Grands Room

During the remodel, hubby and I decided to make one of our bedrooms a room for the little guys(aka grands).  With four daughters, we are thinking we will have several grands and thought bunk beds would be a good way to sleep several.

My New Kitchen

Here it is the after pictures, which means the kitchen is totally finished!  Woo Hoo

Curtain Project

Mood Fabrics has opened up a whole new street level in their retail store in New York City, this level is dedicated to home dec fabric.  To celebrate this new dedicated area, Mood Fabrics gave the MSN bloggers an opportunity to sew a home dec project.

At first I turned this down but thought it through a bit.  I have been trying to do a bit of updating in our master bedroom which is very nice but very monochromatic - blues and browns.  Lately, I have just been craving color

 Each month I budget a small amount to do some updating.  Last month, I purchased glass pulls for the furniture (actually they are acrylic) and this was a great update.



Remember my two-color quilt?  Well, that is in the bedroom now and really looks good with the blue walls.

So the offer from Mood came at a perfect time, I did have to put money with the allowance and it was more than what I wanted to spend but the fabric is so worth the over-budget, I will just skip next month.

I had the girls help my look for fabric on Mood Fabrics' home dec section of the website and here are the swatches I ordered

1. Coral Herringbone


2.  Pink Checkered Cotton Canvas

3.  Graceful Garden Floral

4. Orange Swirls

5. Geometric Ikat

 I am going to make 4 curtain panels, easy sewing but it will have big impact.

So my question to you, which one did I pick?  Did I go with the floral, one of the geometric ones?

New Built-in Shelves

Introducing new  upper shelves and a fresh coat of paint on the old golden oak bottom cabinets, once again proving the power of paint.  This project has been going on since February but well worth the wait!

Here is the built-ins before, hubby made the bookshelves and the bottom cabinets are stock cabinets.  You can see how the TV sat in the shelves on the right.  Yes, old style huge TV.
This picture is old, there has been a new wall color, new couches, new chairs and new drapes but this is the only picture I could find of the entire wall.

a close-up of the oak shelving

We took down the corner cabinets and had a cabinet maker build symmetrical shelves and some molding to make the flat screen TV appear built in.

I knew I wanted a white color to paint all cabinets and Paige (my oldest) has had really good luck with Sherwin Williams Pro Alkyd Interior paint on all her woodwork.  Next up was the color, I just did a search for Sherwin William white and came up with Thistlewood Farms' Six of the Best White Paint Colors and went with her choice, Alabaster.

It is mostly white with just a hint of cream.

I cannot express how much I love this whole look.  Eliminating the corner cabinets from our wall of built-ins, just opened up the wall so much.  Then the TV on the wall, gives me back the mantle and I can  decorate that area again - hurray!!

But above all the white color, just adds so much to the room.  My cabinets are now modern and not the dated golden oak.  The amount of brightness in the room is remarkable.

I had the electrician put the plug in for the television a bit high.  This results in the TV up a bit and the wire showing (HDMI cables for dish box, DVD player and wire for the surround sound) , I put some paint on the wires and that helps disguise it.  (oversized this last picture - click on it to see in full view)

Behind the TV is just the wall, but the cabinet maker suggested to paint that area with the Alabaster. It gives the appearance that the back wall is part of the built-ins and custom made.

My cabinet maker friend did a fabulous job and something my husband could not do and partly didn't have any desire to do.  It did take a couple of weeks for me to paint all the cabinets but worth every minute.  I love, love the new look.

In fact, several people at Mother's Day said they never knew the family room was a  light blue, with the white cabinets the blue color really pops.


linking to

Link Party Palooza

and

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Meredith's Bedroom - New Paint

Meredith loves color and girly girl colors.  So I was not surprised when she picked a coral with a hint a pink for her new room color.

The last new paint on her walls was October 2010 and she went with a brown, thought it went with her newly painted furniture.

Kaitlyn helped her with the first coat and I helped with the second coat.

 

It makes a world of difference for her room and it looks so much like her.

The quilt on the bed and the two on the foot of the bed were made by Meredith.

Sewing Room - New Paint

You might think this will be a decorating blog this week, but I spent most of the weekend painting rooms and things at my house.  Which means, I am sharing it with you.

I am starting with the last thing I painted (with the help of Meredith).....my sewing room.

It is a bright green but such a refreshing color

Happenings

It has been busy here at my house, sewing mvoing, painting and family.  I just thought I would do a little update and WARNING ..... it is a long update.

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As you know we celebrated the little guy's first birthday,

He loves his new car from Aunt Paige and Uncle Jesse (we laugh at this, like Full House).

  I also wanted to show you a picture of my hubby, Mike, he doesn't make an appearance here very often.


