Sara's Art Gallery.

When lil S came into our lives four years back we brought home a cot bed. What is a cot bed you ask? Well a cot that is a little bigger than a normal cot and can turn into a bed once your little girl leaves the title of an infant far behind (Basically the cot railings come off and the height can be decreased to make it into a low level bed that is perfect for a kid).

So all this time she had been using it with the cot railings on because I wasn't sure if the time had come to turn it into a bed. But when we moved here we thought of doing away with the cot railings and giving her a "new" bed. She has been loving her bed and since its really close to the ground I am not really scared of her falling down in the middle of her sleep and hurting herself (Having said that one side of the bed is right against the wall and other side has a soft carpet).

But this is not what the post is about.It is about the sleepless nights that the cot railings had been giving me. I couldn't bring myself to throw them away or keep them hiding in the store. It had to be reused. Every little thing in the house has to be reused and upcycled. It is a sickness I tell you:)

And so in exactly five minutes we turned it into her art gallery. Like this.

 We made them stand together vertically (at an angle so that they don't fall).  

Adorned them with mini lanterns. So that her room sparkled at night.

And sometimes during the day. You can't refuse such a teeny tiny artist can you?

Added some twine and adorable clips to hang her artwork. As you can see the ballet obsession continues. She has been experimenting with dry pastels these days.

And ofcourse every gallery NEEDS to have the artist's name. Right there at the top:) 

A lovely gift from her aunt.

 We also pulled out some baby toys.They have been living in a basket for a long time now because she tells me "I am not a baby anymore"

And we were done. 

What do you think about our little art gallery?

Images : Personal Album

May Fetish.

Driftwood. Yes, that is my fetish of the month. Its been a while that we've had any fetish posts around here. I have in the past enjoyed putting it together and plan to go back to sharing it with all of you.

So here goes. I love the natural look and the interesting rough texture it has. It is like bringing a little bit of the outdoors into your home.

 You could just bundle a lot of these in a vase or a pretty basket. 

Or show off a single piece.

 Thread them together to make a picture holder or a hang your sparkly baubles or a bag or two.

Why only baubles? How about creating a wreath, a Christmas tree and a star or two.

On string them all together and pair them with beads or wall pendants. 

My favorite has to be the one here...for scribbling words that will inspire me.

 For those who want to challenge their creativity how about making a lamp or using it as base for a table. Drool.

Or use it for your tea lights and your greens. Genius.

Want to make something quick and simple. Introduce some shells.

Mono is boring, is it? How about painting it? 

Just look at these driftwood houses. Instant Love.

Or turn into a pretty boat. 

Will always remind you of the beach from where you picked it.

So which of these is your favorite? 

Do share how you brought driftwood into your homes.

Hope you are having a lovely week.

Get inspired by going through tons of other Fetish posts here.

Images:1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21 and 22

Loving the contrast.

I am loving the contrast. 
Antiseptic laboratory equipment meets living and pretty greens.
Funnels, beakers, test tubes and centrifuge tubes have never looked better:) 

Image : 1,2 and 3

Clever or creative?

Came across this cracker of an idea to hide those ugly water pipes/rain spouts. 

Creative and clever.

Image: here

May Fetish!

For almost a year I had something I called the "Fetish posts" at purplehomes. It was lovely gathering inspirational ideas and seeing the ordinary turn into a work of art. Now, I'd like to start them again and I am hoping you are going to enjoy going through them. 

To visit all the old fetish posts, go here.

This May I am loving window frames. And while doing my little research on using the old and worn ones creatively I came across tons and tons of ideas that I intend to share  with you all through the month.

The first one, today. 

Old Window frames = Charming picture displays.

I have a thing or two for wooden clips. 

Remember I used really tiny ones (Read the complete post here). 
Really easy to put together and whats great is you can keep changing the pics as often as your heart wants to

Another very vintage kind of display. 

Love.Love.Love. A single enlarged picture.

Ofcourse one can use it like a regular grid kind of a photograph frame. 

An interesting take on the above idea; the knobs give it a dual purpose.

Do come back for lots more that you can do with a window frame next week :)

Image :  1,2,3,4  & 5

Scrabble anyone?

