Pillow Imperfection

Girls, this is not the place to find a sewing tutorial. Let's just say that right now!

However, I recently wanted to make some pillows for my new family room. And I wanted them to have zippers, because, you know. Kids. Husband. Barf. Me=Klutz. Hello, washing machine!

I felt relatively confident to try and make zippered pillowcases because this blue material was probably $4 at a garage sale. Love it! (And I washed it on a steaming hot cycle first, don't worry!) So if I completely messed it up, no harm done.

I think you'll agree that these zippers are not pretty. No one will be asking me to make their wedding dress anytime soon.

The houndstooth fabric was a little pricier. We bought extra when we got our new chairs covered in the same fabric. It was a little scary to sew it, but at the end of the day, what good does it do me if the fabric just sits in my closet? The zippers are far from perfect, but...

...who cares? They get the job done, and now I have pretty pillows in my pretty new family room! So if you're thinking about tackling a project, but are afraid to "mess it up," I say go for it. You know what The Nester says (and it is so true): It Doesn't Have To Be Perfect To Be Beautiful. Amen girl!

I Love Me Some Vinyl Letters!

Baby Henry was born 91/2 months ago. I can barely believe it. But back when he was a newborn, my blogging friends The Twins (like how that is their official title?) Fran and Fern asked to send me a gift for him. How sweet are they? Of course it took me about 6 months to get a post office box, and then another 2 months to get my act together once I received the gift.

Finally, girls, I did something with this wonderful gift! They sent me some truly adorable vinyl letters and other fancies. They usually go on the wall, but because my walls are textured, I was worried about that. So I decided to do something else!

See my new "Little Cowboy" sign? That's a cheap-o pine board from Lowe's. I painted it cream, and then just stuck the letters on. Worked like a charm!

Afterwards, I used some wood stain (Dark Walnut from Minwax) and also gave it a bit of sanding along the edges. My husband drilled a few holes and added the rope.

They also sent me this sweet little pony. I didn't have another pine board, but I did have an old piece of scrap wood from another project. Gave it the same treatment as above, and I just love it!

Can you believe how nice people are in this little blog world? A HUGE thank you to The Twins for their sweet gift. And I can highly recommend their vinyl letters if you are in the market for something unique for your home. Check out their blog, Twice as Nice, if you're interested!

Easy Holiday Potpourri

I meant to share this with you all last week, but the giveaway kind of took over! However, as I sit down to write, my house smells wonderful, so it's the perfect inspiration.

Next time you're at the grocery store, pick up these easy three ingredients: oranges (or little clementines work well too), cinnamon sticks, and whole cloves. Peel an orange or two and allow the peels to dry (you'll use the peels only, not the fruit itself). Put all three ingredients in a pot and cover them with water, then simmer on the stove. Sit back and wait for your house to smell amazing.

Bring on the holidays!

Hubby Picked Fifteen

Congratulations to Commenter #15, Janet of JBoo Adventures! She has won my giveaway for the Minted cards. Janet has an adorable daughter Maddy, and I've been reading her blog since my early days of blogging. Yippee for Janet!

Thank you all for participating! I will be back next week with some more fun stuff to share. See you soon!

Time's Up!

Ooops! I went out to dinner last night with my husband and forgot to close the comments at 10 p.m. Oh well...a few of you may have gotten lucky and snuck a comment under the wire. Good for you!

I will announce the winner later today and be sure to let the lucky girl know! :)

Stationery Giveaway!

Are you all ready for a giveaway?

Now that Halloween is over, I am all about Christmas ideas. I've been working with an amazing stationery company called Minted. Have you heard of it? They were recently featured in Real Simple, and with good reason. Their stuff is adorable! Check out a few of these kids' personal stationery lines that they carry.

Hello, adorable little girl flowers:

Or this dinosaur? Love it!

If Nina didn't already have some stationery, I would be all over this preppy little giraffe:

Do you want to see which one I chose? I picked something for Henry, because, you know, he sends lots of mail. How cute is their packaging?

I could not resist this pale blue and chocolate brown combination. And the little train at the bottom? Precious!

OK, now that I've convinced you of the cuteness of Minted, how about a giveaway?

Just head on over to their website (click here) and check out all the different options for kids' personal stationery. Then tell me in the comments section which design you like the best, and the winner will receive 25 free kids' stationery cards. What better Christmas gift for someone small in your life? (Or, let's be honest, for the mama of someone small...we are all suckers for cute stuff like this for our kids!)

So, go check out the cuteness of Minted and let me know which stationery line tickles your fancy! Wa-hoo! I love free stuff!

I will close the comments on Friday night at 10 p.m. and draw the winner at random. Good luck!

Still Recovering

It's Monday morning and I am still working out the kinks from Halloween weekend. How many of you spent most of trick-or-treat night trying to get just one photo where the kids are actually looking at the camera and smiling?

As you can see, my efforts were only partially successful. And yes, those were spots on Henry's little face. However, by the end of the night he looked more like a dirty hobo than a cute dalmatian puppy. And it was all we could do to convince Nina that elephants don't have whiskers. (Do they?)

This makes me very afraid for the Christmas card photo. Very afraid.