let the slipcovering begin!

I've never worked with a piece of fabric this large before. It took me forever just to unwrap it from the bolt!

So rule number one is always wash your fabric first. You wouldn't want your slipcover skrinking once you had already sewed it together! When I slipcovered my chair I just estimated and cut my 10 yards of fabric into several big chunks that would fit in my washing machine. Afterwards, I wasn't  really happy with the result. I felt like it was an inefficient use of my fabric and I had a lot of waste.

So this time I have decided to make all my cuts first (leaving room for a little shrinkage, of course) and then wash it.

First I cut about and 1 to 1-1/2 inches of the entire length of my fabric. This strip will be for my piping.

I really didn't want to measure and mark 1-1/2" for the whole 15 yard strip. So I just "eyeballed" it as I went. You can see in the picture below that every couple of feet I would hold up the beginning of my fabric strip to the piece I was cutting to make sure I was still cutting the right width.

Have you ever tried to take a picture with your left hand while you are cutting with scissors in your right hand? It's not as easy as it looks.



Then I did the same for my skirt, except it was about an 8" wide strip. I plan on cutting the rest of my pieces with pinking shears (I just bought a pair yesterday). That should help cut down on the fraying when I wash my pieces.

All this cutting got me excited for this project so I decided to go ahead and pin my skirt on the couch just to get an idea of how it was going to look.

I'm going to do a box pleat on each corner of my skirt. I am so excited to see how this comes together.



It's going to be sooo much better than the current, ugly, brownish couch!

Hope you all are having a wonderful Memorial Day!

More slipcover progress coming soon.....

a vintage spring mantel

I have a really hard time decorating this mantel. It's large, I don't really love the color of the wood, I don't really like the fireplace in general and I don't really like that oversized mirror anymore. All of those things could be changed fairly easily, but since we are putting this house on the market and searching for a new one I am resisting the urge.

In the meantime, I dress this little mantel up the best way I know how and try to ignore the flaws. I spent $3 on this entire mantel (the cost of the flowers). I just shopped the house for everything else.

I love vintage-y, white dishes.

My mom gave me this pitcher for Mother's Day. She bought it at an antique store in Florida. I love it.

And these little latte cups are from Anthro.

The candlesticks are also from Anthro, but they are really old. My Grandmother gave them to me at one of my wedding showers.

I love polka dots and try to sneak them into my decor whenever the husband isn't looking. I made this wreath based on a tutorial from one of my favorite bloggers Emily.

{Please ignore this horrible picture - reason no 5082 why I hate the mirror above the fireplace. You can see more wreath pictures and read about how I made it here}.

The vintage hankie under the pitcher was my "something blue for" my wedding day. It has my initial embroidered on it.

I love these inexpensive, hinged glass vases. They are from Hobby Lobby or "The Hobster" as Layla likes to call it.

I don't even know what kind of flowers these are, exept that they are the el chepo ones from the grocery store that are $3 for a big bunch and they last forever.

I made the clay tags myself. They were a fun little project and I hope to make more soon.

Cloudy day = bad pictures. Sorry about this one, but it was the only one I got of the entire mantel.

Linking this one up with Layla!

french laundry - i'm in love

I recently discovered these beautiful linens by French Laundry at Neiman Marcus. They are the perfect blend of casual, vintage & french. I love them. But they aren't cheap. A pillow runs around $150. They are beautiful, but there is no way this girl is going to convince the husband that $150 per pillow is no big deal.

Linen Sham

So of course, I had resigned myself to the fact that I would never own one of these lovlies.

And then I got my daily email from One Kings Lane and it must have been my lucky day because they are featuring, none other than, French Laundry this week. I am so excited I can hardly stand it!



Crest Cafe Towels



You can't beat this sale. Everything is 50% off. 

French Words Placemat

Now I just have to narrow it down.

Brussels Wide Euro Shame in Spa



I would like one of everything!

Postcard Pillow



But that's not happening! So what will it be?

"7" Cafe Towel

I'm thinking I need a pillow to go with my soon-to-be white slipcovered couch.

