Mr. B and I are taking a big, giant step together. We’re moving in!

How freakin’ fabulous and exciting is that!?!

Via ejhogbin

Well, to clarify, I’m moving in. Mr. B was gracious enough to share his swank house that he already shares with Daisy dog with little old me and all my schtuff.

Okay it really means a lot of stressful clutter, but…It’s a new venture for both of us and we are estatic about the possibilites a head of us. Not to side track this post, but I swear it’s so much easier living with dudes than girls.

Maybe we’ll do something like this adorable key art by YoungHouseLove. Perhaps more with our paper towel cohabitation agreement.

Via YoungHouseLove

I’m still unpacking/organizing, which will probably take a while. In the meantime, let’s catch up on all the townhouse projects. Hello, October!

I’m sure you’ve noticed that I’ve been a little absent around here. I’m sorry to be such a punk. There is a totally valid reason though.

And I’ve got big news

As it turns out, I’ve been a bit preoccupied because I’ve started a new job at Method Savvy, an advertising agency in Durham, NC. You can read all about my new position here on the Method Savvy blog.

Bottom line: Gwynne Murphy was distracted from being trying to be a good blogger because she got a job again. It’s an unfortunate truth. But it happened and she’ll work on blogging better. (There I said it.)

Please be patient with me. There are a ton of projects that I want to share with you. Lots of inspiration coming up soon!!

Photo credit: mpclemens

West Elm is coming! West Elm is coming!

West Elm is opening a new store in Durham, NC, this week over in the Streets at South Point. I couldn’t be more beyond excited!! (Well, except that I started a new job today. For those deets, you can follow me on Twitter at @gwynnemurphy.) Any how, perusing the West Elm catalog is one of my favorite pastimes. And they are hosting a pre-opening event the day before. I really hope that I get to see the not-so-infamous Morocco bed that I lusted over for months in person.

They were nice enough to send me an invitation to a pre-opening event at the Durham store on Wednesday, August 23rd from 6:30-8:30pm.

Check it out. It’s made out of wood (yes! actual wood). You have to RSVP through Eventbrite here.

Guess who is attending the “@westelm Durham Pre-Opening Event”? westelmdurham-estw.eventbrite.com #finally

— Gwynne Murphy (@GwynneMurphy) August 14, 2012

(I was hoping to find my initial tweet of pure excitement but it has faded away as all tweets have a habit of doing.)

According to the invite, a portion of the night’s proceeds will benefit SEEDS, a nonprofit educational community garden dedicated to promoting sustainable agriculture and respect for the environment through gardening and growing food.

I was hoping you could join me, but it looks like the pre-opening event is already sold out. Now, please don’t shy away from the opening just because you cannot make the pre-oppening event. West Elm has so much comfortable style to offer your home. Don’t be a stranger!

Follow me on Twitter (@gwynnemurphy) and Instagram (gwynnemurphy) for some pictures and tweets from the West Elm Durham event. Hope to see you there!

Cheers,
Gwynne

Yep, that’s right…

{Image via Pinterest}

…but I really worked onthis project last fall.

So. Yes. It really did take me 10 months to show y’all the amazingness of this project. I know. I’m a lazy son of gun with far too many other thing going on. One day I’ll be a better blogger who doesn’t make lame excuses but for now folks you’re going to have to deal while I try to get my stuff in order.

My Push Pin Wreath Inspiration

Shannon over at Madigan Made (via Dollar Store Crafts) had a great tutorial and tips on how to make it. I just had to make it for myself.

{Image via Pinterest / Madigan Made}

My Brass Wreath Project

My local Dollar Tree had the brass push pins, and I got a 12-inch (I think?) foam wreath form at my local craft store with a 50% off coupon. This project was incredibly easy to make, but it is worth noting that was slightly time consuming. It was a good project to work on while watching the tube.

You pretty much just start by overlapping a row of push pins, or thumbtacks, which ever nomenclature you prefer. And then just keep overlapping as you go around the entire wreath. Here’s how it looked when I started out. I was just three rows in at this point.

A couple more DIY project progress shots:

And boom! I love the outcome! The results look significantly more expensive than my handful-of-dollar-bills investment. It feels silky smooth when you run your hands over it and reminds me of shiny reptile or fish scales.

