The Cheeky Cockatoo or Our New Pillow Cover or My Dream House

Those who read my blog on a regular base might have noticed that i am mildly obsessed with blog giveaways. I am not purposely on the hunt for giveaways, they just happen to pop up in my Google Reader and if i really like the item i sign up. Hell, why not? That's what giveaways are for, right? If nobody participated, then what would be the purpose of hosting one?
I don't often write about it but since last fall i have won about eight or nine contests; the most recent ones were the Plaid Valentine's Twitter contest ( and they sent me awesome, awesome stuff!! Thanks again, Plaid!) and a Milk & Cookies giveaway hosted by the canadian design blog Damask et Dentelle, a great source of inspiration for everyone who loves design, decor and DIY.

I fell in love with Milk & cookies a few months ago and have been trying to win one of her beautiful pillow covers in every giveaway i could find, and so i was thrilled to find out i had won.
There is such a great selection of beautiful patterns in her Etsy shop that it was hard to choose only one, and although i had my favorite i decided to let the Mister pick his favorite style.
The pillow cover arrived yesterday and it is beautiful! The pattern is extra pretty with flowers, leaves and butterflies and the combination of pink and black is just perfect, not to mention the cheeky cockatoo.
So, here it is:

LOVE it! And wouldn't it be great to have matching curtains made of the same fabric??

Thank you so much Milk & Cookies and Damask et Dentelle!!

Those other pillow covers are by Esprit and their quality is anything but satisfying. While the fabric is nice and thick, the zippers are damaged and half of the seams have come loose after washing the covers once.
Does anyone else experience constant trouble with that brand? I used to be a frequent buyer, at least half of my wardrobe is by Esprit and i even had their platinum customer card, but since last year almost every item i ordered online had to be returned because it was either dirty or damaged or had a very weird fit. Not impressive at all for a relatively pricey company. But hey, the founder already owns her villa in sunny Florida, so why would she bother?
But i don't want to be mean. She built an empire and deserves it. Period.

And i will continue dreaming of being rich too. One day i will go to my favorite house right on A1A, knock on their front door, submit an offer that the owners simply cannot reject, and then MisterT and i spend the rest of our life in this beauty overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, and wake up to the sound of the crashing waves every morning...

I wonder if Erin of House of Turquoise already knows about this darling?

DIY Weekend

This weekend will be full of DIY projects. I plan to make another dried flower canvas with the tulips i bought last week and i have a few ideas how to reuse old dryer sheets.

Last night i made another fabric cake topper for my Etsy shop and i think it turned out super cute. If no one buys it ( and that will most likely be the case) i'm going to include it in our wedding scrapbook album.

But i just cannot decide if i should make it a large book or a handy journal.

Can you belive that i have been living with MisterT for eight years now and he never mentioned that he owns an engraving tool??
It came up in a random conversation about our attic stuff a few days ago and i almost freaked out when he mentioned it. I already tested it on a piece of wood and it is amazing! The possibilities are endless and now i want to engrave everything!! I can't wait to try it on glass but have to buy some goggles first ( they are one of the very few items my husband does not own).

Looks like i will be quite busy the next two days. What are your plans for the weekend?

DIY: Easter Wreath

Who is in the mood for spring already? I am, and so i just went through my spring and easter decoration and found this door wreath that i made some years ago.

As a child i loved searching the hidden nest, but as non-religious adult i don't really care about easter and you won't find much decoration in our apartment. Just a few eggs, bunnies and cute little chicks here and there.
The worst thing about easter in my opinion? Those poor front yard trees decorated with terrible cheap-cheaper-the cheapest plastic eggs. Yuck!   Sorry, no offense to anyone ;-)
Other than that i usually like easter decoration and its sunny and cheerful colors.

So, i don't have a tutorial for my wreath but it was super easy to make. I cut a bamboo stem into four pieces and used my hot glue gun to construct a frame. Then i decorated the frame with all kinds of useless stuff and ribbons that i had kept from random gifts and attached everything with hot glue. Done.

