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Mar 28

Polyvore Monday | April 2

How is is that I am just now discovering Polyvore? It’s like the perfect mix between Pinterest and my | idea book | I discovered it last night and may or may not have wasted the better part of 3 hours on there.

I always wondered how people were making these cool collages. Now I know.

And soooo…I’m beginning a new segment on the blog.

Polyvore Monday.

(Super original name, I know).

A day devoted to Interior Design.

Let’s begin, shall we?

It seems like everyone and their mom is either pregnant or having babies right now (not us!), but that doesn’t mean I can’t start planning…

When we do finally start a family, I don’t want to know what we’re having. I know it’s old school and super inconvenient for anyone wanting to get us something, but deal with it. I’ll have waited at least 25 years to have a baby, I can wait another 9 months to know the sex. Some people think it’s lame, I think it’s a surprise well worth waiting for.

So I created this nursery to be gender neutral…

(click on the image to be redirected to Polyvore and see the sources)

A Modern Nursey by designbylulu on polyvore.com

Once baby comes, slap on a fresh coat of gender specific paint, add a few throw pillows, and you have an instant nursery that’s not so gender neutral.

The mix of modern furniture and different textures that include wood, glass, and paper make it easy to incorporate other new pieces after baby arrives.

make it manly by designbylulu on polyvore.com

With boys, you have the ability to be a little more rustic. I came across this old Boy Scout magazine and based the entire room on that. Outdoorsy, canvas-like pillows, paint colors that are masculine, but not too masculine for baby, and a bold, geometric pattern for window treatments.

fresh & girly by designbylulu on polyvore.com

Aaaaand then there’s the girl version. I’m kind of obsessed with the bright palette, rather than muted, pale pinks for baby. This peony wallpaper is my new favorite, and those ruffle curtains and linen bulletin board are just the right amount of soft texture.

I’m kind of loving Polyvore Monday and it’s only the first day, plus, what a great way to start the week!

Stay tuned.

Mar 28

2 Comments

One Lucky Girl

Nope, not me.

I’m referring to my adorable niece who was born on Thursday. She’s the first girl in a family of 3 boys, so it’s safe to say I might have gone a little overboard when making gifts for her, but how could I not? With 3 big brothers, she needs all the pink she can get!

Here’s what I made for baby Eliana:

| 2 appliqued onesies | chenille baby blanket + coordinating burp cloth | baby block |

Remember a few weekends ago when I was practicing printing on linen? Here’s the result!

Baby blocks are surprisingly way easier than they look.

And these are quickly becoming my favorite cards to both make and give (it helps when the baby has a beautiful, long name that just seems to flow).

Want to make an appliqued onesie for your own little loved one? They’re super easy!

Here’s what you need:

I don’t even pre-wash my onesie before I start, maybe this is the lazy man’s way of doing it, so if you want to wash and dry them, go right ahead.

These are my favorite onesies, I get them at Target in a four pack and I’ve found that they’re the thickest:

Here’s the double stick fusible webbing that I get at Joann’s but I think you can probably find something similar just about anywhere:

Start by ironing your fabric to one side of your double sided webbing, keeping the paper adhered to the other side. Mine is a little hard to see because I used a really tiny scrap of fabric, but you get the idea:

Trace your design onto the fusing (make sure to flip your design if you’re using a letter so that once you cut your fabric, it’s facing the right direction!) I just used a cardstock letter I had lying around for mine.

(You could also print out a pretty letter from a font your particularly like and trace that)

Cut out your design.

Peel off the other layer and stick it to your onesie, then iron to fuse the two fabrics together.

Sew along the edges of your design.

(When I do a simple design, I like to use the zig zag stitch and a contrasting color of thread, but for this one, I just used a basic stitch and some white thread).

This part takes a lot patience, as the onesie is very tiny! Make sure you pull the back up (the onesie should be nearly inside out) so that you’re not sewing through both layers of the onesie.

Cut threads, iron once more for good measure, and you’re done! They really are easy and make fun gifts.

Want to make one using either the bird or dino, like mine? I’ve included a template that has both! How nice am I?

Click | here | to download.

Enjoy!

Mar 21

40 in 50: Organize my Craft Room

We woke up to 6 inches of snow this morning, and when that happens in Oregon, the world seems to stop. It was my day off anyways, but I cannot even begin to describe how much I’ve gotten done, and how nice its been to have nowhere to go (not like I really could’ve even if I’d needed to).

We were supposed to get our carpets cleaned at 10am, but the guy called and cancelled because he was snowed in (remember how I said the whole world seems to stop?). So I’ve literally had an entire day to clean, cook, get organized, and relaxxxxx.

