April Blog Feature

Hey guys this post is long overdue 1. because I introduced Cassie  from RE USE RE INVENT RE DESIGN to you back in February and 2. because we have been without power since last Wednesday. So this is still our April blog feature i just had to post it May because of circumstances out of my control. We were without power because of all the tornado's coming through the Southeast. We went out to do cleanup on Sunday to try and do what little help we could and it's just devastating. I will do a post on all of that later this week. 
So without further adieu let me introduce to you Cassie :)

1. Tell us a little about yourself. 

Born and raised in Utah. But have lived here in Sedona, AZ for 6 years. I am married and together we have 4 kids. My husband had 3 from a previous marriage, and I had one. I have always been interested in design. 

I have been rearranging  my room since I was 5. I always wanted to change things and make things pretty. Its kind of in my blood. My mom had a consignment store growing up and we always brought new things home, and changed stuff out. I also had my own consignment store called Traditions Consignment Co. in Utah. I had one employee, and only had furniture. It was small and my family probably kept me in business more than anyone, but it was so much fun! I loved it!! I had to close down to move down here to Sedona, AZ. :( I dont really likeArizona, its too hot and the thrift stores are something to be desired, but I have great friends here. I am a mountains kind of girl, not the desert. I hate snakes, scorpions, and all those crazy desert crawlers.

2.What inspired you to start your blog?

 I actually never know about "blogs" till I met my good friend Tara Finch, www.junkrestore.blogspot.com, she had a blog and so I wanted to do one too.

3.You have done so many amazing projects, do you have a favorite?

Favorite project: Well, I would have to say my coffee table is my favorite. I had always wanted to do something with pallets. They are so interesting and have a lot of character and rustic. I just had to figure something out.  It took a lot of convincing my husband, but I just KNEW it would turn out awesome, and it did. He loves it!

4.What is your inspiration?

 My inspiration is really from things I see. Magazines, blogs...everything really.

5.Where is your favorite place to shop for things for your home?

 My favorite places to find amazing things are for sure Thrift Stores, and garage sales. 

6.What advice would you give to beginner bloggers?

 Dont get discouraged. For so long I had like 10 followers, and it just kind of went from there. I am still a small blog but hopefully soon I will be able to expand with advertising and stuff like that. I would love to have my blog professionally designed, its my dream!

Also, dont feel like you have to blog all the time. I try to blog 1-2 a week. I try to keep my wording very simple, because frankly I dont read others that much...I just look at pictures. 

7.Do you blog full time or work full time, or a little bit of both?

I actually dont work a traditional job. I am a bible student who volunteers my time full-time which takes a lot of time and energy. I am very fortunate to have a husband who fully supports me in this and doesnt mind our family being a "one paycheck" family. Everything always works out. So I am just a part-time blogger. I probably spend more time looking than I do writing.

8.What do you do for fun?

We are huge outdoors people. We love biking, camping, boating in Lake Powell, and I recently I discovered (again) I love to ski. But basically anything in the mountains! 

I live in the wrong area :(

9.I have to aks you about your couch, i LOVE it! where did you find it?

My couch...this couch actually has a waiting list of people who want it. Its kind of crazy. This was the first purchase my husband and I made together when we were first married. I saw it a thrift store in Utah and called him right away. He came and looked at it, and was hesitant at the $500 price tag. So I asked the manager if her would take $175 and he did! SCORE!!! I have looked it over and cant find any names or signatures or anything. I think it is just a one of a kind piece that some guy made one day and his unappreciative wife didnt like it, so she made him get rid of it! (thats the story we came up with). I LOVE it!

10. What is the best/favorite steal you've found?

I always find purses for $5 or $6 bucks and check when I get home and they are $250-$300 bucks! But I found a clutch once at Savers, french, hand-beaded in perfect for $2.00. I came home looked it up and the price tag was $2,200!!! I was in shock! Who got rid of this??

Thank you so much Cassie for participating in our blog feature! and if y'all have't already go over to RE USE RE INVENT RE DESIGN and check her out!

March Blog Feature....a little late

Hey guys, this month Recycled Interiors will be featuring Sara at August Fields!

Isn't she beautiful!

She has five beautiful children that she teaches at home, that alone gives me great admiration for her :) You can follow Sara as they build their home, decorate, and homeschool.
Without further adieu, Sara of August Fields.

