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Saturday, January 22, 2011

Tea Staining Project - From Tablecloth to Lampshade

I've been digging through the early days of my blog and discovered something.
It appears that I've posted several projects that were in progress, promised to come back with the finished pictures.........and never did. oh so sorry

In my defense, I didn't forget - I just never finished the projects!
Needless to say there are plenty of unfinished things in my house.
I try to complete them, they just never seem to make it to the top of my priority list anymore.

However, I did come across one that I finished that I can share with you now.

You all know my love of all things tea stained.

In my very second blog post, I showed you how to tea stain for yourself.

In that post, I showed you a beautiful tablecloth I found at an antique store.
My intent was simply to tea stain it and use it on a table. Unfortunately, after I put it in the tea to soak, I realized that the previous owner had bleached it heavily. The smell was unmistakeable once it got wet, and I noticed that it was becoming more brittle the longer it soaked.
My heart sank when I pulled it out of the sink and it started coming apart.
Well, not being one to waste anything, I set it aside until I could decide what to use it for.
I decided on a lampshade.
-
And meant to do it right away.
-
But didn't.
-
Story of my life.

But I DID finally make it, and here it is.
This is the tablecloth before - crisp white, but on it's way to pure shabby creamy color.


And here's what I turned it into:






(sorry for the picture quality. took these a while back and my camera battery was going dead)
I raided my craft closet of bird items, keys, and ACEO tags. I made individual fabric embellishments, and then hot glued them to the shade. I then added lots of fun buttons (my signature go-to accessory) and keys, nests, and ribbons.
I made 3 of these and sold 2 of them right away. I love the way they turned out so I thought I'd take one home with me. But, after trying it out in every room of my home, I just can't find the perfect spot for it. Or the perfect lamp base for me. As lovely as it is, it's not fitting the look of my home.
So........
Maybe you love it. And maybe you have the perfect place for it. And maybe you want it for yourself.
:)
I'm selling this one!
If you're interested, let me know.
I sold these in the shop for $69, but I'm selling this last one for $42, plus $8 shipping.
If you want it, I'll load it up on etsy and send you the link.
It's ready to mailed out!
What projects have you started, meant to finish, and never have?
It's time to get those projects completed!
Marianne over at Songbird is hosting her Gitter Done party every week now, so we have a reason to get busy and Gitter DONE!
Doesn't matter how big or small the project as long it's been on your list for a while and you've FINALLY got it done!

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

A Shout Out to My Hardworking Friend

I wanted to take a moment and congratulate my friend Gina over at The Shabby Chic Cottage.

I'm sure all of you know her blog,  but, you may not know what she really does in her everyday life. She spends 90% of her time building a thriving business.




Gina is such a hard worker and a definite go-getter when it comes to growing her business.
She often has at least 5 irons in the fire at any given time, and seems to mange each one fluidly. I can assure you that she takes her work and her shop VERY seriously.

She started an Etsy shop a little over a year ago and has already had well over 2000 sales, been in hundreds of Etsy Treasuries, and has landed on the front page with various products at least  twice a month. Those of you who have your own etsy shops know how significant that is.

The only way to reach these kind of milestones so quickly is by dedicating much of your time, energy, efforts, and creativity into doing whatever it takes to make your shop successful.
She has a hands-down proven method of success, not only for building your online business, but also for growing your blog.

Well, today my good friend got the shout she deserves from Etsy themselves for all of her hard work.
They have featured her in their front page blog series titled "Quit Your Day Job".
This is a big deal in the land of Etsy.
Those of you who sell there know that when you list a product, it only gets 10 seconds of 'face time' in their rotating widget, so to get a feature on your business that remains in the front page blogroll for a full week is, like I said, a HUGE deal for etsy sellers.
I'm so proud of her!!

Please take a few minutes to read her "Quit Your Day Job" interview.

Are you lucky enough to be going to Blissdom this year?
If so, Gina will be teaching a workshop on Wednesday covering exactly how you can build a successful online business for yourself!
Get to class early because I'm sure it'll fill up lickity split!

CONGRATULATIONS GINA !

I sure wish I could spill the beans on something really big coming up for her soon, but I'm sure she would hang me from a tree branch by my earlobes without much hesitation if I did. Take my word for it, it's giddy worthy, squealing good! You'll know exactly what I mean when she announces it.
I'm sitting on my hands just waiting on the day!


Monday, January 17, 2011

Home Decor Series - Designer Guest Post with Design Shuffle

Inspiration.............Eye Candy.............Decorating Ideas

We all love inspiration, that's why we read so many blogs, right?
And when we stumble upon great eye candy, we get excited.
And decorating ideas, well, let's get real, we're all looking for them at some point.