Classic Striped Pillow



What pieces do you love? If you could only buy one item, what would you chose?

The sale ends Friday and things are selling out fast so you better hurry!

If you are not already a member of One Kings Lane, you need an invitation to view the sale. Just click here for an invite!

I'm linking up with Sarah for Good Life Wednesday!

It's here!

Busy day, but I had to give you a little update. 15 yards of cotton duck has just arrived at my door.

So the slipcover adventures will be beginning this week! I'm a little nervous, but it should be fun!

Anyone else ever slipped a large couch?

may etsy obsessions

I. love. Etsy.

Who doesn't?

 If you don't we can't be friends anymore. :)

There are too many things on etsy that I am coveting right now,  but here are a few of my favorites.

Headbands by kaceface.

I just ordered one of these (not exactly like the one below- I customized mine). It hasn't arrived yet, but so far she has been amazing to work with, super quick and very friendly. And you really can't beat her prices!

I love all things nautical. And I'm loving this bag by BeeHive Design. Perfect for summer.

I couldn't get over this pillow from Olive Handmade when I saw it. Doesn't go with my house, but so cute! It would make a fun gift!

I have a thing for owls. Not sure why, but they draw me in everytime. This one from Robin and Mould is so cute. I love the closed eyes and the little wings and feet.

And look at the back. LOVE.

Another sweet owl from g&g . If I had a girl this would be on it's way to my house right now. So sweet.

I've been on the hunt for vintage linens lately so this tea towel from Papa Totora caught my eye. It's hand block printed and has a vintage feel to me. 

Last, but not least are these prints from Fresh Line that I love. Great quotes, great graphics, great colors. I want all of them (and I don't mean just the three shown here)! :)

Do you love Etsy as much as me? What are your etsy obsessions lately?

I might be crazy....

Last night at 11:30 pm (I must have been delirious) I ordered 15 yards of white cotton duck

(great picture, I know)

to make a slipcover for this hideous thing

What have I gotten myself into?!

a weekend of thrifting and fun

So I told you on Friday that I had a fun Saturday of thrifting planned with one of my girlfriends. I think I also mentioned that I would be back with pictures on Monday. Well, I sorta lied about that last part. Totally forgot to take pictures of our adventures. How did I forget? I have no idea. I usually take pictures of everything! I definitely get the "worst blogger in the world" award for that mistake.

But I will give you a recap anyway, sans photos. Our plan was to mostly hit up antique and thrift stores, but we made a quick stop at Anthro first because it's my favorite and I had a gift card to spend. I came away with 4 of these mini latte cups (in white).

I also had my eye on this bag and contemplated buying it, but I didn't. Now I haven't been able to stop thinking about it so I'm wondering if that means I should go back and buy it? What do you think?

I love nautical, stripes and grey and I love the red lining inside with tiny white polka dots.

After Anthro, we drove all over town and hit up quite a few antique malls and The Salvation Army. I saw some cute things which I really wish I had some pictures of to show you (sorry!), but I didn't buy anything. I was looking for a few specific things for my living room and just didn't see the perfect piece. But, we had a blast anyway. And it was so much fun for me to have a little break from being mom and have some girl time!

After shopping and standing all day, we decided to stop and get a pedicure. It was much needed and my feet look so much better now! And finally, as I was sitting in the pedicure chair waiting on my pink toes to dry I remembered about the pictures! So here's one of my freshly pedicured feet! Ha!

(From the Iphone so the color looks a little weird - sorry!)

And last, but not least (and totally unrelated to my weekend). I just saw that Screaming Meme is having an Annie Sloan Chalk Paint give-away! If you are like everyone else in blogland you are either in love with chalk paint already or dying to try it! Either way you should get in on this one. If you enter, please let her know that I sent you!

Hope everyone has a great week! Oh and do you think I should go back for that bag? I want your opinion!

a little of this, a little of that

I planned on getting this post up Thursday evening, but of course blogger went down and didn’t return for what seemed like eons. <---- Is that a real word?

