My Sewing Room

Hello, Sweet Friends - 

I hope you enjoyed a wonderful weekend! 

It has been very hot here, 

so I have been staying inside

where it is cool.

I have finally finished my 

sewing room makeover
so follow me up the stairs

and let's take a peek! 

This room is my private sanctuary, 

high on the second floor, 

facing northeast.

It gets lovely morning light.  

My two daughter's grew up in this room, 

and I have kept some of the furniture

and artwork to remind me of 

those precious childhood days. 

This is where I spend peaceful
moments sewing in this special
room full of memories. . 

As part of my
sewing room makeover,
I sewed curtains

and a chair slipcover

out of vintage sheets. 

I made the tiered lampshades, too, 

and I will show you how in a future post.
They are so easy!

I was so happy to slipcover
 my very ugly desk chair! 

You can see what I mean, 

but it is the most 

comfortable of chairs! 

I simply made an envelope to fit the back rest, 

sewed the 'seat' to the front of the envelope....

Then sewed a gathered skirt around all. 

(I basted it in place before sewing.)

I found the instructions on Pinterest! 

Simply type in 'slipcovered office chair'

and you will find the directions for 

any style chair! 

Don't you just love Pinterest? 

I used a vintage sheet with a soft drape

for a romantic cottage look. 

I sewed this little cushion out of a vintage silk

hankie and trim. 

It has a small muslin bag 

of home-made rose/lavender 

potpourri inside. 

Next to my sewing table my daughters'

 dresser holds fabrics and notions.

Underneath, a large lined basket holds
sewing patterns. 

An old painted soda crate holds spools of thread. 

The tiered server displays my collection

of porcelain trinket boxes - most were
treasured gifts. 

These are perfect for small notions and findings.

A small basket of threads on wooden spools.
The oval 'painting' is a reproduction flue
pipe cover.

In the summer during Victorian times,
wood burning cast iron cook stoves
were moved outside to the
 open air, covered 'summer' kitchen
(it would be too hot to cook in the house)
and the open flue pipe needed covering.

My Dad told stories of growing up
on his Grandfather's 800 acre farm
and my Great Grandmother cooking
in her 'summer kitchen' for all of the farm workers
(Including her husband and sons)
every morning.

Breakfast was the biggest meal of the day
and a typical menu consisted of baked ham,
fried potatoes, biscuits with gravy, eggs,
fruit and coffee.

Hand pies were always made up of the previous
day's leftovers to bring into the fields for lunch,
along with biscuits and fruit.

Dinner was the remaining roast leftovers
with lots of potatoes and creamed vegetables.

Pie was always baked for dessert
and leftovers served for breakfast.

My Great Grandparent's had 15 sons,
(no daughters), - all named after presidents.

My Great Grandmother was 4'11" with fiery red hair.
Not one of those boys dared to cross her
and they all loved her to pieces.

xo

My eldest son, Gabe made this shelf

for me as a school boy.

It holds special treasures.....

I recently painted it 'chippy' white

and added rosebud wallpaper to the back. 

The wallpaper was from 

my daughter Heather's 

nursery.

Above the dresser,
remnants of childhood tea sets
reside on a miniature shelf.

The only thing broken in the 2001 Nisqually Earthquake
was the spout to the miniature teapot!

I glued it back together with a note inside
explaining the break.

Ramblin' Man brought me home this miniature
flower cart music box as a gift from one of his travels.

The chicken in the basket is Limoges.
It belonged to my Dear Mother.

Under the window
rests daughter Jennie's doll crib. 

It serves as a perfect place 

to drape fabrics and 

store current projects,
 and sometimes
I find my cat Maggie
sound asleep inside.
xo
This can be quickly moved to make room for
a grand-baby's portable crib.
xo

Sweet planters received
when my children were babies, rest
 on the windowsill above.

A vintage store display rack
holds some of  my sewing,
crochet, and crafting books.

Wire racks hold jars of buttons
with painted lids and
 a 'button bowl' for sorting.

This one has handy hooks.

Vintage children's book illustrations

 by Jesse Wilcox Smith.

A favorite saying was
a gift from a loved one.

As part of the makeover, I sewed a skirt
for my craft and sewing table.

I used stick on Velcro around the edges
of the table and sewed the loop tape
 to the gathered table skirt.

I can store my plastic totes under
the table, out of sight.

'Project baskets' can be moved,
 if I need more room
on the table.
A vintage sheet with a thin drape kept this
skirt from being too bulky.

I can take the skirt off if I need to store
 the drop-leaf table away,
or for washing.

This was my kitchen table for many years.
The whole family and a few friends could fit around it.
Now it is perfect for cutting out dress patterns
and for working on projects.

This Victorian painting above
 the table is my very favorite.

