Turning cloth napkins into pillows {DIY}

Hi all! Sorry it's been a little while since I've posted...y'know how life can get sometimes. :)

Today I'm sharing my latest pillows. I'm seriously obsessed with making pillows. I just made these ones out of a curtain. It's probably because it's one of the few things I can manage to sew (kind of)!

My newest pillows are made from cloth napkins I found on sale at Target (where else?). I just loved the floral pattern and the blues, greens and yellows of this pattern. I had eyed these napkins for a while but since I didn't really need them, I made myself walk away...until I saw the orange clearance sticker. The sticker said $6.98, but the receipt said $2.98! What a deal! I bought them with the intention of using them as napkins.

Then at Jo-Ann I saw this turquoise remnant fabric that was half off the marked price, and I snatched that up too, again not sure what I'd do with it but loving the color and thinking it reminded me of the colors already in my living room.

Then it hit me -- make some more pillows!

I simply cut the turquoise fabric for the back and didn't even do anything to the napkin -- I just sewed the pieces together. I sewed as close to the napkin seam as I could. The napkins aren't quite square, so I tried to compensate for that, which I dd only somewhat effectively. So if you look close you can tell my pillows aren't square either, or even the same size. But they're good enough for me!

I already had the pillow forms, so these two pillows cost me about $7 total. The pillows like this that Target sells? 24 bucks. What a deal!

As you can see by my pillow collection, I'm slowly becoming more comfortable mixing patterns in my living room.

I'm sticking to blues, greens, yellows and neutrals to keep things cohesive, but I'm mixing geometric patterns and floral patterns with solids, and I've got an embroidered pillow and a couple linen ones that lend some texture. My new floral ones feel like a breath of fresh spring air.

But my favorite couch accessory? This guy.

What a face!

I'm happy to report Colby is healing well from his knee surgery seven weeks ago. After six weeks of restricted activity, his bones have healed and the vet has cleared him to resume some activity. Yay! He's very happy to be taking walks and joining us on the couch again. He should be able to resume his normal puppy activity in about four weeks, just in time to enjoy the summer.

But back to the pillows. I still have two napkins left in my four-pack. What do you think I should do with them? I think I'm maxed out on pillows for now. Maybe I'll actually use them for their intended purpose...what an idea. :)

Linking up!

New chairs for the front room

Hey everyone! Hope you had a great weekend. It was beautiful here in Maine -- sunny and mid-40s. It made me ready for spring, but sadly spring is still a month off for us here in the Northeast.

Sorry I was MIA this past week. The hubs and I are two weeks into a 6-week weight loss challenge, and let me tell you, it has been quite time-consuming! Not only have I been walking/running/working out every day, but we've also spent lots of time planning out our meals to a level we've never done before. I swear all I do is sleep, eat, work, and work out. Phew! But it's getting us great results so I'm definitely sticking with it.

I'm popping in today to share a furniture addition. So, like months ago I shared a plan we had to turn our dining room into a sitting room, and move the table into this awkward spot next to the kitchen.

Here's what it looked like with the dining room table.

Well, we lived with this change for a few months, but we just decided it didn't work out for us. It's funny -- it was the hubs' idea to pull the switcheroo in the first place, and finally I agreed after weeks of hesitation. And then, it was the hubs who said, "I don't know if I like it this way." I guess we just really missed having a formal dining room, even though it's not often used. Is anyone else as indecisive as us? This is why it's good to live with things for a little while before fully committing.

So, a few weeks ago we moved the table back, and again were left with this weird half-room kind of space next to the kitchen. Since we've got a table and four stools at our counter, we don't need any more seating for eating. We decided to use this space as the sitting room. I think maybe I've seen spaces like this called a front room? I'm not sure if that's what I have, but sitting room sounds like a place for old ladies and tea, and since it's the first room in our house, I think it makes sense to call it a front room instead.

I've always pictured a lovely, long window seat here, something like this:

Source: vi.sualize.us via Mindy on Pinterest

But that looks like a lot of work to build. And, to be honest, I had a window seat in my bedroom as a kid and I never used it. It was cute to look at, but it wasn't very comfortable to sit on. And I favor functionality over fashion, so the window seat plan was out.

Besides the window seat, I've also eyed these Nolan bonded leather chairs from Target. They have one in my local store, and I've sat in it a few times, and it's pretty comfy.

I'm usually hesitant to buy major furniture from a lower-priced retailer, because I do feel you get what you pay for. But the front room furniture will not be used frequently, so wear and tear will be much less -- and that also means I want to spend much less on it.

So, when a two-pack of these chairs went on sale for just $300 (they're usually $200 each), I pulled the trigger. (Guess what? They're on sale right now for $150 each!)

