Embracing Your Inner Wino

I'm going to deviate from my normal routine of discussing thrifted finds and spray-painted goodness to delve a little into my personal life. I don't normally talk about my St. Louis life, because I have another blog for that, but I want to share with you the fabulous weekend that I just had.

My husband and I are both huge wine drinkers, and this past weekend we hit up a total of six wineries in Hermann, Missouri and Augusta, Missouri. You're probably thinking that my little midwestern state cannot possibly have decent vineyards, but you'd be surprised! It's no Napa Valley, but hey, many of our wineries are definitely worth exploring.

We stayed at this adorable little bed and breakfast in Hermann, MO called the Lydia Johnson Inn, and I would absolutely recommend it.

Let me just show you the two breakfasts we had this weekend. TO. DIE. FOR. Literally the best breakfasts I've ever had.
:)


We started off our Saturday at OakGlenn Vineyards in Hermann. This place had a STUUUNNING view of the Missouri River valley. The wines were okay, the experience of sitting outside was awesome.

Enjoying a nice St. Vincent wine at OakGlenn.

Winery #2 was Hermannhof Vineyards. Beautiful grounds and decent wine.

Winery #3: Stone Hill Winery in Hermann. Yet another gorgeous view.

Winery #4: Röbller Vineyard. Super amazing wines and more beautiful views of the Missouri countryside.

We also hit Augusta Winery and Mount Pleasant but no photos to share.

Now that I've taken a nice long break from blogging and refueled myself with some amazing homecooked breakfasts and lots of red wine, I'm ready to get back to some projects.

But I'm kinda curious, are you all wine drinkers too? Or is beer more your style? I'd love to hear of any good wineries or breweries you've been to, regardless of geographic location, so hit me up with some recommendations in the comments. :)

Officially an Etsyian

I am so excited about this post, because I finally get to tell you about something I've been wanting to do for a LONG time. After conducting insane amounts of research, buying supplies, and creating several new drawings, I have opened my own etsy shop!

I decided to name it Sometimes I Swirl because I feel that's pretty accurate. So many of my drawings incorporate swirls since (as you might remember), I'm very strongly influenced by mehndi art. I think I'll start with drawings and paintings, then might expand to some pillows and such, we'll just have to see how it goes.

And you wanna know what's cool? Last Friday, I even had my first sale, this cute little watercolored owl drawing:

Like I said, I didn't just dive into this. I did a LOT of research and browsed hundreds of other etsy shops to see what similar sellers offered, so I prepared myself by stocking up on the proper supplies.
To start, I ordered a bunch of these clear plastic sleeves so I can mail the art in its own little protective pouch:
I have a certificate of authenticity for all of my drawings and prints:
And I've got those sturdy, not-bendable photo mailer envelopes to safely send off my art.
And, perhaps most exciting of all, I designed business cards for myself and they are PURPLE (and black-and-white):
I am so excited, I've been wanting to do this forever. I just kept putting it off because I know it's a lot of work. I'm still learning a lot and making changes and figuring it out as I go along, but like I said, I read so many helpful forums and articles and advice blogs that I really do feel pretty prepared.

Also....
So that this post isn't entirely shameless self-plugging, I'd love to show you some of my favorite etsy shops:

It's pretty obvious why I like this one, many of the drawings are very much my style:
And even Yellena James is on etsy, who knew?! She has so much talent it's crazy:
Jessica Doyle is all over etsy, and for good reason. Her creative and bizarre compositions are so whimsical and unique:

Oh my gosh, I just love this artist's beautiful, quiet, haunting style. And free shipping on all her art, from Singapore, not a bad deal!

My favorites are not just reserved for drawings and paintings. These ceramic pieces are AWESOME:

Can't forget fabric, either:
So there you have it.
I'm already having fun and learning a lot, not to mention, it has really inspired me to draw much more often than I had been.

It's also a validation, in some sense. For the longest time, I've had sketch books and I've filled them with these strange drawings and doodles and thoughts and ideas, these surreal alternate landscapes almost, and I thought no one outside my own head would appreciate them or even care to see them. Etsy is such an amazing place because there are so many different styles and mediums represented, it's a community that encourages you to create not by following others, but by doing what YOU do. Not everyone is going to like what YOU do, but chances are, someone out there WILL, and this is the perfect place to figure that out.

