New Pillows

The ottomans are done.

The couch is done.

On to the pillows.

I fell in love with this jute welting. It's usually used on the underside of upholstered furniture to tie it together. I saw it used as pillow trim at We-Are-Fabrics in Solana Beach while on my fabric search. At $2 a yard it's in my budget too.

I found my pillow fabric at We-Are-Fabrics too. I explained in my last blog on the ottoman transformation about my hunt for fabric. I only needed a yard of each coordinating fabric to make the pillows. I bought pillows from Home Goods that I really liked, but they weren't right for the couch. They were made from French grain sacks, very nice, but I ended up returning them and making these instead.



My couch is gray, but my floor tile and granite counter top have a lot of beige and brown tones it it. I'm not changing the granite or the tile in this room. My fabric needs to link the new gray and the old beige together.

I liked this rustic animal print with the jute. I made two of these pillows.

I used pillow inserts from existing pillows that needed updating.

This fabric was $23 a yard, but since it was the end of the roll, the girl helping me gave me almost two yards for the price of one. I had enough trim and fabric left over to make a runner too.



This is a new lamp I picked up at Marshal's while on my pillow hunt. Not sure if I'm keeping it yet? The lamp shade is burlap, which I love and have used in my decor for years. The cross was my Great Aunt's. She was a nun and wore it with her traditional nun habit. I love the cross, still debating about the lamp?



I made two pillows with a yellow and lavender fabric that I also purchased at We-Are-Fabric. At $34 a yard it was a splurge. I justified it because I only needed a yard and it links the couch, ottoman, and zebra fabric together. I went to every fabric store in San Diego looking for fabric. Short of special ordering it, this was the best choice I found for the price. I used the leftover couch fabric velvet to make the welting and pillow inserts from old pillows.


Here they are all together.


Roscoe thinks the pillows are for her.

She had a hard day at the groomers and is ready for a nap.



I still need to slipcover the two brown chairs, but I need a break from sewing.


Can you see the paint swatches on the wall to the right behind the couch?

On to paint. The kids go back to school tomorrow so I will have more time.

UPDATE:  The lamp didn't stay, to see the new glass lamps I made go here.

New Year's Resolutions

Is yours to get healthier?

Maybe workout more or lose weight?

There is so much information out there about how to lose weight and get in shape. Whatever avenue you choose, stay away from any quick fix. The results are only temporary

Did you know you are a living miracle?

90% of every cell in your body is replaced every 90 days?

You literally could be a completely new person in 90 days.

Isn't that cool?

My advice is to is to love yourself first and you can achieve those health goals.

As an athlete, so much of my own fitness journey has been about punishing my body with insane workouts. I was more concerned about the external results and not the internal. I have learned that if I nurture my body it will take care of me and I in turn can take better care of my loved ones.

The external won't change and heal unless the internal is nurtured and loved.

Love your insides and with some lifestyle adjustments your outsides will change.

If you don't like your insides, that's where you need to start.

I know you can do it!

Ottoman Transformation

When I recently slip covered my couch I knew I was going to have to re-do many other things in my family room. Here is the couch. I had a little bit of a hard time finding coordinating fabric I liked with the couch. The couch fabric is gray. What I have learned about gray is that gray has one of three undertones, purple, green, or blue. I learned this from a great blog called Colour Me Happy. To read more about gray click here.

My couch has a purple undertone. I looks great with purple, lavender, and yellow. I went to just about every fabric store in San Diego looking for coordinating fabric and struck out. I searched all the sale back rooms and remnant tables. I looked on line, but I struck out there too. Most of the fabric I found was either the wrong shade with the couch gray, or it was too girly, too old fashioned, too modern, too boring, or not practical for our lifestyle. I found what I liked, but getting it for a price I was willing to pay is the real trick. I did find some beautiful yellow and purple Ikat fabric at We-Are-Fabrics, but it was special order and ran about $53 to $100 a yard, with a two yard minimum. Not in my budget, especially when the dog might barf on it.

