Ironing Board Makeover

I've had my ironing board for ten years, and although it's slightly bent in the middle (Peter decided it would make an excellent sledding hill), I am too cheap to buy another one. It fulfills it's purpose, which is to offer a surface to iron on if the urge should ever hit me to iron something. (This urge doesn't strike too often.)

The fabric on top, however, was starting to look pretty bad. It was getting to the point that I had to iron things on strategic clean sections of the board, in case the stains on the fabric set onto the shirt I was ironing.
It was rather like Yoga for ironing.

I remembered a great tutorial for making another ironing board cover and decided to try it out. I purchased some fabric which cost me about $3 and made a new cover.
The great thing about this tutorial is that you cut off the drawstring casing from the old cover and just re-sew it onto the new cover. This saves TONS of time. I think I was able to get the new cover cut out, sewn, and back on my ironing board in 30 minutes.
Now I can admire my beautiful ironing board. I consider it art, since it spends so much more time hanging up on the wall than actually being used.

Ah yes, the Art of Ironing. There is an Iron Age, why not Iron Art?

(Feel free to groan now).

Spring Buds

I got my very first Pottery Barn catalogue a few weeks ago (yes, my friends are all shaking their heads at my lack of shopping panache), and I was delighted to find so many great ideas in there! Just about everything in the catalogue was outside my price range, but a lot of the decorations were things I could make myself for lots less money!

One of the things that I knew right away I wanted was the spray of twigs table arrangement.
Now, I know that you can get the real thing by bringing the stems inside and "forcing" them to bloom, but that takes time and I'm too impatient. My way allows me almost instant gratification combined with being able to reuse the stems.

To start, you'll need a small selection of branches. If your branches are to thick and woolly, thin them out a bit. We want the airy and delicate look, not the "I-haven't-shaved-in-weeks" look.
Plunk or place your stems into the vase of your choice. I secured my stems into a glass hurricane vase with a judicious amount of rocks, but you can use whatever you like. It's easier to glue on the flowers artistically if you know exactly where they're going to go on the stems. That way you can burn yourself in a more exciting way. (I have a love/hate relationship with my glue gun. It's a phobia of mine that I've never gotten over.)

Get about two bunches of flowers (I found Dogwood blossoms, yay!) from the Dollar Tree or wherever you want, and cut off the bottom nubs.
Insert rant here: For my sake, stick to flowers that actually grow on tree branches. Daisies are pretty, but I dare you to show me a horticultural example of a daisy in a tree.
Then you just start gluing the blossoms wherever you like! Don't make them too close together, and don't put them all at the end of the stems. Also, it's a good idea to rotate the arrangement to ensure that the blossoms aren't all facing the same direction.
If you have a few extra blossoms, scatter them inside your glass vase or around the base of a vase that isn't clear.
Finally, place your beautiful new spring arrangement on top of your piano that is sadly in need of a good dusting. Enjoy how sophisticated it looks with the echoing repeat of itself in the mirror. Feel smug. Then go bandage burnt fingers.

Aviary Throw Pillow

Remember this fabric? Well, one of the things I made with it was a nice little throw pillow for my bed.
I sewed a nice red trim to the edge to mimic the red accents in my bedroom, and used a coordinating fabric for the back.
The pillow is almost too big for a throw pillow, so I used two buttons sewn together through the middle of the pillow to help hold the stuffing in place so the pillow wouldn't end up lopsided after awhile.
The buttons were a bit of a pain to sew on because I only had a regular sized needle, and a longer needle would have made the process easier (and resulted in fewer finger pricks!). I am glad I did it though, because the buttons add a nice contrasting texture to the pillow.

The Primal Urge

JoAnn Fabrics is a very dangerous store for a crafter. To walk in unprepared is like asking an alcoholic to go to a liquor store for change.

Dangerous in the extreme.

So there I was, innocently walking into JoAnn's for some $1.50 thread, when a three bolts of fabric vaulted off the shelf and wedged themselves mercilessly into my shopping cart. Despite my best well-intentioned efforts, they stubbornly refused to budge and I had to resign myself to taking it home.
(That's my story and I'm sticking to it.)

Perfectly attuned to my recent bird fetish and bursting with a cheery yet subdued spring palette, this fabric called to me in a Primal Way. (Yes, the capital letters are necessary.)
I bet you never knew that fabric appeals to the latent Primordial Urge in crafters. Ever since the first cave man dragged his cave wife home by the hair and she began her domestic wedded bliss by hanging draperies, the appeal of fabric has lingered on in our genetic tissues.

I had to buy the fabric. It was Meant To Be. How can you argue with genetics?

Aldi's Flowers

My family just loves the grocery store chain Aldi's. (I think my Aunt Erna would be a spokesperson for free.) To say that something comes from Aldi's is tantamount to it having a golden seal from Good Housekeeping.

Anyway, Aldi's always carries really nice flowers for such a cheap price that lately I've started adding two bunches to every grocery list. The flowers last a good two to three weeks and really brighten up the house!
Two bunches costs around $8 and makes enough for one really nice full bouquet and a smaller bouquet for the piano or bedroom. In the winter when everything is dreary, it's so nice to have a touch of color!
(Ignore the knitting bag in the bottom corner of the photo. Knitting is a diva and likes to be in on every photo shoot.)