THEY'RE BACK.....

THE WARM METALS
Gold, Copper and Brass have made a comeback. 
Some of you are still trying to rid your home of all the brass picture frames, lamps and doorknobs - and here it is - back again...  But it does have a new look and that's the important part when adding these metals to your home.  The gold is burnished, the brass is antiqued... take a look and see if you feel like living with these metals again.... and then mix one of them with a silver metal or a black or bronze - because we really are just that relaxed now - nothing has to be matched - but maybe limit the number of metals in a room to 2.

What do you think?  Notice how the metals all mix and play together...?  Can you handle a little gold,  brass  or a little copper to warm up your metals?

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EASY SEASONAL PILLOW FOR HALLOWEEN - a tutorial (sort of)

So I was feeling a little lackluster the other day.

I've had a very busy season and I was feeling like I needed a little time off -

even if it was only a few minutes.

I decided to stop at HomeGoods to have a quick look around - 

relax a little - (retail therapy)....

Halloween was in full force.  

I found an awesome Halloween garland of little black and white felt skulls 

that I will put to good use next month.

As I was browsing through table runners, I saw this one.

I thought that colorful embroidered design on the end would make an awesome pillow.

Actually, with the design on both ends, it would make 2 great pillows.

I decided to buy it and see if I could grab a few minutes 

to make something kind of special.

The runner had this great black piping above the design, a perfect finish for the top of the pillow.

Check out the great details on this design - the embroidery, the beading and sequins.
This is very nicely done.

I would have to pay a pretty penny to purchase a pillow like this at Pottery Barn.

In fact, I have paid a pretty penny for Seasonal pillows at PB.

Here's the finished product,

and how it was done...
(I love this, by the way)

First, I cut through all layers of the runner, about 1/2 inch above the black piping (top of pillow).

The lining provided the perfect backing for the pillow - no sewing required - and a nice black piping all around is a great finishing edge for this pillow-to-be.

I happened to have a perfectly squishy pillow form that fit nicely.   

You could use polyester stuffing if you weren't able to find a pillow form the right size.

(Mine was actually a little larger than the pillow, 

but the length was good and it was soft enough that it still fit snugly inside.)

Once I had the pillow form inside,
I folded the raw edges under 1/2 inch and pinned the top edges together to close.

I used a heavy duty thread, and whip-stitched the edges together.

It only took a few minutes, and it was done.

So cute in my living room!

This was pretty simple and with the runner having this design on both ends, I have one to give away!

That's about $7.50 a pillow (not counting the filling).

This was by far the cutest Halloween runner I found, but I'm keeping my eyes out 

for some great Fall and Christmas runners to turn into pillows!  

WINDOWS, WALLS, CEILINGS AND FLOORS.....

OR JUST CEILINGS, TODAY...

so, maybe not all at once, but in trying to plan ahead on the blog, I decided to talk about the 6 walls of your home - counting floor and ceiling, of course - at least a couple of times a month....

Don't you love walking into a beautiful room, taking in all the fabrics, the paint, the furniture, the lighting, the flooring, and then looking up and seeing more beauty?  

NEW WALL COLOR...

 NOTHING DATES A HOME FASTER THAN COLOR......

If I were to say forest green and mauve

you'd think early 80's

dusty blue and pink?

90's

gold, tan, green and red....

early 2000? 

so what color trend will our current decade be remembered for?