DIY Faux Fireplaces

Once upon a time I shared with you this stunning DIY shabby chic faux fireplace that Janet of The Decorating Diaries made. That little blog post has consistently drawn a lot of readers to it, so I was inspired to do a little bit more digging and compile more DIY faux fireplaces to share with you. I have included links to the original blogs, many of which include information on how you can make one yourself! Enjoy!

The Decorating Diaries

I grew up in a home with a functioning fireplace. My parents put a large addition on to the back of the house and my Mum really wanted another fireplace, I think, just for the look. So she bought a tiled fireplace and put it in place, adding a wooden shelf above for a mantle. Of course it wasn't functioning, but it was pretty. I hadn't even thought of it in years until I started putting this together. :)

Emerald Cove

I am very much drawn to both the shabby chic and beach cottage looks. The above obviously leans more towards beach cottage. Isn't it lovely? It's actually in the master bedroom. I think I would just sit and stare and sigh at it all the time! I love the added touch of putting an additional shelf at the bottom to have a ledge for decorative items.

The Shabby Chic Cottage

This faux fire place is just a perfect picture. I love the shades of blue that the cherry blossum twigs on the mantle contrast with so beautifully. I greatly admire people who seem to have the ability to bring different objects together to display and make it work. I don't think I quite have that ability!

Bellas Rose Cottage

Believe it or not here's another faux fireplace. What looks like a fire is actually strings of decorative lights! It sure makes for a wonderfully romantic atmosphere..

Dreamy Whites

Again with the incredible mantle piece arrangement! How does one learn how to put things together like that?! I love the sturdy look of this fireplace, how the grey pearl wall contrasts against the fireplace, and the wall-mounted numbers for the clock are so unique.

The Little Apartment

The boards of this faux fireplace are wonderfully rustic, yet still have that beach cottage feel without being painted white. Of course the ocean painting on the mantle definitely helps add to the feeling!

via pinterest

While neither shabby or beach, this grey fireplace is definitely faux. I love the use of two surfaces for decorative items, and anything that includes the use of mason jars is divine. The splashes of pink and orange are a modern twist.

Caught in Grace

This one just blows me away. Not only is it a great example of what you can do with a faux fireplace... look at the gorgeous arrangement on the mantlepiece. Oh, and did you notice that the middle is chalkboard paint?

Caught in Grace

Who said a faux fireplace can't have a fire?!

Home and Harmony

The use of the chalkboard paint offers up a world of possibilities, what a great use of blank space. With another example of blue mason-type jars on a mantle piece; they work so well with the white.

Home and Harmony

Are you now eyeing the walls of your home, wondering if perhaps you could put in a faux fireplace? It wasn't something I was thinking about before, but now? I'm loving the romanticism. :)

If Friends Were Flowers

I've been waiting for the right opportunity to share these gorgeous ball mason jars with you. My Mum decided she no longer needed them and mailed them here to me in Canada all the way from Australia. I am so glad they survived the trip!

The beautiful blue-green tint makes the jars so gorgeous to look at on their own, however yesterday when my dear friend surprised me with flowers I thought they could also make beautiful improvised vases. What do you think?

Linking up to: The Shabby Nest

A Simple Christmas

A few months back I rescued a medalta crock pot from my neighbours garbage pile. I loved the look of it but hadn't quite figured out what to do with it decoratively until now.

This year, more than any other, I am drawn to keeping things simple. I don't have a lot of Christmas decorations, but I think that I may keep my tree simple, decorated only by lights. There is something so beautiful about a simple tree with lights.

What you don't see is the extension cord hidden in the crock, and the Pampered Chef utensil holder stuffed with newspaper to bring the tree up to the right height. Oh yes, I can be quite resourceful when I need to be!

In my head I have visions of shabby chic garlands of silver and stars draped all over my living room, but for now I'll just live vicariously.

There's just something about Christmas lights!

How do you decorate for the holidays?

Image sources: Happiness Is The Journey, jekert gwapo, Chris_J, Marcin Wichary, ali edwards

DIY Message In A Bottle

As I was sorting through and decluttering some of my memorabilia, I came across some items that I thought would be beautiful to have out on display. I decided to combine my keepsakes with some spice bottles that I found for 10 cents each at a yard sale this summer.

Special Ingredients:

3 old spice bottles
a ball of twine
mixed amethyst and hematite stones
6 pewter angel coins

I placed the amethyst and hematite stones in the bottles, allowing room to slip the angel coins in at the sides, then put a few more stones on top. It took a little bit of maneuvering to make it look just right. Next up I just cut a long length of twine and wrapped it around the bottle neck, crossing it until the whole neck was covered. Then I knotted it and cut off the excess twine so that only a pretty little amount remained. Incredibly easy!

I love the rustic look of the twine, the little frays flying all over the place. It's a great way to spice up a window sill, plus now my pretty stones are no longer hidden out of sight but prettily out on display. I could use any of these bottles as a paper weight, or choose to keep a specific one close by based on the message of the coins - Hope, Peace, Harmony, Love, Healing, Prosperity.

Not bad for 30 cents!

P.S. Today I am linking up to Frugal Friday at The Shabby Nest

More Mommy Necklaces for this Mummy

Every time I find myself making a post about jewelry I can't help but laugh. I'm really not a big jewellery person but it sure doesn't seem that way!

Anyone who knows me in the real world could tell you that every time they see me I am wearing a Mommy Necklace. I can say right up front that I am not being paid to write about this, I just LOVE my Mommy Necklaces.