Don't you love it when you find a website that has all of that in one spot?
I know I do.

I'm like a kid in a candy store every time I find a new site with lots of decorating inspiration gathered in one spot. Let's me know I can hunker down for a while and browse through ONE SITE for a long time and be able to build my inspiration files.


What is Design Shuffle you ask?

It's a social networking site for interior designers, architects, home decorators, or enthusiasts that just love interior design. It's filled with lots of interior design and decorating ideas from top tier design talent around the world.

I've asked the gals behind Design Shuffle to come and share some of their handy tips on pulling together a well decorated home for yourself.

So here they are. Take it away!
_____________________________________________________

Hi there Make Mine Beautiful readers. We're glad to be here talking to you about tips to keep in mind whether you're planning a single project in your own home, or doing a complete decorating overhaul. Since Polly is a designer herself, we've asked her to chime in with a few of her own tips along the way.

The principles of interior designing can bring about a marvelous and pleasing change to your house if correctly applied. You can choose to have professional designers take care of your designing needs, or you can very well do it yourself if only you do your research to find great interior design ideas and complete your homework before you start bringing down the walls.


(Michelle Workman Interiors)

Effective Interior designing is all about knowing yourself and knowing what you actually want from your home. Since revamping and remodeling your home is a very expensive venture, you cannot adopt the hit and miss approach. You need to be very sure about your requirements, your choices, and your ultimate vision of transformation.

From choosing the colors to choosing the tiles; from designing the kitchen to revamping the bedroom; from selecting the rugs to selecting the window blinds and the lighting, you have to be sure about your choices by looking at things from an artistic as well as a practical point of view. Creativity should be accompanied with practicality, as form and function both play an equally vital role in interior design. You will need to understand the science behind interior designing, and grasp the concepts behind the art of interior decorating in order to give your home a complete makeover that will stay fresh for years to come.


(Murray Feiss)

Here are Some Interior Design Tips That Will Come In Handy:

- Before diving into revamping the house, refer to as many interior design magazines or interior design ideas on the net as possible.
Polly Tip: Start building your inspiration files as soon as you know you have a project on the horizon.

- Maintain a scrap book with ideas and pictures of things that have caught your eye so you can get inspiration and ideas from them when needed.


- Take each room one at a time and create a separate vision for each room, keeping in mind its dimensions.
Polly Tip: Keep a set of basic room measurements in your files at all times. Be sure to include all doors, windows, and closets. You never know when you'll find the perfect piece of furniture, and you need to be able to know if it fits.


- Adding good pictures to the background gives an artistic touch.
Polly Tip: Look for art that really appeals to you. If you select a subject you truly connect with that has a color palette you prefer, then you will enjoy that art for many years. Also pay particualer attention to the scale of the art vs the size of the room.


- Ensure that the space and color combinations complement each other.
Polly Tip: Consult a color wheel if you need help with understanding color combinations.

(Michelle Workman Interiors)

- A dark and dull house is uninspiring and uninviting. So, do not compromise on lighting effects. Add chandeliers or a few sconces to add that extra dimension.
Polly Tip: Lighting is everything in design! We'll cover this in depth in a future blog post.

 
(Brooks Design)

 - Try to keep your interior design project cost effective. It will not do you any good if the project is worth more than the house itself.
Polly Tip: If you know your current house is not your forever house, then put the bulk of your funds into items you can take with you when you go, such as great furniture and rugs. If you know that it is your forever house, you can be a bit more lenient about that, but still be reasonable about pricing your house out of the market for your neighborhood. In other words, put good money into your lighting, but don't spend thousands of dollars on a fabulous tile for an 8 foot strip of backsplash.

- Add simple plants and show pieces to add to the aesthetics of your house.

(Irene Bruth & Isobel Miller)-

- Antique and vintage interior décor pieces are always in style.
Polly Tip: Eclectic interiors have exploded in popularity with the expanse of decorating blogs. Try mixing antique and vintage pieces into your current decor for a fun and unique spin on your current style.


- The kitchen is the heart of any home. Design your kitchen with the help of kitchen design ideas from several sources while keeping both comfort and practicality in mind. Here are a few different kitchen ideas fresh off the press to get you started.
Polly Tip: Schedule at least one consultation with a kitchen designer in your home. They are trained to help you get the most use of your space, and many times they will give you ideas that may otherwise have never occured to you. You have no obligation to complete your project with them, and in many cases, they will sell you the plans they drew up for your project.

