Navy Friday and Some News...

 

Happy Friday everyone!  And I wanted to share some news- I'm 22 weeks pregnant!  We are thrilled to be expecting a little boy in early January.  You'll have to excuse me, I think this is one of the reasons I've been a bad blogger lately, I've been slightly distracted. We've had a few complications along the way, which were especially nerve wracking because of our past experience, but for the most part I'm feeling great.  I hope you'll stick with me as my family grows... I'm excited to have you along for the ride!

*And in case you're wondering, yes, I had to bribe Navy with some bacon to get this shot. 

Homemade Art

Now that the pillows have been completed, I've been meaning to switch out the old artwork from some picture frames in our living room.  I got these awesome Larson Juhl picture frames for free when I used to work at House Beautiful.  They used to frame the magazine covers in our office, but when we moved to the new Hearst Tower we got to keep them!  It's a great score... normally these frames could go for hundreds of dollars.

I like that they have a large matting so I can rotate them with standard size pictures.  These are old travel posters from a Cavelleni & Co. calendar.  But the colors do not go with the new pillows.

So I took inspiration from this photo on Pinterest (by madebygirl)...

And broke out my cheap $8 watercolors...

And created these.  Let me preface, I'm no artist.  But circles are easy enough, and abstract art is totally wing-able.  (Is that a word?)

Plus everything looks better framed.

Not too shabby for a 15 minute project.

Ahh, much better.  Color can be refreshing.

New Pillows

I hope everyone survived the hurricane this past weekend.  Luckily New York City didn't get hit nearly as hard as they were expecting so we were safe and sound in our little apartment.  Between the hurricane and the earthquake, it was quite a week!  Anyway, I finally got around to making some pillows for our living room so I wanted to share them with you.

Months ago, I bought some Thomas Paul fabric from Calico Corners.  I didn't even realize that it was the same pattern as these pillows that I posted about back in 2009 until after I bought it.  That design must have been ingrained in me! 

I loosely followed these instructions by Isabella and Max Rooms.  Unfortunately I didn't end up using a zipper, although it looks easy enough.  I cut the fabric to the size of the pillow insert.

And then I made a contrasting navy cording to go around the pillow. 

Next, I sandwiched it in between the two right side facing pieces of fabric.  And pinned it together.

Then I sewed the pieces together and trimmed the edges.  You'll notice that I can't sew in a straight line for the life of me but it still worked and you can't even tell once you flip the pillow right side out. 

Doesn't the pillow look so much more professional with the cording around it? 

And here are the finished pillows!  They add that pop of color that the couch and the living room needed. 

You'll notice on the right side of the pillow that since I didn't use a zipper, I had to haphazardly sew the opening shut.  It doesn't look great but I can't really be a perfectionist when it comes to my sewing.  Plus I was just impatient and wanted to get them finished!

Here's a bigger shot of the living room.  

You know when you live in a space for a long time, you kind of just take it for granted?  It was nice to step back and realize that I really do love the space I've created.  It's cozy, clean and bright.  And it makes up for the lack of view.  

Well, we actually do have a "partial" view.  You just have to stand closer to the window and look to your left to see the Hudson River. 

And you'll be happy to know that these pillows have been Navy-Approved!

Navy Friday

Happy Friday everyone!  Have a great weekend!

Where I've Been

Hi everyone!  I know I've been MIA for quite some time now and I apologize.  This summer I've been suffering from major blogger burnout so that is why my posts have been spotty.  But I really appreciate you all still checking in!  Last week we were away visiting my in-laws in Newburyport, MA.  We absolutely love the town and it's a vacation every time we visit.  We hope to move there sooner rather than later.  Here are some snapshots, Instagram style: