Bubble Chandelier

As soon as I saw this DIY Chandelier by Rachel of Small Notebook, I fell in love.  I have had a single, naked lightbulb providing light to our living room since we moved in 9 months ago.  So sad looking.  This is the project I had been looking for to revamp our lighting.

Rachel’s original chandelier had a lot more glass balls, and two extra lights on it, but I only had one light, so  I decided to make a simpler version, like the one she made for her kids’ room.  Instead of floral wire, I used picture hanging wire…not white, but it still worked well.

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New Stash

Hello Everyone, I hope all of you who celebrate the holiday had a happy Easter!  A little package finally arrived in the mail the other day…a little spring to brighten my week!  This is my new Anna Maria Horner Good Folks stash.

Settling on bedding for my little one has been one of the hardest decisions for me so far (yes I know, compared to all the questions about how to be a good parent/how to raise a child, this might seem like a very small dilemma…).  You know that I finally chose colors for the baby’s room, and I thought these fabrics went perfectly!  My plan is to sew a fairly simple quilt, that is bordered in little triangles of this colorful fabric.  Something like this:

I love the little triangles, and I am going to echo that design by making triangle fabric flags out of the scraps to hang around her room.

Originally, I was planning on using the fabric that I designed to make bedding for my little one, but I was really getting stuck on the color and trying to make the pattern “just right”.  I decided that instead of stressing about it, I would use fabric that I already know I love, and use my fabric design as an art print for the wall.  Luckily, my fabric has little triangle flags on the hot air balloons, which I think will tie in perfectly with everything else in the decor.

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Summer and Winter Hand Towels

Another week means another weaving project for me.  Actually, I have another one on the way, because I’m a little behind on my homework!  This time around we were given a Summer and Winter project.  This type of weave is called Summer and Winter because the finished fabric is opposite on each side…one side is light, and one side is dark.  My teacher told us that this first became popular in America when families did not have enough money to buy two bed covers for the warm season and cold season.  They would buy/weave bed coverings in the Summer and Winter pattern and use one side for the warm months, and the other for the cold months.  Traditionally, white yarn is used for the background, and a dark color like navy is used for the foreground.  Since this was my first time attempting this type of weave, I decided to go with the classic look.

Another characteristic of the Summer and Winter weave is it is usually a fairly firm weave, making it great for towels, handbags, and bed coverings, but not so good for clothing and scarves (unless you use teeny tiny threads).  I opted for a set of hand towels because they are small and easy.  I used 100% cotton thread for optimal water absorbancy.

What I loved about Summer and Winter is it is really easy to design a pattern.  Basically, with my loom, I can make two different pattern blocks, A and B, and put them together in an almost unlimited number of combinations to make a pattern. 

Up next?  Lace!

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Preparing room for the babe

Making decorating decisions has to be one of the hardest things for me to do.  As many of you might already know, I am incredible indecisive.  I think I went through about 10 different color combos before settling on this one.  And, by the way, is anyone surprised to see yellow as the main color in the palette??

What I like about these colors together is they do not scream “baby”, and they do not scream “girl”.  They are cheery without being too pale or bold, and they are feminine without being too girly.  I am now in the process of altering my fabric to contain these colors so that I can still use it in the room.

I have made some other small decisions, like using this darling mobile for over the changing table.  I love that it is black and red, two colors that babies are highly responsive to.  I also love that it is not pastel colored, with stuffed, cartoon-like animals on it.

I have to mention how much I admire Meg of Sew Liberated, and this beautiful room she put together for her son.  She has some great ideas that I will be “borrowing”, like keeping a few toys and books out in rotation, instead of keeping them all out.  I also like the mirrors and pictures that she put at baby’s eye level where they can really be enjoyed.

I think part of the reason I have been so indecisive is I am not ready for my babe to be born yet.  I feel like there is so much I have to do before she gets here.  I want to be a good mother, and sometimes I think there are so many things I need to “fix” in my own life before I bring a new life into this world.  I am constantly trying to remind myself that no aspect of my life is ever going to be perfect for her.  I will always try to improve things that need improving, but I don’t have to be perfect to be a good mother.  I hope that I will be able to be humble enough to let my little girl teach me as I teach her.

If you have children, how did you prepare for the arrival of your little one?

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Body Pillow Turned Sofa Pillow

One of the many pieces of advice I have heard everywhere regarding the pregnancy is to get myself a body pillow.  I heard this from so many people and read it in so many books that a few months ago I decided that I could not live without one and picked one up at Target.  Unfortunately the body pillow was not my passport to comfort and deep sleep.  These people and books all forgot to mention the other thing that comes with a body pillow…extreme heat!  And I already feel like my body temperature is about 10 degrees above normal.

But oh well.  It was worth the try.  I found another great use for the body pillow when I took it out to my living room and found that it fit the back of my sofa just about perfectly.  Mike and I tried sitting on the sofa with the pillow behind us, and it was oh so comfortable! 

