paint wouldn't cover the areas that had grout lines, and I also got little flecks of paint outside of the lines. I decided not to mind that the stars had some light spots, and when everything was done I went back over the floor with a little paint brush and touched up the white flecks and places where the paint had spread out of the star lines. It wasn't as tedious to touch up as I thought it would be.

All the little mistakes disappear when you are just looking at the whole floor.

My best advice is don't give up. When I had about 1/4 of the floor done I felt like it looked awful and I had made too many mistakes. Marc convinced me that I was "too close" to the project and to just finish it up and see what I thought.

I'm so glad I did! After a little touching up I felt that the overall effect was awesome.

6. Let the paint dry for a couple of hours and then wipe on the lacquer.

Marc used a paint pad on a long handle. We let the first coat dry overnight and then did another coat in the morning. Of course, no one walked on it during that time.

The lacquer dries nice and clear and gives a little sheen to the paint. It is super durable and you can clean the floor with regular tile cleaner.

All of the Annie Sloan Chalk paint products clean up with regular soap and water. Bonus!

And that, my friends, is how we did it. Let me know if you have any questions.

And if you're here because you have ugly floors, you might want to check out my kitchen makeover where I ripped up the old gross linoleum and painted the supfloor.

Mini Pismo Beach Vacation

2017-06-12T15:56:00.000-07:00

Hi friend. So glad you stopped by. It's been awhile and I've missed you. Back in April my family took a tiny road trip to Pismo Beach and I want to tell you about it and share some photos because sharing is good and also because the older I get the more miserable my long term memory gets. If I don't record what happened I'm likely to forget. Am I the only one?

We actually decided to take this trip at the last minute and since I didn't have a lot of time to research and plan we hired a travel planner to help us. You guys! It was the best decision ever! I'm including a link to the planner we used, Get Globetrotting, because her prices are super amazing and she came up for stuff for us to do that we totally would have missed on our own.

We started out driving down the gorgeous California coast to our Bed and Breakfast in the tiny town of Arroyo Grande.

Here's Ellie on one of the hammocks on the property. It was so perfect, only minutes from a darling downtown and maybe five more to the beach. Jonathan was only able to join us for part of the time because he had other plans with friends that he felt were more important than his family...and I'm only a little bitter.

Bah! Do you remember those days when you were a teenager and your friends seemed so important and your family was just always there? I can remember coming home from college being so excited to see my friends and my parents being like, "Wait! WE'VE missed you..."

Anywho. We went to a fun restaurant.

And then the next day we went to Morro Bay. The weather was a bit cool and overcast, but it was perfect for beach combing, and boy was that beach ready to be combed! There were hundreds of sea stars washed up on the sand, and the most interesting rocks we'd ever seen. It was treasure hunting at it's finest.

We spent hours exclaiming over all the beautiful bits of rock and glass we found before heading to the Madonna Inn for lunch and their famous cake. This place is seriously over the top! The formal dining room wasn't open for lunch but we had to sneak in and wander around.

Crazy right?!?!
And the slices of cake were like a whole cake. We could barely make a dent in them.

We spent the rest of the day wandering the shops at Pismo Beach and playing games back at our inn.

Jonathan arrived that night and the next day we got up early to ride dune buggies. This was a suggestion from our travel planner; I wouldn't have thought of it myself.

Waiting for our ride out to the dunes.

Ellie and I were both a bit timid on our buggies and mostly enjoyed tooling around up and down the hills and watching the boys be crazy. They both managed to get thrown off their bikes while jumping the hills.

This both scared me and made me laugh. Ellie was really the only one who would stay still long enough for me to get a good photo.

After the buggies we spent some time poking around the beautiful San Luis Obispo Mission. It was established in 1772.

I had fun playing art history teacher and pointing out to J and E how those early builders would have been trying to mimic the opulence of the European churches they left behind. They didn't have the wealth or resources of the church in Europe so they got creative with their wood carvings and decorative paintings. I was totally hitting my geeky stride, and the kids were even interested, when all of a sudden this mass of noisy teenagers comes barging in and threw me off my groove. We were a little annoyed and about to leave when they all gathered up and started singing.

It was amazingly beautiful! The acoustics in the chapel were so good, and the kids must have been on a choir field trip because they were very talented and we felt like we were being blessed with a little sacred experience to get to hear them in a place where so many have come to worship for so long. I took a little video for you

On the last day of our vacation we visited Hearst's Castle. It was something I've wanted to do for a long time and while the kids were maybe a teensy bit bored, Marc and I thought it was fascinating. Jonathan bailed on us because his back was hurting from his dune buggy stunts, but Ellie was a trooper.

All of it was almost obscenely extravagant, but man it was fun house to spy inside! I was maybe a little obsessed with the indoor swimming pool. Or a lot obsessed. It's just so sparkly!

Who wouldn't want to swim there! I'm adding it to my bucket list right now, filed under "nearly impossible but it's worth dreaming."

After that we drove back home along the coast making a little detour at Seal Beach so we could laugh at the antics of those funny seals and make up stories about them.

Let's end with a video of their floppy goodness.

Fosse Family Vacation Extravaganza

2016-08-22T05:00:00.000-07:00

We just got home from our family vacation a few hours ago and by golly I am going to document that sucker here before it goes the way of my trip to Michigan when my nephew was born and our family reunion in Palm Springs, which is to say, unrecorded.

It's sad about Palm Springs really, Marc lost his wallet and Jonathan had appendicitis. This summer has been full of good times.

Anyways! Family vacation...it's a bit different now that our kids are getting grown up. Maddie brought her husband, Kenny and Katie brought her partner, Jarret. So there were seven of us. Jonathan had to stay home because his school started earlier than everyone else's and we totally spaced it. Poor kid. Luckily he got to be the center of attention on our last vacation what with the appendicitis and all. He was a hoot on pain meds, winking at all the nurses and singing silly songs.

On our first day we went to Chocolate Chair, a place Ellie found online. That girl is dedicated to visiting unusual dessert places in L.A. and this one pretty awesome! They serve this thing called "Dragon's Breath;" it's like Captain Crunch berries that have been frozen in liquid nitrogen. You stab one with a skewer, dip it in flavored sauces, and then when you bite it all this smoke comes out of your mouth.

Here are our videos:

The next day we went to Disneyland. Also it was Marc's and my 26th anniversary. Last year we went to Hawaii just the two of us. It's totally cool, I like both kinds of trips.

One of the best things about Disneyland with older kids is that NO ONE CRIES. Honestly, Marc and I were marveling on the drive home from the park at how easy and stress free it was. We just followed Maddie around and did what our kids wanted. Peasy!

In line for Pirates

In line for Peter Pan

In line for Mr. Toad (I don't know why we went on that one.)

About to get in line for Small World

Entering Story Book Land, my favorite ride because of all the tiny trees and plants.

In fact, another great part about Disneyland with older kids is that Marc and I left the park and went back to our hotel around 8pm and left all our kids there! Because they can drive themselves-and their little sister-home!

I can't even really describe how great that is.

The next day Katie and Jarret had to go home and back to work :-(

The rest of us went to Universal Studios and HARRY POTTER WORLD! It was glorious.

During the Olivander's Wand Experience Ellie was picked to have her wand chosen by an Olivander's witch. And while we didn't have any crying at Disneyland, Maddie may have shed a tear that was a combo of happiness and jealousy for her sister.

The best part of the flight of the Hippogriff is getting to see Hagrid's cottage while you're waiting in line.

Hogwarts Castle and the ride inside it were completely magical.

