From Bed to Sofa

As the professionals say…..

“replace the pillows on your bed every 3 months”.

Really?  We usually wait till they go flat or get buldgy and that could be any length of time and then I wait till I see some new pillows on sale somewhere, like when I’m getting groceries.

So what do you do with the pillows you just replaced?  Do you toss them out with the regular household garbage?

I myself had a pile of pillows waiting to be discarded of.

After visually seeing how much fluff was accumulating I realized I could use that fluff for new pillows. 

I washed the pillows so I at least knew the fluff was clean for my new pillows.   

At a trip to IKEA, I purchased 2 pillow covers (I really wanted to sew the covers but at the time these were all ready for me) and then hopped over to a hardware store to buy painting drop cloth.  Watch those prices!  I found a package 5’x12’ at Canadian Tire for $15.00  That makes a lot of pillows.

I cut the drop cloth the size of the pillow covers and added more for the seam.  In this case I added ¾”.  Then I ironed a fold since the fabric is quite thick and it makes sewing easy.  Since my sewing machine is at our daughter’s house I stitched the inserts by hand while watching TV.  Didn’t take much time at all.

Then I ripped open the old pillow cases and removed the stuffing, putting it into my new fat sofa pillows.  On the second pillow I remembered to stuff the corners otherwise it’s impossible to do when you’re done.  When stitching the last length closed I was way smarter.  I stitched each end towards the center leaving 1/3 of the space open.  Then I could reach in and stuff into the corners.  Ta-Da!  Then I stitched the last remaining space closed. 

All that was left was to insert them into the new pillow covers. 

Now I have to wait till I have more buldgy pillows.

Twig Decor Re-do

So…HAPPY EASTER!

I figured it was time to blog again, way too much happening in our lives, but that’s life right?  If I didn’t have anything going on, you wouldn’t be able to read this, it would be a blank page.

I didn’t do any ‘Eastery’ decorating and I don’t think I ever have.  I did buy these Hydrangeas to brighten my hutch.  I just can’t get into the egg decorating and stuff, seems a little tacky to me.  And the colors just don’t do anything for me (or my house).

So here’s what I did this last weekend. 
Just to show you that you can change or improve anything you want with a little imagination.  I posted to Facebook some bedroom photos of our bed actually ‘made’ and it lifted the otherwise gloomy day is was turning out to be.  I however did not like the off-white twigs in a glass vase in the corner so I made sure they were out of the photo.  You can barely make them out in the right hand corner.

The next evening I proceeded to paint them a bright white using Melamine enamel.  About into the 2^nd twig I realized spray painting would have been easier but that opened so many other cans of worms AND I could have gone with an orange or green to add contrast to our bedroom.  Painting the curly twisty twigs really was hard but when you do them in your kitchen while you’re preparing dinner or watching TV, it goes quite fast.  Finding a place for them to dry was interesting as you can see my make-do basket with towel.  I had to paint half the twig at a time so it wouldn’t stick to the towel.

 

When you want to do something bad enough, you will find a way,

might look crazy but I’m glad with the results.   

I was diligent and finished them in a few days and now

they are noticeably pretty, at least to me. 

So I need to finish packing…..we’re off for the weekend to spend Easter with family in Alberta.

Have a Great Easter Holiday!!

China Cabinet

Recently I’ve read a lot of blogs talking about

Annie Sloan’s Chalk Paint.

Check out her website and you might be as intrigued as I am. 

I need to find out for myself what the big fuss is about this paint and the best way to do this is to actually try it. 

Problem is, the nearest distributor in North America is in Calgary.   
I'm anxious to see this little shop but I’ll just have to wait a few weeks
till we visit the family or
order today and wait to see her shop.

But I'll definitely go to Lauren Lane Décor for myself and
check out her shop and her re-painted furniture.

 Here is a picture of an item from Lauren Lane Décor and I love the color and finish.

 

Here is my China Cabinet, currently sitting in the garage

because we just do not have room for it.

My intensions are to finish it with Chalk Paint and put it somewhere where we can actually use it for many more years.