Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Faux Lambskin

Hello! Hope everyone is having a good week.
I have a super easy and fun tutorial for you today. DIY faux fur lambskins! Just in time for the weather to change. As you all know, I love fur. Pretty much any kind of fur as long as it's pretty and fluffy. Dead or alive. "I wuv it!", as Peanut would say. I always wanted one of those gorgeous lambskins that you see in Pottery Barn or IKEA, but they are just too darn expensive (Plus you know, I want like 5). I decided I needed some, so what did I do? I went out and bought some faux fur and made my own! All you need is some white fur (I bought a yard, which made 2) and some scissors. Here we go.

Step 1. Lay out your fur.
I recommend doing this on carpet, so that you can just vacuum up the excess fur when you're done. And there will be lots....so be warned!


Step 2. Cut outline of one side of sheeps fur. I just googled "lambskin" and found lots of different shapes to follow.

Step 3. Fold in half and follow the cuts from the opposite side.

Step 4. Trim any excess pieces that don't look right until you have the shape you like.

There you go. You have your very own faux lambskin! Now, if you wanted to make this thicker, you could cut out 2 and then sew them together. Or to make it even thicker, you could add batting in the middle. I was too lazy for all that work, so I just left mine as is.

And someone was quite happy with it that way. Ugh, she is getting so big it makes me want to cry.

Repeat if you want more than one. 

Place on beds, couches, chairs, or any space that needs a little cozy-ness.




That's it for today. Hope you enjoyed. Have a great rest of your day!


Monday, September 29, 2014

Early Fall Decor

Good morning friends! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend! It's finally starting to feel like Fall around here and I love it! Thank goodness for the new crispness in the air and the leaves turning their gorgeous Fall colors. It's so exciting and inspiring. After seeing many bloggers showing off their beautiful homes all decorated for Fall, (and you can start touring some of my favorites here) it inspired me to have my very own Fall home tour! So here it is. Hope it gets you in the mood for Fall decorating!

Our kitchen. You may notice in this post I have been trying REALLY hard to perfect my vignette assembling skills. The results are still up for debate... I've seen how it is effortless for some people, but I am not one of those people. I have a really hard time with it. So I have been practising. 
I was able to cut some of the last hydrangea blooms from our front yard before the weather changed. I have seen quite a few people with dried hydrangeas and I love the rustic look of them so much. So when I clipped these, I didn't even put them in water. So far they have been holding up great.


A new chalkboard sign in the kitchen from World Market! So excited about it. It's been really fun to change out phrases and I love that I can change it to fit the seasons. Sometimes just a written recipe can be all it needs for a cute little touch.



I love this tea towel I got while we were on vacation this Summer. It's very true. A cup of tea with friends has some serious healing powers.

My strawberry tablecloth is probably as little too Summer-y, but I just love it so much. I'll have to make a new tablecloth or runner that is a little more Fall. But see! Another vignette. I'm trying!



Our entryway hutch. I added a boxwood wreath to the old window frame to make the whole area more "farmhouse-y" and bring in a little color. I am pretty excited about it, because I think I should be able to use it for a lot of seasons and holidays. It will be perfect for Christmas!

Then some more vignette styling. I'm pretty proud of my stack of books with the pumpkin and the pussywillow vase.





The dining room. Our table isn't finished yet (my husband built it!!!). It is still waiting to be stained, but I decided to do a little tablescape anyway. I am hoping we can have it finished before Thanksgiving. It will be so fun to finally have a real table in here.

I hung some simple cardstock leaf cutouts from the chandelier with some ribbon. It was perfect, the leaves came in grey and they went so great with the neutral theme I was going for, I didn't have to paint them or anything.

I didn't really want to show too much of the dining room, as it is one of my project rooms right now. So I am waiting to show you for the big reveal. No promises when it will be finished, but as I said, I hope it will be done before Thanksgiving!

 The time out chair needed a little pumpkin love. Hopefully we won't have to move it....


A closeup of the leaves in the chandelier.

Our front entryway. I added a vase with flowers to our little mirror/coat rack and a picture of Princess at her first ballet recital. I'm experimenting with fun things to put in there.

Our mantle has come a long way since it's first days. It's another place that I have struggled to get "just right". It has a very big surprise piece coming soon that will make it perfectly complete. Shhh! I'm not telling. Stay tuned!
 
Sweet little white pumpkins scattered throughout. I love how they add a touch of Fall in a simple way that doesn't clash with all the colors in the house.

I got this faux cotton at Micheal's and I am obsessed with it! It looks so real and its so pretty!


The little nook where our TV used to be. I have yet to show you what replaced our old one. I will get to that post eventually. Hopefully!

My favorite Fall addition to this nook is the antlers I got from World Market. I love them so much! I want them all over the house. So interesting and fun. We picked up the painting at an antique store in southern Washington and I am so in love. The colors were meant for this room. I never get bored of looking at it either. I guess that means it was meant to be.

And of course the new Fall wreath that I made the other day. It makes the perfect entrance to our newly decorated Fall home.


A sweet little Autumn phrase.

That's it for my Fall home tour. I finished just in time to start pulling Halloween stuff out!



Friday, September 26, 2014

New Couch Pillows

Good morning friends and happy Friday!
Back in March I recovered our huge couch (which you can see here) and have just now finally made new pillow covers for it! I knew exactly what colors of fabric I wanted (lavenders and sage green) and you will not believe how hard it was to find the right kind of sage green! It also didn't help that every time I went to the fabric store with the girls, they would both melt down as soon as I got started really looking. Anyway, 6 months later, the couch finally has some new color. I like that I was able to keep the colors soft and not overpowering, while still keeping to the style we are trying to go for. I call it Rustic Farmhouse. And I found the chicken and cow pillows at HomeGoods. They are the perfect fit! 


The green fabric I found is really durable feeling. I almost feel like it is outdoor fabric. But I am hoping that it will soften up a little after a few washes. I'm sure they will need to be washed, so no problems there!

 Of course my favorite ones are the purple and cream ones. Such a pretty pattern and shade of lavender!

 This picture makes the green pillows look much darker than they actually are.


Our couch cover is still holding up really well. I am rather impressed. It has been really nice to be able to take off the individual pieces and throw them in the wash if there is ever a spill. And I hate to admit it, but there have been a lot more spills made by adults than children!





That's all for today. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! This weekend is our big Hops Fest weekend, so I will be beer tasting, cheese fondue eating and will bring back loads of freshly picked apples from the orchards! Its one of my favorite things that we do every Fall.