I kept making Ellie point her wand at me while I took pictures. She's the youngest, she has to humor me.
She was most interested in visiting Honeydukes!

Maddie was in love with the giant Pygmy Puffs and the adorable sound they make that is a cross between a giggle and a purr.

I got really hot and made out with my pumpkin juice.

We thought Harry Potter World alone was worth the price of admission to Universal. It was super fun.

And that's about it. Oh, just for fun I want to list all the things we lost on our trip:

Maddie left her phone The Simpson's Ride

Ellie lost her wallet somewhere in Disney and it turned up at the lost and found

Katie and Jarret lost their keys and wallet respectively on the drive down. Jarret found his wallet, Katie is still looking.

There is something about being a Fosse...

How To Make a Stop Motion Video for Instagram

2016-06-14T06:00:00.000-07:00

Instagram is probably my favorite social media platform, especially when it comes to promoting my etsy shop, Barnacle Designs. Facebook has become so huge and unpredictable; Instagram feels more like I'm interacting with friends. Friends who I've maybe never met, but who are like minded about how great handmade is and who don't mind having me as a crazy stalker person.

Awhile ago I decided to try my hand at making a stop motion video to post on my feed. It got a lot of views and likes, so here I am sharing how to do it with you. My video got about 50% more views than my usual posts, so I think it's worth it to bust out your creative director side and give it a go.

This is the stop motion video I made showing off a zipper pouch from my etsy shop.

Here's whatcha you're gonna need to make one yourself.

1. iphone camera
2. the "flipgram" app downloaded on your phone
3. little iphone tri-pod to stabilize your phone
4. remote camera shutter
5. items that will be in your video
6. some kind of background, I just used a white poster board

Fancy! I bought the tripod and the shutter at Target, and they were each under $10. These two little workers keep your camera absolutely still while you photograph, and keep your camera exactly the same distance from your set up as you are taking multiple shots.

Once you have this set up, it's just a matter of taking a ton of photos, yelling "show me sexy! show me fierce!" and moving your items no more than 1/4 inch after each shot.

Some things I learned along the way that might help you:

*Set everything up in an area with really nice natural lighting. You want all the photos to have consistent good lighting and you will have WAY too many photos at the end to have to edit them all for brightness. That would be so yuck.

*Plan your beginning, middle and end before you start shooting. Flipgram will load all your photos into it's "reel" in the order you took them, and while you can reorder them, it's easiest if you take your photos in the order you want them.

*With that in mind, delete any unusable photos (say because your hand is in it) as you go.

*Only move your items a tiny bit between each shot. More photos with smaller increments of movement will make a better finished video than less photos with bigger jumps in movement. Aim for about 1/4" in distance moved. I ended up using 120 photos for a 25 second video, that's about 5 photos per second!

*Here is a collage of some of the 18+ photos of the earplugs "walking" into the zipper pouch.

*Make a tiny mark on your background surface to use as a, well, mark for your items. In my video I made a small pencil dot on the poster board that appeared as the front and center of the frame when I looked at the camera screen. As I moved items around the circle I made sure the item in front at the time touched my dot. This kept the whole thing sort of centered throughout the video.

*Take multiple shots without moving anything if you want there to be a pause in the action.

Once you've taken all your photos:

*When you open flipgram it will walk you through setting up your new video. The most important option you have is adjusting the speed, it looks like a little slider with a bunny icon.

*In my opinion a video for instagram should be no longer than 30 seconds and even shorter is better. Increasing the speed is mandatory as it makes your stop motion look smoother and makes your video shorter. Your goal is to make people want to watch your video again, not wish it would get over.

*When you load your finished flipgram onto instagram, you can actually use the built in editing tools to edit all of the photos in the flipgram at the same time. Way cool! And much easier than editing them all individually.

And there you have it. If you have any questions ask in the comments and I'll get back to you, and if you make an instagram video tag me @barnacledesigns so I can check out your ah-mazing work!

Thai Shrimp Salad

2016-06-07T07:00:00.000-07:00

It has been so HOT here! And as much as I love my old ranch house one thing it does not have is a powerful air conditioner. It has an air conditioner, but all it does is cool the floor about one foot in front of each vent and cost us $300 a month.

Which means that when temperatures climb above 90 degrees it becomes completely mandatory that I make dinners that don't require any oven time! Our oven is the original 1947 Westinghouse that came with the house and while it still works, and is super cute, it has very little insulation. When I turn it on it raises the temperature in the kitchen a minimum of 50 degrees. I'm not making this up.

So we eat a lot of salads. If I make something. We also eat a lot of cereal and watermelon. You do not need a recipe for cereal or watermelon, but I am totes ready to share one of our favorite salad recipes.

We love Thai flavors, so I invented this recipe for a Thai Shrimp Salad based on this one.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 small red onion, chopped fine
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 pound cooked medium size shrimp tails removed
4 tablespoons lime juice
2 teaspoons fish sauce
1 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
Honey, to taste
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 cups shredded Napa cabbage
3 carrots, grated (or small bag of shredded carrots)
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 scallions, chopped
¼ cup fresh basil, chopped
¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
¼ cup chopped cashews (I like the ones that are roasted AND salted)

Instructions

Heat coconut oil over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic and cook for four minutes. Add shrimp and saute until heated through.
Make dressing by whisking together lime juice, fish sauce, ginger, and red pepper flakes. Slowly whisk in olive oil until emulsified. Add honey to taste.
In a large bowl combine cabbage, carrots, scallions, basil, cilantro and shrimp. Toss with dressing. Top with cashews and serve.

กิน

(Kin)

That is Bon appetit in Thai. I love the internet! If you love Thai too, here is a fantastic recipe for Thai Curry Seafood Stew.

Treasure Island Flea Market? Go!

2016-06-03T05:30:00.000-07:00

I know it's not my job to tell you what to do, but if it were my job, I'd tell you to get yourself to the next Treasure Island Flea Market!

Maddie and her friend Sarah came down from BYU to spend Memorial Day weekend with us and we went for the first time. You guys! It is super cool! It isn't like a normal flea market with a lot of junky stuff, it is an awesome outdoor market, on an island, with a spectacular view of San Francisco, a TON of food trucks, live music and tons of vendors selling beautiful handmade goods.

AND ALSO ROLLER DERBY!

Really, such a good Saturday. Maddie and Sarah made their own little terrariums, Maddie put a tiny Totoro in hers. Love.

There were tons of fantastic vendors. Here are some of my favorites.

Felt sushi!

Entire costumes for all your steam punk party needs! I, personally, have never been to a steam punk event, but if I were going to one I would like to wear the outfit in the middle with the ruched skirt.

A plethora of spices and loose teas; this vendor's area smelled so divine.

Teensy tiny little succulent worlds.

Pretty patio things.

And so so so many food trucks. It was like food truck heaven. Also I stole that photo from the flea website. Mine looks like this:

There were at least twenty trucks there. We got lobster rolls.

So I've convinced you to go, right? Trust me, you need this in your life.

We also went to Bodega Bay over the weekend. Katie joined up with us and made my month. Nothing is better than having all my kids together!

I want to climb in that photo and smooch them!

We also had a fantastic bbq at my parents house, no pictures though. How was your Memorial Day?

Celebrate Friday!

2016-05-27T05:00:00.000-07:00

I thought we could celebrate Friday by watching silly youtube videos that make me laugh. I sure hope they give you a good giggle too!

