home decor Archives - Page 4 of 5

Must. Take. Down. Christmas. Wreath.

January 9, 2011 By Char @ Crap I've Made 64 Comments

So, those fabulous green shutters I hung above my mantel to cover the awkward hole?

Only fabulous with something “on” them.

(Excuse the awful picture…I didn’t bother taking a new one. You can see my thankful tree in the corner.)

See?

I feel like a red sparkly Christmas wreath isn’t really appropriate year round. I mean…maybe some of YOU could pull it of, but I can’t. Winking smile

So, what do I put up there?

A less festive wreath?
A monogram of some sort (although C is pretty much the lamest letter for a monogram ever)?
A frame?

Help?

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Filed Under: home decor

Feel like shopping this weekend?

January 8, 2011 By Char @ Crap I've Made 25 Comments

Want to spend some of my money? (Sort of.)

My living room needs a new rug. You see, when we got hardwood floors a year or so ago, I blew the entire rug budget for both rooms on this beauty for my family room.

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My living room has been making do with a cheapy sisal type rug that smells like hay. Still. 1.5 years later.

I put off buying this rug from IKEA so long that it was discontinued.

I think I still want orange, but I could be persuaded otherwise…

The couches are denim, the floors are dark maple, the walls are khaki and the woodwork/bookcases are white. The accessories are all negotiable.

Help?

And stay tuned for part 2 tomorrow!

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Score!

January 4, 2011 By Char @ Crap I've Made 34 Comments

BC dragged me to a disgusting mess of a store (NPS, for you locals) this weekend. Like, I’m not sure why anyone would go there. Maybe you need a cross bow and some expired Diet Coke in one stop? I think it’s freight damaged stuff? Like I said…I’m still not clear on the whole situation, but BC *really* wanted to go (with all 4 kids in tow), so we went.

And I wanted to hurt people and/or myself.

BC spent lots of time looking at golf clubs. My boys enjoyed the other sports equipment. Macy and I saw a sign that said “FABRIC” and got excited, but it was a lie. There was no fabric.

As we were about to leave, I saw one of these:

(Image from Pottery Barn)

Only it was Antique White…like the rest of the furniture in my craft/sewing room. Retail price? $419, but currently on sale for $379. NPS price? $149.

But wait!

It was an additional 70% off! That means I paid $44.70…for real live Pottery Barn! I think it’s going to be my official Silhouette storage solution. Stay tuned for more on that.

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Filed Under: home decor, organization, thrifting

My halls are decked

December 9, 2010 By Char @ Crap I've Made 18 Comments

Don’t forget to join the Nativity Parade!

I got started early this year, on account of my Pier 1 post going up on Thanksgiving, but “get started” was about all I did. (Speaking of Pier 1…big fun and giveaways for you Utahans at 2 local Pier 1 locations next Wednesday. Stay tuned for the details. Or, if you’re not patient, you can check it out on Facebook now.) My tree sat in pieces with non-working lights in my family room for a week. We finally gave up and replaced it.

The stockings got hung.

And I turned my kids loose on the tree.

Every square inch is covered in ornaments.

But it might be my favorite one yet.

Santa’s bag is here, too (storing the throw pillows that aren’t festive Smile with tongue out ).

There’s a little Christmas in the kitchen.

And some in the living room, too.

(Canvas came from Canvas People. You can get your own free 8X10 or $55 off any other size here.)

And now I should probably start shopping. Embarrassed smile

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Peppermint Pillow

December 5, 2010 By Char @ Crap I've Made 31 Comments

Remember the peppermint platters I made?

Remember how I said I might make a pillow?

I did.

I think it might have ended up a little on the big side, so keep that in mind when I give you the low down on how I made it.

Supplies:
White fabric
Red fabric
Wonder Under
Piping (optional)
Peppermint Swirl Template (for an 18”-ish pillow, you’ll need to print it at 150%)
Polyfill
Covered button (optional)

I cut 2 circles from the white fabric. Mine were approximately 18.5”. I already had a template cut that size from another project, so that’s what I went with. I also cut a 4.5” wide strip. It’ll need to be at least as long as the circumference of your pillow (Pi X the diameter) plus 1” for seam allowances.

I cut 5 “swirl” pieces from the red fabric backed with Wonder Under. I used the piece from the template that does not have the line down the middle, but feel free to change that up however you want.

I peeled off the Wonder Under and positioned my pieces on one of the white circles.

And then I fused them in place following the product instructions.

Next I satin stitched the edges of each piece down, except for the exterior edge, because those will be trapped in the seam allowances.

My pieces don’t “meet up” in the middle, because I’m putting a button there. If you don’t want to use a button, you can make yours meet up.

I only used piping on the top/front side of my pillow. I sandwiched it between the top piece and the edge piece and sewed all the way around.

And then I sewed the back piece to the edge piece with no piping sandwiched between. That’s also when this happened and so I accidentally quit taking pictures at that point.

I stuffed the pillow through with Polyfill through the hole where the 2 ends of the side piece met and then hand sewed it shut.