1. What inspired you to start a blog?

about 4 years ago i started a blog on a whim.  it was free and i thought it would be a fun way to capture memories of my children.  since that blog, i have changed the name twice and refocused.  when we began the process of building a home i thought it would be fun to document the process.  it has snowballed from there!

2. Your house is beautiful I loved watching y'all build and design it. Where did you get your inspiration for your home? 

thank you!  i have been pulling pages from magazines for years.  i save them in a binder, divided by rooms.  that was very helpful.  i also love to pursue homes on-line.  i saved interior pictures of homes that i really liked onto my computer hard drive.  then you can add in favorite movies, parade of homes, flea markets, and random brain storms.  

3. What is your favorite part of your home?

trick question. :)  i think because it is still so new to us..ALL of it is my favorite :)  but to give an answer, i would say the open layout of the kitchen, the drinking fountain, and the back yard.  this may change tomorrow though.

4. What made you decide to homeschool? 

when our oldest daughter was 3 years old i was already receiving questions like: "where will you be sending her to preschool?" and "have you started looking at preschools?"  it scared me!  what???  i'm not ready to send her to school!  

this led my husband and i to begin dialoging about school in general.  we had decided we would send our children to the local christian schools before we were even married, but we hadn't decided which one.  my mother in law (who was a veteran homeschooler) gently mentioned that we should think about homeschooling, even if just for the first few years.  

i honestly never thought i would homeschool.  i had naively categorized all homeschoolers into a big 'ol "jean jumper, bun wearing, stay in your house all day" group.  i, on the other hand, loved fashion, kept my hair up to the latest styles and am very social!  such a mature thought pattern, i know.

i met with a couple of homeschool moms and to make a long story short, never turned back.  i saw a passion for God and family that was refreshing to me.  i was intrigued with all the amazing curriculum choices available to the everyday person wanting to homeschool.

we decided to homeschool the preschool years, then kindergarten, that turned into first grade and by the time our oldest was in second grade we made the commitment to go all in and make this our choice.  i can't imagine it any other way.  we all love homeschooling.  it's how we "do" life. 

5. What advice would you give to beginner homeschoolers?

pray.  talk to your husband.  

search out a local homeschool support group and go to at least a couple of meetings.  this will help you see beyond your own ideas.  everyone does homeschool sooooo differently!  

start simple.  reading, writing, arithmetic.  seriously.  it's easy to feel like everyone else does it better.  but my answer to that is this:  do you need to answer to everyone else or to God?  are you teaching your children to love the Lord? to honor their mother and father?  are you modeling love towards your husband?  there will ALWAYS be someone more creative than you, more organized, more patient.  allow God to work in your family with the gifts He has given YOU. :)  it's just easier to not try and be someone else. :) :)

6. How did you and your husband meet?

this is fun.  i met him when i was 14 years old on a family vacation.  we went to the same high school, he was a senior and i was a freshman.  we played tennis together on the weekends and fell in love.  i can honestly say that i am more in love with him then ever!  (i do NOT recommend dating at such a young age though) :) :)

7. I come from a large family of 6 kids, and i LOVE it!  What made you want such a large family? They are all adorable!

This is her son's room how adorable!

i think they're pretty darn cute too.  thanks!  again, we never really 'set out to have a large family'.  after each child, we just felt soooo blessed!  God has blessed us for sure.  we enjoy parenting, the kiddos are so fun, and we devote a lot of time and energy into each other.  we often receive comments like "how do you do it?" or "FIVE kids?"  but to us its what we love and wouldn't have it any other way!

8. What is your favorite house project that you have done so far?

this is a tough one too!  well, to see the kitchen come together was awesome.  i really liked organizing my craft area and am still adding fun accessories to that space.  the nursery was enjoyable too.  we painted the floors white and the pieces i am finding to go into that space are a little more eclectic childish.  

Sara, thank you so much for sharing a piece of your life with us!

Now that you know all about Mrs. Sara go over and check out her blog!

All pictures courtesy of August Fields.

FBF Preview!

If you haven't already met Cassie from reUse*reInvent*reDesign, please let me introduce you!

She is very talented, this is her living room.

I have been looking for a wood couch like this, since i saw it on Cassie's blog!

