Bridgett's Chair

I met Bridgett through Megan. She is an adorable young mother and very talented children's photographer. She asked us to help her find props for photo shoots. We found this fabulous French Bergere at a local antique shop.

Meg painted it this playful funky green, Bridgette supplied the fabric, and I reupholstered it.
This vintage trim and fringe from my collection brought it all together.
Wouldn't you love to have portraits of your babies in this fun chair?

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!

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.

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.

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!

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.