Currently Obsessed With: Minda Home

You guys know how excited I get when I discover new sources for cool home decor? Well I feel like I hit the jackpot recently when I found Minda Home.

It is a small online boutique that only features the creations of a lovely lady named Melinda, which range from art, to textiles and holiday decor. 

My package arrived last week and I was blown away by the quality and beauty of everything inside. Everything was wrapped so beautifully in burlap and lovely pompoms (in fact I've held on to every pompom just because they we too lovely to not put to use!).

Wren trying to check out the treasures first...

All her Moroccan wedding blanket pillows, poufs, etc. are made with authentic vintage wedding blankets and filled with beautiful down inserts.

A couple of her beautiful pillow creations.

I cannot even tell you how flattered I was when I shared this photo on Instagram and she then dubbed the pillow on the right the 'Holly pillow'! It's my first official namesake product LOL. Thanks Melinda! 

You guys already know I am addicted to cool, unique art. 

And this piece in particular just makes me feel so happy yet peaceful. 

You know when you discover someone/something that just speaks to you? That I exactly how I feel about Melinda, she is bursting with talent and I cannot wait to add to my Minda Home collection~

She has the perfect balance of neutral, light, bright and a pop of fun!

Local Handmade Finds

I LOVE supporting wonderful Canadian based businesses, specially small ones and so I was thrilled to discover Linnden and her beautiful wraps for little girls at Urban-Cowgirl.


Too many cute patterns and designs to choose from, but you can never go wrong with black and white!


My friend, Kristi, also has an adorable Etsy shop (check it out here) and I commissioned her to make a super cute teepee for Wren to hang out in the yard and take to the park with us. We have also carted it to the splash park and I can't tell you how many kids wanted to play in it and how many moms asked about it. I picked up the fabric at Ikea (again with the black and white LOL) and Kristi even added the little pompoms up at the top to make it a little more whimsical! Wren adores it to no end.


(you can find the checked rug here)

Parisian Bounty

When we were in Paris last month I actually didn't do too much shopping as far as hitting up the usual boutiques like Dior and Chanel. Instead I enjoyed finding off beat little shops hidden on small alley ways and streets. During my little excursions I found a true gem by the name of La Boutique De Louise.

They have all sorts of unique and creative items for the house and I had a hard time not bringing back one of everything! Since I had to consider the fact that I had to find a way to get it all home, I only picked out a couple goodies but I definitely plan to order online again in the future.

This cute little night light was for Wren and she LOVED it. In fact, we carry it around when we do errands at times she is so attached to it.

This oven mitt wasn't your typical souvenir, but I was in love. And with my mission to bake and cook more this year it seemed fitting.

As did this tea towel by La Cerise sur Le Gateau (the cherry on the cake) by Anne Hubert. I am so glad I discovered her creations because I am a huge fan now. I actually ended up framing this one since. All her creations have a touch of whimsy, fun and happiness.

The polka dot pillow is another one of Anne's creations.

As is this pillow Wren hijacked from my Eames chair. What can I say, the girl likes to decorate!

I  fit a couple more goodies in my suitcase (like my first Diptyque candle!) but for the most part this was the total of my shopping. 

But there's always next time, right?

I have been looking everywhere and anywhere for unique, fun pieces for the cabin. But like any lady without a whole lot of willpower I have been tempted to bring home a few odds and ends for our own house when I see a good sale.

And I saw a GREAT sale at Urban Outfitters the other week in store. They had an extra 50% off all sale items and these goodies all followed me home (for less than $16 all total!). Not sure why the prices online are different but I've linked items still online in case you want to try and track anything down too!

This chambray contrast piped pillow was a whopping $2.50! 

I love the subtle punch of pink!

[link]

I am a HUGE fan of artist Baron Von Fancy and was super excited when he did a collaboration with Urban. This little guy was only $1! Perfect for my office and getting my creativity going.

Whisky sour candle

 

And two things did manage to make it to my cabin pile: this print and a rug I will wait to unveil when I show you my room design plans!

Stripe Love

 

I took a small blog break there. In fact, it was a non-voluntary break from life thanks to a round of H1N1 hitting us hard on Christmas Eve. It was a solid two weeks of sleep and cozying up in bed for all three of us. Not the best way to spend the holidays, but we are just happy to be back to healthy and other than that we had a good holiday. I hope you did too!

Today I wanted to share some of the stripes I am smitten with. I find myself being really drawn to anything from clothes to pillows to plates as long as there are stripes on them. A good stripe just gives off a fun/playful vibe. And we all know I love a little fun!

Here are some of the stripes I am drooling over and would love to see around the house or my closet.

pillows

Spoons

director's chair

Peplum Stripe Top

Custom Pillow

Hudson's Bay Caribou throw

Stripe Phone Case

Dining Room Shake Up

I have been MIA this week, laid out with a combination ear infection/tooth infection. Multiple dentist and doctor trips and a few more to go kind of got me down, but not for long...

