The Girls' Room

It's almost done! Meg and I have been working on redecorating her girls' room for... a while. Meg has chosen adorable fabrics, curtains, paint colors and accessories and has arranged them all so creatively.

I offered to do the sewing and upholstery projects.
Several years ago I made a headboard for Meg and Ben that was a simple tailored rectangle covered in linen. When they gave it to the girls I cut it into a more feminine shape and slip covered it. The fabric is from only one pillow sham from Pottery Barn Kids, with all the seams opened it was large enough to cover the whole headboard! When Evie (5 years old) saw the quilted pillows with bows she said all the right things, she was thankful and complimentary, as usual. Then she asked me very diplomatically if I thought that they might need a little more "fashion". When I asked if little pillows made with the blue fabric and pink trim would add enough "fashion" she was satisfied because they would match her bed and "Relax Chair". Her "Relax Chair" was purchased many years before she was born at a yard sale for $5. A little paint and more PBK fabric made it just right for their room.

I made the lumbar pillow from a blouse that I bought for $1. It was no longer in style but, had beautiful embroidery, eyelet trim and shell buttons, so I knew it could have another life as a sweet little something.

All that is left for me to do is make the window valances (I think). I hope to show those to you soon! You can see their adorable, almost finished room on Megan's blog.
Annie added a little "fashion" of her own to the bed...

Budget Bolster

Last year I shared in a blog post that I planned to make a bolster to match the headboard I made for our guestroom. The most promising result to my search for the right size foam insert was on-line and $30 before shipping.
That may not sound like much to you but, I am convinced that there is almost always a less expensive way to do just about everything.After a few failed attempts with fiberfill that resulted in a pillow that resembled a giant anaconda that had just eaten a donkey, I found this solution...
...a pool noodle from the $ store, wrapped in a foam "egg-crate" mattress pad, held together with a little foam glue, and covered with quilt batting (the last 3 items were purchased from garage sales).

I'm pretty happy with my custom bolster and even happier that I only spent $3!

Janet's Chair

Janet recently found this great chair and ottoman at a garage sale!
They were covered with a funky "coffee-house" sort of fabric that wasn't too bad but,she bought this beautiful fabric on sale and asked me to recover them.

I love your choice, Janet. It looks so classy!

Ella's Baby Bed

Baby Ella arrived yesterday!
She'll be going home soon to sleep in this beautiful bedding that her mommy designed just for her. Isn't it delicious?

I put it all together with monogramming help from Megan.

Storybook Chair

My sister rescued this great vintage chair from a trash pile in Riverside 30 years ago. She hired someone to recover it with sea foam chenille fabric. I don't remember how it came to be mine, but I do remember being absolutely amazed that someone could recover it so beautifully and thinking I could NEVER learn to do that. It was part of Megan's bedroom for most of her childhood and now it has moved to her house. She and her little girls will read stories in the same cozy chair where she and I used to cuddle with her favorite book.

I found this linen fabric at a decorator's sale and recovering the chair was not as hard as I once believed it would be.

Soon the chair will be complete with a monogrammed pillow and a copy of The Poky Little Puppy.

Gingham Again

I found this vintage headboard at one of my favorite antique stores. It was just the thing that I had been looking for to upholster for our guestroom.
I chose a silk gingham fabric from Hobby Lobby (on clearance). I want to add one long bolster made of the same fabric. Pictures to come...

Rich really did not want me to drive screws into "that beautiful wood" so I mounted the foam and fabric-covered board with 3M picture hanging strips. It seems to be the perfect solution to the problem of securely attaching it without damaging the headboard.

I realize I have a gingham theme going in my last 4 posts. I can't help it. It's elegant in silk for a bedroom, cozy in a kitchen nook, and what is better than red gingham with big ric-rac in a playhouse? There are even little bits on baby clothes and lamp shades in the Sniglets post. It is a classic that never goes out of style.

Nina's Playhouse

I made a playhouse for all of our grandchildren - in the closet under our stairs. Evie, our 3 year old granddaughter, was enthralled Christmas day when she went on a hunt for our play kitchen and found it behind a door that she had never noticed before. If you come over when Evie is here prepare to be invited to "her house" and remember to duck your head. I've spent more time in this closet in the last week than I did in the 7 years that we have lived here.

You'll probably have to "go to sleep" at her house. Turning the lamp and overhead light on and off is her favorite activity.

Of course it is decorated for Christmas and we're making plans for other holidays.

Evie said, "Nina, Thank you for my very own house!"

Anabelle, 15 months old, loves it, too!

They are looking forward to sharing it with future cousins.

That's not a hint.

Sniglets

I had a shop in Avondale... (said with all the wistfulness of Meryl Streep in the opening lines of Out of Africa, "I had a farm in Africa...").
Megan and I actually rented a small space in a children's boutique, 3 Chicks, in the Avondale shopping district for the past 4 months. We moved out last Monday. It's a great shop in a trendy area but, it didn't work out for us. Oh well, we tried.This is how our original display looked.

