Jane Austen silhouette pillow

Hello, lovely friends!

"There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort." ~ Emma

I love the blog Dear Lillie, and I just adore her Jane Austen silhouette pillows so much that I had to make my own copy cat version. 

Please check out the link here to Dear Lillies pillow tutorial. She is an expert at this and she created the pillow. Her home has been featured on the Nate Berkus show and she  did a tutorial on how to make these transfer pillows on 

the show.

“Life, if you live it right, keeps surprising you, and the thing that keeps surprising you the most…is yourself” ~ Northanger Abbey

~*~

So here's my latest Saturday morning craft project ~

Anyone that knows me knows how much I love Jane Austen! She's one of my favorite authors. I own all of her books and have read them several times through. I also own most of the movies based on her books...several versions of many of them. 

Combine my love of decor, anything silhouette, and my favorite author and it's a match made in heaven for this girl!

I had a set of four ugly pillows that came with our couch that we bought last summer. They've just been in my bedroom closet until I could figure out what to do with them. Perfectly good pillows ruined by a Bill Cosby inspired sweater design?! These had to be covered up!

I bought these pillow covers from Ikea for $6 each (all I did here was iron them). 

I downloaded the silhouette and sized it to fit an 8X10 piece of card stock paper. I bought some plain black material from Jo-ann Fabrics, and some Heat n Bond iron on adhesive (I bought the no sew ultrahold).

I cut out the silhouette, set it aside

I then ironed the fabric to the adhesive side for about 2 seconds on each section until the adhesive was bonded to the fabric.

Then on the paper side I drew two outlines of the silhouette, facing opposite directions

 Then I cut out my silhouettes

I pealed the fabric from the paper. There was a nice shiny layer on the fabric, it wasn't sticky or anything. I really wasn't sure how that part would turn out exactly. I was able to lay the silhouette directly on the fabric to measure and get the piece positioned exactly where I wanted it before ironing in place.

I ironed the silhouette to the pillow cover. Ironing each section for 8 seconds like the packaging directs. I did this part right on my dining room table instead of my ironing board so that nothing would get messed up with my measurements for centering the silhouette

The finished product ~

"My idea of good company is the company of clever, well-informed people who have a great deal of conversation; that is what I call good company." ~ Persuasion

My new pillows now situated in our living room.

Nate came home  just as I finished up the pillows and this is all he said "Jane Austen pillows? You're really girling up the place now." 

Yes sir, I am.  

"Life seems but a quick succession of busy nothings."  ~ Mansfield Park

Love,

Linking with ~

What's it Wednesday ~ Ivy&Elephants

Weekend Pickers ~

Hello, dear friends!

I went thrifting this past weekend on my way home from work. Every Friday for over a year I've passed the sign for Weekend Treasures Flea Market.  I just wasn't brave enough to go by myself without knowing anything about it.  I couldn't find any information online about it either. I actually just found out that they have a Facebook page. Anyway, I finally got up the courage to go by myself and it paid off!

The flea market is held in a big warehouse behind a storage facility. It's full of antiques and all kinds of  junk, sort of garage sale style.

My first find was this table for $7 ~ I love it because it's crackled all over already. I can't wait to paint it. I'll post a picture of how I fix it up in a another post.   

Next I bought this little blue dish for $1 ~ It will go in my kitchen to hold salt or butter

This was the only seller with a space set up more like a booth in an antique mall and not like a garage sale

I bought the wrought iron rooster for $5 ~ This is also for my kitchen.

The whole arrangement was super cute!

I didn't buy this little cabinet but I was very tempted. I had to stay on budget though!

There was a seller that had boxes prepackaged, if you will, for $5. This one was marked "Christmas" it was full of all sorts of junk. I dug through it and decided to buy it. 

The seller threw in the three books for free! I'm trying to collect all of  Victoria Holt's books and I also enjoy the other two authors, so that was a big score right there. 

