Burlap Signs

My sister's wedding reception was held in a local clubhouse. The setting was gorgeous, but there were a few unsightly plaques on the outside doors stating things like the clubhouse hours which didn't really set the right mood.  So, we wanted to cover them up. Kellie's theme was garden party, and we had burlap a plenty.  I used some of it to make signs to hang in front of the plaques.  

I think the signs ended up looking gorgeous.  I made 4 signs with freezer paper stencils, burlap and grapevine branches.  If you have a cutting machine, it would be super simple to make the stencils.  I don't, so I made them by hand by tracing the design onto the freezer paper and then cutting it out with scissors.   I stenciled "Kellie and Brett", "Together Forever" and a monogram that my sister created for the signs at the front door.  Then I attached a grapevine branch to the top and hung them in front of the plaque. 

My sister created a candy bar for the party favors, so I made a "Thank You" sign to hang above the candy.


These little signs added such a cute decorative touch.  Kellie plans of displaying the signs by framing them in funky colorful frames to put in her new home.

I've linked up to: Today's Creative Blog and House of Hepworths

Burlap Flower Pots

At the same Relief Society Activity that I made the lemon curd tarts, Helen, one of the other women in the planning committee, made these gorgeous table centerpieces.  She planted these cute spring flowers in basic terra cotta pots. Then she simply wrapped them in burlap.   I think the burlap adds such a charming cottage garden feel.  Love it!

Dining Room Table Runner

 This has been a project a LONG time coming.  I had an extra length of fabric from my curtains when we lived back in Wisconsin that I was always planning to use for a table runner.  Well, a couples moves and 4 years later, we are in a new house. I still love the fabric and I purchased it again for my curtains.  Only with this house, I used this fabric for all of the curtains on the main floor since I have such an open floor plan.
 But, I still had this perfect amount of fabric left over for a table runner.  I just never got around to sewing it up.  I have way too much ADD when it comes to sewing and crafting.  However, this spring I've got a little Finish Decorating Fever.  I want to finish adding all the little touches to my rooms so that my place looks cute and put-together instead of half-way done.   So yesterday afternoon, I whipped up this table runner.
This was actually a very quick and easy project.  I love how it ties in my mismatched colorful chairs and crackle-finish table.   This glamorous custom runner is the perfect juxtaposition to my very casual table and chairs. It just makes me smile!

 After I figured out my desired width, I folded and ironed the edge under. 

 Then I cut a piece of white muslin just smaller than the width of the runner, taking into account my seam allowances.  With right sides together, I sewed the 2 pieces together forming a tube.  Turn it right-side-out and press. 

 Now it looks like this.  Nicely lined with a great finished edge.  Then, I tucked the top and bottom edges under, pressed and sewed shut. 

 Next I took some tassel trim and sewed it to the edge using matching thread and the longest stitch on my sewing machine.  I stitched along the stripe where the brown meets the blue on each side.  I think you have to look really hard to find the stitching.  Perfect!

 Adding the trim made this runner look more formal and polished. I love it next to the shabby-chic crackles on my table.

 I just love this fabric!

 This is what I was using as a runner before.  Just a plain, tan cotton runner from Ikea.  Boring. 

It makes such a difference and adds a huge finishing touch to this area of my house to finally have a beautiful table runner.  

Window Treatments. Finally!

I have finally made curtains for all the windows of my main floor! Hooray!

I love this fabric; its the second time I have used it.  I used in my kitchen and powder room of my little cape cod house in Milwaukee.  I loved that cute little house.  It was an older home and as such had many small little rooms.  I painted each a different color  and had different fabrics for curtains throughout.
Well, my house here in Colorado is much larger and has a very open floor plan with a very tall vaulted ceiling in the living and dining room area.  The walls are painted the same warm taupe throughout, and with the layout and ceilings, the main floor kinda has to be the same color everywhere.  So, for the sake of unity, I wanted to have the same fabric for curtains throughout too.

I made these long panels months ago, but forgot to post!  I had several windows to do and making panels for each out of a solid length of this fabric wasn't really in my budget.  So, I bought these white panels at ikea and added the fabric band at the bottom and then in tabs at the top.  This way, I get to have the fabric I love within my budget.  I also really like having the white fabric.  With so much taupe everywhere and then most of my furniture I painted blue or green, I really like having the pop of white!

For the kitchen and breakfast nook areas, I just made small bands that I clipped to the curtain rods.  In these rooms especially, I didn't want to block the naturally light with a ton of fabric, so this was the best option for me. Its a pop of my color scheme to unify the house without taking away from the windows.

And it turns out that I really don't know how to take a nice photo of a window!  I have tried for days at different times and different lighting, but I just could get a good pic of any of the windows with the curtains.  Rest assured that my window treatments are a hundred times cuter in real life than here!