I covered the pillow with some fabulous fabric that I found shopping at the Los Angeles Fashion district (yellow, of course, and only $2 a yard!!) while visiting family.  One of these days my living room is going to go into yellow overload, but maybe I can squeeze just a tiny bit more of my favorite color into it…

I made up the pattern for the pillow as I went along.  I measured the length and width, and cut the front rectangle from that measurement.  For the back, I divided the length in 2 and added a couple inches, and overlapped the pieces to make an envelope style closure.

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Butterfly Ornament

This year I participated in Sew Liberated’s Holiday Traditions Exchange.  I know that my partner recieved her package, so I can post about this ornament that I made.  It is inspired by an ornament that I loved growing up.  I think I liked it so much because it was so delicate and detailed, which I tried to duplicate with some success.

To make the butterfly, I started with some plain red fabric and embroidered it with many colors of thread.  I then cut around the embroidery in the shape of a butterfly, and cut a second piece of the red fabric to go on the back.  I stitched the two sides together with some orange embroidery floss, and stuffed the ornament with some bamboo stuffing.  I made the little tassle on the bottom with some more embroidery floss.  Finally, I attached a gold thread to outline the butterfly.  It is stitched on with orange embroidery floss as well.

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A New Advent Wreath

In keeping with my desire to form some family holiday traditions, Mike and I are following Advent this year.  Each week, for four weeks before Christmas, we light a candle.  Each candle reminds us of a different, important aspect of the holiday…Hope, Love, Joy, Peace .  There is a fifth candle that goes in the middle of the wreath that we light on Christmas Eve and burn through Christmas day.  The Advent Wreath helps us reflect on why we celebrate Christmas, especially as Christians.  It is a chance to take a break from the stress that the holiday can create and spend time together in peace.

The wreath is made of a styrofoam ring.  I carved out four holes at equal distances for the candles to fit in, and wrapped the wreath in colorful fabric and ribbon.  I hope that Advent will become a tradition we do each year when the little one is born.

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Weekend Fun

Hi everyone, I hope you had a great holiday weekend, if you celebrate Thanksgiving, or just a great weekend if you don’t!  We had family visiting from California last week, and we definately enjoyed the festivities.  And can you believe it is now less than a month to Christmas??  This is one of my favorite times of year.

This weekend we travelled into the mountains to choose the perfect Christmas tree.  This is my family’s first time doing this, and we had a blast.  The sun was out, the view was beautiful, and there was only a minimal amount of snow covering the ground.

We finished decorating our tree last night, and it looks great.  I love having a fresh tree to look at and enjoy in our living room…it makes the whole house smell delicious!  To celebrate our accomplishment, Mike and I had a glass of eggnog, some peppermint candy, and watched Elf.

In light of the new future addition to our family, Mike and I are trying to get some family traditions in place so that we can continue them when we have the little one.  I am really interested in hearing your holiday traditions!

Are you enjoying the holidays yet?  Do you have any family traditions that make the holidays special?

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Curtains

First off, I want to say thank you to all of your sweet comments about my news.  I am so lucky to have you all!

This weekend I finally completed the task that has been hanging over my head since we moved…I finally made curtains!!  Like most projects I tackle, this went fairly smoothly, and the hardest part was actually starting it.  I don’t know why, but I always have trouble getting started on a project (oh, and I guess I also have trouble finishing them…). 

Luckily, a friend of mine needed to make curtains as well, so we jumped into the project together.  This time it was easy for me to finish because my family arrives for Thanksgiving today!  I am so happy to have a “completed” living room and dining room for them to hang out in (I say “completed” because it seems there is always something to change or improve on, and it is always hard for me to be satisfied with things, but this is the best it has been yet!).

Another project Mike took care of this weekend was painting all our side tables black, to match the strip of black fabric on the curtains.  I think this really tied everything together nicely.

I hope all of you enjoy the holiday this week…spend lots of time with your family and eat as much as you can!

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A Fresh Coat

With the holidays approaching I am feeling more and more pressure to finish up this little apartment of ours.  Family and friends will be coming to visit us over the next few weeks, and I would love to have a finished livingroom for all of us to sit in!  Mike promised to paint the place this past weekend (he’s so awesome!), if I could decide on a paint color by then.  After a near breakdown at the hardware store, we finally settled on three colors…Bright White (for the doors and trim), Profession (a light grey/tan color), and Chicken Wire (a greyish, greenish, blue).  There was much amusement had over the names of the colors.  The painting was all finished in one day, thanks to the help of some great friends.

And, you will never ever believe this, but I finally bought some fabric for curtains!  I’ll be making those this weekend, so look for pictures next monday!

When I think about the week to come, I can’t help but mentally back away in dread.  So much to do, so little time!!  Besides the usual (or not so usual, if you are me) laundry, groceries, dinners, and dusting, I want to make sure everything is organized and clean for when my family arrives next monday.  And yes, that means tackling the dreaded craft room, which I have not talked about here due to embarrassment.  I also want to hang some pictures around the house so that the newly painted walls have a chance to shine!  I am also hoping that over the next few days I can take some time to relax with Mike and enjoy the season before it passes us by.  It only comes around once a year, after all.

How are you preparing for the holidays?  Are you remembering to take some time to relax?

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