A few weeks back MamaBargains had some Mommy Necklaces on for 50% off and I snatched up three! One was a color I'd been wanting for awhile (Posh - purple, of course) and the other two were mostly impulse purchases. Happily they arrived in the mail today. These three new necklaces bring my total Mommy Necklace collection to... wait for it... SEVEN! That means I can literally wear a different necklace every day!

My favorite styles are the dangling donuts because I find them fun to play with, they're great for keeping Freya busy while she's nursing or being carried in the ergo, and I love the 28" length.

Left to right: Urban, Twilight, Posh

The best thing about these necklaces is that they are so darn kid proof. If tugged on they just unlatch rather than being broken or beads scattering everywhere. Extra bonus for me since I'm naturally clumsy and perhaps even more likely to break things than my kids are!

The Twilight necklace is a different design where the dangling donut can actually come off so the necklace can be worn in two different styles.

It's nice to have a few more options to spice up my regular Mum-wear. :)

A Room of Her Own

Every woman needs and deserves a room of her own, or if not a room, a corner, a nook.

It’s important for my happiness that I have somewhere to retreat to at the end of the day, or for those times when life becomes a little too overwhelming and I just need a moment alone to compose myself.

Life with two little ones can be messy and busy. Often the day will end with the house being much messier than I’d like. That is why our master bedroom is my number one priority.

I know that no matter what was left undone throughout the rest of house, when I open that door I have somewhere to retreat to that is tidy and beautiful.

A little taste of my inner world, with treasures yet to be discovered.

Books well read and loved.

A place to reflect, to remember.

A splash of color, beauty found in the ordinary.

With my pretty things on display and a reminder to take life one step at a time.

Every woman deserves a room of her own.

Linking up to the HomeGoods 'Mom Cave' Contest at Centsational Girl

New Advertisor: Shining Stones

I'm so excited to share my news with you! Last week I saw that one of my favorite bloggers, Ellie of One Crafty Mother, was looking for places to advertise her etsy jewellery store. My inner critic was sure it would be a waste of time to nominate myself, but I decided there was no harm in trying. To my great excitement Ellie responded with a lovely e-mail and let me know that she was indeed interested in advertising on my blog. Hooray! So now I've made back a little bit of the money that I've invested in my blog over the past two months, and I get to share with you the gorgeous jewellery of Shining Stones.

Here are a few of my favorite pieces.

Personalized bracelet (customisable) - $34

I love this bracelet for both the colors and the message. Gratitude is a significant word for me this year. What a nice little reminder to wear as you go about your day!

Mother's Bracelet (customisable) - $52

Somehow this bracelet is both chunky, yet elegant. Plus it's purple, you can't go wrong with purple!

Starfish Pendant Necklace - $12

I love the simplicity of this necklace and the message Ellie includes with the listing which is the Parable of the Starfish. "It will make a difference to that one." What a powerful message!

Luscious Green Quartz Earrings - $18

I have been trying lately to make an effort to wear something more than my regular old earrings. It's amazing how a little splash of color can bring some light in to your day! Ellie has some gorgeous purple earrings but I thought I better show you some different colors so you don't get the impression she's purple obsessed. Ahem.

Little Love Nest Ring - $18

My heart seriously goes pitter-patter for this ring. Isn't it the sweetest little thing you've ever seen? There are also some similar styled necklaces!

I am sure you won't be able to resist stopping by Shining Stones to check out these and many more beautiful pieces. As an added bonus to the pure gorgeousness of the jewellery, the shipping is also FREE to ANYWHERE!!! Who could resist that?

If you are looking for an inspiring read, check out One Crafty Mother where Ellie blogs about her life as a mother, artist, writer and recovering alcoholic. She's fabulous.

Rainbow Bookcase

Recently I was inspired by my new blogging friend Kelly's post on Bookshelf Styling. Now she's probably going to think I am a crazy stalker, but moving on...

In the ongoing saga of finishing the master bedroom, one of the last things I had left to do was put all the books back on the recently relocated bookcase. You may remember that about this time last month I blogged about a few features of our work-in-progress master bedroom.

Since then I swapped the short dresser with the tall one from the girls room, which left the bookcase part homeless because there was no way that was going in their room.

So to my side of the bed it went. Once again this is probably one of those tasks best tackled when not accompanied by a getting-in-to-everything toddler or a baby who is pulling up on everything, but what can you do?

So while Desana continued her maniacal plan of driving me crazy by playing with three electric tooth brushes at once (the day after she kept me up until 3am that was working very well), and Freya risked bodily harm by pulling up on the bookcase, I was very happy when Matt came home from work sick. Happy for me, not for him! At first glance he informed me I was going about it the wrong way (he was right), there was indeed not enough room for the tallest books on the top shelf, and I had to switch some things around. But temporarily child-free I got it done.

Being completely frank here, I am not sure anyone would even notice that the books were sorted by color unless it was pointed out. I wonder if this look is best achieved on a much larger scale or with the inclusion of fake book jackets created with bright colors in mind.

But anyhow, here it is. I want to sort the color sections a little bit more so there is a consistency in height, but from top to bottom here is how it goes (in case it's not obvious): Blue, Green, Yellow/Cream, Black, Grey, White, Purple, Pink, Orange, Red, Brown. Or close enough! What most surprised me was just how many of the books had black or white spines!

Now be honest, you are squinting at the picture and trying to read some of the book titles, aren't you?!

Sticking with the theme of working with what you have, and finding or creating beauty from the ordinary, I believe this fits right in. If nothing else I get a little satisfaction from seeing the pretty colors next to my bed.