Pillows, plates and a new treasure.

My first two pillows are done!



They are a matched pair and reversible.



There is even a zipper on the bottom! You can see it ^ if you look real close. I plan to write up a tute for how I made these in case you'd like to make one yourself.







My mom came to the rescue with some gorgeous plates for my wall the day before the dinner we hosted. She grew up with these on their dinner table so they are well loved. Thank you mom!



This room is starting to feel done. Just needs some more pillows, a little paint on the coffee table and end table, some Katie Daisy artwork I've ordered for the picture ledges and kids who won't destroy everything I try to keep on the coffee table. ;)



And another thanks goes to my mom for passing along her grandmother's sewing machine.  Eeek!  This thing is gor-geous!



Inside that cute little table, lies this black beauty.





It fits perfectly in this corner.



It does in fact still work. My uncle used it recently to repair the sail on his boat.





Am I a lucky girl, or what?  I even have my mom's approval to paint the table.  The top is in rough shape with a lot of water stains and such. Would you paint it or keep it the way it is?  My first thought was a deep turquoise. But I'm worried I might regret it. I would love to hear what you would do.

making progress

We are hosting a dinner for 10 here this Sunday, so I thought it was about time I made some holes in my walls. Having painted recently I've been more indecisive than ever. And with no time to scout out antique and thrift shops (and really no budget to speak of), I finally had to make do with what I had on hand.

I'd love to add some decorative plates along the sides of these pieces. {Here} are my faves so far. But they are toooooo spendy.

My real dream for this space was a granny chic collage of beautiful things. Could the people that designed either of {these} {spaces} please come to my house and work your magic?

Tomorrow I plan on sewing up some pillow covers for this room too. Eeek!

This little frame and oil painting were literally thrown together. Not that you could tell, right. Ha! They are just saving a place until I can make {this sign} myself. I'd like to make a different sign for each season to swap out. I bought that little oil painting intending to use it in a collage over the couch. If I don't find plates I like, I may look for more paintings about this size instead.

It's a little redundant with the chalkboard just to the left. This makes me laugh!

This mirror is a lovely swap from a friend. I'm making her a sheet music wreath for over her piano. I love how it opens up the hallway and reflects many of the things I love in the living room.

This wall used to be a collage of frames. But after filling all those holes and repainting I didn't have the heart to add anything. The wall ledges from Ikea have been hiding under my bed for well over a year. They were purchased with this wall in mind and now they are finally in their rightful spot. The frames I bought didn't quite work, they were too thick and kept falling off. Three falling down all at the same time was quite a challenge you could say. So I stole these white frames from the kids bathroom. Hence, the bathroom black and white photos. Those two photos are just saving a spot until{these}{beauties} arrive. Oh how I love Katie Daisy!

The real reason for anything at all on this wall, is to hide the thermostat. Success!

These ledges are a little tricky. I wish they were deeper. I don't see how anyone is able to layer their frames so beautifully like {this}, {this} and {this}. Mine kept wanting to tip forward. But maybe if I had shorter frames that would help. I'm also kind of wishing I had bought white ledges, so these may get painted at some point. Or not, considering that my list of things to paint is longer than my arm.

But the biggest change of all, I think, is the addition of curtains in our room. We've had nothing but the blinds for two years, so I'm super excited to have it done. I cut the grommet tops off of Ikea curtains and hemmed them all last night. That. was. a. lot. of. work. Unfortunately they are all 1/2" too long. Grrr.... That will get fixed, oh, maybe...never.

Last fall I also changed our black floral bedding to this lovely yellow Matine bedding from Pottery Barn. At first I thought it was too much yellow, but now that the curtains are up, I think it's perfect. I found all the yellow pieces on eBay for about $100 less. Score! And I bought the embroidered dot sheets and monogrammed pillowcases directly from PB. Can I just say, these sheets are a nightmare! I've had 400 tc sheets that have been just as wrinkly, and I was hoping since these were percale that they'd be different. No such luck, I have to iron them like crazy to get them to even look this good. And the monogram puckers no matter how much steam or water I spray on it while ironing. Does anyone know of a good sheet set that comes out of the dryer nice and flat?

