Spring Cleaning Time!

With the nicer weather comes a change of season in our wordrobe.  This past weekend it hit me the cleaning bug.  My closet was over due for a good through cleaning. Out with the old and in with the new.  Time to replace some of those winter sweaters with spring jackets.  Here are some of the great organizing tools I used to make my life easier.  I love these shelf dividers.  They really help to keep folded clothes stay put.

Clear Shoe boxes are a  great size for so many things.  I use them for socks and undewear, nylons, small purses or wallets.  All kinds of things!  In a walk in closet you have to have a step stool just for the closet.  It makes it so easy to grab those things out of reach. 

 Here are a few items I would love to add to my organization methods. Bins on the floor to put hangers in or dirty clothes in, A great hanging bag labeled "Dry Cleaning", and of course some drawer dividers.

I feel 100% better after my cleaning spree I highly recommend it especially if your feeling crowded and overloaded.  There is just something about spring cleaning that really let's the sun shine in!

Sweet Little Homes

As I was driving home the other day I noticed we had a new neighbor moving in.  As the moving van sat out front I  noticed my new neighbor was busily putting in a new birdhouse.  I thought to myself, wow he must already be concerned about how welcoming the outside of the house looks.  Or maybe he was actually inviting some new bird friends in.  Since then  I have had birdhouses on my mind.  I love birdhouses.  Inside and out. There are such a variety in these sweet littles homes. The Birdhouse- not to be confused with a birdfeeder, the house being the place of inhabitance, is where they build a nest.. Just like our big houses where we nest and decorate our homes they are also creating a liveable, comfortable, green space for their family.

I think birds go for a simpler life style, you can usually tell the mini peoplehouses from the birdhouses.

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And sometimes the birds invite all their relatives to come live together.

Birdhouses have long been a decorative accessory for our backyards, and in more recent years we have added them to our front yards and  interiors. This year Decorative Birds are making a huge statement in design, check out Pottery Barn  as one example. This Spring, birds and their sweet little homes will be a great source for decorative inspiration, both inside and out.                                                      

And a few more fun examples of great birdhouse architecture.

Cute Easter Eggs!

I recently ran across this cute Easter Egg Tutorial at Retro Mama and thought I would share it with you.  Makes such bright cute Easter eggs for a wonderful centerpeice or on a side table.  I love it!

Fabric Easter Egg Tutorial

Materials:
10"w x 5"h Quilting cotton, linen or other non-stretchy woven fabric in one or more prints

Thread

Fiberfill, Nature-fill or other similar polyester or natural stuffing

Disappearing Ink Pen

Scissors

Pins

Hand sewing needle

Pattern (I recommend printing it on card stock for easy tracing)

Seam allowances are 1/4"

1. Cut out the pieces. Place pattern piece perpendicular to the fabric selvedge, trace the pattern with disappearing ink (see photo below) and cut four pieces from desired fabric prints. You may cut multiple pieces simultaneously from the same print by folding the fabric over one or more times, cutting up to 4 pieces at once. (Tip: If you're using a scrap and don't know which way the selvedge is, test which direction the fabric is stretchiest. The fabric is stretchier going perpendicular to the selvedge, and less stretchy going parallel with the selvedge; you want the stretch going from top to bottom of the egg, not side to side, so your egg doesn't get too "fat" when you stuff it. Hopefully that makes sense.)

2. Place pieces together for sewing. Always keeping track of which end is "up", place 2 fabric pieces, right sides together, pinning if desired. Do the same with the remaining two pieces. Transfer the two dots from the pattern to the fabric pieces on top. If using two different fabrics, make sure both pairs have one of each print and that the same print is on the top of both sets.


3. Sew a seam along the right side of one set of egg pieces, from top dot to bottom dot, backstitching at the top and bottom. Do the same with the second set of pieces.

4. Put the two halves together. Turn one set of egg pieces right side out, and place inside the other set of egg pieces, so that right sides are together on the inside.