(Brooks Design)

(Granada Tile Melanie Stephens)

- Large patterned tiles are proving to be popular, or if you are more into rugs, hand knotted or wool area rugs with large patterns are a good idea for maximum impact for your floors.
Polly: Couldn't agree more!


- Colors can be used with great effect to change the tone and ambiance of any room in the home. So, study the effects of colors in your home before finalizing them.
Polly Tip: Test items and paints in your home whenever possible. You would be amazed at how different something may look when you take it from the store into your own lighting situation.

(Thomas F. Fallon Architect)

The trendiest colors of 2011 are: Honeysuckle, Coffee, Vintage Wine, Citrus Yellow, Black Pearl, Spicy Brown, Teal, and Indigo.
Polly Tip: Infuse a few of these into your decor for added spunk. All fun colors, and I can't wait to see rooms start exploding with them this year!



 
- Going green is in. Eco-friendly cloth fabrics, furniture, flooring materials, and energy lighting alternatives are the latest addition to interior décor fashions.

- As with any other branch of art, interior decorating and designing knows no limits.

You have the choice to follow trends or create something of your own that could turn into a trend.
Stop by Design Shuffle today to find some great inspiration for every room in your home.
_______________________________________________________

Thank you so much for the great tips!

I hope you've gotten some good pointers from the Design Shuffle gals.

What questions do you have about your next design project?
Im taking on new cases to discuss on the blog for Designer Fridays, so let me know.


Friday, January 14, 2011

Master Bedroom Makeover - sneak peak

Marianne over at Songbird has taken over the reigns of the
that Donna over at Funky Junk Interiors first initiated, so that's where the party will be from now on.
Oh Marianne, I wonder if you know what you've gotten yourself into! :)



Once again, I decided to take the challenge. I've discovered that the best way to get something completed is to make yourself accountable to somone - someone that has a deadline for you, that it.

Now understand, Gitter Done isn't for all those little quick updates and craft projects we whip out all the time. Nope, like the rules say, there's plenty of other parties for that.
Gitter Done is special.
Gitter Done is all about finally checking projects off your list that you've been wanting to do for a long time but just haven't managed to yet for one reason or another.

Truth be told, it'll take me four years of Gitter Done to finally be finished with everything on my list.
Oi. (she says while wiping her brow....) 


We moved into this house one year ago today. Would you believe I still don't even have all the rooms decorated, and we're already looking at moving again? I know, I know.

At least once a week during all that time, I've told myself that I was going to get the master bedroom decorated. Never happened.

So, when Marianne resurrected Gitter Done on her blog I thought, 'OK, THIS TIME I'M GOING TO DO IT'. And I did. Whew!

However, I'm not quite entirely finished.
UPDATE Saturday Morning: It's taking a bit longer than I anticipated to finish all of the bedding - primarily because I changed my mind on what I wanted mid stream. I'll continue to work on it thru the day and try to have all the pics up by tonight.

So for now, I leave you with a sneak peak while I run up to the workroom to get all my pillows finished for the bed.

UPDATE Saturday Morning; I posted a few more sneak peak pictures. Pictures of the bed and bedding
will not be available until tonight.

*** BE SURE TO COME BACK SATURDAY EVENING TO SEE THE ENTIRE ROOM ***

Being a designer in the real world, I'm almost afraid to admit to these before pictures.
Unfortunately, they are indeed mine. No one ever sees the master bedroom but us, so I just kept putting it on the back burner. If any of my clients are reading this, please forgive me. I promise not to do this to your house. :)

Ready to see the raw, ugly truth that has been my bedroom for the last year?
Here it is.
And before you ask, YES, that IS a blanket hanging over my window. Hey, I had to keep the cold out somehow, and that window leaks air like dust in a wind storm.
I am so sorry you have to see this. It gets worse, as you'll see in the pictures.

Here is the vanity area.
 (The clothes everywhere is also a daily occurence in my daily bedroom life.)


BUT, NO MORE!
I can't believe I waited so long to do this bedroom. I'm loving it, and so is hubby.

Here's the AFTER of that same corner!


Here's several other pictures as I continue to make progress.

(I hang my head in shame as you look at this one....)

The coverlet is temporarily laid in place. It has finally become a duvet cover - but then I realized I didn't have an insert for it. No fear though - I won a $50 Home Goods gift certificate over at Funky Junk last week, so that's what I'll be buying with it when it arrives. (Ohh, lucky me! Thanks Donna!)

Can you believe I purchased mass produced drapery? Me - a drapery maker. Yes I did. And I like them. Even more surprising.

