Heart Sweet Home

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Girly corner…

May 9, 2012 – 10:12 am

…here in Iceland its traditional for babies to sleep in their parents bedrooms, at least for the first few months. So when a good friend of mine asked me for help to create a little haven for their little girl I jumped to the chance.

…we deceided on a neutral color scheme. Just a hint of pink and then simply enjoy the beauty of simple things. We bought a few old, golden frames at the local Goodwill and replaced the back with cork.

…we used small pins to fasten the itsy bitsy teeny weeny cute chlothes in the frame…

…we really wanted to keep the frames in their original gold color. The gold added warmth and character.

…I adore the chair that they already had in the master bedroom. I think its from Pier1…

…I think this is one of the most beautiful coats that I have ever seen, I wonder if they have it in my size?…

…see, even the bear wants it 🙂 …

…this gorgeous coat rack was already in the room – luvs it….

…we used Alvine curtains from Ikea to create the canopy for the bed and hung it on a rod that is supposed to be used outdoors for flowerpots…

…I adore the wall color, so soothing!

…I adore the bed and bedding…

…this small wallshelf was bought at Bauhaus, its the perfect size for the space…

…here you can see the before of the master bedroom:

…and then after:

…here we had placed the canopy but we had yet to style the walls:

…and after everything was put in their right place:

…I adore the lacy curtain canopy and then the lacy book shelves on the wall!

…and talking about the lacy shelves. These are Liksidig napkin holders from Ikea. At just $ 3.95 – you cant beat that price 😉

…we just drilled them to the wall, a very simple solution…

…and I have to say that I adore them! They would also look wonderful in a kitchen for cookbooks!

The entire project cost just over $100

…ohhhh my, look at the shoes…

…ahhhhh…..cuteness….overload…

…we were quite pleased witht the end results…

So do you have a favorite piece?

The lacy shelves?

The frames?

Making spaces for kids is one of my favorite things.

I think this looks soft and inviting 🙂

Comments (3)

DIY – crystals on a lampshade…

May 7, 2012 – 8:04 am

I had been longing for a crystal light fixture, as shown in the picture below. The only problem was that I was not willing to pay all the $ and I really wanted a similar light but a table lamp.

So I deceided to make one myself. I had a black lampshade in the garage and a lampbase, both from Ikea..

I used to have a “crystal-chandelier”, also from Ikea (has anyone started to notice a pattern forming regarding a Ikea-adddiction) and after it had served its purpose I saved the crystals to use on a later date.

I deceided this was the later date so I re-arranged my crystals as I wanted them and simply attached them to the lampshade.

I just arranged the crystals as I saw fit and liked.

This was very simple and Im very happy with the end results.

So this little lamp, made on a budget, seems to enjoy his stay on the corner table in my living room

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I got the whole world…

April 16, 2012 – 10:54 pm

…in my home 🙂

I am having a loveaffair with maps and globes these days, just like so many other bloggers. So when I found a poster/wrapping paper of a old world map (bought here) I just loved it and had to get it for my house.

As you can see there is a large selection but I choose this one here.

After arriving home with the poster in my posession I came to the realization that I had no wallspace available.

So what is a girl to do? Wait a while and then prehaps and idea might be born, and it was!

While looking at my cupboard that was feeling fairly dark and gloomy…

…I took pages from an old book that I had and started to fasten the pages to the backboards, using an ordinary tape that I simply looped together…

…I deceided to but up the pages in various manner, some on the side while others were facing straight forward…

…and then I put up my map poster. I wish that it would have filled out the entire area but seeing as it did not. I had to make due with what I had…

…and then after re-arranging my things back on the shelf…

…I then started to do the next shelf. I only had one map so while placing the old book on the top shelve (an old Webster dictionary) I noticed there were old maps and the pages were loose pages. So I simply removed them and placed them next to the old bookpages and of couse, that meant harmony between the two shelves and a very happy me…

..I allowed some pages to be hung inspite of being torn up a bit, thought it added character…

…and on we go, shelf by shelf…

…this one was for my father in law, ohhhh Canada 🙂

…old champagne glasses that my parents received as an engagement-gift some 50 years ago:)

…and at last all shelves are full and decorated…

..I took my three small Crate and Barrel globes and placed them on candlesticks, making them look quite different…

…the family silver, unpolished – so dont tell my mom 😉

…using two tiered trays to place cups on is a fantastic way to make more use of the shelfspace…

…this set is also old, from my parents…

…our wedding glasses and statue…

…our gorgeous Iittala Thule glasses, from my inlaws 🙂

..and a little close-up of the map..

…ok, the thing is that this idea might not be for everyone. But it can be applied using something else that might be more to your liking, such as Scrap-paper, newspaper, wallpaper and even wrappingpaper 🙂

It makes the cupboard look much more lighter and it gained a lot of history.

It sorta look like an old weary traveller now…

…for the time being at least, I like it…

So what to you think?

Like or dislike? 🙂

Tags Mini-makeover | Comments (3)

Flower tray – DIY

April 11, 2012 – 8:00 am

I had this white, very large, wood tray…

…I liked it but did not love it. So what is a girl to do?

I had these floral wall stickers, bought in Ikea and placed them on the tray…

…and then I fetched some paint that I alredy had in my posession. It´s a lovely grayish/brown sort of color…

…and I painted the whole tray and all the way to the rims, leaving just the outside in the original while color…

…I then removed the wall decals…

…and sanded the tray, to give it a weathered look….

…it was started to look better already 🙂

…and after placing my favorite lamp (also Ikea) on it….

…I have to say that I think they are a match made in heaven!

