Jackson turns 5!!

Jackson turned 5 and we had a magician come for his party. It was a blast!!!

Jackson even got in on the act!

How do you even learn to ride ? And then, juggle?

Wow, that's a lot of candles to blow out!

Happy boy - just the way I like him:)

Julia helping to open his gifts. What a good big brother!

Moving onward and upward to the master bedroom

During my marathon pillow making, my hand-me-down 20 year old Singer machine broke. So, here's my super shiny fancy new Viking Emerald 183 machine. It is AWESOME! I can do the basic sewing now but it comes with 2 two hour classes to teach you how to use the machine - SERIOUSLY! WOW! I'm seeing many future projects - one day making dresses for Julia. If you told me even a month ago I'd care about having a sewing machine, I'd think you were crazy. But, I've got the bug to sew! It's fun to see what I can do and I LOVE picking fabrics.

And, here are my choices for my master bedroom. I'll be doing reversible euro pillows with the stipes and floral using the green/white circle fabric for cording and for a center 22 in pillow. The blue geometric will be a 14x36 lumbar pillow in the front. I was inspired by Sarah's House (a HGTV show that is about Sarah redesigning rooms). It's going to look fabulous! Can you tell I'm ready for Spring!!

Family room pillows completed

Finally, I finished the family room pillows. I love them! Most are reversible making it easy to change things up some.

I only have one of my two chairs because one was delivered with a broken leg. Once I get the new one and make my curtains for the bay window, I'll some the finally product. Oh and I'm waiting (seems like it'll never come) for warmer weather to spray paint some vases etc for the shelving that flanks the fireplace.

Kitchen window valence

Here's the before

Gorgeous fabric with all the right colors and more of a cool tone to off set my never ending warm color palate.

I cut a 1x4 to the length on the window. Because I'm hanging it above the casing, I included the wood casing into the measurement. I purchased 1 yard of fabric but you could definitely get away with 1/2 yard especially if you didn't want to pull up the fabric to far.

I sewed drapery backing to the right side of the print fabric on the 3 sides the flipped it like a pillow to create clean lines. I used the whole length of the fabric (I believe it was 50 inches) and created a pleat on each side as you can see below. Then, you staple it into the wood board and hang with L-brackets. Easy enough and very inexpensive. These cost several hundreds if purchased.

I used small plastic circles that I sewed to the back in 2 inch increments to create a roman shade effect. You could buy wood to fit the inside of the window encasement (I probably use a 1x1 board) and use the circles at the far corners to create a totally different look.

And, here's the finished product. Plus, a new shiny fancy faucet:) Next to come is a tile backsplash. I'm thinking of a creamy subway tile with some distressing of the tile edges. Hope I can find it. And, despite pleas from my decorating partner in crime, that job will be left to the professionals. Sorry Deb!

Recovered lamp shade

Old shade wasn't bad but just not quite right for my family room transformation ( which is progressing slow and steady).

Here's another shot of the before shade with Jackson as the lamp base.

And, here's the final product - ta da! I love it! Happened upon this brass lamp base at a thrift store for about $35 -score! It's even a 3 way light. I love the new fabrics golden thread detail and metallic hues with the brass. My husband HATES it! As one of the interior designers said to me while I was choosing fabrics, "that's the sign of a good find". True that!

It seemed like this was just a meant to be project because I found this detailed trim in the perfect colors for 39 cents/yd.

And the cutest decor in the house (along with Jackson), Julia was saying "cheese" while I was documenting the new changes. She's in her favorite PJs - the ball game ones:)