Notes from A Cottage Industry

Weekly words to live by.

#weeklywordstoliveby #notesfromacottageindustryblog #acottageindustry

The unseen decor must-have item I cannot live without.

Regardless of the time of year, there is one constant that adds to the comfy, cozy, welcome feel in my home, and if you've been here, you know what it is.

It's home fragrance.

Mmmm, mmm, mmm, mmm. I want everyone who enters my home (including myself) to immediately feel welcome, and furthermore, to be met with the most pleasant, yummy, comforting scent.

It has been a daily ritual of mine for literally years now, and I will tell you what it is.

It's wax melts.

Oh, my, my, my, how I love me some wax melts. (The only time you will not smell my wax melts is when I have something delicious smelling cooking in the oven, crock pot, or on my stove top....)Oh, and in case you are wondering, you can get the the wax burners here as well.

Decades ago, back in the early, early 1980's I think, potpourri enjoyed a wildly popular resurgence (I think it comes from the Victorian times originally or even further back in time...) and we enjoyed big jars or bowls of fragrant dried flowers. (Anyway, my girlfriends and I all did.) and then along came a thing called "simmering potpourri" where you put these dried flower petals, and cinnamon, or lavender, or vanilla, or whatever...in a big ol' pot of water on the stove.

It smelled heavenly.

The problem with simmering potpourri was that you would be enjoying the fabulous scent wafting out of your kitchen, and la-dee-da...time would pass, and suddenly, (usually when you were at the point most furthest from your stove) you would smell...what is that?!

Uh, oh.

Just at the precise moment your brain processed that bad, burning smell, your smoke detectors would go off. All of the water in the simmering potpourri would have evaporated, and you now were the proud owner of a burned pot, and a smell you couldn't get rid of for three days.

Far out.

**Side story here: One of my friends (in the 1980's....) had a pot of simmering potpourri on her stove, and her elderly father lived with her. Well, he was having some of his pals over, and she left to run an errand.

She returned to find that her Dad had served the simmering potpourri to his friends, mistakenly thinking it was some type of interesting cider drink, due to the cinnamon and vanilla he smelled.

They didn't really like it, but they all politely drank it.

True story, friends. (No one got sick, but it was easy to understand how it happened.)

Okay, back to my blogpost, and the history of home fragrance.

Scented votives and fat candles in glass holders then reached the height of popularity at some point after that, (The 90's....about the time Pearl Jam and Nirvana hit the scene....)and while I love a nice scented candle, I was born in California, and I kinda still worried about earthquakes. Also, I am rather forgetful, and the fire hazard thing just concerned me too much with three elementary aged kids in my home, so I never got too heavily into the scented candles all over my home thing. (I mainly enjoy a nice scented candle during my bubble bathes....)

This brings me back to wax melts. (Were you starting to wonder where I was going with this post?) A company named Scentsy first brought them to life, at least in my world, and then the copycat companies jumped on the bandwagon. The Better Homes and Gardens brand is still to this day my all time favorite, with it's not-to-be-undersold pricing, and wide array of fragrances.

You melt the wax in a cute little electric contraption called aptly enough, a wax burner. Wax melt burners come either as wall plug in style, or sit on the table style, and I have both. (I know you are not surprised.) I couldn't pick a favorite if I had to. I just know that I love the comforting fragrance floating throughout each and every inch of my home. (Another side note here: They also double as great little night lights.)

I am a seasonal scent nut kook purist, and I love matching the seasons, or weather to my home scents. I mostly use the vanilla peach for summertime, (fresh, and light, with just a hint that something just might be baking in the oven) A Thankful Harvest for autumn (Be still my heart. I swear it's a scent straight out of a Hallmark movie.) Perfectly Pine smells like a real fresh cut Christmas tree,(I start burning this the day after Thanksgiving while I am putting out my Christmas decorations.)  and finally, Orange Buttercream is my number one go-to for springtime. Of course, sometimes I try new scents, but these are my tried and true wax scents for the year.

I am now realizing that I have rambled on about the history of home scents for several paragraphs, so I should probably button this up, for fear that everyone is thinking that I am a fragrance obsessed senior with far too much time on her hands. 

(Well, we are still in the midst of Covid, so that is not entirely untrue.) 

Whatever.

Don't take my word for it. If you have not tried wax melts to add the icing on the cake to your home atmosphere, I suggest you pop by any big box store, and when you are alone on the wax melt aisle, open a package of a scent that sounds yummy to you, pull your mask down off your nose, and take a big. deep. long. sniff. of it.

It just might change your world. It did mine.

...

If you like my posts, and want to stay in the loop, please hop over to Instagram and give me a follow.

Happy hump day, peeps!

There are still a few remnants of snow on the ground here, but spring has most definitely sprung inside my home.

I know I eluded to it just a few posts ago, but I am ready for some springtime. This week I decided I could wait no longer.

I put away all of the red and black decor touches all around my home over the past week. I then pulled out my most favorite Robins egg blue and light corals, and I've gotta say, it's like seeing an old friend after they've been away.