Happy week-peak!

I want to thank everyone for your kind and encouraging comments regarding the robbery of my husband! The guys are released but we know that they used a fake gun and feel much better and safer now.

I realize it was a bit stupid to link up to the Blog Hop right after writing about this incident and that the scary story is the very first thing people read when they enter my blog.
So this post is mainly meant to override the previous one, but since i don't have any interesting to share i'll simply post this image i just pinned.

Pinned via this pin via tumblr 
If anyone knows the original artist or source please let me know so i can give proper credit

How cute is that cat? If it was real and looked exactly like that, would it still try to catch and eat the screechy-birds?

Last night I developed a fantastic idea for an upcoming living-room project. I don't want to reveal any details yet but it is going to include a lot of empty toilet paper tubes and little plants like succulents or similar. How does that sound?

So, like i said, this post doesn't really make sense and i better get some work done now.

Happy week-peak! ( This is not an actual word, is it?)

...

MisterT got carjacked this morning on his way to work.
Ok, technically it wasn't carjacking because they did not steal the car, but i don't know the right term for this. Two men threatened him with a gun and robbed him while he was sitting in the car, waiting at red traffic lights.

They got arrested by the police shortly after because MisterT was able to remember their license plate number, but we don't know if they have been rereleased already. They stole his wallet and probably know our address, and now we are terribly afraid that they might show up in our appartment at night trying to kill us or what.

Not sure how we are supposed to be able to sleep tonight.

I have read a lot of terrible stories lately of people being shot and robbed and it seems as if the crime rate in our city has increased a lot, yet we still felt safe. Until today.

I don't want to think about what else could have happened.

My dear readers, please stay safe wherever you are. Hope you all have a good weekend.

Tulips

It is cold and gloomy outside; melting snow, rain, and grey in grey in grey. And so i could not resist buying those pretty yellow tulips from the grocery store this morning. I love tulips and i love how their color brightens up the room and puts me into a sunny spring mood already ( although i am still hoping for the real winter to arrive). 

RECIPE: Basil Bread

How to bake a fresh Basil Bread in ten quick and easy steps

Ingredients: ( serves 2)

235 ml ( 1 cup or 15 and 1/2 T) Water
15 g Basil ( ca. 2 handful of basil)

2 T Olive Oil
10 g ( 1T) Salt
1 Pk. Dry Yeast
375 g ( 3 cups and 1 T) Flour
--

20 ml ( 1 T and 1 tsp.) Milk 

1 T Olive Oil

Directions:

1. In a mixing bowl, mix water, basil, 2 T oil and salt and mash with an immersion blender

2. Add yeast and flour, knead and form a ball
3. Cover the bowl with a clean tea towel and allow the dough to rise at a warm place until the size of the ball has doubled. You can place it near the radiator or into the oven at a very low temperature, but keep an eye on the bowl to make sure it doesn't melt.
4. Form a loaf and place it on a baking pan covered with baking paper and a handful of flour
5. Mix milk with 1 T oil 

6. Brush the loaf with the milk/oil mixture

7. Dust with flour 

8. Bake 20-25 minutes at 220°C ( 428°F)
9. Let cool and 
10. Enjoy!

Fabric Bridal Bouquets

I have listed two new fabric bouquets in my Etsy shop, both very feminine in pink hues.
The first one is a pastel, light pink and blush creation to match a soft, romantic and vintage inspired wedding theme.

Blush Soft Pink Bridal Bouquet

The second bouquet is inspired by pink poenies and perfect for a cheerful wedding of any kind.

Pink Peony Bridal Bouquet

It looks so pretty in a vase, too.

Pink Peony Bridal Bouquet

I am constantly trying to learn new techniques and come up with fresh new creations, and i think these two bouquets show how much i have improved since i started my little business.

And now i am curious to hear: what are your wedding colors and what does your dream bouquet look like? Are you making your own flowers?