And my favorite, Kristen Wiig as Doonece. It's not on youtube, you have to click through here. This skit is especially funny if you, like me, can remember laying on the carpet in your Grandma's house watching The Lawrence Welk Show with the lights off and a groovy fiber optic lamp softly changing colors on the side table.

Tips For Planting Succulents Indoors

2016-05-26T05:00:00.000-07:00

Here is what I know: I love succulents, you love succulents, we love succulents...but they have proven darn hard to keep alive inside our homes! Happy patio succulents? Sure. Gracing our coffee tables and bookshelves? Not so much.

But we want them on our tables and shelves; they are so pretty and interesting and let's just admit it on trend.

With this burning desire I have researched tons of articles online trying to glean the secrets that might end my reign as a plant killer. I'm not going to pretend to know it all now, but I have managed to keep my little group of Costco succulents alive and in my house for over a month now. They are even growing.

I've applied three tips that I've gained from my reading and pestering of people who know.

1. Plant them properly for growing indoors. More details on that in a minute.

2. Only water when the soil is dry, approximately once a week and water low to the soil because the leaves don't like to be wet. I used to use a mister but now I pour a little water near the base of each plant in the container.

3. Place your succulents in a room where they will get plenty of indirect light.

My directions for how to plant a terrarium for indoors are primarily from Leaf and Clay. It is a fabulous website with TONS of information on succulents. I keep going back for advice and if you are serious about growing succulents their blog is an excellent resource.

So here is a summary of what I learned there.

Start with a container you like. This method assumes that your container won't have drainage which is nice and allows for a lot of freedom to choose whatever you think is pretty. Here are some of my favorites from around the interwebs :-)

//via//

These little air plant containers are actually pretty cheap at the craft store.

//via//

Mason jars! I need to get on this; I have tons of jars left from Maddie's wedding.

I can't find the link for the original source of this photo but lets just all agree that these geometric planters are fabulous!

//via//

And apothecary jars, I just have to toss out all the hotel soaps that are in mine right now :-)

Start by filling the bottom with rocks or pebbles. This gives the water a place to drain to so the roots don't sit in wet soil and rot. Yay.

Add about an inch of activated charcoal.

Top with a layer of moss. The moss keeps the soil from sneaking down into the rocks.

Now put in your special for cacti and succulent potting soil. Leave room for your plants and and a final layer of soil.

Leaf and clay recommends that when you transplant a succulent to the new container you "gently loosen the roots, brushing away old soil." I did do this although as I brushed away soil I'm afraid some of the roots went along with it. I guess I'm just saying to be careful my friend.

Dampen your dirt sparingly and then place the succulent in a shallow hole in the new container and stabilize with more soil.

Most of the articles I read recommend that you now wait at least a week before you water your ~~baby~~ plant.

As a final touch I like to add a layer of rocks over the top of the soil, and, if you want, a gnome. I cannot think of any reason why you would skip the gnome.

Girls Trip to Napa

2016-05-20T12:05:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I was in Napa with my two gorgeous friends, Leah and Lacie. The weekend was mainly organized by Lacie, and I believe she has a future as a travel agent or maybe cruise director on a very fancy, very expensive ship. I was awesome. Okay, I see that typo, I meant to say "It was awesome," but I'm leaving that Freudian slip in there because I was awesome-I am EXCELLENT at dining, shopping, laughing, spa-ing, and I found a fabulous pair of sandals too.

When she first texted our itinerary I immediately texted back that I loved it so much I would marry it. We stayed at the beautiful Meritage Resort. I didn't get a great photo of how lovely it is but I did steal this one from the internets.

And this one.

It was a little too breezy for us to lay out but we did enjoy sitting by the fountain and telling inappropriate stories.

On Saturday we went to a little spa in Calistoga and had massages and mud wraps. Because mud wraps were on my bucket list. Don't judge! It was super fun and very relaxing but to be honest, I don't think they do much as a beauty treatment. It is supposed to be like a giant clay mask that detoxifies your whole body. Maybe it did, I don't know how you would tell, but I didn't feel any different.

We took a picture but I'm not sharing it.

No, you can't talk me in to it.

Here, look at this one.

This is Celadon, where we had lunch on Friday.

And this is at the Calistoga Inn where we had lunch after the spa.

It's a hard life, but somebody has to live it. Later we did some shopping in adorable St. Helena.

image via

There is a fantastic chocolate store with all handmade chocolates, called Woodhouse Chocolate.

The chocolates are $2 a piece but SO yummy!

We also went in a shop with this giant sparkly dragon.

I LOVE dragons, but I still want to know who buys this and where do they put it? I've never been in anyone's home with something this, ah, magnificent. Marc tells me it will not be in our home...

There were plenty of great, clothing and jewelry shops too. My favorite was a home store with a huge collection of John Derian plates that left me drooling and wishing I had room to add to my plate wall.

But really, the best part of the trip was getting to talk about everything under the sun with these two fantastic women. We laughed so hard, dissected our parenting strengths and weaknesses, shared make-up and shoes, revealed some of our most difficult struggles and kept telling each other how much we love each other.

They both made me feel so loved and accepted and valued. Let's end with my favorite photo from the trip.

I call it, "I don't know why my eyes are closed, but so what, I'm dating two super models."

Guest Post by Monica: Tips for Getting Decorating Done, Even With Kids

2016-05-18T05:30:00.000-07:00

Hi, you! I’m swapping blogs with my friend Monica today. She has amazing taste and is like a project completing machine in her lovely home! I asked her to share the secret sauce she uses to get it all done with three littles in the mix. I think you’re going to love her. Oh, and I’m writing about what scares me over on her blog aboutprogress.com. Come see me too!

Hello! My name is Monica and I blog at aboutprogress.com. My blog is about making progress in our lives without hyper-focusing on perfection. Come visit me there to see posts on food, parenting, exercise, interior design, DIY and more! (I’m a bit all over the place…) I am also a mom of three littles, ages 4, 3, and 10 months. (That’s why I’m all over the place!)

We’ve owned our little home for 3 ½ years. It is still in its original glory, ala 1949. We have loved every square inch of it and worked hard to improve it with what pennies we could spare. I love interior design, so I’ve always got a project up my sleeve. Here is a sampling of the projects we have personally done ourselves:

Painted 6 rooms, two of them twice.

Painted ~20 furniture items from Salvation Army and Craigslist.

Painted the whole exterior of the house, including the trim.

Made an upholstered headboard.

Replaced a toilet.

Installed light fixtures inside and outside the house.

Removed and replaced an old brick mailbox.

Pulled out a million weeds and little trees growing on our front lawn.

Rehabbed our front and back yards.

Filled in a doorway, making a better entrance into our house.

Created a brick barrier along the sides of our backyard.

Re-hauled our fireplace including demolition, tile installation, and refacement.

(And a 100 other small DIY things, including lots of IKEA hacks and organization.)

My husband is great and has really been a partner on those bigger projects, but he can only help on Saturdays—so I’ve done most of that above list myself. And 100% of the time, my young children were present, alive, and (mostly) well fed.

People often ask me, “Monica, how do you do it all? How do you do all your house projects with those young kids at your feet, constantly asking to be fed?”

Just kidding! Nobody asks me that.

But if they did, here’s how I’d say we’ve done so much around this little house despite our well-meaning “helpers:”

1) When the Cat is Away…: Most of what I do is when the kids are asleep: naps or at night. That means my “me” time is gone during our more time-consuming projects and my own sleep is limited, but I don’t have to worry about them drinking paint or accidentally hurting themselves with my tools.