Anyway, this post is just a little mish mash of things. I haven’t really done any DIY projects this week because I am prepping for a BIG project – slipcovering my sofa.

So, I thought instead of projects I would just share some of my instagram photos from the week. Mainly Thursday morning when my little man and I spent hours playing on the back patio with sidewalk chalk. We had so much fun!

And then there were several blog posts I read this week that I just loved, loved, loved. So I wanted to share those with you in case you missed them. I wouldn’t want you to feel deprived J

This is from a new blog I just found this week. Very different from most of the DIY/home décor blogs that I read. But Alyssa Ann seems like such an amazing Mom and I feel like I need some inspiration in that department. This post “Remind Me to Play” really spoke to me. Especially this sentence “..there isn't any reason, need, or benefit in frustration, impatience, or short-temper. Life is too short for that. I want to stay calm and carry on. Not just simply carry on for the sake of carrying on. I want to demand that I take the second to notice the random hair that flaps in the face of the little beauty that is walking and dragging her sand toys behind her. I must demand of myself that I take heed of the little boy that is calling me to watch him fling himself wildly into the waves for the hundredth time. . .”

So true, so true. We all need to be reminded of that. So if you are a Mom go read it now! And if you aren’t, go read it anyway. It can apply to many other areas of life too!

Then there is this post from my favorite blogger Sarah. I am dying to fly to Australia and hang out with her. Oh we could have so much fun junking and thrifting and painting things white! I so adore her coastal-vintage-chic style. She also does the most beautiful tablescapes I have ever seen. And don’t go thinking Sandra Lee from Food Network tablescapes - uggh. Sarah’s tablescapes are amazing. This post teaches you how to do it really easily using things you already have in your home.

Last but not least, is one of my other favorites – Lisa Leonard. It seems everyone in blog land already knows her so you probably do too. But in case you don’t you should. J I love all her posts and amazing photography, but I really look forward to Wednesdays every week when she does “What I Wore Wednesday.” She has the cutest style and it’s always fun to have some fashion inspiration! This weeks WIWW was one of my favorites so far!

In other news, I am super excited about tomorrow. I told you about my Mother’s Day gifts here. But I didn’t tell you about this one. My final gift from the hubs is probably the best one of all. He is watching the little man Saturday so I can spend the entire day thrifting, shopping, gabbing, etc with a friend. I have not done this since Aubrey was born. Yep, it’s been 19 months since I have had a shopping day with a friend. And I am SO looking forward to it! I will definitely be back Monday with pictures!

Hope you have a fabulous weekend!

guest posting at Perfectly Imperfect....

Ahhhhh!!! I was so excited to see my guest post this morning on Shaunna's beautiful blog! I've been following her blog for a while now and am always inspired by her work. If you want to see some amazing paint transformations take a few minutes and look around her blog. She has big time talent!

Go check it out!

playing with clay

These clay tags are a fun, easy project. All you really need is a few cookie cutters and air dry modeling clay. If you've worked with clay before you can most likely go at this on your own without instructions. I had never worked with clay so I downloaded a little tutorial from my favorite blogger, Sarah from A Beach Cottage.

The next several photos I took with my iPhone instagram app during the process so I apologize for their poor quality. On a side note: I love the convenience of that app for shooting and sharing pictures quickly.

I had fun shopping for cookie cutters but didn't have any luck finding the right size circle. So I used the lid from an empty spice jar for my circles. It actually worked pretty well.

I would love to buy an alphabet stamping set like this one so i could stamp fun words or names on them!

The clay takes a while to air dry and I am not the most patient.

But it was worth the wait!

I think they turned out really cute!

I'm still on the hunt for fun cookie cutter shapes so if you have a good resource I'd love to know.

P.S. Those pretty daisies were free - I picked them off the side of the road :)

P.P.S Here is a direct link to Sarah's tutorial. And check out her blog while you're over there. Seriously, my favorite of all time.

And of course, I had to link this post up for Sarah's Good Life Wednesday!