My Best Student.....EVER!

Alright, who stole my week? I was so busy being Mom and getting caught up in my own life....I forgot to blog. Yup, didn't even think about it. That's probably a good thing....you know....balance. So here we are and it's Friday! I'm sure you could use a relaxing weekend, too. Here's some inspiration for you.

I want to introduce you to Meg....my best student....EVER! A few weeks ago, I found 

Meg's blog 

and saw that she was using 

my wall specks

 to create this treatment in her living room. Meg and her husband did the entire treatment themselves.

It is amazing how much it looks like my wall.

Here's another view of Meg's room

My entry

Meg emailed me to ask me a few questions, and the next thing I know....BAM.

Her living room is done. To see more of this beautiful room and the "before",

you can go here

. Meg also had some great

tips for priming the boards

.

It was so fun for me to know that I inspired someone to make a change in their own home. 

Have a great weekend, friends!

One Light, Four Ways Giveaway!

Hello, and thanks for coming back to see my custom 

Rejuvenation light fixture

. In case you missed it, there are four of us

designing our own light fixture

s

. Here is my custom light.

It is lit with

this LED bulb

. That means the kids can forget to turn it off, and I won't get mad. #teenagers

Remember how the space started.

You can read about my

pillow puzzle here

 and you can find my

rug and Kantha quilt sources here

.

For the fixture, I chose the large

Merchant shade in unlacquered brass

. That way, she can age gracefully...wish I could say the same for moi.

I wrapped the cord with a nautical twisted rope. I bought it at a boating store, but I am sure you can find this stuff at a big hardware store. 

The tutorial for this toggle

can be found here

.

The view from my entry feels connected.

The pretty flower shot.

And now for the GIVEAWAY!!

Rejuvenation

is giving away a $100. gift certificate to one lucky reader.

You can use it for anything Rejuvenation sells. I am sure my savvy readers checked out the site last week.....and even practiced

custom designing a fixture

of your own. I am guessing you know how you would use this if you win?

If it were me, I would definitely consider

these brass locks

for my windows.

My husband would love a pair of

these hooks

in his closet.

Or a couple of

wire baskets

so the kids could throw their shoes in it.

Now for the rules:

If you are a GFC follower or a

Bloglovin'

follower of my blog, 

you have

3 chances to enter

Please make sure I have your email!

Follow

Rejuvenation on Pinterest

(one entry)

Follow

me on Pinterest

(one entry)

Pin something that you like from the

Rejuvenation site

. (include the pin in your entry)

This giveaway will end Sunday, May 12th at midnight (EST). The winner will be announced on Monday, May 13th. The gift certificate will be mailed directly to you from Rejuvenation.

There is also a coupon code for today only! You can get a

15% discount site-wide by using "MONDAY15"!

This is an on-line only discount code.

Now let's go see what the other ladies designed, and of course

enter their giveaway too!

Design Chic

Design Indulgence

Design Manifest

Good luck!

Pillow Puzzle and Toggle Tutorial

When I started thinking about all the potential pillow patterns (how many P's can Linda put into a post?) available...I knew I needed some guidance. My friend and designer extraordinaire, Nicole @ Nicole Scott Designs, was the perfect choice for this look.
There were several renditions and tweaking, so this is not the final one. 

What I loved about working with Nicole was how easy it came together for her. Nicole sourced pillows from all over Etsy. When I agreed on the final design, she sent me a link list of all the sellers. Many of them give her clients a bit of a discount.
I can tell you that one of these beautiful pillows will definitely be in the picture.

It's from Leslie's shop Pillow Love. I wish I found her shop sooner....I am so addicted to her pillows!
These would be great for a girls room or even a nursery.

Pillow Love

Pillow Love

These Celerie Kemble blue and white fabric ones need to be in my family room.

Pillow Love

Yeah, yeah...one room at a time. Who does that?
Alright, let's hang a toggle bolt. The toggle is the bending piece on the end of the screw. Almost any machine screw can be used as a toggle. I loved the circle on the end of this one, and the friendly one of the two guys at the hardware store fitted it for a toggle. He's like us, he thinks this stuff is fun.

Here is my tutorial in pictures...so easy...no need for additional words.

Have a great weekend, besties! I'll be putting my pillow puzzle together. 
What are you doing this weekend? Does it involve food or alcohol?

Living Room Updates

Is this week flying by for anyone else? I cant believe it's already Wednesday.I am in the middle of freshening up my living room. Let me show you where I am.
I purchased another Turkish rug from my favorite Ebay seller. He is so nice, and always types "nice to hear from you, again". You know what I'm thinking......you don't remember me.

When it arrived, there was a free pillow cover included.....thanks Turkish rug dude!

While shopping Internationally on Ebay, I also bought this vintage Kantha quilt.

Here's the other side.

I bought it from this Ebay seller. It came from India and arrived a week early. It did smell a bit musty so I washed it on a gentle cycle two times and hung it to dry. It is fresh and clean. Now if I can just figure out how to fold it. 

It reminds me of that Martha Stewart video on how to fold a fitted sheet

Yeah Martha, that ain't happening in this house. #Overachiever

I went to my local hardware store to see if I could configure a creative way to hang my light fixture. The guys that work there are so helpful....well, one of them is helpful, the other one keeps telling me "it can't be done"... so far I am 4-0. Do you find that most men can't think outside the box?

Here are the pieces I brought home. 

And now they are gold.  That bending piece goes into the sheetrock, so you won't see it.

