Five Friday Faves

Another Friday, another round of faves!

It's a rainy and unseasonably warm Friday around here--after being pummeled with what feels like non-stop snow and rain since January 1, we're going to reach almost 60 degrees today! Saturday and Sunday are looking to be pretty warm (I mean, comparably), so we're looking forward to getting some fresh air outside. We are going to do some space/garden planning in our backyard and maybe check out an estate sale in Ocean City. Big plans, people!

I'm hoping to have a pretty sweet Pottery Barn knock-off wrapped up this weekend that I can share with you next week--can't wait! It will reside in the kitchen, which has been pretty much neglected since we moved in.

Let's move onto my faves for the week and get the ball rolling on the weekend!

source: H&M

I always seem to forget the H&M has a line of products for the home now, and I'm always so pleasantly surprised when I do check out their website. I love love love this little vase, and their selection of pillow covers is extensive and priced super-reasonably. Perfect if you like to switch up the look of your pillows!

source: How to Decorate from Ballard Designs

Ballard Designs has its own bloggy blog, and I found this gem of a video while I was perusing around. Embarrassing admission alert: properly folding fitted sheets is not my forte', so guess what? I usually don't. I fold them as best I can and leave it at that. My mother would be downright horrified. So thanks, Ballard Designs, for helping me not be such a failure at folding linens.

Also: I am obsessed with the color of that cardigan.

source: World Market

This chair is super cheery and reminds me of Spring. From the legs to the color and pattern...love. I am a fiend lately for anything that will bring Spring into my home (thereby forcing it to happen, naturally) and this chair fits the bill.

 source: Land of Nod

I'm pretty sure I've shared the sheet set that coordinates with this duvet cover, but I am loving the entire set. I think a big girl room makeover is in the works for Peyton this summer, complete with all this fantasticness.

source: Urban Outfitters

And in the spirit of anything not having to do with Winter and it's downright fug lately, I give you this print from Urban Outfitters. A quote by the great Albert Camus--one of my favorite quotes, and this print is so so pretty. I feel like hanging it on my front door as a big "Eff you" to Winter.

Who is ready for their weekend? Hope the weather cooperates where you are!

Mudroom Inspiration {Mood Board}

I have hereby declared the month of March "Mudroom Month."

This sad little room in our home has taken a real beating this Winter, what with the boots, shoes, hats, gloves, and coats its seen. We have a proper coat closet in the entry hall, but I've always wanted to make this room super-functional not only for us, but for guests as well. We enter and exit our house through the mudroom and garage, so we walk through it at least four times a day.

I started prettying up the mudroom back in August/September by painting it the same color as our Powder Room, Morning Fog by Olympic. And then I did absolutely nothing with it. There is currently an old coffee table-turned bench in there, but the bench hasn't been upholstered, the walls are bare, there is no storage for shoes, coats, purses, etc. etc. etc. When I come home, I dump my purse/diaper bag/coat on the table-turned-bench and there it sits until the next time I need to leave.

It gives me the sads--from the pathetic little $12 flush-mount light to the beige vinyl floors. Builders-grade to the maximum. (An aside: when I count the number of chintzy lights like the one in this room and full-on boob lights in our house, I am reminded that we have a loooooong way to go, baby).

If you've been following me on Pinterest you might have seen my "Mudroom Ideas" board. If not, here's a fun little mood board for you to get you in the spirit of Mudroom Month:

1. Cutting Edge Stencils // 2. Urban Outfitters // 3. Home Depot // 4. A Gier Design // 5. Target // 

6. Home Depot // 7. Target // 8. Fabric.com // 9. Lowes

There's the plan, loosely. I think I may stray from my usual fondness of Dark Walnut stain for the wood pieces to something with more of a red tone to match the coffee-table-turned-bench (thinking either Red Oak or English Chesnut).

I plan on DIYing most of the elements, namely the hook rail (maybe installing a shelf/lip to display art over it?), upholstering the coffee-table-turned-bench (see item 8), and making up some art of my own. I do plan on purchasing that New Jersey print because we are Jersey folks through and through (not Jersey Shore-type people though--ack!).

Ultimately my goal is to make this room functional for our every day use and for our guests when we entertain. I'd also like to set the tone for the rest of our house: that this is our home, full of warmth, character, and love.

Right now, that room is DEFINITELY not giving off those vibes.

I'll be blogging my progress as I go--as small as this room is, I do see it taking me a full month to get through since I'll really only have the weekends on work on it--and sharing a final reveal (hopefully) by the beginning of April.

Wish me luck, friends! This little room has had me stumped for months, but I say no more!

