Family Table

Our dining room is finally starting to take shape! We recently acquired my parents' old table and chairs which is very exciting, because we don't have to eat on the couch (but I now need to find a new spot to do my yoga). It's funny how a family table can bring back so many fond childhood memories: I played fort under it with my brother, watched my Dad grade chemistry papers with his red pen, and watched my mom sew many of my school clothes on that table. There are even still chew marks on the chair legs from our first dog.

We've done a few minor updates to the dining room: the fireplace wall had a small hole near the top so we filled that in with a piece of brick and added molding. We also repainted: one wall grey and one wall dollhouse blue to tie the kitchen and hallway spaces together. Here's a before and after:

The place mats were left over from my wedding reception as were a bunch of glass vases so I painted a few of the vases with leftover paint samples and sealed them with clear nail polish afterwards(I'm sure that is not the proper thing to use haha!) I filled them with fake hydrangeas even though I prefer real ones because there is no way I can keep up with fresh flowers all the time. The metal frames were a bargain for $1 a piece at a thrift store and I love them. The fireplace screen is a thrift store find that I repainted.

I sewed the curtains for the french doors; I wasn't sure what style of curtains I wanted and then one day I happened to be watching an episode of Gilmore Girls one day and noticed ones like these in the Gilmore's pool house (you know, when Rory moved out of Lorelie's house and in with her grandparents?) I chose a light weight cotton to let in plenty of light and keep the room from looking too formal. Once you start making your own window treatments, you'll never go back to buying them! I love being able to customize everything. If you can sew a straight line, you should give it a try! 

We still want to make a lot of changes in this room(a new mantle, perhaps replacing the brick hearth with tile?) so if you had any ideas or suggestions please leave me a comment!

Easter dress

I haven't blogged in a while! Busy spring as usual...I did have some time to sew in February and march and I have several new dresses I'm dying to post about when I get a chance. For now, here are some quick pics of my easter dress from Instagram (you can follow me @pinkmackaroon). I was inspired by Zooey Deschanel's wardrobe in 500 Days of Summer years ago and bought fabric to make a dress inspired by one she wears in the movie... that was like 5 years ago. I finally got around to making it during all those  snow days!

Living Room Updates

We bought a new couch this week and it totally transformed the look of our living room! We've been working on things bit by bit, (painting, adding curtains and such), but a new couch really pulled it all together! Here is what our living room looked like when we moved in last summer:

And now:

 Lots of freebies/ cheapies involved: the lily poster is another science building save from my dad, and I thrifted the coffee table.

 I'm warning you, this chaise lounge is sooo comfortable. I'm on it right now and I'm about to fall asleep.

 I made the curtains and they were super easy! The curtain fabric was really the inspiration for everything else in the room, and it will be  so easy to pull colors from it for accessories later on.

 My talented father made this bench for me years ago, and it just happened to look perfect under this window!

I just snuck this picture of tulips in because they're so pretty(:

We still need a lot of things like lamps and bookshelves, but I'm so happy to have a cohesive room!

Almost Spring

It's almost spring! My husband noticed daffodils blooming in our yard this morning. I enjoyed the recent snow days immensely, but now that the snow is gone I myself feel like a spring flower about to poke its head through the earth, escaping winter hibernation.

 It's been a while since I've posted, and even longer since I've done an outfit post. I'm wearing a top I made, and the skirt is part of a play suit I bought from Q's Daydream. She is a super talented girl!

1940s Kitchen Apron

I just finished sewing a kitchen apron from a real vintage pattern my grandma gave me. This was my first experience using a REAL vintage pattern- usually I use reproduction patterns that have been updated for modern sewing. There are definitely some major differences between vintage and modern patterns!

For one thing, the instructions are much more concise (half a  page as opposed to 3-4 full pages). Here is a modern pattern on the left compared to the vintage one on the right:



It's a good thing I already have a good bit of sewing experience, or I think I would have been totally confused about the instructions. Another difference between vintage and modern is that older patterns do not have any markings printed on them, only punch holes. Here's another comparison of modern(left) to vintage(right):

Some of the terminology was different as well, and I had to remember to sew 1/2" seam allowances instead of 5/8". I was a little intimidated at first but once I got started it really wasn't too difficult. Here is my finished product:

I had some leftover chevron fabric from the kitchen shade I made, so I used it as an accent fabric on the apron. After all the time I spent sewing it, I'm almost too afraid of staining it to use it though! Haha. I'm such a form over functionist.

Origami Ornaments

Every year at Christmas I try to add a few new ornaments to our collection. This year I decided to make some origami doves. These are pretty easy to make and inexpensive too. The paper I used was $5 for 20 sheets; add $1 worth of ribbon and you have 20 ornaments for $6. I found the pattern for the dove in a book I checked out from the library(free!)

Another Christmas "ornament" showed up at our house around the time we put up our tree. Meet Claude (Monet), our neighborhood stray cat. He's a perfect little orange tabby, and perfect for us because he is a(mostly) outdoor cat and requires very little care(: