Category Archives: etc.

Design / etc. / Find

Window Shopping: Pineapple Pretties

August 8, 2013

source
I warned you yesterday that I’m on a pineapple kick this week. I’m not ready for summer to be over, so I’m keeping it alive with this tropical fruit theme. I did a little online window shopping and picked out some fun Pineapple Pretties.
Since colonial times, the pineapple has represented hospitality. I love what this fruit symbolizes. I always want guest to feel welcome in my home and being hospitable was something my parents definitely modeled for me as a child. 
If you like these and want to see more,  I’ve found some other great pineapple perfect pieces and pinned them to my Island Life Board.

etc. / Find

Thrifting Thursday: Vintage Picnic Basket

August 1, 2013

I’m pretty excited about this find. I’m up in Northern Cali and on Monday, my youngest brother, my mom and I did a little thrifting and antiquing in downtown Eureka. My brother found a new shop for us, Annex 39 Antiques. It’s fabulous and the prices are really great. It’s one of those fun antique stores where everything is displayed beautifully and it’s just a treat to walk through the shop. Yes, I do love a good hunt through a dusty, messy shop now and then, but it’s refreshing when someone puts a little effort into their displays.

This green picnic basket was the first thing to catch my eye when I walked in the shop. Actually she had quite a few really great woven and metal baskets. This basket will be an awesome addition to Riley, my vintage trailer. It’s even the right color of green and it’s thought to be from the 1940’s (which is perfect for my 1948 trailer). I think I’ll store blankets and pillows.

It’s in really great condition and I think at $38, it’s really a pretty great deal. Have you scored an fantastic thrift finds lately? Tonight I’m going to go to a local furniture auction here in Eureka. I’m excited for the experience and don’t have plans to buy anything, but if there is anything super spiffy I won’t hesitate!

etc. / Travel

Exploring the Redwoods

July 24, 2013

Yesterday was my sweet mom’s birthday! We celebrating by taking a little day trip to some new and some favorite spots in the Redwoods. I really do love California. I’ve shared before that I was born Canadian, but actually grew up in Papua New Guinea. So, California is where I chose to live 14 years ago. This state really has so much to offer and I love to share my favorite Cali spots with my readers.

So, we did a very touristy thing, that my kids have been wanting to do ever since my parents moved to Eureka, CA 4 years ago, we rode the Sky Trail in the Trees of Mystery. It’s about a one hour drive North of Eureka and just a few minutes drive South of Cresent City. The little hike up to the Sky Trail takes you through a very dated, quirky walk through some beautiful Redwoods. In the 60’s the Trees of Mystery attraction was put in and there really hasn’t been much of an update. There is funny dramatic music that accompanies the guided self guided tour featuring the tale of Paul Bunyan. And we really enjoyed the whole retro package. The ride on the Sky Trail gave us a tree top view of the Redwoods. I really do recommend trying out this attraction if you are in the area.

We also hiked through Fern Canyon. It’s an amazingly lush steep canyon. The walls of the canyon are covered in beautiful, green ferns. It’s a fun little hike over log bridges and in and out of the little river up the canyon. It’s definitely a must see in Northern Cal.

And I love my new app, Over. I added this great text and artwork to my instagrams using this app. If you follow me, I’m sure you’ll be seeing a lot more of it very soon. And the app even uses fun illustrations and text from one of my favorite bloggers, Megan Gilger of The Fresh Exchange.

etc. / Find

Window Shopping – Floor Poufs and Ottomans

July 22, 2013

I’m trying to make my living room a more modern space. I’ve painted the room a crisp white and I got a new chair. In an effort to make the space feel brand new without spending very much money, I’m on the look out for some great accessories that pack a whole bunch of style for very little cash.
I want to be able to relax and unwind at the end of the day in my living room.  I love the casual feel of flour poufs.  And many of these bring fun texture to the table as well. The gold Moroccan one is to die for, I kind of love it.  
Do any of these catch your eye? What makes a space comfy to you? I think being able to put your feet up is important. 

Design / etc.

Bye Bye Beige

July 19, 2013

Well, I finally took the plunge and painted my living room yesterday. Good bye beige! This is what me living room looked like almost 2 years ago (I guess I should update the pictures). Yuck, I really don’t like that room. And here’s a little video tour I shot yesterday before I started painting. It’s funny how your taste can change so much.  For a while now, I’ve been wanting the space to look a little more modern. I did get a new chair recently (which I LOVE) and I have plans to change out a lot of the accessories. I new sofa and rug are not in the near future, so I’m going to work with these pieces. They are both neutral, but are starting to show the wear and tear of 3 kiddos and a hubby (I take absolutely no responsibility for any messes).

So, I painted the room WHITE. I’ve been wanting to do this for a while. I knew I wanted to keep the walls neutral, because I love to change colors and accessories often. I didn’t want another beige or khaki or taupe and almost all the other rooms in my house have grey walls. So, I went with white. I blame my Swedish heritage on this choice (my Grandpa was Swedish). The Scandinavian clean, crisp white called me.

These aren’t the best pictures, but here it is white!

I started by repainting all the trim and moldings in the room. They were scuffed and tired and needed a fresh coat. That took me a good part of the day. And if you have windows from 1920, then you feel my pain, so much taping and painting in little grooves and crevasses. Then I tackled the walls, by then Lon was home from work, so he helped me move along at a faster pace. I painted the walls the same white as the trim, just in a flat finish (whereas my trim is a semi gloss). The white a used is a custom color, but I would describe it as a warm white. Not a cool, blue toned white and not off-white, just slightly warmer.

The Beige Before

Last night, when we had paint on a couple walls, I started to regret my choice. Ahhhh, was it too much white? Was it going to feel like a hospital? And then I was sad that I couldn’t see my nice wide trim and moldings anymore. They just blended in. Yes, I did think through all of this before choosing white, but seeing it for real and seeing it in your mind are two different things. I shared my thoughts and worries on instagram last night, and I’m thankful for the encouraging comments and suggestions. Sometimes you just need someone else’s opinion. And then we I got up this morning and……… I LOVE it! It’s so bright and cheerful in here. I’m really glad I went white. I’m loving having everything off the walls. I think I’m going to hold off hanging things for awhile. I’m not sure it it will all go back up and I might like to add some new pieces.

And you can see that I have a lot to accomplish. I refuse to put back all the electronics, toys, books and magazines until I have some sort of stylish, practical organization. This is just embarrassing!

So, are you a fan of the the all white? Any thoughts on the loss of my trim? Stay tuned, this room is headed to a fresh new look (on a budget – always).

DIY / etc.

Keep Kids Creative with Cricut

July 18, 2013

I hate to say it, but before we know it, it will be BACK TO SCHOOL. I’m keeping my middle schooler busy with a little crafting this summer. We’ve made some super cute customized pencil cases.  
These are soooo much easier to make then they look. I started with these awesome little zippered bags for the dollar section at Target. They come in these 4 cute colors and are lined with fun satin prints. I used my trusty, handy, ever-ready Cricut Machine to cut out the fun decals in not time at all. Cricut has an amazing iron-on product  that I love (and used before to make my Storm Cloud Surprise Pillow). I picked out some trendy, young feeling (my 11 year old approved) designs for these cases. And as a matter of fact, I’m far from young, but love all of these.  You’ve seen the fox before and I’m a huge fan of all things Southwest after our road trip last Summer. I used the iron-on film in pink, glitter gold and grey.
And for a little extra spunk, I added pom poms to the zipper pulls. If you want to keep your kids busy this Summer for hours on end, give them some yarn and a pom pom maker. Denali is going to be proud to pull this out of her backpack when school starts again.
How are you keeping your kids busy this Summer and away from the TV? Crafts are our go-to when we’re suck inside to keep out of the heat.  
If you’d like to know what cartridges I used for these designs, just leave me a comment below. I’d be more then happy to help. 

