When Will There Be Time?

Our son's room has been in the process of a makeover since August.  I started with a fresh coat of paint on the walls, ceilings, trim and built in dresser.  Added the magnetic wall from Rustoleum.  Then at the end of August, Hurricane Irene struck and we were without power for over a week.  We started our home school year right after that.  Time flew by and then I hurt my knee.  You can't get much accomplished on crutches. 

Finally, we are back at it.  Trying to get it finished quickly.

This bed which never fit in the room properly had to go.  It's an amazing bed but not for a dormered cape.  The ceilings are too low and this had actually sat in the middle of the room for far too long.

Last week I took it all apart.  It is ready to go to my sister's house this weekend.

 Here is the replacement bed.  I know it seems weird to have a twin mattress on the full size bed but there is a reason.

Slight mess~no drawer pulls on the built in, dresser that is actually part of the bed, and a ton of things packed in front of the window.

Here is our inspiration.  I love these beds from Pottery Barn but can not afford one.  So I enlisted the help of my brother to build bookcases into the empty space on the bed above.  It is on the to do list this weekend~had to wait for him to come back from Disney.  I would have liked to build the bed from scratch but hubby and I don't have those skills and my brother has a job and a family.  We can't keep him all to ourselves. So we are starting with a purchased frame.

 Purchased this bureau at the consignment shop.

 It's a little scratched but I plan to paint it anyway.  The price and size was right.

 This will fit right into the space in front of his window.

 I will be removing the first drawer and adding a shelf.

 It will be just like this one.  My brother has already built the sides and back for the top of the bureau.

I love the double use~the drawers are nice and deep.  There will be plenty of storage.

 I am also working on this pillow for a friend.

 The first squares waiting to be joined.

So when will there be time to get it all finished.  We are hosting Thanksgiving here and the holiday season is beginning.  In the midst of this busy season, I have a lot of painting to get done and plenty of building with my brother.  I had hoped to have this completed already.  The to do list is always growing.  I don't have to worry about being bored.

Linking to:

Rosette Headband

I made this ruffly skirt for my niece and what can go better with all those ruffles than a sweet rosette.

I love this rosette for it's fullness and size. 

I am looking forward to some pictures of my niece with this adorable outfit.  She will look like a doll with this headband.

For the headband I used Spa yarn by Naturally Caron.  It is the softest yarn.  Now I am wondering what I else I can make with that yarn.  I love it.

Linking to:

Never Too Many Pillows

I stumbled across Sensations Pomp Yarn and love how incredibly soft it was.  It felt like minky fabric.  I was dreaming of nice soft pillows for our couch. The difficulty was figuring how to cast on with this yarn.  There weren't any instructions in the store and I couldn't find anything online.  This yarn is not like Red Heart's Pomp a Doodle because the pom poms are small and so is the thread between each one.  I favor crochet and tried a hundred different ways to crochet with this yarn and tried a hundred different hooks.  It was not working.

(ignore the pillows in the middle~I made them last year and they have been very loved & slightly abused by boys who like to have pillow fights~ahem~namely my dear son and dear husband~the oversized third child)

I finally read somewhere on the Joanns forums that you could only use the knit stitch with this yarn and had to use the thumb method of casting on.  I tried this with the smallest knitting needles I has but they were still to large so back to the store I went and purchased a very small set of bamboo knitting needles.  Then the fun part began.  I was able to cast on a decent row of stitches with a neat row of  pompoms.

 With each new cast on it became easier.  The key was knitting every row and using the small size needles.  This makes a super soft double sided pattern.  I would have loved to be able to stick a pillow form between those two sides but you can't.

 Once I had knitted the four pillow fronts I pulled out the sewing machine to start putting some backs on them and fill them with pillow forms.  But I ran into a big snag.  YOU CANNOT USE A SEWING MACHINE.  The little pompoms got caught in the bobbin and there was a lot of sweating, hand wringing and tears as I tried to get this off the machine.  I have a Brother Embroidery machine.  The needle was stuck in the fabric and every time I tried to bring it up the machine beeped a warning.  It was wracking my nerves.  I thought this machine was going to bust and I would never have another as nice as this one.

I tried putting the feed dogs down and gently working the fabric out but it was not budging.  I finally looked at  some of the maintenance photos and figured out that I would need to take apart half of this machine to safely remove the fabric.  I tell you I was nervous and scared.  

I did not want to send this baby to the sewing machine hospital.  I was able to remove the front plate and the bobbin.  Then I removed the bobbin holder inside the machine.  I could then see exactly where this pompom was stuck.  By gently pulling and unwrapping it I managed to get it free.  I was elated.  This minor episode nearly gave me a heart attack.  All I could envision was the needle breaking off, falling into the machine and wrecking it.

 So now I had to sew each one of these by hand.  Not so bad except that your fingers get a little numb and I was already shaky from the crazy sewing machine episode.  Then I gave the machine some loving, a little cleaning and then tried sewing various stitches on normal fabric to make sure it was still working.  Thankfully, it is.

The pillows were a little plain so I added some rosettes.  Each was made with some bits of trim that were leftovers a friend gave me.

This one is my absolute favorite.

Isn't it gorgeous?

 I'm linking to:

Thrift Treasures

My daughter and I went to our local thrift store this week and it was our luckiest trip ever.  We were so thrilled with our finds.

My favorite find was this milk glass lamp.

 She was so neglected and dirty.  Full of cobwebs and dirt caked into all her lovely little features.  It needed some TLC.  With a good washing she looks like new and she works.  This now sits on my nightstand and I love this little treasure.  She was a real bargain at just $6.  

 Next I found this great little jacket.  I love the color.  Perfect for fall.

 It's from Talbots and I got it for almost nothing.  $8~can you believe it.  Looks like new.  These pictures do not do it justice.  It was cloudy and I was trying to wait for the sun to come out.  It didn't until I sat down to type this post.

 Cute little sweater.

 Cute top.

All of the above came out to a grand total of $26.  My daughter purchased a pair of UGG boots, in excellent condition for only $25.  She also found some Ralph Lauren sweatpants and a couple of tops.  

Usually we do not find great deals like these at this thrift store.  Their prices can be high and there aren't many things that catch my eye.  

Designer Garden