And this coffee table is on my "to do" list :)

And see that chevron print chair in the background? She did that herself!

She has redone, tons of furniture, you can check it out here, here, and here.

She is our February blog feature and she answering YOUR questions. So check out her blog and comment on this post with whatever questions you have for Cassie!

January Blog Feature

It's time for our second blog feature. I'm working on doing one of these a month, and i've got a great line up for you so far! Please let me introduce to you Mina from Bohemian Vintage! 

Mina has her own etsy shop, you can check out here.  And she has parties in the middle of the week like Etsy Tuesdays and Bohemian Wednesdays! How fun! 

Thanks for sharing your questions for Mina. I'll let her tell you a little more about herself. 

1.) Are you persian? haha, mina is a persian name! Nope. Not Persian! : ) My parents are Nicaraguan. My name is actually short for Guillermina... my horrid middle name. It's Whilemina in Spanish.

2.) What do you do? I have two degrees. One in Education and one in Law. I am using the Education degree right now. I teach American History; American Government and Economics to 10th, 11th and 12th graders. I was actually a teacher before I got my law degree and loved it. So, when I graduated law school, I realized it wasn't really something I had a passion for, so I didn't continue my pursuit of it. Somewhere in between all of that , I started the Bohemian Vintage blog as a fun way to journal about things I like and enjoy. From the blog grew a business and a creative side of me I never knew existed. : ) Many interior decorating projects have organically come out of it. Just over time. I worked in an Antiques boutique on Sundays while I was in law school (just part time) and that's kind of where I started to get my experience with putting things together and learning about vintage design and decorating. So, now I do it as a side job, if you will. So! To answer the question... no... I don't blog full time. I wish. : )

3.)What advice do you have for aspiring business-owners? Have plenty of capital to start and stay afloat for at least 2 years!!! That's if you plan on opening up a brick and mortar shop. Don't borrow money from a bank if you can help it and start it online if you can. Starting it online is a great way to test the waters and get to know who your audience is. It's also good because you get to keep your day job while you do it. So, it's not so scary. If you want to jump in with both feet, however... my advice is to stay organized with you accounting (Not even kidding... this can be so frustrating), get your legalities in order (licenses, sales tax, etc...), have excellent signage and USE social media to the fullest!! Also, if it's applicable to your business... host events in your community. People like events. There's no better marketing than word of mouth.

4.)What inspired you to start your blog? Honestly? I've been keeping journals since I was 12 years old. So, I have pretty much every week of my life journaled! I looooove to write. So, the idea of an online journal really intrigued me. But, I didn't want to have an online "diary"!! You know?? Um... terrifying!! So, I thought... "okay... maybe I can write about something I like or know about." And I was really into interiors at the time, so that's what I went with.

5.) How did you get your store up and running? I started it online with some things I had around the house. Within the week, however, I went to the local thrift shop and junk shop and started getting things to sell. I kept an inventory notebook that listed the price I paid for it and the price I listed it for. When it sold, I would jot down how much it sold for. It later went on to be a spreadsheet on Excel. My parents are both accountants for small businesses, so they consulted with me a lot about setting up a tax id and all that boring stuff that you should do. I already had the blog up when the shop started, so I referenced the shop on the blog and announced its opening. I used social media a lot to promote it as well. I was also always mindful of taking decent pictures. Not that they were professional by any means. There are some pretty scary ones on there. But, that was important to me. That etsy shop closed down in 2009. It was Mina180. : )

6.)What are your hobbies? I love thrifting, antiquing, reading, listening to music and being outside on bright sunny days. I love taking pictures too.

7.) What inspires you? Love inspires me. The amazing things people will do for it. When I prepare my home to look beautiful for people to stop in and see us, I do it with love. When I teach my wonderful and amazing students, I do it with love. When I sit down at night and blog, I sincerely do it with love. So, I feel that much of what I do in my life is driven by a strong love for that particular situation. It keeps me inpspired and it keeps me happy. Most of all... it keeps me humbled. Humbled because it's amazing to me that love can drive so many people to do so many things. Just that one emotion.

8.) Where is your favorite place you have traveled? Savannah, GA. I just fell in love with that town! The architecture is so beautiful and filled with character. There was jazz playing on the streets and people eating at outside cafes in the summer heat. The energy was incredible. I just loved it.

