Category: DIY

DIY: A Quickie Pillow with PomPoms

Do you guys remember when I thrifted a load of fabric for a steal? That’s right, back in August I found some fabulous canvas or linen floral fabric. I eyeballed it at about 4 yards and it was marked at just $2.49 and then on sale for $1.25. For all of it. INSANE!

After sticking it in my sewing stuff box for a while, I had the random urge to be creative. So, I decided to pull out the fabric, a pillow form and some pompoms that I had sitting around for a little project.

In my opinion, the pompoms totally make the pillow! It’s actually not that much harder to add on the pompoms – you just pin them to the sides of the pillow and sew everything all together at once. I didn’t do a full tutorial because I pretty much just sew using common sense. Need two things to stick together? Pin them and then sew a straight line. Need to add some pompoms? Pin it on the line you are about to sew. Boom. Easy peasy, lemon squeezie.

Anywhoo, I added the pillow to my favorite little reading area in my den and look how cute it is!

Oh and if you want more of an instructional post. I found this one I wrote WAY BACK in 2012 showing how I made a pillow from a pack of napkins: The Hunt for the Perfect Yellow Pillow. It’s kind of crazy how much my house décor has changed over the past 9 years and it was especially nice to get a glimpse of my sweet dog Potter again!

Like what you see? Share me with your friends!

My ‘Week Off’ Projects

I took the week off work between Christmas and New Years because I’ve been feeling very burnt out and really needed some time off. A full week of NO work and NO online schooling sounded like heaven. My plans were to do some home projects I’ve been putting off, read a book or two, watch a movie or two, and keep up with my Peloton workouts.

We also knocked out a few doctor’s appointments – dentist appointments for me and Jack, and then a dermatologist appointment for me and a pediatrician appointment for Jack. I mean, we are LIVING LIFE over here. But really, when you have time off as a working parent, you need to get as much done as possible!

Week Off Project 1: Organizing the linen closet

Our linen closet is a catch-all for everything from extra items, towels, light bulbs and paper products. As we go through life, it gets more and more messy… until I finally take a couple hours to rip it apart. For my first project of the week, I went through all our medicine and threw out all the expired products and re-arranged everything so that it fit without attacking you when you opened the door. I also used some boxes that I saved from the recycle bin to better organize everything for free. This whole project probably took an hour or so.

Week Off Project 2: Organizing office crafts/art miscellaneous

Here’s another spot in my house that needed some attention. This organizer shelf contains a ton of different art/craft project supplies, extra office supplies, books and candles. I had thrifted some decorative boxes a while ago, so I spent some time sorting through everything, putting it into boxes with like items, and labeling everything. The entire square full of extra notebooks is a good reminder that I don’t need to buy anymore this year.

Week Off Project 3: Take down and rehang my gallery wall

I had a gallery wall in our living room that had been driving me nutty for years. There were too many frames and they often would be knocked off center… so everything just looked crooked to me all the time. I took every single frame down off the wall, filled the nail holes and then picked just a few frames to go back up. I was also planning to repaint the filled holes… until I found that the touch up paint was fully expired – it was clumpy and discolored and totally useless. Luckily the new frames covered most of the filled holes and the others are barely noticeable. So I’ll have to be okay with it until I decide to repaint the entire living room.

You can click through here to see the before, during and after:

Also, I found this photo hanging kit at Home Depot that keeps each photo frame perfectly straight and it’s a life changer! It’s the PicGenie123 kit and they are super easy to install and then keep everything from moving once they are up on the wall. I love, love, love them and will definitely be using these elsewhere in the house!

Week Off Project 4: Organizing the stockroom

Yup, more organizing. This time I attacked our stockroom areas in our laundry room. This is the overflow area for food that won’t fit in our pantry. Once again, as life happens this area gets super messy as we just throw stuff on there when putting the groceries away. I took about 20 minutes and pulled everything off and rearranged everything. Now, I can see exactly what I have and won’t accidentally buy 2 more packs of cookies when I still have 3 on the shelf.

I’m so glad I finally had the time and energy to attack these organizing projects. Not only did it make me feel good to check some projects off my list. But I feel like I get to start 2021 with a clean(er) slate!

Disclaimer: This post contains a Shopstyle affiliate link. This means that clicking on a link may help me earn a small commission at no cost to you.

Like what you see? Share me with your friends!

AR Workshop: Jingle Box

If you are related to me, maybe don’t read this blog post…

I loved the AR Workshop Harvest box so much (you can read about it here), so it took me less than 5 seconds to decide to buy the Jingle Box when I saw the announcement. This time, I bought a Jingle box for myself AND I bought one as a Christmas gift for a family member.

Once again, the contents of the box were a total surprise. However, much like the fall Harvest box they announced that it would contain a mix of handmade and retail seasonal goodies with an exclusive DIY kit and items from local makers. The cost of the box was $95 with a retail value of over $150. When I ordered my box to keep, I was hoping for a couple items that I could pass on for Christmas gifts and also some that I can keep to enjoy… and I’m very pleased with what I received!

Let’s take a look inside my Jingle box:

(Once again, if you’re related to me… turn away now because I ordered one for a gift too!)

First, check out this gorgeous wrapping job and a peek at what I saw when I opened the box:

Unlike the Harvest boxes, which were unwrapped, each Jingle box was beautifully wrapped so you can put them right under the tree!

These first three items from my box are items that I am planning to pass on, which worked out perfectly for me. There is a soft plaid scarf, a pretty mug with a hot chocolate bomb, and a holiday oven mitt with butter cookie mix inside. All three of these are perfect for gift giving (or keeping!) and I’m planning to pair the oven mitt/cookie mix and coffee mug/hot chocolate bomb for a work friend gift. I’m not sure who is getting the scarf yet, but it is awfully pretty!

This next grouping is items that I am thrilled to keep for myself. I love the handmade ‘Tis the Season’ tray and it’s perfect to sit on an ottoman in my den to hold my coffee cup and kindle on lazy weekend days. The candle smells fantastic and the ‘Baking Spirits Bright’ kitchen towel was immediately added to my kitchen.

And here is the project that they included in the Jingle Box! It is a DIY Classic Wood Ornaments set and it came with three pieces of wood, sanding paper, stencils, paint, foam brushes, ribbon and hooks. Jack and I completed the project over the weekend and it was a fun project to do with a kid, or to do on your own in a burst of creativity!

Once again, the AR Workshop knocked this box out of the park and I LOVE it so much! I’m hoping that my family member also loves it… because I think it’s a great gift for the holidays!

Disclaimer: This post is not sponsored.

Like what you see? Share me with your friends!