Pink and Orange Fabrics

I've been looking for fabrics for pillows for my daughter's room.  As you might remember, her room is orange and pink.    Here are a few of my favorites:

Source: lsfabrics.com via Suzanne on Pinterest

I absolutely adore these ballerinas.  Alas, the three-year old will have nothing to do with this fabric.

She was more into the dogs:

Source: fabric.com via Suzanne on Pinterest

And robots:

Source: fabric.com via Suzanne on Pinterest

Here are some other fun options:

Source: lsfabrics.com via Suzanne on Pinterest

Source: fabric.com via Suzanne on Pinterest

While I really wanted to use fabrics that combine both pink and orange, my friend Holly had the great idea of using contrasting piping.  Sewing piping is definitely beyond my seamstress capabilities, so I stopped in at a seasmstress yesterday and asked her how much she would charge to sew pillow covers with piping.  We have used her to tailor my husband's suits in the past, so we know she is very reasonable, but I almost died when she told me the price: $3 for a 16x16 pillow and $5 for a 20x20?!??!  That includes the cost of sewing and adding the piping.  Looks like I might be having a few more pillows sewn!

Source: fabric.com via Suzanne on Pinterest

Source: fabric.com via Suzanne on Pinterest

Source: fabric.com via Suzanne on Pinterest

Source: fabric.com via Suzanne on Pinterest

I pinned these fabrics from fabric.com onto Pinterest.  However, when I went back to find the actual fabric on fabric.com, the Pinterest link took me to the fabric.com homepage.  If you want to know the names of any of the fabric, just let me know and I will try to find it for you.

Remodelaholic Feature

Some of you  might remember that when I started this blog, my main source of content was furniture makeovers.  If it seems like it's been a LOOOOOONG time since I've done a furniture makeover, you're right!  Once the weather gets cold, I like to stay warm and snug in my house and don't like to venture out into the garage to work on a furniture project.  Garage sales are also my best source for furniture and I'll have to wait until the weather warms up for garage sale season to start again.

With the days getting just a little bit warmer and longer, I'm getting the itch to get back out there and paint something.  I was even browsing Craig's List to see if there was anything worthwhile out there (there wasn't, unfortunately).

I have this pretty piece in the garage.

After being removed from the clutter that has piled up around her, all she needs is some glazing and her hardware put back on and she'll be ready to go.  Poor old girl has been sitting in this half-finished state since maybe September!

I got an email this weekend from Remodelaholic, you know the big blog that features all kinds of amazing room and furniture remodels???  Remodelaholic is featuring one of my little pieces on their website today.  It's been so long since I've done any furniture, that I was a little surprised, but deliriously happy as well.  It's a good feeling to know that somebody out there likes and appreciates what we do on our blogs.

Stop by Remodelaholic to see what piece they are featuring of mine.  It's an oldie, but a goodie.  It was destined for sale, but has ended up in my living room as the perfect storage place for craft and art supplies.

And, I have another furniture makeover that I'll show you on Wednesday as part of the One Room Challenge.  It's bright ORANGE!

More DIY Art

I'm redoing Mary's room on a budget, meaning I need to find thrifty ways to still make it cute.  The blog Sprik Space has tons of free printables, including lots of plain patterns.

I uploaded some of the plain patterns to Picnik (so sad Picnik will be going away) and played around with adding text.  I was surprised how easy it was to make some cute, personalized prints.

I quickly created a few things and I might play around some more to see what else I come up with.  Once I've finalized the designs, I'll send them to a photo printer to be printed.  If I had a color printer, I could just print them myself.  How simple is that?!?!

 I think a collection of these would look so cute.

I'm thinking about making my sister something like this for her orange and gray nursery once her baby is born...in only a few more weeks!

Have you made prints like this?  If so, I would love to see them!  You could put a link in your comment.

Be sure to stop by Sprik Space to check out the other free printables and to say "hi" to Aimee.

Feature Friday: Anne from Hello Newman's

You know that area above your cabinets that is a dust/grease/knick knack collecter?  I've often wondered what to do on top of my cabinets.  I used to have lots of decor up there, but that all came down last spring when I wanted a cleaner look.  Now that area is looking kind of sad and neglected in my home.  I also have to climb up there every now and then to scrub off that yucky dusty build-up that hangs out up there.

I just about fell out of my chair a few days ago when I saw what Anne from Hello Newman's did with that area in her home.  I was so excited about this project, that as soon as my husband walked in the door from work, I made him come over to the computer to check out Anne's post and to try to convince him that we could do something similar.

Before I show you Anne's kitchen, I have to share her adorable little family with you.  Don't they look so fun and happy?  I want to hang out with them in real life!

Check out how Anne and her husband added height to their cabinets with a few pieces of wood and trim.  Here's where they started:

They nailed MDF to some scrap pieces of wood they attached to the ceiling:

Add some trim:

Add some paint and here's the completed project:

I think the added height looks great and it looks like the cabinets were always meant to be that way.  Anne and her husband make the whole thing look so easy!

