Back in the saddle

After a much needed (and event-filled) hiatus, I'm back at the (computer) keys from a new vantage point (Cleveland) with my same old buddy (see below.)

Although we've made quite a move, and lots of things have changed, many things haven't (including my inclination to parenthetical asides...as I'm sure you've noticed.)  But to recap the last month or so: Sean, Ollie, and I loaded up my little car and drove it all the way from Florida to Pennsylvania.  After a blissful week in Pennsylvania with our families, Sean hopped on a plane back to Florida, and my mom and I packed up my little car (yet again) and drove to my new home in Cleveland, Ohio.  So for now, I'm re-adjusting to the student life, and trying to shake this "Old Lady Complex" that I have going on (which developed as a result of the few years that I squeezed between the completion of my Bachelor's and the beginning of my Master's.)  But I'm having a blast exploring my new city, making new friends, and finding my place in my new school.

In other news, among the other amazing gifts I received for my birthday, I was given a gorgeous new dress form, and a new point-and-shoot camera.  I'll be back to post more details later, but here are just a few sneak peek shots of my gift (with my gift), of my swanky new Little Italy apartment, and of a project that I'll be back to share soon!  Enjoy!

I'll be back with more news shortly, (and I've been stockpiling a few projects that I will share with you soon) but for now: it's a school night, and officially past my bedtime.  Happy Sunday!  

Yard sale goodies

Since we moved into our house in May, we've been meaning to pick up a couple of stools for the little breakfast area off of the kitchen.  We struck gold this Saturday when we found two wooden stools at a yard sale for $5 each!  What a steal!  Since the fabric on top was a little worse for wear (and plain white, which just wouldn't do) we made a pit stop at Hobby Lobby and picked up a staple gun and some Ikat-printed canvas.  These days, I'll use any excuse to make a run to Hobby Lobby (I can't believe I had never been to one before this summer!)  It's my new favorite place.

All we did was pop off the seats, staple the new fabric onto the bottom, and they were done!  (I didn't even do any sewing.)  They're just what we needed!

We sure lucked out with this canvas...I love the print!  I certainly haven't gotten the Ikat bug out of my system yet.  Other than a few projects here and there, I've been enjoying my last few weeks of summer before I make the move back to school in August.  But for now...back to a lazy Sunday!
  

Hearts and stripes blouse

Happy Friday!  I went out on a limb yesterday and decided to make a blouse pattern based on a basic top I own.  I traced the front and back pieces and cut them out of newspaper.  From there, I I added some darts under the bust line and a single pleat down the center.  To simplify the finishing, I used bias tape (I made it from simple white cotton) to encase the raw edges around the arm holes and neck.  I also added a simple Peter Pan style collar (out of the same white cotton as the bias tape) and sewed a matching covered button in the center.  And here is my new top!

It's comfortable, and simple enough that I put it together in the afternoon!  And my favorite part: since I used all materials from my stash (you may recognize this fabric from here and here) this project didn't cost me anything to make!  I just love it when projects work out!

I'm in the home stretch of my summer job, so I'm looking forward to having some "fun" time in the next few weeks before I head up north for school.  So hopefully that means more fun projects and pictures to share!  Happy almost weekend!

(Pink) Covered Couches

Hi friends!  I know I've been a little absent lately, but the past couple of weeks have been crazy busy for me!  Aside from a busy work schedule, I spent some time working on covering the couches in our living room.  We bought them from a nice woman in Orlando who wanted to upgrade her living room set.  While they were in pretty good shape (and we got them for a great price!) I had been dying to cover them since we picked them up.  So without further ado...allow me to introduce our couches!

Since couch covers are so very expensive, I decided to cover the couches with sets of sheets that I found on sale.  Since I wanted to buy the sale sheets (which meant I had to mix and match brands, sizes and colors) I decided to get all white sheets and dye them myself.  Sean and I decided on red, since we have a red fireplace on the opposite end of the room.  Here is where the project got a little complicated: it turns out that it's almost impossible to dye such a large amount of fabric red.  After many runs through the washing machine with boxes and bottles of red dye, my sheets turned out a lovely shade of cotton candy pink.  Oops!  So in an effort to minimize the pink (because it's a whole lot of pink) I added some strips of blue fabric across the arm rests and seat cushions, and I covered the back cushions and pillows in contrasting blue fabrics.  Since I mixed so many fabrics, it distracts from the pink, and it looks so fun and festive!  While the pink is still taking some getting used to, we love our new couches!  

Happy Wednesday!  I hope to be back with more to share soon!

Holiday morning snapshots

Happy 4th of July!  I hope your plans for the day include food, friends, sunshine, and sparklers.  Since my day includes working, I took advantage of my morning off by bumming around the house.  But since it is July 4th (and since red, white and blue is one of my favorite color combinations) I'm sharing some of my favorite red, white, and blue photos from around our house.

 

Happy 4th of July!  Go have fun!

Window shopping

Since fabric shopping is just about all I want to do these days, I'm trying to keep my spending under control by doing some online "window shopping."  Today I hit the fabric for sale on Etsy, and found so many sweet whimsical prints, I wish I could have them all!  Here are my favorites (see below the picture for details, and to see them on Etsy.)

1.  Sea Critters from the Seven Seas Collection by Cloud 9

2.  The Woodlands by Khristian A Howell for Anthology Fabrics

3.  High Seas Blue from the Seven Seas Collection by Cloud 9

4.  Elephants Organic Cotton by Ed Emberley

5.  Where's My Stache Natural by Alexander Henry

6.  Hill and Dale from the Taali collection by Monaluna

7.  Giraffe Print in Corn Yellow and White by Premier Prints

8.  Zig Zag in Corn Yellow and Ash by Premier Prints

9.  Suburbia Kitchen in Earth by Caleb Gray for Robert Kaufman Fabrics

Aren't they just adorable?  Happy Tuesday!

Literature lamp

Happy Monday!  I've been spending all of my spare time trying to get our house put together, and I have a pretty long (and perhaps overly-ambitious) list of things left to do.  First on the list was "living room lamp makeover: take two"  We got these lamps as part of a living room set, and they were a little too "beach hotel" for my taste.

Now that's a lamp, right?  So for my first attempt at a lamp makeover, I tried to do some color-blocking, by dividing the lamp into three sections, and painting one grey, one yellow, and one shiny gold.  I thought this was a genius idea!  Until I realized that the beachy hieroglyphics underneath were really highlighted by the colors, and the finished products lovingly became known as the "cheese lamps."

So my second (and hopefully final) attempt at a lamp makeover involved a book, some scissors, and some Mod Podge.  I wanted to choose a classic book, so I hit the local Good Will, and found the perfect book: James and the Giant Peach, by Roald Dahl (one of my all-time-favorites!)  I cut a bunch of pages into strips, and stuck them on with Mod Podge.

So after this super-easy (and perfect for sitting in front of the tv) project, we have our new "literature lamps!"

I love catching glimpses of this classic book on my end-table, and I just had to include some snippets of the illustrations.  I love our new lamps!

I've been working on some other home projects, which aren't quite ready to be shared yet.  But I had to share this photo of my favorite buddy, and it's a little sneak peek at another project to look out for this week!

Isn't that just the sweetest little face?  Happy Monday and thanks for stopping by!