I then attached a covered button and attempted to tuft it. There will be no tutorial for that on account of thread breaking and people swearing (hint: me). I bet if you Googled it, someone could help you! Open-mouthed smile

And here it is:

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Filed Under: fabric, home decor, sewing

When’s the last time YOU checked out Pier 1?

November 25, 2010 By Char @ Crap I've Made 20 Comments

This post brought to you by Pier 1 Imports. All opinions are 100% mine.

A few weeks ago, I was given a Pier 1 gift card to spend. And if there’s one thing I do well, it’s spend. Seriously…just ask BC. Or my mom. Or the ladies that helped me at Pier 1. Let’s just say I *might* have spent 3 times more than my gift card…plus $15. Oops.

And that was with my trusty assistant in tow.

Think of the damage I would have done if I’d been kid free!

We headed inside and were greeted by a host of helpful employees. One of them asked if I was a photographer on account of the fact that I was wearing my camera around my neck. Aside from one tiny little problem with that scenario (that my pictures sucketh), an actual photographer would have made sure that her battery didn’t die approximately 45 seconds after that.

Random fact: Pier 1 smells GOOD. Go in and sniff stuff if nothing else!

One thing I LOVED, but did not buy (for a whole host of reasons known as “my children”), was their new Tastings Party™ Collection. I think a tasting party would make for some fabulous holiday entertaining. Can’t decide what to make? MAKE IT ALL…only tiny!

Cute, right? Those wine glasses are under 6” tall.

Are you more casual in your holiday entertaining? I bought a 3 tiered basket for chips that I can pair with a festive bowl of dippy goodness for any occasion.

In addition to a few things I plan on gifting, I picked up the following to do a little holiday decorating:

(Those houndstooth placemats are on clearance for $1.88)

What’d I do with them?

All the placemats became pillows.

I already had the aqua linen and the white cotton, so the total cost of each snowflake pillow was the $2.95 for the placemat. I cut 18” squares and stitched down the center of each snowflake “point”. I made envelope backs so that I can store the covers flat and reuse my pillow forms all year long.

And the wreath and glittery trees were just the push I needed to finish a project that’s been on my to do list since, oh, May?

Bye bye awkward hole above my fireplace!

(The shutters were an $8 thrift store find that benefited greatly from a coat of Key Lime spray paint and some Ralph Lauren Tobacco glaze.)

In addition to being a great place to pick up some gifts and decor, Pier 1 is doing something awesome this holiday season. For every new person that “likes” Pier 1 on Facebook, they’ll donate $1 to Toys for Tots…up to $100,000! You can also drop your Toys for Tots donation off at any Pier 1 location or make a donation at the register.

Thanks Pier 1. I’ll be back soon!

(I totally already have been.)

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Filed Under: fabric, home decor, sewing

Magazine Storage Solution

November 16, 2010 By Char @ Crap I've Made 47 Comments

***Enter to win free fabric from Raspberry Creek Fabrics by going here.***

Did your husband order every. single. thing. in the $5 subscription section on Amazon?

Mine did.

And suddenly that little crate from Lowe’s just wasn’t cutting it.

I was thrifting this weekend and came across this:

Covered in stickers and crap, but definitely worth the $10 they were asking for it.

I got some Goo Gone and a razor blade and went to work this morning whilst chatting with a friend. I also installed some casters to give it a little height.

So, so, SO much better….except for that little spot on the wall where I need to touch up the paint. Oops.

And because it’s my house…

Much improved,right?

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Filed Under: home decor, organization, thrifting

Inspired by

October 14, 2010 By Char @ Crap I've Made 8 Comments

***To enter to win the fabulous earrings from ThirtySixTen, go here***

This wreath from Crafty Sisters…

I found a ridiculously awful ivy wreath on clearance at IKEA last week for $2.99. I sprayed it with black spray paint and then wrapped it with a black feather boa from the party supply store.

I used dollar store ping pong balls (9 for a buck!) for the eyeballs, just like in the original.

I used foam stencil dauber thingy (I’m sure that you now know EXACTLY what I’m talking about on account of my brilliant use of the English language) to make the irises. I did a layer of green craft paint first and then a layer of Extreme Glitter. You can’t really tell, so I’m not sure that I’d go that route again. I used the handle dipped in black craft paint for the pupils. And then I hot glued them in place.

What’s hanging on your Halloween door?

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Filed Under: Halloween, home decor

Properly Spooky

October 12, 2010 By Char @ Crap I've Made 15 Comments

***To enter to win the fabulous earrings from ThirtySixTen, go here***

First there was the light fixture makeover.

Then there was the bat explosion.

And now I’ll give you a glimpse of the rest of my holiday decor.

Throw pillows:

(Target)

(Macy…a free stitchery pattern that I found online last year)

Throw:

(IKEA)

Sparkly black candelabras:

(Savers. Orange candles from IKEA.)

Vine pumpkins:

(Target dollar section)

Skeleton in a hurricane:

(Big Lots)

Creepy spider specimen:

(It’s the kind that grows 4 times it’s size in water. I got mine locally at Orson Gygi for about $3. The jar is IKEA. The sparkly skulls behind it are from Dollar Tree.)