Today, I am thankful for something I know everyone loves.... long weekends. Seriously, what is better than a long weekend? Welllllll that answer would be: a long weekend that includes going to my hometown, seeing college friends, spending time with family and tailgating.

I wish all tailgates were this stylish. Via here.

This evening, we are heading back to good ole Stillwater, Oklahoma for OSU's Homecoming. AKA America's Greatest Homecoming Celebration (not an exaggeration). I can't wait to be at my Momma's house, eat at my fav hometown restaurants, catch up with friends, don some gameday attire, etc!

So thankful to have a long weekend that is going to be SO much fun!

I hope you all have a great weekend as well-- see ya Monday!

For my 8 year old self

Came across these images by UK artist  Jirka Väätäinen via Yahoo today. She used photo manipulation to show what Disney princesses would look like if they were 'real'.... really incredible, don't you think?

Princess Aurora from Sleeping Beauty

Princess Jasmine from Aladdin

Pocahantes

Meg from Hercules

Esmerelda from the Huncback of Notre Dame

Belle from Beauty and the Beast

And my personal childhood fav, Ariel!

All images via here.

Who says Disney creates an unhealthy body image for little girls??? ha.

Anyway, what a talented artist-- I love these!

Chouse dining room updates: Part 2

As I shared here, I have been making some changes to the dining room. I think I am done... for now.

Here is a run down of what I did:

# 1- Swapped out the crystals on the chandelier. The chandy had some red ones (yes... red) on it when we moved in. I wasn't digging them, so they got removed. I just got around to replacing them with some extras from my grandmother's chandy.

Old on left, new on right.

# 2- re-covered the chairs with velvet. Looooooove. See my inspiration here.

# 3- moved the skirted table in here. We really needed some more storage in this room. And also, with Thanksgiving dinner coming up, I think I am going to be really happy that we have an extra surface to set stuff on so I won't have to run back and forth to the kitchen. I also moved the message board upstairs and replaced it with a framed chalkboard paint message board. Like I said... I like to change stuff.

# 4- Added new art. As you can see, this project is only half done. Walgreens photo and I had a little mis-understanding (read- I wanted them to print my photos... they could not get this done for various reasons. Don't get me started). ANYWAY- I will be getting the pics for these frames soon. Here are the ones I am using:

Entrance to the Park.

The Chouse.

Also, gotta have some fall decor somewhere, so I have a little pumpkin/sweet gum tree spur action happening on the table. It's kinda creepy looking and I like it.

On to the next project! (should probably be finishing the powder room, but we shall see)

How to recover a cube

Last week, I told you about my leopard tray extravaganza. Well, I have another DIY undertaking to share this week. And it's a good one.

My fab friend, Katie (yes, the same one from the other post), had some cubes that she wanted to recover. After getting some re-upholstery quotes, she decided to give it a go herself! And her first shot was pretty good! But when I was over at her house, we made the first one look even better with the use of a staple gun and hot glue gun. Those things are seriously magic, it made the cubes super tailored and I'm not trying to pat our own backs, but they seriously do not look DIY at all! So, I helped her re-cover the second one using our new found techniques and thought I would share with ya'll how to do it.

Just wanted to start with the finished product so you can see where we are heading... pretty good, right?

This is what we started with. Her two cats really love to lounge on the cubes (evidence below) and she and her husband use them for foot rests in their living room. So, since Katie really want to bring a little something something into her LR, she decided on this fab Dwell fabric.

Here's what we needed for this project:

-A yard and a half of fabric
-Iron
-Stitch witchery aka hem tape
-Staple gun
-Glue gun
-Straight pins
-Scissors

First, lay the fabric good side down over the cube.

Then, use straight pins to pin the corners. Get as close to the cube as you can, it will result in a more tailored effect.

Trim the excess fabric.

On this step, you can either use the Stitch Witchery or, if you want to bust out the sewing machine, you can do that as well. We went for option A.

Put the Stitch Witchery in the fold and iron it to create the seams.

Remove the pins from the sides and lay it over the cube.

Next, we  used a hot glue gun to reinforce the seams. (do not judge the use of the hot glue gun- it will revolutionize your life and your crafting)

Then, staple the fabric to the underside of the cube.

And trim the excess.

To make the area around the legs look nice, we hot glued the fabric down even more. Like I said above- glue gun= life changer.

Ta da!

Don't worry, the cubes are totally kitty approved.



They really look amazing in Katie's LR! We are both so pumped about the results and I know Katie is pumped she didn't have to shell out major $$$ to get them done professionally. It's a win all around!

They look so good, I am wanting to pick up some cubes and recover them for somewhere in the Chouse... these Target ones would be a perfect "before." You would have to recover the top individually, but I think you would end up with the same effect.

Here.

Maybe in this fabric...

Here.

 Or this one..

Here.

The options are endless! So what do you think? Should Katie and I quit our day jobs and become upholsterers? I'm sure our techniques could use a bit of refining :)

Thankful Thursdays: Pandora

Pandora really gets me through the day. Just to be clear, not the jewelry... the online radio :) Some of my fav stations? Ohhh Gavin Degraw, Garth Brooks (obvi- fav of my lifetime), Beyonce, Death Cab for Cutie, Broadway All-Stars, Adele, NSYNC (this is a no judgement zone), Symphonic, NeedtoBreathe, Mumford and Sons, Randy Rogers Band.... the list goes on! Once December hits, you know I will be hitting up the Christmas station, too.

This is what I wish I were doing while listening to Pandora...

Here.

