Cottage Magpie

Introducing the Magic Shed

2010-07-28T23:48:18Z

My husband has finally commandeered the last corner of the garage. So I had to get the mower in the shed. Cue bad horror music: dah, dah dahhhhhhhh.... Because, I mean, I haven't exactly been in the shed in awhile. "Awhile" meaning "ever since we moved in." I mean, sure, I've had my husband put stuff in there. Under protest. You know: Me: Oh, I just have to have that darling vintage dresser. Just look at the cute casters! Him: We don't have room.
Me: Sure we do! Besides, it's a one-of-a-kind, amazing deal and it's half-off today only! Him: Where? Me: Where what? Him: Where do we have room? Me: Hmmmm.... Him: See? Me: I know! We'll put it in the shed! Him: Grumble, grumble, shed, grumble, grumble... I think I may have single-handedly packed an entire thrift store in it's 8' x 12' frame.
But I never actually look in there! How could I? It's just a door that opens to a wall. A wall of stuff. Fast forward to today. I had to get the mower in there or leave it out to thrill the neighbors with my new "lawn art." So in I went. DAH, DAH, DAHHHHHHHHHH!!!! But then... Oh, there's a rocking chair! Oh, I forgot about this cute dresser. And oh, that's where all my random architectural salvage went. Who knew we had this great vintage sled? Instead of "dah, dah, daaahhhhhhh" it's all beatific choruses: Aaaaahhhhhhhhhhh... I'm sure it wasn't the nearly 100-degree heat or my having waited too long to eat lunch, I swear. Oh, and if you're wondering, yes, I did manage to get the mower in there. Eventually.

Baby Girl's Room: Details

2010-07-13T18:37:30Z

Thank you all so much for your ideas on colors for Baby Girl's room! I'm still deciding--I'll share more in a few days. But in the meantime, I couldn't resist sharing some more details. So here's some of the little bits that caught my eye in her room this morning. As I said the other day, it's still a work in progress. Of course I'm thinking of accessories, but gosh, baseboards and trim might be a good idea, don't you think, (she says, sheepishly)? I'm proud to say that almost everything in here is thrifted. The exceptions are the curtains (eBay), the bed (IKEA), the console (scratch-and-dent) and the pillow shams & pillow covers (homemade). And yes, there are tutorials coming! :-) Oh yes, and for those who were curious, the three dresses actually do have specific meaning. The orange one on the left belonged to Baby Girl's aunt, who she is named after. The middle one belonged to Baby Girl's grandmother, and the right one belonged to another baby girl who is exactly one year older than Baby Girl, to the day. Oh, and who can forget the free china hutch--that's in here too! I will get a picture of that as soon as I can. Now I just need to find that paint color! :-)

Baby Girl's Room

2010-07-07T22:55:29Z

So this is Baby Girl's room. Sharp-eyed readers will notice the missing baseboards and careening dresses. Clearly this is a work in progress. But I wanted to share, anyway! I have to say, I never intended this room to be blue. It was supposed to be cream. The other room is cream. But we shuffled at the last minute to give my son the bigger space and we just didn't have time to paint again. So I've been living with blue... and it's kind of working for me. I like the contrast with the peach and pink. The shots of red are working for me, too. Which is weird. So now I can't figure out what color to paint it. And now would be a good time, because Dutch Boy has asked me to try out their no-VOC paint, and this would be a perfect project. The original plan was cream. I could do that. But then I started thinking darker just to make all the white furniture and light fabrics stand out. Like maybe a dark, warmish pink? But then it would be a sea of peach. Hmmmm. What about periwinkle? I love periwinkle. Or lilac? I want something girly, since she's too little to protest yet, but I'm kind of stuck on keeping the nice contrast, too. Help me, please! I'll just wait here on the daybed, pretending to be a fairy princess. Tee hee.

Little Floral Prints

2010-02-24T19:54:32Z

Aren't these the cutest ever? I found them at a garage sale around the corner from my house. I had gone through the entire house and not found anything, then had an instinct to just do one last cruise through, and found these hidden on a table with a lot of other artwork. They were $3 each and I didn't haggle at all, which I know I should have, but I've never been good at that sort of thing. Anyway, so maybe I paid too much, but I don't care, they're so sweet.
I was thinking about getting bigger frames for these and matting them with a really wide white or cream border. I was thinking that might make them look fresher and also give me more options on where to hang them. But the little white frames are so cute maybe I'll just leave them. I haven't found a perfect spot yet for them, so for now they're just propped in front of a mirror in the living room. Where to hang them? Decisions, decisions.... What about you? Do you have any tiny artwork? If you do, where do you hang it? Ideas, please! :-)