All hung up and nicely displayed on the front door with some leftover green grosgrain ribbon from my gift wrap stash. It can be used year round for sure and looks particularly amazing during the Fall and Winter holidays.

A straight on front view.

A wide view to take in the whole effect. It’s love at first sight!

Hope you like it too!

Author’s Update: I absolutely love this brasstack wreath so much that I’m making them for Christmas presents using 8-inch wreaths. Shh, y’all! Don’t tell my family.*WINK* It’ll be our little blogy secret.

How will I achieve the metallic side table of my dreams?

This white side table has been sitting in my living room for a year now. It is serving it’s purpose to hold stuff and support the lamp, but come on it’s sporting white primer – and insonsistently sprayed on primer at that. I had the intention of gold leafing the table, but the expense was holding me back. Recently, I had an expiring Overstock.com coupon from a daily deal site and nearly pulled the trigger on faux gold leaf.

But then I was like, “Whoa, now. You don’t want gold. You want more antique brass to match all the brass schtuff in your house.” I passed that day. But that darn table is now sitting there and bugging me. Nagging me in all it’s white-ness. What’s a girl to do?

I mulled over it and have been considering painting it. I loved the way Jenny over at Little Green Notebook used silver leaf on this chest. Her project inspired me to leaf my table in the first place.

{Image via Little Green Notebook}

When I hesitated pulling the trigger on the purchasing the gold leaf, my mum talked me out of leafing it altogether. (I’m pretty sure she thinks the whole idea is tacky, like Mr. AB, and wants me to paint the table black or white.)

There must be an easy easier solution than gold leafing to achieve the look I want while being super reasonable in cost. (After all, I am a current job seeker here.)

Is metallic paint the answer?

Searching the Internets turned up this metallic finish tutorial by Jami from Freckled Laundry that used DecoArt metallic paints. Check out her results for a zinc look.

{Image via Freckled Laundry}

I’m thinking that I could paint the base gold and then use that brownish color to darken it up to look all bronze-y.

DecoArt Elegant Finish Metallic Paint

DecoArt Elegant Finish Antiquing Glazes

Thoughts, people? Am I crazy, and this is just the tackiest idea ever? I mean, in the South, there’s nothing more tacky than being tacky after all. Oh goodness, I wish that white table would just take a chill pill.

Behold the Ecolarium

An Ecolarium is  a two-gallon aquarium where the fish is supposed to be able to live in a blanced ecological ecosystem. But, and it’s a huge but, the reviews say otherwise. Not wanting to risk putting live creatures in it, I started brainstorming what I could do with “The Aquarium of the 90′s.”

While it looks like it would be right at home in the kitchen as a cookie jar, it would do a poor job of keeping cookies fresh.

And then I had a eureka moment! Stay tuned for a fish bowl turned terrarium. Yep, I’m becoming a bandwagon gal.

I also owe you a porch update, but wait you don’t even know about that yet. Gaaaah! Blogging fail. There’s too much picture taking documenting going on and not enough writing it up and hit publish. One day I’ll show you some peeks at what’s been going on in the summer heat. But first.

I. Heart. Thrifting, yo.

To briefly recap “I Love Thrifting” Day 2012 (Raleigh edition): It was fun! I met new people! We came! It was hot! Really HOT! We saw! We sweltered! We shopped! To stay in the a/c!

The takeaway is that we endured the heat in search of  scoring a bargain and the ultimate thrift store find. Here’s a quick group picture shot that I stole from Brittany over at Pretty Handy Girl. (Thanks, lady!) I truly enjoyed meeting some local bloggers and getting to know them a bit better. By the way Brittany has much more thorough “I Love Thrifting” Day recap that you should check out after you finish reading about my new treasures.

{Image via Pretty Handy Girl}
Top (right to left): Brittany, me, Erin. Botttom (right to left): Kristen, Courtney, Amy

Now without further fluff, here are my thrift store finds. Admire them as you will.

