A New Look

Have you ever seen my floral chairs?  We purchased them (along with a couch) several years ago to fill up an empty living room. It was the first time we had ever purchased 'new' furniture from a real, live furniture store. 

After living with them for a number of years, I was ready for a change.  I still love them.  They are smaller scale than most modern furniture you find in the stores.  I can actually fit two of them in a small space and they are super comfortable.  But I wanted to have the option of changing looks - without the cost of new chairs.

That's where my good friend, Cassi Campbell, came into the picture.  She has been doing amazing things with her sewing machine - creating custom slipcovers for just about any couch, chair, cushion, ottoman or other upholstered furniture.  She is amazing.  Check out what she did with my chairs...

Natural twill with knife edge pleats at the bottom and plenty of piping.  She made them just the right length so that the chair legs still peek out.  I love the new look.

I've washed them twice, and they still look great!

I made the red pillows for Christmas, but I've left them on because I like them so much.  What do you think?

If you've got some furniture that is a little tired and in need of an update - check out Cassi at Piping and Pleats.  She can give you a great new look with a custom slipcover!

Give,

Give,

it will make you happy!

Imagine how great things would be if we all were...

Beautiful on the inside.

I just love this artist. I was so happy to find her art at our local summer art fair. When I saw my girls playing in the leaves yesterday, it reminded me of these beautiful prints. See more of her work at Etsy.

All In Jest

My super talented, super creative friend Jenee just added a few more adorable creatures to her Etsy store. Check her out at All In Jest. Wouldn't this adorable 'Sophie Softie' doll make a great baby gift?

The Fair

The Bonner County Fair begins this coming week. We love our local fair. Kirk and I enjoy it mostly because it's small - which means easy parking, small crowds and seeing friends and neighbors. The girls love all of the animals and the horse rides and the face painting.

One of Kirk's more recent hobbies (he has many of them) is photography. This past year he challenged our family to submit a photo at the Fair. We've just had them printed and are submitting them today. Here are the photos we've entered. Hannah

'Sophie in the Morning' - domestic animal photography

Kirk

'Sebastian' - wildlife action photography

Kirk

'Green Monarchs' - landscape photography

Kirk

'Half Moon over Hope' - sunset photography

Kirsten

'Toothy' - child portraiture

Kirsten 'Sisters & Best Friends' - family portraiture

Kirsten 'Miss Photogenic' - black and white photography

As you can tell, I didn't get too creative. Just stuck with the standby photos of my kids. But I was impressed with how Kirk has developed his creative side. Hannah, too, was excited and really started figuring out how to use a camera. I'll update our standings after we visit the fair this week.

Hair Clips

What do you get when you combine a creative aunt, four nieces, ribbons and hair? The cutest hair clips, of course! Aunt Verna came for a visit and brought her hair clip craft box. With an 18 year old daughter (too old and cool for hair clips) and four sons, Verna had to come all the way to Sandpoint to get some girly crafts done. My girls were in heaven. They are simple and easy. Here's how: You will need need:

• Glue gun
• Metal hair clips (she got hers at Sally Beauty Supply)

• Ribbon (width of hair clips)
• Scissors
• Ruler
• Flowers (Verna used scrapbooking flowers)
• Brads (also scrapbooking supplies)

Here's how you do it: Figure out your color scheme, ribbon and flower choice -

Measure and cut 6 3/4" length of ribbon (length may vary with hair clip) -

Tuck one end of the ribbon inside of the clip - Run a bead of glue over the top of the clip and wrap the ribbon around -

Turn clip over. Run another bead of glue along other side and wrap again - Open up clip. Run a bead of glue along the inside and fold last free piece of ribbon onto the glue -

Voila - the clip is now covered. Put a bead of glue on top and attach flower -

Wait a minute till it dries and... Beautiful!