polka dot glitter cookies

i feel like the last 8 things i've purchased have been polka dotted.

i'm kinda having a moment with them.

glad the rest of the world is, too.

don't look now, but i'd love to do this to our second bath:

love it in every way. very tempted.

moving on.

i wish i had more time. i'm sure you all feel that way, and i don't even have kids yet!

by the time i get home from work i feel like i'm just going to bed to get up and do it all over again. but if i had like 2 extra hours a day to get the stuff i have to get done, to then do the stuff that i want to get done....

i'd make these:

polka dot cookies!

in neon and neutrals!

with sparkles!

they're like little gems of all my current favorite things rolled into a sugar.

you can find the recipe here.

a random, yet happy thursday.

happy thursday, friends.

JILL

{bluebird}

i told you at the beginning of january that i was going to start posting more of my house projects. i was always a little hesitant to post them because 1- its my house and my project, and people on the internet can be mean little suckers. but 2- if i didn't have a huge whole kitchen gut-job reno to share, i wondered if my little one-afternoon-one-tube-of-acrylic-paint small project even mattered enough to share.

but i'm over all that :)

the blogs i like reading the most are the ones that share their projects, big or small.

so here's a very very small one i recently did.

but the little things add up, so one small project at a time is the way my house is becoming my home.

this is the walkway between my dining/living room and my den.

we spend 99% of our time in the den.

so we walk by this approx. 59 times a day.

this little parrot, my mom scored at home goods for $15.99.

it's resin but painted in a faux wood finish.

(don't mind the gatorade... i actually took this photo when i was stuck at home with the flu and i was re-hydrating. and don't mind my sewing machine, its permanently out on the dining room table because i've been making dolllllllllls!)

this bird wasn't as awesome as it could be, as is.

it was purchased to end up at our lake house.

so i was going to spray it high gloss white, sorta like the ones zgallerie was selling awhile back.

but it got placed on my bar cart, and i liked it there, and so i'm not going to let the lake house have it.

sorry, mom :)

for my house, the high gloss white... i wasn't sold.

so i lived with it for months with various different color ideas.

finally i was at joann fabric store and bought this:

martha stewart satin craft paint in "cloud".

i love this color so much, i'm contemplating having it color matched and re-painting my dark navy blue room. almost sold on the idea.

it's a great blue, but not baby-blue, with a little green and grey in it.

so i got to painting.

i painted the whole thing this shade of blue.

and when i was finished, it was cute but i liked it about as much as i did when it was 'wood'.

so i grabbed some black acrylic paint from my stash, i picked the flat finish, and painted the base.

now, i'm obsessed.

bluebird is better.

the bar cart is from a thrift store downtown, called good juju.

my mom also snagged that for me when i first moved in our house.

the polka dot paper was done on a whim 2 christmases ago.

its just wrapping paper under the glass.

and after christmas was over, i liked it so much i've kept it.

one project down.

one hundred million more to go.

JILL

is it spring, yet?

because i got my spring clean on.

and its just want you wanted to read about on monday morning, right?

how i clean?

prob not, but too bad.

because it made me feel very very good about myself and my house. well, so far, just my kitchen. but one room at a time.

and my house is officially "toxic-gross-cleaner" free.

i have used them up and will not purchase any more. ever.

i've scratched the surface about how i've been slowly kicking chemicals out of my house and my food and my morning routine before. you could read more here and here, and i have lots more changes/updates but that's another day.

this was the last phase and i'm never going back.

so what do you do? you ask.

i use baking soda, peroxide and vinegar.

that's it.

read about all you'll ever need to clean your house, here.

it's where i finally got the kick in the pants to get this done.

now or never.

and with just these two things, i got my kitchen cleaner than it ever has been.

(i used the vinegar on the hardwood floors.)

all done with minimal effort and time.

huh?

yep. and ZERO toxic chemical smell or health hazards for me. my husband. my dog.

(2/3 of those things are used in food!)

first i went to the grocery and bought all new bottles of all 3.

i had some of each, but i wanted these to be kept under the sink for the sole purpose of cleaning.

they were around $2 each, give or take.

then i stopped by the section where they have all the travel sized shampoo and toothpaste, etc.

they had empty spray bottles for $3, so i got 2 of those (making sure they'd fit on my vinegar and peroxide bottles.)

i also got a sponge, which i hate for their bacteria hosting skillz, but it was made of all plant products... and i used it in the kitchen for a deep clean, and now i'm going to use it to clean the bathrooms tonight and then toss.

when i got home, i got started.

i have quartz countertops and i just sprayed them down with peroxide and wiped them up with paper towels. sprayed the window with it. wiped with a paper towel, sparkling. on both the counters and the windows, not a streak to be found.

then i moved onto the kitchen sink.