We went to not one, but two Goodwill Community Foundations (GCF, if you’re you hang out with the cool bargain hunters). That’s where I picked up my sweet new-to-me J.Crew denim jacket for three bucks and some change. Now that’s a bargain. Value add: It’s something that I had been on the hunt for since I realized that I donated my old denim jacket during a Cotton drive (At least it was for a good cause!).

I also purchased a complete Libbey mojito set full of goodies for Mr. AB. Only $6. He was rather thrilled with the price since he could enjoy mojitos from the comfort of his own home. The box included a shaker, a strainer, a muddler (the real reason I bought it), six mojito glasses and a little book of fancy mojito recipes.

{Image via Libbey}

Then there was an evil temptress – no picture, sorry.

One of the GCFs had a large tempting mirror. Not just large. Huge. Wood frame. $14. Right!? That’s a shut-the-front-door-!!! deal, but I have no room for it. (And, yes, I’ve been trying to work “shut the front door” into the blog for months. Boom. Done. Off the check list. On the the next thing.)

One thing I forgot to look for was an old sweater that I could cut up to make those faux socks sticking out of your boots a la the photo below. Next time.

{Image via Pinterest / imgfave.com}

At the first store we stopped at The Resale Boutique, I bought an art deco aluminum Kensington Ware Savoy serving tray. It was 50% off which brought it down to $12.50. It was still a bit of splurge for me as far as thrift shopping goes, but it is in pretty good condition and it IS a nice example of art deco servingware. She is so shiny!

This is my second Kensington Ware piece. My first was Cortez Footed Platter that I picked up at a Goodwill in Florida around last Christmas. It should be noted that the larger Cortez tray is not in as good of condition as the the the piece I recently. But hey that one was $6 and according to an auction house estimate for one with similar wear and tear scratches, it was a good investment. I just liked the way she looked after she called after me saying, “Pick me. I’m shiny!”

Don’t they look nice together in my awkward, cover-crowded kitchen counter vignette?

So tell me what have you scored lately?

Lately, I have been looking for outdoor solutions. Probably because we have been working on the porch since May and are currently a little stalled due to the intense record-breaking heat. For this project, I was inspired by Jennifer’s DIY wine bottle torch project from Pinterest. It seemed simple enough and would be useful to keep the bugs at bay, so I set out to make my own DIY bottle torch for the patio from an old vodka bottle.

Supply gathering comes first

Here’s the list of stuff you need:

• 1 Empty Glass Bottle (You can use an old wine or liquor bottle.)
• 1 Tiki Torch Wick Refill (The thicker the better.)
• Citronella Tiki Torch Fuel (Use the Citronella version to help with bug control.)
• 3/8″ Metal Washer (You can adjust washer size as necessary to accomadate a larger/smaller bottle opening.)
• Decorative glass marbles, rocks, beads or fish tank gravel. (Just make sure it can fit through bottle opening.)
  *These are optional, but keep in mind you will use a lot less torch fuel when your bottle is partially filled with these.

For my version, I used a large Grey Goose vodka bottle that  pulled out of our recycling bin, since we were fresh out of empty wine bottles. I ended up bringing home 15+ pounds of fish tank gravel (mostly in a hot pink variety) after helping my folks clean out their garage the other week. So my shopping list was minimal. I was able to pick up the metal washer just down the road at Brigg’s Hardware and the Tiki supplies, which were on sale, came from my local Target.

Then comes the how-to part, complete with step-by-step directions

How to make your own DIY bottle torch:

1. Clean your empty bottle and let it dry.
2. Place the decorative marbles/rocks/beads/gravel in the bottle. Remember, the more stones you put in the bottle, the less fuel you will need to use.
3. Feed the wick through the opening of the washer. Leave approximately 1/4″ of the wick sticking out of the top. Then, test fit your washer/wick to the neck of the bottle. Make sure the washer fits the opening without gaps, since these may cause the bottle to fill up with smoke.

4. Using a funnel, pour the Tiki oil into a bottle so that there is enough to cover half of the wick. (I made a paper funnel for this because I did not want to use one of my funnels that is for food.)
5. Then, just feed the longer side of wick into the bottle. You will not have to secure the washer to the top of the bottle if your wick is thick enough. (This will also make it easier to refill when necessary.)

