March 15, 2014 by gn0mel0ver

Our Finished Otomi Bathroom

I am so excited to share our finished bathroom! Here is part one and part two in case you missed them.

My friend, Jessica, owns Bella Wall Designs. She was such a sweetie and stenciled my walls for me. She did such an amazing job on the stencil. The whole bathroom just pops. The updated bathroom makes me smile. Just like Jessica does.

My philosophy on design is to do whatever makes you happy. And every room should have layers. Small bathrooms have so much potential, because you can really make them pop in a more bold way than the rest of your home.

Do not be afraid of color.

It has never bit anyone.

That I know of.

I wanted to share some tips on what I did for a quick update on a builder’s stock bathroom. Our bathroom is over twenty years old. I thought of replacing the vanity, but the tile in there is fairly new. And it matched the tile throughout the house. To replace the vanity probably meant having to patch some areas of the tile. This seemed risky (what if it didn’t match?) and costly. I also priced out several vanity pieces. I fell in love with an antique pine cabinet, but it sold out when I was not looking.

What’s a girl to do?

Well, I simply purchased these furniture legs on clearance from a hardware store in town that specializes in molding. Our woodworker who did our library cabinets and baseboards put them in for us at the same time he did our mirror.

Then we just painted the cabinet a medium shade of grey to compliment the blue that was going to go in.

Added mustard knobs from World Market.

And voila’! Our vanity looked like a new one!

I love the frame that Paul from Vrieling Woodworks. (he also installed our large baseboards and our bookcases) built us last year. It was installed around our standard builder’s mirror. It definitely goes with my Alice In Wonderland meets The Hobbit themed home.

I love our farmhouse copper sink in our kitchen. I purchased that one off of eBay. So, I knew I wanted to continue the copper theme into our hallway bathroom. I continued the savings by purchasing this copper vessel sink from eBay, as well. Copper is a natural killer of bacteria. So, it is perfect for a bathroom. If you do choose to purchase copper sinks from eBay, it is important to do your research. Some copper sinks from certain countries have lead in them. That would be dangerous to have in your home!

The faucet was also purchased from eBay for a steal.

We went to the local countertop dealer and requested a look at their scrap pieces. We were able to save money on the countertop this way. We also got a much higher end countertop than we thought we would be able to get, because of our savings. It is a concrete countertop with bits of blue glass and shells in it. Almost as if Alice came back from her adventure and put her souvenirs into this countertop.

I bought the Otomi Stencil from Etsy. I have a collection of Otomi pieces from our trips to Mexico. I love the pattern. I knew I wanted to match the blue of the Otomi in the bathroom to the blue of the pattern below.

Here is sweet Jessica, who did my stencil in the bathroom holding the Otomi piece with me. Notice her amazing vintage Ralph Lauren tie. She has the coolest style.

Here we are in the finished bathroom. The embroidered crewel pieces are all part of my vintage collection.

And here are some pictures of the bathroom sans us friends. The shower curtain is Anthropologie’s Flamenco Shower Curtain. I love the different shades of blue and green it holds.

I am so proud of this room. I think it came together in a variety of cool layers.

Have you redone a room in your home lately? Added any fun colors?

P.S. I shared this on Savvy Southern Style.

And My Romantic Home.

March 14, 2014 by gn0mel0ver

Style S.O.S. Sketchbook Dress

Two of my favorite bloggers, Liz from With Wonder And Whimsy and Gwen from London Preppy have teamed up together to do a special feature entitled Style S.O.S on their blogs. I was thrilled that they decided to do this as I have a ton of items in my closet that I don’t wear because I have no imagination when it comes to them. In their collaborative posts, they will style an item for readers or for each other by creating some style boards around the item the person would like help with.

For free!

Yes, please!

They’re awesome!

Here is a picture of Liz in an outfit Gwen styled for her.

And here is a picture of Gwen in an outfit that Liz styled for her.

They both look beautiful.

This is such a great endeavor for them, because Liz does perfect feminine styles. And Gwen can think of combinations for pieces that no one else has thought of. And it works. And their different styling plays perfectly together for an idea like this. I highly recommend checking out the last two weeks on their blogs as they helped each other with different pieces.

