artsy-crafty babe

the girly room

The beautiful weather this weekend (and some time alone in the house) allowed me to finally get some photos of the pillows and curtains I made for the girls room last weekend.  This room is hard to photograph!  No matter what I do, the lighting is weird.  I was hoping that lightening the walls would help with this issue, but not so much.  The room is kind of longish with only one north facing window, but there's a house right there.  Oh well.  Even if the lighting in here was great, it's still hard to take a picture of a window.  Period.

The curtains are made from Alexander Henry's Birdsong.  My curtains ended up being a little bit longer than I wanted, but I still love them.  I went with the silver toned rod and hardware because of the gray in the fabric (and I had silver on the brain from my living room accents).  I think the silver makes it look a little more grown up.  I carried that theme to the dresser hardware and the mirror above the dresser.  I'd like to go back and antique the dresser hardware a little bit because it looks kind of shiny at the moment, but truthfully, I'll probably forget all about it.

I don't want the room to be super matchy-matchy, so we used the butterfly print, Canyon Flutter, that coordinates with curtain fabric.  I only had 1 yard of that, so I cut two 22" squares (the largest I could cut with my yard), bordered them with the off-white fabric, then backed and bound the sham with lavender.  Oh, I also lightly quilted the front of the sham.  I thought the best option for these pillows would be shams so that we can take them off and wash them if need be (i'm sure there will be a need be at some point).  The girls and I decided on lavender as the accent color.  We're on the hunt for a lavender cotton blanket at the moment.

As you can see, my latest quilt has made its home at the foot of the bed.  I have plans of making a quilt for this bed using bits of the curtain and pillow fabric along with lots of off white, lavender, pinks, and aquas.  With that, I think the blue bed fits in just fine.

We still have plenty to do in here, including painting over this, finding art for the walls, assembling a bookcase and sprucing up an old lamp.  I was hoping to finish the lamp before this post, but well, you know how that is.

I'm so happy with how this room is turning out.  I set out to make this a room that both a 3 yr old and '8 going on 18' yr old would love, and I'm pretty sure I got it!

thursday already?

Wow, how did that happen?  It seems like I was just lamenting over Monday, and now the week is practically over.  I wouldn't mind this so much if I could actually remember where the time went.  My goodness! 

On my agenda all week has been to make curtains and new pillows (butterflies!) for the girls room.  This past weekend we got rid of the pepto.  Oh boy, what a major undertaking that was, much more than I imagined.  That pink wasn't so easy to get rid of.  Yes, two coats.  I only bought 1 gallon.  So, I sent Matt to the store to get another gallon, with the lid of the first gallon in hand with all the specifics.  He came home with a different looking can.  Turns out, the lady who mixed the first gallon used the wrong base.  They assured Matt that it didn't matter so long as they mixed the same formula, but this was the proper base.  So what if it was mixed wrong in the first place, mix the second one wrong too so that they'll match!!  Um, I can see a difference, but I'm so over painting that room.  I can live with it.

I had hoped to get to my sewing machine last night, but as soon as I finished cooking supper and got Ava in the tub the electricity went out.  We spent the evening by candle light.  Thankfully I had the ac cranked down, so the house wasn't too hot (yes, we've been hitting the 90's during the day with unbearable humidity - fall, where are you??).  It was kind of nice with no TV or computer.  The kids told stories with Matt while I listened and knit a few rows of my current project.  Just as we were ready for bed, the lights came back on.  As tempted as I was to jump on a project, I didn't.  I was in bed before 10 pm.  I can't tell you the last time I did that.  Sleep is good.  This was a good reminder to slow down and unplug.  I doubt I'll be back in this space before next week.  Maybe I'll have new curtains to show, maybe I won't. What I do know is that I'll be slowing down and enjoying the ride.  Have a great weekend!

the nesting continues...

I still owe you a reveal of my living room, but I'm not quite finished yet.  I'm almost there, so close I can taste it.  I still need to paint behind the TV and paint a piece of furinture, but that's it.  With that mostly complete, my thoughts have turned to the girls room. 

Remember the aqua bed?  Well, I've since fallen in love with a fabric, which doesn't go so well with that aqua.   My original plan was to paint the dresser (an old buffet purchased at the same time as the bed)to match, thank goodness I never got around to that!  This weekend I got the dresser painted a nice neutral, but I'm not done yet.  I still need to paint the hardware and do a little dressing up, maybe decoupage a pretty paper to the top and door fronts.  It needs a little something, but I'm in no hurry.

For now, my plan is to paint the walls latte (goodbye pepto!!) and make full length curtains from that beautiful fabric.  Who knows, maybe away from the glow of the pepto, the aqua bed might not look so bad, but I think a pale lavender bed would be just as lovely :-)

I'd also like to make the dust ruffle from this old matelasse coverlet.  I was hoping that it would be the right length just draped over the box springs, but it looks like I'll need to do a little sewing surgery.  That's no biggie. 

