Thanks again to MJ for tweeting this awesome piece of embroidery by Rosie Geissler from her very new blog. This is one of my all-time favorite quotes. (via Craft)
Here’s one more piece of her work. Love love love her messy style!
Her etsy shop is empty at the moment but keep an eye on it!
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The floor pillows are done! I made them yesterday and it took less than 1.5 hours! I’m not going to give you a huge tutorial on making pillows because it’s the easiest thing on earth to sew (next to curtains).
I did not make removable covers. A lot of people are using pillow forms inside covers these days and a small 12″x12″ form will run you about $7. (Enough polyfil to stuff two 12″ pillows is about $5.) Making pillow covers is also more complicated than simply sewing two pieces of fabric together and they don’t make forms big enough for what I was doing. I simply bought poly-fil and stuffed the hell out of them and finished the hole under the sewing machine.
Home decor fabric comes rolled up on a tube and not folded on a bolt like most garment fabric. You get a piece that is usually 54″ wide with upholstery fabric and about 44-45″ wide (folded in half on the bolt) with normal fabric. Get your measurements straight and give yourself about 3-4 extra inches of both length and width for uneven cuts at the store, selvage (the finished edge by the manufacturer that could interfere with your print) and to give yourself a 1″ edge away from your stitch (seam allowance).
My pillows are rectangular because for each pillow I got 1 yard of 54″ fabric = 1 pillow a bit under 36″ x 27″ (I only had to pay for 1 yard for each pillow = $24 total)
I didn’t use pins because the fabric was heavy and I didn’t iron because I’m lazy and really didn’t need to.
After I had sewn all the edges with a 1″ seam allowance, leaving about an 8″ hole for stuffing, I trimmed the corners so they wouldn’t bunch up and turned them right side out.
I poked the corners out from the inside with the tips of my scissors so they would be clean. Now, this is the part where most people would stuff and finish the hole and be done but, I wanted finished flange edges so, with the pillows right side out, I ran the edges under the sewing machine again, about 1/3″ in. This also gives the edges some extra reinforcement.
So then I stuffed and stuffed and stuffed some more and closed them up under the sewing machine, which was a pain in the ass and really should’ve been done by hand, but whatever.
Here they are! They’re super puffy right now but the bf is already lounging all over them so, they’ll flatten out a bit soon enough.
If you have any sewing questions, please feel free to ask!
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This t-shirt for the Red Valention line is $165. It’s a plain grey t-shirt with a sheer black tulle bow. Do you know how easy this would be to DIY? Tulle is silly cheap at mainstream fabric stores and sometimes, in the ribbon section, you can find it already cut in a wide strip, sold by the yard. I think 1.5 yards length would do the trick, to be on the safe side. Any excess can be cut off the tails. A little pinback sewn on quickly would make the bow removable and your tee easier to wash. Plus, tulle comes in a load of colors. You could customize like crazy! I would look for the finest drapiest tulle and stay away from the super stiff stuff (and no tees with pockets).
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Definitely for the more mature and sophisticated woman with a lot of cash to play with, Mrs. Lilien’s blog is still full of great styling tips and decadent gems. A few days ago I saw this neckace by Elva Fields and was immediately smitten. I’m not usually a necklace person. No, I take that back. I used to always wear a bold necklace of some sort, mainly in the summer. For some reason, I’ve forgotten how much much fun it is to wear statement jewelry.
This necklace is not my style. Not. One. Bit. And… I’m completely in love with it! It’s one-of-a-kind and sold out, along with most of the others offered on the site. The few that remain are all around $200. The vintage brooch is 4″ across and contrasts in the most pleasing way with the muted African beads. I think this would be so much fun with a simple white tank, jeans and heels.
So what does a girl do when she sees something she loves, it’s no longer available, and would be out of her price range even if it was? DIY of course!