2) Get Them Distracted: Sometimes, the kids have to be around when I’ve needed to do something that doesn’t involve endangering them. I’m thinking things like plastering nail holes, yard work, laying out a tile design, sanding furniture, or hanging things. I’m not a huge fan of letting my kids have more than 20 minutes of screentime a day. (When I do, they act like entitled demons. Seriously.) So it’s worth it to me to take a few more minutes and get them properly set up with a real activity that will keep them busy. That entails: finger painting, coloring, doing puzzles, playing with their trains/dollhouses (or whatever toy(s) they recently forgot about), etc. Sometimes, it also means just shuffling them into the backyard with some bubbles, chalk, or a snack, and giving them a time limit before they can come back in. (I actually set the timer, so we’re both accountable!) If a project is necessary to do during the day and the kids aren’t cooperating (or it’s simply unsafe for them to be around), I turn to my next tip…

3) Trade Off: Brad and I largely team-tagged our fireplace project during the day a few Saturdays in a row. Trade off with a spouse or even a friend when you need to get things done during the daylight hours. For example, we’ve had a friend watch our kids so my husband and I could make a big Home Depot run. Get your friends in on it and return the favor!

4) Get the Kids Involved: This one is trickier. Obviously, you can’t let your young children help paint and use power tools. But sometimes, I give my child an unused paintbrush, a cup of water (or no water!) and ask them to “paint” a certain section of the wall or piece of furniture. Keep in mind, that still entails careful instructions and mom’s attention. We have found that yard work is a great way to get your kids involved. When we recently added the brick divider around the fence in our backyard, we had our kids picking up sticks and pulling weeds while we did the hard labor. We were out there for hours at a time. Lately, my older two have been getting paid a cent per plum they pick up from our neighbor’s tree along our shared fence. A lot of encouragement and rewards go a long way in simultaneously helping your kids be entertained and learning the value of hard work.

Finally, when all else fails, just turn on a dang show!

And since I’m all about progress, not perfection, I thought I’d end this post with a picture of what my house looks like mid-project. You are welcome.

What tricks do you parents have up your sleeve for getting house projects done with kids?

My Non-Traditional Emergency Car Kit

2016-05-13T05:30:00.000-07:00

So you all know what an emergency car kit has in it, stuff like flares, and flashlights and reflective vests etc. And clearly we should all have those things, but, frankly, the kind of emergency I regularly encounter in my car has nothing to do with mechanics or breaking down.

Nope.

The kind of emergency that happens to me more and more frequently these days is one where I flip down my mirror visor to check my lipstick and the sun shines it's happy rays across my face and Oh. My. Freaking. Gosh. There is ANOTHER stupid neck hair glowing away on me.

Marc hates when I say this, but sometimes I feel like Jonathan and I are in a race to see who can grow a beard first, the 17 year old young man in the throws of puberty, or the 45 year old pre-menopausal woman.

I'm very uncomfortable with winning. Which is why I invented my emergency car kit!

The emergency car kit addresses some of my most common and reoccurring car emergencies. I sound like a total infomercial babe don't I? Cool. Feast your eyes ladies and (I kind of hope just ladies) on all the fabulous products found in The Patented Shelley Emergency Car Kit for Women Over Forty:

First and foremost, TWEEZERS, for the neck hairs. Those hairs are very sneaky and dishonest. I can't even see them when I'm getting ready in front of the bathroom mirror. They lie in wait until I'm in my car where they feel like it's safe to reveal themselves but now BAM! I can get them with my tweezers. Take that stupid hairs!

I also like to keep a mini mani set in there because sometimes, when I'm stressed, I can really do a number picking at my nails and cuticles. But with my little kit sitting right there then when I'm waiting at school pick up or whatever I can file down any rough spots, use the cuticle trimmer to cut any hangnails and rub in some hand cream if I happen to have lizard hands just then.

And Bonus! The average red light is scientifically proven to be just the right amount of time to massage a bit of cuticle cream into your dry nail beds making your hands look so much better.

I also keep a package of make-up removing wipes in case along with the renegade hair I notice I've got raccoon eyes, because that IS an emergency, a little hair brush, and eye drops because I have the worst eyeball allergies ever.

You might be wondering why I don't just keep all of this in my purse. Well for one, my purse is already full enough, although there are some duplicates, mainly the hairbrush and eye drops. But the main reason is because having everything right there in my dash makes taking care of these little "emergencies" so much easier for me.

That's like, a live action shot of my kit doing it's job, ever at the ready to rescue me!

So what about you? Anything you can think of to add to the kit? I'd love to hear your ideas.

A Little Bit of Catch Up and Mormon Prom Pics

2016-05-11T05:30:00.000-07:00

I had a lovely Mother's Day weekend, in part because it rained so I didn't have to help Marc with a massively overdue dump run. I hope yours was nice too. We were pretty low key, but spending time with my family is exactly what I wanted this year; Jonathan and Ellie are growing up so fast it is just killing me. I desperately want to slow things down but I'm acutely aware from past experience that it ain't happening. Sad face.

Anyway, here is a quick recap of some stuff that's happened here. I have a couple of posts in the works that are taking me longer to write than I expected so this is sort of a filler.

Okay, you may have already seen this if you follow me on Facebook but here is the cake I made for Jonathan to use when he asked his friend to Mormon Prom.

I know it's ugly as heck, but I'm still so pleased that he was able to give me that photo and on very short notice (like on the spot) I was able to make a cake that is at least recognizable as a sad, weird frog. Yes! Yay me I can make sad frog cake! I know...I just like doing things for my kids, and Jonathan rarely needs me for stuff these days.

Here he is asking the girl.

And here they are before the dance.

Aren't they just so cuuuuuuute?! Here are a couple more for fun.

I seriously love these kids and their fun friendships make my mom heart happy.

What else? Oh! here's a pic of Jonathan and Ellie on Sunday.

Why so big guys? Stop it.

And that's about it. We saw Captain America: Civil War; I give it five barnacles.

We played the D.C. Deck Building game with Jonathan and me against Marc and Ellie and my team WON! Happy Mother's day to me because I never win that stupid game.

And on Sunday we spent the evening with my mom and dad and my aunt who is staying with them. I made dinner because I am the auxiliary mom when we get together, BUT I did not have to do the dishes so WIN!

Okay friends. Have a fantastic hump day and stay classy!

Maddie and the Bishop

2016-05-05T05:00:00.000-07:00

Maddie circa 2000

My sweet Maddie came for a surprise visit this weekend. It was so nice to see her, and of course we played the whole time. I'm super glad we got to play, but I'm feeling sort of behind this week since I didn't do most of the items on my not-nearly-as-fun-as-hanging-with-Maddie to do list.

I need to do LOTS of sewing since I'll be at an open house with my friend Tina this Friday from 6-9 p.m. She is a graphic designer who makes fantastic hand lettered signs, and I'll be selling my zipper pouches and lavender sachets. It would be awesome to see you there, the address is 2328 St. Augustine Drive in Brentwood, CA. It's a good time to buy a last minute Mother's Day gift, or one for graduation or even Father's Day.

BUT, I am taking a little break from sewing to share a story with you that is near and dear to our family's heart. It is, Oh best beloved (that phrase has been on my mind ever since seeing The Jungle Book), about Maddie and the Bishop.

When Maddie was a tiny shiny of just seven years she had a Sunday school teacher, and not just any Sunday school teacher. Her teacher was what some might call "a general in God's army." She was a retired school teacher and boy oh boy did she take her Sunday school class seriously. She was the kind of lady who does everything 110%! Her students were expected to do homework each week in preparation for the coming Sunday lesson, and to be honest, as young parents we were a bit frightened of what might happen if Maddie showed up to class without it.

