Fun DIY Project & a Fun New-To-Us Blog:

Despite its foibles, cheesy content, and bad photography, the blog world {overall} is kind of a cool place. Sure, you gotta wade through the tide of blogs that are corny and useless, but every once and awhile, you come across a gem. Or, someone who is really cool leaves you a comment and then, of course, you've got to check out their blog and figure out if their interests "fit" with yours. Yesterday, we pointed you in the direction of Swanky Tables, a blog we rather love. Today, we're pointing you in the direction of A Fabulous Fete, another blog that, after some perusing, we have grown to love, too! Lauren, from A Fabulous Fete, was kind enough to post a comment on one of our posts the other day, so we went to check out her blog which is kinda fantastic. We really, really like it. Then, we ran across this post---a fabulous DIY on how to make the great bangle pictured above. You must, must check it out! So easy, so chic...and we love the gold Michael Kors watch in the picture, too, by the way. A gold menswear-inspired watch is our favorite fall accessory this year. :) Anyhoo, check out the post and the rest of Lauren's blog and make sure you leave her a nice comment, letting her know that the Babs Blog sent you on over. :)

The Babs Blog on Swanky Tables

Remember this shower? Annette of Swanky Tables has been so kind to feature it on her wonderful blog! Check out the post and add Swanky Tables to the blogs you follow---Annette does a great job of offering party inspiration and ideas that we love! Thank you, Annette!

P.S. About the shower---our sister-in-law had a beautiful baby boy! We aunties can't wait to get down to some spoiling! :)

11815 N. 42nd Dr. - Phoenix, AZ

Purchase Price: $135,000.00

Renovations Completed.

View Virtual Tour: http://rtvpix.com/RE-5613-ND0347-01

DIY Necklace Stands

So...I lied. I said I'd be showing off the project that I posted about on Friday---the one with the blue glass balls. However, I still have a couple little details to complete on that project, so you're not seeing that one here today. So sorry. I'll get it up as soon as possible so you can see what I've been up to!

Instead, though, I'll show you a short little project that I actually did complete this weekend: necklace stands. I love fun jewelry and my necklace collection is getting outta hand. I wanted to have some way to "store" the necklaces that I am wearing the most right now so they wouldn't get tangled and so they would be in easy reach when I am getting ready early in the morning for school or work. I wish I had thought this project up, but I actually took this idea from my local Anthropologie store and then tweaked it to make it "Kari-ish." :) I used scraps of wood we had laying around and scraps of fabric leftover from other projects, so the cost was minimal. The "nailhead trim" is actually made of carpet tacks. Other than putting these together, the only other thing I did was to mix a little gray acrylic paint with a lot of water to give these a weathered gray look---the wood was too bright of a pine for my liking, so the wash helped tone it down.

(A disclaimer: I am not keeping these all out like this on my dresser because it does kinda feel like a store display. I have a little nook in my closet where I am setting these, along with my other jewelry pieces. Also, please forgive the blank wall behind the dresser---I have artwork picked out, but it has yet to be delivered! Oh, and those lamps? Italian alabaster off of ebay. I love 'em! A further disclaimer: cruddy pictures were taken with my iphone. Sorry. :))

Here they are:

6931 E. Voltaire Ave. - Scottsdale, AZ

Purchase Price: $262,500.00
Renovations to Start: August 25, 2010

A Project in the Works...

Boy, oh boy, has this week just flown by! We have both been so busy and are looking forward to a restful weekend. We wish you a very happy weekend, and we'll see you back here on Monday. The photo above is a teaser of what we'll be posting about on Monday. A project at Kari's house was started yesterday and on Monday, we'll have pictures to show you of the completed project. :)

Happy weekend!

Need a laugh?

If you need a little laugh, you must read this rant by Abby Welker over at A Feathered Nest. Most every one of Abby's posts are funny (she is just a gal who makes us laugh in a good way), but this rant speaks to our hearts. We are so glad that somebody finally just said what needed to be said. :)

(CAUTION: if you are in love with fondant doo-hickies on homemade cakes and/or vinyl sayings that inspire you to be a better whatever, you'll need to put on your big girl pants to read this. It's gonna hurt a little...)

Naps on the Porch...

As summer winds to a close, some of us are dreaming of how nice it would be to have a lovely porch on which to nap or read a good book. As summer will slip into fall in the next month and a half, for those of us who don't have porches, we are envious of those of you who get to experience the seasonal transition up close and personal, with a glass of lemonade at the end of August and with a snuggly quilt come the end of September. Here are a few porches that would accommodate the season change quite nicely:

Love the blue painted ceiling on this one:

Before & After from Better Homes and Gardens

Check out the table in the "after" picture. It's made out of old boards and a couple of planter urns. A very easy DIY project!

Before & After from Elle Decor

Love that hanging bed:

Porch from Apartment Therapy via Houzz

Nothing like a couple of Eames rockers to set off a porch nicely:

Houzz

This is happy color, for sure:

Houzz

More happy color:

Houzz

This one looks so peaceful:

Houzz

Love the mix of furniture in this one. It's like another room of the house, really:

Houzz

This porch is screaming for a summer cocktail party with fruity summer drinks:

Houzz

Project Time...

Upon the last day of school this past June, I (Kari) breathed a huge sigh of relief that school was finished for the year, and simultaneously felt a thrill of anticipation for all the great projects that I would have soooooo much time to complete this summer. (Insert hysterical laughter directed at my complete naiveté here.)