This project is definitely going on my "Home Goals 2012" list.  Now, if I can get Big K to cooperate.....

Thanks so much to Anne for letting me share her genius project on my blog.  If you haven't visited Hello Newman's, you should hop on over for more details on this project and to see what Anne and her husband are up to next.  I always look forward to seeing what they do!

Happy weekend everyone!  We have my parents visiting all the way from Minnesota, so we're looking forward to lots of fun grandparent time.

Suzy's House Party #28 - Link Up!

Have you watched the PBS series "Downton Abbey?"  I just got sucked into the first episdode on Netflix last night, rather than writing this post.  The show is set right before WWI in a English countryside estate.  The story follows both the servants and the lord and his family who all live in the mansion.

I already like the storyline, but the sets and costumes are stunning.  The ladies of the house all have the most beautiful dresses and jewelry...kind of makes me wish I was a high-born Brit of 100 years ago.

If you haven't seen the show, Netflix has Season 1 and Season 2 just debuted on PBS.  I don't watch a lot of TV, but if you are into historical fiction, you should definitely check out this series.

On to the features, the real reason why you're here.  Tiffany from Living Savvy is doing a no-spend challenge for the month of January.  She created this awesome tray from materials she had on hand: a tray, tinfoil, modpodge, and spray paint.  It looks just like its more expensive cousins you can find out there.  Visit her blog to see how she did it.

Here's another thrifty blogger, My Old Country House.  We all like the look of trendy x-benches, right?  This one is made out of an old picnic bench.  So cute!

This desk from Bad Rabbit Vintage is amazing...I can't believe the time it must have taken to do all of the detail.  But, the time spent definitely paid off in a unique piece.

<div align="center"><a href="http://savedbysuzy.blogspot.com" title="Saved by Suzy"><img src="http://i1218.photobucket.com/albums/dd408/lizzygal18/Savedbysuzypartyblogbuttonchevron-1.png" alt="Saved by Suzy" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

•Link up your home decor project. Pretty much anything to do with you house is fine.

•Please provide a link back to my blog. A text link is fine, or feel free to grab my "Saved by Suzy" party button from the sidebar. The more people that know about the party and participate the better for all of us.

•Be sure to share the love and leave comments for others.

•That's it.

One Room Challenge: Week 2: Upholstered Headboard and Striped Curtains

It's time for another installment of the One Week Challenge, where I redo my daughter's room in six weeks. This is week two. Check out week one here.

My big project for this week was creating an upholstered headboard.  I love the look of an upholstered headboard and this was my first time making one of these.

Here's what it looks like:

In this photo, it's just propped against the wall.  I still need to attach it to the wall with flush mounts.  Before I do that though, I need to do a couple of tweaks.  The fabric is bunching around the curves a bit.  I need to remove the staples there and pull the fabric tighter before restapling and then trim the excess fabric.

I know you are going to laugh when you see me and my outfit.  I had just finished painting and I'm wearing my painting clothes/pj's. 

First, I started by drawing the shape of the headboard on some pieces of newspaper I taped together.  You could also do this on a large sheet of craft paper.  I didn't have any at the time, so the newspaper sufficed.  I taped the newspaper on the wall to make sure I liked the shape.  I  didn't love it at first.  I liked it much better after making a curved top.

Next, I traced the shape onto a piece of wood.  My husband then cut it out for me with a jigsaw.

Awesome outfit, right? Luckily these pics were taken with my phone, so you don't have to subjected to the full amount of ugliness!

In step three, I took some extra-thick batting and cutit  a little bigger than the wood.  Then I used spray adhesive to attach the batting.  I cut fabric to fit over the headboard.  I stapled the fabric and the batting to the back of the headboard, making sure it was pulled taut.

Voila!  Mary approves.

The headboard needs to be hung a little higher and the excess fabric trimmed, but this gives you an idea of what it will look like.  I also purchased this new bedding from Target.  I want to sew a couple of throw pillows to break up all of that pink.

What do you think of the orange polka dot fabric?  I ask because I wish it was a little brighter, more like the orange of the curtains.  I'm almost tempted to take the fabric off and start over with a brighter orange fabric.

Here's what I've done so far in the room:

Painted it pink.

Painted striped curtains.

Made a little piece of DIY art.

This is the point where I usually get stuck in a room.  I have furniture, curtains, and paint, but the accessorizing is tough for me.  So, this is what I have left to get the room finished:

 - make pillows
 - purchase a small bookcase/toy storage piece (thinking the Ikea Expedit for this)
 - art, probably some sort of gallery wall
 - paint her dresser
 - shop for a mirror

I'm sure I will think of some other things!

Be sure to check out some of the other bloggers to see how their rooms are coming together.

