Cowhides, Cookies and Cutout Lace Heels

I finally got the cowhide rug I've been pining over for Valentine's Day -- animal pelts aren't really synonymous with romance but that's okay, I love it. We didn't go crazy for valentine's day this year, we made vegetarian tacos (yes, cruel irony--the bf is a vegetarian), margaritas, and apple cinnamon enchiladas for dessert-- cozy and simple.

A Few Sweet Finds for the Week:

1. Message-in-a-Cookie Cutters, $20, Williams-Sonoma.com
Customizable cookie messages! I love that little scalloped rectangle.

2. Ross Menuez Fauna Cutout Pillows, $40, Areaware.com
I am a sucker for Boston Terriers.
{ DIY: make your own printed pillow using freezer paper, cotton fabric and an inkjet printer For step by step instructions click here. This is going to be my next project I think! }

3. Personal Library Kit, $20, Fredflare.com
So...maybe reserve the due dates and late warnings for close friends, there is still something irresistible about a lined index card and a date stamp.

4. "Scharer" Peep-Toe Lace Heels, $80, aldoshoes.com
I can see myself in these shoes, I can also picture myself tripping into oncoming traffic in a 5" heel. I do love the lace and peep toe though.

A Tiny French Book

There are few things more precious than tiny books filled with beautiful illustrations of sea life.
This is one of my favorites, "Le Royaume De La Mer," copyright 1943.

Illustrations by Ernest Flammarion

Monday's Auction Finds

Here is a collection of little treasures I picked up yesterday from my weekly Monday auction. Someone got rid of a collection of old photo albums! Trying to decide what to do with them. I'd love to re-purpose them as sketchbooks or maybe just refill with acid-free paper for pictures. It was a day of great patterns (lots of vintage wrapping paper too). I found a 1960's suitcase full of travel tickets and hotel receipts from a couple's 1973 trip to see the Pope.





Among the spoils for the day also included two vintage fabric cash ledgers and an antique German children's book from the early 1900s / 1800s I assume.

A Sketch and Two Postcards

  
I finally dusted off my sketchbook today and put it to use. I'm ordering my plane ticket for Northern California next week to visit my parents this summer... hoping to spend 3 weeks there and travel north through Portland and Seattle to Vancouver, staying at campgrounds along the way. The town my parents live in is a 1960's small-town time capsule named Paradise, located 30 minutes outside of a slightly more populated town called Chico. The main street has old signs and storefronts that haven't been updated in decades and the general feel is a rundown mountain town surrounded by canyons. It's glorious.

Be Mine

A few valentine-inspired romantic items for my wishlist. How cute are the stamp sets at VerdeStudio?

1. Jeffrey Campbell Internship Interview Wedge $142    2. Happ & Stahns Eau De Parfum $68 Anthropologie

3. French English Gray Patent Leather Scallop Satchel $100    4. Dahlia Heart Print Chiffon Dress $111 ASOS

5. VerdeStudio Apple of my Eye stamp set $6.25 Etsy    6. Kiel Mead Forget Me Knot Ring $56, Fredflare

There's a certain slant of light...

There's a certain Slant of light,
Winter Afternoons --
That oppresses, like the Heft
Of Cathedral Tunes --
- Emily Dickinson

Here are some photos I took of the icestorm from Wednesday. I had to get up early to help push my boyfriend's car out of the driveway so I thought I would make the best of it and explore a bit with my camera.

Retro Hutch Makeover

Thanks for the comments on the last post. I decided to go with a neutral color and then realized the doors were the perfect surface for a pattern. I used acrylic paint and a small brush, then sanded the pattern down for a chalky look. I think it still needs knobs though! Finally, an excuse to buy some pretty hardware from anthro.

Now what to do about that ugly door bell box on the wall . . .