Make your own fabric

Choosing fabric is often more like a chore than something enjoyable.  You can spend many a weekends searching for that perfect fabric for that little vintage chair you found awhile back at a local garage sale.

Well, search no more!  Did you know that you can design your very own fabric and have it manufactured then delivered right to your front door?  It's true!  Let me introduce you to Spoonflower!

This is a cool website where you can design your own fabric, wallpaper and even wall decals!  How fun is that.  The price of custom made fabric is in line with what you would pay for designer fabric at a brick and mortar building!

Not into making your own?  Choose from some of their very unique fabric designs!  This is such a fun website a place where you can get lost for a long time!  Can you imagine, custom baby bedding?  So cool!

Here are some of my favorites of their ready made fabrics...

I think I am going to add this to my list of projects to do.  I would love to take some of my kids' artwork and make it into blankets for them.  Wouldn't that be fun?  What kind of design would you submit?

Wild for Wallpaper

Wallpaper is making a huge comeback.  It use to be that when you bought a new home, the first thing you did was start stripping layers upon layers of tacky, old wallpaper.  That was no easy chore!  Believe me, I've done it before.  I love this traditional wallpaper in the laundry room.

 It isn't bold and obnoxious, just well stated.

 One of the big trends today is repositionable wallpaper.  Go here to see some great examples of repositionable wallpaper.  Here are some of my favorites from that website.

The great thing about wallpaper that you can move around is just that...you can move it around.  It's easy to install and very forgiving!  You can use it in other places besides the wall.  Perfect for lining the back of a shelf or the inside of drawers for a great design surprise!  How about dressing up a pantry wall with something like this?  Such a fun idea!

Wallpaper is a nice option to paint and something to think about as you add hints of redesign to your home!

Window Pane Bulletin Board

A couple of  weeks ago, I started a DIY project with these two old window frames I had.  I decided to make them into really cool bulletin boards... Below is the tutorial and the final project.  You will love this!

 First of all, I measured each open pane and cut a piece of 1/4" birch plywood to fit each pane.  I also cut cork to fit each piece of wood.  Once each piece is cut out, I glued the cork to the board with a strong adhesive and allowed it to dry.  While it was drying, I spray painted the window frames in a black lacquer.  (Not Shown)

 Once the cork was dry on the wood, I cut  3 layers of Warm and Natural to fit then began upholstering each piece in Osnaburg.  Once I was down upholstering, I simply nailed each wood piece into the open panes!

 Voila!! I love the way it turned out!  I stenciled on a Fleur De Lis in the larger square.

 It's a perfect piece for my little office nook.  I have one little wall in the loft that I have carved out for my office.  It's really taking shape.  Just a few more things I want to do before I really love it!

You probably can't see very well, but I made some cool stick pins for the bulletin board.  More on that later!  Tell me what you think!

Hidden History

I've said it before, every home has within it's walls a story.  A story about your family, your comings and goings, your triumphs and tragedies.  Think about it... there's a lot of stuff going on in the walls of the place you call home. 

I love this idea I found on Pinterest.  One blogger wrote down the story of how their family came to be in the home. Include when you bought it, any remodeling you did and even funny stories to remember.  Was this your first home?  Did your husband carry you over the threshold?  When you are completed your creative account of your home, hide it behind a switch plate and it becomes like a time capsule of sorts.  

I was thinking it would be fun to take this idea even farther; write a story about each room in the house.  Have the kids write about their bedroom.  The things they love about it and how they spend their time.  You will find that the rooms take on a character for themselves.  It's a fun project for a family to tackle.  Don't forget to include interesting facts about the yard too!  Do you gather together every Sunday afternoon for lemonade on the front porch swing?  

What would the walls of your home say about you?

Fall Decorating

I hate to admit this, but I'm really looking forward to Fall!  It's been a great Indian Summer so far but now it's time to clean up the dead flowers and make room for some exciting decor not just in your home, but on the front porch and door.

It's a great time to switch out your accent colors, trade the cool blues for some deeper, warmer tones of blue.  Tangerine continues to be a huge color trend and kind of tempting to experiment with.   Here are some of my favorite entries I have found and so easy to do.

I love the wreath!  Just simple.  Notice the repetition and symmetry.  It makes for a clean look, classic!

This entry just makes you want to curl up in that chair with a good book.  I love entries that invite in.   The ladder makes a unique statement and balances the oversized basket of sunflowers on the door!  Love, love love, the sunflowers.

Keeping it simple and clean. Sometimes the understated speak the loudest

I'm not a fan of Halloween or Halloween decor but I have to admit, these little mice are cute.

Monograms!!! I love monograms!

These unique wreaths are so cool.  I am going to add that to my list of weekend projects! 

This is my all time favorite entry!  I can't say exactly what I love about it but it is beautiful.

(pictures from Shelterness.com)
Are you excited for Fall?

Rocking Chair Redo

We've had this little rocking chair kicking around here.  It was once used for photo shoots but lately, it's just been collecting dust.   I apologize for not getting a good 'before' picture but it was in pretty rough shape.  It had no seat so we wove some heavy cording together to make a seat.  The original paint was chipped and very rustic and vintage looking.  I sanded all the old paint off, took of the make shift seat, painted it a lacquer black, re-made the seat etc.  Well, here are the pictures of the process after painting.

 

 

I love black lacquer!

I cut out a new seat for it out of birch wood, then a piece of foam and I wrapped it all in three layers of Warm and Natural batting and stapled it to the wood.

 

For the skirt, I used Osnaburg and traced the pattern of the seat.  I sewed the gathered skirt onto the base before upholstering.

 

 

After the seat was upholstered, I added the detail.  I love the covered button nestled in ruffled black ribbon and an osnaburg yo yo.  I tufted that to the seat cushion.  I took ribbon and gathered it up and tacked that to the gathered edge. 

I love the way it turned out!  What do you think?

Cutting Clutter

I like to believe that every home, no matter how pristine the owners have a clutter zone!  I have one, maybe two.  It's the craft/school supplies/everything cupboard.

At least 4 times a year, I pull everything out, toss out a garbage bag worth of nonsense and it stays clean for about two days or until the next big 'project'.  It's awful really.  I don't usually consider myself a pack rat but I know there are old, old calendars somewhere in the back I keep saving 'Just in case' I want to frame the pictures or something.

This is on my list of things to do this weekend maybe.  I have a long list of projects to start and honestly, this one isn't the most exciting so we'll see how motivated I am to tackle it.  Here are some ideas I am thinking of doing to tame this mess once again.

I need a paper organizer as shown in this picture. I think boxes and baskets are a good idea too. 

This idea intrigues me...

I love the all the different ways you can utilize the space on the inside of a door. This is a cool idea from Martha but I also love these little bags below made out of embroidery hoops and hung on a small rod.  

 There are so many little things that just get tossed in where ever and that wouldn't be horrible but they are things we reach for everyday so we end up digging and there is nothing worse than digging.    This might just be the inspiration I need to tackle this.  Where is your clutter zone?