Crafts are definitely calming for me, and this extra time at home has been devoted to learning to make purses and tote bags. I started with the Noodlehead 2-4-1 tote by Anna Graham, followed by her Trail Tote. With some … Continue reading
About once a year, my friend Ariana (of Act 2 Decor) and I get up early go to the Alameda Point Antiques Fair to browse and look for treasures.
I’ve been working hard to clean out the house this year, so I kept my shopping restrained, but I was looking for a vintage felt pennant to finish up a new gallery wall in JJ’s room. I found the perfect piece, and it was definitely meant to be, because it was sold by the family of a former coworker!
When I got home, I was inspired to make some more pennants of my own. I made one for my home town, Toronto, and one for my sister-in-law’s family in New Jersey.
Here’s what you’ll need:
Here’s how to do it:
Create a template for your pennant – mine is on two sheets of scrap printer paper. It is 7.5″ high x 21″ long.
Cut out the pennant from a large piece of felt
I sketched the images freehand in reverse on the paper side of the Heat ‘n Bond
For the script lettering, create a word processing document, print out the words, and trace them in reverse onto the paper side of the Heat ‘n Bond
Choose your felt colors for the letters and design and fuse Heat ‘n Bond to one side
Cut out your letters and designs
Arrange on the pennant and iron in place
Cut strips of felt for the binding (optional) and ties and sew in place
Here are my finished pennants. I should make one for San Francisco next!
Here’s a picture together with my vintage find:
And here’s how JJ’s new gallery wall came together!
I had so much fun! What city do you want to celebrate and what image would you use?
Julie aka “Jewels”
When we moved into our house, the small enclosed balcony became a place for LEGO, board games, and other toys. Now that the boys are older, I’m excited to reclaim this room as a more grown-up space for reading, lounging,… maybe even napping!
At 5’x15′, there is not much space in here, which made this a quick project! The key elements I wanted to include were:
The look I wanted to achieve included:
Here are some pictures of how it has all come together. I did buy this daybed quilt set, but otherwise, everything in the room we already had in our house!
I love this ceramic garden stool, but I have been looking for the right spot for it – what could be better than this indoor-outdoor room?!
This bookcase was my grandmother’s. I repainted it about 20 years ago and added the caning (post coming soon) for this space, to create a tropical feel.
We’ve had this round mirror for a while, and it’s a bit small for where it was hanging before, but it works perfectly here. The walls in this room are crazy hard to drill into (which makes sense, because they are actually exterior walls), so I braided some rope from my macrame days and hung it from a hook in one of the ceiling beams. I like how it adds to the outdoorsy, bohemiam vibe in here!
This room is a win-win with the plants – they love all the light, and they definitely help make me feel like I’m outside in nature!
This daybed is a magnet for people who love to snuggle!
Finn would also like to snuggle on the daybed. This is his mildly dissatisfied face, because he had to stay on the rug…
Last couple of close-ups of this vignette. I love how everything old feels new again, when you find just the right combination!
So excited to read, and snuggle, and knit, (and nap) in our new sunroom!
Julie aka “Jewels”
If you’re already familiar with Spoonflower, then you know how amazing their site is. If you haven’t been introduced to them yet, be prepared to be completely addicted! They can custom print anything on fabric, and you can design your … Continue reading
Superheroes have been capturing our imagination for decades, and the recent revival of superhero movies shows they are truly timeless. And since everything else with kids changes way too fast, superheroes make a great and enduring theme for their decor. I really enjoyed making these art projects for our kids and our friends’ boys.
My materials for the vintage superhero art were:
The calendar pages look great framed on their own. For our friends’ boys, I made these framed initials:
Looking for more superhero ideas? You may remember the covered mirrors and pencil tins I made a while back!
To infinity and beyond,
“Jewels”
I’ve mentioned before that we use our formal dining room for most of our meals. This was a tradition my mother started when my sister and I lived at home, and I enjoy continuing it with our family.
