I want Candy!

Happy Friday! Even though we are only days away from the spookiest night of the year, my thoughts have turned towards the fun side of the evening: the candy! I have one of the meanest sweet tooths you've ever come across and constantly have something chocolatey or yummy out on the counter. But let's be honest, baked goods tend to last better (and taste better!) in tupperware or the fridge. So I got to thinking about how I could incorporate my love of candy into decor.

Enter cheap jelly and cake pans. I always see these at thrift stores, usually less than $1. Most of them are old, slightly dented and probably not all that great for actually baking with anymore but I simply LOVE their shapes.

I started by spray painting mine with rust-oleum in white then simply painted them in various shade of pink and red.

Did I do a perfect job? Hardly. I didn't have hours on end to sit and play with it, but with a little imagination and a steady hand you could really get creative.
The best part is that all of them have a little hole or even a hook to hang them on the wall. I could imagine a grouping of them on a blank wall, all the same color, or even just varing solid colors.

I am also thinking that maybe when Wren is at a more crafting appropriate age they would be fun to do for a birthday party. Giving each child a primed mold and letting them decorate it with glitter, paint and any other delights they can imagine.

What about that dresser they're on you ask? (well, I am sure most of you didn't ask but maybe someone did!). It was a find I made while out hunting down the molds. Initially quite hideous, it actually turned out to be a pretty amazing antique dresser that was totally overwhelmed by hideous knobs.

A little white paint and I was already amazed at the transformation.

In honor of our Sweet Shoppe I went with Anthropologie's color-wheel knobs (keep your eyes peeled next week to see where else we used them).

So next time I have a craving to buy my very own birthday cake on a day not even close to my birthday I will just look at these cakes. I know my thighs will thank me!

Some Petti things

Feeling both spooky and girly, Wren and I rocked our petti coats today.

We were also feeling TRES tired. I had one of the worst sleeps I can remember, and as soon as I finally drifted off to the land of nod this little bird decided to pull a kamakazi and hit the floor. We all jumped out of bed and couldn't seem to settle back in.

(Wren's shirt, tutu, leggings: Gymboree)

Wren doesn't appear to hold any grudges over the matter, but I cannot say the same for myself.

On Thursday mornings my mom comes over and picks Wren up to go to Gymboree classes so I had a few hours to myself. If it wasn't for those few hours I am highly doubtful that I would have even changed out of my PJs.

But we had planned a rare trip to Costco for Halloween candy with my sister, so I decided to take my fashion cues from Wren's outfit. Some days I go a little dressy and do a blazer, like this one.

(blazer: Gucci ; shirt: American Apparel ; petti coat: Whippy Cake ; leggings: Gap)

But most days I throw on a denim jacket to keep it casual. It is a great excuse to feel like a girl and while I get the rare blank stare, so many people stop and say how much they love it.

(denim jacket: Hollister)

When I wear it to our dance class on Fridays all the little girls flock to me and try to hold my hand or sit in my lap. If for that reason alone, it is my favorite piece of clothing.

And speaking of girly, I have a fun project and some furniture tomorrow that will bring out the little girl in all of us.

New collections

My 10-11:30 schedule consists of lots of reading these days. Not by me! No, I have the luxury of being read to. I learn all about cows and sheep and the cat in the hat.

And hugging and kissing and laughing.


Later in the day I am usually the subject of laughter though, as Sean finds it quite hilarious that I consider a ba-jillion candles as decor. But I am happy I am not alone because it seems that many of you share the same love of something so simple as wax and braided wicks.

For those of you who have asked about where to find similar candles, I bought all of these at Michael's. I admittedly know nothing as to how organic or clean burning they are, but I do know that they were on sale and with my coupon for 15% all items they were right in my budget. And don't forget to check the clearance because many of them were a scent called Fresh Linen that was 70% off.
If you have attempted to count how many are here I will make your life a little easier: 6 tall, 12 medium, 9 small. I noticed that at most Michael's there is a lot of variation in color of the same scents (because I think many have sat there for years!), but don't worry about it because it looks more interesting that there are variations.