In our church most members pay tithing of 10% of their income to the church. It is a principle that has blessed my life dearly and I am grateful that I've been able to do it. When Maddie's weekly homework was to do a chore, get paid for it, and meet with her teacher the next Sunday to take her little 10% and give it to our sweet Bishop I was totally happy to help make it happen.

During the week I gave her a few easy chores, paid her, and showed her how to save 10% for tithing. We talked about how the money is used to help run the church and help people in need. I really thought I had this particular homework assignment in the bag.

Maddie was SO proud of herself! On Sunday she kept her little quarter in her purse and waited with anticipation for her turn to meet with the Bishop. Sister * (not even going to type her name here) asked Marc and I to meet her and Maddie in the Bishop's office after Sunday school but Marc had another meeting so it was just me with baby Jonathan on my hip and a five year old Katie in tow.

Our Bishop was about the kindest man you can imagine. I really loved and looked up to him. Sister * prompted Maddie to give the Bishop her tithing and when she did he told her how proud he was of her and then asked her what she did that week to earn her allowance.

I wasn't sure if she knew what "allowance" meant and was preparing to explain it to her, but I needn't have worried.

She piped right up and announced, "Oh, my mom paid me to watch my brother and sister while she and my dad took a shower."

No! You are thinking.

Oh yes, I am confirming. She said that. In front of our Bishop and her General in God's Army Sunday school teacher.

In the millisecond it takes to consider these things I constructed and discarded a hundred explanations I could try and give for her announcement before deciding that the only clear solution was to beat a hasty retreat. I grabbed Maddie by the hand, said, "have a nice afternoon," to everyone, and rushed my flaming red self and my three holy terrors outta there!

Yes, they are all guilty by association!

The only consolation was when I was lamenting over the incident to my friend Paige and she wisely comforted me by saying, "It probably makes the Bishop happy to hear you and Marc still shower together; it means he doesn't have to worry about you."

Please, please just let him forget she ever said it!

How to Make A Lavender Sachet for Mother's Day

2016-05-02T05:30:00.000-07:00

I listed these sweet little lavender sachets in my etsy shop on Friday, but they are so fun to make I thought I'd write up a tutorial in case you want to sew some yourself. They make the sweetest Mother's Day gifts; the lavender smells so fresh and good, they are dainty and a tiny bit old fashioned, and they make you feel like a lady when you tuck one in your drawer or under your pillow. They are a lovely little gift on their own and are super sweet tied onto another package.

I was originally inspired by this photo I found on Pinterest,

but the instructions are in French, which I speak about as well as Joey.

So I had to figure it out myself. Here's how you do it...

1. Cut 3" fabric strips from two fabrics. One needs to be a thicker fabric like the burlap-ish one I chose here to be able to hold the eyelet. If you use two quilting weight cottons then you'll need to use interfacing per the eyelet kit instructions to stabilize the fabric.

2. Sew the strips right sides together along one edge. Open up and iron the seams toward the darker fabric.

3. Fold the fabric in half length wise and cut out two tag shapes using paper pattern.

I printed this picture, cut it out, and used it as my pattern.

4. Leave about a 1/8" seam allowance around the pattern as you cut.

5. Sew a small piece of lace over the seam of both pieces of the sachet.

6. Place right sides together and sew around the edge leaving the entire bottom open for filling with lavender. Turn the sachet right side out using a chop stick or pencil to gently push out all of the corners. Be careful not to poke a hole through the seam!

7. Use an eyelet plier kit (link to the one I used here) to poke a hole through both layers of fabric and to insert the eyelet. I took the below photo before I learned that the eyelet won't stay in the quilting cotton unless it's been stabilized with interfacing. After that all my sachets have the burlap fabric on the top.

8. Fill the sachet with lavender. The easiest way is to leave the entire bottom of the sachet open and just spoon in the lavender. I tried leaving a smaller opening and pouring the lavender in through a paper funnel and it was not nearly as quick and clever as I imagined it was going to be. In fact, it was kind of a pain.

Again, I recommend just leaving the whole bottom open, and after adding two tablespoons of lavender either whip stitch the bottom closed by hand or sew it closed with your machine.

If you want to make these for Mother's Day you'll need to buy lavender locally, I found some in the tea section of Sprouts Market; if you just want to make some there are great deals on organic died lavender on Etsy. Just search for dried lavender.

If you'd like to buy some of the ones I made you can order a set of three for $19 here and I will wrap them beautifully and send them off to your sweet mom so she can have sweet dreams.

Use the coupon code MOM10 for 10% off at checkout until May 4th.

Happy Sewing and Happy Mother's Day!

Linking up at:

DIY Show off

How to Hang a Plate Wall with No Stress or Measuring

2016-04-26T16:54:00.002-07:00

Did you want to make a plate wall to cover up some big naked wall space that you have?

But when you google "how to design a plate wall" and see photos like this your eyes glaze over and you think you would rather chew off your own hand than trace all your plates, cut out templates, measure where they go and try to arrange them on your wall?

Me too! I just can't.

Which is why I'm sharing my super spiffy tips for...wait for it...

That's my lovely creation right there and I'm not ashamed to admit that I have a big fat dishy crush on it! I want you to feel the same way about your wall so let's begin with a little plate psychology to get you prepped to hang without stress and without measuring.

First, it's 100% okay to have TONS of nail holes in your wall from hanging a plate, deciding it's not right, and moving it 1/2 of an inch. If I had hung my plates exactly how they are now on the first try I'd still have 20 holes in my wall-there's no way that when I'm ready to take them down I won't have to fill and paint.

So who cares if you have to fill 20 holes or 60 holes? It's just a quick swipe of spackle; no trouble at all!

Second, I'm sorry, but this idea I see everywhere that you're going to arrange your plates on the floor and then hang them on the wall is ridiculous! Your plates don't look the same on the floor as they do on your wall. The final look is totally affected by your wall color and the furniture, doors and windows surrounding the plates. You just can't tell what will really work until those plates are on the wall!

The one thing you really do need to hang a plate wall is a friend. There is a lot of holding a plate up to the wall and asking, "here or here?" You need someone to help with that, and if that friend wants to hang a plate wall too, all the better, you can help each other!

A quick note-I used E600 and a safety pin to hang my lighter plates. Be sure to let it cure for 48-72 hours.

And these 4" disc plate hangers for my bigger plates. If I wasn't sure then I went with the disc hanger; they are super secure!

Okay, on to the actual hanging. Since we're not measuring it's better to pick an organic shape than a totally symmetrical shape. There are a lot of beautiful examples out there.

Here are a couple of my favorites. This first one was also my color inspiration before I even began collecting plates.

Via

That up there is the wall I made with my friend Tonya who then was obligated to come help me hang my plate wall!

For my wall I imagined a football shape that was being thrown up towards the right corner of the wall.

I didn't try to "fill in" the imaginary line exactly, I just used the general idea to help me get started.

Pick your favorite plate and hang it in the middle of your imaginary shape.

It looks all weird and lonely. Save it by adding two more plates around it. Don't stress because you've already decided that if you don't like something you'll just move it.

Hmmmm, after I hung that we decided the F plate was a leeetle too close to the pears. We tried a different shaped plate and liked it better. The F actually ended up on the other side of the pear plate.

