Tuesday, May 31, 2011

79 cent Pillows!


When Mike and I found out that I was expecting, it almost didn't seem real. My belly was about the same size as before, I had no immediate cravings for ice cream and pickles, and I didn't even feel nauseous...

...and then it hit me.

My first sign of pregnancy.

I began to hate the color red.

This was pretty tragic considering I had red accents throughout my whole house... like the red curtains in the living room, and a red throw on the sofa, and a red printed rug on the floor, and the red Coke tray on the coffee table...you get the idea, it was pretty sad.

Instead of overreacting and removing every single red item from my home, I took out all my aggression on a single item...my red shaggy carpet from college:)

 It was promptly rolled up and carted off to goodwill before I could even give it a second thought.

Feeling much better about things, I began to think more realistically about my dilemma, and although I still had a strong desire to bathe my home in cool colors (blues, whites, and greens), I decided to let that transition take its own sweet time:)

SO...in the meantime I have been trying to work with my current color palette, starting with the sofa in the living room, which until today has been sporting pillows from October!

Here is the before:

See what I mean?!? Definitely not ready for summer.


While I was at Ikea this past weekend with my girlfriend Jess, I found these great little dishtowels for only 79 CENTS EACH!!!



I knew right then and there that they were the solution to my out of season pillows. So I bought three of them, hung one on my oven door, and did this with the remaining two:

First, I ironed them, to remove the creases. Then I ironed them in half, so that the edges matched up perfectly, and the seams faced outward.



Then I pinned the side and bottom of the perimeter, making sure to line up the top and bottom layers perfectly.



Next I sewed the side, bottom, and about 3 inches of the other side.



After turning the pillowcase back to right-side out, poking out the corners, and stuffing it with polyfill, I pinned the remaining few inches, and sewed the opening closed:)





It took less than an hour, and the result is this: aren't they cute!?!



Here is the before and after again:



They are still a little lumpy since I opted out of making a pillow form and stuffed them directly, but I kinda like the homemade look they have, and I figure the lumps will work themselves out as we use them!
Also, since they are so little, I am toying with the idea of making a nice big pillow for the middle of the sofa out of some leftover dropcloth canvas that I have, and then experimenting with fabric painting some nautical stripes on them...

we'll see:)

For now I am happy with my summery pillows replacing the out of season"fall motif" pillows, and I have satisfied my need for crisp cool colors in my living room...for today anyway:)


Apparently Sadie liked them too, because after about two minutes of watching me snap pictures of the sofa, she decided to try them out!


:)


The Lettered Cottage

8 comments:

  1. You make that look so easy! You always were great at stitching up awesome pillows. You should take pictures of the ones you made a long time ago with the ribbons from Austria. More expensive to make, but totally beautiful :)

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  2. Found you through The Lettered Cottage link. Very cute! I turned a couple cloth napkins and a couple regular pillow cases, I found at Goodwill, into cushion covers for the throw pillows on my couches. I love them! Total cost was about $3. Love that too! : )

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  3. Hello there!

    Nicole, it was super easy, next time your in town I will show you how:) and about the Austria pillows, I can't belive you remember those!! They are long gone I'm afraid;(

    Catie, I'm so glad you enjoyed my post! Isn't it the best feeling when you complete a project using either goodwill/other inexpensive finds?! I checked out your blog earlier...it's adorable!
    Please be sure to keep checking back in the weeks to come, I would love to see a familiar face from time to time!
    :)

    Hope you both have a sweet summery night!

    Sincerely,
    Adriane @ fruitfulhomejournal

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  4. Hi Adriane, Thanks for visiting my site. I am now your newest follower! I love the posts you've done soo far. Oh, and congratulations on your pregnancy! Oh exciting! When are you due? ~Catie

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  5. Hi there Catie,
    Thanks for your encouragement on my posts, I am having so much fun dreaming up what projects I want to do next:)
    And thank you for the congratulations:) I am due November 5th, so I am almost at the halfway point! Mike and I cannot wait to be parents and are absolutely loving this time of preparation...some days I think his case of "nesting" is just as strong as mine..hehe...

    Thanks for becoming my newest follower! I'm so excited!

    -Adriane @ Fruitfulhomejournal

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  7. Your new header looks great!! I'm constantly changing things around on my blog and trying to figure new things out. I am so NOT a computer person, so it's pretty amazing that I created a blog, haha.

    That's funny you're due on Nov. 5th, my birthday is the 4th! Anyway, take a peek at my blog once in awhile. I need to keep at it and post way more often. Have a great night!!
    ~Catie

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  8. You should definitely post more often! The sunburst mirror that you made turned out beautifully and I am sure you have other projects up your sleeve that we would all love to read about;)

    I am very much not a computer person either, so this is a learning process for me as well:)It is such a feeling of accomplishment when you figure something out on here...isn't it?!

    Hope you have a great day!

    -Adriane @ Fruitfulhomejournal.blogspot.com

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Hey everyone!!
Thanks so much for visiting my blog, and feel free to leave a message!! I would love to hear from you!

=)Adriane