And it’s only 2:30!

Luckily, the dog has been asleep since 10- hopefully we don’t pay for it later!

Anyway…given the weather and the fact that I’m cooped up in the house, I had a chance to finally organize my craft room and get it just the way I want it…nearly a year after we moved in.

Better late than never, right?

Here are the before pictures. Bear in mind that this was right after we’d moved in:

What a mess! But I do love the afternoon light that floods this room.

Here it is now…

LOVE Ikea. Honestly, | this | cheap-o bookshelf is one of the greatest and holds so much stuff.

I turned an old shutter on its side to add a little texture to the room and introduce a new shade of blue without actually having to paint.

The ‘be thankful’ sign is just glitter chipboard letters that I attached to some gray bakers twine with mini clothespins. I made it around Thanksgiving time for the mantle, but moved it into the craft room. Don’t we all need to be reminded of this more often?

This $10 flea market quilt adds just the right amount of orange to the room, which I really like.

And this is where I do 99.9% of my projects. I love this little corner.

The white table was my grandpa’s drafting table, he had it built in to his house, so I bought the legs for this one at Ikea (Ikea no longer makes them), they’re adjustable so that the table can be at an angle. I also love that it’s a huge surface, so I can have more than one project going on at once.

The framed wreath came from | Hil | and it fits perfectly in this room.

The picture of Ian is my favorite. I will be so grateful if our kids are half as cute as that.

This is my carry-all. If I’m in the middle of something, I stick it up there so I can look at it for a few days and decide if I really like it or not.

Those 3 adorable boys are my nephews who live on Kauai. They’re getting a little brother or sister tomorrow!

And a few more photos…

1. A random assortment of pillows I’ve made. Chevron, ruffle, and antique flour sack, those coordinate. Right?

2. A place for everything and everything in its place.

| big boxes for fabric scraps |comic book boards (no really), to wrap longer pieces of fabric around | my mom’s old sewing basket |

3. Embellishments (of which I have way too many).

4. A handful of my favorite books. Some left over from studying Interior Design, others that I just like and often reference.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to my Justin Bieber Pandora station and work on projects for a baby shower I’m co-hosting this weekend.

It will be a miracle if I get out of my sweats today…

Mar 20

Spring has Sprung

..Or at least it’s supposed to have sprung today according to the calendar…

Here in Oregon it’s still rainy, cold, and wet.

Here’s to hoping that things like this aren’t too far off.

Happy 1st day of spring!

Mar 14

40 in 50: Update My Idea Book

Long before the days of Pinterest (like, literally, when I was still in high school), I started an idea book of looks, inspiration, ideas, colors palettes, furniture, and decorating ideas that I loved. I’d rip pages out of catalogs and magazines, put them in my book, and hope that one day I would be able to put them to use.

Thanks to Pinterest, books like this are a thing of the past, and I’ve neglected to even open the book until a few weeks ago when I was making the list of things I wanted to get done.

First, I was shocked at little how my taste has changed (like, I would die to live in that cottage that I saved the plans for). Second, I was embarrassed by some of the things I’d kept (and I’d really wished I had taken notes about certain things and what I liked about them).

Here’s a peak into my idea book:

Clockwise from top left:

– 1 – Love the open shelving that serve as both a decorative and functional piece.

– 2 – Whatever happened to Domino magazine? It was one of my favorites and where I got this article about different styles of beds and headboards.

– 3 – I’m pretty sure Pottery Barn still has this bathroom unit and there’s a reason- it’s timeless.

– 4 – I love this home. LOVE. I think this came from a Cottage Living. Each month they’d feature a home and give you the floor plans. I love looking at floor plans, I could look at them for hours.

– 5 – How cozy does this chair look? I would snuggle up in this for hours with a cup of joe and my Bible.

– 6 – I’d like to do something like this in our entryway where we have yet another, blank, beige wall staring at us. You can’t really tell in this photo, but the frames are hung at different levels, giving the wall depth.

– 6 – I think this came from Pottery Barn Teen and I adore the idea. A simple frame wrapped with battery-powered Christmas lights would be so fun over a bed.

Anddddd here’s a look at some of the images I had to part with.

(I’m sure at some point, there was a reason I liked pink gingham beds or thought a heinous sheep-themed nursery was cute.)

Do I even need to do any explaining?

In my defense, I think the child-like drawing of a reindeer on the canvas is still a kinda cute idea to hang up at Christmastime.

…And so I’m doing my best at continuing to update the idea book (although I’ll admit, Pinterest is way easier since everything is just a click away), so until these puppies arrive in the mail every month…