Since our home is on the "cozy" side (Around 1100 square feet total) most of my touches are in the living and dining room area. (In smaller spaces, less looks like more!) The fantastic quilt my mom made me for my birthday a few years ago now adorns the back of the sectional...

...and makes the most welcoming statement for the entire room. Bird's nests and faux eggs, along with greenery and terra cotta pots are scattered about in nooks and crannies.

The mantel is enjoying a re-do as well, with my terra cotta pots and my favorite seed banner, along with some of my faux Robin's eggs. This all works for me through Easter and Mother's Day, and clear into June, when I pull out my patriotic decorations.

I am so loving this change up in decor! The entire color way and lighter, brighter look is like an actual breath of fresh air to me.

I know. It's still raining here, with grey skies, and so it's not quite windows-open-flip-flop-wearing-weather just yet, but it's coming, hopefully sooner than later, and I for one, am ready. who's with me?

...

If you don't already, please be sure to follow me on Instagram for more sneak peeks at what I'm up to....

...

Follow me on Instagram to get a head's up when new blog posts are live, and to see more of my favorite things, here.

Weekly words to live by.

Who else is ready for spring?

I know we are not supposed to wish our lives away, to live in the present, but...dang, between the Covid virus and the record setting cold and storms (and tornados...) I am over winter already.

Talk about your cabin fever.

I've got a crazy busy day planned here, with a quick trip down to Camas Antiques (our snow is melting....yay!) to pull the last of the Valentine items from my booth and get it ready for my spring and Easter items that I will be loading in tomorrow. From all I have been creating and gathering, it looks like aqua and coral are gonna be taking the lead color wise. (Which is no surprise, as that are my favorite color combo and what I am pulling out of the trunk in the living room today.

I store all of my offseason linens in there (everything must be useful in a small house!) and today I will be putting away the red and black plaids from Christmas and Valentine's Day, and I'm beyond ready for my yummy robins egg blues and corals to totally change the feel of my front room! I'm feeling happy just thinking about it.

I hope everyone is staying safe, and warm, and I hope you're doing something today that makes you smile.

The post where I decided to go with "more is more", and created a fun and foofy backdrop, courtesy of the The Other Tracey.

I love it when an impulsive idea morphs into something fabulous, don't you? Like, it was meant to be. If you don't know what I mean, let me explain:

Sometimes, an idea will quite literally pop into my head, and before I have actually fully processed that idea, I will act upon it. (Note: I do not recommend this as a method of running your business or your life.) One of these half-baked ideas happened just before Christmas last year.

I have been enjoying having a larger booth space at Camas Antiques this past year, (even with the pandemic!) and one day while trying to find a spot for some new holiday banners, it suddenly struck me that I should have a case sized space somewhere close by across the aisle from my big booth. That way I could showcase a certain theme in it. 

Anyway, as soon as the idea came to me, (and without a second thought that maybe I should think this idea through or at least sleep on it for a day) I whipped out my phone and texted Clark (he is in charge of booth spaces at Camas Antiques) to see if I could get on a wait list for a case. A couple of weeks later (after I had forgotten all about wanting a case at this point...) Clark let me know he would have a case for me on January first.

Oh! Okay.

I now had about two weeks to figure out what I was going to put in this new small space area, and for the life of me, I couldn't remember exactly why I felt I needed more space at the store. I knew for sure that I could fill the case, and after thinking further on it, I gave myself a time frame of six months to give it a shot. If it isn't profitable for me by the end of June, I would give up the extra space. (And no, it never crossed my mind to tell Clark it was a spur-of-the-moment idea and thanks, but no thanks...)

Stepping back in time about two or three months to early autumn, The Other Tracey had sent me a box literally crammed full of fabulous old skirts in various styles, and all in shades of whites and creams.

Be still my heart.

She had cut them along one seam so they could be hung flattened out on a wall as a whimsical backdrop. (She had done this a few years ago in her booth in Reno, and somehow had never gotten a photo of the idea, but she was certain I would love the idea too!)

So, I had been keeping the box of skirts, and was adding more to it so I could cover one of the walls in my large booth space. Now I realized I could use what I had to cover the back wall of the new case. 

Yeah, baby.

It suddenly felt very meant-to-be to me.

On New Year's Day I headed down to Camas Antiques. I used my staple gun to attach the skirts to the back of my case, and, with the Other Tracey giving me her input on installation of the many vintage skirts, via video call, I had my backdrop up in no time at all. (Truly, it was the next best thing to her being there!)

It was perfect, and I was beyond thrilled with the results. Here is a peek at the beginning of me filling the new case....

So far, I am thrilled with my new case space, as it seems to be a great little side hustle of sorts to house more of my paper crafts inventory, and it is very easy to restock. I filled my case with a Valentine's Day theme and a couple of weeks later, switched it up for the upcoming Superbowl game.

I love it when these kinds of ideas work out! Do you ever do things like that? At home, or with work, or whatever? 

