table covers and a new room

remember when i posted this cabinet last week? well, it has sparked a complete dining room re-do and i am so excited. i went to our super special fabric store in town a few days ago for inspiration and it might possibly be my favorite place. this isn't just your average fabric store that carries patterns made by big corporations. no sirree. this fabric store carries all the big names... amy butler, anna maria horner, heather bailey - the list goes on and on. the store goes on and on as well with an assault of color wherever you turn!

back to the dining room - i have decided to paint the walls antique white and bring all the color in as accessories. above are 4 fabrics i chose to brighten up the space. from left to right, the first 3 are anna maria horner fabrics while the last, scallop pattern is by tula pink - a new to me designer. it is often difficult to mix and match different designers' fabric, but i think the scallop print compliments the other 3. in my opinion, they were made for each other.

the tula pink print will line the back of the white cabinet and then i big plans in store for the rest of the fabric.

this is a mock up of a crazy quilted table cover i came up with. we have a 5ft round mahogeny table in the dining room and when you include the chairs, the entire look is a bit wood heavy. i love the table and chairs, but really want to soften it up this time around. the quilt will be slightly smaller than 5 feet in diameter which means it will not hang over the table as tablecloths usually do. i will also use very low loft batting when pulling the quilt together so it won't be too puffy. i am so excited to start sewing and i hope it comes out exactly like i have pictured in my head. as every one well knows, this doesn't happen all the time :) however it turns out, i will be sure to document the progress with lots of before and afters.

thank goodness the munchkins have camp next week - between painting, sewing and hanging new crown moulding, my days will be packed!

mayarts and a new opportunity

it's official - i am now part of the mayarts design team. woohoo! thanks for everyone who helped me along the way :)

i really am so excited about this opportunity. truth be told, i still need some clarification about what my position really involves (haha!) but i know it will mean getting my hands on some  amazing ribbon. i am toying with the idea of adding a separate tutorial page to my website since i think that section will be getting filled up awful quickly. if i can get my act together, look for it in the next few weeks...

blue and pink or maybe purple

i can't believe it has been so long since i posted a ttv photo. so for your viewing pleasure, here is a bloom from my gigantic hydrangea bush in the backyard. the blooms this year are so huge and plentiful that we have had bouquets in the house for weeks now.

the other day, i asked my husband what he thought about trying to change the color of the blooms next year and he looked at me like i was crazy. "don't you like the blue?" he said. well of course i LOVE the blue, but there is something so magical about being able to change the color of a flower. a sprinkle of this and a sprinkle of that onto my soil and my yard could be sporting pink blooms next year, i can't imagine not being intrigued by the thought!

cabinets and curbs

it is no secret among my friends that i have an extreme need to rescue any piece of furniture left on the side of the road. no matter if i have room for it of not, that cast off is going home with me and i will do my best to refurbish it.

i recently scored a beautiful cabinet with a hutch and it is a real beauty, i promise! my friend had this cabinet in her dining room for as many years as i have known her. they moved last june and it didn't fit into the new house, so for a year, it was banished to the back deck to soak in rain water and wind damage. the thing is, i absolutely love the peeling paint that the water damage created. a slight ooh and ahhh from me and it was mine (little did my husband know :)

the munchkins and i went to work flaking off all the loose paint. then i mixed up a bleach/water solution and scrubbed it free of mold and debris. it will be a bit tight, but i am going to put it in my dining room as a storage unit for my new cake stand collection. the bottom of the cabinet originally had 2 doors, but since one broke, i am going for the open shelf look. this is where i am going to place some vintage quilts and bridge tablecloths that i have inherited from grandmothers. have i told you about my bridge tablecloth collection? that might be another post altogether ;)

hopefully full photos will come shortly, but since this little cabinet has actually sparked an entire dining room redo, only time will tell the actual completion date!

sweets and summer

summer has officially begun in my household. the little munchkins of georgia got out of school this past friday (some even the friday before) and we immediately went into celebration mode with pool parties galore. i love making my munchkins an end of school treat, but with my littlest being gluten-free, my dessert recipe list has severely thinned down. this year i went with a quick and simple gluten-free cupcake and all were happy!

after a few parties, we headed out to our friends house on lake martin in alabama. i have been spending summer weekends here for the past 10 years and absolutely love it. when i was packing this time around, i was looking for a craft to take, but suddenly decided against it. may was such in insane month that i really needed to take a few days to do absolutely nothing. and absolutely nothing is what i did!