I'm going to paint the ugly swan tray white and attempt a transfer image with freezer paper. Wish me luck! My last attempt was a complete failure!  

Twenty doilies, the cute green and white dish cloth, the vase on the table (we had the very same ones on all the tables at our wedding reception), 3 books, 2 pot holders, and the 6 champagne colored Christmas ornament were completely worth the $5 dollars!

I spent a total of $20 bucks which was exactly my budget for this little excursion. 

This whole thrifting thing does make me wonder about one thing ~ Is this how hoarding starts?!

Love,

Linking with ~ 

Frederik Meijer Gardens Visit

Hello, lovely friends!

We went home to Grand Rapids for Easter weekend, we had a wonderful visit!

Some friends invited me along to the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park ~

Waiting in line to see the Butterfly Exhibit

My friends daughter ~ so cute!

Crown of Thorns ~ Such a beautiful plant.

The Caterpillars

The  Small Postman

This was my favorite butterfly ~ The Common Morpho

The Tiger Longwing

This one with it's worn wings made us all sad...

My friends having lots of fun!

Banana Plant ~ I think it's pretty cool looking

We then went outside to roam the grounds and enjoy the beautiful spring weather ~

I'm not sure what this statue is called? 

My friend's daughter calls it "The Angry Mom" ~ ha-ha, I'm sure she's never seen her mother angry before...Where do children come up with these things?!

This so reminds me of the Secret Garden

The Farm ~

Playing on the farm

I loved the farm house!

I can't wait until my next visit to explore many more areas at the gardens!

Information ~

1000 East Beltline N.E.

Grand Rapids, MI 49525

Website ~ Frederik Meijer Gardens

Bathroom wall decorating

Hello, dear friends!

So, I decided that my plain bathroom wall above my toilet, yep you heard me, my toilet, needed a little decorating. So this is what I did ~

~*~

The picture frame looked like this before painting...

I bought it for around $3 dollars at a Salvation Army store with the frame that I used for my monogram burlap project.

I spray painted with heirloom white by Rustoleum ~ two coats. Then, I distressed the piece with sandpaper. 

I liked the color so much that I  didn't glaze it at all. The one thing that I did differently from what I normally do is spray it with Aleene's spray acrylic sealer in a gloss finish. I really like how it turned out ~ 

I found this cute print over at the Graphics Fairy. Check it out here. Isn't it adorable?! 

I just printed the design onto toile scrap booking paper.

I use any chance that I can get to incorporate my French heritage into my decor.

~*~

I also wanted to brighten up the spot with another burlap wreath. It matches my first one, but I only needed a miniature one this time. I originally linked back to Holly at Down to Earth Style and I'll do that again since she inspired me to make my own in the first place. You can see her post here. 

However, a few people have asked me what I did exactly.

I bought two yards of burlap in sage and white, I already had three yards of the brown. 

So far, I've made four wreathes and my sister and niece each made one. You can see those pictures here.

I still probably have enough for two more wreathes...

All I did was cut 1" X 12" strips

I then simply tied knots. I only tied knots around three of the rings to save time and material since I already knew I would have more than enough from before...

Since this was a mini wreath, the pieces were much longer than needed. I trimmed the entire wreath...twice actually.

This is my other decor going on in our bathroom. You've probably figured out by now that white, sage and brown are my favorite colors!

The pitcher is from Ikea for $7.99

The shelf I bought almost two years ago for $2 dollars. I painted it in cottage green by Rustoleum.

The cute hook is from Hobby Lobby for less than $3 dollars. I found it just a few days ago and got super excited since it really brings the whole pitcher thing together!

~*~

Well, that was my big project for the week. Now I'm on to making a copy cat pillow  from one of my favorite blogs (no sewing involved, lets not get too crazy here).

I also found some shutters instead of windows to paint and display over my newly painted shabby chic end tables. I'm still deciding on a color...any and all advice is welcome! Posts and lots of pictures, as always, to come soon.

Love,

Linking with ~ 

Romantic Home ~ Show & Tell Friday