I’ve made my fair share of necklaces in the past so, this wasn’t a daunting task. Finding the right colors and sizes of beads was a whole different story and required a frustrating adventure to 3 different stores. Jewelry making is a huge business right now. The bead sections in craft stores are getting larger. Beads are getting more interesting and definitely more expensive. Bangles & Beads here in Richmond is my absolute favorite place but soooo pricey. I decided on smaller sized glass beads because the cost was going to be ridiculous.
I had some loops and the pliers already and had to get silver-finish toggle clasps, some clamp connectors to secure the coated stainless wire used. They attach to the loops which then attach to the clasp. Here are all of my supplies:
Last night, I strung over 20 feet of beads. I just kept going and going to see if I could possibly make 2 out of everything I bought. One to keep and one to either give away or sell. I had enough to make two 4-strand necklaces with a bit more length. Here’s my busy/handiwork:
I also checked out brooches at some discount stores but nothing was panning out so, I’ve found a few online that are a bit smaller but will totally work on this smaller scale version. I will probably order one this weekend once I make up my mind.
So, after dividing everything that I strung up and getting it all put together, here are the two base necklaces, waiting for some bling:
Part of me wants to wear them both together! It’s so heavy! I may just sport them out this weekend!
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For a while now, I’ve been escaping into this dreamy world of soft focus pictures and an ultra-feminine aesthetic. I love my clean minimal apartment with all my heart but; there is another side of me that would be just as happy in a little country cottage, growing my own vegetables and making art.
I posted about the image bookmarking site called We Heart It a while back. Every few days, I peruse the pics and add a few more to my collection of these fantasy images. This is my latest favorite picture:
Outdoor party in the country anyone?
Yesterday, shoppher tweeted about this post which ended up turning into one of those internet perusing explosions where I discovered a few new blogs I think I’m going to love. You might too!
Dreamcats – if you love dreamy cats. I submitted some pictures of Nibbles when she was a kitten. Here’s one:
The Snail and the Cyclops – love this girl’s style
Fieldguided – a nice little life
Any recommendations?
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A few weeks ago I asked the interwebs for help and got none. I’ve continued my hunt to find a large version of this killer kitty with pie on his mind and I’ve come up with a plan.
Today, I went ahead and ordered the $1 post card that’s for sale at Buy Olympia (which ended up being $5.99 after shipping!) and I am going to do a few things. I am going to scan it as a humongous file and save it on a thumb drive, I’m also going to take a picture of it saved in RAW format and save that as well. Then I’m taking this thumb drive and the post card itself to Richmond Camera and see what they can do for me. If it’s a success, I will be happy to send you the big file that worked so you can do the same at your local print shop, since I know a few of you have been waiting for an update.
I’ll keep you posted on what’s going on as soon as the post card gets here!
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When we moved into our first place together almost a year ago, a lot of cosmetic work needed to be done but I was up to the task because the price was right. Paint is cheap and my free time is well, free. So, we painted and painted and fixed a few things here and there. Everything was looking pretty spectacular but the last hold out was our gross kitchen floors. The landlord is a bit of a tightwad. Why bother fixing stuff if some careless dirty college kids are going to move in regardless and not take care of it? Well, we are not careless, dirty or in college anymore and we want our home to feel bright and clean.
So, we measured the square footage of the kitchen and were shocked to see how much new flooring was going to cost. Our best bet was to search high and low for a remnant of sheet vinyl, cut it EXACTLY and mess with glue and all that fun stuff. I admit, I was a bit intimidated by that task but I still looked… and looked. Our kitchen is almost 200 sq. feet and I couldn’t find anything under $100, let alone $200, (plus all the glue, tools and cutting supplies) that was in a decent looking pattern, or large enough. I mean, we’re renting. The landlord wasn’t going to help us out so, I wasn’t going to spend much. So, we lived with it for almost a year and hated every second of it. This whole big room that we barely wanted to spend any time in. That one thing in our place we kept feeling the need to apologize to guests for. “Yeah, about the floor… we’re going to fix that… one day.”
