Unique and Personalized Rooms

Make each room "Unique and Personalized" with things you LOVE

I don't know about you, but when I come away from a home tour or traveling I always take some pictures of projects I want to make. 

I love these old soft leather antique gloves.  It was the practice for ladies to wear gloves when going out and they would feel naked without a fine pair of gloves. Like the rest of a lady’s outfit gloves could be formal or informal. Formal gloves were often made from leather.  These gloves are custom-made of kid leather, also known as kidskin.  In the olden days, ladies took off their gloves to eat unwillingly since they put fingerings and rings there over.   Unfortunately, the gloves I have are too small for my hands.  It occurred to me that they might make a nice "holder" for my rings:

A project I made last year is a lamp out of an old tea pot.  I found a second tea pot that is very similar in size and a second shade that is the same, so now I am making this lamp into a pair of lamps for my buffet.  I like the finish "not polished" as it feels more rustic.  But you could easily polish it and add a silver picture frame and accent.  This greyish silver lampshade has a patterned liner and when the lamp is on you can see the pattern through.  I also use energy efficient light bulbs so I can leave this lamp on all night when we have guests.

A handmade pillow is sure to make your room unique and personalized and give your home the exact feel that you desire.

Throw pillows for indoor or outdoor spaces are typically square in shape, anywhere from 14x14 to 18x18 inches. Consider making a large cushion-like pillow quite a bit larger—24x24 or 26x26 inches.
Measurements will be different if you plan on a different shape or to match the shape of a special hankerchief or scarf (like the one pictures). Throw pillows are also sometimes round, cylindrical (like neck rolls and bolsters) or rectangular. Also consider body pillows and shaped pillows. You can either stitch the shape yourself and fill it, or buy a pre-made pillow to cover with the fabric of your choice.

DIY: House (smells) Beautiful

Fresh flowers look nice in old tins

I enjoy a clean smelling house.  These are some of the ideas I use to ensure a wonderfully smelling home...

1.  Spray sheets with a roseoil or fabreeze 
2.  Hang out rugs and cloth-based items to bring the smell of outdoors inside
3.  Use herbs and scented woods, scattered throughout the house, along with essential oils in the bathrooms
4.  Display fresh cut, fragrant flowers as often as possible
5.  A candle burning (a lit candle should only be burning while you are home and in that room)

Hanging runs outside really keeps them fresh.

I have also recently discovered the "Spin Fresh" idea (the scented toilet paper roll holder).  It is used by placing a drop of essential oil on the inside of a regular cardboard toilet paper roller. The essential oil soaks into the cardboard and smells fresh for weeks. When the paper is gone, I put the cardboard in the vanity or linen cabinet, until the scent is exhausted, to keep the stored towels and linens smelling great also.  I think hiding the extra rolls is essential, except in my guest bathroom, then I keep one roll out for easy replacement.  See some ways to decorate that roll below:

I like the small "tin" star.

I have some small bags made out of burgundy sheer fabric that I use to "hide" the roll.

DIY Kid's Apron!

Here is a fun project for your kids or grand kids from my daughter and current guest-bloger, Jenna Strain. 

DIY KID'S APRON

Today my son was walking around with a ratty old dish towel trying to figure out how to use it as an apron while "taking my order."  One of his favorite things to do is get a little pen and notepad out and ask us what we want for dinner.  He then goes over to his little BBQ grill and cooks us whatever we please.  

So, while seeing him struggle today I thought... why don't I just make a little apron for him.  I didn't feel like getting any fabric out and frankly I wanted the project to be as simple and easy as possible so he could help me with it.  Well, this is definitely easy and simple. Please be kind, I am no seamstress, but we had fun together!

In case you would like to make one of these for your kid, grand kid, or any kid...  well, here is what I did! 

1.  First, we went through our towel drawer and found a boy-looking (emphasis on boy) dish towel.  Yes, you should probably iron the towel if it's a wrinkled mess, but that would have added a step for me...

2.  Next, I made a fold in the center of it so that he would have a pocket in the middle of the apron (I used my little man to determine the location of the pocket).  I pinned along the sides sides.

3.  Then I made two triangular folds  on either side of the top of the apron and pinned those down.

4.  Next, I used my son to help measure the correct length of the ribbon -- long enough so he can put it on and take it off himself, but not too long so as not to protect his shirt.

5.  I then pinned the ribbon into the triangular folds.

6.  Then I took the apron to the sewing machine and sewed all the edges.  

7.  Had I been thinking I would have done this sooner, but I went ahead and sewed vertical lines in the big pocket to make some smaller pockets for his pen and notebook to fit in nicely.  I also sewed a horizontal line on the bottom of the pocket (again, don't be like me and do these two steps earlier -- oops!).

8.  Next, I used my son to measure the length of the two back ribbons.  I then pinned them and sewed them just above the pocket.

9.  Then I had my son, model the apron (oh what fun it is to try and take a picture of a 3-year-old boy), these are the best I could get!

If you do decide to make one, post it on here so I can check it out!

Jenna