Any overhauls going on in your neck of the woods? Share about them in the comments!

Wanna see where I party? Click here for an awesome list of link parties I participate in..

Also linking up to:
Coastal Charm
Savvy Southern Style
Imparting Grace
Jennifer Rizzo

Shop Updates

Tuesday Shop Update time!

This isn't really super new news, but because I was so busy prepping inventory for my first craft show I didn't have time to share a couple of the new items I had listed in my shop. However, if you follow me on Instagram, you might have caught a sneak peek or two in the last couple of weeks.

New necklaces! These are super fun necklaces with pretty nicely-sized antique bronze pendants on ball-chain necklaces of the same finish. The Key and Antler pendants are on 30" chains, and the Feather is on a 24" chain. Naturally, you can customize the length of chain you'd like--just let me know. These are great for layering with longer or shorter pieces.

Check back with Whimsy Renee Handmade often--once I get my craft room/office completely reorganized, I have some new items for Spring that I can't wait to start working on!

Wooden Ladder Turned Blanket Rack

I think it's a fair assumption that I am not the first person to have a pile of potential projects in the garage because "I'll get to it this weekend."

You know what happens next. Your projects sit there for a while. Your husband complains. Your pile gets bigger. Things get out of hand.

This happens for several reasons:

a.) You have concrete plans for a particular item, but some other project comes along that grabs your attention. If you're the creative type, this always seems to happen. We need to do ALL THE PROJECTS AS SOON AS THEY ENTER OUR BRAIN.

b.) You bought the piece with no real plan but instead in an eyes-glazed-over-black-out-heat-of-the-moment, and then find yourself stumped on what to actually do with it once you get it home.

c.) You had a plan, but you find something better for your needs, and so the items sits in rejection in your garage until you figure out if you should sell it or use it.

This is one of those projects, option "c". A garage reject project, if you will.

I had been jones-ing for something...anything...to paint this weekend. I need to break out of my funk and was looking for something that would be quick and easy that would hopefully get the ball rolling on the project fantasticness.

Enter: the ladder.

Denny and I picked up this ladder at an antique store we're both particularly fond of, along with some other pieces that eventually found their way to their rightful places in our home. Originally I had plans to hang the ladder over my couch and build it up as a shelving unit because I couldn't find a multi-pane glass door anywhere and I was settling on just using this. And then Denny actually found the door at an estate sale. That's how the ladder sat in the garage for about seven months, woefully neglected and sad, until today, when I finally decided its fate.

As a blanket rack.

I realized as I started brushing on the first coat of paint that I didn't have a proper "before" photo, so this is what I present to you as the "before":

It was already painted a teal-y green color, but I knew it would clash pretty badly with what we already had going on in the living room. I gave it just one coat of Salt Glaze by Martha Stewart. It's the same color I painted our buffet, a very pretty, cool shade of blue.

We are dealing with a slight warping issue due to the fact that the antique dealer
we purchased this from was keeping it outside,
but I have hopes that Denny will help me fix that soon.

This is a much better storage solution for our blankets (which are seeing a lot of use because OMG COLD) than just draping them over the top of the couch. Let's be honest: you can drape them all pretty all you want, but they never stay that way, right?

So, who else has a "pile o' projects" in your garage/basement/shed/spare room/etc? What's the next project on your list from that pile?

Wanna see where I party? Click here for an awesome list of link parties I participate in..

Also linking up to:
Coastal Charm
Savvy Southern Style
Imparting Grace
Jennifer Rizzo

Five Friday Faves - Valentine's Day Edition

Happy Friday, and Happy Valentine's Day!

If you think this holiday is the bees knees, then yes, I did really mean my Happy Valentine's Day greeting. If you think this holiday sucks, then I'm sorry and let's still be friends.

Okay? Okay.

Anyway, my Valentine's Day is consisting of surprising Peyton with a small gift, surprising my hubster will a little gift, working, and our regularly scheduled pizza night on the meal plan. Hooray. Exciting, right? Tomorrow night we'll celebrate Valentine's Day belatedly by going out to dinner. And nary a piece of Valentine's Day decor is to be seen in our household.

Blogger fail, right?

And here I give you my Five Friday Faves--Valentine's Day Edition, to make up for my slacker status this February. Just pretend it's packaged in a pretty red envelope with glitter and pink bakers twine and we'll call it even.

source: Butterfly Above

source: Target

 source: Pier 1

 source: Z Gallerie

source: Privileged Door

What did you do or are you doing for Valentine's Day? Please tell me your day was a lot more festive than mine.

Happy weekend!