etc. / Travel

Maui Top 10 things to do and see

July 16, 2013

Well, sadly we are back to reality. No more paradise, boo hoo. But is was amazing friends. I keep thumbing through my super tropical instagram feed, longing for fresh fruit and warm waters.
Since this is our 4th trip to Maui in the last 10 years, I thought I’d put together a Top 10 list of our favorite things to do and see. I kind of feel like we know the place pretty well now. We are not the sit back and relax type of vacationers, we like to go, do, and see as much as possible when we travel. So, here’s what we think is some of the best Maui has to offer. 

1. Hike the Iao Valley. We love to hike through the rainforest and then swim in the river. In years past we’ve even picked ripe guava’s as we hiked. They weren’t ripe yet this year.

2. Have a cold treat at Ono Gelato on Front Street in Lahaina. I have Passion Fruit and Coconut, both were amazing.

3. Visit the Fabric Mart. It has the most amazing selection of Hawaiian prints. I bought fabric for a quilt for Olivia this time in pinks, greys and greens. I few years ago I made a quilt for myself and the last time we visited, I let the kids pick fabric for their own quilts as well.

4. Swim with Sea Turtles! We always stay on West Maui, and there’s turtles right outside our little condo everyday.

5. Rent a stand up paddle board. We rented this one for the whole week. It might be my favorite activity. It’s a great work out and once you get out of the water, it’s so peaceful.

6. Ride the Sugar Cane Train, especially if you have little ones. Olivia and I had a blast doing this and she is still talking about it.

7. Eat at the Haillaille General Store just outside of Paia. AMAZING food!

8. Enjoy a Pina Colada or even better Coconut Creme Brulee baked in a pineapple at The Hula Grill.  There’s always live music and you get to sit with your feet in the sand looking out at Kanapali Beach.

9. Hike the Kapalua Trail from the Kapalua General Store to Kapaplua Bay. The snorkel and swim and Kapalua Bay, it’s one of my favorite beaches.

10. Get up really early and be at Honolua Bay by 6:30am and snorkel the best Maui has to offer.  We were lucky enough to get to swim with about a hundred spinner dolphins one morning. On other mornings, we saw manta rays and a 4 foot white tip reef sharks, not to mention thousands of amazing fish.

DIY / etc.

DIY Instagram Hexagon Frame

I know I talk a lot about instagram. But because I’m such a huge fan, I’ve got a lot of instagrams that need to be shared. Sometimes I just get frustrated that all my favorite images are just floating in cyber space. I just don’t print images as much as a should anymore. So, I’ve come up with a fun way to display some of my favorites in my home.

I still have a lot of affection for triangles, but hexagons seem to be the next new hip geometric shape. And really triangles are not a great shape for instagrams, hexagons are a lot more in proportion. Using a 12×12″ piece of scrapbooking card stock and made this custom mat board to frame 11 of my faves.

To start, I picked out some instagrams that I loved and resized them to 2 1/2″ squares and then printed them at Walgreens. Or if you prefer to print at home, follow these instructions to size and print your instagrams. 
Then I cut my hexagon mat board using my Cricut machine. In Cricut Craft Room, I created my template using simple hexagons that were just over 2 inches wide. You can play around with the placement of your shapes, I just wanted a random arrangement of hexagons.  Then I simply cut my 12″ piece of card stock. If you aren’t lucky enough to own a Cricut, then this could be easily done with an x-acto knife and a hexagon template.  But, my Cricut sure made this easy and and the results are very professional looking. 

