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Thursday, December 31, 2009

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!



It's almost here... 2010. What do you have planned for the New Year? Any resolutions? I'm just planning to try and live healthy and cultivate gratitude for all my blessings. And of course spoil those grandbabies...

Hope you have a safe New Year's Eve and I'll see you next year!!

Happy New Year!!!

Shelley

Pizza

Another homemade pizza:


... with pepperoni, mushrooms and black olives:

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

WHITE WEDNESDAY~~ISN'T IT ROMANTIC?

My new bedding from JUDY HILL arrived on Christmas Eve. It's so romantic and charming and goes beautifully with my pine bed. I especially love the burlap pillow with the cheesecloth rosettes, which I shot close~up for my new header pic. The linen box pillows are Carolyn Westbrook Home.



Happy White Wednesday!!

Food from Friends

Our next-door neighbor, K, brought us some food a few weeks ago:


From the top, going clockwise: pulled pork, mac and cheese, green beans, squash, Parmesan chicken and roasted potatoes.

Maggi Massimo is Magnifico!

Maggi Massimo is an Italian maker of kitchen cabinets and other furniture...

A "hold everything" with brass bin pulls.
Love the round port hole style vents in this cabinet.


Wooden louvered doors in the upper right and left cabinets add character.
A safe! In the middle of your cabinet! I think it's just waiting for the bank robbers to show up.

Found via kbculture.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

On Twitter

If you prefer to get your dosage of steampunk home design via twitter, I've set up an automatic push of my posts to the @steampunkhome user on twitter. You may get an extra goodie or two if you follow me there...

(If anyone wants to provide me with a nice logo and/or background image to spiff the page up, let me know -- modern blue clouds are not quite my style.)

Monday, December 28, 2009

BIG PROJECT AHEAD OF ME

Boy did I start something I probably shouldn’t have….Have you ever started something you wished you hadn’t but had to carry through with it because you went just a bit too far????

Well here’s what I did – I started stripping off the wallpaper in my bedroom so I could by new and re-paper but I sooooo love the paper that’s under there that we put on when we moved in.

The paper is from 1979 and it was put up right away and we even had the ole waterbed thing going on! I think that’s where all my back problems started….they were sold with the idea they were good for  you….I think not! They were clumsy getting in and out of….nothing very dainty or delicate looking trying to throw yourself over that hard wood edge….anyway, I digressed there with my 70’s moment.

I thought I’d like changing my paper so a few years later I did and it has been on since – the room is small and there’s lots of paper so the process of re-papering wasn’t too appealing to me being I’m the one that has to do it. You can’t move the furniture because of the carpet and there’s no extra room anyway…so it was put off.

But like a crazed maniac that I can sometimes be I started tearing off the paper behind the door and it started taking off the paper underneath in spots…this isn’t good being I want to salvage that paper!
So now I have to tear off just the top layer and then soak the thin white backing off the wall to not harm the paper below….Man what did I do!

So here’s what we have on right now – it’s actually a very light cream with green and red thingies – plain and ugly and dirty looking as well…but it has been up for many, many years.
 Paper

Here’s where I started tearing off the old – see how it gets pieces of the underneath paper….ouch!
Both papers

This is a good look at it -
Crewel wallpaper

This is from 1979 when it was put on…..30 years ago!
Bedroom 2 
Bedroom 1

So I guess where I’m going with this is to get a more Colonial look back into the bedroom now with our Pine poster bed and dressers -  I think it will look quite nice…..here’s the furniture the paper will be with if it ever gets off….

PICT0006

PICT0001

So that’s my big boo-boo because now I have to carry through with it or just strip all of it off and buy new paper. But I have looked and I just don’t care for what’s out there. I’m not a cutsie paper kind of person. It has to be traditional or very plain in pattern.

If there are any takers I sure would love some help!
Karen
 

It Pays To Be Persistent

So, here's the happy ending to this morning's let down. I emailed the person listing the dresser and asked if someone had gotten it the day before, and they emailed me back and said "we put it out at 7:15, and it's still there".