I’ve posted about durable tablecloths and table runners to give your dining room a more formal look while still holding up to the kids. Recently, I have been debating about adding a dining room rug. I never even entertained (ha) this idea until the last few months, now that the kids are older and (a little) less messy. I really wanted the finished look of a rug, but I need to keep things practical as well.
I’m going to share my inspiration rooms, our current space, and the rugs I’m considering. There are literally thousands of options out there, and I’ve narrowed them down to my favorites.
First, here’s how our dining room looks now, without the rug.
So, you know I have a design crush on Amber Interiors. These are a couple of my favorite dining rooms designed by Amber Lewis and her team.
The vintage rugs in these rooms feel accessible, because the complex patterns will hide small stains. This set me on a hunt for a vintage-style Persian rug for our dining space. While part of me would love to find a gorgeous high-quality wool rug, I am just too chicken – or too smart? – to put a few thousand dollars under my table for my kids to drop food on and my dog to lick… so, at least for now, I decided to look for an inexpensive synthetic rug that won’t make me cry every time something falls on it.
Here is my short list of rugs. My color scheme is greys and blues, and I was looking for something that had pattern but was still muted enough to feel neutral.
1 Unique Loom Rockwell Berkshire Area Rug
2 Safavieh Evoke Vintage Oriental Silver/ Ivory Distressed Rug
3 Freetown Distressed Vintage Inspired Gray/Ivory Rug
4 Willoby Vintage Oriental Charcoal Area Rug
And I have more rug ideas and inspiration rooms on my Pinterest board.
So, what do you think? Here’s another picture of the room currently. Our mantel is pretty busy, so I don’t want to add more busy-ness to the room, but I think it would really define the space and also show off the base of the table, which is a lovely Craftsman design.
I haven’t made a final decision yet, and I like all these rugs so much, that I might by more than one and put it in the living room or upstairs hallway…
So, whadya think?
“Jewels”
I can’t help drooling over pictures of gorgeous walk-in closets with romantic and glamorous touches. We gave up our walk-in closet when we created a fourth bedroom upstairs. I don’t regret this extra room, which was first a nursery and … Continue reading
Yup, I have become one of those people who does a themed Christmas each year. I am still not sure if this is a sign of greatness of madness! While I admit to having accumulated many boxes of decorations, I … Continue reading
So, I made a list of projects I wanted to do before Christmas, and they ranged from more practical (updating our mailing list for Christmas cards, sewing the living room curtains in time for our Christmas party) to the more … Continue reading
So, if you have been following along, you will know that I have a colorful Mid-Century Christmas planned for this year. So far, my preparations have included a new Christmas tree skirt, and next up was this pretty ornament wreath!
I found a lot of beautiful inspirations for this type of wreath, including some beautiful and whimsical examples from Georgia Peachez.
There are a lot of different methods out there for making ornament wreaths, and I read through several examples before starting my own.
I used a piece of foam leftover from another project as my wreath base. It was flexible, but once the ornaments were glued in place, it held its shape. I used a piece of heavy beading wire to create a hanger on the back, before I started attaching the ornaments.
To attach the ornaments, I hot-glued a ring of the large balls in this year’s colors of pink, turquoise, and red around the entire outside and inside of the wreath base. I then added a few large ornaments to the top and filled in with medium and smaller ornaments. I included a few pine cone ornaments to change up the look. Also, I kept the hangers visible on a handful of the ornaments for more visual interest.
Some methods include tinsel on the base or painting the base. Since I didn’t do either, I needed to make sure I filled all the gaps, so I finished off the wreath with some vase filler and large beads. This is definitely one of those projects, like L’s birthday quilt, where it takes a long time and a lot of planning to make it look “random.” By the time I went to bed, I was seeing ornaments float before my eyes…
But it was all worth it! I am not decorating quite yet, so for now, the wreath is adding some cheer to my craft room window, and as Nicola said when she came over for our recent Creativity Circle, it looks pretty good there!
With the new tree skirt and this wreath, I think I am well on my way to creating this year’s theme, but I do still have a few projects I’d like to add, if time allows! Looking forward to seeing it all come together!
“Jewels”
