Friday Favorites 113
On top of the sunshine that has finally arrived in the Chicagoland area, here are some things that made me happy this past week.
Moroccan textiles
I have really been enjoying the layering of textiles. My color scheme is pretty neutral, but I've been punching it up with different textures in my fabrics. Joanna Gaines has an amazing line of pillows at Bed Bath and Beyond, Pier One and various other retailers. They are fabulous, but they are also $100 and up. I'd buy every one of them if I could, but that is above my pay grade, so I had to come up with a cheaper alternative. I found a moroccan wedding blanket at World Market for $50 and I had a coupon, so I was able to get it for under $40. Using the blanket as fabric, I made a large pillow for our sofa and I love the way it turned out! I used the fabric for the front and back of the pillows, so they look very lush. Even the Joanna Gaines pillows have a solid fabric on the back, so I'm feeling pretty pleased with my moroccan pillow solution!!!
tea maker for entire family
You all know Cindy and I love our David's Tea press! You can use it for brewing hot or cold tea and take it when you're on the go. Here is a similar one you can get on Amazon. While I was having lunch at a dear friends house, she brewed an entire pitcher of cold tea in less than 3 minutes! Well, I just had to have one of those....I can make tea for my entire family. Brilliant! Last night with dinner, we enjoyed a delightful lemon grass, green tea. Yummy! This is the one I ordered from Amazon and I (and my family) love and it's under $20!
color mix up
I'd been staring at our porch room for some time now thinking about color. I knew I wanted to go darker as the room is 3 walls of windows, so I could be more dramatic. It was a glorious morning with everyone having places they needed to be except for me...so, I prepped the room to paint. Still in my pjs, the room was ready to go. I didn't feel like getting dressed and going to the hardward store, however, so I decided to create a custom mix using what I had. The final result makes me happy when I look at it. Paint is such an easy and inexpensive way to give any room a face lift. Love it!
dumpster diving
Yes, it's true, I am a dumpster diver! There is nothing more thrilling than taking something that someone else thought was trash and turning it into your treasure! I'm all about it! My kids are very accustomed to my slamming on the brakes as we are driving down the road when I see something sitting on the curb that has glorious potential. Well this past week I found something quite by accident in the dumpster behind where we teach our fitness classes. I ran out to the dumpster to throw out some trash when I saw something that looked like stainless steel. After further digging, I discovered the PERFECT stainless steel cabinet on industrial castors and I had to get it out! What a thrill! Rarely do I find a cast off item that I don't have to fix up in some way, but this little beauty was already industrial style perfection. Woot! Woot! Until the next hunt....
Ginger Lemon Water
I have been making this water for a couple of weeks now and I love it! I fill up my Yeti with ice and take it to the high school softball game every afternoon-YUM! Ginger is such a miraculous root with amazing healing properties. I will share the recipe in an upcoming post...look for it!