Another item I am slowly piling up is stoneware. I have read about it, drooled about it on other blogs and seen it in tons of movies and magazines, but really haven't looked for any.
Until now, and I'm hooked.


It all started with my bug plates for halloween. I picked up a beautiful set of 5 cream plates for $2 for the project. Once I got home I realized they were freakishly heavy! So I googled a few things and realized that I had brought home a set of stoneware plates. The next week I found another set for $2 and today another for $1.
We are including some glass doors in our new kitchen and I have been dreaming about stacking them all, in varying colors of cream and white a la Meryl Streep's kitchen in It's Complicated (yes, I am obsessed with that kitchen).

And yet again, the varying shades of cream and white aren't perfect, but completely ideal.

And now I am off to finish Wren's bed, and work on some fun, (not too perfect!) projects I will be sharing ASAP!

Why didn't I think of that?

While half heartedly cleaning floors, washing slipcovers and watching Kathie-lee and Hoda this morning I was stopped dead in my tracks by the brilliance of a product they were discussing. In particular it was a new candle manufacturer by the name of Kringle Candles. What's so great about these candles you ask? No matter the scent, size or style they are all white! And you know my love affair with candles...

Genius right? I can't tell you how many times have I bypassed delicious apple scents due to the bright red wax, or my beloved pumpkin spice with it's usual bright orange. No longer will I feel restricted by color.

As I fill my cart with all sorts of yummy, rarely purchased scents I know I will be asking myself all night how come I didn't think of that?

Faux Window Treatment

If you are looking for a fun way to spend a Saturday night, we highly suggest Ikea! We got there around 6pm, grabbed a few hot dogs, some bottled water and a few other muchies (I am a fan of the Choklad bars), then headed into the marketplace with our shopping list.

Wren's bedding was easy to pick out and as economical as I hoped. And while I didn't find a rug for the dining room, I did grab some drapes to attempt my faux window idea. The lenda style in white looked so good in the family room that I went with it again, but this time in natural so that it would be closer to the linen slipcovers on the chairs.

I originally picked up this drapery rod on clearance (at FabricLand) for $20 for the office, but it had yet to be hung so I decided to use it in here. While it was cheap, the color of the wood was WAYYY too reddish so I opted to spray paint it semi-gloss black. I then sawed it off to the correct lengths.

To mount it with only 2 wall brackets I drilled a hole in the rod and inserted a double ended screw to screw it in the wall.

It feels darker in here because it is dark and ugly outside, and I still have to hem the drapes with stitch-witchery, but I already love it!

I was doubtful about how it would look, but with such a high-blank wall it was worth a shot and I am SOOOO happy with the result.

Once we find that perfect rug, hang the mirror a few feet higher and perhaps find a small piece for below the painting on the left we will be close to done!

Extra points for anyone who noticed the table was different LOL.

Dining room shopping list

It is starting to get pretty cold during the night here! Enough for me to have concerns about leaving my potted plants out. Smaller annuals are obviously done for the season, but I am just not ready to let go of my boxwoods so I put some furniture pads on the bottom of the iron urns and dragged them in. Although I wish the padding wasn't so noticable.

I also added some moss to soften it up.

While a few things in here still change regularly, like the table and sideboard, I am starting to settle the rest of the details instead of changing the overall look as my furniture rotates.

We have come a long way from the day we moved in!

But I feel like there is still some way to go! Some final additions that I am working on:

1. hang the mirror 2 feet off the ground (have to wait until the kitchen is done because I don't want it up with all that banging going on!).

2. Window treatments. I am planning on doing a "faux" window on the left side. Putting up the drapes the same as the right side for a balanced look. I will never understand the weird window placement in here...

3. A larger rug. I LOVE the rug in here now, but it will be moving to the family room as I need something larger in here as well as something in there.

I am heading to Ikea today for some odds and ends for Wren's room (sheets, a rug, new duvet) and will definitely poke around the window treatments and rugs to see if we can figure something out for in here. You just cannot beat their prices!

What are you working on this weekend?