If you read my blog, you'll recognize this as the fabric I put out a plea for recently.
Sad to say, there is no more to be had -apparently anywhere in the universe - so this is all I was able to make from it.

Clean and simple.
The ceramic box holds my scented beads for my wave music machine. The jar of potpouri is flowers saved from my dad's casket. I've kept it on my beside since he passed.
The crystal is something a friend made for me to bring energy into the room. And the backscratcher is for hubby, so I have to keep it close for when he starts begging to be 'tickled'.

This area was our daily dumping ground.
I'm making an earnest effort to keep this clean from now on.


The runner is an antique mantle scarf that I have put in many sales over the years. Problem is, I kept pulling it back out! I loved the tatting along the edges, and I felt that surely I'd find a use for it someday in my own home. Glad to say I finally did. :)

I wanted to keep everything on top of the dresser usuable, so I kept the accessories to a minimum, and filled some of my favorite silver pieces with the items we use on a regular basis.
Useful accessories - can't beat 'em.


I found all of these items for the wall in a box in storage. I don't even remember owning any of it previously!

We are really enjoying the drapery pattern. It creates a very dramatic change in the room.

   Just the basics here. My goal afterall is to simply each room. I've edited all but what is necessary, and what is pretty.

Here's one of those pesky little details that have held me up on the bedding. I thought I would use this checked silk as is for my euro shams, but when I got the first one made, it was just too plain for me. So, I took it apart, quilted all three of them with interlining, and then ran a decorative stitch down every block. It added just the touch I was hoping for - but it took HOURS to do.

And then there's this. I had my duvet top all sewn together and thought I was pleased with it. When I layed it across my bed (in the pic above), it felt too white. So what did I do? I took it apart and dipped it in a coffee bath to get a small amount of aged color. I'm much happier with it now, but the staining process took up about another 8 hours.


I'm back to the workroom again. I'm determined to get the bedding finished today.



Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Repair a Hole in Your Lampshade with a Bird Nest!

Yep, you read that right!

The birds in my house live in  posh accomodations!
In fact, they are master nest builders. :)

A few weeks ago while perusing my mother's garage, I spied this little jewel.


After talking my mother's husband into letting me have it, I proudly - and quickly - tucked it away in my car. I didn't know what I'd do with it, but I knew I was in love with the shape. Actually, I thought I'd probably just use it to trace the pattern and create a stencil.
(Which I still will do by the way.)



I pondered recovering it but then decided I liked the shabby grunginess of it in it's current state.
Only problem was, I needed to figure out how to fix that hole.


Well it just so happens that I was attempting to clean out a closet in my craft room today, and I was picking things up off the floor that I'd left in a pretty little trail leading to said closet.
Trying to get in there, I stumbled over the lampshade, which somehow found it's way to the floor.
When I did that, I dropped what was in my hand and it landed on the shade.
I leaned down to pick it all up and noticed that a clump of moss and a spring of flowers was sitting on top of the hole in the lampshade.
Hmmm, I thought, that looks pretty good. I think I'll go with that!

So, after collecting a few supplies from my plethora of all that is crafty, I came up with these things.


Look at all the goodies I found. I've got birds, nests, eggs, feathers, moss, flowers, and twigs.
Don't you love it when you but all those things you don't need at the moment just because you caught a good sale? Yeah, me too......

Welp, I guess I'll grab my glue gun and get started.


The first order of business was to fill in that hole, so I tucked a handful of moss in it.
Then I just started layering up my products.
Note: I don't actually start gluing things down until I get a good base I know I can work with.


After playing around a bit, (ok, about 30 minutes more than I needed to),
I finally had a nest I was proud of. Some would call it a floral arrangement,
but I assure you, there are eggs in there. :)

I told you my birds have posh accomodations!




Now that my nest was finished, I only had one problem.
There's no room left for my bird! Oops!

I decided to just perch him on the top of the shade, as if to watch over his nest.
(I say "his" like he's the one laying those eggs, and we all know that no male is going to volunteer to do that - so I guess my bird is a 'she' afterall. :) )


I just love it!



And to answer two questions I know you'll be asking.....
I got the birds at The Dollar Tree.
Check these out - 2 for $1.
And Yes, I bought all they had - 4 different types of birds.


...and the other is, I got my feathers at Hobby Lobby while they were on sale at half off.
I even took a picture for you with the item number incase you need to show an employee to help you find them. :) They're with the floral stems.
And Yes, I bought all of those too!


Now, since this is my first official completed project of the year, and I transformed my lampshade, I'm linking up to:

WhisperWood Cottage

What projects have you jumpstarted the year with?




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