I’m just dropping in to share Sarah’s block for Twelve Square.  (Can you tell that I like log cabins?)  I’ve been a bit busy lately and haven’t had a ton of crafting time.  But not crafting often means I’m doing something else very much worthwhile… like spending time with my best friend from college:

Or with these awesome peeps:

So do not fret if I disappear every now and then. ;)

P.S. I’m painting another canvas to accompany the one I shared last week…

P.P.S. And I feel a “Bedroom Week” may be on the horizon… Although that may be trumped by “Potty Training Week.”

I painted this on Saturday, using another design from Lena Corwin’s Printing by Hand as a guide.  I get pretty overwhelmed when I think of all the possibilities for a blank canvas.  So that’s why I decided not to do something completely original.  I just wanted to find something I liked and go for it.  Now I have the urge to paint more…

Something else we’re considering for this space (and on the other side of the TV) is a poster.

Evan and I both love classic & artistic movie posters.  Here’s one of his favorites:

I lean towards this sort of thing:

Or this:

[Images: movieposter.com]

I loved all your room suggestions.  Now I wonder…

Do you have a favorite poster?  Movies, books, vintage ads, magazine covers  or otherwise… I’d love to hear!

When I’m not sewing, I am   s  l  o  w  in my crafting.

Thus, I don’t have a finished project to share today… Not exactly.  It’s sort of finished but not on the walls.  And not finishing off my room.

Here’s what I worked on with my friend, Mardel, last night:

I used a design from Lena Corwin’s Printing by Hand for the plaque on the left, and I used the template here for the other one.  I’m still adding flowers around the owl so it coordinates with the flower plaque.  But I thought you might want to see it in progress. :)

And here is (a very pregnant) Mardel at my house this morning, trying to help me figure out the problem that is My Huge Wall:

EDIT: I removed this picture. :)  But there are plenty more living room pictures to be found here and here and here.

See the new lamp?  I picked that up at Target last night for $30.  I think I like it, but you might note that the tag is still on it.  I love to return things when I feel unsure about them. :)  (By the way, that style of lamp is what I meant when I said “swing-arm lamp,” although I’ve since learned that it isn’t called that!  It’s a “pharmacy lamp.”  Don’t say I never taught you anything.)

So… Do you have any suggestions about the wall?  My friend, Eric, says we need something tall in the room.  Evan and I have been thinking about cool (framed) movie posters.  Got any ideas?

Okay, so this sounds frou-frou, but it’s not!  I promised Evan that I wouldn’t put lace or ruffles or flowers on his beloved XBox.  Just a plain and simple dust jacket, if you will.

There you have it.  So simple that you hardly even see it.  (It’s on the left, in case you’re wondering.) ;)

I refashioned this slipcover from linen pants that my friend Heather gave me when she found out I liked to do this cut-up-old-stuff-and-breathe-new-life-into-it deal.  Thanks, Heather!  Love you, girl.

I kept it simple because… I know Evan will never take the time to tie pretty little ribbons in the back.  If you were a boy, would you?  So it just sits over the front, top, and sides.  Nice and neat. :D

Planning to make something like these tonight…

So this is what the room looks like as of 15 minutes ago.  Mind you, my children are taking their afternoon naps.  It does not normally look this tidy.

Okay, I hope this doesn’t bore you too much, but I made another pillow today.  I used leftover chambray from this tunic and a lacy vest my Aunt Heather sent me (Thanks, Aunt Heather!).  You just never know where you might find inspiration.

Here’s the vest:

So I guess this qualifies as a refashion too, huh?

I made this pillow from a large piece of vintage barkcloth that I found at America’s Thrift Store in Chattanooga ($2.50!).  I used a pillowform that I already had, so this was super-quick and easy.

Also worth noting: I replaced the TV tray we were using as a side table with our old TV stand.  Notice a theme here?  Anyway, it provides tons of book storage and looks much more finished in the corner.  Plus, we can adorn it with our very most pretentious books and look Smart.

Now.  I would really like lamps that are round and squat.  And maybe red.  Or glass.  And totally not squat at all.  Oh, I don’t know.  Maybe a swing-arm lamp would do the trick.  What do you think?

Our living room is in desperate need of some tender love & care.  It doesn’t have much style to it.

