{create} an envelope pillow cover

Friends, thank you all for your incredibly helpful suggestions about my living room furniture situation. The majority of your opinions really confirmed my thinking - the slipcovered couch doesn't work! I was kind of prepared for that, but I always like to try and work with what I have first. My current plan is to begin looking for a couple chairs to replace that couch. I also like the idea of putting the chesterfield in front of the bigger window and having the chairs with their back to the kitchen (reorienting the room). We had the living arranged similar to this a LONG time ago, but the wall was always in the way. Now that there isn't a wall (!) I think it's time to revisit that idea. A few of you also suggested putting the slip covered couch against the window perpendicular to the leather couch. This idea had never crossed my mind, and I was looking at the space this morning and I think there might be room. I'll give it a shot.  So anyway, now I have options and I thank you! :)

In other breaking news, I made a pillow.

Okay, so maybe not such breaking news, but you might have noticed that I've been making a LOT of pillows lately (hello, church basement), so I thought I'd share my method. Because it's really easy.

On a side note, isn't this fabric fantastic? I 'found' it in my fabric stash a couple weeks ago. I don't even remember buying it (you know you have a fabric problem when ....), but I LOVE it. And, I had just enough to make a pillow. 

When was making the pillows for the church, we raided good will and thrift stores for the pillow forms. I was busy removing all the covers one night when I realized that a lot of them were pillows stuffed with fluff and then sewn shut. Do people still do this, really? I remember that's how I was taught in 7th grade home ec. But, I always had a problem getting the finishing stitching to look right!  Oh, and the fluffy stuff gets lumpy quick!

If you're going to pull out your sewing machine anyway, the envelope method is fantastic! I'm irrationally terrified of zippers, so I use this method for all pillows. It's quick and easy, clean-looking and really easy to then switch out new pillow covers. I actually don't ever buy new pillow forms - I have a certain number that works our house and I just switch out the covers - which take up WAY less room when storing. 

I actually posted a complete tutorial for making envelope pillows way back when I first started blogging and no one read here. Instead of rewriting, I'll point you in that direction - it's a good tutorial. And, as a bonus, you can catch a glimpse of our horrible old blue carpet. Oh, the good ole days! :) Click here for an envelope pillow cover tutorial.

I hope you all have a great weekend! :)

{create} capiz pendant, how-to

Thank you for all the super sweet comments over the last couple days about my capiz shell pendant! It really is a lovely addition to our little eating nook.

As promised, today I'm back with an insanely detailed how-to for creating your own capiz shell pendant chandelier. This project is not hard, at all, but it is fairly time consuming. I learned a couple tricks along the way, so hopefully they'll make your process go a bit faster!

Start by prepping your lampshade, which serves as the structure of the pendant. I bought a pretty nasty shade at Goodwill for $2.99. Take all the fabric off, and then add a third tier. This didn't show up in any of the photos, but basically, you want to horizontally install a wire half way between the top and bottom. I simply wrapped my around each of the vertical strips to secure as I went around. Once that's all put together, coat the entire frame in white spray paint. This might be being overly cautious, but the *capiz shells* are pretty see-through and I didn't want the frame seen at all.

Next make your capiz shells. Friends, grab your favorite movies, turn on your favorite music and (I personally recommend) grab a huge glass of wine. This is where things get a little time consuming. To make your the circles, simply lay a sheet of parchment paper on your ironing board (or on a towel on any other flat surface), lay three sheets of wax paper, and then lay another sheet of parchment on top. Turn your iron to medium heat and simply iron the wax paper together. It doesn't take long for the layers to melt and adhere to each other, but make sure you get the sides/corners really good. The trick here is that you can actually do more than one *set* of these at once. I was ironing three of these sets at once. The heat actually penetrates all the layers perfectly fine, and makes this part of the process go much, much quicker. Ironed, the sheets will look like the photo in the upper right. At first I was annoyed about any perfections the ironing caused, but then I realized these imperfections give the shells a lot of character. Love that!

For punching out the circles, I purchased a 2-inch hole punch at Michael's. It worked like a dream. I found the easiest, and fastest, way to punch holes was the fold the paper, the hot dog way, into fourths, and then punch along that line. 

Now how you approach the project from here is up to you and your style of working. Some people might want to punch out all the shells before they begin sewing them together. I thought that sounded completely monotonous, so I punched some and then sewed those together, punched more, sewed more, etc. 