Keep working out from the middle and filling in the space evenly. Have one person hold up a plate while the other person steps back a bit and checks for balance in colors and shapes. When it looks right use a pencil to make a small mark on the wall where the top of the plate is. Flip your plate and check how far down the hanger is and make another mark that far down from your first mark and hammer a nail in that spot.

As you back up and check your arrangement you can always swap out plates to see how different sizes and colors look.

This is where the extra set of eyes is better than all the measuring in the world. My friend Tonya and I noticed that we each were more confident in making decisions at the other person's house-kind of funny, but true.

My final tip is to avoid a static look by breaking up your imaginary lines with some plates that "go outside the line."

On my wall the white plate with yellow butterfly balances the blue plate with flowers in the middle and they both help keep the arrangement from feeling too deliberate.

Good luck with your own plate wall! They are super happy making.

Mid-Century Modern Buffet Painted in Paris Grey

2016-04-22T05:30:00.000-07:00

Voilà! I finished the first part of my plan for decorating the dining room by painting the mid-century modern buffet.

As a reminder, here's what it looked like when I bought it off of Craigslist.

Great lines and not even a bad wood color, but not a wood color that looked good in my dining room.

So, surprise! - I painted it. Frankly, things aren't moving along as fast as I would like, but then, when do they ever? I'm a girl who LOVES immediate results and waiting for paint to dry and sanding between coats drives me crazy even though I know it's imperative for good results.

I painted this buffet/credenza with Annie Sloan Chalk paint in Paris Grey and the color is phenomenal. It's finished with clear wax and there is no distressing on this piece.

In my opinion mid-century modern furniture should NOT be distressed. It just looks weird.

Want a peek at the inside, just for fun? I got some good shots of how I paint the inside of a dresser so that it looks clean and tidy but I don't have to spend a lot of time or paint covering the whole inside.

I use a 2" angled Purdy paint brush; it makes it fairly easy to cut nice lines just along the inside of the drawers. If you don't feel confident in your cutting skills just use some blue painters tape to mark your edges.

This is the way I usually finish the inside of a dresser when I'm painting for a client since I know when they pick it up they'll usually take out the drawers to move it and I want everything to look professional.

The picture and things on the buffet are just props for these photos. I cannot wait to get started on the plate wall!

Getting my adhesive for the plates has been a little bit wonky, but I'll tell you about it when I get them hung. Until then, here's a little sneak peak of the plates in progress.

I'd love if you'd follow me on instagram at @barnacledesigns to see updates on the plate wall as it goes up.

Happy Friday Friends! Hope you have a fantastic weekend...mine will be so great all hanging plates everywhere...so exciting...is that weird? You don't have to answer that...we decorating ~~dorks~~ friends have to stick together.

7 Tips I've Actually Used to Plan a Beautiful Wedding on a Budget

2016-04-20T06:50:00.000-07:00

I am a firm believer that you don't have to spend a lot of money to have a beautiful home, and the same principle applies to a wedding.

Especially a wedding!

Brides have all different budgets but every bride (and groom) deserves to have a day that is lovely, filled with joy, and that feels like her dream come true.

Since wedding season is fast approaching, I wanted to share some of the tips and tricks we used to make my daughter's wedding just what she wanted without going (too much) over budget. First figure out the areas you want to splurge (for us it was the photographer and the dress), and then use these tips to get the wedding of your dreams!

1. HAVE THE RECEPTION AT HOME - One of the biggest expenses for a wedding reception is the venue. If you can have yours at home you can save a TON of money, and any dollars you spend beautifying the place will stay with you long after the wedding. BONUS!

We had about 80 people at our daughter's reception even though we don't have what you might consider a lot of room. It worked well though because having the tables close together and everyone a tiny bit "cozy" made everything feel fun and festive.

The reception was outside but we still splurged on a house cleaner the day before so everything looked nice when people came in to powder their noses and whatnot.

Even if you aren't able to have the wedding or reception at your own home, you might have family or a friend who is willing to host your party. I've met people with lovely homes who actually dream about hosting a wedding.

Like Marilla says in Anne's House of Dreams by L.M. Montgomery, "...a house was not a real home until it had been consecrated by a birth, a wedding and a death." Obviously you don't want to give birth at someone else's house, but having your wedding there could be nice.

2. BUY THE CAKE FROM A GROCERY STORE BAKERY- a wedding cake starts at around $500; if it isn't on your "splurge list" consider ordering one from your grocery store and prettying it up with flowers. My daughter loves pie so she also enlisted her Grammy and a close friend to make pies for the dessert bar.

3. DIY THE FLOWERS - A talented florist can make arrangements that are almost magical, but if your budget is super tight you can get a beautiful look making your own with flowers from the local flower mart, Costco, or even Trader Joe's. We filled the back of our car with 5 gallon paint buckets and gallon jugs of water and visited the San Francisco flower mart the morning before the wedding. We knew the colors and mood that the bride wanted and had saved pictures on our phones of her inspiration bouquets and boutonnieres. We concentrated on flowers in the same color family and with the same textures as the the ones she loved. Don't forget lots of greenery for adding volume.

An artistic friend and my artistic daughter (the maid of honor) made the bouquets, corsages and boutonnieres the day before the wedding and we kept them refrigerated overnight.

Here is the beautiful bride with all of her bridesmaids-and their flowers.

There are lots of tutorials online and on YouTube for making your own bouquets and boutonnieres; in the weeks before the wedding we studied up and even bought flowers and did practice runs.

For the centerpieces we stuck with simple flowers in mason jars and bud vases, and then went for masses of flowers in every vase we could collect on all the other tables.

4. TWINKLE LIGHT THE HECK OUT OF EVERYTHING-candles and twinkle lights make the most humble space seem like a fairy garden when the sun goes down. Use them liberally. There are never too many!

5. DIY THE WEDDING FAVORS-I made jam and my daughter made darling labels for her favors. It was super cheap and everyone loved it. We have bees and also had honey in some of the jam jars.

Succulents are so on trend right now. If I were planning a wedding today I'd probably do succulent babies for favors. You can order 40 cuttings for $28.95 from this shop, and a set of 12 mini mason jars for $6 here.

Adorbs right?!

6. MAKE YOUR FRIENDS BE THE ENTERTAINMENT-Forget hiring an expensive DJ, make your friends be the entertainment! Chances are there is someone in your circle who is a wanna be musician and would be happy for the exposure that playing at your reception would give them. Ask them if they might play for a little while as your wedding gift.

Don't expect your friend to preform the whole time for free if you want them to still be your friend. Ask what they feel comfortable with and gratefully accept that.

Live music adds something special to a party so don't give up if you don't have a close friend who can do this. Think outside the box and ask around a little bit, maybe someone has a kid whose done a million years of high school band and would be able to play the guitar, flute or violin in the background for awhile?

My daughter's bridesmaid and my son-in-law's groomsmen played and sang at the beginning of the reception and a friend of ours who is a professional singer sang, "The Way You Look Tonight," while Maddie and Marc had their father daughter dance.

7. DON'T FORGET THE SPECIAL TOUCHES THAT MAKE YOUR WEDDING UNIQUE TO YOU!- Probably the best thing you can do to make your wedding feel custom (code for expensive) is to incorporate the little details that make you smile and make your wedding unique to YOU! After all, if you're having a wonderful time all your guest will too.

Here are a few of the things we did-

An "EYE-Spy" chalkboard with a list of things for guests to take pictures of on their phones and an Instagram #hashtag for them to share with. We also had a TON of different sodas in glass bottles, because it's fun to drink from a glass bottle :-)

The bride and groom both had comfy shoes for when their fancy kicks started pinching.

