valentine's day quilted runner

I have been working on this puppy for Valentine's Day. It is a bit of a wonky styled runner. Say that 3 times! Wonky Styled Runner, Wonky Styled Runner, Wonky Styled Runner!

I like!

old school

I found this picture on my computer of an old room in our house. It was my "guest room" and then eventually to baby 1 and now baby 2. Seeing this picture makes me happy. And I have kept the color the same! Impressive for moi. 

Just as we have pictures of us growing up, I find that I also treasure the pictures that were taken in my room, at the kitchen table and my family eating supper as a child. These were the places were memories were formed and life was lived. 

I still can conjure up the yellow formica counter tops in our kitchen. My mom was ahead of her time:)

Deals and Steals for my Rainbow Christmas

Every year at Christmas, I pick new colors or a theme for my tree and home. Well, I intend to but then the reality sets in that I love all colors so I do a different twist on the rainbow Christmas. Love it. This year, I have a few things in mind. To start with, I got these colorful ornaments ( going to add to my pink ones ) and hooray, they are on sale right now at Target. And there are lots of little me's in the picture. :)

The yellow balls is what did it. Its sort of a sharp citron. That lead me to my next thought about using lemons around my mantle and house.

And on of my favorite deals, ahh, love this one, are these candles. These are Chanukah candles and since its almost over, these babies were 70% off! 

They could be used for a birthday cake and a certain Someone's birthday is coming up. Yes, we will use them for Jesus' birthday cake.  This was my vision or perhaps cupcakes. I think He will get a kick out of us using them and delighted. 

I will keep my fire extinguisher handy. Seems like lots of things catch fire around here at family soirees. A mantle one Christmas and the yard while lighting a birthday flan, to name a few.

And I will use a few of my nativities around. 

Happy decorating! 

Thanksgiving Table

I am hosting Thanksgiving this year. No pressure. Actually, I could care less about the food but more about how the table is set. Its really all about the fabric, right? This will be the first Thanksgiving at our house.

I did Christmas one year and a certain, dear loved one was not a fan of my standing rib roast. I will admit the apple something dressing was a tad strange. 

I just got my new plates in the mail today. I was down some from my original set of plates I got when I got married. So, I introduce my new plates. 

I know, I know. A tad bland for me. However, I am excited about colorful glasses, which I have found are hard to find. And I am excited about colorful napkins and linens. Again, its all about the fabric. 

My vision for my table, included the napkin and plates above, involves a turquoise cake plate, 

a few small leftover pumpkins, and 

perhaps these if I can get them in time. I am trying to delay, that way I won't buy them.

We might be eating strange food for Thanksgiving but at least my table will be amazing:)

Little Girl Art

I got a text today from my friend in Boston. She is also my daughters godmother. 

When she left for Boston a few weeks ago, my daughter was insistent on the godmother taking her paintings with her. She put them up. Isn't that sweet? And don't they look great too? No, really, they do. I am so impressed! We did this on watercolor paper and first drew a flower with oil pastels. Next, she used tempera paint to paint them. 

aqua velvet is something special: a mothers day and fathers day present

Hooray! I finally finished a project! I created new euro shams and shams for my in laws bed for mothers day and fathers day. I made them to match a quilt I made for her a few years back. And actually, it all came from a necklace I made before that! So necklace to quilt to shams all with the same colors. 

This red quatrefoil fabric seems to go with just about anything and its just happy. I have worked on many projects and this fabric always comes to mind and works. I have it in my house as well. 

I lined the pillows in a dark blue linen that tied in with the quilt and would help dress it up a bit and set off the red fabric.

 And that aqua velvet is something special. It is so luxurious! It looked great in my house as well...thinking of where I could put it...

My mother-in-law sent me a picture of their bedroom with the new linens. I was really pleased with the way it all came out and I am so thrilled that they like it too.

Before and After: A Master Bedroom Redesigned

Close up of the bed

Laying it all out before it was shipped

Viola! Really its Voila, but I have an aunt Viola and it seems more fun to say it that way. 

