Wednesday, May 27, 2009

summer furniture

dilemmas, dilemmas. we really need some sort of outdoor furniture for our covered patio. well, need isn't really the right word. want sorta makes more sense. it probably was a bad idea on my part but i went outdoor furniture shopping with my mother in law today. i should clarify... we went high end outdoor furniture shopping. you know, the stuff most definitely that will never fit into our price range. ahem. this is the piece that i salivated over...

well, not this exact one but something very similar. it had an over $3000 price tag. i nearly choked on the drool that was pouring out of my mouth. jeez. i could buy another vehicle or two for that price. but it is beautiful and i'm sure it would last a long time. however, it will not be on our deck. so i found something more in our price range.

it's cute, ain't it? and a much more reasonable price. i found this little ditty at home outfitters, on sale for $419, regularly $599. not too shabby at all, huh? i was quite pleased with the price actually. i was thrilled with the price. M... well, not so much. he doesn't think we need anything on the deck so any amount of money is too much. i love it but the only downfall... i measured it and it's just a few inches too wide for our deck (the way i wanted to place it). oh well. i don't think i could have convinced him to get it anyway. so, where does this leave me? do i continue to use our ugly sitting around the fire pit camping chairs? or do i save up for something spectacular? here's the thing, i need and want something for the deck. unfortunately, this is probably what i'm going to end up with.
i just might be able to convince M on the $14.99 price tag. ;)

Thursday, May 21, 2009

my first (nice) creation

stop the presses... i actually created something. on my sewing machine. yup, sewed it all MYSELF!! can you believe it? i hardly can. my wonderful mother in law helped me along the way, guiding me through, but the actual sewing of the finished product was all done by me. even these little guys.
(man, sewing button holes are a bugger! especially when you make them just a teensy weensy bit too small and you have to literally jam the button through the hole to make it fit through). who'd have thought throw pillows would take all day (well for an amateur sewer like myself, they do, that's with kid interruptions, lunch, etc). but, i had to zig zag all the ends (so the fabric wouldn't fray), had to add some extra material on the inside to make the pillow bigger (it was the very last bit of the fabric and i wanted it to last), had to put on interfacing, sew the button holes, sew the pillow together, stitch the buttons on by hand. phew! it was work but it was super fun! i loved it! i can't wait to do a whole bunch of sewing projects this summer. next one, skirts for the girls. you'd better believe i'll have pics up afterward. just wait. it's sweet amy butler fabric! :)

anyhow, i am pleased with the results of the throw pillows. what do you think? isn't the fabric adorable? and the buttons too? sweet little things. now i need to punch up my walls. they're still brown and blah. next project... stencil or free hand swirl painting on the wall? we'll see.