Before Blogging Throwback Thursdays #2 - Floor Me

This month flew by.  I can't believe it's the third Thursday of April already.  Last month's party was terrific and I hope everyone's ready to party again.  With all the running around for Easter, it was nice to be able to snap a couple of photos of something without working on a tutorial.  Today I'm sharing my foyer floor.

When we first moved into this home, there was the original red-grey-green, slate-look, vinyl tile floors from the 60's.  This was long before I started blogging, so forgive the lack of a before pic.  I knew I wanted to replace the flooring with real tile, but having just bought a house, our money tree was bare.  I was walking through Home Depot one day and found a couple of boxes of "Cherry Blossom" marble tiles clearanced for $1.99/ft.  I snagged them.

There wouldn't be enough to do the entire foyer and closet, but there was enough to make an "area rug" out of the tiles.  Since I had zero interest in trying to cut the marble, I decided it'd be best to go with that rug look.  So I was on the lookout for field tiles that would go with the marble.  I looked for a couple of weeks when I came across these fantastic 8" listellos also at Home Depot.  They were the perfect colors to frame the marble.  Even better they were clearanced to 48 cents apiece.  They had the exact amount I needed + one, so I bought them all.

Still on the lookout for a matching field tile, I found these very basic 8x8 marble-like swirly ceramic tiles at Lowes.  They were basic, cheap, and there were enough to tile the foyer closet plus the foyer border.  Plus being ceramic, I was confident that I could make my cuts with the basic score and snap cutter and tile bit on my rotozip.  It took the better part of a week, but I ripped up the yucky floors and laid down the new without too much trouble.  I think CG was rather impressed and I've done all the floors and tile in this home since.

So let's party!  Remember to follow the party rules - they're pretty basic.

1.  This is a Before Blogging party.  So link up any thing you made, bought, designed, etc. before blogging.  If you scored a sidechair from the curb, painted a room, made a craft, or DIYed a solution sometime before blogging it qualifies.  Snap a pic and join in.

2.  Grab my button from my sidebar and add it to your post.

3.  Go visit a couple of other party guests.  It's a great way to meet other bloggers.

That's it.  Party On.  This linky will be open for a week so invite your friends.
I'm linking this up to Fireflies and Jellybeans' Show off Your Stuff Party, Remodelaholic's Remodelaholics Anonymous Party, and DIY Showoff's Project Parade.

Easter Tables

CG's family is coming in this weekend for Easter, so to avoid running around like a crazy person, I've been doing some baking ahead and have set my tables.  We'll be having 8 at the adult table and 3 at the kids' table.  WD questioned why he's sitting at the kids table and I told him that only legal drivers will be sitting at the adult table.  He still has another year and a half to go.  He responded that he's taller than both his grandmothers and all of his aunts.  It's true.  The boy is growing like a weed, but I'm not ready to have him at the adult table yet.

Back to the table, I fell in love with the Martha Stewart bunny napkin fold, and just had to use it for my napkins.  Love Martha!  The salad plates are gold rimmed Eschenbach plates from my MIL.  The tablecloth is a $15 TJMaxx score, and the lavender wine glasses are from the dollar store.  Who knew you could buy wine glasses there?

Inspired by an image KathySue shared at Good Life of Design, I planted seeds in some cleaned out shells.  One of my shells is still under the grow lights.  It's just poked up out of the soil and won't be ready til tomorrow.  Just pretend there are three seedlings sitting in the spanish moss at the top of the tiered plate stand that's serving as my centerpiece.

At the base of the centerpiece are my chick & bunny salt & pepper shakers, and several egg cups.  I love the bright colors of the egg cups.

This Fenton basket was a Christmas gift from years ago.  I love the whimsical bunny marshmallows in the iridescent glass basket.  The tray is Limoges.

Over on the kid's table you'll find more bunny napkins, but in a more colorful napkin.  They sit on fun melamine egg shaped salad plates. 

The centerpiece is a simple dollar store wire centerpiece in a small Easter bucket with some more yellow chicks rimming the bucket.

SB loves playing with the soft little chicks.  I found them for next to nothing at the Christmas Tree Shoppes.

The kids table has a magically refilled glass dish of M&Ms.  At least that's what SB believes.

Thanks for popping in and checking out my Easter tables.  I'm sharing this at Between Naps on the Porch's Tablescape Thursdays and the Tablescaper's Seasonal Sundays.