We still have several of the items in these photos. Just let one of us know if you see something you need.

Den Decor

I've been redecorating our den for 18 months; since we had brick floors installed. (Not exactly one of those quick redos on HGTV.) I loved the floors but, everything else felt so dark, I wanted to lighten the furniture and accessories. Here are some of the results...

I found this secretary at one of my favorite antique stores, marked down plus 40% off. I have a "before picture", but I don't know how to get it from my phone to this blog so, you 'll have to imagine it with a dark stain and decorative panels over the glass doors. I painted and glazed it more times than I intended (6) to get the color I wanted.

The front of the top drawer folds down to expose the DVD player. I plan to add 2-way mirror film to the glass in the center door to hide the TV when it's off and see through when it's on. I'll let you know how it works. If you know a better way please share.

I reupholstered two bergere chairs that I found in a consignment shop. This is how they looked before.
The fabric was nice and they were well done, but I had 6 yards of linen that I'd bought at a garage sale so, here's the "after".I painted, monogrammed and distressed two small side tables. One came from a garage sale the other from an antique store. Both were very inexpensive. Here is the sum of all the newest parts, you can tell that I appreciate symmetry. I'm still shopping for a coffee table and artwork. Maybe this room will be finished in another 18 months, I'm patient, I can wait.

Retro Dresses

These simple shift dresses that I made for my GRANDgirls remind me of the kind my mother made for my sister and me and in the sixties. Our outfits often matched, too.

They're made of yellow seersucker with vintage trim, buttons and ric-rac. The girls felt as cool as they could on a hot July day.

Jo's Chairs

I recovered this chair for a dear friend. That was the "BEFORE"... This is the "AFTER"...

...and its mate.

She chose a gorgeous ivory matelase fabric, very classy. Thanx for trusting me, Jo.

Upholstered Headboard

I've collected magazine photos of upholstered headboards for several years planning to make my own one day. I finally narrowed my choices down to this one because it had some interesting detail without being too feminine.I bought supplies and fabric, gathered tools, and went to work.The fabric is a dark taupe velvet. I'm pleased with the results and surprised that Richard is so excited about it. He even said that it was "Classy".

FYI ~ Richard found some great mounting hardware at Lowes. You can check out the "Hangman Mirror and Picture Hanging System" at www.hangmanstore.com

Chocolate Bunny Dresses

I love Easter!
It's my favorite holiday and it comes during my favorite season. Spring and new growth, Christ and new life; His unfathomable love for us in that while we were yet sinners He died for us...AND rose again!

I love seeing the dogwoods and azaleas bloom, attending worship services, watching the children at church in their new clothes, hosting our family's Easter feast, sharing it with friends, having egg hunts, and eating candy. Isn't Easter candy the best?

When I saw this pattern with chocolate bunnies I decided to yield to Megan's "subtle" hints that I could smock for her girls. The blue dress I posted last December was practice for these...I needed a lot of practice. This kind of smocking, "picture smocking", messes with my eyes and my head. I've stitched each bunny more than once trying to make them perfect, they're not. I've worked for a month on these 2 dresses and was crazy enough to buy patterns for others during the process. I guess I'm hooked on, what is for me, a frustrating hobby.

When I'm asked about my granddaughters I always respond, "They are delicious". It fits them! They truly are just delicious.

(I hope their dresses fit, too. They could always wear them next year ... and every other occasion during their lifetimes. Hmmmm.... I wonder if they would consider a chocolate bunny theme for at least one of their weddings. Too silly. Maybe their babies will wear them, I'd sure love to see that.)

Rich's Chair

BEFORE...
I found this chair in Goodwill a month ago. The size, shape and price were right, but not the fabric or the feminine details. The last person to upholster it took great care to add gathers at the corners of the skirt, a shirred front to the seat cushion and contrasting bias piping and trim. It was beautiful and creative in its day, but wear and 2 decades required that it have an update. AFTER...
This chair is for Richard so I chose a manly fabric; brown corduroy. These days I am drawn to classic fabrics in nuetral colors. I'm hoping I'll be happy to update accesories and pillows when I want a change instead of whole pieces of furniture.

This was my fastest work so far ~ only 2 days from purchasing the fabric to zipping the last cushion closed!

The couch now has a couple of pillows to match.

Labor of Love

I found these 70's style chairs and their matching ottoman at an estate sale a few months ago and offered them and the promise to recover them to our daughter, Megan, as a birthday gift. She chose the fabrics and repainted the chairs with a distressed finish. (She did this painting12 hours before her second daughter was born. Crawling around on the floor, reaching and bending may have helped to start her labor.)

"BEFORE" with 80's Fabric

"AFTER"

The 70's are back...
and classy with 2000's fabrics.

I learned that this is not my favorite kind of upholstery because every edge is a finish edge. Megan says that every time I complete a project I say that I won't do that again. I don't want to do this kind again, but I imagine I will when I find another great chair and have forgotten the labor pains of these "twins". I believe that Megan will have another baby one day, too.