When we decided that we were definitely going to renew the lease for at least another year, my heart was starting to ache about that damn floor. Then, this past Sunday a miracle happened. Our wonderful neighbor across the hall has been leaving his Sunday paper for us outside our door. So, after we ran a bunch of errands, we sat down on the sofa to relax. I always start with the ads. There is was. Some weird closeout store in Southside that I’d never even heard of before. Boxes of 30 heavy-duty vinyl floor tiles for $9! Holy hell! We could do our floors for $63!
First thing Monday morning, I ran to this crazy place and found the tiles. Why such a good deal? Because a few of the 7 boxes I bought had maybe 5 irregular tiles in them, where the black diamond was slightly askew. We picked them out of the boxes and they went under the fridge and stove. After 7 hours of working [great] together, prying the old yucky tiles off the hardwood floors with a putty knife, keeping everything clean, moving the fridge and stove, taking a lot of breaks, and measuring and cutting the new tile for the odd spaces and edges… it was all done. We were filthy, sweaty, sore and exhausted but damnit, we took our kitchen back and made it ours!
Look at that nastiness! It was some old funky tile that we could never get clean. We tried everything. EVERYTHING! You could scrub it for days and never get the grime out. It felt like some institution where mental patients get abused.
About 1/3 of the way through. They didn’t install the original tile on center so, we just worked our way up as well. It did just fine. The hardwood flooring underneath could’ve been beautiful if refinished but was completely out of our budget. The cabinets were simply slapped on top of the old tile so, we just had to cut them with a utility knife. The new tiles fit right under the toe moulding so we didn’t have to remove that. Some of the old tiles had been replaced and they used a glue that could’ve held elephants together. The bf was a champ with a blowdryer and pried those bastards off. That little bowl contained a washcloth soaked in rubbing alcohol because handling the new tiles was a sticky mess.
Finally done! Yesterday I painted the columns and trim around the vertical tile of the fireplace with black enamel like we have in the bedroom. I think it ties the black and white feel together.
For Christmas, my father made us a wood kitchen table. It was very sweet of him and I know he put a lot of work into it but it just wasn’t our style. We were going to live with it anyways and not be ungrateful jerks. Well, thank god the top of it warped (don’t I sound awful!?) and we’re bringing it back to him when we get a new table THIS WEEKEND! One of the old tennants of the building left a huge peice of thick glass in some cubby in the main hallway. We’re getting it cut to size to place on top of the new table to protect it because it’s from IKEA and you know what that means.
P.S. Please check out the comments below for a small tutorial on the process of laying peel and stick tiles.
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Now probably isn’t the best time to be writing this post since there aren’t any major decorating holidays coming up but whatever, this has been on my mind.
I’m a major bargain hunter, especially after a big holiday like Christmas, Easter, etc. After the holiday is when I do most of my shopping for supplies needed for the next year. 75% off Christmas decorations? Don’t mind if I do!
Even if you aren’t big on decorating, post holiday time is also a great time to grab up things you can use year round and that’s what this post is about. Keeping your eyes peeled for things you can use every day!
After Christmas, I like to stock up on gift wrapping supplies that are seasonless. It’s been the trend lately to wrap x-mas gifts in non-traditional colors so you can score a roll of lime green paper and pink curling ribbons for next to nothing. Plain gift bags in colors like blue and silver, tissue paper galore and plain boxes of all sizes are up for grabs. You’ll be stocked for all of next year’s gifts.
Holidays focusing on a big meal will offer you a lot of fancy serving dishes, plain white bowls and plates that are always useful, I’ve gotten a white fabric tablecloth for $2, glassware for dirt cheap, etc.
Candles are also always a bargain after a holiday. You won’t mind smelling a cinnamon spice candle after Thanksgiving.
Plush toys are everywhere for Easter baskets. Grab a soft brown bunny or lamb after Easter for $1 and stash it away to tuck into a baby gift this Summer.
