Cabin Decorating- Adding Age

     Ordinarily when I finally get a few quiet moments to sit down with a home decorating magazine, I'm a page by page kinda gal. Unless I spy on the cover a feature of a cabin, then I flip fast and furious straight to those pages. I adore reading romantic accounts of couples finding long forgotten cabins in various stages of crumble and neglect then lovingly restoring them to their former glory. Or who doesn't love an adventurous saga of a family who has taken a cabin apart log by log and transported it clear across the country to its new home?

    Of the oodles of cabins I have ogled at over the years, almost all of them have one thing in common that my cabin does not share- age.

   Now by no means am I complaining about the "newness" of the cabin. But it has been a mission of mine to make the cabin feel as if it has always been there tucked away in the woods. So I thought I would share a few of the ways I have been able to add a little age to the cabin and speed up the maturing process.

Using Family Heirlooms and Flea Market Finds

Whether from your own family or found at the market, older pieces add instant history. This was my grandfather's rocking chair, one of my most prized possessions. I was lucky enough to grab it when my grandmother downsized. I love sitting in it and thinking about how much my grandfather would have loved this place.

This is my grandmother's worn sewing basket which believe it or not now serves as glow stick storage (glow sticks are a kiddie must-have around the campfire.)

I realize how blessed I am to have these items handed down to me. They add not only age to the cabin but priceless family history as well.

Using Worn and Distressed Finishes

We finally installed cabinets to the kitchenette. To achieve a worn look and a pop of color, we stained them fruit punch red. The color makes me so happy!

Fake It

This rusty old chandelier now hangs over our table. It may look old but I actually bought it brand new at Home Goods. It was a steal too- would you believe only $19?

While most of us girls can agree age can be a sensitive subject, when it comes to growing old gracefully with my decor, I'm finding the aging process to be quite fun and mostly wrinkle-free.

Find me here:
Between Naps on the Porch , Savvy Southern Style , At the Picket Fence , Funky Junk Interiors

Beauty and the Beast Breakfast

By far my favorite Disney princess has always been Belle. With "her nose stuck in a book" and her ability to see true beauty within, what's not to love? So when I first saw they were rereleasing the movie in 3D, I knew taking the girls was a must. With Chirstmas over and our elf-on-the-shelf back in the North Pole, I was missing some of that morning magic so I decided to suprise the girls with a special breakfast to announce our movie trip. You should have seen the looks of pure astonishment and giddiness when they came downstairs on an ordinary Friday morning to see the dining room table all adorned for a special breakfast.

Our Lumiere-esque sign read, "It is with deepest pride and greatest pleasure that we welcome you this morning as your Mommy proudly presents your Breakfast."

For breakfast, the girls dined on vanilla yogurt with strawberries cut in the shape of enchanted roses...

...and cranberry-orange mini-muffins in rose paper cups.

I decorated the table with an enchanted rose and mirror and piles of vintage books.

Mrs. Potts, Chip and Lumiere also joined the festivities.

The girls also recieved new Belle t-shirts to wear to the movies and a little goodie box with a Belle pez dispenser and candy inside.

The buffet was set up for our after-movie treat: a new Belle nightgown for each girl and special snack, a Beauty and the Beast cake.

Each girl had her own Belle on the cake (when you're a twin- it's all about the fairness.)

The movie itself was as magical as I had remembered it. The 3D effects were stunning and the girls were mesmerized the entire time. My favorite part of the day however, was as when we were tucking them in and I heard, "Mommy, this was the best day ever!" 

Catch me partying here  !

Year in Review

Hello friends,
Its hard to believe it has been months since I posted last.  All has been fine in our little corner of the world.  Now with winter finally upon us,  things slow down a bit and I am excited to share some of the things we've been up to.  I love how a new year brings out that reflective spirit in me. So here is our little year in review- some old and some new.

First, Mr. Cabin built   the cottage exercise room - my bright, happy place amongst the basement chaos.

Next, was the cabin's wood shed. Yes, it is there in the background of the picture. Its not so pretty right now. It still needs paint and a front eve. Who am I kidding? I am not sure if it will ever be pretty- after all it is a tool shed. But its functional and the bottom line is - it got those tools out of the living room! Most importantly however, fingers crossed, with the tool shed built I am one step closer to getting the outdoor shower of my dreams!

My favorite project at the cabin was this impromptu one- a small dock out over the pond- built from left over wood from the shed. We spent a good many hours swimming and fishing off that little dock this year.

Gotta love unplanned strokes of genius.

Back at the cottage, I started a tea party garden for the girls this summer. The basic structure was about as far as I got, but I am looking forward to finishing it this coming spring.

Now unto all the projects I have yet to post about. Installing red cabinets in the cabin's kitchenette! I am thrilled with the way they came out.

And finally the project that is mostly responsible for keeping me away and preoccupied for the past few months- the girls' woodland fairy birthday party. There will be lots to post about that special event!

Hope all is well in your little corner of the world too. Hope your own reflective spirit finds you looking lovingly on this past year with pride in your accomplishments and into the future with anticipation and hope.
Happy New Year friends!