#552...munny forest

My Munny dolls that live atop my dining buffet decided to get dressed up for the holidays this year.

First, I disrobed them of their individual personal accessories. Next, I got a set of these toy train Christmas trees. I used gaffer's tape to secure them to their heads, and cut little tree skirts from red felt to hide the tape and base of the tree. 

They look like a little grove of Christmas trees....or Santa's little army.

#551...let's get small

Whether your space is small or large, this article in Dwell has some good tips for warding off the hoarding urge. I like that it focuses on surrounding yourself with pretty, yet functional items for your home. I need reminders like this. 

#550...thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving, my family and friends celebrated at my house. The weather was nice, so we ate outdoors. We had the usual Thanksgiving fare of turkey, potatoes and dressing, but I ventured out with a few recipes this year, and added some sides to our meal that I've been wanting to try.

These Thai-spiced roasted Brussels Sprouts were really tasty. Recipe here from OhJoy.

Roasted almonds, (especially these Marcona variety) are addictive. Recipe Here from Cook Like a Champion.

This tofu and veggie infused quinoa salad is really good leftover, scooped up with blue corn tortilla chips. Recipe Here from 101 Cookbooks.

I also made Emeril's Seafood Mac and Cheese. I used pre-cooked frozen lobster from Whole Foods. It was such a hit I did not get a photo of it before it was gone.

For the table setting outdoors, I used some of this boat fabric from Ikea as a table cloth. I got inspired by these linen napkins sold at Heath Ceramics, and serged some neon thread onto blue linen and made some of my own for our feast.

#549...pottery cabana progress

It took us forever, but we finally moved all of my kiln and pottery accessories into the pottery cabana.

We ordered these floating slat wall brackets on ebay, and used a pine board to make a narrow shelf above my kiln and slab roller table to house my posts, stilts, and other clay tools. 

Under my table I stacked my glazes and used a burled root planter to hold my giant rolling pin, clay gun and test firing cones. (The big white appliance under the table is the portable heater/air conditioner for the cabana)

Hooray for small progress! Now onto the back wall decor.....

#548...glitter deer

My client Emma asked me to makeover this resin deer mount that she bought on ebay for her daughter's room.

First, I spray painted him white. Then I used this spray adhesive and some white glitter in a shaker bottle like this to turn him into a glittery woodland creature for her wall.

#547...vintage crochet tent

I made this A-frame play tent for a small client of mine. I followed this tutorial exactly. I purchased the vintage crochet bedspread from ebay to make the tent. 

#546...marcel breuer dining chairs

Last year, I scored a vintage Danish teak dining table for my dining room. You can see more about it here. At the time, I had picked up some Marcel Breuer Cesca-like dining chairs that had faux leather seats. I shined them up, but always thought I'd replace them with something else. Here is a picture of the dining set-up last year.

I've yet to find chairs I like better, and the Cesca-like chiars have grown on me. In true hoarder style, I actually picked up several more over the course of the last year. (Several, I think are the real Breuer deal).  Here are some shots of my growing chair collection.

A month or so ago, I decided to try to paint the framing of the chairs black to give them some extra contrast. First, I took the chairs apart.

Next, I used a small 1" angled sash brush and steadily brushed on some satin finish black oil paint.

....and Voila!

Now I just need to decide whether to recover the brown faux leather seats on the arm chairs, or wait and try to find cane seat arm chairs.

#545...snow day

I'm in New Hampshire today visiting my Nana for her 93rd birthday! The leaves are down and some snow has fallen.

#544...show birds

I'm loving The Incomplete Dictionary of Show Birds by Luke Stephenson. Their funny expressions remind me of the parakeets we had as pets growing up.

Also, really funny are Luke's series The Clown Egg Register, and World Beard and Moustache Championships. Check them out!

#543...garage sale

We had a garage sale over the weekend.

My attic and garage are in much better shape afterward. We may even get to park a car in our garage this year yet! We advertised on craigslist, and on the local community message boards. I donated the leftovers to the new Goodwill in our neighborhood.

#542...alyson fox rug

I picked up one of the rugs that artist and Austinite Alyson Fox did for West Elm for my laundry/bath. I've long admired her design aesthetic, and am happy to have something from this collaboration.

Alyson's house tour on Apartment Therapy from 2008 is one of my all-time favorites. You can see it here.