MUST. DO. THIS

http://howaboutorange.blogspot.com/2007/10/how-to-make-fabric-panel-wall-art.html

The hunt for covers

We have a futon in our family room that sits rather bare. I bought it off a friend when she was moving out of the country a few years ago. It sat up in the loft of my old condo and when we moved to our current home, it was relegated to the basement.We intended to get brand new furniture for the family room but as time went on, we just didn't find anything we liked enough to purchase. Last thanksgiving, when we had family over, we couldn't leave the family room bare as we needed all the furniture we could get for all the guests coming over, so we moved the futon up from the basement to the family room, in addition to an old recliner O has had for years and which he also got used. The setup worked out so well that we decided to leave both pieces of furniture upstairs and get new furniture for the basement instead. The basement is currently empty which is okay as we barely use it anyway. it's too cold in the winter to watch movies down there so we're okay for now.

When I got the futon, it had a white/cream futon cover and I liked it that way so I never changed it. Lately though, I've been a little dissatisfied with the cream futon cover so I've been looking online for something...fun with which to replace it.

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This cover is okay but I think it's too plain. I'm not sure about the red color either.

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I kinda like the pattern on this cover from West Elm but O really dislikes it (boo) so it's not an option.

Here are the other materials the West Elm futon cover comes in. West Elm is one of my favorite stores so I was thrilled when they opened up a store in my area (well, about 30 minutes away). They have a very modern/contemporary flare and their prices are mostly affordable. Their 20% off sales don't hurt either :).

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Below is one of my favorite futon covers. The orange color is very catchy and those pillows are a MUST. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the pillows on the site. Hopefully, Marshalls will come to the rescue with similar pillows.


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Here's my second favorite futon cover. While you really can't tell from a photo, the material looks like it's got some nice texture to it. Unfortunately, it's not available in the Queen size I need. FAIL


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So good I ate the fork...literally

Interesting flatware. Wouldn't this look awesome all laid out on the table for thanksgiving :)?


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It's beginning to look a lot like...

I just realized I haven't blogged about the awesome Christmas present I got from O!



This is my new baby - the Coach ella. This color is no longer available as it was a limited edition color, but two other colors are still for sale on the Coach website. It's too pretty to be an everyday bag but I haven't been able to let go of it. LOVE it!!

Of inks and scapes...

Earlier today I downloaded an open source app called 'Inkscape'. It's an awesome vector editing tool (kinda like Adobe illustrator), but the best thing about it is that it's free! There are tons of tutorials online and user forums where folks are more than willing to help a noob like myself. Here are the results of the very first two tutorials I completed



Ummm, I didn't realize it would be so tiny... but I love it nonetheless. It's supposed to be an icon anyways ;)

Here's the other!

Chirp. Chirp! Chirp!!

Well, well, we were snowed in today (pics later). My area got about 10-12 inches of snow and while it's lovely to look at, O had a heck of a time shoveling the driveway and clearing a path to the front door. Hey it's not like I didn't offer (albeit halfheartedly, heh) to help. At least I had a steaming, hearty breakfast waiting for him when he was done, 2 hours later lol. That was my contribution to his slaving away in the freezing cold. Brrrr!

Anywhoo, guess what I got myself on this oh so snowy day? Hint? It doesn't chirp, it cuts! Check out this beauty...



Yes, it's the Cricut 'Create' machine. It's a scrapbookers dream and until yesterday, I didn't realize such an invention existed! It pure genius - you buy a cartridge ( the machine I bought comes with one cartridge included), plug it into the machine, pick a shape - or letter, or whatever is on the cartridge - (and then get this), you pick a size!! You pick whatever size you want ( the Create cuts from 1/4 inch to about 12 inches I believe), and then cut! I mean, there's a little more to it than that but you get the gist. It's silly how I get so excited about these things. I can't wait for my machine to arrive!! Cricut also has software that allows you to design your shapes/phrases before you cut. The possibilities are endless! I didn't buy the software but you never know... I'd like to get to know my machine a lot better first :)!

ROYGBIV

Richard-of-York-... oh rats!

Message-in-a-Cookie Cutters

While reading through kenziekate (one of the many blogs to which I'm subscribed via Google Reader), I came across these ridiculously cute-as-buttons cookie cutters! Aren't they just adorable?!










I rarely venture on over to Williams Sonoma but these are so cute I'm tempted to get them.