Accessorizing the Picture Ledges

When I shared our new Picture Ledges last week, I wrote the whole post as a tutorial without showing any of the things that have landed on them.  That jumping horse is a Steiff piece from CG's great aunt's home.  She loved throwing a Derby party each year, as do we.  This year we'll be sure to raise a mint julep to the sky for her.

They're most of the way dressed now.  After having a Picture Gallery Wall for so long, I wanted to have this as a mix of both pictures and bits & bobs of sentiment.  I started with a few pictures.  This grouping is mostly vacation pics, whether it's camping or the cottage.

I dug into our box of honeymoon stuff and found this cruise ship collectible and a vial of gold flakes from our honeymoon in Alaska.

Remember that big box of silver that I received from my MIL?  I picked 2 teaspoons engraved with 2 separate monograms that can be traced way back in the family bible and matted them on some teastained passport scrapbook paper in a shadow box.  I used glue dots to keep them in place.

Keeping this a family wall I created a piece of typography artwork with our family name.  These are diecut letters matted on fabric from my neverending fabric stash.

I wanted to keep this a light and fun mix and love the juxtaposition of my very formal wedding ring pics right next to this fun pic of CG and myself dressed as Obi Wan and Darth Maul one Halloween.  I spent an hour braiding cornrows to go underneath the skull cap and applying my makeup.  CG clipped on the jedi braid and was done.  WD was Anakin that year, but we don't have a pic of all 3 of us for some reason.

Thanks for popping in and accessorizing with me.  Don't forget to come back tomorrow with your before blogging projects for my monthly Before Blogging Throwback Thursdays linkup party.  I'm linking this up to No Minimalist Here's Open House Party.

Keeping It Real

I'm a decor mag junkie.  I love sitting in the Barnes & Noble cafe with a venti coffee and a big pile of magazines.  When I began blog reading, a whole new avenue for beautiful images opened up to me.  While doing my morning click around I came across a new to me blog. Herz-Allerliebst.  (Thanks Google Translate!)  Page after page of gorgeous images and yummy looking recipes.  Images like this one.

I love everything about this photo.  I love the sofa with fluffy white pillows snugged up to the white painted table with the gorgeous vignette. 

But lets get real.  I have boys.  Rambunctious, destructive boys.  That gorgeous tall, footed, crystal server would last about 30 seconds before SB went crashing into it because WD wolloped him across the temple with one of those no longer white pillows.

In the midst of prepping for a small get-together yesterday, I heard the all too familiar sound of breaking glass.

I'd like to say that was an anomaly, but earlier that day CG was super gluing my Easter egg cookie jar back together.

So as much as I adore that image from above, we live in a house of pattern, color, and stained wood.  I make a conscious decision to buy glass items with wide bases that are tough to knock over.  Obviously this isn't a fool-proof plan, but that green glass vase was 7-8 yrs old vs the 30 seconds that it would have lasted with a smaller base.

Check out my soapstone counters.  They've developed a patina of fine scratches that add to the beauty of the stone tops.  I routinely have several titanium stick wielding teenaged boys running through this house.  My counters were going to take some abuse.  I'm glad that they handle it so well.



For those who can do dreamy floaty whites, keep posting pics, but I'm keeping it real here with color and pattern.

Thanks for popping in and checking out how we keep it real.  I'm linking this up at Not Just a Housewife's Get Real Party.   Don't forget to come back Thursday for my Before Blogging Throwback Thursdays party.  Can you believe it's already the 3rd Thursday?  April's flying by. 

Basil Tilapia

Fish cooks in a flash and is a fantastically lean protein that can be the base of a quick & easy meal.  The boys love tilapia for it's mild flavor, and I love it for it's relatively cheap price.  This is one of their favorite ways to eat fish - Basil Tilapia.

This is so easy to make, I'm almost embarassed to be posting the how-to.  I tear off a sheet of aluminum foil, drizzle it with olive oil, and sprinkle salt & pepper on both sides of the tilapia fillet.  I then add a smear of pesto.  I love fresh pesto with basil straight from the garden, but jarred is fine too.

I slice up half of a small onion to divide up between our 4 fish packets, and top the fish with slices.

I wrap the foil up tightly, and place the packets in a preheated 400 oven for about 20 minutes.

That's it.  Easy, Peasy, Lemon Squeezy.  Served up with some bagged salad and rice, dinner's on the table in less than half an hour.

Thanks for popping in and cooking with me.  I'm linking this up to Gluten-Free Homemaker's Gluten-Free Wednesdays.