I'm not the only one who loves balls!

I'll use any excuse to be a little...errrr.....gross!  Okay, there's still a part of me that snickers a little when someone says chicken breast.  I admit it!

Okay, so moving on now....

One of my friends from high school, Kathleen, has a great little blog called Widdlebugs

Last week she went a wittle cwazy (*I love Elmer Fudd, you?) making not only the ratty jute balls I made a few weeks ago, but she expanded the ball selection and I wanted to share them with you because they are so cool.....cool balls (*gutter talkin*)

Her rendition of "ratty jute balls"...

 
This is a tennis ball wrapped in raffia!  How clever is that?!

Another tennis ball wrapped in white rope!

Okay, so Kathleen, I have to tell you.... I really love your balls. 
Happy Tuesday everyone....

Shop the House Sunday (Late!)

 

Sorry I'm so late getting my Sunday party up this week!  Life took me for a ride this week.  Mr. FYN caught the cold I had last week and my little peep, Pierce, had his very 1st ballroom dance competition yesterday!  He did really well placing 1st in his Cha Cha, 2nd in his Samba and 3rd in his Paso.  It was a whirlwind weekend complete with many costume changes!  

So, inspire me with your projects because the only thing I shopped my house for this weekend was costume materials and safety pins!  

I'm going to leave the party up through Tuesday, to hopefully motivate me to get something put together to share!

Have a great week everyone!

Beautiful pillow giveaway at Flea Market Trixie!

 

Flea Market Trixie is giving away this beautiful Paris vintage pillow in celebration of 250 followers!  If you haven't checked her blog out, go NOW!  

I love her style.  I even featured her on my weekly "Welcome to NEWBIE Wednesday" feature!

Now hurry, because you only have until tomorrow to enter this giveaway!

Trash Pickin' Thursday!

So I was on my way home this morning from my morning trash pick feeling defeated because I had found NOTHING.  Then, as I rounded the corner into my neighborhood I saw it.....the mecca of all trash piles!  

Obviously these people are moving and because we can't have garage sales in our neighborhood, they just put all their unwanted stuff on the curb.  

I hit the jackpot!  Look at the treasures I scored for FREE!

 

Beautiful lampshades.  They look to be custom! I love the striped ones.  They are really tall, fun!

Mercury glass vase!

 

Some sparkly Christmas garland

And the best find?

 

This empty frame!  It probably held a mirror that broke.  It's approx 5 ft tall x 3 ft wide and the wood is very thick.

 

I can't wait to create something with this!

So what did you find in the trash this week?  Or, what did you create with something you've found?

Link up and inspire me!

5th "Welcome To Newbie" Wednesday!

 

Welcome to my 5th "Welcome to NEWBIE" weekly feature.  Each Wednesday, I will introduce you to some NEW, or as I like to call us, NEWBIE, bloggers who are fun, creative and just plain COOL!

You, my peeps, get some new inspiration and the NEWBIE gets some new followers!  A win-win for all!

I found a great blog last week on the Decorating Dilemmas party over at Amanda's blog Serenity Now.

Meet my new friend, Kat!

Kat's truly a NEWBIE blogger; she's only been blogging for about a month!  

 

Check out Black Kat's Design here! 

Kat describes herself as a thrifty gal in my early 40’s with an 18 year old son, a dog who sheds enough to make another dog and a cat. They live in a 650 square foot condo on Chicago’s North Shore. She's jealous of those with a garage, basement or dedicated room in which to work on projects. It’s not unusual for Kat to have painting or refinishing projects spread out on our living room floor.  (I feel your pain Kat!  My dining room is currently my pseudo craft space!)

Kat caught the crafting bug as a child, learning a simple crochet chain stitch and covering a plastic lid to make a wreath in grade school.  She's been decorating, rearranging, repurposing and bargain shopping ever since.  Her friends and family call her while shopping at a store, for a “decorating consult” prior to making a purchase. 

Kat's home has gone from a larger house done in French country with lots of antiques to a much smaller home with a more minimal Mid Century style. She says the new decorating style has been fun and challenging, all while being done on a shoestring budget! 

Blogging has been a fantastic experience. It’s a creative outlet. It pushes her to do (or complete) the projects that she's just been talking or thinking about, since she wants to post 5 days a week. She loves sharing her projects with lots of people and she just loves comments from other bloggers!  Blogging has also prompted Kat to open an Etsy shop!  It will be filled with silhouette pillows, hand crafted items and vintage finds.  So stay tuned for that!

So here's why I'm following Black Kat Design!

Here's some of her fun, inventive craft projects!

A 4 side display piece made out of CD cases!  

 

Book page vases!

 

Vintage wool felt pin

But the thing I love the MOST about Black Kat Design are little peaks she's given us of her home.  Kat, show us more!

 

I love a girl who is not afraid to use color!

  

Beautiful pieces!  The chair...the little round pillow....the lamp...

 

Art she created!  Love the patterns!

So I can't wait to see how Kat's new blog progresses.  Go check out Black Kat's Design and become a follower too! 

Thank you for joining me this week for "Welcome To NEWBIE" Wednesday!  See you next week for more NEWBIES!

Beach Collections

We went to Crystal Beach this weekend to celebrate my mother-in-law's birthday.  She's a Valentine's baby!  