Master Bed Refresh

2010-01-26T04:56:05Z

I've been a little depressed about my house lately. It's still undergoing major transformations, and I haven't been particularly good about keeping some rooms off-limits from the insanity. It's one of those things I know I am supposed to do, but I get too excited and jump in anyway and pretty soon the whole house is a construction zone. So, I was feeling all sorry for myself recently about living in shambles, when I came down the hallway and saw my bed, looking nice but kind of blah and I just got inspired. I rooted around my fabric collection and found this pretty floral I'd been saving and made these ruffled shams using my pillow cover tutorial. Even better, while I was digging through boxes looking for the fabric, I found this cute embroidered pillow cover I bought on eBay, like, ten years ago. I had forgotten it even existed! Even better, I just happened to have the right size pillow to go in it! Voila! Instant bed refresh. So now it's much prettier, and when I saw it today I thought, you know, I have a lot to be thankful for, and my bed is one of those things. It's not perfect or anything, but it has a certain charm and it makes me happy. And I need to remember that. What about you? What about your home makes me happy?

Thinking About Dream Houses

2010-01-15T04:48:23Z

I've got dream houses on the brain. You know what I mean? It's winter, it's dreary, and I'm daydreaming about cute cottages with picket fences. This is my old house. It didn't look like that when I bought it--it was beige and blah and the yard was weeds and there wasn't a fence. I finished it fixing it up and then we moved. I miss it sometimes. Not all of it, there were things I definitely didn't love, but I do miss the cute yellow front and the picket fence. And the flowers. I love flowers. Someday I'd like to have a cute yellow house with a picket fence again. I'd love it to be on some property, but I'd settle for a really big yard. I'm not too particular. I just know that I want it to be in a pretty setting (or one with potential) and have charm (or potential). And it will definitely have a picket fence, whether it's there or I put it in. A yellow or cream cottage with white trim, a picket fence, shutters and window boxes with a brick pathway and pink roses. That's what I want. What about your dream house? What do you want?

Happy Holidays!

2010-01-01T19:36:42Z

Well, folks, 2009 has been quite a ride. I've been through a lot and I'm sure all of you have, too. But somehow, even though the individual moments haven't all be that fun, in the end, I am amazed at how positive the year has been. I've grown, my family has grown, and I'm in a much better place personally than I was a year ago. And of course, I have to mention my new daughter just one last time. I have high hopes for 2010. I hope that I have just as much growth but maybe without all the bumps and bruises along the way. I hope that with the new focus and clarity I've gotten, that I'll accomplish great things this year. I hope that the next few months will be a total game-changer for me, that my life will be fundamentally different with what I can strive to achieve on the foundation of last year. And I hope all of these things for you, too. I hope that, on reflection, this last year has been a good one, and that you have a happy, healthy new year that holds all you wish it to. My very best,

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-25T18:37:45Z

I have so much to be thankful for this season. I have a brand new baby girl, a great son, a loving husband and a nice place to live in. I have my health. I have things to be excited about. And, as always, I am so thankful for you!! Your support as I have evolved and changed over the last three years while blogging has been invaluable. I can't thank you enough, but I can at least offer this Thanksgiving wish: To all of you: I sincerely wish for your Thanksgiving holiday is as lovely and filled with joy as you could possibly hope for. I wish for you to find, even if only for a moment, some things to be truly thankful for. I wish for those little things, even the most little, to touch you and fill you with hope for the future. Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-27T05:25:24Z

Admittedly it's a teeny bit early for Halloween wishes, but I'm going to be busy with brand-new baby girl for the next few days and I wanted to make sure I had the chance to send some Halloween love your way. I'll be back next week, but in the meantime if you're looking for the instructions for the Boo garland (with letter templates), spiderweb chandelier shades or the pumpkin carving ideas I've posted in the last couple of years, I've put them all on a Halloween Ideas page so they will always be accessible. Hope you have a fun and safe holiday. Happy Halloween!

A Fresh New Start

2009-10-24T05:17:44Z

Up until now, my blog has been a constantly evolving project. I've changed focus, changed topics, changed formats and changed designs. I've split it up, put it together, left it to linger and just about everything in between. It's possible that I have a problem with focus. This summer I've been focused, too, on everything except Cottage Magpie. I'm having a baby girl this month (any minute now), and that's been taking up most of my attention. But I've been itching to get back and share everything I've been working on. And I thought: what better time than to start with a fresh new outlook, new design, new start. So here it is, just in time for baby girl's birthday. The old stuff is all still here, but I'm starting fresh from here on out. I'm excited to be back, and I can't wait to catch up with all of you! My very best,