Do you know how to install a toggle bolt? It's super easy, and I will try to get a tutorial up soon.  I'm not sure I am going to use all these pieces, but if I didn't take them home....I know I would need them.

I think that's it for now. Oh, I also managed to get four loads of laundry done and cooked two dinners. I'm a on a roll!

I almost forgot, I don't want to break up with you when Google Reader goes kaput. Do you know what the social media buttons on my sidebar are for? Here are some ways we can keep in touch (KIT).

Now where are you at with your TTD list?

Happy May Day!

 

One Light, Four Ways

About a month ago, I was contacted by Rejuvenation. They wanted to know if I would be interested in putting a group of bloggers together for a fun project. The project was for each of us to take one of their light fixtures and custom design it to fit into our homes. Pretty cool, right?
If you are not familiar with Rejuvenation, they are part of the Williams-Sonoma family. Yup, it just keeps getting better! Forming the group was fun, but the real fun was designing the light.
Here is the space in my home I am working with. This is my living room and it is open to other rooms in my home.

This room is really boring, and the vintage gilt fixture needs to be relocated to my guest room.
I love this light, it was my grandmother's.

It's just not right for this space. You can see it from my entry.

First, I'll give you a quick tutorial on custom designing a light, and then I'll tell you my plan.
I need to warn you, this is so fun, and addicting....you may want to get a cup of coffee and a snack before you start....or wine and cheese .

Start on the Rejuvenation lighting page and then select the category that fits your need. We are all designing plug-in fixtures. In fact, I can tell you that we are all using the Baltimore Plug-In light for our custom designs.
There are three ways to custom design your light. 1.The finish. 2. The shade (see all) will give you the full selection. 3. The cord.

Here is where the numbers are on the fixture.

For the Baltimore there are (13) finishes, (38) shades, and (5) cord options. If I did my Algebra correctly, the possible combinations look like this
13 x 38 x 5 = 2,470 fixtures
Now for my plan. Let's face it, this room could use some "freshening up".  I am so over this sectional. 

Since I can't replace it at the moment, new pillows are in order. I am also tired of the wall color. The rooms that open to this one are both White Dove, so new paint is also on the list. In fact, by the time you read this the painter should be here. Of course I didn't bother to tell my husband. Does he need to know? Like I always say, what's he going to do.....break up with me?
As for the light, I'm thinking clean, shiny, vintage, modern. I fell in love with this line, but the dimensions are  too small for this space.

Did I also mention that I would eventually like to relocate it to my son's room? That's the beauty of a plug-in...totally transportable. I think this shape would fit all my needs better.

I'll be working on this space all week. If you follow me on Instagram, you may get a sneaky peaky.
Next Monday, I will show you my design. You may want to take a moment and
Like Rejuvenation on Facebook (hint) Follow Rejuvenation on Pinterest (hint, hint) Follow Rejuvenation on Twitter (OK, there's going to be a giveaway)
Actually, there are four giveaways coming up! If you want to be prepared, go see what you would buy if you had a gift certificate. #ILoveAGiveaway
Now let's go see what spaces the others are working with.

Design Chic 

Design Indulgence 

Design Manifest 

So, I Changed My Name

A few weeks ago, I asked you...why do you blog? I loved how honest everyone was. I blog for so many of the same reasons.....to meet like minded people....to endlessly obsess over All Things Home & Garden.... and to motivate myself into getting things done.
When I started blogging, two years ago, I picked the name My Crafty Home Life. I thought it covered all the areas I would dabble in. By the end of my first year, I knew my blog name didn't feel right. For one thing, nobody could remember it. The Google searches that lead people to me were "My Crafty Life", "My Crafty Home", "My Home Life". 

I watched several bloggers change their names. I knew I wanted to do it, but I also knew I could only do it once. So, I formed a focus group....just like the big boys. I wanted a name that would say what this was in the title. I needed to be able to buy the (dot) com and (dot) net versions of the name. And I wanted it to be about all of us...not just Me/My.

The first blogger in my focus group was Jennifer. She has impeccable taste and an amazing eye for graphic design. I wanted her for her honest critical opinion and her marketing vision. 
The next blogger to join the group was Lindsay. A woman with a great eye for fashion and design. She is super trendy and understands the younger home lover like no other. 
The final blogger I reached out to was Raina. I bet I surprised you on this one. I think Raina has one of the strongest visions for where all of this is headed. She gets it, and makes us laugh about it all the time. She said to me, "bouncing ideas off each other is better than bouncing it off the wall". 
Endless name possibilities came and went. Calling It Home was the unanimous choice. I have been a renter, and am currently a home owner. I am sure that I will be a renter again in my lifetime. No matter where we live, we are all ....Calling It Home!

The final piece to this puzzle was my new blog designer, Shari of Little Blue Deer. She tweaked and redesigned until I was happy. I found and still find her a pleasure to work with. Changes after a blog design is finished and installed are endless. Having someone available and responsive is key.
If you don't like your blog name, or think that it doesn't fit the future vision of your blog....change it sooner rather than later. I have hundreds of pictures floating around on Pinterest watermarked "My Crafty Home Life". I would also recommend that you buy a (dot) com or a (dot) net for your blog and install it.  www.MyCraftyHomeLife.Blogspot.com   is one long address to put on a business card. CallingItHome.com is much friendlier and more professional.
These are my unscientific thoughts and opinions on blogging and blog names. If you would like a really professional opinion of all this, buy this book. 
See you all on Monday for a really fun group project!