Drawings

My art teacher in school ( long time ago) lived a lonely life hidden deep in the countryside, spending his time carving faces into tree trunks. Spooky, right?
He was the kind of guy being referred to as crazy and we always made fun of him and called him all kinds of not so nice names. Today i would just call him eccentric and unique.
I don't remember the details but i do recall that we were an overly confident bunch of wanna-be adults and ended up with a letter from the principal being sent to our parents because we had left the teacher's classroom after a hefty debate about his inappropriate behaviour and refused to go to the local art gallery the same day.
 
So, this man made us draw and paint and create the weirdest things which i usually did not like at all but still managed to get a good result despite my aversion.

One day we entered the class room which he had already prepared for a new project and there were animal skulls everywhere. Skulls of cattle, monkeys and cute little creatures like squirrels or such. That seventeen-year old girl felt the urge to vomit but my disgust was immediately overpowered by fear: the fear of losing my hard earned 15 points ( A+ or 1+) that i had scored by creating a Plaster of Paris sculpture that was good enough to be exhibited in the art gallery mentioned before.

And so i grabbed my charcoal and began to draw skulls. And i got another 15 points and an exhibition for my drawings. And i hated them so much that i hid them in the backmost corner of my room for many years.

I rediscovered the drawings when MisterT and i moved into our previous appartment in 2008. And i liked them! So much that i put them into matching frames and displayed them on our wall.

Today I am grateful for being given the chance to draw something more sophisticated and challenging than the usual flowers and geometric shapes.

Thank you Mister G. for being my teacher. I still think you were a moron but thanks for standing out and staying true to yourself.

Valentine's Tree

My Valentine's day decoration: Three branches in a vase, decorated with tags made of hand-made paper.

Update: My tree won the Plaid Twitter Valentine's Contest, yay!!!

Thrift Store Finds

Look at this beauty!

Can anyone please try to convince me that this is the ugliest thing ever and there is absolutely no reason for me to be sad about not being able to buy it?
We saw it two weeks ago at our favorite store and that kind of furniture usually sells really fast. But this cabinet was still unsold yesterday. I think it is gorgeous, it offers plenty of space and would fit into our hallway perfectly. The price is unbeatable but we cannot justify spending the money on it right now. Not enough Cents in our piggybank.
My heart breaks and looking at this photo almost makes my cry. 
Oh well, it is just a piece of furniture...

Instead i bought this wooden sign:

Moreover i am now the owner of a collection of beautiful crystal glasses and a jewelry box, both heirloom from my grandmother who passed away two months ago.

The box itself is terribly ugly, totally 80s style but i plan to give her a makeover soon. It is filled with some amazing pieces, nothing of monetary value but still very pretty and i will definitely wear some of them and then use the rest for some crafts.

Oh, and we found some cheap stuff at Ikea, e.g. vases for 10 cents and finally, after 2 years of searching they finally had a white bargain door in the "as is" section. We already bought one last year after the sales person assured us it would be a Billy door. But it isn't. I have yet to find a good use for it.
This one is Billy Olesbo, half panel half glass and it was 9€ instead of 40€. Perfect!

Curls!!!

I don't want to turn this into a beauty blog but i think this is so funny and i MUST share it with you.

A while ago i saw a DIY hair tutorial on YouTube that i had not known about before and i tried that method last night. I do not have a link to that video but it basically shows you how to get pretty curls with the help of an old towel. All you have to do is cut that towel into strips and then roll up strands of damp hair just like you would do with those old fashioned curlers. However, the main advantage of the towel strips is that they can stay in over night and you can actually sleep without being uncomfortable.



Ok, under normal circumstances i would never ever post such an unflattering photo of me here or anywhere else. But today i am unashamed and fearless of showing you what i looked like last night.

When i saw myself in the mirror i could not stop laughing. Not because i looked so stupid but because i immediately had to think of a certain person. Can you guess who? Do you wanna know?

S
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Nellie Oleson!! I looked like Nellie Oleson!! Muhahahahahaha!!!

