Camino Real 22: 2010

Friday, December 31, 2010

{my favourite projects of 2010}

Hard to believe another year has flown by!

It has been an exciting year - I have met many wonderful friends through blogging and have had some of my projects featured in some amazing blogs and websites.

A big thank-you to all my followers and friends that read my humble blog, it makes my day when you leave such encouraging comments.

There will also be a few changes in the new year at hodge:podge, my new blog header is getting some final tweaks and should be up in the next week or so and I plan on launching a new series, so Canadian, eh? where I feature and/or interview various Canadian bloggers, designers, artists, and etsy sellers. I hope to have the first feature in a few weeks! Stay tuned....

But....

We can't end 2010 without re-visiting some of my favourite DIY projects from this past year.

{January}

Taking a thrift store lamp from gram to glam....

and giving another one the Midas touch:

{February}

Making a faux roman blind for my on-the-cheap laundry room makeover.

Recently this tutorial was featured on Adventures in Renovating a Brooklyn Limestone.

{March}

Not much happened as I spent 2 weeks in Hawaii with our eldest daughter's track team.

I know life is rough.

{April}

Created a little bling.

{May}

Monogrammed a small chair just for my niece.

and had the pleasure of getting together with local design bloggers at the quaint Little White House Cafe in Fort Langley

{June}

Transformed a junkstore mirror with a little spray paint.

{August}

Made subway/eyechart art for my son's room.

{September}

Created an art wall in my eldest daughter's room.

{October}

Finally finished the diamond-tufted headboard.

{which is being featured at HGTV.com}

{November}

A silver leaf Ikea Rast dresser hack

{which was featured at Centsational Girl}

{December}

No exciting DIY projects but instead had a few projects featured on various blogs and

enjoyed getting our home ready for Christmas.

Wishing you all a prosperous and blessed New Year!

Going to join Southern Hospitality Top Projects of 2010 Party

and

Savvy Southern Style My Top Posts

and

The Lettered Cottage

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Living room : 6 beautiful designs with fireplace.

Living room with a warm fire burning is so inviting right now. It is winter and I was looking for some new ways to rearrange the living room centered around the fireplace. Since much activities and conversations happen around the warm fire, I have in this post a collection of living room designs with fireplace as the theme.

The designs here are centered around the fireplace, are beautiful, elegant and perfect for comfort during winter months.

Fire place adds a old world charm to any house. The shelves lined with books and the interesting clock on the mantel, beautiful pale wall paper all combine to make this really elegant space. A cozy and charming living room.

This living room looks so inviting for long evenings spent in conversations or alone reading books. The fireplace is the focal point and the cushions and beautiful throw make it look like a stylish cocoon for spending winter hours.

This living room design is centered around the fire place and is uber stylish and elegant in design. The place has a formal look but is cozy at the same time. The mantel has some really interesting display too.

This living room is so colorful and full of energy ! Love how every thing is so co-ordinated and yet not overwhelming. The fireplace is beautiful and the space lovely !!

This living room is so sophisticated and elegant. The fire burning and the black and white photos all make for a very nice setting. The room has old world charm and is uncluttered. Beautiful design!

Living room with rustic design elements. This living room has many interesting accents and they look so gorgeous together. Love the vintage mirror on the mantel as well as the wooden wall panels. Vintage delight :)

Get your creative juices flowing, a little inspiration can go a long way. With the season changing, get the most of these living room designs and create your very own corner of warmth and building memories.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

{merry christmas}

My posts will be sporadic over the Christmas break, I will be enjoying much needed family time. We have a fun filled break, enjoying Christmas Eve with my sister and family, then an open house party for the neighbourhood at our home next week, tickets to see the Nutcracker ballet with the kids, maybe some skiing at Whistler and just some R&R!

source: Graphics Fairy

I would like to wish everyone a wonderful Christmas from our family to yours!

I have been overwhelmed by the all the support and followers of my humble blog, which I started to document how I turned a ho-hum rental house into a warm and inviting home for my family using my imagination and ingenuity. Thanks for all your support!

Merry Christmas!

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

{as seen on HGTV.com}

Remember last month when I mentioned that I had a major website interested in one of my projects?

It was HGTV.com!

They contacted me and asked for photos of my diamond-tufted headboard. It will be featured on several galleries. The first one went live yesterday!

Check out my diamond-tufted headboard featured on HGTV.com 20 Over The Top Headboard photo gallery! My humble headboard gets to share the gallery with the amazing Janell Beal's from Isabella & Max Rooms, All Things Thrifty, Niche Interiors, and Troy Beasley!

