Vintage linens pillow

Update: Linking this project - one of my personal favorites! - to the "Oldies but Goodies" link party at Nancy's lovely blog, Do Small Things With Love. Hope you'll click through and see all the "oldies'! 

I'm linking this sweet little project to Saturday Night Special over at one of my favorite blogs, Donna's Funky Junk Interiors. Please click through for a ton of wonderful ideas! 

Awhile back I purchased a handmade girl's skirt at the Salvation Army thrift store, not because it would fit me or because I have a little girl (my little girl is almost all grown up!)  - but just because I liked (okay - LOVED) the sweet lavender fabric with the pretty violets.

This week I decided to use another of my great-grandmother's hand-stitched pillowcases, and pair that with my violet fabric to make another of my vintage flap pillows (click here for the tutorial!). I have several of these pillow cases, but on most of them the front side of the fabric is badly stained from years of use. This pillow design allows me to preserve the pretty stitching. For this pillow, I was able to also use the back of the pillowcase as backing for the pillow itself, making this one extra-vintagey! (I swerved slightly off the path on this one, too, because I stuffed it with loose fiberfill rather than a pre-made pillow form.) 

I do have some other pillow ideas in mind, but this one turned out so sweet and allows me to enjoy Great Grandma's handiwork. And, bonus: I only used the front panel of the skirt, so I still have enough violet fabric to make something else.

Tea and Roses - a second blogiversary!

Who was it that once said, "I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV"? Neil Patrick Harris, perhaps, who played Doogie Houser, MD long before he became the master of the Bro Code? Or perhaps it was Hugh Laurie? (Did you know Dr. House was British? It's true - check out this totally Monty Pyton-esque sketch from his early career!) Or maybe it was Gregory Harrison who was quite the hunkalicious MD... in the... um... 80's. Yeah.

Anyhoo, all this speculation is simply to point out that I'm not a tea hostess, but I play one in Blogland. Okay really, I don't even play one. But I do like to collect beautiful teacups, dainty cookie plates, and curvaceous teapots, and I really wanted to congratulate Sandi over at Rose Chintz Cottage on the second anniversary of her lovely Tea Time Tuesday link party.

So even though I didn't set a table for tea, I did gather some pretty rose-covered elements to share.

Tea to the English is really a picnic indoors. ~Alice Walker

Remember the tea kettle - it is always up to its neck in hot water, yet it still sings! ~Author Unknown

The perfect temperature for tea is two degrees hotter than just right. ~Terri Guillemets

A woman is like a tea bag - you can't tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water. - Eleanor Roosevelt

All true tea lovers not only like their tea strong, but like it a little stronger with each year that passes. ~George Orwell

Never trust a man who, when left alone in a room with a tea cozy, doesn't try it on. ~Billy Connolly


Congratulations, Sandi - here's to another year of Tea Time Tuesday! 

Update on Home Goals - yes, already! I KNOW!!

You know how sometimes you take a few minutes to go back and read through some of your past blog posts, admire your handiwork, chuckle over some of your more clever turns-of-phrase... wait, no? Surely that's not just ME...

Anyhoo, I'm getting ready to launch my li'l blog's Facebook page and I wanted to cast a critical eye over it to see if it's ready for prime time. I happened to take a quick pass-read through my Home Goals for 2012.

Turns out, I've actually accomplished something already this year - and it's only been 11 days since I laid out my goals! I'm pleased to report:

#2 - Basement laundry area - We prepared some bleach solution and sprayed it all over the walls of the cinder block shower stall, killing the mold and preparing to scrape it off.

#3 - Closets - The hardware on the floor that guides the sliding doors has been replaced on three of the four! I'm confident Closet #4 will be completed soon.

#4 - I cleaned the master bedroom, and changed the sheets. The counter on both these tasks now starts over at zero. My mother-in-law would have been thrilled, given her opinion of my housekeeping - which, oddly enough, is an opinion shared by me.

#6 - I've been infusing my conversation with references to re-doing the kitchen ("before picture" shown above), because this one will cause a major disruption to the household and Mr. Piglet will undoubtedly be called in to help. Or, he will see me doing something 'wrong' and will step in to volunteer his assistance. I've brought home some paint color samples, and I found this very re-assuring post from Remodeling Guy detailing how to re-finish kitchen cabinets using spray paint.

I am very encouraged by all these developments. How're you doing on YOUR home goals?