donating goods: 40 bags of it....ok maybe only 25, but who's counting?

remember way back before easter when i set out to get rid of 40 trash bags of stuff in 40 days?

well, easter came and went and i kept working on my 40 bags.

i didn't quite make it to 40, but i am pretty happy with the results of the project.

 (22 trash bags lined up in our hallway. black=donations, white=trash.)

and of course, i have to save some things for next year. :)

here are a few areas in our house that benefited from this lenten household cleansing.

 (hair accessories in the girls' bathroom)

 (everything in its place, our mornings are much more efficient now.)

 (the beach towels are in a better location. now i can reach them!)

 (three different types of toothpaste. why? not sure.)

 (halloween make-up, nail polish, lip gloss, chap stick, lotion.)

 (schrunk in our family room. games. camera equipment, magazines.)

 (LOVE seeing all my magazines so organized!)

(cabinet in our family room filled with art supplies.)

there are a few more areas like my closet, bathroom, laundry room, sewing room, pantry and attic that i cleaned out. i just didn't get pictures of all of those places.

the last time i counted, i had about 25 bags, one tv, one nightstand, and a couple of lamps. soon, i will be taking everything to a local donation center. that will be a good day!

i would love to hear about your success with the 40 bags/40 days project. i know there were a lot of you who did this with me. how many bags did you get? 

~elisabeth

funny goods

they had to know, right?

i mean, it just had to be on purpose. had to!

for goodness sake, tell me it was on purpose.


have a great holiday weekend everyone!
~elisabeth

restore goods: $2 lantern before and after

a few days ago i posted my latest reveal on my friend paige's blog here.

for those of you who didn't make it over there i am going to reveal it on here too. (but you really should go over there to faith's place, cuz paige rocks and so does her blog.)



have you noticed how lanterns seem to be all over the place right now?

i found these two beauties while reading the blog, nest egg.

LOVE that pop of red. (hmmmmm....that would be fun in my kitchen.)

but alas, they are way beyond any budget i ever have. to be honest, i don't ever really have a budget....so, off to the thrift store i go!

at my local habitat for humanity restore, i found this little cutie....

i know what you're thinking.....CUTIE?????  isn't that an old ugly 80's brass cheap-O foyer light???

why, yes it is!!! and i only paid $2.00 for it.

i wasn't sure about the white star on the glass, but i thought the lines were good and i loved the detail of the flower on top...it reminded me of the one from nest egg.

stay tuned for some spray paint awesomeness.....

first, i took the light all apart and gave it a nice hot bath.

then, outside it went for a rustoleum  gloss white spray paint make-over.

and here is how it looks now, hanging in my hallway:

 (still need to touch up the ceiling paint)

sorry for all the pictures but since it was nearly impossible to get a decent picture with the lighting in this hallway, i decided to bombard you with half-decent pictures. ;)  you get the picture, right?

here is what my hallway light looked like before:

 

i am loving the new look of the lantern. and for $2 plus a can of spray paint.......now that is good!

remember my other restore re-do spray paint project?

go here to see the transformation of this $7 chandalier.

i hope you have been inspired by this little re-do. these lanterns are everywhere in thrift stores. habitat restores are GREAT for lighting...go here to see if there is one in your area.

(if you decided to take on a lighting re-do, please, pretty please have an experienced electrician, or someone who really knows what they are doing, install your light for you. i want you to be alive so you can enjoy your craftiness!)

do you have big plans for the holiday weekend? we do. BIG plans.  i'll tell you all about it next week. ;)

be safe, be good,

 ~elisabeth

i can email the goods: to you!

it's soooo easy!
just go to the side bar on the right.
scroll down past the "about me" thingy.
see where it says,

"GET THE GOODS EMAILED TO YOU"

enter your email address,

and hit "submit".

now you don't have to come here every single day and get frustrated because i haven't posted in forever. (mom, i may or may not be talking to you.)  (yeah, yeah, i know, you already told me you'll still come here every single day.)

every time i post it will automatically get sent to your email address! just like that.

i know that many of the people who read bovagoods aren't down with blogger, google reader, typepad, feed burner, etc....so i thought this would be an easy way for you to get the goods!

ok, now go into your contact list and start entering all of the email addresses of all of your friends and family members..........hahaha....totally kidding. you probably shouldn't do that.

~elisabeth

ps. remember you can always "like" bovagoods on facebook too!  after you enter your email address and hit submit, keep scrolling on down the sidebar until you see " 'LIKE' THE GOODS".

garden goods: happy hydrangeas

almost exactly one year ago i blogged about my hydrangeas here.

well, i still love them.

they are more beautiful than ever.

i really don't know how i got so lucky.

we can see them from our family room,

and our master bedroom.

they make me happy.

really really happy.

for two years our hydrangea's came to us in the mail from here.

they show up like this:

 

the plants from the picture above are the ones i ordered in may of 2010.

here they are now, one year later:

and here are the ones that we ordered two years ago:

 (the light pink ones at the bottom of the picture)

the other three (deeper colors: purple, violet) we found on clearance at lowe's.

i am in love.

these babies are growing like mad.

i may just keep dividing and transplanting them and fill up my whole back yard!!!

~elisabeth

cute goods

some one we know lost their 14 year old lab mix yesterday.  

made me think of my first dog, dubbs. 

he was a golden retriever.

it doesn't get much cuter than this.

dubbs (early 80's)

friend goods: jason evege of linoto linen

have you seen the link to the amazing 100% linen sheets that i want in my sidebar?

they are made by my friend jason's company, linoto.

jason and i were in fashion design school together. in my opinion, he was by far the most talented in our class, not to mention, he's one of the good guys, and he totally makes me laugh. love his sense of humor.

jason and me in paris 1999

jason started linoto a few years ago out of his new york city apartment.

 the company has grown like crazy.

i am not surprised at all.

i sleep with a linoto linen duvet cover every night....and i am here to tell you it's gooooooood!

(our bedroom)

i was so thrilled to see on jason's blog today that his sheets were featured in better homes & gardens!

check out the goodness.....

one of the best things about linoto is that the linen goods are 100% manufactured here in the usa and jason makes a serious effort to reduce waste. for example, this linen tote is made out of fabric scraps from the bedding that he produces. aren't they great?

(all linoto photos via here and here)

every time we are in the north east visiting family, jason and i try and get together. i've been to his apartment/linoto headquarters a couple of times. it has been exciting to see how the company has grown and evolved over the past few years.

you can check out and purchase all of the linoto goodness HERE!

go ahead and buy a set of sheets or pillow cases. you will not regret it!


~elisabeth