6. And TA-DA!! Light the top part of the wick and you’re all set you enjoy your new outdoor torch!

Here is my new bottle Tiki torch in use on the patio.

A few more thoughts on this project:

- Please do not burn citronella indoors. This torch puts off some smoke so it would not be advisable.

- My bottle did not get hot to the touch.

- If I made more of these in the future, I would use a smaller/shorter bottle so I would’t have as much trouble fishing out the wick when/if it falls in after snuffing it out or during storage.

And for those of you interested in the cost break down, this little project was pretty inexpensive.
$7.19 Tiki Torch Citronella Fuel (I only used about 1/2 of this 100 oz. bottle that was on sale at Target)

$2.24 Package of 2 Tiki Torch Wicks

$0.11 3/8″ Metal Washer
FREE Fish Tank Gravel (I only used about 1/2 of this 5 lb. bag, which came out of my parents’ garage)
FREE Giant Grey Goose Bottle (rescued from our recycling bin)
So the grand total was $9.54. Not bad for an outdoor accessory to keep the bugs away.
That’s a SWEET DEAL if you ask me!

This is post is linked up as part of the Pinterest Summer Challenge {Summer Edition}.

Thanks to the hostesses: Sherry from Young House Love, Katie from Bower Power, Kate from Centsational Girl, and Michelle from Ten June.

(P.S. The Pinterest Challenge Image is via Katie Bower.)

Some of my favorite local thrift shops

If you’re out and about, please consider stopping by one of these fine establishments. (Just dont grab my find.)

• Habitat for Humanity Moore Store, Aberdeen, NC – This is by far the best Habitat ReStore that I’ve visited. Plus I volunteer here when I can.
• Goodwill on North Market Drive, Raleigh, NC – Clothing selection
• Passage Consignment, Raleigh, NC – Great source for picture frames and kitchen wares.
• Durham Rescue Mission’s Bargain Center, Raleigh, NC – This place is huge. You never know what you’re going to find in the stacks. Don’t miss the outside furniture.
• Wake County Habitat for Humanity ReStores (Locations in Raleigh & Cary, NC) – You never know what you are going to find here. Personally I like the Cary store a bit more than the Raleigh one, but I recommend visiting both locations.
• Dorcas Ministries Shop, Cary, NC – Lots of household items. Added benefit alert! It’s two doors down from the Cary ReStore.
• This -N- That, Cary, NC – Great place to just rummage around for a find.
• ReTails Thrift Store, Raleigh, NC – You never know what you’re going to discover on the back wall of this place.
• Cause for Paws, Raleigh, NC – Proceeds from this large thrift shop on South Saunders Street go to help homeless animals.
• This Just In Consignments, Raleigh, NC – They had a lot of odds and ends here the last time I stopped by.

Please join us in celebrating the art of the find on I Love Thrifting Day!

For the lowdown on Raleigh’s “I <3 Thrifting Day” with complete itinerary, check out Courtney’s blog, The Joy of Decorating. Big thank you goes out to Courtney for organizing the Raleigh outing!!

Be warned, if you plan to join us, Brittany has already announced that she’ll be a tad bit snap happy during Saturday’s festivities, so come with a generous smile and some crazy poses in mind. (By the way she has some great recaps from last year’s event.) Thanks for introducing me to this awesome idea!

You can follow all the excitement on social media by following the #ilovethrifting hashtag.

Lastly, a big thanks to Mr. Goodwill Hunting himself Rashon Carraway, for the concept of celebrating the art of finding best deals around!!

Looking forward to meeting everyone tomorrow!! Also, if your favorite thrift store didn’t make my list, let me know in the comments! Have a fabulous weekend!

To me, nothing says “Happy Independence Day” more than some patriotic bunting. I’ve been wanting to invest in some for years and years. I’m thinking 2013 will be my year of the bunting. Once I get it, you bet it’ll show it’s face for Memorial Day, Independence Day and Labor Day. You never know. I might just throw in for Flag Day, as well. Every. Single. Possible. American. Day.

via Pinterest

via Pinterest

It makes such festive impact for such a simple holiday decoration. I can’t wait to get some bunting of my own, like the version above from Amazon.

Have a happy and safe Fourth of July!