Paper and Lights

There are two fun new things going on in our dining room. First, Dave gave me these awesome pendant lights for my birthday a couple months ago (I know. It's taken me FOREVER to post about it!). I really love them, and I love how they bring the room up a notch.

Even after the new lights were in, we both felt like the dining room was way too stark and colorless. My solution: wallpaper! Before you get too scared, just look at how beautiful it is! It's from Hygge & West and it's called Daydream.

We're planning to have the back wall (the one with the colorful canvas on it right now) papered as soon as the wallpaper comes in the mail. Can you picture it?

The colors in the photo they have online are not very accurate. Here's a pic of the sample they mailed to me. It's going to be so whimsical and soothing at the same time.

Now I just want to get some sort of sisal rug in there, and put a few things up on the wall.

It's a Start

Hello long, lost blogging friends. I'm finally HOME! That means more time for blogging. I'm supposed to be watching Lucy right now, so I'll just post one photo really quick.

Here's a little dress I made for a friend of mine. She gave me a t-shirt of hers that she wanted me to make a dress out of for her beautiful daughter, Millie. Lucy modeled it for me before I sent it off in the mail.

I have many more projects in the works, so I promise to make an effort to show you my handiwork.
P.S. I just ordered wallpaper for the first time in my life. Maybe that will be my next post :).

I Was Wrong

I thought I was being so creative and smart when we bought the coffee table to go in the kitchen nook. I thought, "Why would we need another place to eat when we have the bar right there, and the formal dining table one room over?" It made a lot of sense in theory. Little did I know just how much we'd end up eating around that little coffee table with our plates on our laps. I found out that I just don't care for eating with my plate on my lap.

So my poor, understanding husband agreed to let me get a real kitchen table to put in that space, and we moved the round coffee table into the office.

I really really love it. We found it at World Market, and just picked it up today!

Racer-Back Dress

I made this little yellow dress for Lucy a while ago, but I had a hard time getting my act together to grab my camera while she was wearing it. It's been great during the hot hot summer here in Phoenix. I just love making these little t-shirt dresses! I first got the idea from this tutorial.

I used the ruffle effect like I've done before, and I love the way that the vertical lines look against the horizontal stripes. By the way... this is the very first time Lucy has ever "smiled" for the camera. Basically, it's her first fake smile :). Doesn't she look so grown-up?

Here's the fun little racer back.

Ruffles are so easy and make such an impact! I love it.

If you have a little girl in your life, you should totally make her one of these! They take less than an hour and are so super cute.

Fabric Makeover

I had the idea awhile back to buy an inexpensive well-made love seat and have it reupholstered. I was under the impression that it would much less costly than it actually was, but in the end I have a really pretty piece of furniture.

I bought this Ethan Allen love seat on craigslist for $125. Here's the before:

And here it is redone! I'm really happy with the overall effect.

Call me a picky perfectionist, but the placement of the flower designs are not where I expected/hoped they would be. The symmetrical design makes it look very retro and less modern, but I've decided that that can be cool too. The back is the most bothersome part... but everyone likes owls, right?

Now to find a big rug to tie it all together.

Sheet Skirt

I have been sewing a little bit, but I haven't been blogging. This week is all about playing catch up.

I posted a long time ago about this fabulous elastic I found for super cheap at a fabric store here in Phoenix. I used it in a skirt for Lucy, but I also made a little something for myself.

I bought this sheet a year ago at a thrift store because it was so wonderfully and whimsically retro, and I FINALLY used it to make myself a skirt (see the cute little pink butterflies?).

The really cool thing about it was that I used the existing finished edge of the sheet, so I didn't even have to hem it!

I'm thinking I can wear it with a long-sleeve t and some tights for the fall. And now that I think about it, this skirt probably cost me less than $1 to make! This gal would be proud :).

summer dress!

Here's another tutorial that looks fairly simple. She didn't even use a sewing machine!

Jeans

Since I haven't been home recently to do anything crafty, I decided to post more tutorials that I've run across recently. Check out this one about how to take in the waist of your jeans. Love it!

I've added Freshly Picked to my blogroll. I just found it, and I just love it!

Strawberries & Ruffles

I ran across this brilliantly sweet tutorial today.

I also found this awesome tutorial for a ruffly blouse. I can't wait to get my hands on a sewing machine so that I can make a few of these cutenesses.

Not So Much

Sometimes I have great ideas that don't quite pan out. Like this skirt I made for Lucy.

I thought it would be cute and frilly and feminine, but instead she looks like a peasant princess. This is good motivation to start her collection of dress-up clothes.