School starts back up for me on August 23 and, I will admit, I feel an impending doom hanging over my head.

I do not wanna go back to school.

True, I have no one to blame but myself and I only have a year left of this silliness, but I'll just tell you that I'm really, really ready to be finished. My husband is also really, really ready for me to be finished. He is anxiously waiting for me to be finished with school so that I can get a gourmet dinner on the table for him every night by the time he gets home from work. (Insert hysterical laughter directed at his complete naiveté here.) :) And, both of us are excited for me to be finished so that I can actually get projects completed in a timely manner instead of always having to defer to some crazy school project.

This summer, I had a grand to-do list of some really fun, creative projects that I was going to tackle. Funny, but not a one has been touched. My sewing machine has been sitting lonely in its box, and I never once dipped a paintbrush into paint! Yes, this has been a sad summer when it comes to creativity. (But, lest you think that I've had it rough, I must admit: I've been traveling with the hubby for the most of the summer and it's been great. I love, LOVE tagging along with him on his business trips 'cause it's really good time we get to spend together. And, no matter how much I complain about my unfinished projects, I wouldn't trade time on the road with him just to get a sewing project finished for anything. :)

So, for the next week, I am going to try to tackle a couple (not all) of my projects. I have one week left before school and I am gonna squeeze every drop out of it. The most pressing project is this one...

Yep, check out the bamboo loveliness! (and sorry about what appears to be a very dirty wood floor. Would you believe me if I blamed it on my cruddy iphone picture-taking abilities? Please?)

I scored this baby on a flea market junket a couple months ago. My dear sweet friends Linda and Carin set up a great girls-only weekend for the three of us. It was a great weekend and I treasure those two ladies. (Aren't good girlfriends the best?!) We headed down to Pasadena, stayed at the lovely Langham, and hit the Rose Bowl flea market on Sunday morning. Then, Carin was a real trooper when I bought this buffet and she had to sit for two hours in the backseat with this thing scrunched up next to her. (My SUV ain't really big enough for furniture...but we somehow made it work!) Thank you, Carin---I owe you for that one! :)

Anyhoo, check it out:

This piece is a very sturdy Thomasville piece from back in the day, and I love it. And, I got it for $80. I think that's not too shabby! I'm thinking of setting it with pretty decanters a la Mad Men. Then I can get myself a drink when I've had it up to here with a school project. :)

I am still waffling as to what color I'm going to paint this beauty. I have a couple ideas, but I'm open to suggestions. Most of you saw this part of the house when sweet Camila from High Heeled Foot in the Door highlighted it on her blog, so if you have an opinion, I'd love to hear it! (FYI: I am transitioning the green out and more curry yellow in---I always do a little color change in the fall. The room will essentially be the same because I mostly have neutral pieces of furniture, but the accents will be different. One of the colors I'm considering painting this bamboo piece is a curry yellow...any other thoughts?)

I did, however, start to shine up the fab hardware on this piece.

Before:

And, midway through the scrubbing...

See, it's starting to get shined up a bit. After I finish this, I'll be doing some sanding on the piece and then I need to make a final paint color decision.
Any suggestions?

Stencil Love

This photo makes us want to paint some floors. Seriously, that's a painted floor, not a real rug---kinda great that stencils are making a chic comeback, no? If you want to learn more about this, check out this great how-to article at Inside Out.

Steven Gambrel Kitchens

Steven Gambrel is really, really good at what he does. If you are at all interested in interior design, you already know his name. What we love about Steven Gambrel is his ability to design a room that never looks too cookie-cutter or too much like a room that would be featured in a big box store's circular. :) Mr. Gambrel is adept at creating spaces that look like they've evolved over time; rooms that really make you want to live there. Here are three kitchens we like---all by Mr. Gambrel.
Consider this a little Sunday eye candy. :)
See you back here tomorrow!

(all images from Canadian House & Home, here.)

Happy Weekend (& sorry we've been absent!)

So sorry we've been absent! We've had a wonderful, memorable week in New York, visiting with our parents for the first time in a year. We miss them in an aches-so-bad-it-hurts way, but we are proud of what they are doing in Liberia (check out their story here). It was really special to steal away for the better part of a week to hang out with them---and now they are back in California for a brief visit, so we are gonna be spending as much time as possible making memories and sharing laughs with them before they head back to the continent of Africa.

New York was wonderful---mostly because we got to hang with Dad and Mom there, but also because it was the fantastic grimy fabulousness that only New York City is...

Alas, now we are both back to our lives in California and we are both dreaming of a having the time to spend in a garden like the one shown above. (Sorry about the tiny photo! This was in one of our archived files from the lovely-but-now-gone magazine Domino).

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and we'll see you back next week!

---Jill & Kari

Etsy Roundup- New Baby

We at the Babs Blog are anxiously awaiting the arrival of a new nephew or niece. Our brother and his wife are expecting, and the little one could arrive any day now! Here are some of our etsy picks for a new babe.

1) Safari Loafers, from graciousmay
2) Giraffe print, from sarahjanestudios

3) Giraffe teether, from littlesaplingtoys

Etsy Roundup- New York City Art

In a few short days, Kari and I will be off to New York City to meet our parents and kick off their vacation. We are so excited to see them, and so excited to spend time with them in such a fun city! In honor of the occasion, here are some etsy artists' renditions of New York.

1) Rowhouses by jenskelley

2) NYC from Staten Island by matteart

3) Empire State by Vhmckenzie