Oh, and the curtain fabric for my bedroom arrived yesterday, but I'll save that for a post of its own.  Things are moving right along!!

do I still love it?

With my living room almost complete, my recent nesting craze has shifted to my bedroom.  My poor, sorry bedroom.  I do believe it is the most neglected room in the house.  Since we moved in over 5 years ago, I never have done a thing with it.  Well, I have started a few times, but never made it very far.  Should I admit that we still have the same bedding (bed skirt & throw pillows) from when we got married?  I made it all and never have gotten tired of it, even though it's been almost 12 years (really?  has it been that long???). 

At one point I had a plan.  I was going to make some new bedding and decorate the room around these Amy Butler prints (I couldn't even decide which one, so I bought enough yardage of them both) along with the stripe.  Gosh, I don't even remember when that was - 4 years ago, maybe?  Well, here I am, and I'm not so sure I'm in love with that fabric any more.  Hmmm.  But if I don't go with that, I'm not sure what I want.  I find it odd that I can so easily make decisions about every other room in the house, but I get totally stuck on my bedroom. 

And this, friends, is how I ended up with the same dust ruffle for 12 years.  I'm very into linen and gray these days.  I definitely want a cool, calming vibe in here.  Any suggestions?  Input?  Links?  Maybe I should just look at what I've already done in my kitchen and living and go from there.  You know what?  I'm NOT going to use that AB fabric.  I guess I had it in my mind that I had to use one of those, so I was putting it off.  Okay, now that I've released myself of that burden, I think this will be fun!

still nesting away

I had quite a productive weekend.  I was all about working on my home dec projects.  At this point I want it DONE so that I can move on to other things. 

The first thing I tackled was my bench (happy bench monday!).  Remember this bench? I find it kind of funny how the fabric I recovered it with a few months ago spurred a whole room re-do, and now I recovered it in something else.  This was an easy peasy project - unscrew, staple, screw back in.  Done.  That was motivation enough to move onto the next thing:

The table skirt.  I started it last week by cutting out the top and sewing on the cording.  A traditional table skirt, made from a big 90" circle would have taken too much fabric, which is why I went with this design. Due to the repeat of the fabric, I had to add a band at the bottom to give it enough length, I like to call this a design feature. I am very pleased with how this turned out.  I simply eyeballed the pleats, which is good enough in my book.

Next up was 2 more pillows (pictured is 1 of the 2, sorry for the dark photo).  These were made from some left over linen from my dining room curtain panels.  I wanted to add a bit of red to help tie in my red sofa with my new blue/linen color scheme, so I added a frame of red linen-like fabric to the center.  I'm only 'okay' with these, but I think they'll grow on me. 

And lastly, I spruced up the two chairs at the corner table.  To continue with my lighter and brighter theme, I started by white washing a pair of old wooden chairs.  I then made a simple seat cover by using some left over blue striped linen fabric that I had purchased for sofa pillows.  Under the cover is a squishy 16" down pillow form left over from my old sofa pillows.  I feel quite thrifty transforming those chairs with stuff I had laying around.  I really really really wanted a pair of tolix chairs right here, but $500 vs free?  No question!

At one point this weekend I felt like finishing my red quilt, but after all that, I was spent!  By Sunday evening I had finished my laundry, done the dishes, had the house fairly picked up, and settled down to watch Mad Men in peace.  It was a good weekend, indeed!

**I'll show you the whole room once I get it finished, until then I'll just tease you with bits and pieces!

bor-ing (not that there's anything wrong with that)

Hi there.  Ms. Boring here, or at least that's how I feel these days.  We're slowly trying to get back into a routine before school starts, so not much exciting has been going on.  Speaking of which, Matt (a teacher) started back on Monday, Lily starts tomorrow (Wed) and Alex starts on Friday.  Yep, Alex is starting kindergarten.  Wow.  I now have two kids in school.  Kind of crazy.  When Lily started kindergarten Ava was an infant, so I didn't have time to feel emotional.  This time is different.  I think I'll join the other moms for the boo-hoo breakfast after dropping him off at his classroom.

Little Miss Ava has been entertaining us thoroughly lately (nothing boring about her!).  She's all about dancing and performing.  Her new tu-tu is getting lots of twirls.  That girl.  Before I know it, she'll be off to kindergarten!  Okay, okay, I won't get ahead of myself *sniff sniff*.

On the sewing front, I have been busy at my machine making throw pillows for my living room.  I'm still working hard on the new look.  Linen pillows, how I love thee!  I guess they're kind of boring, but I love them.  I still have a few more to make before I'm done.  I have to say, throw pillows are quite satisfying, almost instant gratification.  I like small projects that I can complete in a short amount of time. Makes me feel productive.  I still have a table skirt to make for the room, but I've been procrastinating on that one.  Throw pillows are much more fun.  Oh, and if you were wondering, the applique pillows are still in the room - there's no way I'm getting rid of those babies!