Match the seams at the top and bottom and pin. (Note the purple ink marks on the lower righthand side in the photo below that indicate where I will leave a hole for stuffing)

5. Sew the two halves together. Sew around the outside edge of the egg, leaving a 1" hole on one side for turning and stuffing, backstitching at the beginning and end of the seam.

6. Trim the seam allowances, taking care not to snip into the stitches and leaving the seam allowances wide around the open hole.

7. Turn the egg right side out through the hole and it will look something like this

8. Stuff the egg firmly with poly-fill or other stuffing, and close the hole with small slip stitches/ladder stitches.

9. Voila! You have a completed egg

Hope you're inspired to create some Easter decorations!

Toile

I absolutely love toile patterns.  Toile (pronounced twol) is a colored single floral or line drawing pattern on top of a cream or white background.  I first really was awaken to the beauty of toile about 20-years ago when I saw a model home decorated with a green toile pattern in a kitchen.  It was the most beautiful kitchen I had even ever seen, maybe even to this day.So badly I wished I had taken photos of it.  I have not stopped admiring the many ways toile is used and how it has stayed a classic pattern since the early 1700's.  It was created by a french artisian "Oberkampt" and dates back to use in the homes of Kings and Queens. Often the designs are of peasants or royalty enjoying the outdoors Here are a few samples for you to admire.

These black and white toile pictures of my  master bathroom.  I put the wallpaper up 10 years ago and still love this design.

The Power of the Written Word!

Is your home decorated with the written word?  Words on our walls have become decoration to us,  a little more than the "Welcome" sign hanging outside the front door. In ancient times the "written word" was thought to have magical powers.  I 'm not sure its necessarily magical but the written word in our homes  is definitely powerful.  It tells people who we are and what we are thinking.  It often, spells it right out, that we think our home is a sweet place to be "Home Sweet Home".  These decortive words are meant to be silently read as reminders to us or as invitations to our guests.  I love the written word right on the wall, as the pictures below show.

Signs in our home interiors are an expressive, suggestive and fun way of saying of what we want in our lives  Homes these days have words on  pictures, on  pillows, or plates and even on  doors.

This trend stemmed from the advertising world. I think people are always looking for new ways to express their thoughts.  I think this fun and fashionable written word trend is here to stay a whle.Here are a few Powerful words decortaing my home.

In the home I grew up in more that 40 years ago, on the  door of our  bedroom that I shared with  two sisters had the words "Three Princess's" written on the door and each of our names written on our closet doors. The decortaive written word is still  a powerful design trend in 2010!

Wait for the Grass to Grow!

At Easter time ( only a month away) I like to plant grass in a container to use for a centerpiece or just a decoration around the house, inside the house that is.Once the grass comes up you can put flowers in it or it's a great place to put your hardboiled eggs to serve at Easter dinner. it's actually a pretty easy project anyone can tackle.  Here's what I did.  Find a container suitable for growing grass in.  An Easter Basket works very well or a flat basket.  This year I used a couple of small containers just to be different.  You will need any kind of grass seed,  some soil, and plastic.First line the container with plastic. A plactic bag works very well.   Then fill the container with soil, and spread your grass seed on top.

 The grass is going to grow a few inches tall so adjust your soil height accordingly. Next spread more soil on top, just enough to cover the seed.

 Water very well, and place in a sunny location, then the hard part......Wait for the grass to grow!  Water when you notice it drying, just like your indoor plants.  I usually leave the plastic until I have grass, then I trim it away.  The grass will start budding in about a week and in two or three weeks you will have a beautiful grassy backdrop for your Easter table decorations.   I'll show you my progress in a week or so and you'll see the magic happen.

It's so fun, I can't wait!

 

                                   

Blue

The color blue is such a comforting, and at the same time exciting color. It is the most used color is our homes.  The bedroom has always been a staple for the use of blue, because of it's calming quality. Finding it in the kitchen and family rooms is very common especially in Traditional, Country French, and English Country homes.

And the bathroom lends itself to using blue because of the comparison to water.

 And of course we often see blue in seaside homes wanting to bring the  feel of the water inside.

If your not sure what color to paint that accent wall  or furniture piece, blue may be just the comfort your looking for.