There was a time when we used to play a lot of Scrabble. There were hours dedicated to the game. Then came chess which I really tried to learn but failed miserably. Pictionary followed. Every get together we had at home or at a friend's place would have the entire group fighting...why can't you guess what I drew...oh hell we lost because of so and so. Ahem...so much so that a good friend stopped playing it with us because he was scared that our group might actually harm each other, physically:))

Taboo came next. It didn't require any drawing skills and most men in the group were happy about it. ( And by that I don't mean that men can't draw, only the ones in our group sucked:))

And then all my girlfriends and yours truly had babies. Its been three years and we haven't managed a single game of ANYTHING. The chats are interspersed with general mummy calls, diaper changes, food timings and in general what little children do best...make noise:)

One day we will play again:) Amen.

Till then let me just look at some Scrabble inspired design ideas around the house and more.

Perfect for seating labels, gift tags, party favors and more. The ones here are all wedding related but the ideas can be easily adapted to a Scrabble inspired party.

Cushions, Book shelves and the oh so cute kitchen shelf labels. I am SO going to do the last one.  And if you'd like to see more of this kitchen jump right here. A  little while back I did one full post on it.

Feeling creative? How about making your own coasters or may be one complete wall dedicated to and designed around alphabets? Drool.

Wall art that's simple and gorgeous. I love the nursery picture.Really inspiring.

Which one are you itching to try? What board games do you like to play?

Images:  1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12 and 13

My cute little button

What is cute, little and has a nose that is tiny as a button? My cute little button Sara and on the 31st of January'12 she turned three. 

A birthday full of cheerful colours...sunny yellow, happy pinks and our favorite purple. 

A birthday full of hundreds of buttons...some edible and some not. 

I wanted the card to be really simple and 

so started the hunt for a  happy print for the invitation card.

Torn strips of paper and three bright buttons later our handmade invitation card was ready. The last two birthday parties had been celebrated at home but not this time...for the little lady had a pretty long guest list. And so started my search for a dreamy birthday party venue.

Teal wrought iron chairs, fairy lights, white walls to die for...

A place right after my heart 

A French patisserie. Charming.

 

Do you see that blackboard near the entrance?Lovely touch. I loved the place and what made me happier was that they agreed to let me do up the already oh-so-gorgeous place, my way. 

 And so I doted all the tables with tiny flowers in tiny tealight holders that I carried from home. Don't be shocked I own at least a hundred of these babies:)

 
Each tealight vase wore a piece of twine and a button. 

I had vintage English high-tea stands and white wicker baskets in mind for the food and the lovely staff at the Patisserie indulged me. Thank you ladies.

And  then they indulged me some more :)) Crochet lace and beads,anyone?

And then I insisted that they put these handmade button food labels on all the food that we decided to serve :) Oh and a button bunting too. Both were extremely easy to put together and added a nice little touch.

Cute, right?

If you've been a long time reader of this blog, you would remember how on each of her previous birthdays' I wasn't very happy with how the design brief for the cake (Yes, I am types to make a design brief for a cake. Go on...laugh) didn't translate into the cake I wanted for my munchkin. Not this time..nah!

 The enthusiastic and supportive staff at the French Patisserie charmed me completely. Much before the big day they actually sent me samples of the edible  buttons for an "okay" on colours, shapes and sizes ( I had shared the buttons that I had used on the invitation card and a sample of the colour of the card that I wanted as the icing with these guys. Yes, I can be a tough client to please and boy did they please me or what! I could have kissed the staff)

Right down to the edible bunting I requested them to create. Wish we had used some other candles. Ah! Another day.

The kids had a lovely time  playing, running around, eating and creating a whole lot of things...felt name plates for their room, hairbands, wrist bands and much more with... you guessed it right...buttons. And they went back with finger painting kits that made our party favors.

I wrapped each one with my all time favorite plain brown paper.A tiny paper circle (the same print I used for the invitation card) and a button with some twine for some added design interest ( For me; not the kids:))

Oh and I must mention my little one pasted each of these circles 

and was very proud too. 

Each year I like creating something along the lines of a guest book for our family and close friends to write in. For her first birthday we had the wishing tree, for her second we had tiny cards hanging from tiny clothespins and this year I made a longish paper scroll studded with buttons,ofcourse. Tied up neatly with a twine after all the wishes had been written. Years later...when the little one will open her birthday box she sure will have fun going through them all.

I am always complaining about how quickly she is growing up and thought it would be interesting to make hand and feet cutouts each year on her birthday (from now on). 

These are yet to find a place. A separate growing up album perhaps??

I so loved putting together my cute little button's birthday party. And did one super-happy somersault when she told me she is planning a similar party for me,for "mumma you are my cute little button too"...awww..these girls I tell you :))

All Images :Personal Album