time to tour...my front room

My front room this week 

I spent a fair amount of time cleaning, redecorating, and organizing my home this week. Not something I would have ordinarily planned in addition to my already busy schedule for the week, but something happened that I wasn't counting on. When you get an email from a magazine editor who is considering your home for a feature in their magazine (WHAT?!?) but they need a few photos of the layout of your home, you get busy. Never have I had better motivation to clean and organize. I don't even want to admit how long it took me to get each room ready for these photos. When you have three kids under five...well, you can imagine how scary things can get around this place.

my front room...from another angle

It was great motivation to finish a lot of half-finished projects, too. I got several things spray-painted that had been waiting for weeks...months?...for their lovely new coats. I'll show you the details of those things in another post.

my mantel with artwork I embellished myself (more on that in a later post)

This is the closest thing I've got to an entryway! This is that yellow vase I made a while back.

my "entertainment center"...really a yard-sale buffet

my beloved piano and newly re-re-painted mirror above (remember the yellow disaster?)

my favorite huge white bowl (from Crate & Barrel) with lemons and my mantel in the background

these roses were all from my own front yard...I love the colors!

Anyway, hope you enjoyed this little tour of my front room (which is really two rooms!). I'll show you my kitchen later on this week. I still don't know whether they will want to shoot my home for the magazine or not...but I figure, even if they don't...the amount of cleaning and sprucing up I did this week was PRICELESS!  In fact, the whirlwind of activity was so impressive that my husband tried to tell me that somebody wants to photograph our junk drawer for a magazine and could I spruce it up for pictures? He's a funny guy. ;-)

i'm such a tease...but this gorgeous photography is no joke!

Disclaimer: I am teasing you now. I have some REALLY fun projects to show you. But there's only so much time in the day, so you all will have to wait till I have a chance to upload the photos, edit them to the proper level of fabulousness (or as close as I can get them, anyway) and post them to this little corner of blogland. I also had some amazing news the other day about an opportunity that is so exciting that it helped turn a really icky week into a really great one. But I can't tell you about it yet. Let's just say that I have been spending the last couple of days, in between other real-life duties, decorating and staging and photographing my own home for a special project. I'll share the pics with you soon...you will get a bigger glimpse into my home than ever before...and eventually I'll even tell you why I went through all the pain and suffering of the intense cleaning it required to even feel like my home was ready to photograph.

In the meantime, you have to check out this beautiful original photograph. I found it some time last week, and now that I've gone through the exercise of re-decorating and staging my own home, I realize one of the reasons I like it so much. The three colors in this photograph are my three favorite colors for accessories at the moment! I seriously have little touches of aqua, yellow, and hot pink all throughout my living and dining rooms. The colors are fresh, cheerful, and summery...although I'm not sure I can blame it entirely on the season (as I've been loving these three colors for quite a while now). This gorgeous print can be found in the very lovely Etsy shop AddieDesigns. Here are a few more photographs of hers that I am really digging right now:

Every single one of these photographs by AddieDesigns speaks to me in some way. Please check out the gorgeous shop of this talented artist who is not only a photographer, but does watercolor paintings as well! Can you believe it? Here are some examples of her paintings:

Gorgeous, yes?? Please go see AddieDesigns, give her some love...tell her I sent ya! :-)

still here...

I'm still here. Planning the Largest Yard Sale of the Century. Okay, not really, but it seems big to me because it's SO much work. And here's the thing: don't ever buy a house with an unfinished basement...not unless you plan to finish it RIGHT AWAY. Because it becomes the biggest (free) storage space ever and when you put things down there to store "for a little while" they multiply. Something happens down there, in the darkness, and what was once a small collection of treasures quickly becomes a huge collection of junk. And then, if you're afraid of spiders, or allergic to dust, or just plain lazy (or some combination of all three) you never go through all that stuff. Because there might be spiders! Or dust! In fact, there are spiders and dust guaranteed. Not to mention the work involved. And isn't normal everyday life work enough?  So you continue to purchase treasures at other people's yard sales (some of which might occasionally find their way to said basement) while rarely having one of your own. Plus, don't even get me started on all the gear that comes with that tiny little creature known as a baby. And after three of them (babies, that is) there is a lot of gear.

 This is just a very small glimpse of what I'll be selling.

Anyhoo, I've got to get rid of it. All of it!

To make room for stuff (from other people's yard sales!) like this:

...One of my bestest bargains ever...a Mikasa white porcelain cake pedestal (in the original box!) for $1. No joke. It was actually marked $2 but all the lady's stuff was 50% off that day! I had thought it was a bargain at $2, but at $1 I almost felt guilty. Almost.

And this beauty. Found it this weekend for $20. My mom and I were standing at the sale, waiting to pay for something else, when they brought this out of the house. You better believe I SNATCHED it up immediately. I have plans for her. She will be sanded and repainted once my yard sale is over and we've cleaned up the aftermath.

What bargains have you found recently?

Oh, and if you're in the Oregon City, OR area and you want to come to my sale, just send me an email and I'll give you the location. :-)

top photo: source unknown (if you know the source, please tell me so I can give credit where it's due!)

friday's fabulous finds

I am a frequent stalker...er, shopper...of thatjewelrygirl...and this is just one of her latest creations that is one my latest obsessions. I love it. I want it. 'Nough said.

Gorgeous, right?

