Dear Santa,

Here is what you might find on my Christmas list...

First up are the Matine Toile Quilt & Sham from Pottery Barn in Dark Porcelain Blue. I have been eying this bedding for a few months now, and I think it will go perfectly with the plan I have for our master bedroom! The bedroom will definitely be a all process, but I am excited to get the yucky tan paint off of the walls and give the room an actual style. I have seen this bedding used a lot in other bedrooms and it always looks fabulous! Here is a picture of the beauty:

Here is what it looked like in The Lettered Cottage:

In the future, I hope to paint the walls similar to the picture below. I have had it saved on my computer for awhile now and I just love the way that it looks. I don't know where I saved it from. If it is yours or you know the source please let me know so that I can add a link.

It will definitely be a ton of work, but I feel up to it. Let's just hope that Tommy is...lol.

The second item on my list is a black digital watch. I know this sounds strange, but I have been looking for one for awhile now. Black is perfect because it won't get dirty looking at work (where I sometime have to get my hands dirty) and digital is perfect because I can glance at it quickly and see the time (I am always in a rush at work). I can always find black but the digital part is more difficult to find in an attractive non-sporty watch. Here is what I found:

 S+ark - Black Silicone Glitz Digi Watch from Fossil

As for clothing, I have been trying really hard to make sure I only buy items that my closet is missing. When I go into my closet in the morning and think... hmm... I can't wear that skirt until I get a yellow cardigan to go with it. This way I am adding outfits and only buying one item. This is a change from my previous philosophy which was: buy whatever you like and worry about if you have anything to wear with it later.With this said here are the items missing from my closet:

Here are some things my closet is missing:

 

Express: LONG-SLEEVE RHINESTONE-BUTTON CARDIGAN 

 

Express: LONG-SLEEVE V-NECK CARDIGAN 

Here I am wearing it:

Gap: Always skinny cords

Here I am wearing them:

 Gap: Perfect boot cords

Finished Buffet!!!

Wow, it has been a few weeks, but the buffet is now finished! It was definitely a ton of work and slightly overwhelming, because it was that first time I have ever attempted painting furniture. It was totally worth it in the end. I love the buffet!!! It turned out exactly how we wanted it to look, and it adds tons of storage to our kitchen area.

First, lets begin with the knobs. After scouring the town (twice lol) we landed on some black metal knobs from Home Depot. They were exactly what I wanted, or so I thought, but after getting them home and thinking things over, I realized I had my heart set on crystal knobs. They are just more me. :) So, we ended up making an emergency stop at Target (don't you just LOVE those) where I had previously seen these gems below:

These knobs are four for $14.99 and I LOVE THEM. Now for the before and after pictures of the finished buffet!

Before:
Here she is in all her dirty glory:

After:
Here she is now:

Our wonderful neighbors came over yesterday to help Tommy move our new TV stand inside (more on this in my next post) and they couldn't even believe it was the same piece of furniture. They were amazed! Our neighbors, of course, helped Tommy move this buffet inside as-well.

The Process:
I was incredibly blessed to have my amazing Mom here to help us paint this buffet, otherwise we would have both been lost, (and crazy). We started by going to Home Depot and getting our 120 sandpaper, oil based primer, tarp, foam mini rollers, and Martha Stewart Living Paint in Glass of Milk. I think now I would have gotten a rougher sandpaper because the finish was so glossy we really had to work hard to get it sanded down. I also think I need to invest in a mini paint brush instead of using those disposable foam tip things. They don't hold up real well. We started by giving her a good wipe down followed by sanding her down so that the surface felt rough. Then another wipe down. The next morning, we started the painting process with one coat of primer:

Once she was completely primed and dry we started the painting process: We ended up doing one coat of a high gloss paint and no polyurethane, which I don't know if I will do again. The gloss made the paint very temperamental and difficult to perfect with a brush, and I am definitely a perfectionist!

We found that setting the door fronts on top of paint cans made the perfect painting holders. I am super happy with the outcome and I can't wait to tackle more furniture re-dos! Here are a couple more after pictures. Check out our cookbooks and cooking magazines new home!

 

 

Isn't she gorgeous!!!

Sharing with Southern Hospitality:

http://southernhospitalityblog.com/top-projects-of-2010/

Knobs for the Buffet???

Hmm, I am now having a difficult time deciding on the perfect knobs for our wonderful "new to us" buffet. These are the ones that I am considering:

But first here is what the current knobs look like:

They are a little to gold/brass for me. This little love is a key hole knob from Anthropologie. I think that the width of it might just be perfect for the buffet. It would definitely be a classic choice.

This Ripe Melon Pull would fit perfectly, but is still a shade of brass. What do you think?

This Rosy Knob comes in four colors, but I think I like either the blue or white one. I am not sure how this one would fit or match because there is no metal on it. Oh, but how I love it.

I absolutely love the color of this Urchin Test Knob. It is just beautiful, but I am not sure how it would look with ivory paint.

Now that I am thinking about the ivory color maybe something slightly more like this Bauble Knob. This one seriously makes my heart jump. :)

Or, how about this Glass Melon Knob. I love that it has a bit of metal in with all of that wonderful pink color.

Alright let me know if you have a preference. I am going to be busy thinking about it for the next couple of days. I have to order them soon so that they can be here for next week!!!

Happy Birthday Thomas!!!

HAPPY 27th BIRTHDAY DARLING!!!

Today is my wonderful husbands birthday. For his cake I decided to get creative and come up with something different that he would love. While searching through my computer pictures I found a rice crispy treat cake that I knew Tommy would die for. He love's rice crispy treats, the problem is that he is always the one who does the cooking and I do the eating. This time I had to figure it out on my own. So, I got to work researching the classic treat recipe and making the cake. I am quite happy with how it turned out. It looks very cute. I used our beautiful Pottery Barn "Emma" cake stand to hold my masterpiece.

Once he got up we sang "Happy Birthday" and blew out the candles. We being Pepper, Toby and I.

I would say it was a very successful cake, and Tommy said it was delicious!

Please check out The Lettered Cottage A Few of My Favorite Blog Posts

New Buffet :)

Yippee!!! We got an amazing deal today on craig's list. I have been searching consignment stores and craig's list for weeks looking for the perfect buffet for our entryway. This morning I woke up and checked criag's list to find a buffet made for our entryway. It is exactly what we have been looking for. Here are the listing photos:

When I saw that there was a drawer where we could keep all of our millions of keys. I was so happy! How two people can have so many keys is unknown to me but somehow we do. After much heartache and phone calls we went and got our beloved buffet and brought her home. This is what she looked like once inside the house:

Of course the other family members had to check her out and make sure she was alright ;) My next step was to give her a good cleaning (which was truly disgusting). After her bath this is what she looks like:

I can't wait to paint her next week on my time off. She will be cream to match our hutch. I am soooooo very excited.