Mounting Roman Shades

When mounting roman shades they can either be inside or outside mounted. The type of window will usually determine which way would be the best. If you don't have enough room to mount inside but you still want the look of an inside mount shade then you can mount them directly on the molding as I did in these two examples.

If you want a structured shade the rings are spaced horizontally about every 10" apart as in the above shades.

For a "relaxed" shade the rings are only placed at the outside edges and that gives you the scoop at the bottom like the romans I made for this dining room. You also permanently tie up the bottom 3 rings so there is fullness when the shade is down.

Pillows With Iron on Transfer

My project this weekend was new pillows for the family room. I've been wanting to bring in some lighter colors to the room and I thought recovering pillows would be a good way to do that. This is my pillow template. It is great for cutting out squares that are square and the really great thing is that you can see the pattern on patterned fabrics to make sure it is centered.

I bought some iron on transfer paper at AC Moore so I could add a design on the pillows. After hours searching on the internet for images, I finally decided on crowns and flourishes with a retro stripe. I found lots of Victorian images but I wanted something fun for this room. I printed them and then ironed the images onto my sunbrella fabric and added some bullion fringe.

Here they are in their new home.............. Zoe approves !

I'm posting these at BNOP for Metamorphosis Monday.

Painting a Chest

One day Grandmama Stitches showed up on my doorstep with this lovely hand painted chest from a Chelsea House sale. How lucky am I ? It was really pretty but Everything in my LR is gold/brown and it was just feeling way too dark. It had a heavy crackle finish on it and there was no way it was coming off without some serious sanding. So I decided to go for a leather looking finish.

It was missing one pull so, I'm on the look out for another one....... or 2 matching ones for the top drawers.
Step 1: Spray with Rust-oleum Heirloom White (which was probably a wasted step because the crackle was so heavy)

Here are my helpers.......... and by helpers I mean my son carrying one side of the chest saying, "Mommmmm, why do you have to paint everything!"

Step 2: Paint with some BM semi gloss white I had for another project.
Step 3: Lightly sand edges.
Step 4: Rub with Minwax Bombay Mahogany stain and Valspar Mocha glaze.

Here it is with it's new aged leather finish. I brought in some cream pillows and a cream throw to help lighten the room.

I'm linking this with Miss Mustard Seed's Furniture Friday so head on over and look at all the projects. She even has a prize for the winner, how sweet is that ?

I'm Back From Paradise and Fabric Giveaway Winner !

We spent Halloween on a cruise with 100 of our closest friends. It was a lot of fun but it sure seems good to be back home. Here is Mr Stitches saving me from monsters ! I missed my bloggy friends and I'm still trying to get caught up with all of your posts.

I said I would do a fabric giveaway on Halloween but I was in Paradise with no phones and no internet so I'm a few days late.

I started this blog 3 months ago with no idea what I was doing and it has been such a rewarding experience to teach myself and to learn from all of you.

I am so blessed and grateful to have 59 followers that I am doing the fabric giveaway now !

By roll of the dice, the winner is .................... Its So Very Cheri !!! Congrats, I know you will do something fabulous with it. I will email you your choices.