We just unloaded it. It needs some TLC but will be cute as a button when painted.

Stay tuned...

A Well Travelled Kitchen

I have to admit, we have a burgeoning globe collection. (We're at 3 or 4 -- Christmas introduced a tiny new vintage tin globe from 1926.) I have to admit, though, I never considered using them as kitchen decor.

Obviously I'm not creative enough, because they look incredible in this kitchen tour from AT's The Kitchn. (More pictures, including more globes, here.)



And more vintage style geekery -- the backsplash is made of yardsticks. (Doesn't it work well with the butcher block cabinets?) Here's the how-to.


The kitchen (& great ideas) belong to Ashley Ann. And if you're not envious enough, she did the whole kitchen facelift for $500.

Free On Curb

That's what the ad on Craigslist said... This antique Eastlake dresser will be on the curb at 7am Monday morning. Original mirror. Needs work, great restored. Free.

In a neighborhood less than ten minutes from my home... So Mr. Sweet Pea and I head there this am at 6:30 in case they put it out earlier. When we pull in there is already competition circling the neighborhood. Okay that doesn't scare us. The house number was not given~~only the street name. But this street happened to be a big circle through the entire neighborhood. At first, our competition followed behind us. I thought, wow are we going to have to tussle for this? So we turned around and headed the other direction.

So here we are, at 6:40am circling for the elusive free dresser. Giving the stare down to the other guy as he passes us for the 30th time. And then, the unexpected... A third truck gets into the action. Yikes I thought, this could get ugly. Luckily this guy doesn't have the staying power and leaves after one lap.

Okay it's finally 7am... No dresser. Still circling. 7:05. Still circling. No dresser. 7:10. Still circling. Going a little faster now. No dresser. And then we get a break! The competition has had enough and leaves! Wimp.

7:15. We circle two more times. No dresser. Okay we give. We leave never laying eyes on the free antique Eastlake dresser that needs work. Did someone contact the owner the day before and pick it up? Did they oversleep? Were they playing a prank and watching to see how many lunatics would circle and for long? We'll never know...

Free on curb... Hmmmmm...

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Mirror Mirror On The Wall

And so another Christmas has come and gone... Soon the decorations will come down and my eye will start to look for fresh updates to make around the house... Do you do this? Are you ever satisfied with your home?

Anyway, I've been dying to show you the latest addition to my mirror obsession, but I had to find a home for it and then Mr. Sweet Pea had to hang it for me. I stalked this bad boy for months at a local antique market, but the dealer was a bit of a pill over the price of it~~even dealer to dealer, and I had myself talked out of it actually. I mean, aren't we dealers in this to sell stuff? Alas, I caved in and made one last attempt and he finally gave me a deal I could live with. He said it is 1800's from an old Mississippi barber shop. This baby is heavy cast iron and projects out about 3 feet when extended fully. That was the tricky part about hanging it. But I mounted it above the sink in the hall bath with the accordian part flat on the wall and it looks fab. Do you agree?




Saturday, December 26, 2009

GOODBY CHRISTMAS DAY…..

I don’t know about you but I love Christmas Day….seems everyone is in the SAME MOOD….ready for whatever comes their way whether it be the gifts they are receiving…or giving or the table full of holiday fixin’s, and in our house there were many as I’m sure there were in yours too.

My morning started out quiet with getting ready for the gang to show up while Doug was out shoveling snow (or maybe it was a combination of the sleet and snow we had during the night)

By 1:00 two of our sons and their families arrived and it started our celebration. Darren, MaryAnn and Aidan didn’t make it as we sort of knew would happen – Aidan has a virus and was still running a fever so they stayed home. Darren was going to join us alone but we told him it was his place to be with his own little family and we were okay with it, so he thanked us very much for that….although it was the first Christmas in his 45 years that we didn’t share this day together,….sad, but it is life and with a baby these things do happen.

I don’t many pictures today – most of the ones I took are not good enough for viewing by anyone but me because I am a lousy picture taker and as you all know my camera wants to take blurry photos….it’s not the operator either but the ones here are okay.