I am so glad this came together and looks so amazing. My sister and I have been working, working, working on her bedroom. I think I sewed 9 pillows, 2 curtain panels, oh no, make that 4 curtain panels, all in a week! Whew. Ok, that was for the whole house but everything looks so great!

When we started this bedroom, we had found this wonderful fabric but it was not in stock and way more money than what we wanted to spend.It was a hard one to get over. I talked about all of that on this day. But we were able to rebound and do okay, and actually, I think we knocked this one out of the park.

So, let me give you the run down. The standard shams were made from a marvy fabric I have been admiring for some time. I learned the new pillow technique to flange the edges. The flange was a yummy polka dot fabric made by Kravet. The back ( you can't see it, sadly) was a brown small geometric print I picked up from Joanns. The blue and cream chevron did a great job of tying the edge of the curtains together with everything. The curtains my mom made several years ago and we repurposed them in this bedroom. The border was actually a red plaid and my sister had the brilliant idea of covering it up. Duh! I had already used this Annie Selkie print and had some leftover. That was great! The coral coverlet she already had. I think everything turned out so beauitful! It looks like her. And I like her so it worked out well.

Baby Sister Nursery

I realized the other day that I never posted Baby Sister's nursery on here. Well, I did sort of but it linked to Project Nursery's site. But I wanted to have a copy on here. Here it is!

This is the quilt that my mom made for Baby Sister. So beautiful! She used fabric, tea towels and the center cross stitched butterfly my grandmother had made years before. 

The nursery seen from the doorway. The rug is Tangerine Dream by Dash and Albert. The crib skirt is made from Amy Butler's sun spots and has an orange,yellow, green, blue plaid I attached on the edge. A tad hard to see... The lamp I had and added the Annie Selke Link fabric in pink. 

The dresser was painted in Meadow View by Benjamin Moore. The painting on the dresser was done by a sweet friend. Check out her blog. 

The curtain fabric is called Lovely. And it is so lovely. The gold fabric in the crib is Anna Marie Horner. 

I slip covered the seat of the glider. I was so proud of me! Last baby, I just tucked fabric in the seat.

The sweater was knit for Baby Sister as a gift. I hated keeping it in the drawer.

My husbands sunset painting from long ago along with my new painting.

Up close of my flower painting. I have painted another for my parents back porch.

This buffet was my great grandfathers and actually, he made it along with 2 china cabinets. My handy husband made the changing pad holder from his design. The plates are from Anthropologie in Bham.

She is just now starting to sleep in it, well, for bits at a time:)  I loved creating this room for my Darling. 

Before and After: Little Girls Room

My sister and I tackled a project last week. During my stay at their house, we decorated her 3 year old daughters room. We decorated it from the ground up. Our challenge was the wall color. We had to keep the navy accent wall but honestly, it made for a fun test of our abilities. Here is the before:

And the after!

The room came together so well! We used the rug from the boys room (Dash and Albert striped), and the quilt was made by my mom for my niece when she was born. The bed we spray painted.  I say we, ie my sister. The boxspring we covered in a green gingham sheet we already owned. The euro sham was made from a previous Pottery Barn shower curtain and the standard sham in the pink plaid we already had. The frame above the bead houses an old handkerchief I had framed for my sister one birthday.   

This yellow table I bought years ago and even when it didn't work anywhere, I wasn't ready to get rid of it. But we finally found a home for it! The curtains I had already sewn for my bedroom but only decided to put 2 up instead of 4. I wish you could see the edge of them better. I found this darling pale blue grosgrain ribbon made to look like ric rac. Clever. And I have to admit, I used that liquid stitching stuff. Awesome.

this photo was taken before the room was finished but gives you an idea of what it looks like when you enter the room

We are so pleased with our work! And my niece loves it. We rose to the challenge and passed! 

To see more from this home, click here. This is the potential master bedroom. 

