Master Bedroom

So it's been a year since we moved into this house. My decorating goals when we moved in were to do the main living area and our master bedroom first. I'm just now finishing up the master bedroom, but I am really loving it! It started out like this:



I really wanted to see the bed "front on" when I walked into the room. The only way to do that was to put it in front of the window. I also ordered this hotel bedding that my husband and I both loved. I thought this little nightstand would be cute, but it was way too small. I was definitely not loving it so far.

I thought I'd love it when I got the perfect nightstands and drapes.

So...this is what happened next:



Still wasn't feeling it. I like to mix styles, but this just wasn't the right mix of styles. After getting advice from friends and designers, I decided the bedding just wasn't working for the bed. AND, I needed to move the bed away from the window.

I started looking for bedding sets that had some grey/silver in them to tie in the mirrored nightstands. As they were, they weren't working with the bed either. About 6 bedding sets lateer (bought and returned), I decided upon this one and I LOVE it!



One of the colors in it is almost exactly the Glacier Blue by Pottery Barn. So I got these drapes to see if they looked good. I was in love!

The euro shams that I could order with the bedding set were the grey of the background on the comforter. I didn't want to go that dark, so I found these at Tuesday Morning.



Next on the slate was paint. I got some foam board at Michaels and painted it a shade darker and a shade lighter than the curtain fabric. I set them around the room in different places to see how I liked them.









I decided that darker was too dark and the lighter was too light! I thought I'd just match the curtains exactly when it was time to paint.

The next thing we did was intstall the chandelier that I bought on Overstock. Thanks so much to our friend Quinton for helping my husband intall it!



Now I bought this after searching Overstock for a long time. I loved that the drops were spherical and not teardrop crystals. After I bought it, I was searching the Pottery Barn website and found this:

http://www.potterybarn.com/products/bellora-chandelier/?pkey=cchandeliers

Wow!!! Let me tell you - it is about 3 times more expensive than the one I bought on Overstock!

Anyway, while our friend was here helping install the chandelier, we roped him into helping us move the bed, too. What a difference it made!!!

Now that I had all that done, I decided to start painting. I did a little bit of the room first, just to see if I liked it.



Raymond was not too fond of it. He said I painted our bedroom Baby Blue. It is not Baby Blue. It is "Tradewind." :-)

I love it!













Next order of business - my lamps were too small. Found these at Homegoods. Oh my goodness, I love that store!





Yes, those are the tags - haven't cut them off yet. Had to be sure they worked first!

Then I needed some sort of seating in the open corner by the window. I found these at Homegoods, too and fell in love!!! Keep in mind - the table and lamp won't be staying. I just put them there to get an idea of an arrangement.







Now I just need to find all of the accessories and wall decor to add the finishing touches. I've been given a lot of great ideas, but I could always use more. Feel free to give me your opinions!

SEW fun!!!

So...I've been sewing a lot lately! I'm going to say that's the reason that I haven't posted in ages. ;-) Earlier this year I made a decision to start sewing more of the girls' clothes. So, I bought a TON of patterns on etsy back at the beginning of Spring. I've been slowly working my way through making all of them. It takes a long time when you have to make 2 of everything!

I have taken pics of all of my projects. Some of them are on the girls and some are just on hangers. :-)

I think these were the first dresses I made this year. The girls wore them with cream turtlenecks and tights when it was still cold and they wore them as sundresses after it got hot. The versatility of a pillowcase dress can't be beat! I got the pattern for these at this etsy store - http://www.etsy.com/shop/froglegsandponytails





I loved these dresses because they were a little different. The pattern had the option to make short sleeves or 3/4 length sleeves. I made these 3/4 length so they could wear them in the early spring when it was still cool. Unfortunately, the etsy store from which I purchased these patterns is no longer available.





These are the girls' Easter Dresses. I think they are one of my favorite things they have ever worn. Maybe I'm just really proud of all the effort I put into making them! The pattern for the dresses came from this etsy store - http://www.etsy.com/shop/KustomKidsBoutique. The pattern for the flower pins came from here - http://www.etsy.com/shop/fabricboutique







These little rompers are just to die for cute! I won't lie, they weren't a piece of cake to make, but they were well worth it! They were especially difficult because I wanted the patterns on the fabric to match up at the seam on the front, so that required a little more work. Thanks to my MOM, the ever-so-talented-seamstress, I figured it out. I ordered this pattern from this etsy store - http://www.etsy.com/shop/patternsbyfiggys





Pillowcase dresses have to be the easiest things to make that are SO cute!!! I ordered these true vintage pillowcases on ebay. It took about 1/2 hour to make one of them into a dress. I love them!









These cutie little dresses were a cinch to make. I ordered a DIY kit from this etsy store - http://www.etsy.com/shop/AmybugsOriginalStyle. The pieces were all cut out and numbered, ready to sew! I really hate all of the prep work that sewing requires, so this was so fun for me! And at $15 a dress, I thought they were a steal. Thanks to my friend Becky for letting me know about these!





These adorable little yo-yo flowers were enclosed and already made for me! All I had to do was sew them on the finished product.

My little turkeys!

Not long after the Gift Gallery, I became inspired to start doing some real sewing for my girls. In the past I've "made" them outfits by just embellishing already made clothing. I decided that I wanted them to have some "boutique" looking outfits for a fraction of the price. So, I ordered several patterns off of Etsy and got to work. These skirts were my first creation. I did applique the turkeys onto already made t-shirts, but I made the entirety of the skirts myself. I thought they were super cute! And, of course, so are the girls wearing them if I may say so myself. :-)





















I'm collecting shirts and fabric so I can make these to sell in next year's Gift Gallery!

By the way, in case you didn't notice, I have another new post right under this one. Two posts in one day - CrAzY!!!

Hiatus

I'm sure everyone has been devastated that I've been on an extremely long blogging hiatus. Well, prompted by my sweet cousin Ashley (I had no idea that she even read my blogs), I have decided to try and do it again! Maybe not too often, but more than never. :)

Ashley wanted me to do several catch-up posts to let the world (or my 3 readers) know what I've been up to. So, I'll try. They may not be in order - I'm just going to do them as they come to me.

The biggest thing that I've done since my last blog is move! Yep - we moved into a different house in the same town. I'm sure I'll have a lot of posts soliciting decorating advice really soon.

Anyway, shortly after we moved in, my mom, sister and I took it upon ourselves to host (in my new home) a holiday bazaar. We called it the Gift Gallery. It was so much fun! Lots and lots of work, but so fun! We had around 8 different vendors selling a variety of really neat items - most of them handmade. Here are some photos from the event:




































We had so much fun and had a great turnout for our first time. We are already working on plans to do it again next year!

Stay tuned - I'll probably be posting several catch-up posts in the next couple days. And, by the way, if you actually read my blog, I'd love for you to leave a comment so I know you read it. Thanks!!!