It is hard to feel sorry for yourself when you have so many awesome people helping you out (thanks for the chauffeur and babysitting services this week Dad!).

But enough about the bad, let's talk about the good. I have been meaning to show you a few things for a couple months!!! The first being the new buffet in our dining room. There wasn't anything wrong with the white one that was previously in there, except that it wasn't long enough to really fill the wall (you can see that one here). I wasn't actively searching for anything but one quiet evening in June I stumbled across this wood cabinet in the back of a clearance area in HomeSense. It didn't jump right out at me as something I adored, but I found myself staring at it for a more than a few seconds. 

I knew I loved the color, but I wondered what was drawing me to it...  I realized after continuing to browse the rest of the store that I loved it's simplicity. I liked that it wasn't a certain style. I tend to float around between eclectic, minimalist and vintage styles so this is a great basic foundation for whatever direction I feel like I'm currently pointing. The price tag read $500 which is a great price, but I will admit I've only ever spend that much money on three piece of furniture in our home (our living room couch, the dining room mirror and our master bed frame) so I did hesitate. But in the end I decided that at nearly 30 years old I should have a handful of decent (read non-ikea/thrifted) furniture I love so it came home.

The only thing I was not happy with is the hardware, but I haven't yet decided what knobs I want to replace them with.

 

The second shake up happened without any notice. I was out thrift shopping for books with my Grandma in late July when I saw this super sculptural wood table. I was big, chunky and NOTHING like something I would buy.

When I got home I kept thinking about it and decided that at $50 I was a fool to not buy it! So I went back a few days later, loaded it up and spent the next 2 weeks transforming it from a dinged up wood table to a sleek white statement piece.

 

 

My family knows me so well, I found this cool vintage frame in a box of trinkets my Aunt sent over last year.

 

I finally knew what I wanted to use it for when I reorganized the room, so I painted it up. I love that it mimics the lines of the huge mirror in the back of the room.

 

I have been on the hunt for a larger, longer light fixture for close to a year (ironic that I've replaced nearly everything else, right?) but I do kind of like how unexpected the table is with the light. 

 

If you're wondering where the last table went, it's now up in my office where Wren and I have some serious room to get our craft on!

Old habits die hard for this girl, and the shuffle is always ongoing... but I know this is the happiest and best this big room has ever looked. 

Friday

I can hardly believe we are already in September, but here we are. I just walked home from dropping Wren off at her first day of Kindergarten without me... 

She was fine, I was all nerves. She lined up, went in the school with her class and didn't even look back. Not even once. It makes me so happy that she is ready to jump right into school life, but I kind of felt like Pi at the end of Life of Pi when Richard Parker just walked off into the jungle. I was hoping she would give me some moment of closure now that our mommy-wren days are over, but besides that selfish little moment of mine I was overjoyed that she is ready to be her own little person.

I know she will do beautifully.

 

And just in case someone hasn't told you yet today:

I am kind of obsessed with my new Justine Ma shopping tote I picked up a couple weeks ago at Plum, it gives off nothing but great vibes.

Now go have yourself a nice weekend!

I have a FAVORITE new accessory (and I want you to have it too)

Mama's feeling kinda generous with all this Summer-y, warm, happy weather! You probably already know this but I love me some feminine-boho-chic outfits. Specially in the summer. Heck, sometimes I don't even really coordinate. But I kind of dig it.

Back on our first ever 'Mommy and Daddy only trip' I scooped up a cute little set of 3 rings at Forever21 that seemed to merge all my favorite things.

Delicate and feminine? check!

Nautical? check!

Is there a heart? check! (kind of if you look hard enough)

Do they effortlessly look layered and chic? check and check!

I've been rocking in them constantly. Then I hit up the mall a couple weeks ago back here at home and I saw they also had a few sets so I thought I should tear a page out of Oprah's playbook (again... are we seeing a theme with my giveaways of late?) and give a couple of my favorite things away!

The best part is that they are super afforable (under $5!).

So I wiped out their last few sets and decided I'd giveaway as many as I could round up! Which turned out to be 5 sets of 3~

All you have to do to enter is leave a comment (instructions below)! I will be drawing 3 winners from the entries below. And just to keep things spicy I will be posting this giveaway on my instagram feed as well and you can repost to win one of the other two sets! Each repost will be another entry, all you have to do is use the hashtag #HollysThreeRingCircus so I can find your repost and enter your in the draw for the other 2 sets.

(you don't have to do anything back here once you repost and use the correct hashtag)

(and yes, you can enter both for your best chance of winning!)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

See? Kind of looks like a heart, right?

Good luck and much love!