Crazy dancing at the end of the reception to a special playlist that the bride and groom had put together of their favorite songs for their special day.

And a sparkler send off so my 15 year old son could burn a hole in his new suit. I am NOT still bitter.

All of the photos in this post were taken by the truly amazing Marielle Hayes of Marielle Hayes Photography. She was on our splurge list and it was so worth it!

If you are here because you are planning a wedding then I am sending you a big internet-y hug and my congratulations! Love is a many splendid thing for sure and I hope this helps you with your plans for a truly magical day.

My Big Plans For Decorating the Dining Room

2016-04-18T06:39:00.000-07:00

My dining room, like basically all of my house, has been a work in progress for some time. Now that I finally finished painting the Duncan Phyfe table and reupholstering the chairs I really want to finish it all up.

All that's left (fingers crossed I don't get any other bright ideas) is to move this guy into the sun room. It's a workhorse of a piece, I bought it used and have had it forever. My plan is to paint it and use it to hold all my fabric stash and organize my sewing stuff.

I know what you're thinking, "Shelley, what are you going to do with all of your dishes?"

Remember this guy I got on Craigslist a million years ago and have kept in my garage ever since?
I'm going to paint his mid-century modern keister and store my dishes inside. THEN I can finally make a most fabulous and beautiful plate wall above it. Have you been wanting a plate wall? I have. In fact I've been collecting plates for about a year in anticipation of hanging one.

See?

Although I adore an old world antique-y look, my favorite style mixes modern in too. I'm hoping the buffet will work with what I've already got going on and bring some freshness to the space.

Here is a not very good mock up of my plans.

Let's all cross our fingers that I'll have some progress to show you later this week and that you are able to move along on whatever your decorating hopes are.

Coupon Codes For My Favorite Etsy Shops!

2016-04-16T08:45:00.001-07:00

I'm SO excited to blog today! I got you a surprise present!

DISCOUNTS TO SOME OF MY FAVE ETSY SHOPS!!!

When I was preparing to open my shop, Barnacle Designs, I purchased some of my supplies from etsy sellers and was so impressed with the service and products I received.

Since then I've become a much more avid etsy shopper. There are so many amazing artists, makers and creators showcasing their products there. It's quickly becoming the first place I search when I shop online-before I search amazon or even google.

My first plan for this post was just to share some of the shops I've come to love, but then I thought, "I love my readers and I'm going see if I can get them some discounts because discounts are the best and don't they deserve the best?" You do, friends! Every time you click or comment it makes me so happy and I'm so excited to be able to share this with you.

Here we go!

I actually know Diana from Peasy Prints. She is one of the most genuinely kind and thoughtful people. She designed my custom shop banner and was so determined to make it exactly what I wanted (when I didn't even know what I wanted) and kept sending me proofs of different options until it was perfect. I wish I had known about her shop when Maddie was getting married because her wedding invitation designs are really affordable and so charming.

Shop at Peasy Prints by clicking here and use the coupon code SHELLEY (heehee I'm a coupon code) at checkout for 15% off your order!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Pleasant Parcel makes several adorable party supply items and such. My fave of all faves are the custom printed glitter tags. Glitter. Tags. {Insert sigh of happiness here}

Shop at The Pleasant Parcel here and use the coupon code BBREADER10 at checkout for 10% off your purchase. Wouldn't it be awesome to get gift tags with your name on them for Christmas? You'd have the prettiest packages ever!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
When I was starting Barnacle Designs I spent days scouring the internet for the best deal on zippers for my pouches. I ordered some from a discount place I found on google and was seriously sad when they came and the colors were weak and faded. Then I found Zip It on etsy. I could not be happier with their product! The colors are beautiful and they have hundreds to choose from.

Visit their shop to see all different kinds of gorgeous zippers here and use the coupon code BARNACLEBUTT at checkout for 15% off your oder. This code expires on 10/31/2016.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

4 Hats Studio makes completely customized tags for your homemade projects. When I placed my order I was pretty wishy washy about fonts and colors and 4 Hats Studio showed me options and helped me figure out a tag for Barnacle Designs that I love.

If you are making something fabulous, and I know you are, why not tag it? I think it's sweet for sentimental value even if you're not selling your creations. You can work with 4 Hats Studio to design your own tags here and use the coupon code "Barnaclebutt" for 15% off of your purchase until 5/21/2016.

So now it's time for your to get shopping! The customer service from each of these shops was fantastic or I wouldn't be sharing them here. Let me know if get something wonderful!

Quick Rise Braided Bread

2016-04-14T06:31:00.000-07:00

A long time ago I knew a lady who made super good punch with frozen fruit and different juices and things in it. She would make it for church ladies events of which I have attended many in my days and it was always a hit. Later, when I was planning a party or something and I asked her for the recipe she told me, "I don't usually give it to people; I should charge $100 for it." But she did give it to me because I looked pathetic...or something.

It occurs to me that you might think I'm completely confused about today's post since I'm talking about punch but there is clearly a picture of bread up there. Nope, I just wanted to illustrate that this here braided bread recipe is so good it should cost a hundred dollars. And if I was an older church lady I might charge you for it.

Who told you to eat those carbs? Could it be...Satan?

Oh my gosh, reel me back in someone, please. But really, this bread is excellent. We are talking about bread. Really. Bread.

What I like best about this recipe is that it only needs to rise for 1/2 hour, which means even if you don't think about what you're making for dinner until, well, dinner time, you can still have it. Plus it looks pretty and tastes delicious.

Actually, let me revise my statement-what I like best about this bread is that it is super yummy, especially when it is hot and a little chewy right out of the oven. In all seriousness, Go! Make! Eat! My family is so happy when I make this. It's a good thing it makes two loaves because often one doesn't even make it to the table.

We just rip it apart like savages while it's cooling on the stove, smoother it in butter, and gobble it down. Like my mom said when we were kids, "it's only hot out of the oven once."

So, onto the recipe!

Quick Rise Braided Bread

(This is a downloadable link for easy printing or saving)

Ingredients

1 1/2 package of yeast
1/2 cup of warm water
1 teasppon sugar
8 cups of flour
3 eggs
2 cups of water
1/2 cup melted butter
1 tablespoon of salt
1/4 cup sugar

Combine the yeast, 1/2 cup of warm water and sugar in a small bowl and set aside for about 5 minutes or until it's foaming.

Put all eight cups of flour into a large bowl and make a "well" in the middle.

Add all the ingredients including the yeast mixture.

Mix with a spoon as much as you can and then knead until smooth, adding flour until it is not sticky and bounces back.

Place the dough in an oiled bowl (I just give the bowl I've been using a quick wash and continue using it), oil the top of the dough, cover and let rise for about 1/2 hour.

Divide the dough in half and then divide each half into three sections.

Pull each section into a rope.

Braid it on an oiled cookie sheet

Tuck the ends under and repeat with the other half of the dough.

Brush with a beaten egg.

Bake 10 minutes at 400 degrees and 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

When it's all done you really should eat it warm. It's sooooo goooood!

Especially with Danish Creamery salted butter. Oh! I almost forgot to tell you. On day one we just pull it apart and eat it. If you have any left over (usually we don't) on day two you can slice it and make toast and it is the best toast ever!

Spring Break 2016 Girls' Trip

2016-04-12T07:24:00.000-07:00

Spring break was kind of wonky for us this year. Jonathan and Ellie are at different schools that don't have the same week off, and Marc has a lot going on at work. We took a quick drive to see Marc's family in L.A. a couple weeks ago but didn't have anything else planned.