We had two fat ponies like this when
my 4 children were young.

Ours was their 'forever' home.
xo

Another Victorian painting of
ponies and children hangs
over the dresser.

At the other end of the room,
I have a free-standing metal 'closet'.

The curtain is another vintage
sheet, but this one is heavy and thick
with a ruffled edge.
The weight holds it in place.

I simply folded the edge of the sheet over and

sewed lengths of twill tape at intervals to tie 

in place. 

Behind the curtain, straw bags

 hold crochet and craft projects,

and clothing waits to be altered. 

Lined baskets hold my collection of vintage linens.

Baskets and old enameled refrigerator dishes
hold supplies on top.

A vintage magazine illustration.
of children on ponies
hangs above.

The ad is for sewing notions.

I 'antique'd' all the frames
 in this room pale
colors, for a 'cottage' look.

More Victorian art with painted frames.

As we come back to my sewing table,
a child's armoire anchors the corner.

The television has been in this room
since my girl's were teenagers.
It still works fine!

More books inside.....

Can you have too many?

Perhaps!

I need a proper bookshelf
and it is on 'the list'!

The large cat doorstops belonged to my Mom.
I found the kitten to add to the collection.

The hatboxes hold seam bindings,
zippers, rick-rack, etc.

My 1930's wooden ironing board sets up here.

I hope you enjoyed spending time in my
little sewing room!

I really enjoyed your company!

Now, when I tell you I have been sewing,
you will know where I've been!


xoxo

Today I am linking with Stephanie @
 The Enchanting Rose - Roses of Inspiration
and
My Salvaged Treasures - Vintage Inspiration Party
and
Julie's Lifestyle - Cooking and Crafting with J&J link-up
Won't you join the fun?

Faux Concrete Message Boards

I have been doing a bit of organizing included

in my spring cleaning, and noticed that

my hallway message boards were in need 

of a make-over! 

This is what they looked like! 

Not very pretty! 

I took down everything posted and filed 

what I wanted to keep. 

Then I got to work! 

It was a beautiful spring day, 

so I brought my work outside.

Can you see Weenie Baby lying in the sun?

Old shower curtain liners make great 'drop cloths'. 

I sanded the wood frame lightly. 

I painted the cork board with Delta Ceramcoat acrylic paint, 

in 'Rain Grey'. 

The grey painted cork looks just like concrete! 

The cork soaks up the paint, so I needed more than one 

2 fl. oz bottle per board. 

Even if the cork board is slightly damaged, 

the paint will cover that up.

I used a 1 inch paint brush.

Whitey Bear lounges nearby :)

I let that dry completely, then used painter's tape

to protect the edges before painting the frame. 

I used the same brand of paint in 'North Sea'

and a smaller artist paintbrush. 

I also painted wooden tacks the same color. 

Sticking them into corrugated cardboard made that easy! 

I wanted to 'dress up' the tacks, so I used blue 

buttons that I had bought by the bagful at the craft store. 

I simply glued them to the top of the tacks with Krazy glue. 

Aren't they pretty?

My favorite colors. 

Here you can see the tacks and the faux concrete 

look to the message board. 

So much better! 

These message boards were both thrifty finds. 

I chose colors to compliment the colors

in my hallway. 

The walls are painted a very soft aqua. 

This hallway leads to the stairway and is

directly off my kitchen. 

I use it to store folding chairs for 

extra seating when my whole family

comes to visit. 

There are usually 10 of us, or more

with friends. 

The stair landing is a mini art gallery

for my 'Posie Paintings'. 

The octagonal window looks out onto the deck 

and gets late afternoon sunshine. 

The hydrangeas are from my garden. 

I painted the small chest years ago 

with kitchen sponges cut to the shape

of petals. 

I keep family photographs inside. 

The milk glass compote is a 'wedding jar' given 

to my Mother by my Father for a 10th wedding anniversary.

They were married 58 years. 

The painting of sweet peas 

in a blue canning jar was another gift

from my Father to my Mother. 

She saw it in an art gallery, fell in love

 and my Father surprised her with it. 

The doorstops were also hers. 

I love having these little remembrances

of them and their love. <3

Peanut follows me back....

I might paint these frames, 

what do you think? 

Shabby Chic white? 

Now I have a pretty place to keep all those 

lovely invitations, thank you cards, 

and other sweet things too pretty to hide away. 

I hope this inspires you to give your message 

boards a pretty upgrade. 

Just a little paint, a few tacks and buttons, 

and you can turn that Plain Jane cork board

into a stylish faux concrete message center. 

xoxo

(I receive no compensation for mentioning name brands on my blog xx)

Today I am linking with: The Enchanting Rose - Roses of Inspiration

and

My Salvaged Treasures - Vintage Inspiration Party