I also changed the fabric background on my jewelry frame to just white. And these red baskets should really be spray painted something else. Black, white or aqua? I can't decide. What do you think?

And...another upcoming project. Making a white slipcover for this $40 craigslist find. It was the perfect shape and price, love it! Miss Mustard Seed has a wonderful video how-to on this. I'm looking forward to starting this one, mostly so I don't have to look at a pink chair in my room any more. ;)

Good news...bad news and something cute.

Good news...yummy monster smoothies for breakfast.

Bad news...a leaky roof during a week-end of rain.

Yesterday a tornado touched just 4 cities west of us and this morning we had snow for 5 minutes. I keep telling myself, it could be worse.

At least it can only be coming from a small section of the roof (right over the front door) making the job of re-shingling about 30 sq' not so daunting. But, we need this rain to stop! We saved 2 squares (is that the lingo?) of extra shingles after we put the roof on ourselves (with the help of family) 10 years ago. Thankfully we have the tools and the knowledge to fix it. It's not leaking through our ceiling, just comes in the top of the door. Praying it's an easy fix and no serious damage has occurred.

Good news...I replaced our non-working door-bell all by myself!

Gone is the 80's intercom/doorbell that I disconnected over a year ago when I removed the main control panel while painting our kitchen. Yes, we've been without a doorbell for that long. I finally removed the old eye-sore at the front door last week and this morning at 9am I was out there in the freezing cold painting over the old spot and installing the new wireless bell.

And now for something cute!

I'm almost done with this fun outfit for the girls. I still have the coordinating set in blue and orange to make as well. The fabric is Dream On by Moda. It makes me want to take everyone on a pic nic.

The pattern (McCall's M5835) as it's not the easiest to put together for a beginner (or me, ha!). It only comes in size 4 or smaller so it really fits a 5T best and my girls are 6x going on 7. It still works, but I want to experiment with making the arm holes deeper on the next top.

And here are a pair of ruffle capris I made to mix and match a bunch of their clothes this summer. I still need to top-stitch that ruffle. The gray lace is just packaged interfacing lace you find with the ric rac.Turns out it shrinks a bit in the wash so I shouldn't have sewn it down along the bottom edge. I'll just remove that line of stitching and they'll be good to go.

I've got a lot on my plate this week, but all I really want to do is read. I'm on book 4 out of 8 of the Mitford series by Jane Karon. Someone recently told me that their grandmother read all of those. Ha! So I like books about an almost-retired Episcopalian priest. I really am enjoying them though. She's a good story teller.

Easter wrap up

I'm looking forward to our trees having all their leaves and providing some shade in the yard for photos. Either that or I should really figure out how to shoot in full sun.

We had lovely weather for our egg hunt yesterday and by the time we came back inside it was super hot in the house. It was the most relaxing Easter I think I've ever had. Ten people was the perfect number and I enjoyed cooking the entire meal, even the homemade dinner rolls. And what could be better than all those yummy leftovers.

I'm glad I had a chance to take a few family photos of David's brother Dan, his wife Faryn, and kids Mason and Bella. And the next baby boy will be arriving in July!

Ready for spring

I know, I know. The hutch still needs to be painted. I am hoping to start it yet this month. I have at least decided that it will be Dove White with the backs and sides of the shelves in light aqua. Finalizing the plan is half the battle, right? At least for me it is since I'm so indecisive.

I did at least get around to making a yarn wrapped E for us. I'll add some felt flowers like she did too. I was going to use it in a collage over our living room couch, but I kind of like it up here too.

This little guy was a fun $10 purchase from Home Goods. You can put a votive in the bottom. How fun will the light be coming from all those holes? I hope to find out soon.

My little guy keeps wiping off the regular chalk on these labels. I caught him doing a drive-by wiping just the other day. He was so busted! So I had to break out the chalk pen. The labels specifically say NOT to use chalk pens on them. I'm hoping that means it will be permanent. ;)

Besides the addition of flowers and a chalkboard at the front door, Rainbow Peep Pops were the only Easter decor I added this year.

It took going to three different stores to find all the colors they make.

I'll be back soon to share some more. Plus I started cutting out some cute new summer outfits for the girls today. I'm hoping to get those made this week. It's really nice to be ahead of the season for my own girls this year.