At the last minute I was overcome with a small wave of mom guilt coupled with a massive wave of crazy and decided to take Ellie and her friend down to Disneyland by myself. We did a super quick trip(again), driving down on Tuesday, hanging with my family and going to the beach on Wednesday, visiting Disneyland on Thursday and driving home on Friday.

We stayed with my Aunt Marie and the girls were thrilled to bunk in the "Micky Room." This is when I woke them up on Wednesday morning.

And this is when I sang "we're going to get pancaaaaaakes."

One of the best parts of the trip was getting to snuggle this little bean, my Counsin Tiffany's baby.

Aren't they all SO CUTE?! I want to squeeeeeeze!

After breakfast we went to the beach. The girls got in the water but I mostly sat bundled up in my bathing costume which is a full long sleeve rash guard so I don't burn and a sarong wrapped around my waist so no one can see my day glow legs. It's like a public service.

We found sand dollars.

And played.

Ellie went for these boho sunglasses. I think she looks cute.

And so happy that I made her take another photo! I made them take a selfie with me to prove I was there too.

The next day the girls went to Disneyland and I trolled around downtown Disney. I figured they wouldn't want to hang with me in the park and I'd rather shop and read my book than be by myself in Disneyland.

Listen, I know I sound like a weird creepy loner here-which, sometimes I am. Especially the part where I took a nap in the back of my car. Alone time is good time!

I tried to get the girls to take pictures in Disneyland for me but I was only mildly successful. Ellie kept texting me photos of the food she was eating and I was like "That is not what I mean! Pictures of YOU!"

I love this one of them with the Shadow Man from The Princess and the Frog.

And these cute pictures they took of each other to make me happy :-)

It was a little rainy which actually worked in their favor, they rode like 100 rides that day.

And then we came home. I sure love those two friends, it was nice being able to give them a good spring break!

How to Reupholster Stanley Dining Chairs Part 2

2016-04-08T08:20:00.000-07:00

In part one of this tutorial I showed you how to take a chair apart and prep it for reupholstering. Today I'm going to show you how to put it back together.

The scoop on how I painted the table is here.

I am trying to blog more purposefully lately and I keep asking myself what I'm hoping you get from this blog post. I hope that you'll come away feeling like having a nice room, with furniture that you love, is an achievable goal even on a small budget. Whether it's reupholstering chairs, painting a table, or creating a small still life, I want you to feel like you can do it! Without setting foot in Pottery Barn (unless you want to).

Of course there is nothing wrong with new furniture, but I absolutely love up-cycling old things. I love having a space that no one else has and putting my own creative stamp on my home. There is a tremendous satisfaction to be had from doing something yourself, from feathering your own nest. Plus, when it's time to get spendy I'd way rather do it on a fantastic piece of art than on a chair.

So, if you're still with me, let's get to upholstering!

I began with the seat. I cut out the top part of the seat, inside the piping, and used this piece as a pattern for my new cover.

Pin it to the fabric and cut around it leaving about a half inch for a seam allowance.

There are a lot of chairs where you can just cut a large piece of fabric, wrap the seat and staple it to the bottom. My chairs are more structured. From here I needed to cut a six inch wide strip of fabric the length of the perimeter of the seat and sew it on. I'm calling it the "seat edge piece." Here is a diagram to help explain what I mean.

Pin the seat edge piece to the seat with a piece of piping sandwiched between them. Sew the ends of the seat edge piece together first, then sew the seat edge piece all the way around the edge of the seat piece.

When that is done you put the piece back over the wood piece with the cushion on it and staple it into place.

As you staple work back and forth stapling on opposite sides as you work around the piece. Only pull your fabric taut enough to be smooth, if you get too energetic and pull the fabric really tight the staples will rip through the fabric. You want the fabric to have enough give that when someone sits on it the fabric doesn't rip through the staples. Which we hates.

After the seat cover is stapled on, lay piping all around the bottom edge and staple that on.

This next photo shows how to hide the ends of the piping. I like this seam to be at the "back" of the seat.

Now trim all the stray threads and screw the seat back onto the chair frame.

It's time get a diet coke and tackle the back.

Here is your bare back.

Lay a piece of fabric over it and trim to roughly the size of the opening.

Begin stapling it to the frame working back and forth stapling opposite sides as you pull the fabric just tight enough to be smooth but not so tight that the staples rip through the fabric.

For my chair these staples needed to be on the inside of the channel. Pay attention to how the original fabric was attached on your chair and use that as your guide.

Trim the excess fabric close to the staples leaving about 1/4 inch all the way around.

Lay the foam padding on top.

And lay a piece of fabric trimmed to size over it.

Begin stapling the fabric to the chair frame. For my chair this is where I needed my long nose staple gun because I needed to get the fabric pushed into the channel and stapled there.

The same as before, keep the fabric smooth, but not too tight or the staples will rip right through the fabric. Work around the chair doing opposite sides, so one staple at the top, then one at the bottom-one on the left side, then one on the right. Until you're done. Use lots of staples because if anyone ever tries to take this thing apart you want them to have just as many staples to remove as you did!

Cut off the excess fabric.

Now it's time to hot glue piping all around the edge to cover the staples and make it pretty!

For this you need to trim the piping as close as you can to the stitching.

And start gluing it around with the high temperature hot glue. My fingers got burned a bunch doing this. I don't know what to tell you except be better than me.

I tried to get a close up photo of how I hide the ends by tucking them straight into the seam. I do it at the bottom middle of the chair back so all the seams are "lined up" with the ones on the chair seat.

Now remember that before and after?

So satisfying! Now just trim all your stray threads and be amazed with yourself!

And as always, I would be thrilled to answer any questions you have about this project.

Chicken Salad with Lots of Goodies

2016-04-06T08:03:00.001-07:00

I am still working on part two of how to reupholster dining room chairs. There are SO MANY photos to edit for it. In the interim I give you:

I imagine every family has their own version of a chicken salad that they love. We love this one, Jonathan asks for it all the time, so I thought it would be nice of me to share. And I am nothing if not nice.

It's so good that no matter how much I make, we never have leftovers. The secret, as you may have guessed from the title, is adding lots of delicious goodies.

Here's what you'll need.

Chicken-SURPRISE! I like the whole rotisserie chicken from Costco. It's quite easy to remove the skin, de-bone, and chop it up into bite sized pieces. You can also use cooked boneless skinless chicken breasts if you like but I think it's nicer with dark meat mixed in.

On a not totally unrelated note, when I was at Costco picking up my chicken there was a gentleman in front of me also choosing a chicken. Except it was taking him a loooong time. He would pick up a chicken, examine it, and put it back. He did this for maybe ten chickens before putting one in his cart.

It made me feel extremely anxious about taking one of his rejected chickens! They looked fine to me but who knows? What was he seeing? I ended up choosing one from the very back that he hadn't looked at. It tasted good, so, that worked out and I won't take so long to tell you about the next ingredients.

3 stalks of celery chopped
1/2 yellow onion also chopped
1/2 cup of craisins
1 chopped apple (I used a gala)
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1 teaspoon of curry powder
1/2 to 3/4 cups mayonnaise

All of these measurements are subject to your own good judgement of course. Chicken salad is like that you know.

We had ours with a yummy bowl of butternut squash soup. It's the perfect meal for a Spring evening-soup to warm you up from the cool nights but not a heavy stew that would leave you too full and a chicken salad that is crunchy and sweet and savory all mixed together in goodness!