I chose my Sketchbook Dress from Anthropologie to get help with. Because it was such a unique piece, my brain had shut down when it came to styling it. This is how I originally styled it months ago.

Gwen and Liz each sent me two style boards to play with. It was so exciting!

This style board is from Gwen. In it, she paired my Anthropologie Corduroy Vest (first styled here) with my layering necklaces. I have mustard flats, but I could only find one of them on this day. So, I improvised with my mustard wedges.

This look is so fun and different. I felt like a fashion blogger! Doh!

Liz sent me this style board. I had to do some creative substituting with this board. I do not own very much pink in my closet. Although, I have about four princess maxi dresses in pink. Those weren’t going to help me here. I also own very few scarves. They scare me. I only usually buy infinite scarves because I know how to style them.

I decided to wear my silver flats to pair with the silver earrings. And this scarf was the closest to the pale pink that I had.

I love this outfit. It is out of my comfort zone. Which is always good to step out of.

Gwen took my new Forever 21 Utility Jacket that I had recently styled here. And I would never, ever have paired these two pieces together. And I love it. The jacket in the inspiration board is being modeled by Elsie of A Beautiful Mess.

Gwen called it when she noticed my sly smirk in this picture that this was my favorite style outfit. I think I was also smiling, because I could not believe how well this worked. And I had a secret about the belt. I do not own a plain black belt, so I flipped my Kissing Bunnies Belt from Anthropolgie to the back.

You would be smiling, too, if you had secret bunnies kissing above your bum.

My last outfit was from Liz and I had almost everything to style it like the board, except for a gold bracelet. Now a chunky gold bracelet is on my must get list for April. This is also one of my favorite pairings. I felt like myself in this. I love it! It was a fun chance to wear my star earrings I had scored last month from Nordstrom Rack for $3.

I had such a good time styling this dress with Liz and Gwen’s help. I decided to be brave and try a new way to style it myself. I figured a shirt dress also makes sense as a shirt. I paired it with a white maxi skirt that I own and a fun belt.

Thank you Liz and Gwen for your inspirations! They were so useful. I appreciate it!

Do you ever get stuck in a rut with one of your favorite pieces? Do you own this dress? Any other styling options you would like to share?

If you are stuck, I recommend going to either Liz or Gwen’s blog and letting them know in their comments. They will very sweetly help you out.

* P.S. I shared this on The Pleated Poppy!

And

March 13, 2014 by gn0mel0ver

It’s The Little Things: Wondra

I am about to share somethin’ kind of embarrassing.

I know.

Shocking.

And the thing I am going to say won’t be very shocking either.

I hoard food.

And when I find something new I like, well, I buy as much as I can of the stuff.

Just in case,

You never know.

They could stop making it.

Or, um, there could be a zombie apocalypse.

Just so you know, each of those sentences caused a tightness in my chest.

I first bought some Wondra to add to my Momma’s Goin’ Out Crockpot Chicken that I make for my family. Wondra is a special type of flour that does not clump when added to a recipe. It is very fine. This makes it perfect for gravies.

I had never heard of it before last year. And I really cannot remember how I first heard of it. But if I were to guess, I would guess ~~my best friend~~ t.v.

I found it, of all places, on Walmart.com. And I assumed since I had never heard of it, well, they must not carry it at any of my local grocery stores. Of course, I did not check. Because when you are online shopping, everything is justifiable.

Everything.

So, I bought five containers of it.

As one does.

When they are a hoarder.

Or watch too much “Walking Dead.” Because if there was a zombie apocalypse, the first thing one would seek out would be non-clumping flour.

I wanted free shipping with that order, so I added some snack items to the mix to make my food order come to $50.

And I waited.

And Walmart shipped my small food order in four different huge boxes.

And my husband thought I was crazy.

More than usual.

As my food. From. Walmart. Arrived. In several boxes at the door.

I do have a point, I swear.

Anyhoo, the other day I was making chocolate chip cookies from this recipe. And I ran out of regular flour. I guess my hoarder side did not recognize that this was a possibility. The shame. I ran out of flour right as I needed it to add to my cookie recipe.