I love the green (or gold?) couch, the grey-blue walls, and the hardwood floors.   And I do enjoy watching the giant TV, although it isn’t exactly an art piece.  And that’s about the limit of my living room love.

So what I hope to do this week is show you a project each day that spiffys the room…

And to get things started, here are some silhouettes of the babies.  My friend, Mardel, and I made these one night last week while our DH’s slaughtered zombies together.

Evan helped me hang them over the TV, and in return, I helped him write a short script for work.  Quite the trade-off.  It took him 3 minutes to hang these.  And it took us about 6 hours to write the script.

But it was fun! :)

Tomorrow: Pillows?  Embellished lampshades?  Come back and see!

P.S. Check out Evan’s new blog, Brink of 30.  I’m still thinking about a big project I can do to get in on this!

Here are some Flickr Favorites for your Friday joy.

1. but i like candy when it’s wrapped in a sweater, 2. New love plate, 3. Dining Room, 4. Ruffle dress, 5. Black Key, 6. ., 7. Patchwork apple, 8. Superior-envelope-#154, 9. Design-7380-sample 5, 10. houses cushion #05- indisponivel, 11. Houses cushion #04, 12. The Vintage Letter, 13. Vintage Silhouettes, 14. Marie Claire Idées - fabric plates, 15. IMG_2393, 16. flor de sempre, 17. Simply Grove Interiors, 18. babette w/all the bedstuff on the bed, 19. mer bleue, 20. proud client, 21. Untitled, 22. Favorite cup of tea, 23. Girls room inspiration, 24. Sew What Skirts, wrap around (tied at the front), 25. Tunic with jabot, 26. raspberry and pink peppercorn macarons, 27. So, here is the dress…, 28. Orquidea Dendobrium ” Olho de Boneca “, 29. Marie Claire Idées 70, 30. Embalagem pra presente

Next week is going to be awesome!  Now go have a great weekend. :)

1) So I found a jumper at the thrift store (actually, I spotted several that had potential, but settled on this one because it was about $1.25 and needed minimal sewing).

2)  I removed the metal buttons (Is that what you call them?) with plyers.  This left several holes.

3) I dyed the jumper in a stockpot on the stove using Rit’s Denim Blue dye.  I used about half the bottle, and I let it soak for about 2 hours.  This might not be necessary, but that’s what I did.

4) Then I washed and dryed it, of course.

5) At this point, I decided to try it on & decide what next.  In order to not look completely frumpy, I decided it would need shape.  But I had to fix the holes & whatnot first…

6) I patched the holes on the straps (but not the sides of the jumper) by setting my sewing machine to zigzag and using the widest possible stitch.  I went across each hole in two directions, as you can see here:

This might look a little sloppy, but my mending will easily be covered by the buttons:

7) For the sides of the jumper, I decided to sew up the unnecessary opening with matching navy blue thread.  I sewed 2 rows right beside the tan stitching, and you can hardly see it.

8) Then I trimmed some of the excess bulk from inside the garment (where the buttons used to be).

9) To add shape to the jumper, I decided to add elastic to the waistline.  I took 1/4″ elastic and wrapped it around my waist to determine how much I needed.  Then I pinned it to the jumper where I wanted the waist to fit.  As you can see, I overlapped the elastic in the back of the garment.  Then I stretched the elastic and pinned it at regular intervals, being certain that the jumper would gather evenly.  (Does this make sense?  I think it should be a separate tutorial…) I used a special zigzag stitch on my machine that is for sewing elastic onto garments, and I sewed the elastic directly to the waistline.

10) I closed the buttonholes on the sides of the jumper by using the zigzag stitch.  You know, since they were no longer necessary.

11) Then I sewed on buttons.  I decided to go with classic, inexpensive, gray buttons and used heavy-duty, tan thread to sew them on.

12) I put on my dress, got some Starbuck’s, and asked my husband to take my picture! :)

Featuring su-weeeet red buttons. :)

For this shirt, I used Simplicity 2922, although I altered it tons.  This red seersucker fabric came from Joann’s, and I agree with Jen (who posted an adorable seersucker dress today) that you have to finish your raw edges so the fabric doesn’t fray too much inside the garment.  It’s probably not the finest seersucker in the world, BUT… who cares?  I love this top.

I left off the pockets from the pattern because I wanted to tuck it into shorts and skirts, although I think the pockets are pretty grand.  Maybe if I make a dress version…

I think this is my new favorite.