…Love seeing the floral pattern through the lamp!

…I also deceided to flip my runner upside down, and then the colors of the two were almost identical…

…and with the orchid on the table and the lovely lamp in the bacground, whats not to love?

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Cake stand….

April 10, 2012 – 8:41 am

…ohh my dear sweet cake stand.

I bought this clear cake stand in Ikea once opon a time. Then one, not such a sweet day, the poor dear fell and it got broken. That is, the bottom half of it.

So I am left with the dish without a foot and what to do?

Then while going through some boxes in the garage I found this old candlestick and then a lightbulb went off…

….I got utterly convinced that these two could become friends for life…

…my husband was not as sure about the friendship but he took it upon himself to find the superclue and clue them together…

…but not before I sprayed the clear dish, upside down, with black spaypaint, and the candlestick received the same treatment. You can see the how the foot was broken and because of this it had to be a candlestick that was a bit hollow to make the dish level again…

…and after all the I was the proud owner of a brand new cake stand!

…and looking good! If I say so myself 🙂

…Im very happy that I deceided to keep the plate black, it makes a nice contrast to the white tabletop…

…so, you like?

Would you have saved it as well?

Recycling all the way!

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6 years old…

April 6, 2012 – 9:00 am

…and the big day finally arrived!

After long discussions we came to a mutual understanding that the birthday theme would be fairytale/forrest-y/Pet Shop, a mash-up of everything to keep both mother and daughter happy 🙂

Then on a trip to Ikea, this bathmat turned out to be the inspiration for most of the decor.

So after some DIY-ing and featuring the bathmat prominetly, I give you the birthday party:

Start by showing some photos and maybe some more details further down the road…

…the bathmat was cut into three even strips and placed as a runner on the table, a little bit woodsy and reminded me of grass…

…chocolate cake with white fondant and woodland decor…

…the cake seen from all angels 😉 …

…love the little bird cages…

…all the little details…

…I always decorate the chandelier, and this time I used Smycka flowers from Ikea and some butterflies that I cut out by hand…

….I also found these little bluebirds and I adore them!

…wait for it, there is still plenty to come…

…I made the small fondant-mushrooms on the cake, and then had some small mushrooms “growing” from the ~~table runner~~ grass…

…and I when found these gorgeous mushroom candles I almost shrieked outloud in the store 😉

…and after placing them on the cake I could not have been more content….

…a little tip for birthday parties, I serve milk that I just add a little food coloring to and then, tadaa you have pink princess milk – always popular with the little girlies 🙂

…all the placesettings come from Ikea…

…and finally my beautiful birthday girl!

Tags Birthday | Comments (6)

DIY – book page banner

April 5, 2012 – 11:24 pm

I wanted to make a simple banner for Easter.

For those of you that are not fluent in my native Icelandic language: Páskar means Easter.

This is a super simple DIY.

First of all, print the letters on simple white paper and cut them out…

…use pages from old books, or even just pretty scrap-paper and glue the letters onto the page…

…punch some holes at the top of the pages and thred a string through the loops…

…And there you have it. Easy DIY and this idea could be wonderful for birthdays and other parties 🙂

Ahhh and then I took some pictures of my hanging ester eggs in the daylight and wanted to share them with you…

…ribbon and some stickers…

I love simple DIY´s that are easy on the eyes and your budget!

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Egg-citing…

April 3, 2012 – 10:24 pm

I wanted to find some eggs for Easter to hang over the dining table.

Since I was having trouble finding the correct shade of blue I deceided to make them myself.

Wanna see what I came up with?

…I found this wonderful Martha Stewart paint in a local scrapstore Skrapp og gaman, and its very apparent that Martha knows how to mix colors! They are also pearl glazed which means they look extra festive.

…and what did I paint you might ask?

I found these foam eggs in a craftstore, very inexpensive and light to hang, also easy to deocorate.

…and after all my painting I was left with this batch of freshly painted eggs …

..good job and matching my beautiful candle holders perfectly..

…I was happy with the result of using two different shades of blue…

..and now for the fun part – decorating the eggs:

…I pinned a floral ribbon around the egg and at the bottom I added crystals…

…I used a small hanging device to fasten the crystal, you might find that in the jewlery-making-department at the craft store…

…here you can see all my stash, what I had to work from…

…including crystals…

…and flowers…

…and all sorts of decorative pins, with both crystals and pearls…

…and overlooking all my madness…

…but the end results were quite pleasing…

….all sorts of variations…

…I also deceided to use my distress ink that I bought in Skrapp og gaman….

…and my trusty script-stamp…

…and that worked out fine…

…all the eggs were hanged with a small ribbon that I looped and fastened with a crystal pin…

Then I have to sing the praises of my butterfly punch…

This one is from EK Success and I have to say that I find him to be perfect. The size of the butterflies is just right.

…it just might be that you would find a butterfly-shaped-hole in most papers around the house these days,

it just might be 😉

…and therefore I deceided to add some butterflies to he chandelier, just to make sure that the eggs would not be lonely…

…and then the final results…

…some had flowers, others did not…

…here I added some crystal stickers, bought in Skrapp og gaman….

So how do you like them?

…Are they as egg-citing to you as they are to me?

Tags DIY, Easter | Comment (1)

Nesting…

April 2, 2012 – 10:43 pm

…I do love wreaths, and they do remind me of spring…

So I deceided to venture into my garden and cut down some branches to make one for the fireplace.

And up it goes…

…and seeing that Easter is comming I used a pair of lovely birds that I had, lying in their nest along with some eggs and placed them into the wreath…