So, I checked my pantry. And I saw my Wondra.

I added 1 1/3 cup of Wondra and 1 cup of regular flour (all that remained of my stash).

And I baked my cookies.

The cookies were good. I could not tell the difference.

Until…

The next day, when I pulled a cookie from the cookie platter I usually keep them in. And the cookie… It was still soft! My dears, this never happens! My cookies always get hard overnight.

The next day… Still soft!

I made the cookies again. And it was the same occurrence. By substituting a little over half of the real flour with Wondra, my cookies kept their original fresh-out-of-the-oven texture!

It is a miracle.

I had to share.

It’s The Little Things: Soft Cookies!

Have you heard of Wondra? Have you tried it? In cookies? Who knew?

My cookie recipe available in the link above uses 2 1/3 cups of flour. I tried the Wondra trick a few days later substituting 1 cup of Wondra and using 1 1/3 cup real flour. The cookies were still softer than usual, but you definitely need the first ratio of 1 1/3 cup Wondra and 1 cup regular flour. Although, if you like your cookies really flat, than the one cup of Wondra was a perfect amount. They just were not as soft the next day.

The cookies made using the Wondra flour also seem to take less time to bake. So make sure you watch them so they do not burn.

And just so you know, the other day my husband and I were shopping together at the grocery store. He nudged me and said, “Hey! Isn’t that Wondra? The Wondra that you said was only available online? And now we have a whole shelf filled with it?”

I ignored the question. I ignored the little blue containers staring accusingly at me from the shelf. I ignored the other accusing stare as well.

But…

Yea. You can probably find this in your grocery store. And you probably don’t need to hoard it.

Probably.

* this post is not affiliated with or sponsored by Wondra. I just like to write about products that I enjoy using. As with any product I review, your experience with it might vary. : )

March 12, 2014 by gn0mel0ver

Time

When I think of aging. Of age. Of the number of years in which I have opened my eyes each morning, it seems but just a brief moment. As if all my life could be catalogued before I even blink my eyes. Well, okay, not blink my eyes. But hold them closed long enough to indulge in a quick game of hide in seek. Which is what time really is after all, a game of hide and seek.

When I was a child of around four years old, I remember laying outside on a big blanket and looking up at the stars. I remember feeling weary. I remember this profound thought ran through my head. “This is my last time here. I am so tired. So old. I cannot do this again.”

That same year, it felt as though each morning I would wake up and it would feel as if all of the things that had happened the day before to me had actually happened to someone else. It was my young mind trying to grasp the definition of a memory. So, each night I would lay in my bed and I would say to myself, “Good night, Jenni. I’ll miss you. You’ll be a new Jenni in the morning.”

I can see your face.

It looks like my husband’s face when I told him my little saying. To paraphrase my husband, “that is the creepiest thing I have ever heard.”

But I think my child self had it right. We are all just made up of the memories we have made. And each day, a new one is added to the mixture in our heads. It makes sense to me that we are ever evolving. Ever changing. And each morning when we wake up, we are a slightly different person than the day before.

Time touches us all.

It is shown in the new lines on our faces. The spots on our hands. The inches added and then deducted to our height. The length of our hair.

Yes.

Four year old Jenni had it right in her very ~~slightly~~ neurotic view of time.

And thirty six year old Jenni has to smile at that.

Well, that, and how much fun it is to sometimes say out loud.

In the dark.

While my husband is just shutting his eyes.

“Good night Jenni. I’ll miss you. You’ll be a new Jenni in the morning.”

And maybe I’ll say it like a small child.

And maybe in a high pitched whisper.

And then I will shut my eyes and go to sleep.

Smiling.

Because I know my husband is laying in the dark. Eyes wide open.

Having the time of his life.

At least that’s what the old Jenni told me.

* This post was written in response to the Daily Post’s Weekly Writing Challenge, “Golden Years.”

Gnome Lover

Stumbling through life while still having fun

Month: March 2014

Our Finished Otomi Bathroom

Style S.O.S. Sketchbook Dress

It’s The Little Things: Wondra

Time