Regardless of your process, once you punch out the circles, sew them together using a chain stitch: simply thread the circles through the machine one after the other so their is no space in between. I tried this using white thread and clear thread. You could see the clear thread just as much as the white thread, so it's definitely not worth using clear (it's so hard to work with!).

A successful chain stitch will look this this, above. I chose to do 22 circles for each strand.

After you've sewn your strands, it's time to start putting the pendant together. Simply drape your strands of circles over each horizontal row on your frame. When each strand is draped, there will be 11 circles on each side of the frame. 

And, just to give you an idea of how many strands/circles my light needed ... I counted for you! I thought it'd be helpful because I had NO IDEA how many circles this would take. My frame is 14 inches at the top (widest opening). In total, I made 120 strands to get as few holes as possible and the fullness I was looking for. You guys, that is 2,640 circles! Remember that glass of wine I mentioned earlier? Yeah. :)

Is is worth it though? Yes. As I mentioned earlier, this is NOT hard. It's just time consuming. If you love this light, the cost alone is worth it. I ended up spending $26 for the entire pendant, and that includes the lamp shade and FOUR rolls of wax paper. Friends, the inspiration lamp at West Elm is $259.

To hang the finished pendant, Chris simply installed three small hooks in the ceiling around an existing light, and we hung the frame from the hooks. SUPER easy.

I hope this tutorial helps! If any thing is unclear, or you have questions, just let me know. Make sure you check out the tutorial on Freshly Picked for some other tips and tricks. And, if you end up making one, let me know! I'd love to see your version :).

{create} fabric silhouettes

Remember how I tend to ignore trends? This is another instance. I love silhouettes.  I've just never figured out where I could fit them into our house. Until recently. Since I *finished* our bedroom, I've been looking for something to put above each of our nightstands. I just had no idea what I was looking for really.

I mean, technically, the bedroom was great! But for some reason those two spaces were really bothering me. So I decided to put silhouettes above each of our nightstands ... you know, to designate a *his* and *hers* side of the bed :).

So I whipped up these babies in an afternoon.  Silhouettes are usually made with paper, but I wanted to add my own spin on the traditional silhouette and decided to make them out of fabric. I love fabric and stitching and think it adds a little more dimension than paper. Plus it's a great way to use up fabric scraps.

And here's the same space after they're hung! I love it. And I can finally let the bedroom be *done*. You know, for now :). I am still thinking about curtains for the windows ... but that's a story for another day.

Want to know how to make your own fabric silhouette? I know the answer is YES! :)

First, gather all your supplies. You'll need: silhouette pictures, paper, fabric for the silhouettes, background fabric, thread, Wonder Under (this is a link to A LOT of the stuff ... you can find it at your local craft store for less quantity and therefore less expensive) or your favorite fusible web, foam core and frames.

First, take a side photo of your head. I blacked them out because I wanted to play in photoshop one day, but since you're actually transferring them to fabric it isn't necessary. Print and carefully cut out.

Next, take your Wonder Under and attached the fabric to the sticky side.  If you haven't used Wonder Under in the past, they actually give very specific directions on the roll for how to best use.  Next, trace your paper pattern onto the backside of the Wonder Under and cut out the pattern.  Take the paper off the back side of the Wonder Under and iron your silhouette to the background fabric. The Wonder Under is great. It keeps your two fabrics in place when you're sewing, and it keeps the cut edges from fraying. Fraying can be great in some projects, but you don't want something as intricate as a face fraying. You could chance looking like you have booger hanging out your nose. Bad news.

Next using a straight stitch, trace around the outside line of the head. I used yellow thread for the contrast. The best part of this is you don't have to use your sewing machine. I default to my machine, but I had to go so slow that it actually probably would've been quicker to hand stitch. Use whichever you're more comfortable with.

When you're done, you're silhouette will look like this. Except with your or your loved ones head, not Chris'. :)

And now for framing. Of course, I have 45 empty frames in my basement, so I grabbed two of the same size. Then I cut two pieces of foam core to fit the frame.

Then wrap your fabric around the foam core, as you'd wrap a gift. I've found that tape actually secures the fabric incredibly well. But, of course, now that I've discovered my staple gun, I'd probably use that next time. You know, just for fun.

Once up, I had a hers ....

.. and a his.

And art that adds a great amount of loveliness to our bedroom.

Thanks for stopping by today! I'd love to hear .... what are you up to this weekend? We'll be working on our girls and boys projects. Of course! :)

{create} flower garland

Last week when I featured my new awesome letterpress artwork, a few people asked about the flower garland I have strung across the fireplace.