***

Be sure to follow me on Instagram to get alerted when a new blog post is up!

The evolution of my workroom over a six year time span.

Aaah yes, the little room where all of the magic (and messes) happen, so to speak.

Okay, Let's start at the beginning. If you've been reading my blog a long time, you might remember that the smallest room in our cozy cottage was my little workroom. It is a teeny tiny bedroom sandwiched in the hallway between the other two bedrooms and the bathroom, and its petite size is perfect for my workspace.

I was looking through old blog posts, and I was shocked to realize that I have never shared my home workroom renovations with you.

I moved into my sweet little cottage on the corner back in December of 2014. (Can you even believe it has been a little over six years?! I can't.) I shared a peek into it in early 2015, and you can see a picture to refresh your memory (and mine) here.

And later, I shared some small details here.

Then I tried repurposing the heaviest piece of shelving in America to hold crafting supplies here. (Oh my. What exactly was I thinking? I planned on painting it, but, in perfect 20/20 hindsight vision....the 80's furniture just needs to stay in the 80's....)

None of it was really coming together quite the way I had envisioned it in my mind's eye, but it was working.

Kinda.

We (my handy-mad-carpentry-skillz daughter and I) renovated my workroom in 2017, and somehow I never shared anything about it here.

Weird.

(Let's go with the "better late than never" mindset here.)

So, as I said, it was 2017. (Remember 2017? When life was lived with lots of hugs and no masks?)

Anyway.

Twenty seventeen. My daughter is very handy with wood and construction, and for my Mother's Day gift, (along with a new nail gun) she wanted to refresh my workroom.

Yay!

We designed some built in shelves and a desk to do beneath them, and then we got busy...We (My daughter) built shelves (I was the go-fer helper) above the desk and I moved the little vintage white dresser to hold more crafty supplies. 

She had a very old, very heavy thrifted desk that had been passed around between family members that she had an idea for in my workroom, and we planned the whole makeover around that. She took the top off of the desk, and we repurposed the two banks of drawers to use as the base for my new desk area...

Oh, so much better for working in!

Except for the fact that I am a messy creative type.

The room functioned well, but my messiness creativity stayed pretty out of control until...well, until the pandemic hit. I am not sure if has been all of this time spent at home, day after day, after day, after month, or what, but the messiness began to wear on me something awful. 

I decided to do something about it.

I got a bag for trash and a box for donations. It was hard at first, but the more I purged, the more I began to see just how much stuff I had that I had not used in at least a decade and a half.

Seriously.

I got in touch with my inner Marie Kondo (I didn't know I even had it in me!) and after a few purging sessions with myself I found I had more to donate than to keep. (It turned out that all of this stuff wasn't "bringing me joy" as Marie would say, as much as it was very nearly turning me into a craft hoarder. (You know what they say; it turns out that shopping for craft supplies, and crafting are two different hobbies....)

Desperate for a system of order, I purchased white photo boxes from Michaels Crafts (Only $2 each with the sale price...) and picked them up curbside. (I actually love this service that has come out of the pandemic. Just pop open the hatchback on my car, wave thank you, and get back home...)

As much as I liked the little vintage dresser I had in the room, the long narrow drawers were just a magnet for messiness. I searched online, and found a cubby style shelving unit that would hold items, yet keep them visible for me. Also, it would hold the photo boxes oh, so neatly.

I then filled the boxes with the themed paper craft supplies and already made banner inventory  I had purged through, and I stood and admired my handiwork for a solid forty five minutes.

I am thrilled to share with you that I have now kept my workroom clean and organized for going on three months now.

(Trust me, this is huge for me.)

Has the past year and the pandemic changed your homekeeping style any? Have you paired things down, like me? Started cooking differently? Baking more? I'd love to know!

***

Please follow me on instagram for a head's up on when a new blog post is up!

 

 

Weekly words to live by.

Happy Valentine's Day, sweetie-pies! 

A little Valentine cookie post.

This Sunday is Valentine's Day, and since we are all pretty much still hibernating at home, (And it looks like most of the country is under winter storm watch!) I thought it might be fun to share some easy (and so cute!) cookie decorating tips.

I love baking sugar cookies for holidays, birthdays, and pretty much any occasion I come up with. You can find my recipe for my Sugar Cookie and Buttercream Frosting recipes here:

  Download Best Ever Sugar Cookies Recipe  Download Best Ever Buttercream Frosting Recipe.

I have a set of graduated heart cookie cutters that I love to use, as I can have various sizes of cookies to tuck into baskets, boxes, bags, or plates to give out. Once my cookies are baked, I let them cool completely before I frost them.

Make your frosting, and use separate bowls to add various shades of food coloring to keep things neat. You will want to use a pastry bag, and a number 3 decorating tip to frost the cookies. You may also want to add sprinkles to your cookies for some added color.

Once the cookies are decorated, they can be arranged in boxes, baskets, or bags to share with friends...so easy!

 

#Valentine'sDayTreats, #GimmeSomeSugar

 

Weekly words to live by.