how to spruce up your couch {DIY throw pillows}

 

What's a cheapskate sort of girl to do when her couch pillows are in serious need of sprucing up, and brand-new throw pillows cost an arm and a leg? 

 

I thought about the thrift store option, but the thought of other people's dead skin and things on my "new" pillows grossed me out... TMI?  This girl thinks about such things.  I'd been scouring clearance aisles for weeks looking for cheap pillows that could either be used the way they were, or be re-covered. 

 

 I finally found some on sale after Christmas, and received a giftcard to a local quilt store to buy some fabric to recover said pillows.  They were the perfect size and firmness - it took me two months of seeing the (not my style) new pillows gracing my couch for me to get the opportunity to sew the new covers.

 

 

4 clearance throw pillows at $7.49 each turned into...

 ...two red and two paisley covers.  Mission to spruce up the couches completed.  I love them. 

 

If you're curious, both fabrics are by Moda, and the one on the right is in the Urban Cowgirl line.  The name of the print on the left escapes me at the moment.  

 

 

If you're a seamstress, and want a tip:  I tried something new this time, and used fusible fleece on the wrong side of the fabric before sewing them together.  The covers are thick and firm feeling like they came right from the store this way.  I'll definitely do this again! 

 

 

Looking for a DIY Pillow Tutorial to help you on your way since I'm too busy to write you one?  This is exactly the way I did mine, minus the serger to sew the edges...  I didn't use directions, so I can't vouch for the correctness of them, but this will lead you in the right direction. 

 



shock and awe

Something happened today that will long be etched in my memory.

It's sweet, hilarious, and awesome all at the same time. 

I was in Target today with all seven kids.  And I know you know that that couldn't be what was sweet, hilarious, and awesome.  And you're right.  The kids were amazingly good, though.  And I was told that I "have my hands full" three separate times.  Let's all work together and find a new line to say to moms in the store with a cartload of kids, okay? 

We were putzing around in one of those big red shopping carts that is long enough to be a passenger train and was holding four of the youngest passengers.  We were searching for three things on our shopping list.  We ended up with ten or more items in the end, but that's beside the point.  But I do have to say that the winter clearance was to die for. 

Anyways, we pulled the cart into the aisle that held the lint rollers.  It was on my list, and I even found a pretty black and white damask printed one.  Who knew lint rollers could be so chic?  Well, I knew I had to have that one. 

As we were leaving the aisle, Gavin glanced behind him to the other side of the aisle and saw the dish sponges.  He said, "Mom!  We're out of these kind."

"Oh, okay, let's grab a pack!" I exclaimed, glad that he was paying attention.  But we checked the price and decided that ten dollars was wayyy too much to pay for dish sponges. 

And then both of my boys looked above and beyond the dish sponges that were stocked on the lower shelf. 

They uttered, "Whoooooa." and  "Oh my word!"

They stood gaping in shock at all of the brands and varieties of sponges and dish brushes.  You might be wondering why this is such a big deal, and why ten and twelve year old boys would care about dishwashing accesories... let me tell you why:  our boys, who are ten and twelve work together to unload the dishes once each morning after breakfast, and then they do all of the dinner cleanup and loading of dishes into the dishwasher and handwashing of all the pots and pans.  And that's no easy feat when there's a family like ours eating and using all of the dishes!  So they know dishes.  What a proud mama moment for me to see that our boys take ownership of their job that helps our family out so tremendously.  And they do it joyfully. 

Looking down the aisle, they could not believe all of the products out there that could be helpful to them.  Then I brought shock and awe into their young lives.  I showed them those dish wands with the clear handle that holds dishwashing liquid.  You would have thought that I'd just shown them a way to keep clean without showering.  Boys this age aren't fans of that sort of thing. 

And you don't even have to ask -yes, I bought them one. 

Sweet, hilarious, and awesome all at the same time. 


 

this week

It was a fantastic week.

The sun came back, and decided to give us some super warm, run in the sprinkler kind of weather all week!  It is so amazing to me (truly!) that the sun is just waiting up there behind those ol' clouds just waiting to give us a sunny day...  but, alas, we've had mostly cool cloudy days this summer.  These sunny ones just refresh everyone around here. 

This week also brought some new and simple summer chore charts that I've been concocting in my brain and finally put onto paper last weekend.  They're laid out for just the days Jeremy works, and are great for keeping order around the house.  Since it's the first week, and there are a few things that I've added to their normal daily chores, they've had to be reminded several times to remember to check the chart during the day.  But they're getting the hang of it! 

I'm liking the clean bathrooms, swept floors, and playtime for Gabi and Levi with an older sibling each day.  The kids have always been helpful with their chores, and will help with whatever we ask them to, but it's so nice to have it all lined out. 

Here's an example of Morgan's Monday list...  super simple! 

She and Annika got illustrated versions for fun.  

Oh, my sweet girls!  I should have gotten Gabi out of her high chair so I would have had a picture of all four of my girlies, but I was too lazy.  :)  

A happy Levi headed out to play!

My cautious girl, not getting anywhere near that freezing cold sprinkler water.  I don't blame her!

 Emmalie wakes up one time in the night somewhere between 5 and 6 a.m. - this morning was no different... this was my view of the sunrise at 5:45 a.m. and below is my view of my beautiful girl as she woke up.  She was so sweet and peaceful, I had to grab the camera.  I'm not sure how I had such presence of mind at five in the morning, but she sleeps 6-8 hours for that first stretch so I was feeling pretty good.  Plus, that sunrise captivated me completely.  My photo out the bathroom window does it no justice!

 We are loving the purple flowers growing out of our enormous sage plant in the garden. 

 I snapped this photo tonight of this lone daisy that must have felt right at home among the snow in summer patch next door to the rest of the daisies! 

Daisies are one of my all-time favorite flowers. 

"Don't you think daisies are the friendliest flower?"

- movie You've Got Mail

The Binder: take two

Last fall, after reading and loving the book Large Family Logistics, I made my Home Management binder with great hopes of a taking advantage of help through my days when Jeremy is working...  well, things changed with our schedule and I thought I could wade through the days easily without reminders of things I could be doing to make better use of the time.  Well, I got lazy and never updated the pages with our changes, so I never looked at the binder.

But lately I've been feeling like I needed something to keep me "on track" during the days, because many days I think, "What else could I be doing right now??"  when I have a break...  so this morning, I revised the binder pages to make them current, and plan to use them the next few months until school is out and the baby comes.

And as you browse through the pages, don't think for a second that we stay on time with everything or actually DO everything... this is a rough schedule that helps me remember things we could be doing and that I'd like to have accomplished that day.  The non-negotiables that always happen on-time are breakfast, school start-up time, lunch, babies nap time, and dinner!

If you'd like me to email you a set as a Word Document, email me at thescarletpaisley (at) yahoo.com - and I'll get a set off to you, so you can make them your own! 



Home Management Book Pages