Next, I took one of the cut out hexagons and used it to cut out my images. I simply held it over the part of the image I wanted to show and then cut around the shape, leaving a 1/4″ edge around. This will give you space to attach the image to the back of the mat. I just used a little tape to adhere the pictures to the mat, so that they would stay in place. 
Then I framed it in a 12″ shadow box frame that I got at Target for $9.99 (this one is very similar). I think I’ll have fun changing out these pictures in a year or so. Or maybe I’ll just make another one. 
Do you print your instagrams? Or are they forever stuck on your smart phone? Mine are slowly coming off my phone and into my home so that we can all enjoy them. Happy instagraming friends!
I’ve also submitted this design to Minted.  If you like it, please take a second to vote for it.
art prints - Hexagon Collage
art prints – Hexagon Collage

etc. / Travel

My Maui Must Haves

July 9, 2013

Believe it or not, I’m still in Maui.  Our trip will be winding down soon, but we’ve had an amazing time and are so blessed to get to do this. I am far from a fashionista, but I do like a little funk in my wardrobe. I don’t really know what my style is, but I if I had to give it a name, I’d probably call it California Comfy. I love graphic patterns and pops of color paired with classic solids.

Black Tank // Orange Hat // Palm Tree Pants
Fun Towel // Best Sunscreen
Coral Nail Polish // Peach Makeup // Comfy Walking Shoes
I really didn’t buy much for this trip, but these are a few of my favorite pieces that made their way here with me. Of course I brought a good swimsuit and other essentials, but I’ve really gotten a lot of use out these items in particular. 
The tank and palm tree pants are like wearing pj’s in public. And they were super comfy for the flight over as well. The hat went to NYC and now I’m getting a lot of use out of it here in Hawaii. Not only does it give me sun protection, but if I don’t want to do anything with my beach hair, it stylishly covers the mess. The towel was a “want” but sold out before I could get it at my target, but my old one is still cute. Target’s Up and Up spray sunscreen is the best! Take it from this fair, freckled, redhead – it’s reasonably priced and does a great job even in and out of water. Coral is the color of the season, I love this Essie polish and the Bare Essentials Peach makeup. They both add a touch of soft color that isn’t too harsh and super made up. And Born shoes are always great, but these 3 toned brown sandals look great with jeans, shorts and dresses. The are my go to shoes this summer and I can wear them comfortably all day long. 
Do you have some Summer or travel must haves that you’ve gotten a lot of mileage out of this season? Please share. 

etc. / Find

Instagram iphone Case Giveaway

July 3, 2013

This giveaway is sponsored by INK361, but my words and opinions are all my own.


I’ve got a fun giveaway for you. I have two totally customizable iphone cases to giveaway. INK361 allows you easily take your favorite instagram images and turn them into fabulous iphone cases.

I turned one of my favorite instagrams of Olivia into this iphone case. I took this picture one evening outside one of our favorite Mexican restaurants while we waited for a table. That’s the beauty of instagram, you may not always have your camera with you, but you probably will have your phone. And then you can slap on a fun filter and share your shot with the world.

You know I’m a huge instagram fan. I’m on it all the time, posting pics and checking out what everyone else is up to. But some of my favorite shots of my kids and adventures are just stuck in the virtual world of instagram. It’s nice to be able to bring them to life in print.  INK361 offers professional photo prints, elegant fine art prints,  photo cards, mosaics, canvas prints and iphone cases.

For a long time I’ve used the INK361 widget to display my images in the sidebar of my blog. They offer a great instagram web viewer where you can like, comment, share and organize your instagrams.

So here’s how you can enter to win one of 2 iphone cases from INK631. Simply follow me (@jeranmcconnel) on instagram and then leave me a comment below with your instagram handle so I can check your instagrams out as well.  For additional entries, just share this giveaway on twitter, facebook, pinterest or instagram and then leave me a comment telling me how you shared. This giveaway will be open till Sunday, July 7th noon.  I will announce the winner on Monday, July 8th.  Two lucky readers will get to head over to INK361 and make their own instagram iphone case.