He did not like his cake at all

Kaitlyn and Meredith made this cute cake for his party.  They found the how-to through Pinterest.

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I just finished a Butterick 5526 Blouse

 from  Mood Fabrics' this lightweight suiting

Which I had ordered to make a blazer but it is much too light for that.  A blouse is perfect and I found the antique gold buttons, they looks fabulous - pictures soon.

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In the sewing room, I purchased another table from Joann's this one is for Meredith.  I used a 50% off coupon and it was $75, well worth it.  One cutting table was just too crowded with two people sewing and Meredith usually had a quilt laid out for piecing.

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Erin, Chris and the little guy moved into their new home last week.  They moved in with us on  July 27th and moved out February 27th.  None of us could believe it had been 7 months and I know it was wonderful to see the little guy each day.

Since they moved out I have been putting things back in  rooms and closets and working on a project.  Mike rolled his eyes, but I told him it has been 7 months with no painting or projects around here.

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The project....I have this wall of built-ins in the family room and that is the focus of my project.  I thought I had taken a picture of the built-ins last week but I cannot find it.  Here is one I found on the blog from several years ago and many changes in the room.  It at least gives you an idea

We took down the corner cabinets, a friend made new bookshelves and a frame to mount the television above the mantle.  Then I am painting all the cabinetry.

Here is a during and I cannot tell you how much brighter it is in my room.  This is going to take sometime to complete but it will be worth it.

Primer only on the cabinets

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I want to say thanks to Carolyn at
 Diary of a Sewing Fanatic
 and all her hard work.  She had a blog post titled "My Top Ten Sewing Blogs"
and asked for comments on your picks.

She then worked extremely hard from the comments and compiled
"Your Top Ten Sewing Blogs"
 and wow what a list.

Then she added one more post
"Honorable Mention Sewing Blogs"
which I am excited to say, Girls in the Garden made this list.

Isn't it amazing how many sewing blogs there are out there?  I just love finding new ones to add to my list.  So take a look at all three of these posts, you will find some great sewing blogs.

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Then I received an email from bloglovin, which read

Wow!

Girls in the Garden just  reached 800 followers!

I can't believe I am over 800 on bloglovin' and I checked Feedly - 483 there.  Thanks so much for subscribing, I really appreciate it.

I would love to know how you found my blog, so If you could leave a comment.

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Also, don't forget the Quilt Giveaway post, I am celebrating my upcoming 8 years of blogging (started in August 2006) with a giveaway a month through August.

The quilt is the current giveway and the drawing will be March 10th.

Okay, I think I have covered it all.

Christmas Ornaments

My girls and I are always ready for Christmas movies on the Hallmark Channel.  The first one of the season for me was, The Christmas Ornament.  In this movie, one of the supporting characters tells the story of their ornaments and how so many of them are from gift shops, marking the events of their life.

Later in the weekend, I was putting up a tree in my dining room.  This tree is metallic and red ornaments, many of them angels.  In previous years, I have had help with this tree but this year the twins just wanted to relax during their break from college and the older two girls have family trees of their own.  I understood and started a new chapter, decorating this tree by myself.  At first I was a bit sad, then as I was pulling out the ornaments, I remembered all the events that were connected to the ornaments.

Here is one my brother brought me from Europe,  when he studied abroad, many years ago.

Then my brother and his wife had made a very special  ornament painted for us.  My sister-in-law called one snowy morning and said, "don't go outside for an hour."  She didn't say why but we did as we were told.

After seeing the ornament, I realized the importance of not disturbing the snow.  My brother took a photograph that morning.

Then there was the trip to Disney World, with the entire family, Paige included.

From the gift shop at Ellis Island on a trip with Erin

With the twins at Mount Vernon

Add to this some angels

And I have a tree full of memories. If this is not enough memories, the family room tree is amass with memories.  More trips, school events, first Christmas, ones I have made (sewing and cross-stitch)  and many more.

What about you, do you have a favorite ornament?  An ornament you like to make as a gift?  Do you like to watch Hallmark Movies, too?

Be Thankful

I really enjoyed my Halloween window and porch display throughout October but I really need change out the window for something with a Thanksgiving theme.


I wanted something quick and easy and cheap!
A sign was the answer

I went by my local lumber yard and purchased a scrap piece of plywood.  At my lumberyard scrap pieces of plywood are cheap, it was a nice surprise.

My first step was to spray paint the outer edge

After the outer edge was dry, I taped off the outer edge and painted the center

 I cut vinyl on my Silhouette and applied it to the sign.  It was pretty easy and simple.  One exception it had been so long since I used my Silhouette, it was like relearning the software!

One more project, a thankful banner for my hutch

That's it for Thanksgiving, I can't believe the Christmas season is right around the corner.