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.

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.

Funky Beach Towels

Fun, funky monograms on happy colored beach towels. The only thing better than wrapping up in a dry a towel after swimming is a snack, any snack.

Aprons Strings

Our daughter-in-law, Molly, is enjoying a new job as a barista at a coffee shop and bakery, Five Loaves, in Montana. She's been wearing and sharing a couple of adorable aprons from one of her favorite shops, Anthropologie. I've decided to add to her collection. I hope she wants an apron wardrobe because I have a lot of ideas and materials for creating more.
This Christmas one is made from a vintage tablecloth that I found just last Saturday at a garage sale for $1. I added details with bits from my collection of vintage fabrics, buttons and trims. The only new part is the ribbon tie. Kitschy or campy?

The only thing I did to this ready-made apron was to make the neck strap adjustable with the addition of buttons. Megan did the applique and monogram. It's so cute and preppy! She made one just like it for me, too. Thanx, Meg!

Megan's Chair

My mother gave this sweet antique chair to my daughter, Megan, a few years ago. This old chair has had many different seat covers during its relatively short history in my family. Yesterday as I discovered 4 different fabric layers I relived family times, happy and sad, in several different homes where my mom has lived. It now has a new cover in a new home waiting for a new baby.

Megan chose a beautiful natural linen with an appliqued chocolate damask monogram.