Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Pillows!

My couches have been looking a little bare to me lately - after having such a pattern, I guess. Anyway, I saw this and was sooo inspired to make pillows for my couches! The day before Thanksgiving - I hit Goodwill and came home with old pillows, three shirts, a big fitted sheet and a pillowcase.

Just a quick thought about buying pillows used. I am generally very hesitant to buy things like this used even if I'm going to recover them because you just never know if you'll be able to get them clean or if they came from a home that had smoke. But, I had priced the pillow forms at Wal-Mart and can just tell you that was out of my budget. I decided to take a risk. I bought 8 pillows and all but one worked out beautifully. At $1.99 each - this was so worth the risk.

When I brought the pillows and fabric home, of course I plopped everything in the washer and dryer before doing anything else. I had two of each of these ~ aren't they lovely?!

One pillow I loved as-is, but the rest I just figured out as I went along. I really did not have preconceived ideas or a big plan. Pillow by pillow, I just got creative with each one as I got to it.

The quilted pillow on the left is the one I found already made - I love it!
The other two shown here were made out of shirts and some trims I already had.


These two are fun and yet so different from the other side! I love that they each have their own personality!

The pillow on the right is a vintage-y looking pillow case that ties closed with some ribbon I had on hand.

The front pillow is from a fitted sheet and the gray ruffle swirl is from an Old Navy shirt!


The smaller couch holds my very favorite pillows!

I made two the same for this - one for each side: also out of the fitted sheet and with the gray ruffles coming from the same Old Navy shirt {Goodwill}.

I think the little birdie pillow is my very favorite of all! It was the last idea I came up with and the one that I've oohed and aahed over ever since.

This one was made out of a skirt that I used to wear and I'd cut it up before, but still had part of it in my stash. The birdie template can be found here. Another thing I love about this pillow is that inside it is the "give thanks" pillow I showed a couple of days ago with our Thanksgiving celebration. Since the cover just ties on, I can take it off in the Fall and use it for a cute seasonal pillow and tie the cover back on when I'm finished!


I'm loving the difference this made on my couches and the extra fluff it brings to my living room. I spent about $30 on eight pillows, three shirts, a sheet and pillowcase and ended up with eight pillows to enjoy!

What do you think?

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

A Dreamy Thanksgiving Part Two

As I mentioned yesterday ~ I've wanted to have Thanksgiving Dinner outside in years past and am so grateful for David helping me make this a reality this year! He is so good when I say, "I have an idea!" Thank you, David for supporting my ideas and helping them become reality!

Of course, I took a zillion photos to capture the beauty! It was an absolutely perfect day - no rain, a slight wind to keep bugs at bay and 68 degrees - I thanked God numerous times for creating such a perfectly beautiful day and for the opportunity to enjoy our meal outside!

So sad that Emily wasn't feeling well and did not feel like joining us outside. We missed her!

Tablecloth was inspired by this and made from leftover couch canvas!
Placecard Inspiration.
Give Thanks banner printable.
Burlap Thanksgiving printable. I just put it in one of the frames I keep current photos of my littles in - no need to buy a new frame just for a short time of using it!
Twine Candle Holder Inspiration.
Napkin Ring printable.


David's mom and brother joined us, I only got a picture of one of them - oops!


What do you have for Thanksgiving dinner?


We had:
Turkey & Gravy
Stuffing {box of Stove Top}
Cranberry Sauce
Twice Baked Potatoes
Green Bean Casserole
Rolls
Pumpkin Pie and Real Whipped Cream


Under a canopy of leaves turning yellow:

I will never forget this wonderful day!

Monday, November 28, 2011

A Dreamy Thanksgiving Part One

Wednesday and Thursday of Thanksgiving week were so fun! I was in crafty, decorating, styling, cooking heaven! And, since it is still November - it seems to be too early to talk about Christmas stuff or maybe it is just an excuse to keep going with Fall!

Either way - here are some pictures of our Thanksgiving celebration:

Thankful for You Breakfast:
I made our traditional Thanksgiving breakfast and had so much fun making it pretty and sharing it with a sweet friend and her family! I took a ridiculous number of photos of her breakfast :)


And, we enjoyed the same breakfast!


After breakfast, I made pumpkin pie and made it cute with inspiration from here:


Ok, one more thing for today and then I'll finish up tomorrow. Have you figured out yet that we ate outside?! This is something I've been wanting to do for several years but for one reason or another it hasn't worked out. Yippee! It did this year! And, I loved every minute of it!

I moved out this rocking chair from our screened in porch and earlier in November, I made a little pillow {with leftover drop cloth and a Sharpie} via this inspiration.


More tomorrow!