What a great Christmas present!

XO Barbara

Home Accents : Reusing Skateboards for interesting furniture

I love any idea or project which helps recycle or reuse. This post has a lot of different ways to design interesting furniture using old skateboards. They come as beautiful interesting pieces of work and specially apt for teen room.

This is a simple project for anyone. Get a clock mechanism and convert any skateboard into a wall clock. Clever and Interesting. Love the whole look.

Simple idea with great result. How cool does this shelf look. Love the little stack of stuff on it. So boyish and inspiring.

This is another superb way to use skateboards. The shelves look sporty and are functional. Absolutely fun way to recycle skateboards.

A great way to make use of the shape and length of skateboard. With little effort they can be made into these really cool mini tables or use them for sitting. A simple and effective project.

This recliner made of skateboards is such a clever and beautiful piece of furniture. Recycling is always good and with so many ideas choose your own project. This would look beautiful in any den or living room.

A whole bunch of ways to make skateboards into furniture pieces. I love the quirky look of the coffee table, a must make for me :)

A recliner so creative and comfortable. The rustic look of the bench and the classy chic of the recliner, and they are both made of recycled skateboards. The versatility of using skateboards is amazing!!

Do your little bit for the environment and turn your used and loved skateboards into a furniture you will cherish for a long time. It not only makes for a greener Earth but also makes for really creative furniture.

Monday, December 20, 2010

Designer Walls : 5 Bedroom Wall designs inspired by Nature

The set of wall designs here are all inspired by nature and have flower and branches as the motifs. I love the way each of them can look so different and beautiful. Bedroom designs are so important because we rejuvenate in the peace and serenity. It is like our world away from the world, the walls here have just the quality of bring the beauty of nature indoor and creating a haven for us to rest.

Wall designs are integral to designing and setting the feel of a bedroom. Let these inspire you to create a beautiful bedroom too.

I love the simplicity here. Great look for winter, with the warn cozy pillows and golden leaves on the wall. The place is truly a sanctuary after a tiered day.

The wall design is the same leafy look inspired by nature. How beautiful it looks with the bright light. Excellent choice of wall design for small space. Gorgeous and a delight. My fav !

The bedroom wall design is inspired by nature and the leaves and pattern are so interesting in the design. The color is so beautiful with teal and the gray and black look so effortlessly chic and elegant !

Bedroom wall design which is so airy and beautiful. Its like bringing the garden indoor :) Love the pretty pattern and how is instills the whole room with such serenity. Feminine and Beautiful with mirrored furniture and pink accent decor.

The wall design/ wall paper here is also inspired by big Dahlia flowers on a charcoal gray background. The rich dark colors are so stylish and define the space. The balance between the dark and white walls are perfectly in harmony.

Wall designs are a very important aspect when designing the look for any room. The designs here show how to use them on just one wall to bring out its beauty while keeping the balance. Its all about aesthetics and maintaining harmony in the room.

{czech nativity}

Thank-you

to everyone who left such flattering comments on my {holiday home tour 2010} post! They gave me such joy!

Many of you admired my paper Czech nativity, wondering where I got it from. Since there was an overwhelming interest I thought I'd write a post about it AND I wanted to give one of favourite bloggers, Dana from Bungalow 56 some joy. She admired my nativity so I am linking up to her "Finding Joy" link party.

Here is a bit of family history behind that nativity. My parents have the same nativity, which they displayed every year at Christmas time. So beautifully illustrated {designed in 1923}, this version of the nativity has been part of Christmas since I was little that I was thrilled when my dad bought it for my sister and I on one of their trips to Prague. It came on a large sheet of card stock which you painstackingly cut out each figurine. The nativity is designed to be displayed with each figurine taped to a platform, but I decided to glue a bamboo skewer to the back of each character and then poke the skewer into a batting covered foam.

The figurines in the nativity are all representatives of typical villagers in a Czech village wearing traditional Czech dress, each bearing a gift to the Christ child, something they specialize in, for example, a musician is playing a violin, a baker is bringing bread, and we can't forget the neighbourhood pub owner who is even bringing a pint of beer {the Czechs like their beer}. As a child I loved to stare at the scene and make up stories in my head about each figurine. I love how beautifully illustrated each piece is, with so much detail.

What I am thrilled to share with each of you is that after a quick internet search you can download and create your own nativity!

All you need is some really good card stock and a great colour printer.