Valentine's Decorating

I happen to be one of those people that decorate for Valentine's Day. 

February can be a gray, dreary, cold month in the Midwest.  Valentine's Day gives me an excuse to add some happy, cheery bright colors, flowers and a heart or two to my decor and, in turn, it brightens my mood.

An easy and inexpensive way to change up decor is with pillows.

I whipped up some pillows, in less than an hour.  Using some heat transfer vinyl I customized each with LOVE and a heart.

And, those pillows are getting love...

From the dog.  Sigh.

Valentine's Day and flowers (ok, and probably chocolate) go hand in hand.

I've become a sucker for the $3.99 bouquet of roses at Aldi.  Such an inexpensive way to add some color and a good reminder that spring will eventually return.

I'm slightly obsessed with all things letter related.  I went through my collection of letters and was inspired to add an XO (hugs and kisses) for another subtle Valentine's touch.

Rustic coasters are scattered about. 

Herman, the head that usually wears my eye glasses, is donning a heart shaped eye patch...he obviously doesn't mind making a spectacle of himself for the sake of Valentine's.

Not only do I decorate the house...but I also make sure that Grace gets 'decorated'.  She has lots of heart sweaters and pretty hair accessories to wear.

Which reminds me, I need to make sure she has a chance to show off her LOVE dress before Valentine's day.

 And, though I wish this weren't the case, our front yard is still decorated with some ice cold hearts. 

Here's hoping we get some warmer weather soon and those cold hearts melt.

Do you decorate for Valentine's Day?

Dandelion Wishes

One of my favorite things about Spring is the pure excitement Grace shows when she spots a dandelion. 

Her eagerness to pluck it, make a wish and blow the dandelion seeds makes my heart melt.

The problem being,  instead of seeing dandelions when I look outside, this is my current view.

I am a fan of snow at Christmas {which we had none of this past year}.  After Christmas, though, I start counting down the days until Spring returns.

So, since there are no dandelions at the moment, I decided to make some of my own.

My dandelion wish would be that Spring will show herself soon.

If you are dreaming of dandelions, or in need of your own wishes, check out this hand embroidered duo of dandelion pillow in my etsy shop.

Another Pillow

I made another pillow.

If you are new to my blog, I have a confession, or perhaps a plea for help...

I may need a pillow making intervention. 

The pillows above are just some of the pillows I've made and then remade and may even have remade again over the past year.

This pillow, though, was for my husband.

 Really.

His grandpa worked for Pfister Hybrids his entire life.

When we came across this grain sack for $3, at a flea market, family history compelled us to buy it. 

When I got it home, I ripped the seams of the sack apart and set about making another pillow...for my husband.

I used a pillow, I had previously made, as a guide for cutting.  Not wanting to waste a bit of this sack, I was able to use what was printed on the back of the sack for the envelope closure on the back of the pillow.

And, then there was piping. Piping draws me in, in ways I just cannot explain.  It's part of the pillow making addiction.

And just like that, another pillow was created...

 For my husband :)

I have a detailed tutorial on making pillows and piping if you have now been afflicted with the pillow making disease.

Be warned, it can become addicting.

Confession Thursday

I have a confession to make. I am pillow obsessed.

I just made 2 more pillows.

Darn you Hobby Lobby and your super cute chevron fabric.  

I have another confession to make, just below the perfectly posed picture of my pillows...

Most of that I can blame on Grace {yes, she even flips through my Better Homes magazine} BUT this...

I have to blame on my crafters attention deficit disorder.  At least it's not another pillow :)

Freezer Stenciling Tutorial

Three more pillows done. Cream pillows with brown trim {again, I used the concept from the pillow and piping tutorial, this time, I used a back pocket so that the pillows could be removed from the case}. I love them but lets be honest, they are way too plain.

These, however, make quite a statement.

Can you believe, those pillows were transformed using fabric paint and freezer paper? Interested in learning how, keep reading.

Supplies:

Freezer paper
Fabric paint (I bought mine at Joann's for under $2 a bottle, there are a wide variety of colors)
Sponge (there are specific sponges you can buy but I like to save money so I used a sponge I already had, cutting a section off to make it easier to use)
Fabric you want to paint along with a smaller test piece of fabric
Scissors and or X-acto knife
An Iron
A Design (you can print anything and use that for your pattern)

Decide on your design, I printed out an ampersand {font: Baskerville Old size: 600}. Cut your design out of paper and use it as a pattern. Trace your design onto freezer paper. Trace on the paper side, not the shiny side.

Now that the design is drawn out on freezer paper, begin to cut it out. The first time I tried using freezer paper, I didn't realize what I needed to keep, for me, it was the opposite of what I initially thought. You'll want to get rid of the design and keep the white space around it or in it. So, it doesn't matter how you cut the design out BUT it does matter how you cut the lines where your design meets the white space.

Here is what my design looks like cut out.

Grab your fabric, in this case, I used a pillowcase {remove your pillow, before painting}. Fold the pillowcase or fabric in half, pressing down to create a crease, to determine the middle.

Using your crease as a guide, determine placement of your design. Make sure to place the shiny side of the design down and the paper side up.

Using an iron, set to cotton (depending on your fabric, you may need to select another setting), I ironed my design onto the fabric. I started by only ironing down the outside of the design.

Using my paper pattern as a guide, I determine placement of the inside pieces of my freezer paper.

Next iron those pieces onto the fabric {remove your paper design before you iron down the freezer paper}.

Grab your sponge, paint and a piece of cardboard to squirt some of the fabric paint onto. If you have a test piece of fabric, test how the paint will adhere before continuing. Before you begin, you may want to put a towel behind your fabric, in case the paint seeps through.

Dab your sponge into the paint, you don't want a lot of excess paint on your sponge. Start dabbing the paint onto the fabric exposed through your design, work from the edge of the freezer paper into the design. By dabbing into the design, this should help you keep your edges crisper. If you work from the inside of your design out, you may run the risk of pushing some of excess paint under or into the edge of your freezer paper design.

Continue dabbing your paint on all fabric exposed from your design.

When the fabric paint has completely dried, slowly start to peel up the freezer paper.

what you are left with is your design...

& I love it.

I loved it so much, I made 2 more. I used the same concept as described above. In steps, I painted a large circle {I used a large serving platter as a template to trace onto the freezer paper}. When the outer circle was dried, I painted the smaller circle {I used a smaller serving platter as the template}. Finally, I painted the letters in the middle.

I am not sure I'll ever use freezer paper for its intended purpose again.

The only problem, this is Riley's sofa. I worry that most of the time, my pillows will end up looking like this...

Another pillow

I'm moving forward in my pillow frenzy.

About a year ago, my mom went through her fabric stash and passed along a bundle of fat quarters from the Aviary collection by 3 Sisters for Moda. My favorite from the bundle had a collection of bird's eggs that had a vintage appeal.

Thankful that I hadn't found a use for it before now, I was determined to add it to my collection of pillows.

I piped the pillow with the same brown piping I used in my pillow and piping tutorial.

I loved the fabric but in pillow form, I thought it might be missing something. I figured, what does every egg need but a nest. So, I found some cream canvas and with a water solvable pen, wrote out the word 'Nest'.

Using dark brown thread, I embroidered over my hand written 'Nest'.

And then I attached the fabric, like a patch, onto the pillow.

No eggs were broken in the process.