its stainless steel and always feels a little dingey to me.

i sprayed it down with peroxide. let it sit for a few minutes.

then sprayed again and sprinkled some baking soda all around, on both sides.

i used an old kitchen scrubber to... scrub.

rinsed with water, and it shined like i haven't seen it in the 3.5 years we've been living there.

entirely gross and amazingly awesome at the very same time!

then i moved to the appliances.

they're all white thus they get a little dingey, too.

it happens when cooking grease and junk and hands and dirt combine and its inevitable.

clorox kitchen clean-up, which is what i used to use, never got that legit grime junk off.

this did:

i put a little baking soda on a plate.

then i sprayed it down with peroxide.

then i pre-sprayed the area i was focused on with peroxide, smooshed this stuff into my sponge and went at it... it doesn't even take serious scrubbing. just a mild to moderate rub.

your paste will get a little dry so each time you re-apply it to your sponge, just spray it down with more peroxide. you'll have to rinse everything with a clean, watered down sponge or run it under water like i did with the knobs, to get the baking soda off once clean.

but this mixture, it got it. all. off.

i am so happy. i had high hopes, but was seriously not expecting this.

and this is the only before/after photo i have for you because i was on a roll and didn't think about doing this until the very very end. i wish i would have sooner. just for that gallon of satisfaction that it brings.

the inside of my microwave.

the (now) white handles on my fridge and freezer.

the entire surface of my gas range/stove.

clean.

holler.

i dare you to try it.

JILL

flowers for friday #131

aren't these shmancy black pansies amazing?

i didn't know there were black pansies. it would make a dreamy wedding bouquet.

about yesterday,

i didn't mean to alarm anyone! i am going to make it, honest :)

i just feel like this blog of mine is all sparkles and rainbows and sometimes i'm not always feeling the rainbows, so in a vein of honesty, i couldn't blog about the sparkles and rainbows.... but life is good you guys. we're just playing a waiting game on a few issues that hopefully will turn out peachy and then i'll get to tell the world. i'm praying!

until then....

and honestly, thank you for your texts and emails.

i've said it before, you guys are the best.

you all put a smile on my face.

i hope you have a splendid weekend.

i have lots of painting and photography and crafty business to tend to this weekend. so it'll keep me busy.

love!

JILL

{pansies from martha stewart}

sometimes...

it seems like in the last few years, life has thrown alot onto the plates of jill and jay.

i know everyone gets life thrown in their faces at times... and that its just meant for us to get through to the other side wiser, stronger and better equipped for what comes next. and we will get there. sometimes i just want to press the pause button.

granted alot of our life is great, full of the holy goodness stuff that i wouldn't change for the world.

but then there's alot of meh stuff that i wish we didn't have to deal with.

its just that sometimes life requires a swipe of your big girl lipstick....

and the healthiest dose of courage to get through it all.

but we'll come out on the other end with a marriage that rivals the best of em, where the sunshine's 100% of the time, and we can look back and say, "remember when...? that sucked."

i know this is so vague.

its just not the right time to mention some of these things because we're still dealing.

i know we have it better than alot of people in the world and this is not me complaining or wishing my life were different, i just need that extra dose of courage sometimes and today's one of those days.

sorry i don't have a great post for you today.

i just couldn't muster one up.

even just typing out this cryptic message has me feeling a little bit better.

at least we have our faith and health.

and love, which is so corny but so true :)

and we're making our way through this maze of life together.

i hope the sun's shining on you guys today.

love you, mean it.

JILL

happy happy!

happy happy birthday, elle!!!!

love you.

miss your face.

JILL

edgy egerton

i have a hallway and a bedroom that i want swathed in beautiful, patterned wallpapers.

i haven't done anything yet out of indecision.

but for the bedroom, if i could, i would choose this:

egerton by cole and sons.

in this colorway.

the first room is from an old domino, of amanda peet's home.

the second, plum syke's dining room. don't know what publication it appeared in.

i'm not going to say it...

{perp erf cerler}

sound it out ^

because the saying makes me cringe.

like a really great song that was played to death on the radio and every time you hear it you instinctively smash your hand on your car radio... switching to to something else, anything else.

that is how i feel about

a pop of color.

i hate it now.

they've over used it and pinterest is making it even worse.

but i really do love the effect.

can we just call it something else already?

what about a burst of pigment?

or an explosion of hue?

or a chunk of rainbow?

something else, anything else.

seriously, all my weirdness aside, it really does have a huge impact. take these rooms for instance...

they've totally funked up the girly and subdued colored floral wallpaper.

amanda peet added tons of tonal prints and a bright yellow lamp and red chair.

plum sykes added hot pink silk chair cushions.

and if i were to do this in my bedroom,

i would be doing something very similarly.

dying over it with hot pink.

thoughts?

JILL