Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Beauty Product Reviews

I have been thinking about starting a regular review column here on my blog. I would like to feature a beauty/skin/hair care item each week and give my review on it and would more than welcome any comments from those who may have tried the product as well. I will be writing a totally unbiased, honest review of the product as I have experienced it and will have before & after photos as necessary.



The first products that I will be featuring are the new Maybelline Dream Liquid Mousse foundation and the Maybelline Dream Matte powder compact. The foundation promises "airbrushed natural perfection" and the powder compact vows to "deliver an amazing air soft feel and silky texture" and "will not settle into lines." Will these products live up to what they are promising? Check back this week to find out.

Sunday, November 8, 2009

And The Winner Is.....








The winner of the Kosta Boda tealight candle holder giveaway sponsored by allmodern.com is Christina! Her choice of color was the turquoise.

Thanks to those of you who entered, and congratulations to Christina!

Saturday, October 31, 2009

A 1940's Era House

Above is a collage of some of my favorite rooms and elements in my mom's house which was built in the 40's. I love the character and feel of older homes. They always seem so cozy and welcoming, don't you think?

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Modern Love

I am really into the concept of mixing my cottage style with some modern elements. I used to think that modern style was cold, odd, and/or lacking character. What a fool I was! I am totally crushing on modern style!

Take a look at some of the items I am loving at the moment and the links where you can find them.





A cool bowl and pencil holder from Alessi.




All Modern

After browsing the links, I would love to know which modern items caught your eye.

My First Giveaway!

I am hosting my first giveaway here on Cornflower Cottage. As I stated in my previous post, the item I have to give away is from one of the links I mentioned there. It is from allmodern.com and it is a Kosta Boda Atoll Votive that comes in a range of beautiful colors, which the lucky winner will be able to choose from.


Kosta Boda was founded in 1742 in Sweden and is one of the leading manufacturers of fine art glass and tableware. Their pieces are both designed and manufactured by distinguished artists and glassblowers. The Atoll votive above was designed by Anna Ehrner and is approximately 4.375 inches in height.

The winner will be able to choose the color of the votive and I will list the names for you starting from the top row and continuing down from left to right. The colors are brown, petrol, red, powder pink, lavender, yellow, white, green, blue, black, gray, and turquoise.

This giveaway is open only to residents of the U.S. and Canada. To win, leave a comment on this post along with your name or a link to your blog. Be sure to include the color you would prefer should you win. Only one entry per person is allowed unless you blog about the giveaway. If you do, let me know in a second comment on this post, and that will be your second entry. Make sense? I hope so! This giveaway will be open for 2 weeks from today, and I will announce the winner on November 9th.

Good luck to everyone!

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Modern Cottage

I am so loving the idea of mixing cottage and modern styles together. Does anyone else love the juxtaposition of those two particular styles?

We are in the process of putting up unfinished cedar plank paneling in our family room. So far I love the warm, cottage feel the paneling gives the room. I envision this room with elements similar to those pictured below.


The cedar plank paneling is from Lowe's. I like the cream slipcovered couch from Pottery Barn, although I'm not sure the light color would work for us, but in my idea of a perfect room, I would have to have one. A leather ottoman that would age beautifully and add a different texture to the room, like the one pictured from Emmanuel Georges is a must. All of the gorgeous pillows are from allmodern.com. Their pillows have the coolest graphic designs and colors. I already have two tray tables like the ones pictured above from BackyardCity.com. I am going to paint them an espresso color. I love abstract art, and the print above is by Lisa Kowalski and is called "Gold Swirls." The print can be found on art.com. Last, but not least, is the pharmacy lamp. I need this pharmacy lamp! It is a beautiful work of art in my eyes! My room has to have one! The one above is from The Lighting Shop.

I will be hosting a giveaway this coming week, and I would love for you to come and check out what I have to give away to one lucky winner. The item is actually from one of the links I have listed above. This giveaway will only be available to U.S. and Canadian residents. Stop by Saturday to see what the item is and to enter!

New Camera

I recently lost my old digital camera which was a Kodak Easyshare. It was a good camera, and I liked it a lot. My husband's job has a safety points plan and with his most recently accumulated points, he ordered a new camera for me. It is a Canon Powershot A-480, as seen below.

I just got it this evening and need to figure out all of the settings and such. I hope that I like it as much (hopefully better!) than my last camera, but I am so happy to have a camera again! My dream camera is a DSLR Canon Rebel XTi.

Does anyone own the XTi? If so, let me know what you think about it. I would love to hear your thoughts, pros and cons, etc.

Monday, August 3, 2009

A Fun Syle Quiz

I came across an interesting site this evening called Sproost. It is an online furniture and accessory store that lets you shop according to your own personal decor style. The quiz was fun, and it was also very accurate in determining my style. According to my results I am.....


44% Nantucket Style




33% Cottage Chic



23% Rustic Revival


I took the quiz a few times and pretty much came up with the same combination of styles at varying percentages. Give it a try and let me know how accurate your results were.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Icing on the Cake

Hi everyone! It's been a while, huh? Not much has been happening as far as remodeling around here, but that should be changing soon I hope. We won't be able to finish the wood floor in our bedroom. I have found a laminate floor that I like, and we may be using that instead.

I wanted to share a quick and easy recipe that I came across last week. If you are like me and don't particularly care for store-bought cake icing, you might like to try this. It is not too sweet and has a whipped cream consistency and flavor.


1 cup water
2 tablespoons cornstarch

Mix water and cornstarch and heat on medium, stirring constantly with a wire whisk, until mixture thickens. Set aside and let mixture reach room temperature.

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup of sugar

In a mixer, beat butter until creamy then add the sugar. Gradually add the cooled cornstarch and water mixture and continue beating until light and fluffy.


I think this icing would be good on any flavor of cake, but my favorite is red velvet so that's what I made. I hope if you try it you like it as much as I do!