Mina, thank you so much for participating in our Blog Feauture!

Now go over and check out Bohemian Vintage!

JBF Preview

Just in case you didn't catch my abbreviation JBF means January Blog Feature :)

Anyway,

I would like to introduce you to Mina at Bohemian Vintage.

She will be our Blog Feature for January so check out her site and let me know any questions you'd like me to ask her!

Have a super duper day and a Merry Christmas!

Blog Feature. This is a test :)

Hey guys, I am thinking about doing a monthly Blog feature. Here's how it will work. Each month i'll post about a new blog, interview the author, and show you what they love to do. 

If you guys have questions you'd like to ask i can tell you who the blog feature is going to be the next month and you can email me your questions for them.

So this post is going to be a little test to see if i should keep the ball rolling :)

I have already talked a little bit about Mary Grace over at White Waxflower, well she was kind enough to answer a few questions so you guys could get to know her better.

Here ya go!

1. Tell us a little about yourself.

I'm a southern girl living in a quirky little San Diego neighborhood called Ocean Beach. I'm married to my best friend (cheesy, but true!), I have a silly little dog named Jemima, and my favorite thing to do in my free time is find and fix up un-loved furniture.

2.What inspired you to start your blog?

My friend Jillian actually started blogging first, and she convinced me to start a blog of my own. I didn't really intend for it to become a blog about anything in particular, but since furniture, antiquing, and decorating my home are sort obsessions of mine, they quickly became the main things I blogged about!

 3.What is your favorite project you have done?

Oooo .. this is tough! The white dresser that we have in the living room is probably my favorite, because it's the first big piece that my husband and I planned out and worked on together. I'm also pretty in love with the orange-striped French chairs, so those are a close second!

4. How/What is your is your inspiration?

I'm just in love with the general aesthetic of Anthroplogie, and I find their catalog, store and website very inspiring. But I would say my biggest source of inspiration is romantic comedy movie sets, especially if Nora Ephron or Nancy Meyers had a hand in making the film! Half of the ideas I got for decorating my home came from Meg Ryan's apartment in You've Got Mail, or Kate Winslet's cottage in The Holiday:) I even picked out the sofa we have because I fell in love with it when I saw it in The Breakup! The blog Hooked On Houses is a great source for photos of pretty movie and TV sets.

5. Where is your favorite place to shop for things for your home?

This isn't a very classy answer, but probably Craigslist, at least when it comes to buying furniture! As far as actual shops go, though ... my favorite is definitely Anthro:)

6. What advice would you give to beginner bloggers?

I still have a lot to learn myself, but here are three tips that I've picked up along the way:

*Write about whatever it is you love to write about. Don't try to write posts based on what you think people want to read, or what will appeal to the widest audience - that gets old really fast! Find a writing style, subject matter and general attitude that feels the most "you", and stick with it!

*Reach out and connect with as many more experienced bloggers as you can. Leave comments, write emails, tweet them, whatever! Some of them may be snobby or won't write you back, but for the most part you'll find that your fellow bloggers are a friendly bunch, and they'll be happy to talk to you, answer your questions, give advice, etc.

*Be grateful and kind to everyone that supports you! If someone takes the time to comment on your blog, do the same for them. Answer every blog-related email you receive as promptly as you can, and if they're asking for help/advice, do your best to be helpful! Interior design guru/celebrity Margaret Russell supposedly personally answers every single email she receives, so really ... what excuse do the rest of us have?

7. How did you and your hubs meet?

We met in college, and we had a rather disastrous first date (in one of those "it wasn't funny at the time, but it's hilarious now" kind of ways)! It took him 6 months to work up the courage to ask me out again, but the second date was infinitely more successful, and we've lived happily ever after:)

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 8. What do you two like to do together for fun?

I'm lucky because he actually enjoys fixing up furniture with me, as long as it involves him getting to use his tool box and drill! We enjoy taking Jemima down to the leash-free dog beach, visiting museums, and exploring the city together. We have a long list of crazy trips we want to take, so we also enjoy plotting and planning our future adventures to foreign destinations:)

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Thank you so much MG for taking the time to help us get to know you!

*Unless otherwise noted images courtesy of White Waxflower.

Please let me know what you think of the Blog Feature idea!