Life or Death...with Fabric

Pillow Shams

Edge of Pillow Shams

Bed Spread

Edge of Curtain( curtain is white and red swiss dot)

Chair on fabric is chair on bedskirt
( image via House of Turquoise)

My sister and I have been working on her new house. We have worked HARD. Yes, I know its not life or death with fabric but at times, it was close. My mom and I "shopped" our fabric to see what we could use. It was fun! I looked at our fabric store here in town ( Shout out to Chrysalis!) and one in Bham. My sister and I found some yummy fabric to use on her bed however it was on order. So the jury is still out on whether or not it will work. But here is what we have so far...

The night is not over until I have had cake

cake from eddieross.com

Yes, the night is not over until I have had cake or any other dessert for that matter. Tonight it was a chocolate chip cookie! But I love the look of a cake and decorating it. Anything I can decorate, I am into it. I have a pinterest board called Paper, Parties and Cakes. So, if you are looking for ideas or want to be inspired, go check it out.

No Night Night with a Newborn

With a newborn, there is no time for crafting or sleep. Funny that they go hand in hand to me. I did manage to have a family get together for my 3 year olds birthday but I will post on that as soon as I download the pictures:)  So for now, I dream of a long nights sleep in any of these beds. To see more of my picks, check out my pinterest page here: http://pinterest.com/thegovdaughter/

Baby Sister's Nursery featured online!

Baby Sister, as we call her until she gets here, has a new room all ready for her. It is featured, right now!, on Project Nursery's home page. You can see it by going here, projectnursery.com.  It will be there until someone else adds something, but you can find the room by clicking http://projectnursery.com/projects/floral-aqua-pink-orange-green-girly-girl-nursery-with-handmade-touches/. 

I just realized I didn't name her...

For Mothers Day, I painted my mom a painting. And as I am writing this post, I realized I forgot to name my painting! I recently just finished one for the nursery ( pictures to come soon) but I have been into it! My husband recently reworked my laundry room ( its still in the garage but he made it look nice! ) but I am hoping to add a little something to the walls in that "room." My mom wanted me to paint a painting for her porch, sort of like the ones seen here and here. I think this one turned out lovely!

I am famous!

I am famous! Ok, not quite, but my little girls room is on the front page of projectnursery.com. I did upload it myself but there is something about seeing your name in lights. I get why people want to be on reality tv now... Go to www.projectnursery.com to see our room. If its not still in the cover, you can find it by clicking on this link:
http://projectnursery.com/projects/girl-pink-and-red-big-girl-room/
Enjoy! We are:)

Baby Girls Big Girl Room

My baby girl just got a big girl room. I tried to keep some of the old fabric from her nursery to save money, plus I liked it, but only used it for a pillow. So much for that! But I love red and pink together and my little girl certainly appreciates color the way her Mama does. I knew I wanted to paint the walls pink so thats where we started. After that, I gathered fabrics to compliment the original rug ( from her nursery) and the red and white check( the original fabric from her nursery.) The white iron bed was mine growing up and the white matelasse I already had. It was huge for me to do a white bedspread and mostly white curtains! Some people are afraid of color. I have to admit, I don't know what to do with white. But I think the white here allows the eye to rest and take it all in. The paintings around the bed where in my room in high school so it was fun to resuse things I loved and now my little girl enjoys them. I found the dresser for a steal and painted it to match the red and white fabric. The green armoire I took from her nursery. We will use the crib for awhile and then go to the big girl bed. And I have plans for the wall below the window:) I got the green matching lamps from Target. What a deal and they match perfectly to the armoire. All in all, I am so happy with the room and she loves to play in there! And sleep too- that is key. Oh and the curtains are a white quilt I cut in half. It was less time consuming and inexpensive. I added the pink polka dot fabric to the edge. Hmmm.... what else? Honestly, I feel as though the pictures don't do it justice. I should have taken them during the day so you get the great view of our pond out the window but just know its there:) You can see her nursery by clicking here.