I took the opportunity to snap some pictures of some of her amazing beach collections.  She's been collecting interesting shells & sea glass all her life and she has amassed an impressive collection.

This is Patricia, my mom-in-law with Pierce on the beach!

Her beautiful sea glass...

See the tall one on the right, lower corner?  That's some sort of old medicine bottle cap!

I love the top of a bottle, perfectly polished by sand over the years into a unique piece of sea glass.

Her vast shell collection display changes frequently, depending on what kinds of shells she is finding on the beach...

"Granna", as the kids call her, and Pierce combed the beach for more treasures...

Happy Birthday Patricia ("Granna")!  We had so much fun beachcombing with you this weekend!

3rd "Shop the House Sunday" Linky Party

 

Good morning!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful, relaxing weekend so far!

Mr. Finesse Your Nest helped participate in this week's "big" project...that is, after I checked his temperature to be sure he wasn't running a high fever (ha!)

Two sweet guys from his office came out one evening and moved a TON of furniture and other things that needed to be cleaned up but we couldn't get to.  You see, Mr. FYN has a bad back and even though he's perfectly willing to move anything, he'll pay for it the week after!  So he surprised me with these extra helpers!  I love Mr. FYN!

So today, I'm not showing you any "finished" STH projects, but I am showing you what we accomplished and a sneak peek of next weekend's project!

This is an antique dresser that my sweet sis-in-law let me "borrow" many years ago and now I think it's just going to stay with me, I love it so much!  (Thank you Cristi!)

It used to house all of Pierce's clothes in his room, but it's got a few "health" issues.  A foot needs to be replaced, some of the beautiful trimwork needs help, handles need to be cleaned & polished,  and it needs a good sanding and restaining.  I think when I'm done with it, it will be a showstopper!

So, where am I going to use it?  In the breakfast room as either a "bar" or a baking center....because it has this beautiful soft gray marble top...

Isn't that gorgeous?  I'm really excited to begin this project on Monday!


Our little helper guys also cleaned out our 4th bedroom upstairs which was originally used as a workout room.  It was packed floor to ceiling (and I'm really not exaggerating) with misc furniture, art, boxes of picture frames, books....you name it!  Of course, in my giddiness to have extra help I forgot to take before pics, but here's what it looks like once they cleaned everything out!

You can actually see the elliptical, free weights and bench again, wow!  I haven't seen them in all their glory in about a year (for shame! for shame!)

See that cool wood grid piece on the right?  It's super huge, like 60x60 and I got it at Round Top for $40!  All us Texan gals know Round Top, but for those who aren't familiar with this huge antiques fair, go to www.roundtop.com to check it out.

By the way, if any of you Texas bloggers would like to meet at Round Top and make it a girl's shopping day, let me know!!  Would love to shop with a posse!

This is the other side of the room....and.....Finesse Your Nest's future craft/sewing area!!!!  I'm super pumped about this.  I've been using my dining room table for projects, which is quite inconvenient, since the dining room is the first thing you see upon entering my home!  More to come on this project too, and of course, everything will be "shopped" from my house!

Okay, now it's your turn!

Show me how you "shopped" your house this weekend and created something beautiful or refreshed a space.

Remember to link to your specific post, not your general blog address!

Link back to this party (I hate deleting posts, really I do!)  My button is on the right side of the page if you like to use those.

And, most importantly, your project must use things already in your home.  We spend NO MONEY at this party!

Have a nice rest of the weekend!

1st "Trash Pickin' Thursday"!

 

Calling all Trash Pickers....

Dumpster Divers....

Refuse Warriors....

Rubble Renegades....

Whatever you call it, you either DO IT.....or YOU DON'T.....

Trash Pickin' (my favorite term for it) is certainly not for everyone, but based on the number of responses I received when I posted about my trash pickin' treasures a couple of weeks ago I think there's a few of "us" out there!

So, of course, why not a weekly party celebrating our love affair with the Hefty can?

Each Thursday, I'll be posting all the lovelies (or potential lovelies anyway!) I find OR showing you what I did with someone's trash from a previous week.   

Join in by posting yours too!  You can show your finds in all their stinkin glory OR what they turned out to be after you worked your magic, or BOTH!  

Oh and be sure to use lots of garbage related adjectives in your post to make it extra special toxic fume fun!  Okay only kidding.  I'll give you enough "cheeziness" for all of us.  Ha!

Linky will be up around 9am each Thursday to give you time to post if today is your trash day.  

Wanna see my recent treasures?

1st up - Found last week....

This little poofy Univ of Texas (Hook 'em Horns!) stool thingy!

 

  

Will go in the 14 year old's room for sure.  He's a UT fanatic!

And here are the beauties I found this morning!

 

LONG peg rack.  Don't know what I will do with this yet. Any ideas?

 

Yeah, this may go back in the trash.  I'm going to see if it improves when it's dry (it was pouring this morning, fun!)  

And the REAL prize?

Literally one little peg had come out which I just tapped with a hammer and voila!  Good as new!  And it's FRONTGATE.  Score!!!  1st piece for the patio makeover?  CHECK!

Okay, so let's do some trash talkin'!  Link up and show me your garbage!!!!