But really, I am just sitting at a desk.... Almost the same thing.

And you know I can't talk about dancing without sharing one of my favorite YouTube videos of life. You will NOT be disappointed if you watch this video.

ANYWAY, what are YOU thankful for today? Have any awesome Pandora station recommendations I need to add to my rotation??

PS- I also really love that Lisa (from RHOBH obvi) named her daughter Pandora. And said with a british accent, perfection! "Pahhndoora."

Upcoming movie obsessions

Random, but I wanted to share some of my upcoming movie obsessions. (and yes, JIC you were wondering, I do watch the previews over and over on YouTube. Not weird.)

This goes without saying... Breaking Dawn Part 1. There are really no words.

I just re-read the book in anticipation of November 18. Cannot get here quick enough!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Alright, on to the next one. For my 26th birthday, I will be celebrating by seeing The Hunger Games. If you are not yet familiar with this amaze-ing book/trilogy, see my comments here.

Side note- I don't think that trailer is the 'official' one... but I liked it better. Due out: March 2012.

Another movie I am really looking forward to is The Vow. Comes out on Valentines Day next year. We will see if my love for Channing Tatum in Step Up can be superceded by Channing Tatum in this movie.

I saw a preview for "Like Crazy" in the theater and I think it's gunna be a good one!

And last but certainly not least is the remake of the Great Gatsby. Leo DiCaprio will be Gatsby and Carey Mulligan will be Daisy. Perfect. This one will come out November of 2012, so no preview yet. I don't now if it will be anywhere near as good as the original with Mia Farrow and Robert Redford, but I'm looking forward to finding out!

Here.

Kinda funny that 3 of the 4 are movies being adapted from books! And three of my favorite books at that. Can hardly STAND the excitement.

Anyway! What movies are you are really looking forward to seing? Are there any great movies coming out around the holidays I need to know about?

DIY Leopard Tray

This past weekend, I completed some super fun DIY projects. One of them was this fab leopard tray that my friend Katie found on Pinterest. She did it first and after I saw her finished product, I knew I needed one too :)

Original pin Here.

I started with this lovely tray I got as a hostess gift. I love it, but thought the leopard would give it some extra oomph.

I didn't follow the directions from the original pin exactly. My tray has rubber grippers on the bottom to keep it from getting scraped up, so I had to put the paper on the inside of the tray instead of the outside. I am a rule breaker and living on the DIY edge.

So I cut the paper down to more manageable size (PS-Katie got the leopard paper at World Market and was sweet enough to give me some for my tray).

Then, I placed the paper on the inside of the tray and used a really sharp exacto knife to cut it to the right size.

Then, I used the glossy mod podge to attach it.

 After the paper was placed, I used a credit card to smooth out the air bubbles.

I did another layer of mod podge on top. About this time, the Hubs asked "is that going to dry clear?" I responded with "please do not insult my crafting ability by asking questions like that!"

Obviously, it does dry clear, and leaves a lovely glossy coating over the paper. I think it looks just fab.

More fun DIYs to share later!

Chouse dining room updates

I shared some pics of our dining room not long after we moved in. True to form, I already got the itch to change some things. It's not my fault! I blame this fabulous dining room from Simplified Bee.....


Here.

Can you guess what I was thinking? If you said VELVET! Then you are right. The pattern we had on the chairs I was just not digging with the rug... and I thought velvet would be the perfect solution to this problem. I was right.

I had to convice the Hubs on this one. Not surprisingly, he doesn't get the itch to change things as much as I do. I chalk it up to one of those "men are from mars, women are from venus things".
ANYWAY. Here is a sneak peak.

I love how cozy the velvet makes the room feel. I think I have made a believer out of the Hubs, too. More dining room updates to come!

Happy Monday!

True. That!


Just a friendly reminder!

Christina Tonkin Interiors

The return of Gossip Girl this season re-ignited a question that started bothering me seasons ago... who designed the amazing sets????

If you do a google search of gossip girl set/gossip girl interiors/gossip girl rooms, you don't come up with much. But, luckily enough, as I was reading the October issue of Adore Magazine, I found the answer! NYC designer Christina Tonkin designed not only the Gossip Girl sets... but some of the SATC sets as well!!! Two shows whose rooms have such amazing style.... but what stands out the most to me is how Christina captures the essence of the characters within their homes. It really is SO interesting.

Charlotte York's Park Avenue apartment, the epitome of classic, WASP-y style.

Miranda Hobbs' apartment has a semi-masculine feel.

And Samantha Jones' bedroom... its allllllllll about the bed, and so is Samantha! Ha.

Tonkin designed the Petrofsky loft as well, which is very moody. Perfect for a brooding artist.

The Gossip Girl interiors are just perfection as well.

Blair's bedroom is just so glamorous. Shiny surfaces, silk and gilded elements....it definitely looks like a palace.

The glamorous feeling of Blair's bedroom is definitely in keeping with the rest of the Waldorf penthouse.

Check out those mirrored Louis chairs!

Serena's bedroom at the Waldorf apartment is definitely more eclectic and showcases contemporary art, which is interesting because so does the apartment she 'grew up in'. I love that Tonkins had the attention to detail to bring that to Serena's new room.

See? The Van der Woodsen residence is all about the art as well and is very contemporary and eclectic.

All images via here.

Not only is Christina a genius at set design, but she has a very impressive residential portfolio worth checking out as well.

Anyway, do ya'll love the SATC and GG sets as much as I do? I would love to discuss your predictions of what will happen this season on GG!!!