Oh how i hated that nasty little b... with her silly curls and pink bows. I got so mad everytime she did or said something mean. But i guess that just shows that Alison Arngrim must have been a good actress if she could evoke these feelings in me.

Source of both photos: The official Alison Arngrim Confessions of a Prairie Bitch Nellie Oleson Website

Ok, so this is what i looked like this morning right after removing the strips.

Aren't those curls bombastic fantastic??

I did not brush or comb my hair because it is really thick and heavy, and curls usually last no longer than a few hours. But those stay in all day and even survived a little nap. I am pretty sure i will still have beautiful waves tomorrow morning.

This towel technique is awesome!! It is so simple and quick and easy and i LOVE the result!

Party Preparations

Ha, I exceeded myself organizing and stowing the christmas decoration! I managed to pack it into two boxes instead of four, plus a small one for the ornaments.  The living room looks so much brighter and bigger now without all that junk and the massive tree.

I wish i had more time for blogging at the moment but there isn't much to write about anyway, as i am busy, busy, busy preparing the wedding anniversary. Right now MisterT is scanning old photos of my parents while i'm in the process of making giant paper flowers from old newspaper as wall decor. But i have no idea how and when and where to spray-paint them, as there is a heavy storm and rain going on, which prevents me from working outside on the balcony.
Time is running out and i am not so sure if i will be able to put all my ideas into action. I have tons of ideas and gathered every silver item i could find, so in the end this party probably won't cost anything except the costs for champagne and some food.

So excited and looking forward to seeing my parents' reaction!

De-Christmassing

To my surprise that is indeed a word, i just looked it up in the dictionary.
In other words, i began to remove our christmas decoration and as every year i am trying to come up with the perfect storage system. Life could be so easy if i just threw everything back into the boxes, but i spend hours trying to figure out how to pack everything with minimum space requirements and more reasonable than in the previous year.
I think i will be able to minimize the number of boxes from 4 to 3, or at least i hope so. Looks good so far.

Once everything is stowed away i will decorate the entire living room with silver elements. It's my parents 25th wedding anniversary in a few days, which is traditionally known as the "silver wedding", and they will be here with us. I am going to throw them an intimate cocktail party although they said they refuse to accept presents or even celebrate this day. But I am well known for being huge in coming up with awesome surprises and so far they have always been amazed by my secret ideas. Yay, can't wait to see their smiling happy little faces, just like kids opening their presents on christmas.

Goodbye 2011, Welcome 2012!

Wow, today is New Year's Eve! It feels like four or five months since we celebrated the last NYE and i whispered "It's our wedding year" into MisterT's ear while we stood on the bridge close to our house and watched the fireworks. And now the two of us have been married for almost 9 months!

I started writing this little blog in summer and i still can't believe it already has 29 regular followers who are interested in reading about my life and my DIY stuff. Thank you all for your support and lovely comments! May all your dreams and wishes come true in 2012!!

We will celebrate at home tonight, snuggling on the sofa, watching a movie or two and eat our traditional caviar eggs and chili. We will probably go outside at midnight to see some fireworks and drink a glass of champagne, although i would prefer staying inside. There are too many drunk idiots out there who throw their firecrackers into the crowd.
The next morning we will watch the live broadcast of the New Year's Concert in Vienna. This is a MUST! Neighbors prepare and better grab some earplugs!

Despite staying at home i just made my own glittery party nails with dark blue nail polish and teal craft glitter. What do you think?

Too sad i cannot capture the sparkle with my camera.

I do not have any new year's resolutions because i never stick to them anyway. Actually my only wishes for the new year are health and happiness for me and MisterT.

But i have some things on my 2012 To-Do-List:

- start a diet ( as soon as i have eaten up all the christmas candy and chocolate)
- become a successful business owner or find an awesome new job that makes me happy
- or even better: win big in the lottery
- declutter the entire appartment
- bathroom makeover ( will be cancelled if i win the lottery)
- living room makeover ( dito)

We'll see what i have been able to reach by the end of the year.

Happy New Year!