I was going to simply direct them to the post I'd written about it, when I realized I've actually never posted about that adorable garland! So today I'm going to give a quick lesson on creating flowers and garlands. The best part about this garland are these flowers, which are super versatile, fun and easy!

First, gather all your supplies. You'll need fabric (I usually use two to three different fabrics), scissors, thread and a needle.

Next cut out three sizes of circles, with four circles per size.

Third, take the largest circles and fold all four in half.

Next, over lap each half circle as shown above. (Not sure how to describe that without confusing everyone!) Last, using a simple straight stitch, sew all the sides together. I use a diagonal cross pattern. I've found that it secures a little better.

See all the great ruffles you get just from this first layer?

Not just repeat with as many colors and as many layers you'd like. Sew each layer together individually, and then sew it to the layers it'll sit on. The more layers, obviously, the fuller your flower will be.

I've played around with a bunch of different ways to make these. You can cut ridges along the outside to make it look more like petals. I also like mine really poofy. There are a few ways to get there. First, make lots of layers. Second, use heavier weight fabric.

Third, sew two circles together before you start layering. I really like this way because it  not only adds weight and dimension, but you only see the front of the fabric on each side (see above).

As you can see these flowers are very easily customizable. Once you have the basic shape, there are a million variations.

I think they'd be really cute as pins to brighten an outfit, or even as some sort of hair clip.

But, to turn them into a garland, simply sew as many as you'd like onto a piece of fabric, ribbon, or in my case twine. These tend to get a little heavy, so make sure you sew the twine or ribbon on the top half of the flower. It'll help the flower not look droopy on the garland.

Last, just hang where ever you need a little color and a little festiveness!

Thanks for stopping by today! Hope you all are having a great friday! :)

{create} festive garland

I have one more easy and fun holiday craft to share with you. I've been really loving garlands all year ... they just make any space so festive!And of course, what we're looking for around this time of year is festive. Simple festive.

So when I saw West Elm's simple and beautiful holiday garland, I sprung into action. I knew I needed a garland in my house, and as it turns out, I now have two! Instead of silver though, I opted for a red base to better match my other decor colors.

First, on our tree. I wanted a different look for our tree this year, and the red garland paired with silver, sparkly balls is perfect.

Second, strung across a window to add a festive vibe to our holiday party this weekend! Post party this lovely garland will most likely move to the fireplace.

How to make? It's so easy! First, I started by cutting out a million little red circles. I'm not really exaggerating. These circles are a little over an inch in diameter (traced from a small measuring cup) and I stopped cutting when I'd gone through a yard and a half of felt. (Pop in a fun holiday movie ... it makes the time go by much quicker!) I had no idea if it was enough, but figured I could add more later. Luckily, it was just the perfect amount.

Then I cut out just under a million pieces of festive paper. Okay, it was way less than that. I just wanted the paper to add touches of fun throughout the garland.

Then I just ran them all through a sewing machine, on straight stitch, one by one. You can see in the above pic that there are no spaces between the circles. I didn't want this to be a super time consuming project (you know, once the felt was all cut!), so I sewed the paper to the fabric all at one time. Sidenote: Have you tried sewing on paper? I love it! Check out the fun Christmas project I worked on last year with sewn paper. And, important to note: wrapping your garland around a toilet paper roll as you go will decrease your changes of a tangled knotted mess. Don't say you weren't warned! :)

Happy friday friends!

{create} ampersand wall art

A few weeks ago, Kate Spade announced their new London pop-up shop. Of course, it's all gorgeous. But I especially love the gallery wall, below. There's just so many great things to look at: mirrors, flowers, vintage boxing gloves.

The piece that really caught my eye though, is the pink ampersand. Isn't that just awesome? I wanted to recreate it, but knew I needed to add my own little twist.

Enter, awesome chevron fabric:

I've been dying to use this great blue chevron fabric since I bought it a couple months ago.  This was the perfect project to pull it out for. I also like how the coral fabric really pops against the light blue.

And, it really pops against the wall. As I mentioned in the shelf styling post, I've been looking for great homemade art, and this is my favorite so far. The great part is you can use any letter or symbol, and it would be cute. Plus it's crazy easy! Like so easy that you should all make one. This weekend :).

I made up an ampersand pattern, which you can download here. The pattern includes the ampersand I used, plus another ampersand that I also think would work well.

The technique is simple. Cut a piece of background fabric to whatever size you'd like. Trace ampersand onto contrasting fabric and cut out. Pin to background fabric and then trace on your sewing machine with a straight stitch. 

And with that friends, I wish you all a very happy weekend!