Now that I think about it, boring is good :)

flowery pink pretties

This weekend we finally got around to buying the girls a mattress for their bed.  I may live to regret it, but for now my girls are sharing a full size bed.  Even though I knew this was coming, I didn't have any new bedding on hand to dress the bed, so we had to make do.

My stash of vintage thrift store sheets came in handy.  Isn't it lovely?

Their room is no where near complete - I have big plans of new paint (I'm thinking pale buttery yellow - so tired of the pepto!), a new (old) dresser, a quilt, well, just about everything - except the sheets, of course :)  But for now, this works out just fine.  Last night Lily told me that it was her "dream room".  That sure makes her Mama proud!

blue chair = complete

***Re-posted with the proper photos.  I'm so sorry about the lack of photos & dead link - I was having typepad issues last night.  I should have checked my post after I posted it to make sure it was all there!

My night did not go as planned (of course), but I did manage to finish the blue chair!  Yay!!  I promise, I won't talk about it anymore, but it has been occupying a lot of my brain space recently.  I didn't get to finish the love seat cushions as I had hoped, but I did make the back cushions.

If you haven't noticed, I've moved into nest mode on my house.  I do this every spring and fall.  Yeah, I know it isn't fall yet (and won't be down here until late October, if we're lucky), but school is starting next week, which marks a change in season around here.   I'll probably blog about bits and pieces of it as I go along.

As much as I'd like to slipcover my red sofa, I'm not sure I have it in me at the moment.  Just thinking about it makes my stomach turn.  I don't like making slipcovers.  There isn't anything particularly difficult about it, but it is cumbersome and it isn't fun.  A few of you have asked me for tips - sorry, I don't really have any.  Using muslin to make a pattern was a first for me this time around, and I really like the outcome.  I will be using this method again.  All I did was drape the muslin over a section of the chair, then trace where the seams are.  I then added a seam allowance and cut it out.  This made cutting the pieces of decorative fabric much, much easier, and it allowed me to center the motif.  This is the book, Sunset Slipcovers & Bedspreads, I have.  It isn't rocket science, but it gives the basics you need to know to make a slipcover.  It really is like putting together a puzzle.  Oh, use LOTS of pins and try it on your sofa or chair after every seam.

So, since I'm not changing my red sofa and I now have a neutral and blue color scheme going on, I guess I need some new throw pillows.  Slipcovers = not fun, throw pillows = fun and easy!!  It never ends...

my big weekend project

Remember that $25 wingback chair I bought at a second hand store a while back?  The one I made the brown linen slipcover for?  The slipcover that took me almost a year to complete?  Yeah, that one.  Well, I'm in the process of sprucing up my living room, making things lighter and brighter, so the brown slipcover had to go,

Ta-da (almost)!  This weekend I got hot & heavy in slipcover making.  Sewing home dec stuff is not my favorite thing in the world to make, but when I want it bad enough, I get busy.  It took me all. weekend. long.  In the past when I've made slipcovers, I just drape the fabric and dive right in.  Not this time.  I took my time and made a pattern from muslin, which allowed me to center the design and deal with less bulk.  I think this is my best slipcover yet!!  I totally surprised myself on this one.  I even used cording, which is something I hate to fool with.

I would have finished, but I ran out of that darned cording.  I suppose that was okay considering that by that time I was pooped.  All I have left to do is the seat cushion and the bottom hem, which I'm thinking about binding in the same fabric as the cording.  Isn't it amazing how fabric can totally transform something?

the big clean up

Cleaning up my kids' rooms is something that I can't stand to do.  I absolutely hate it.  All the toys, all the misplaced pieces, all the destruction, all the unknown finds - yuck.  I usually put it off until I can't stand it any longer.  At the moment. the girls' room isn't too bad, but the boy's room was in bad shape.

He has recently started doing some rearranging on his own by pulling out the storage components from his closet and strewing them all over the room. Nice.  It was time I stepped in.

On Saturday morning I sucked it up and got busy, with the help of a certain 5 yr old boy, of course.  Since he has taken so much interest in the decor of his room, I wanted his full input on where things should go.

We moved the bed from one corner to the other and totally rearranged the room. 

We also tackled the closet.  We decided that the dresser and all clothing related items should live in the closet, so the dresser was moved in there.  We then moved the toy bins out.

Now all the toys are out in the open in full view, organized, and ready to be played with.

While I was at it, I scrubbed the walls and baseboards, but I don't think that did much good because they still look pretty crappy.  The furniture and artwork on the walls is placed just so, to give a little more life to the walls.  There's no way we're painting any time soon, not until Ava gets out of her graffiti phase.

It took all. day. long.  I was exhausted in the end, but it was worth it.  I also cleaned up the girls' room, but was no where near as bad - a piece of cake compared to that.  Clean kids rooms = happy momma!