I love the abstract flowers of etsy artist sometimesiswirl. This is an ORIGINAL pen and ink drawing, for...$25. That's right. How often can you get anything original for $25 these days? And it's charming and whimsical and black and white, which means it will go with just about any type of decor. (Although I'm getting a lot less matchy-matchy these days with artwork, and feel that if you like it, you should display it, whether it matches your throw pillows or not.)

You may have noticed me talking a lot about bunting recently. In fact, you may have previously not even known what "bunting" was (certainly true in the case of my husband who is now a reader) and have quickly transitioned to eye-rolling at the mere mention of bunting. But, I'm NOT DONE with my love affair or frequent mentions of bunting. I thought I was, but then I read Design*sponge today and saw this post about the gorgeous work of Kikilarue. She makes adorable tiny bunting out of fabric scraps to adorn cakes. Yes, cakes. Who woulda thunk it? They are tiny and charming and would work for just about any occasion where cuteness is required. Below are several more pics for your viewing pleasure. As soon as you're finished, head to Kikilarue's etsy shop. Right away.

Happy Weekend!! xoxo ~ Courtney

alphabet bunting...a free download!

Hi friends! Just a quick note to check in and let you know that I haven't forgotten about Nesting Instincts. Have been super busy with vacation and family stuff. My friend Charlotte sent me the link to this great FREE printable alphabet bunting. I love it! Downloading these letters and having them on hand means you could spell out just about anything...whether it's a big occasion or small. I'm thinking they'd be perfect for a baby shower, or a wedding shower...or a birthday...or an anniversary...or I could go on and on.

(source: Ruffled via How About Orange?)

you are my sunshine...

I love this canvas print from Etsy shop LetteredThreads. The artist, Melanie, also writes a beautiful blog called Pretties and Posies that I follow and really enjoy. Her images on her blog are gorgeous, and she's a painter too. So much talent in one lady...I love it.

I chose to feature this canvas because I'm looking forward to a week of sunshine...our family is headed out of town on vacation! We are going back to the place I featured in this post and this post two years ago. I'm planning to soak up a little sun and have some relaxation time with the fam. Of course, when you have three little ones, it can only be SO relaxing...but this will be the first year in the last six that I haven't been either pregnant or nursing (or sick)...so can I get a WOOHOO?!!!

Have a great week! xo Courtney

paper love, real life, blog love, and party shout-outs

What I really WANT to do is blog. And do decorating makeovers. And host parties. That's the fun stuff. What I find myself doing is a whole lotta other stuff. Like doctor appointments for my kids. Grocery shopping. Laundry. Packing for next week's vacation. Writing blog posts for other people's blogs. (What? Something's wrong with this picture.) Fulfilling card orders. (Okay, that can be considered fun...but it's still not actually blogging.) Watering my garden (sort of). Working in the yard (occasionally). Cleaning my house (half-heartedly). 

"happy" custom rhinestone notecard set from NestInk

All of that to say, I am missing my little blog. I wish I could write every day, but I seem to be in a season where real life is even more of a balancing act than normal lately. And what's cool about balancing Nesting Instincts (interior redesign business) with NestInk (custom stationery business) is that it seems whenever one is lagging, the other picks up the pace. It must be a God thing, because I certainly couldn't plan it that way.

I've had several large card orders lately...in other words, multiple sets of custom cards for the same customer. I even did some custom event invitations last week that were a lot of fun. I haven't gotten up the guts (or is it just the time?) to list things like that in my Etsy shop yet, but I'll get to it eventually. I do so love creating invitations that set the mood for an event. My client wanted something summery (but not too obviously summer, like flip-flops or something) so we chose the "Happy" pattern as the inspiration for the invitation. I thought they turned out cute and it just occurred to me that of course I forgot to photograph them for my blog. If I'm not careful, my blog will begin to feel horribly neglected and get her (she's a "her", of course)  feelings hurt and then start giving me errors when I try to post. Or stop uploading photos. Or something like that.

Angela's Ranch Redo  (The Painted House blog)

ANYWAY, in my current state of Bad Blog Author, I have at least continued reading and occasionally commenting on other blogs. One of my most favorite blog posts EVAH was this one from Angela at The Painted House. It's part of her series on "What Makes a Home Beautiful?" and it is so worth the read. It initiated a flurry of emails between Angela and I because she touched on a few things I'm fairly passionate about. Also, her whole blog is beautiful and worth reading, but I especially loved her recent post about updating the exterior of her ranch home. It is GOR-geous now.

Another site I recently discovered was The Grocery Shrink. I'm still a teeny tiny bit intimidated (okay, a lot intimidated) by the money-saving genius I've found there, but I'm baby-stepping it. Have been receiving her free emails on how to make my own cleaning supplies, which I may just start doing. I am still waiting on the email on how to make my own housekeeper. I'd even pay for that e-book!!

And last, but not least, a great BIG thank you to a few sites that have featured my parties recently:

my Dr. Seuss Party:
CafeMom.com blog, The Stir
Guest post at The Birthday Girl
Kinser Event Comapny blog

My "Baby Meet Orange" shower:

BumpSmitten.com (site is still under construction, I'll let you know when the feature goes live)

Anyway, if this hasn't been the most random of all blog posts! For those of you still reading (thanks, Mom) I hope you have a lovely rest of the week. Me, I'm getting ready for vacation...can I get a WOOHOO?? Trying not to get overwhelmed at the amount of work involved in getting three kids (one of them still a baby) ready for a week-long trip. Oy.