Michelle Legler

How does a mosaic artist design her new shower?

Not the way you might think!

Go ahead and say it.......Boring. After gutting our preformed tract house shower in our master bathroom, I had grand ideas. Oh, the possibilities. I thought about different shapes I might put into the tile work or something Greek inspired. I even thought about adding inspiring words. Then hubby says "like what kind of words", and I can see him rolling his eyes. Hmmmmmmm. So, on my gazillionth trip down the tile isles of Lowe's and Home Depot and a few others, I looked at the white tile and said "Fine" you are it. I think I just spent too much time over-thinking it.

So, here is my white tiled shower. I've been working my booty off this week on this. Who needs aerobics?

 

As you can see, I'm not yet finished with this project. I'll be working on the floor of the shower today. It will be a bit more interesting.

 

And then there is the job of installing these. Yep, glass blocks. I've never worked with them before, so this will be a new challenge, but a new learning experience as well.

So far, this rope molding is as fancy as it gets.

 

Oh, and did you notice the pink walls? Our bedroom and master bedroom are both painted pink. A couple of years ago, I got really peeved at my husband for spending so much time away hunting and fishing (it's alot! I'm not exaggerating) so I decided that I was going to paint our room and bathroom pink since I spend more time in them than he does. I thought to myself Ha! take that! Well, that little temper tantrum backfired. When he came home and saw the rooms, he said pink walls?? and I said yes and I like them (all smug like). I'm pretty sure I saw an eye roll and I was feeling pretty proud inside. Well, that didn't last long. The next morning when he woke up he says to me "I think I really like the pink, especially the way the sun makes it look in the morning. Good Job honey!" Then he gives me a kiss and gets up and starts whistling. I put the pillow over my head to silence my screams.

Come back to see my (hopefully) finished shower. :-)

Hugs!

Michelle

A Twilight Bathroom?

Well, that's the feel we get from it. I think the Twilight series has totally pushed us in a direction that I find totally refreshing.

Here, see for yourself:

 

I bought those black mirror frames from IKEA. I removed the glass and hung them with black ribbon to give the mirror a little more design.

 

The storage box is also from IKEA

 

The picture was purchased months ago at Michael's. We already had the frame and just repainted it red with a little black distressing.

 

The red heart rugs were purchased at IKEA. LOVE them! Oh, I painted the cabinets the same color as the walls and added new black knobs that I picked up from Home Depot.

 

This is not an actual shower curtain. I purchased two drapes and put them on a rod. I got them from Target. I love the chandelier pattern.

 

Per daughter #4's instructions, I painted a black tree on the wall. I really like the look it gives the bathroom. Black towel is from Target.

 

This artwork is actually postcards that I purchased from Vanessa at a Fanciful Twist some months ago. I knew I wanted them to go into this bathroom. I found inexpensive black frames for them at Michael's.

 

I added this extra tree branch behind the door in order to give the room balance, plus I really wanted to add a bird :-) I picked up the long mirror at Target (really cheap!).

 

This is one of those brown paper mache forms that I painted black, added crystals, glued on roses and then attached to a crystal candle holder.

 

I got rid of the tract house lighting and added this mini chandelier. What a difference it makes in the whole look of the room.

 

Here's that storage unit I got from IKEA. I had to put the whole thing together...basically build it. It was not easy, so if you heard me cussing in your part of the world during the construction of this box, I apologize.

 

So, there is my bathroom re~do. Big change from the pictures below, huh? My daughter is happy with it, as am I. Check! Now, what's next on the list? I'll let you know soon.

Hugs!

Michelle

Bathroom Re do

This project has been on my to~do list for Forever. This is the bathroom that my youngest daughter uses and believe me when I say, it has seen better days! Those of you who are mothers, know that teenagers can wreak havoc on a bathroom. I didn't think to take pictures before I actually painted, but the original color was yellow with pink roses painted randomly. Daughter #4 has been asking me to update it for some time. Matter of fact, I purchased the paint months ago and daughters 3 & 4 had already primed over the roses for me in hopes that the bathroom would be completed long ago. Now just imagine a pale yellow bathroom with primer spots all over. UGLY! The first thing that I did was SCRUB and SCRUB some more. Then I painted the bathroom a very lovely gray.

The paint is Valspar brand from Lowe's and it's called Polished Silver. Here it is.

 

  

 

Like I said, this bathroom has seen better days. Paint looks good though!

 

 

 

Hmmmm, missing knob. (Ding!) Anthropologie maybe? Those cabinets are looking pretty beat up. Must do something about them.

 

 

 

I made this shower curtain years ago from some old curtains. It went really well with the yellow paint and painted pink roses. But no more.

 

 

This re~do will be cosmetic only. I'd like to gut the whole thing and put in new sinks and and a new shower/bath and new floor (the floor may happen soon!), however, I will wait until my last little birdie leaves the nest.

 

Come back in a couple of days and I'll show you the updates.

 

Have a GREAT weekend!!!!!

 

Hugs!

