GlamouRustic Kitchens

I love kitchens that have that rustic, lived-in vibe, but also possess a bit of glamour and beauty.

Love the exposed ceiling beams. Love the comfortable off white color. Love the wood floor. And LOVe the glamorous flowers on the island.

And ps, the undercabinet lighting is to die for. And pps - I think it's a great idea to have a desk in the kitchen.

I love the pops of copper in this kitchen. And the fact that they mixed it right in with the stainless steel makes me happy.

It's a glamorous kitchen with bits of rustic creeping in. Love it!

Seriously! I love copper!

This kitchen has a great lived-in feel to it.

Fireplaces in kitchens are ALWAYS a good idea in my book.

So cozy.

The thing I love most about this kitchen, is those basket drawers you can barely see on the right. Aren't those cute!! They give the kitchen that extra pinch of home.This kitchen sort of epitomizes what I'm talking about. Very glamorous with the white and the chandelier and all the windows, and then they have that rustic table/island to bring in depth. I love it.

This one just looks comfy, doesn't it!?

I really like the exposed beams in this kitchen. As well as the dark wood floors. And that old clock is amazing. Not to mention the lanterns used as pendant lighting - great idea, by the way!

Here's a cozy kitchen with a touch of glamour in that chandelier. Isn't that ceiling great!?

This could quite possibly be my favorite kitchen of all time. All the white cabinets with all that great crown molding give it the glamour, and the deep rust paint color brings in the warmth...as well as that pizza oven.How amazing is that!? LOVE that pot rack. LOVE the humongos butcherblock island. And you can't see from these pictures, but the countertops are copper.

Amazing, right!? I love it!

Red and Blue Party

This is adorable!

Obviously it was for a 4-year-old, but I think this is a great color scheme for any age!

Love those suit cases!

And the adorable pokadot cake!
Such a fun party I saw on {Birthday Girl}.

Tent Week

{Obsessively Stitching} dedicated an entire week to tent making, complete with tutorials for these and other tents on her blog. Check them out!

Beautiful

I adore this dining room! I love the chandelier! I love all the light off-white! I love the rustic, homey feel! But most of all, I LOVE that box of flowers on the table. What a simple way to make a room look beautiful.

Great Wall Storage Idea

I saw this on Centsational Girl and thought, what a GREAT idea!! Hanging planters...inside...used for storage. I love the way those toys look in them. Almost chic...and what toy room ever looks chic!? Ok, maybe there are a few out there, but seriously. Great idea!

Centsational Bedroom

This girl blows me away pretty much every time she touches a room!

I mean, look at it!

I LOVE it! The chandelier, the pop of pink flowers by the bed, the silver lamp, the tiny table, the upholstered headboard, the picture gallary on the wall...

The silvery mirror, the fluffy pillow, the drapes, the pretty white furniture...

I LOVE this little corner of the room. Especially that pillow. I'm obsessed with it!!

Well done! For more info, visit {Centsational Girl}.

Mother's Day Brunch

To me, this is what Mother's Day morning should look like. Beautiful.

Pretty Party

Unfortunately, I have no idea where I got these images.

Doesn't this look like THE perfect Spring party?!!

I love the light pastels with pops of bright pinks.

Gorgeous!

I think this cake would be perfect at this party.
Doesn't this look Divine? Visit {Martha} for the recipe.

Mother's Day Gift Idea

I know I'm not the first to post about this hand stamped jewelry that's everywhere right now. But I love jewelry, and I think this is a really cute Mother's Day idea.

Rosette Cardigan Tutorial - Jcrew Style

I have a cropped cardigan that recently was stretched so much by my son, that the collar came unattached to the rest of the cardigan, resulting in a hole on the neckline. I sewed it up, but as you can see, it's still pretty noticable. So, I decided to cover it up, using this Jcrew cardigan as my inspiration:
Here is what I did.

Step 1: I found some pre-made ruffle trim at the fabric store that perfectly matched my cardigan. I got about 1 1/2 yards but I didn't use it all. And obviously, you could use a contrasting color just as easily.

Step 2: I folded the raw edge under and then folded it under again. Then, using a needle and thread, stitched the folds shut, basically sandwiching the raw edges inside. I figure this will prevent it from running if I need to wash it.

So, this is what it looked like at the end of this step:

Step 3: Put the ribbon/ruffles face down just below the shoulder seam. Using a needle and thread, tack the ribbon to the shoulder seam, just above the seam you just made in step 2. That way, when you fold the ribbon/ruffles back down, that seam you made in step 2 will be hidden underneath.

Step 4: Using a needle and thread, tack the ribbon/ruffles to the front of the cardigan every inch or so. Line up the edge of the ribbon to the cardigan's neck line for about 1 1/2 inches, then bring the ribbon out toward the sleeve in an arc, so it ends up looking like a half circle. Make sure the arc ends up at the corner where the neckline meets the front buttons. Leaving yourself a little bit extra, so you can make a seam like in step 2, cut the excess off. Make the seam in step 2 on the new cut-off end, and then tack that seam to the edge of the center of the cardigan. It doesan't matter what it looks like, because you'll be covering it up.

Step 5: Make another seam as in step 2 to the rest of your ribbon/ruffles. Lay the ribbon face down on top of the seam you just tacked on in step 4. Sew the ribbon to the cardigan just above the seam you just made, so all these seams are hidden beneath the ribbon once you flip it over.

Step 6: Tack the ribbon every inch or so about 1/2 an inch above the arc of the layer below, so you can see the ruffles stick out beneath the layer you're now taking on. Instead of just completing a half circle, tack the ribbon all the way around this time.

Step 7: Once you've made a circle, continue tacking it down in a spiral pattern, until you have barely any room left to tack. :)

Step 8: Take the end of the ribbon/ruffles and stuff it inbetween the spots where you tacked it town until you've got the unfinished end of the ribbon underneath the bottom layer of the rosette you've made.Step 9: Play with it until you've created a pretty center for your rosette, then tack it down anywhere you feel you need to in order to cover up the ends or stitches you've made, etc.

Step 10: Cut off the excess ribbon, leaving a little extra to repeat step 2 again and seal off the ends for the last time. Then, tack the end seam down underneath the bottom layer of ruffles, so it's hidden underneath.

TaDa!

You've got a pretty little cardi with a pretty little rosette on it. Obviously, if this were not a cropped cardigan, I could have done a few more layers underneath to make it hang lower, like the Jcrew one does, but I felt like that would be a little much for this mini-size cardigan of mine. Maybe I'll have to try it again and do that with a full-size cardi. :) Also, I realize it would be faster and easier to do this by just using a sewing machine, but I was worried about the cardigan being able to stretch, as that is where the hole came in the first place. Anyway, have fun! :)