I found a durable inexpensive alternative at Home Goods, not an Ikat, but it looks great with the couch. I used it to tackle my next project, the dated brown ottomans. I purchased two of these ottomans, a matching couch, and two chairs from a designer sample sale about 7 years ago. They were dirt cheap and I needed furniture. We lived in this house for three years without living room furniture. I split the set up and used the two chairs and the ottomans in my family room. The couch is in the living room. I was never ecstatic about everything matching, but the furniture was well made, dog and kid proof, and cheap. All the pieces have held up very well.


The pieces have held up so well I haven't been motivated to update them.

Here is my first attempt at recovering the ottoman. Originally I just covered right over the old fabric. The new fabric is a reversible bedspread. Washable, durable, and fits in my limited budget. One side is a gray, tan, and yellow scrolly flower print and the other side is a geometric gray. I thought the scrolly side would hide dirt better, so I made the top slip cover cushion with that side of the bedspread.

I washed it in hot water and dried it on the hottest dryer setting to shrink it before I made the ottoman covers.


Not sure you can tell in these pictures?
I really didn't like how the wood looked next to the new fabric, so I started over.



On the second attempt I removed the old fabric. It had to be done because I was going to paint the wood.


Down to the foam.



On projects like these, I try to use leftover paint whenever possible. I unscrewed the bun feet from the bottom of the ottoman and painted the wood with two coats of dark gray paint. I mixed the paint using some black (leftover from the armour) and some white self priming paint I already had. I adding a touch of burnt umber Universal Tint to warm up the color

I made a glaze with the original gray color by adding more white and a little more burnt umber tint. Then I dry brushed the glaze over the gray to give the wood a more aged look. The blue drop cloth is distorting the gray color. It looks more blue in these pictures then it really is.

Nice buns!

Two coats of dark gray and one coat of dry brushed glaze.

I sanded the edges and polished the wood with some brown shoe polish to darken the exposed wood edges. I staple gunned the fabric on and added trim and nail heads. These nail heads are leftovers from my other projects like the pumpkins and the wall treatment in the bathroom and rotunda.

I added Velcro to the top and bottom of the cushion for easy cleaning. The top cushion is a slip cover that can be easily removed and thrown into the wash.

One project down, more to go.

I like it much better with the painted wood.

Next project...coordinating pillows.

Goodbye Christmas

I took down Christmas yesterday. It's sad, but it also feels good at the same time? My house looks so bare and blah, but less cluttered, calmer, and more serene.

I usually wait to put away Christmas until New Year's Day.

We will be celebrating New Year's Eve at a friend's house this year and since no one is coming to our house and it was pouring rain, it seemed like a good rainy day project.

I really don't enjoy cleaning my house, it makes me cranky.

I must admit though I love when it's clean.

It does feel good to vacuum up the last faux pine tree needle off the carpet.




Now if I could just get the glitter out of my scalp.



What the heck, I'll leave it in there for New Year's Eve.

Good Bye Christmas... till next year. Oops! I forgot, I still need to take down the outside decorations. I'll have to wait till they dry out.

Happy New Year!

Something We Do Every Year

Every year around Christmas time, our family gets together and visits the Hotel Del in Coronado. My husband and I were married there a little over fifteen years ago. We exchanged vows in the gazebo at the Del's garden. Every year we go back and take pictures in the gazebo and in front of the Christmas tree in the hotel lobby.

Here is our wedding.

It's a family event. My brother Mike, my sister-in-law Sandy, and their two boys, Jake and Sam come with us too.

I have a picture from our wedding day of my husband leaning on this light pole right before we got married. The kids like to re-enact the shot. Here they are from last year.

Here's Casey this year.

Cami and Casey

Jake, Cami, Casey, and Sam last year in front of the Del Christmas tree.

Here they are this year in front of the light pole.

My parents always come and take us all out for dinner.

We always take pictures in front of the tree.

Here we are in the gazebo. You might be wondering why my husband isn't facing the camera? It's a condition of his witness protection program.

Just kidding, he's a little camera shy and doesn't want to be on the blog.

Such great memories and a wonderful family tradition.

Wishing your family a wonderful Holiday.