Weekend Thrifting Finds

Quick post.
Yesterday morning I went to several yard sales and estate sales with my mom, and I was specifically looking for more flower pots (cool ones) and other yard stuff. Definitely scored.

That milk glass container is now on the entry table, holding our keys. And I got a new milk glass vase, too!

At an estate sale, I grabbed this electric edger:
And a weed wacker since I already broke our new one... good thing this was only $5!

Already used these this morning to tame the weeds in our alley:
Someone should have warned me that gardening/landscaping would become such an addiction!

I Just Paid $15 For Fake Pee

Yes. You read that title correctly. And yes. This is another post about my landscaping.


Remember how last week, I aired my fears that the neighborhood squirrels would dig around and kill my newly-planted flowers?
Well, it came true.
So I have decided to wage war with pee.

I'll get to that in just a second..............


First I need to give a giant public thanks to my wonderful sister-in-law for giving me (yes, just handed it over!) a gift certificate worth $100 to a local nursery. Not only was I able to purchase replacement flowers for my cement planters, but I scored a ton of wave petunias for my landscaping! Christina, you are the best!

The new loot:


So I planted purple petunias back in the planters, and in a row in the landscaping, you can see below in between those two yellow lines:
I can't wait until they really get blooming! The flower dude said they will almost act as ground cover they can get so outta control (in a good way). I also bought some yellow celosia to go in my round planter on the end, since the squirrels dug up all but one of my red ones.

Oh yea, I almost forgot. Last weekend I picked up three new pots, for a total of $3, at a garage sale, and I got some new flowers today for those:
And here is where I show you my latest weapon... mean animal urine. It seriously smells as gross as it sounds. And yes, it's called "Critter Ridder." Ridiculous.

Anyway, I sprinkled it in my planters.... in the landscaping.... and even on my porch railing. I will definitely be keeping you posted... if it doesn't work, I might resort to landmines in the landscaping.....

Just kidding.

Kind of.

Pillow From Scraps

I haven't sewn in a while and I thought I needed to give my sewing machine a little exercise, so last night I whipped out a pillow.




Me: Kevin, do you like my pillow?
Husband: It looks like something my grandma would make.
Me: Then your grandma has some hot-ass taste. Your grandma is a genius. Your grandma is THE COOLEST.
Husband: ...... (eye roll) .....

"Did Someone Throw A Diaper In My Tree?"

Literally, that was the thought that happened in my brain when I stepped out of my house this morning and looked up:
Oh no, friends, that is no diaper. It is a big ass droopy white flower. And there are several of them in my mystery tree.

Can someone please quell my neuroses and tell me what kind of flipping tree this is?! I have been on all kinds of databases and have even taken "tree quizzes" (yes, the internet has those! and I can now tell you the different between pinnate and double pinnate!) to find out what it is. My best guess is that it's some kind of mutant magnolia???

Characteristics:
- Large, diaper-like flowers that appear with ninja-like surprise in mid-May
- waxy leaves that don't go away or fall off or lose their color in winter
- the leaves start shedding, instead, during the most asinine time - the Spring. See:

I think I will owe you my first born if you can enlighten me.It is driving me up a wall....

Hardware Swap

In a recent post where I outlined all the things wrong with my kitchen, its hardware was high on the problem list.

Luckily, I purchased this entire bag of super heavy, modern and awesome knobs for a teeny tiny FIVE DOLLARS at a yard sale this weekend. There are at least 30 knobs here:
Need a refresher of my cabinet pulls before? Because the top of each handle wasn't drilled in, they were coming loose and swiveling down:

Doesn't get more ghetto than that:
So I started replacing ALL the ugly hardware with the garage sale knobs:
Loving them....

Much better! Now all of my cabinets and drawers have the exact same hardware. And it actually matches the kitchen. And they're no longer falling off looking pathetic.

So then, with the red & brushed nickel drawer knobs and handle pulls I had just removed from the kitchen, I was able to paint and use those in my guest bedroom to swap out even UGLIER brass hardware.
On the dresser, we had these very typical brass guys:

When I pulled those off, they left grubby spots and indents of their outline in the drawers, so I definitely had to touch-up with white paint:

After spraying the old kitchen hardware a flat black, I installed those on the guest room dresser. Such a small change, but it makes a huge impact and really updates the piece:

I love it!

Garage sales are definitely the perfect spot to score stuff like this. Simple and VERY affordable ways to improve the appearance of a couple rooms at once.