Holiday baking supplies are also aways on clearance. You can still use the cupcake liners with tulips on them all Spring that you got for 25-cents after Easter, as well as cookie cutter sets, colorful sugar sprinkles and shaped silicone baking pans.
As far as clothing goes, kids are the best to buy for since they can get away with cute silly motifs. Just figure out what size your child will be a year from then and get them a cute little pajama set for a couple bucks. Put it away in your holiday storage box and it will be a suprise when you take it out next year!
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I love embroidery. My grandmother, mother, aunt, and cousin all were extremely talented in this skill. I’ve tried my hand at cross stitch a few times for some small silly gifts but really don’t have the patience to see a large project through to completion. It’s a great way to pass the time, but certainly not as mindless as knitting, where you can knit a scarf over a weekend while watching movies. You have to pay attention to every stitch, the pattern, and neatness. Typically associated with women, it’s great to see a young guy like Aubrey Longley-Cook execute these amazing pieces. Check out his blog Spool Spectrum. He showcases his own work, other talent, as well as vintage pieces he collects.
Here’s some of his amazing work:
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I hope this is going to be my last food post because honestly, I don’t like them on my blog. I just really want to share this recipe with you. I don’t like keeping good things a secret. It’s catty. This recipe for pound cake has been in my family for 4 generations (at least) and it’s killer and so damn easy.
First, this is the kind of cake pan you need. It’s a two piece tube cake pan (or angel food cake pan) with a removable bottom. I have never tried this recipe in loaf pans but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. You would just have to figure the cooking time out for yourself. You can also use a bundt pan but the best part (the crunchy top) ends up getting smooshed on the bottom.
So here goes (a hand mixer is fine) -
2 sticks of butter (at or near room temp in a big bowl) (you can also use 1 stick of butter and one stick of margarine)
Cream the butter with 3 cups of sugar and 6 large eggs.
Slowly add 3 cups of all-purpose flour (sift if you want… or not) and one cup of milk (or heavy whipping cream, or 2% milk…)
Here’s the fun part: You can add a splash of vanilla extract and leave it at that or, you can add lemon extract and lemon zest, orange extract and orange zest, vanilla-almond-rum-coconut-lemon-orange extracts all together for a super tasting poundcake, any of the above flavored extracts and 1/2 cup or more of any type of chopped nuts (dust with flour first and then fold them in at the end, pour into pan and sprinkle some on top- black walnuts are weird)… really do whatever the heck you want to with this thing.
Spray the pan with some Pam (or grease however you like) and pour the batter (which should be thick) into your pan. (My pan has never leaked but you may want to put some aluminum foil on the shelf under the cake the first time.)
Pop into a cold (non-preheated) oven at 325 degrees and bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. The top will get golden and crunchy and it’s almost like candy.
Let it cool for about 15 minutes then gently run a knife along the edge of the cake. Put a plate on top of the pan and flip it. If the removable bottom part of the pan sticks, use a knife for that too. Place whatever stand or plate you want on the bottom of the cake and flip again.
This cake can get dry fast. I use a glass domed cake stand and put the lid over it and let it steam until it’s completely cool. You may want to wipe the condensation out of the lid at least once so that it doest drip down the sides of the lid and make the bottom soggy, or just edge the cake with rolled up paper towels under the lid until it’s cooled off.
If you don’t have a cake stand, plastic wrap it up on a plate.
If you want to make one well in advance, they freeze and thaw beautifully under plastic wrap and aluminum foil. They make great gifts. It’s awesome with coffee, great for strawberry shortcake in the summer… I pretty much have one baked at my folk’s house every couple weeks and amazingly, they’re not huge.
Could not be a more simple and forgiving cake. They are so hard to mess up. Hope you enjoy!
This isn’t my pic but basically this is what it will look like… only mine looks better! Ha! (photo via myrecipes.com)
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