CPR Anyone? - Family Room Resuscitation

Well, I gave you a sneak peak of some trim I was painting the other night. And I will tell you that it’s for our family room. That room is in need of resuscitation. It just feels dead and dingy to me. Here is a before pic of the room (try not to cringe).  It looks very bare because it’s cleaned up.  Usually it is covered with toys from the kids.  I don’t bother putting décor items out (they’d just destroy them).  The tables are usually covered with books and puzzles anyway.



The first stop in my family room revitalization is the sofa.



Actually the first stop was IKEA. Hubby and I made a pilgrimage to the huge store and picked up a few things including this slip-cover for their Hovas sofa.

I don’t actually have a Hovas sofa, but I have a sofa that is the same shape and just slightly smaller than IKEA’s sofa. And for a price of $49 I couldn’t resist buying this beautiful white canvas slipcover and doing a little of my own tailoring to make it fit. So with a little nip here and a little tuck there…



… I now have a new (did I mention easy) IKEA slipcover to fit my Lazy Boy sofa. Shhh.. don’t tell. ;)

Next I needed to recover my pillows. I pulled some colors out of my fabric stash.  I wanted some with texture and remembered a blog post by Censational Girl about using a bath rug to make a pillow cover. As it happens, hubby and I had JUST bought some great bath rugs at Home Goods. And every time I go in the bathroom, my two year old runs in to lie down on the new rug. It’s comfy looking! So I thought this would, indeed, make a good pillow cover. Oh, and hubby’s response? “Go ahead; I know where I can get another rug.” Isn’t he great?!!



I also found some inspiration for another pillow from a ruffled duvet cover at Urban Outfitters.  I’ve included a tutorial for you below.

~ Ruffled Pillow Tutorial ~

1. Cut out two squares of fabric the size of your pillow plus seam allowance.
 

2. Cut strips of fabric and make ruffles. Then, using a string attached to a fabric marker, draw an arc on the corner of the fabric as a guide for your first ruffle.


3. Place your ruffle on the line and pin to keep the gathers from moving as you sew.


4. Sew the ruffle on.


5. Repeat steps 2-4 until you have as many ruffles as you like.


6. Sew the two pieces together (right sides facing). Either add a zipper as I did or sew the fourth side after inserting the pillow.





So after all that, here are the current updates to the room.  Still many more to go.











Hopefully I can get the trim up on the wall this week and show you. It’ll be a HUGE change for the room! Can’t wait!!

Rebecca


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Christmas Stockings and Family Traditions

Every year on December 6th my family celebrates a tradition passed down through our German heritage.  We hang our stockings on the fireplace and St. Nick comes to fill them with fruits, nuts, candy, and small trinkets.  The original tradition has children place a boot or shoe outside their door, but in America we seem to have combined it with the Christmas tradition of a stocking on the mantel.

~ These are all stockings I’ve made over the years. ~

The first one I made for my husband before we were married.  He loves hiking and the outdoors so of course he got a hiking boot stocking.


For mine I took my love of quilting and made a crazy quilt stocking.  I also added bells to mine to make sure no one would snitch my chocolate!!  heh heh..


When my son was born I wanted to make him a cowboy boot stocking.  I didn’t have a pattern and was a bit discouraged about making my own until my Nov/Dec 2006 edition of Country Woman magazine came and, Voila!  There on page 16 was the perfect pattern.  And just in time.  Here’s my version.


I took my love of all things Victorian and turned some of my favorite fabrics into a Victorian boot for sister #1.  I love this one so much I almost made another for myself.


And just in time for Saint Nick to come today, I finished the stocking for my 9 month old.  It’s her first Christmas so I had to come up with another “boot” idea and find/make a pattern.  She got a pretty ice skate stocking with hand embroidery and  snowflakes.


This year, I also told my kids that this is when St. Nick comes to make sure they are being good and to pick up their Christmas wish list letters.  You wouldn’t believe how good my 4 year old is being on account of Santa watching.  :o)

Why December 6th you ask?  It’s the feast day of Saint Nicholas, the true Santa Claus.
I can’t wait to see what he brings us!
Rebecca


Celebrating at the following parties:
Tools are for Women Too!
Thrifty Decor Chick's Before and After Party
DIY Showoff Project Parade
Making the World Cuter Mondays
The Girl Creative
Between Naps on the Porch Met Monday

More Pumpkin Decor

 

It’s definitely starting to look like fall around here.  Today I had the windows open all day and you know I love that!  LOL!

I’m sure you’re like me and have been reading all the fall decor blogs out there.  And you may have had it up to here with pumpkins by now, so I’ll make this quick and painless.  
Here’s one more you haven’t seen.  Did I mention that Autumn is my favorite season for decorating?  I think this is my fourth post about fall decor. :o)



I made this cutie out of elongated oval fabric pieces sewn together.  Then a little “knob” for the stem with a fake leaf and bow for another quickie decor piece.

Happy Halloween!
Rebecca

Quick, Easy Tassels

This week we made the bed transitions with our little girls. The two year old moved from the crib to a mattress on the floor.  The six month old moved from the co-sleeper to the crib.  Luckily it’s been a pretty smooth transition.

But as we moved furniture around, I no longer had a bed to stand on to reach the light and fan pulls.  I know - bad.  My four year old “scolds” me for standing on the bed since he’s not supposed to. Lol!  So I whipped up a cute tassel for the girl’s room and then another for my son’s room.



Some purple ribbon left over from the curtains and a little *BLING* for the girls.



And some blue jean strips for the boy.  Cute and super functional.  But best of all, EASY!!



Oh, and free!

Later,
Rebecca   

Little Girl’s Room Curtains

 

Another item reveal in my little girl room.  Here are the curtains I did.  They were super easy and quick to make.  I thought I might have problems since I added a light-blocking liner, but that turned out pretty simple to add.

 

I started with long, tone-on-tone, white striped material and added a strip of purple flowered material to the top.

 

Then, I added a 5/8 inch grosgrain purple ribbon over the seam. 

Next I added 7/8 inch grosgrain purple ribbons to the top for a tie-on curtain.

I used a thin strip of white material across the top for a smooth seam allowance.

This strip was then ironed to the back. 

After cutting a piece of blackout liner to the size of the finished curtain, I laid it on the back of the curtain and folded the sides of the curtain over, tucking under 1/4 inch on the hem.  Then I stitched along the edges.

 

I hemmed the bottom by hand using a few whip stitches and tied the curtains onto the curtain rods.  The rods I got at Hobby Lobby for just over $7 each with coupons.  They came in a  kit that included the finials and hanging brackets.  A quick coat of white paint and they were ready to go up. 

For the tiebacks, I used strips of the white fabric and put button holes in both ends.

I found these adorable purple buttons in my stash and tied them onto U-nails I hammered into the wall.  Slipped the tieback around the curtain and put the button through both button holes.

The look is perfect for the room!

It’s purplishous!! There are a few other details I want to add to the room in the coming weeks.  Once I get the furniture back in place I’ll reveal the whole room.  Stay tuned.

 

Rebecca