Side Table and Writing Desk

My system for painting really isn't so much a system as an attempt to control the chaos. When I work on large items like dining tables and dressers I like to have a lot of room to move about the workshop. Usually about 2 or 3 dressers or 1 table is my maximum allowance at any given time. And while I eat up valuable real estate working on these projects the side tables, nightstands and odds and ends pile up... QUICK! So after a run on dressers I have to set aside a week just to make progress on those odd and ends, all the while the bigger items start piling up again too and so goes the never ending circle!

And this was my week for small stuff.

This little table was a hideous shade of hunter green, but really cute otherwise (I am sucker for little tables with drawers).

I LOVED this anthro knob immediately after seeing it in a catalogue in September and had to have one.
The vignette I chose to do is simple, yet interesting with just a touch of Halloween.

I am sure you have already noticed my long-running obsession with candles. Taper, pillar, containers, I could care less, but I do believe that more is more when it comes to candles as decor. Containers or old pots filled with lovely wax tapers really set my heart a flutter.

In honor of the warmth of the season I really like displaying my books without the spins facing out. The aged and worn pages feel reassuring to me.

This table/desk was one of those items that came home with me, but I have no idea why. It was plain, and awfully simple without much that interested me. But never the less it deserved a shot.

Even in the midst of winter I love to pretend I am at a beach house on some sandy coastline, so while other areas of the house are moody and darker this time of year I always go back to my true love: beach style.

I picked up the metal starfish knob last winter at anthro, but until now it just didn't feel right on anything else. It chose this little desk and that was the starting point for my decision to add faded blue cabana strips.

I think I will love cabana strips forever!

And now I am off to paint a little night stand for Wren's new bed (without cabana strips, sadly).

Greenleaf Winner

Congratulations Ruffled Snob, just drop me an email at inthefunlane@gmail.com and I will ship your prize along! Thank you so much to everyone who entered as well as Greenleaf for sharing their wonderful products with us!!!

On a crazy, weird note to Londen (aka Sixty Fifth Avenue), you should buy a lottery ticket because your comment was the sixty fifth! Cool coincidence.

Fall is in the air...

As you've heard me ranting, we've been living out of laundry baskets and piles of folded clothes stacked in my otherwise empty office while our closet is mid-makeover. But I finally caved and brought up all my Fall sweaters this week, which has added more chaos to the clothing situation.

I am going to be making due with my current Fall staples for a little longer in the lead up to the kitchen reno (every penny counts!), but that will give me a good excuse to do some much needed shopping during our Winter vacation planned for December. When you live in a cold climate you pretty much have Summer and Winter clothes, and by about January you are pretty tired of wearing the same 5 or 6 sweaters every week so I prefer to do my shopping for the remaining days of Winter just after the Holidays. It breaks up the monotony just enough for me.

You know what I find funny? A lot decor magazines and books say to take your decorating cues from your closet. That if you see a lot of certain colors in your wardrobe you are bound to love them in your home. It probably works for a lot of people, but if my home looked like my closet it would feel like a candy store!

And speaking of candy... I had my hair cut about a month ago and she took off about 10 inches. It is a big change for me, and a I have been wearing my hair up and in braids lot while I get used to it. But I swear that I wear a Whippy Cake headband pretty much everyday. Depending on my mood I go bright or flirty or fun, Becki really has me hooked! I check her blog every Monday to see what headband is on sale for the week and then patiently check my mailbox daily till it arrives!! Thanks for my latest addiction Becki~

sweater: Gap, tank: VS Pink, Jeans: A&F, boots: Hush Puppies

Have the leaves changed in your neighborhood? If so, let me know what you've been rocking before the snow falls.

Baby to Big Girl

It's official, our baby is not a baby anymore! Last week while fighting bedtime with all her might our little bird jumped so hard that she literally blew the bottom out of her crib. As much as we didn't feel ready for the big girl bed switch it was staring us dead in the eye. I have many little beds that I have acquired over the year leading up to this event, knowing I would have a hard time deciding. Some are a little more girly and french, some are more cottage-y and some are just unique. I think I knew which one I would use all along, but I am only getting around to painting it this week. I have a couple little extra things I will do to make it her own, but ready or not Wren will be in her first big girl bed by next week!

Here are a few rooms that had saved for inspiration when this day arrived, but I think her's will be quite different from any of these.