80th Birthday Celebration

My beautiful mother turned 80 last weekend. I belong to a large "blended" family and we all gathered in Utah to celebrate with her. I thought I'd share some of the table decor that we came up with. 

 The event was held at my brother's reception center where my daughter had her wedding reception last June. I chose a black, white and orange color scheme but didn't want it to look "Halloweeny". We used black tablecloths, black and white toile runners and toppers and lots of pumpkins! Mark has these amazing copper chafing dishes and platters that were perfect! 

 Some of the tables had crocks filled with orange mums and we scattered candy corn for the grandchildren and great-grandchildren to enjoy.

 The other tables had tall iron candleholders wrapped with amber beads and more pumpkins. Last week I shared with you my pumpkin collection HERE. My mother has an even larger collection than I do and it was fun to gather them up and use them as our centerpieces.

 My sister-in-law helped with all the set up. Now it's time to light the candles!

 Here are just some of the yummy dishes on the menu: Italian meatballs,

 yakisoba noodles, fresh berries, 

 crusty rolls and pulled pork, 

 lime mousse tarts, 

 and of course, birthday cake! We had 100 guests including children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, dear friends and two US senators. 

It's always a treat for me to go north in the Autumn and get just a taste of Fall weather. Having a big family gathering made this year especially wonderful! 
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What's It Wednesday 
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Pumpkins in Pots

I've been collecting pumpkins for years and my pumpkins come in all sizes and materials. To display my odd assortment I decided to simply place them into my ironstone bowls, platters and pots. I have them scattered all over the house-

 in the dining room centerpiece...

on the sideboard...

in the kitchen... 

 on the living room coffee table...

and the front porch. 

Happy pumpkin picking!

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Show and Tell Friday
Vintage Inspiration Friday
Open House Party
Wow Us Wednesday
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

Monogrammed Pillows

I've been busy making pillows as part of my 

family room makeover which you can see HERE.

I found this lovely tan and black toile awhile ago at a thrift store and I've been saving it for something special. Pillows for my newly reupholstered chairs were just the thing!

  

To make them a bit more interesting I wanted to 

add a monogram. 

I cut two 4" squares from a coordinating linen fabric. 

I designed two monograms, one for me and one for Scott. I printed them on transfer paper and ironed them on. Make sure you print out your design in reverse image!

I merely top stitched them on to the center of the pillow fabric and frayed the edges a little.

I like to make my pillows with an envelope opening so I can easily remove the pillow form. Here are the right sides overlapped , pinned and ready to sew. 

My favorite pillow forms are made from feathers or down. They are so comfy to rest on and fluff up nicely. 

Happy sewing! 

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Funky Junk Interiors
Show and Tell Friday
Vintage Inspiration Friday
Home Sweet Home
Potpourri Friday

Family Room Makeover

This has been a long postponed project. We first decided to update the family room two years ago. After we got a couple of bids to see what it would cost to redo the fireplace and install a new large HDTV and sound system we decided it was really out of the budget. Instead we updated all of the bathrooms with granite countertops , new sinks and hardware.

 A year later we were ready to do the family room but this time our central air conditioner died. Boy was that expensive to have replaced! 

So now, after waiting another year, we have finally done the family room! Here are a few "before" pictures.

I posted about the fireplace redo HERE.

Now for the "after" photos! I'm thrilled with the stone surrounded fireplace, and the new TV is everything a man could want. I've tried to declutter and simplify the look by choosing a neutral palette. 

One of the biggest changes we made was to remove all of the carpet and have the floors redone. My family room is a high traffic area with doors leading to the backyard and another to the garage. Trying to keep the carpet clean was a never ending battle! We chose an acid stained concrete finish in  warm brown tones. Now it just needs a damp mop to clean.

I've kept a wool Oriental rug in the seating area to make it cozier and to absorb sound.

I do still love baskets and think they work well with my European Country look. 

 I had the two club chairs reupholstered in a cotton canvas fabric that I bought at ...Home Depot! That's right, all of those blog and Pinterest posts about drop cloths as upholstery  made me brave enough to go for it. I did not do this myself, but hired a pro. He Scotchguarded the fabric for me and I could tell he was just as happy with the outcome as I was!  These are very large chairs and would have taken about 10 yards of fabric each. I needed two large drop cloths. 

Cost of fabric- $30 per chair. 

I've been making lots and lots of pillows. I'm sure I'll post about them later! 

Yippee! So nice to have a big project completed! 

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It's Overflowing
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Wine Bottle Basket

I found this fun basket last week out thrifting. It's got dividers to hold a dozen wine bottles. 

 I decided to dress it up by adding a wooden plaque reminiscent of a French wine barrel. I transferred an image I made on Print Shop onto a stained wood disk. I drilled a couple of holes and tied it on with a gingham ribbon. 

So French!

This would make a great centerpiece filled with flowers or herbs or in your kitchen storing your favorite vintage wine.

I'll be taking this as well as several other treasures I've found recently into my space at Merchant Square Antiques. Come see me!

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