A Happy Accident

Last year, my Grandfather turned 95. My mom, her brother, her sister and I planned an awesome party for him. Printed invitations, catered with good country food - fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, a yummy, yummy homemade cake. I decided that we needed deviled eggs. My aunt and I agreed to make them - enough for 100 people. That meant boiling and peeling four dozeen eggs each. What I didn't forsee is how long it takes to peel 48 hard-boiled eggs. Not a fun way to spend a Friday night, for certain. By the time I shelled Egg #48, I was exhausted.

I dumped the yolks in a ziploc bag and put them in the fridge. The next morning, I dumped about a half a jar of mayonaisse (Dukes, naturally) in the bag. Then I grabbed a bag of bacon pieces and the jar of parmesan. I poured it all in the ziploc back, zipped it closed and kneaded it until it was the right consistency. When I tasted the concoction, WOW! It tasted amazing! What a happy accident! Those eggs won rave reviews, and I probably could have eaten an entire dozen of them myself. What a happy accident!

I tell you that story to tell you this story.

I've been seeing Union Jack pillows everywhere.



Ballard Designs $71

Etsy $61





Another etsy. Can't recall the price.




First dibs. Too mortified at the price!



I remembered that at some point, I had bought some t-shirt transfer paper for printers. A quick google search brought me to the union jack I used.



I grabbed a piece of linen I had lying around and sprinted to the Rowenta!

Hmmmm. At first, I was chagrined at the outcome. Then then more I looked at it, I loved it. No, I loooooooved it.



I'm not sure I would have loved her as well if she'd been perfect. She looks like she's been through it. Just like my cousins in the Royal Family.

Another happy accident.

Union Jack

What in the world am I doing with this?



Glad you asked. Check back later.

Master Gallery Wall

I finally got around to installing the gallery wall in our master bedroom yesterday. The real world has kept me pretty busy lately.



The starting point was this $10 thrift store mirror I painted a peacock blue. To that I added a $5 wooden crown I found at Marshalls. I lined a gold Goodwill frame with a swatch of natural linen and framed two bluebird feathers I found in the backyard. The framed print is a photograph of a clover-covered light pole on the Battery in downtown Charleston.

From there, I just started adding.....and adding....and yeah, adding.



And here it is completed.



Yes, that is the Beetlejuice chair covered in the bed shams. It's the next big project. I just love that the wall is covered in found items, photos of places we've been and prints that I've carried around with me for years. And yes, it's driving me crazy that the little gold bird print is a little crooked in the picture. It's straight now, promise.

Sham Wow!

My first foray into making pillows was a success!



I just love the graphic pattern. Gives the bed a little "pop"!



And it matches Granddaddy's Little Table.

Here is a snippet of what I've been working on this week while I wait for my zipper foot to arrive from God knows where for my sewing machine.

Lost Out

Today. Craigslist. All 4 for $20. Damn.

Granddaddy's Table

Remember my little table?



Here he is all prettied up.






And here's a sneaky way to store your catalogues.

Fabric Finds

New year, new projects!

First up! I did a small trial of the silver leaf on the hugemous lamps:



Not terrible considering I had no idea what I was doing. I'd like to mimic the look of these lamps from Pottery Barn.



Mercury glass + burlap = yes, please!

Now! To my fabric finds.



These are the colors in our bedroom, so shams it is!



I lerve me some remnant racks! This was only $4 a yard. I have a plan for this with this:



My grandpa made me this little table many years ago, and it needs to be honored with a special place.

Also for the master bedroom. I moved my latest Habitat find in there as well. I'm seeing it painted white with chocolate velvet upholstery. YummY!

For the TV room, I need a change. Because the dining room is directly across from the TV room, the curtains kind of don't "go" anymore.



The red is just a little too, ya know, red.

I'll have Lovey buy me two more pair of Ritvas when he goes back to IKEA.


or maybe the beige



bordered with this - also $4 on the remnant rack



Look how perfectly it goes with the wall color.



OK, not a great picture. Trust me on this one. This fabric is by Thom Filicia (from Queer Eye fame) for Kravat. This fabric is still online for $54/yard! Score!

This was going to be for throw pillows, but I think they're a little too "pink".



Especially when I was going to put them with these pillows.



IKEA Stockholm pillows. That I purchased. When I went to IKEA for the very first time. Yes, I only had 45 minutes (when I needed 4-5 hours), but it was snowing and the Beasties were in the car in the parking garage.

So, I'm going with this fabric instead.



Which I hope turn out like these



Love me some suzanni print. I'm just torn about ordering it online or from my Local Snooty Design Store. After today, I'm leaning toward online. Grrr. Customer service, work on it, GDC.

Soooo, I have a lot of work ahead of me. Back soon hopefully.