Seasonal Pumpkin Project

I hope everyone had a safe and happy halloween. I thought I’d share with you this great pumpkin chalkboard project I did recently. Instructions can be found here. Because you’re painting your pumpkins black instead of keeping them in their original orange color, you can cleverly take the “halloween” out of your pumpkins and carry the theme into next month’s seasonal decor, but with a versatile and creative twist. 

So here’s what I did. I started with three plump orange pumpkins…

Then I went to Home Depot and bought a rattle can of Rust-Oleum black chalk board spray paint.

 

Moments after being sprayed, they start out really shiny, then when dry they turn a dull, matted black…

 

 

Once fully dry, I carried my pumpkins inside and pulled out my box of chalk. I wrote on them “trick” - “or” - “treat” for halloween. Now that that’s passed, I will erase that and write something more fitting for Thanksgiving. Ah the beauty of chalk and do-over's…

 

 

Don’t you just love the silhouette of the black against the backlight?

 

 

The burlap pillow cases, used as table runners, were purchased at an antique store. The faux leaves are from Michaels, and the seasonal berry garlands are from Home Goods.

 

 

Happy Fall!

Our Living Room Featured at Sheffield’s School of Interior Design

 

You can imagine my excitement when I was approached by Sarah Van Arsdale of Sheffield's School of Interior Design to be featured on their website. This month they’re focusing on Contemporary Design, and found my Living Room to be just what they were looking for, and was chosen for their “Room of the Month” feature.

 

Being that I am fully self-taught in every thing I do, with no formal training whatsoever, I was blown away to say the least that a professional Design School saw something in me. Not only did they praise my design, but they did a full room analysis on my style and it turns out I’m doing everything right, who knew! You can read the feature in its entirety here, please check it out. And they also have a blog.

 

 

Thanks again, Sheffield’s School of Interior Design for the incredible opportunity of being featured on your site!

The candle burns at both ends

A couple weeks back, one of my dear friends said to me in an email “So what do you do all day?” She and I had been trying to tie down a day to chat and talk shop, and with my unpredictable schedule, well let’s just say we still haven’t picked a date.

 

Most people don’t realize The Old Painted Cottage is a one-woman show. Between my website, my blog, and keeping the Cottage of the Month going every month, it can be a bit like a three ring circus. I’m often asked why I don’t have any employees, but to be perfectly honest, this little business that I built from the ground up is my baby and I’m convinced that nobody could put the level of passion and commitment into it the way I have all of these years. Or maybe I’m just being silly. But then I think of the times I go in to these really high-end posh boutiques and the owners are nowhere to be found. Instead I’m faced with a bubblegum smacking teenager too consumed with texting to notice me standing at the register, patiently waiting to pay for my goods.

 

As some of you may have noticed, blogging took the back burner this month. I celebrated my birthday a couple weeks ago, and our 12th wedding anniversary was yesterday. I’m a “burn the candle at both ends” kind of gal, always have been. I did, however, list 36 new items on my website yesterday, which I’m really proud of. The time it takes me to photograph, list, and ship each item – forget about it. I believe that it’s all about the details. That’s what I live for, and that’s what drives me. Even crazy sometimes.

 

I must tell you I’m especially excited about these new Halloween items I just listed, made by my talented friend Rosemary. If I ship them priority mail, I’m sure I can get them to you in time for Halloween!

 

 

 

 

 

 

While we’re discussing Halloween awesomeness, have you checked out October’s Cottage of the Month yet? If you haven’t than you must! Tania’s home decorated for Halloween is a real treat. This girl has uber talent and I’m still trying to convince her to start a blog.

 

Many of you have asked about my chalkboard, which I promise to post about soon. And I’m also going to do an in depth post about our kitchen. All in good time, my friends. In the meantime, I want to thank all of you for routing me on in our continuing journey of Cottage8. Your emails and comments have my spirits soaring above the clouds. Thank you for taking time out of your day to drop by here. I read every single word said, and it means so much to me.