{Coffee Can Vases}

Start diggin' in your recycling bucket, 'cause today's project is waitin' for you.

I've had these vintage coffee cans for 'eva.

They travel around the house for different decorative purposes all the time.

This summer, they're planters.

But don't worry if you don't have the vintage cans.

Regular ole cans are just as cute, and cheaper! plus you get the extra bonus of using what's in them first.

(And by the way, are there actually people out there who drink HALF caffeinated coffee? Silliness)

So, go ahead. Dumpster dive in your own driveway.

{ What's in your Bag? Jess - East Coast Creative }

{What's in Your bag?}

So happy Jess is here to share her beach bag with us, not to mention how neatly she packs it. Take a look...

Hey there! I'm Jess from East Coast Creative (formerly The Real Housewives of Bucks County), which I co-write with my best friend Monica. We're thrilled to be here again, and LOVE this series that Denise came up with! She's super-creative, isn't she? ;) Today, I'm going to share what's in my bag, and in a few weeks, Monica will be back to share what's in hers. Ok, let's do this thing!

I just got this XXL Utility tote from Thirty-One Gifts and it is fabulous! It can hold so much stuff, and it easily collapses when I'm ready to put it away. I'm a huge fan of the nautical look, so the navy and white just stole my heart. :) My bag holds a lot of the typical summer items you need when you're a mom of two little ones: towels, swimmies, suntan lotion, toys...

Let's talk about these towels: I got the towels you see in the bag from Target last year, but just added two of these babies from Ikea to our collection. They're huge and thick and perfect. Love that price, too!

I can't get enough of this Coppertone Water Babies lotion for my kiddos- it smells like summer to me! Plus, the spray thing is just ingenious. Thank goodness some person at Coppertone understands kids and their impatience with suntan lotion.

I also always bring snacks along- mostly for myself, but sometimes I share with the kids. :) This bag is also from Thirty-One Gifts, and fits two sippy cups and lots of snacks inside.

Fresh fruit is a must!

And of course, I'm hooked on reading books on my Kindle Fire. Isn't it crazy how quickly you can have a new book in your hands, whenever you want one? It's dangerous, I tell you.

I just finished reading books 1 and 2 from the Divergent Trilogy, and it was AMAZING. I'm still thinking about them weeks after I read them. Really good read,people.

So, that's what's in my beach bag this summer! We hope you'll come on by to our little slice of blogland to check out what projects we've been tackling this summer. 

Thanks so much for having me, Denise! This was so much fun!

Thanks Jess, always fun having a local blogging friend guest post. Love that area rug under your bag too! Thanks for spillin' the goods!

{Vintage Swimsuits & Shadow Boxes}

We recently spent some time at a friends home in Avalon, NJ.

Gorgeous! It was big and beautiful, and clean and fresh.

Life is simple and easy there.

And...of course I couldn't help but thinking what I would do to it to add this family's 

personality to it.

One thing I thought of for one of their large walls was vintage swimsuits, framed in shadow boxes.

So I searched around the blog world and found some great inspiration... 

sickoftheradio.com

VandM.com

I love the look of the collection. Along with the unusual color scheme.

getgoretro.blogspot.com

savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com 

And, this little number I might just take off the wall and wear to the beach, hah!

countryliving.com

What do you think? Do you love the shade box? So many directions you could go with it.

{Home Tour - Cozy.Cottage.Cute.}

Yes, it's that time again. Time for another fabu home tour from one of my favorite DIYers. It's Sarah, from Cozy.Cottage.Cute. her blog title says it all.

Even though Sarah is in the middle of a full blown reno and a teeny baby at home, she still found time to send us this amazing home tour for us to droll over. Warning: you may think you clicked over to the Country Living website. Sarah, you ROCK!

Well hi there. I'm Sarah. You can find me over at Cozy.Cottage.Cute. babbling on about white furniture, s-l-o-w-l-y renovating and decorating our home (on a budget)(booooo to budgets), repurposing vintage / antique items and furniture, my love of cottage style, and occasionally tidbits of everyday life stuff too.

I was so very flattered when Denise asked me to guest post over at The Painted Home. I would love to share a little tour of the progress we've made on our home with you. While far from finished, this house has made quite a transformation since we bought it six years ago.

I had brilliant plans to take, edit, and upload a whole slew of new photos but alas a new baby and the purchase / renovation of a second home have been monopolizing all of my time (in a good way of course). Old photos it is. :)

The Nursery

Our little boy's nursery is the one room in our whole house that I can say is "finished". It's my favourite room too, even though the little guy has only spent about 20 minutes in it since he was born. Hee hee.

Living Room

The living room, dining room, sun room are adjacent to eachother and are all works in progress. We've got the basics but still need to warm up the spaces with rugs, window treatments, fabric, and wall art. I'm one of those types that waits and waits and waits for the "perfect thing". Example: I've been on the hunt for a chippy, green bench for the front entry for three years. (I'm sure it's out there somewhere!)  I used the same pale gray throughout as all three rooms are open to eachother.

Dining Room

Sunroom

Powder Room

The powder room and breakfast room are also works in progress. They are both off the kitchen and painted the same pale, fresh green. {The green is much lighter than how it appears in the photos.} 

Breakfast Room

Kitchen



Our kitchen has to be the ugliest room in the house by far. Since doing a complete kitchen makeover won't be in our future any time soon, we've been making small changes to make it more inviting and livable in the meantime.

Exterior

The last part of our home that I will share today is the exterior. I've been slowly but surely working on adding some curb appeal since we purchased the house.

Thank you so much for taking a little tour of our "work-in-progress". If you are curious about any of the rooms or photos above, the were all taken from previous posts that can be found on the left sidebar of my blog. Stop on by anytime, I'm sure I'll still be rambling on about searching for that green, chippy bench. :)

Did I tell ya'? Country Living for sure. Thanks so much Sarah, you are an inspiration to us all.
Stop by Sarah's and show her some love!