Michelle

I LOVE Surprises

Yep, I LOVE surprises and I especially LOVE surprising others. I get so excited knowing that someone is going to receive something that is going to make them happy. I wish that could be my full time job. A job where I could travel around, handing out surprises and making people happy. I guess that means I want to grow up to be Santa Claus. Hmmmmmmmmmmm........... ANYWAY, someone is going to be receiving a pretty little pink box in the mail real soon. I'm not the sender of this surprise, just the person hired to create it. So Exciting!!!! :-)   

Here's a pic. It's an ornament with very special and personal words for the recipient. :-) Did I tell you how Excited I am about this?? I know, Ridiculous! :-)

 

Here's a pic of me and my butterflies at the Kollectiv Art Gallery last Friday (I know, kind of a mug shot). I'm happy to say that even though the owner is closing her Phoenix gallery, she plans to open another gallery in the near future in Scottsdale. So, my butterflies will be making their flight to Scottsdale soon :-)

 

In gardening news...do you know what kind of plant this is??

 

If you guessed a Banana Tree, you are correct! Years ago, while attending a Christmas light show at the Mormon Temple, I saw that they had a banana tree in the courtyard and it had bananas growing on it. Well, I'm finally going to try my hand at growing bananas. The tag says it takes 18 to 24 months after planting to see fruit. I'm just hoping I can get it to live that long.

I planted it with my yellow Lantana in an area that is somewhat sheltered from too much heat. Wish me luck.

 

Speaking of fruit. Look at all of the green lemons on my tree.

 

A couple of them have turned yellow. This tree is loaded with lemons! I still haven't used all of my lemon ice cubes from last year. I've got to figure out a plan for all of these lemons.

 

Also thought I'd try my hand at succulents. I like the way a variety of them look in a pot.

 

Well, that's all for today. I hope you all are having a very wonderful week!

Hugs!

Michelle

Yes We Can

 

I feel HOPE in the air! :-) Yesterday was my birthday and what a Beautiful day it was. Waking up and knowing, that our country, actually elected a person of color as our next president, brought tears of joy to my eyes. You see, my mother's 2nd marriage was to a black man and that marriage took place in the 1960's........in

Wyoming

, of all places. My mother began this marriage with 2 white children (myself and my sister) and then went on to have 2 more children with her 2nd husband, giving us another sister and a brother of mixed race. I believe I was 5 years old at the time. My mixed race sister and brother felt as much a sibling to me as my white sister. We were family and we saw no color. However, there were many others in that state and elsewhere, that did. I will not go into the ugliness that people forced upon us, but I will tell you that I learned from an early age, that there are people in this world, people filled with hate, who really want to bring harm to others who are different from themselves. It was a long hard road growing up in my family, but one that I wouldn't change for the world. It is now 40 years later, and I must say, that it is about time.

Now, onto some mosaics and other happenings....

Here is my newest cake.

 

 

  

 

Here is a custom order box that I'm dropping off today to sweet Deanna in my favorite Mesa neighborhood.

 

  She is one of the happiest people I've ever met.

  

 

 

She's a big fan of Mary Engelbreit and her office decor proves that. This box will be going into her office.

By the way, did you hearthat Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion Magazine will not be publishing in 2009? I wish they would have told their subscribers before we had to hear it through the grapevine.

 

 

 

Some of you know that I'm a big fan of nests and birds. Well, I found these 3 lil' cute birdies at an antique store the other day while shopping for dishes. I just had to share them with you.

 

 

I thought I'd share some garden pics with you too, since I haven't posted any for awhile. Here is my red Lantana that surrounds my orchid tree.

 

 

Here is my purple Lantana. It has grown so much that it's touching the ground! I should probably trim it.

 

 

I don't remember if I talked about this before, but I had to do some serious work in the vegetable garden. It used to be the hubby's responsibility, but he lost interest and it turned into a giant mess! It was filled with weeds and Bermuda grass (yuk!). I had to dig it all up and put down a lot of mulch. I still have a lot more to do. This picture is of the pepper plants that came back from last year. They are doing really well. You can also see my Rosemary bush in the background. Also doing well.

 

 

 

I also recently built the boxes that you see. I'm trying to organize the vegetables while controlling the weeds. I've got the lettuce planted so far.

 

 

More boxes that need to be filled. Oh, and I have the tomatoes planted too.

 

 

This was a happy accident. I meant to plant Black Eyed Susan's, but I planted the vine variety instead. It is so pretty this time of year.

 

 

Look at those cute flowers! :-)

 

 

Here is daughter #2 and her precious little angel. I can't wait to see that little munchkin' and squeeze her chubby cheeks!

   

 

In other news, First Friday is tomorrow in downtown Phoenix. So if you are a local, come on down to the Kollectiv Art Gallery and visit me. This may be my last month there, as I think the owner and the landlord are having some conflict. (bummer!) My big butterflies are on display here.

 

Well, I guess that is about all. Oh, except, I must tell you that I received an Anthropologie gift card for my birthday, so I will be shopping soon and will be sure to share with you the items that I purchase.............and (shhhhh) the items that I already purchased (tee-hee). Love that store!

 

Hugs!

 

Michelle

 

p.s. I have updated my etsy with a bunch of cupcakes for the holiday season in case you are looking for a one-of-a-kind gift! I'll also be listing my new cake soon. xoxo!!

p.s.s. If the type looks all wacky in this post, it's because of Typepad. It was doing totally freaky things during this post! Goodness!