Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

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Octo-momma

Work continues on our big opening between the kitchen and the dining room which I still forget exists until I stumble into the room in the morning only to feel the sun shining in and break out in song and dance. No really, I do. It’s like a Disney movie around here. So while we deal with door jambs (and trim and a wooden ledge for the half-wall) we thought we’d introduce you to the latest member of our family. It feels like it’s been forever since I’ve added to my brood of white ceramic animals, so imagine my delight when John surprised me with this fine tentacled specimen:

Octopus Angle

Apparently I mentioned that I was in love with it a while back, but it was out of stock at the time. So sweet John recently received an alert that it was available again and secretly ordered it for me. Right around the time I was secretly working on his surprise 7 for the office. Cue the collective aww.

We’re thinking of calling it my belated “congratulations on finishing the office stencil and not having permanent claw-hands” gift. Though it does make me a smidge jealous that I don’t also possess eight arms to help me finish projects faster.

Octopus Straight Down

Important things to know about my new ceramic pal: she hails from Plasticland (but is made of porcelain) and I haven’t picked a spot for her yet (she’ll most likely end up on the dining room built-ins with a ton of our other ceramic family members so she’s out of Clara’s reach). She was $19, but with shipping she came to about $27. Not my cheapest creature (boils down to about $3.37 per tentacle), nor my largest (she’s about the length of a dollar bill at the widest point), but she is my first octopod! And she was a surprise gift from the hubby, so I couldn’t be my cheap self and talk myself out of it. Haha. Score. Oh, and her name is Henrietta. Not sure why. It just felt right.

Happy Friday to octopods, bipeds, and quadrupeds alike! Anyone doing anything fun? I’ll be found dancing in a certain doorway with a toddler and a dog. And no I won’t video tape it for you. I’m only ok with being this annoyingly chipper slash awkward in private. But it kind of looks like this.

Psst- As if John wasn’t cute enough for surprising me with my tentacled friend, this video of him introducing Burger to Clara for the first time (well, her scent) is pretty darn cute.

Comments

  4. Michele Daggar says

    Congratulations on your new addition Octomom! Henrietta is adorable.

    We have big plans today. It’s our daughter’s 11th birthday. Yep, she’s turning 11 on 11-11-11. She’s having her friends over (not 11 of them!) and they’ll take turns riding our horse, Seneca. Lots of balloons and fun stuff planned.

    How fantastic you got your wall opened up. I can just picture you singing in the morning while admiring your light filled kitchen. Let’s see…maybe… something along the lines of …… “A Whole New World” from Aladdin….or maybe “The Circle of Life” from The Lion King while you hold Henrietta aloft. Good times…..

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Wow- that’s so exciting! An 11 year old b-day on 11/11! And yes, A Whole New World is actually in my repertoire, along with holding Clara up and singing Circle Of Life! Haha.

      xo,
      s

  10. Kathryn says

    Hehe. So cute. I love her. And I’d like to point out she’s throwing “7” gang signs all over the place. She must love the number 7, too with all of those tenticles!! ;)

    Reply

  11. Kelly says

    This has been on my Amazon Christmas wishlist for awhile now, and I thought of you when I saw it (how many people say that to you, haha…you’re everyone’s internet BFF). Loooove it, I am all about cephalopods!

    Reply

  12. Sami says

    There’s an Australian children’s band called the Wiggles, I’m not sure how big they are in America – anyway one of their ‘best friends’ is a giant octopus named Henry (by octopus I mean man-in-an-octopus-costume). He even has a song about him, surprisingly titled Henry the Octopus. You should download it, Clara would love it :)

    My point is, your subconscious is pretty awesome to pick Henrietta for your octopus, as Henry is quite the iconic octopus name for a whole lot of Aussie parents!

    Hm, what a random comment that turned out to be

    Reply

  14. Janelle says

    Okay, I *really* don’t get the whole ceramic animal thing — it’s totally not me, and the plain white just seems so boring (also not me). BUT, I love Henrietta! And the fact that she’s only as wide as a dollar bill makes her even cuter — miniature!

    Reply

  15. Sarah says

    Now I really want to watch The Little Mermaid. Love that song. Aaaaand I opened multiple tabs of Disney song mashups in YouTube thanks to the related content on that vid. Oh yes, I’m living the high life on a Friday night! Thanks, $herdog.

    Reply

  16. Demi says

    Sherry can I just say you look gorgeous in that picture that Katie B posted of you and Clara?! So adorable, it should totally be framed!

    Reply

  19. Kati says

    Sherry how do you find all these stores? You have the exact same taste in accessories as I do (aka white and ceramic) and I can never find anything!

    Reply

  21. diane says

    while I normally love your white ceramic animals this one kind of gives me the creeps but, then again, I never figured out how you lived with that giant spider outside your front door either.

    enjoy!

    Reply

  25. tara says

    Sherry,

    Did you see David Bromstad’s “Twilight”-inspired makeover on “Color Splash” last week? The white ceramic animal wall definitely made me think of YHL.

    Reply

  30. Desirai says

    I woke up at 6 am and couldn’t go back to sleep. So I figured I’d catch up ok some YHL.

    I’m sure my thinking is super off at this hour, but I figured I might as well share my wacky train of thought about Henrietta. I was literally like “Henrietta? Henry VII? 8 tentacles? Henrietta! Totally makes sense!!!” lol

    I think I need more sleep. Lol

    Reply

  31. Debbie says

    i made two owl appliqued pillows my bf’s aunt for xmas (once i got the tension figured out on my sewing machine) & then we went & picked up our main plane in CO where it had been for over a month getting an engine replaced. on the test flight & flight home i planned the menu for our massive thanksgiving meal (five courses). we are flying 14 of my family members to our AZ home for what will essentially be a five day vacation for them & a nervous breakdown for me.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Already done! Haha. As soon as that baby popped up we ordered it! Haha. It was backordered so it took a while to come though. Totally worth the wait though! Will blog about our little guy asap!

      xo,
      s

    • Rebecca says

      I figured as much. You guys are always so on top of things. Trendy little buggers you are! Can’t wait for a post on it (him/her?).

      (PS: Not sure if this will post as a reply to myself or you. I wasn’t sure how to respond to your response.)

  36. Susie says

    Ok, first off, I think your ceramic animals are adorable, Sherry — love them. However (you knew that however was coming, right?) when I saw that first photo, I didn’t see an octopus at all. Given your recent activities and the previous post (where John mentioned that you caulked a crack of the drywall over the new opening’s header), I honestly thought this was a blob of dried caulk. You know, like you set the caulking gun down and some of it leaked out into a funky pile? I’m not sure if this says more about you or me. I’m pretty handy with a caulking gun myself (I’m resisting the Katie Bower style caulk jokes here. Props, please. ;) ) Anyway, I thought you’d find it funny to know where some minds go when confronted with so much awesome home diy. And also, Henrietta is very pretty. Good job with the kitchen reno — you guys are doing great!

    Reply

  37. Jayme says

    I saw your octopus’ sibling yesterday at the Westhampton Pharmacy/Gift Shop/Diner on Libbie Street in the Near West End for $14. They had a few other similar animals…maybe a crab or lobster. If you guys have never been there, it’s a super fun place!

    Reply

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