(Photo Below)
Emily and Joe brought their new game with them so Aunt Jamie is helping them set it up….Jesse is putting a puzzle challenge together (he never did figure it out!)Gametime

(Photo Below)
Joe is a Lego fanatic…this year he wanted the biggest set he’s ever owned. Look at that smile!!!!
JoeLegos 

(Photo Below)
This is Dan with his daughter Alex and her boyfriend Clint – he celebrated Christmas with us this year

DanAlexClint

(Photo Below)
Jesse and Alex gave us a basket full of DVD’S and popcorn for Movie Night! Plus Doug got a gift card.
 dougkarengiftsfromkids

 Gifts from kids1

(Photo Below)
I put it on my list and look…..I got it!!!!!
My first Jill Peterson book….I’ve been wanting this series for ever and never want to part with the money….well all you gotta do is ask and ye shall receive.

book

Later this afternoon we have been invited to Doug’s cousins house in Janesville for a Spaghetti dinner. His cousin is home from Arkansas and visiting his sister there, so it makes it easy for us to visit him while he’s home.

Lola had to be part of our Christmas too – since the tree was put up she made her bed under it and even with gifts it didn’t stop her….so here she is peeking through the packages.
Lola under tree
Close-up
Lola under tree closeup

Hope you all had as wonderful a Christmas as we did (minus one family). I know it could have been worse than just not being with our son and his family on this one day – they are close enough to see them in a few days…but there are many of you who won’t even be able to make it up in the near future because of family members being in the Military or over seas or just the fact of the economy making it impossible for the visit….but I know that all of your loved ones are in each of your hearts regardless of the distance.

I know those that I couldn’t be with are in my heart.

Karen

 

Monique Keegan is Incredible...


Remember this house? (How could you forget? I'm using it as inspiration for half my renovation!) The owner and designer behind it was Monique Keegan. She's awesome. And she blogs. And has a retail store and design business in Granville, Ohio. And here's just a bit more of her work.


Psychological abstract card catalog, in black? With a naturalist collection on top? I'll take one, please!

Nice mix of vintage and modern here... The mirror is a lovely piece.

Antique oil cans on display...

The Cranial Nerves... something about using "nerves" at a vacation home seems appropriate to me.

Thanks, Brian!

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Goods from One Kings Lane

One Kings Lane is a site with "invitation only" 3 day long home decor sales. I subscribed, not expecting much that would be appropriate for The Steampunk Home. Surprisingly, right now -- through the 28th -- they are running two sales I think would appeal to Steampunk Home readers.

First, quotes by Natural Curiosities, $69 each:


Each letter was manually created on a 1924 vintage Underwood typewriter, silkscreened on delicate Bhutanese paper by Fernando Bohr, Natural Curiosities' resident silkscreen artist, then beautifully framed in walnut.

Second, Timeworks Vintage style clocks, $49-$129:
Timeworks clocks are made individually, by hand, most of them at the company's factory in Berkeley, California. All are made of the finest components available - solid, hand-antiqued brass for cases and pendulums, die-cut steel hands with time-worn patinas, beautifully finished frames and high-quality quartz clock movements.



You'll have to sign up to browse the wares, but you may find it worthwhile.

Microscopes, Aged and Brass


Allen Wissner has been collecting antique brass microscopes for three decades.

His site -- where he shares his extensive collection with the hope that readers will discover him and support his habit by selling him more -- is filled with many different models and uses.

There are articles about antique microscopes...an index by country of origin...he even branches out in microspectroscopes.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Moody Moments At Christmas

Don't you love the twinkle of Christmas at night? The reflection of the Christmas tree in your favorite crusty mirror? It's downright romantic, would you agree?

This is my last post until after the dust settles of baking, cooking, unwrapping presents and marveling in the wonderment of two toddlers trying to come to terms with all that Santa brought them...

Giving thanks to GOD for HIS gift to all of us... Praying for our world to pause and realize what is truly important...Giving thanks for all my blessings.

Giving thanks for all of you...