Dutch.British.Love
Trapped in North Jersey
Nicole Scott Designs
Kim Macumber Interiors
Rue de Emily
The Pink Pagoda
refresheddesigns
Nana Moon Shop
Taylor Morgan Design
Insideways
My Crafty Home Life
House Four
Living Savvy
(A Lifestyle Thing)

Linked here: http://www.serenitynowblog.com/

Imagine the Impossibilities: Organizing the Pantry and Linen Closet

Last week, I joined a challenged called "Imagine the Impossibilities" to help me organize some closets and get rid of clutter.

I used to be one of those annoyingly organized people.  I would immediately file or throw away things.  As I've gotten older, I started to hold on to more and more stuff.  Either for sentimental reasons or just because I don't take the time to go through my things to purge things I no longer need.  I might have hidden hoarder tendencies, so I took it upon myself to stage a mini-self-intervention to stop the hoarding.

Here's my pantry before:

 I started by taking everything out and wiping down the shelves.

 I had special Easter egg dye that was almost three years old.  It was used to make Pysanki, Eastern Eurepean-style dyed eggs like these:

I also had jars and jars of peaches I had canned five years ago.  This was the first time I had canned anything and we were too scared that we might get botulism eating the peaches.  That was a lot of hard work to end up throwing them away, but it was time.

Here's what my pantry looks like now.

I threw away so much stuff, I actually have empty shelves.

Now, it's much easier to see the food that I have so that I can actually use it and it doesn't go to waste.  Next, I would like to make some cute labels, but this is good enough for now. 

Remember the dreaded linen closet?

Seven large garbage bags of stuff donated or thrown away and here it is now:



Hooray for more empty shelves!

My husband was shocked when we saw me taking pictures of our master bedroom closet to show to the public.  It is always in a state of disaster, but it has gotten especially bad.  I've found that showing you how bad things really are helps to keep me accountable and motivated to get things cleaned.  WARNING: this next picture is not for the faint of heart!

I was able to get the other areas organized, so I know I can tackle this one too!  I'm feeling positive that my self-imposed hoarder intervention will be a success!



Striped Curtain Tutorial

I am obsessed with all things striped.  Look in my closet and you'll find stripes.  Stripes in the hallway?  I've got those too.  Lately I've been loving the look of striped curtains.

I've got a little round-up of striped curtains that other bloggers have made using different techniques, then I'll show you the striped curtains that I whipped up. 

The Nesting Place was one of the first places that I noticed horizontally striped curtains and started thinking about putting them in my home.  She used striped fabric to sew panels.

Perfectly Imperfect painted her curtains with chalk paint.  These look so beachy to me.

Source: perfectlyimperfectblog.com via Suzanne on Pinterest

Camilla at Effortless Style used spray fabric paint on white panels to get this look.

Source: blog.effortless-style.com via Suzanne on Pinterest

Sarah at the Yellow Cape Cod used a different technique.  She already had white panels and used fusible fabric webbing to attach strips of black fabric to her panels.  Then she attached grosgrain ribbon along the edges.  The ribbon gives such an elegant, finished look.

Source: theyellowcapecod.com via Suzanne on Pinterest

These curtains at A Thoughtful Place were made by sewing strips of different colored fabric together.

Source: athoughtfulplaceblog.com via Suzanne on Pinterest

I have no idea how these were made, but I love them too much not to include them here.

Source: reasonstobreathe.tumblr.com via Lauren on Pinterest

I am not the best seamstress and the thought of having to sew perfectly straight lines was too frightening for me.  I knew I wanted to start with premade white curtains and the easiest way to make stripes was to paint them on.  I painted stripes in the hallway and it was surprisingly easy.  So, I decided to use the same technique for painting the curtains.

I purchased some inexpensive white panels from Target.  I think they were around $20 for a pack of two panels.

Next, I taped off my stripes in seven inch intervals.

I used regular old acrylic craft paint to paint the stripes.  However, I added a fabric medium to the paint.  The fabric medium makes it so that the paint will not wash off when I wash the curtains.  Since these curtains are going in a child's room, it's essential that the curtains are washable.

I started by using a foam roller to roll the paint on.  The paint did not want to spread evenly across the fabric and it was taking forever to get the fabric covered in paint.  After two stripes, I switched from the foam roller to an old paintbrush.  The paint went on much better with the paintbrush.  Be sure to put some cardboard under the fabric as the paint bled through.

The fabric seemed to take the paint differently.  Some areas did not absorb the paint very well.  I think you need to goop lots of paint on the fabric to get good coverage.  As you can see, I still need to do a second coat on some of the stripes.

The stripes are a bit stiff and crunchy, but I think they will soften over time, especially after being washed.

As you can see, there are lots of ways to make striped curtains.  I'm happy with the paint method, but check out the other links if you want to try something different.