Luckily they had two in stock at my local store so I didn't have to pay online shipping -- sweet!

The hubs picked them up for me in his SUV and had them put together by the time I got home. I love when I don't have to do that part (I'm terrible at it).

The bonded leather is a dark espresso color, and the look is a departure from the rest of our furniture, which I like -- keeps things interesting. I'm hoping it's durable to puppy claws and easy to clean.

I think these chairs look more expensive than they are (just humor me if you don't agree!). They're not too big and don't take up much space, but they're big enough that my 6'2" husband finds them comfortable as well.

I staged the area with a little table I had on hand and some vases. I also had super-cute pillows picked out on Etsy, but the hubs lamented having to push a pillow out of the way to sit down. See, shortie me finds the pillow the perfect way to get comfortable on that chair, but for him, it's just in the way. So I promised him HIS chair wouldn't get a pillow, but that didn't stop me from getting a pillow for me!

I made this pillow from a fabric scrap I bought for a few dollars at a local fabric store and an old pillow form. (Full disclosure: I didn't even finish sewing it for this photo!) I staged the hubs' chair with a cream throw from -- where else? -- Target.

I'm hoping this space will be a nice, sunny, cozy spot for drinking coffee and chatting with friends.

As for what else I want to do here, I totally want a cowhide rug.

And I'd love to make a tree stump table or two for this space.

Source: blairpeter.typepad.com via Mindy on Pinterest

Now if only the snow would melt and I could find myself a stump! :)

Curtain turned into pillows {DIY}

Hi everyone! Hope you had a good Monday.

Today I'm sharing some pillows I made for our living room. Did we need pillows? No, we did not. :) But I just love changing out my pillows, especially if I can do it on the cheap by making my own.

I searched high and low for a geometric fabric I liked in the colors I wanted but came up empty-handed. Then I spotted the Farrah Fretwork curtain at Target:

So cute, right? And it was just $20 for one.

Lucky for me, I had pillows at home I wasn't using (remember, I love pillows!) and their covers were removable.

As you might recall, I'm not great at sewing, but I can usually manage pillows. My favorite kind of pillow cover to make is an envelope pillow, because it's removable and I don't have to handstitch it closed -- and because I'm too scared to try a zipper!

When I spread the curtain out and saw the hem, I realized it was perfect for making the envelope part. Don't know what I mean? You'll see soon.

The pillow forms were 20 inches x 20 inches, so I cut my fabric at 21 inches square, leaving a half-inch for a seam. For the envelope part, I cut the two pieces 21 x 15 inches and 21 by 11 inches, with half-inch seams on all sides, making the final dimensions 20 x 14 and 20 x 10. The bigger piece is on the inside, and the smaller piece goes on the outside.

With just a little cutting and sewing, I got two new pillows for just $10 each!

Here's the envelope back. See what I mean about the hem? That's the finished edge you see here. It saved me some time from having to finish the edges myself.

I was worried they'd be blue overload with our blue walls, but I don't think so.

And I even have some fabric left over to make something else!

Have you ever used a curtain to make pillows? Shopping the curtain or sheet aisle can sometimes score you some great fabrics and patterns for a cheaper price than shopping the fabric store.

Pillows so easy, it's like cheating

Howdy, all! I hope you're all having a great week so far. I know I haven't been around much lately, so I apologize...I've got more stuff coming real soon, I promise!

But I had to stop in and show you the easiest DIY pillows ever -- can you guess what they are? Yep, placemat pillows! Have you ever made one of these? I swear, there's no way to mess it up.

All you need is a cloth placemat, some polyfill and a needle and thread. You need a placemat that's lined, so it's not just one piece of fabric, but two sewn together, like this:

This is the one I nabbed recently on clearance at Target:

You use a seam ripper to separate the two pieces, just wide enough to fit your hand and some stuffing inside. Then, you just sew up the hole!

And in about five minutes, you have brand new pillows.

I thought these were cute little spring-y pillows. And the placemats were on clearance for like $2 each. A DIY project that's thrifty and easy -- that's my kind of project!

Is this a flower or fried egg design?? Hard to say...

I'm planning to pair these pillows with a few others I'm making to jazz up our new sectional. Can't wait to show you!

I saw a bunch of really cute placemats at Target the other day that would make great pillows. See?

I really love this bird one!

I totally wanted to buy more and keep making pillows forever...but I restrained myself.

Here's another placemat pillow I made for Christmas. It cost me less than $5, while similar holiday pillows were selling at Target for $20.

Have you made any placemat pillows? Do you totally want to now? Head to Target! I may have restrained myself, but that doesn't mean I can't enable you all :)