Roses, Wreaths and Burlap Leaves

A few weeks back, it really was time for Frosty to go home.  Even though the weather was anything but April-like, I needed a spring decoration for my front entry and these 25 yards of burlap ribbon rescued from my local Goodwill store for 99¢ needed to be used... and burlap is in, right? The green seemed to match the lime green of my front door, so I made a wreath.

I followed an easy tutorial here to make the burlap roses.

Not 100% sure how much I love the new wreath.  I question the proportions... a little small I think.  It works for now, however I better hurry on my next entry decoration anyway.  With the help of the sunshine, the burlap ribbon is quickly fading to it's natural jute color!  Thankfully, it was all very easy and inexpensive!  Anyone need some inch and 3/8ths spring green burlap ribbon?  I must still have 15 yards of it!

Happy creating!

A Sham for Sharon

I finished a project last week that I've been working on for a while.  My friend Sharon asked if I would make a pillow sham for her.  She's an occupational therapist and has taken on a new kind of job traveling all over the country for temporary assignments in hospitals.  She's been in the south, Washington D.C. area, and New York among other places.  It's the perfect thing for her at this time.  What an adventure - seeing the sights and making friends all over the country! 

Sharon asked me to make a sham so she could have a piece of home with her no matter where she finds herself.  She gave me carte blanche, which can be a dangerous thing... if you're like me.  When pressed, she said she liked birds and thought perhaps a two sided sham could be seasonal.  

Birds?  Seasons?  Complete creative freedom?  I said yes.

I am obsessed with homey Granny Chic these days 

and my 70s fabrics were calling my name.

Add a few doilies, embroideries, birds...

plenty of ingredients for a two-sided pillow sham.

I wanted a patchwork and needed to lay it out

on the computer to get the right balance.

(I'm visual on top of visual.)

Any good Granny Chic piece is going to have embroidered words.

Finding the perfect poem by Victor Hugo for Sharon and her current situation, 

I stitched it onto a piece of vintage linen.

"Be like the bird in flight... pausing a while on boughs too slight,

feels them give way beneath her, and yet sings,

knowing that she had wings."

I moved and moved the lace, the bird, the swatches,

the doilies, the embroidery around for the longest time

until I was satisfied with the layouts for both sides.

I had to pack it up for Christmas, so this is when the computer layout

became the key with stapled corners of the fabrics.

Yes, I am sloooow at these things, but the sham is now finally finished.

It is lined in cotton and opens on either end with 16 matching

mother-of-pearl buttons I was lucky enough to find in my collection.

After considering big mismatched 70s buttons of blues and yellows,

I decided to let the shell buttons calm down the overall design instead.

The warm side.  Summer and fall?

A beautiful old piece of embroidery.

A bird applique cut from a vintage tablecloth. 

It was fun to create this sham.

I hope you like it, Sharon.

And I hope you enjoy pausing

on your latest 'slight bough'

in Rapid City, South Dakota.

See you the next time you wing your way home!

A Trio of Pots

Succulents - what the heck?  Are you suddenly seeing them everywhere like I am?  I have to admit, I  like the colors and how easy they are to grow- it's like, "Oh yeah, maybe I should water these sometime..."  And who doesn't love the idea of trying to make a living succulent wreath.  So, to start off, I went over to my local garden nursery to check out what they might have.  Sure enough, they had a lot of cute little succulents in various shapes and colors for $2.49 each and bigger ones for $4.99.  I was smitten, so I bought a few to plant up some old collectible pots that I had in the basement.

These three colorful cuties looked perfect in this

turquoise McCoy pot where a clay sparrow came to nest.

And that will be perfect sitting next to Sissy's Christmas cactus in this cream art deco (probably McCoy or Hull) pot along with the last pinky green succulent in a Haeger green leaf pot.

Three

Three fun finds.

Three 35" vintage cotton fabrics.

Three yards or more in each bright piece.