*Bare* Can be Good!

As much as I love bringing new life to an older piece, sometimes it's fun to bring life to a brand new *bare* piece!

For awhile, I've wanted to retire our two wrought iron barstools from our breakfast bar and add four matching wood ones in their place but, the ones I found were either the wrong style or too expensive.  It was then that I remembered a sweet reader of mine mentioning "Bear Naked Furniture," an online store that sells unassembled, bare furniture for an extremely reasonable price!

Here are two of the barstools being introduced to Annie Sloane's Pure White:

After the "Pure White" dried, I then decided to add "Chateaux Grey" so that they would tie in with our island and dry bar (which are painted the same color).  And, then, out came my paint pen and sanding blocks:

My sweet hubby then mounted the rush seats:

And, voila!

I love, LOVE having four stools here now and thank our friends for breaking them in last night at our Superbowl gathering!

Did I mention that chairs weren't the only thing I ordered?  I'm *almost* done with my other purchase and hope to share it soon!

What about you?  Have you ever purchased bare furniture?

Thanks so much for stopping by,

Read More

Easy Monogram Shades

It is always a Great Thrill when I walk into a store and unexpectedly find a clearance sale that is too good to pass up.

As I was shopping Lowe's this past summer, I ran across a clearance table loaded with red and black chandelier shades and several colors of chandelier chain socks.  










Are you ready for the price?









29¢! 

That's right only 29¢ for each shade and the socks

Read More

Too Many Valances

I remember when I was 8 years old, and the fourth girl that my mom had in four years (that's one girl a year for 4 years straight with three in diapers!), when my mother announced that us girls had to make all our own clothes or go naked! Plus, we didn't wear jeans yet.

She meant it! Back then, we did not buy any of our clothes so going naked would have been our only option.

I didn't

Read More

Moment Of Creativity, Togetherness & Love

Some times my son & I just pick up brushes and colors and get lost in creating some memory. Here I have to say that he isn't a good artist it's just that we want to spend some quality time with each other. I so love that time of togetherness, creativity, fond memories and loads of love :)

I gave him brush & color for the first time when he was two year old (little late I guess) and let him do whatever he wanted....

and this is what he came up with...........

First painting by my son

 He found it very interesting. Slowly I introduced him to different types of painting....... thread painting, spray painting & many other. This one is thread painting that he did without my assistance a year ago when he was three & half year old. These paintings fascinated him a lot and he started taking more interest in learning different styles of painting. Sadly his spray painting is missing :( which I would say was far more better than all these paintings.

Thread painting done by my son

Then I gave him liberty to touch and play with my poster colors and see the result......isn't it looking like modern art done by a very polished artist (just kidding). He dipped brush in green color then blue, then black then brown and soon all my color bottles were in same color that was black with hint of blue, green and brown :(((

My son's poster color painting

One day I decided to assist him and tried to do something more creative than usually we do. I tore few colored paper into small pieces, drew outline on a page and told him to stick all those papers in mosaic pattern. He completed it nicely & it turned out as pretty as I had thought. Now this sure going to be framed and will beautify my son's room :) Proud moment for a mommy :)))))

I am keeping journal of everything he creates and just love to peek into it every now and then.
I so want to hear from you. Please share your views here...!!!



Linking it to Show And Tell Friday & PPF

Read More

Be My Valentine Giveaway!

This year, I decided to get out my hand painted jello mold tree that I normally only display during Christmas in my kitchen.




I removed any ornaments that looked Christmasy, then added red glass heart ornaments tied with black and white check ribbon. 




Now it's officially my "Be My Valentine Tree" as part of the limited amount of Valentine decor that I have.










 
I haven't had a

Read More

Lovin' in the Kitchen ...

Yes, folks, the tree is still up!  

Out went the Christmas elves and gingerbread men ...

and in came the hearts.  There are flowers embellished with hearts ....

hearts that say "I like you!"

one with a simple word of:

and, ones that don't say anything at all.

Of course, there are *YUM*mies to indulge on ...

because they're nice and ...

Annnnd, there's a reminder of what we all want ...

along with a big reminder of what we all need!

So, is there "lovin'" going on in your kitchen?

Thanks for stopping by!

Sharing with:  

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia/Tuesday's Treasures
Savvy Southern Style/WUW

Becca

Read More

Indian Art: Warli Art (Maharashtra)

Today I am sharing about Warli art. A very popular art form of the region I am living in .....Maharashtra.

                                                                Warli Art

Warli paintings have gained global recognition for its simplicity and beauty. This is the most simplest form of art that uses geometric shapes like circles, triangles and lines.

Image Source: Click Here

Origin: It is said that Warli Art was first discovered in early 70s. While there are no records of the exact origin of this art, its roots may be traced to as early as the 10th century AD. Warli folk paintings are from Maharashtra. Warli is a name of the largest tribe lives in the northern outskirts of Mumbai, in Western India. The word “ Warli”  means a piece of land or a field. Art is inspired by nature and depict social life of Warli tribes.

Image Source: Click Here

Image Source: Click Here

Image Source: Click Here

Style: This art form unlike other Indian art forms do not depict mythological characters or images of deities, but depict social life of the Warli tribe. Warli tribes decorate their hut with Warli painting on walls. The ritual paintings are usually done inside the huts. The circle and triangle are inspiration from nature, the circle representing the sun and the moon, the triangle derived from mountains and pointed trees. Only square seems to be a human invention, indicating a sacred enclosure or a piece of land. Central motive in each ritual Warli  painting is the square, known as the "chauk" or "chaukat", mostly of two types: Devchauk and Lagnachauk. Inside a Devchauk, you will find Palaghata, the mother goddess, that symbolizes fertility. Significantly, male gods are not usual among the Warli.

Image Source: Click Here

Process: All the objects in the art are in geometric shape of triangle, square or circle. Paintings use a very basic graphic vocabulary: a circle, a triangle and a square. Representation of human and animal bodies are done by two triangles joined at the tip; the upper triangle depicts the trunk and the lower triangle the pelvis. The walls are painted of a mixture of branches, earth and cow dung, making a red ocher background for the wall paintings. Warli tribes use only white for their paintings. Their white pigment is basically a mixture of rice paste and water with gum as a binding agent. Bamboo stick chewed at one end is used as a paintbrush.
The image below is a work of tribal community in Maharashtra and shared by Dokka Srinivasu who blogs over at Heritage Of India.

Image Source: Click Here

Now sharing here is an image of wonderful transformation of a place from stark to fabulous. A very beautifully done Warli art that my friend has done on her terrace wall. You can read complete story about this transformation and can find more images on her wonderful & lovely Facebook page 'Love and Care'. Do let her know your love and care by comments and likes. Don't forget to like her page.

Image Source: Click Here

This is the simplest form of art and can be done by anyone after a little practice. I also tried my hand on this art. I did Warli art on this pot that I used for Karwachauth. Painting on this pot is depicting a happy couple and a moon on the night of Karwachauth.

Image: Mine

Hope you enjoyed reading through this post. Let me know your views in comment section below.

In case if you have missed my earlier posts on Indian Art find them below:

Indian Art: Kalamkari

Indian Art: Pattachitra

Indian Art: Gond Art

Indian Art: Dhokra Art

Indian Art: Lippan Work

Indian Art: Ikat

Read More