Merry Christmas...





CHRISTMAS PAST and MY WISH TO YOU

I had a wonderful start to my day and it gave me energy so I decided to go Christmas shopping and leave the baking till tomorrow…that’s a good thing though because if the cookies are there I’ll eat them….it was a very snowy day just perfect for Christmas shopping.

I bought the makings for a really easy recipe my friend and also my sister in-law gave me….they’re Pecan Turtles made with the tiny square pretzels, a Rolo candy and a whole pecan….just put one Rolo on each pretzel, heat in oven till the chocolate/caramel gets soft, about 5 minutes and then press a whole pecan in the top….Just that easy.
My sister in-law brought some for my Open House and they were gobbled up immediately.

My shopping is finished but I just have a few stocking stuffers to purchase. This year we’re having an extra guest join us for our festivities. Our granddaughter is bringing her boyfriend so it was shopping for someone new this year and to have a new face at the dining room table – oh, and to fill another stocking!

What a wonderful year I have had with my blog. I have found friends in all of you and I so enjoy our chats on our blogs.

Some of you I have talked to on the phone, some I’ve even met in person, others I have kept in contact with through e-mails. To each and everyone of you….my friends…. please stay safe and warm and have the merriest Christmas ever.

As I promised this morning I said I would scan pictures of our previous years Christmas Trees.

 
I’m missing some years – quite possibly they are on discs that I have packed away. Since the digital camera I don’t get my pictures developed into hard copy pictures…they are all on the computer and then I burn them to a disc.

Now mind you …. as I look back on the pictures they are rather pathetic looking. Seems we progress through the years and wonder just what the heck we saw in our decorating…I loved it at the time….but now looking back…not so good!!!  I still laugh at what I thought was ‘pretty’ But I still hope you enjoy the changes over the years.

1967 – we moved from an old rental house to a NEW duplex!
1967

1969 we moved from the duplex to an adorable 2 story Cape Cod very similar to the one we are living in now. We had two trees this year, one in the living room and this one in the dining room.1969

1971 still in the Cape Cod1971

1975 we are now in our new home!
1975

This is the opposite end of the living room….why I thought this looked good is beyond me!1975 1

 1976 – still in the new house1976

1978 – the last year in Janesville in our new home before we got transferred to Burlington1978 1

Same year - 1978….yet another attempt at red and white…how sad!
1978 2

1979 our first Christmas in our Cape Cod in Burlington where we now reside1979 1

Same year…opposite end of room….doesn’t look like this now does it? The dark paneling is painted and the bookcases and fireplace have been faced and are deep brick red…remember the pictures I’ve posted before? I posted one after this one so you can see the difference.1979 2

Fireplace

1980
1980

1981
1981

  1983 – we took a 2 week trip to Florida over the Christmas/New Year holiday with 28 other relatives -  each family had their own condo which were owned by another cousin – I do think we had most of the condos rented that holiday. So this was our pitiful tree and gifts. My gosh how outdated this room is now!1983 Florida

 1984….now this tree we cut fresh one week before Christmas – wait till you see the next picture1984 2

This is all that’s left of it by Christmas Eve day!!!
As you walked through the room you could hear the needles dropping.
It sounded like rain and never stopped till the branches were bare.
We cut what was left of it off and Doug carried the dead carcass outside!
So we made the best of it, propped it up and threw some tinsel on it and walla…a mini-tree.

1984 1

And….we also had a fresh one in our family room but it stayed nice and crisp the whole time. 

1984 3

1986 we bought our first imitation tree….back in 1999 we purchased our German Twig Tree and gave this one to our son Dan
.
1986

1992 – like I said….the other years are on discs and  packed away

1992 

1993
1993 2

1993 1

1995
1995

2000, our second year with the German Twig Tree which we still are using2000 

 2001
2001

2003
2003 1

 2005
2005

My little German Twig Tree
2005 mini tree
 

2007
Den 4

2008 
Tree1

I know this post was so long but I just thought it would be fun to do…I love looking at my old pictures and I hope you did too.

Karen

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