Later today we are off to Chicago! I have been very excited about this trip for a while, but the only thing that has me even slightly down is the weather forecast... cold and rainy! Oh well, we will deal. Having a pretty red umbrella would help..

Here.

BUT! Even if it is rainy, I can't wait to take a pic here:

Here.

Shop here:

Here.

Have a drink and see the view from here:

Here.

And walk around here:

Here.

And just generally have some really great family time.

I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!

xoxo, Emily

Skirted Table.

As I mentioned here, I have been getting some DIY projects done lately. Again, thanks to Pinterest, I have so many projects that the list feels thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiissssssssssssssssssssssssssssss long. But that's ok. I love a good project. And with the arrival of football season (and therefore a husband who is WAY preoccupied), I have much more time to devote to them! Anyway, here is what I wanted:

Here.

Here.

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Yep! A lovely skirted table. Per usual, instead of buying one, I decided to try to make one myself. Let's take a trip down memory lane and remember this piece of furniture.

I actually got it last February and DIYed a greek key pattern onto it. I really like how the pattern turned out... but the open shelving wasn't working for me anymore. We really need something that we can throw our crap in but still looks clean. Enter the table skirt!

I used the remnants of the drop cloth from my message board project. I was really planning on busting out the sewing machine, but I realized the edges of the drop cloth were already hemmed, so I kinda got out of using it!

Soooo, I started measuring. Now- to be clear- I had NO idea what I was doing. I just knew I wanted something clean looking (two pleats, not ruffled)... so I really just played with it. I measured a piece that would wrap the entire way around the table and left (what I thought) was enough room for pleats in the front so I could lift up the skirt (sounds funny) and access the shelves.

So I measured.

And measured.

Then, I took the piece of fabric and placed it around the table and created the first pleat. Really, all I did was try a series of folds until I got it to lay right. Then, I pinned it in place.

Then, I went to create the second pleat. It was about that time I realized the fabric was not going to be long enough to wrap the entire way around. I decided not to freak out because the table sits up against a wall... whateva.

This is how the top looked after I had all the pleats created and pinned in place. Yes, I know. Scary.



So, I realized it would be easier for me to just hand stitch the pleats in place as they were on the table. Here you can see my (not neat and professional) stitches. 





This picture makes me laugh. You can see where I ran out of fabric. And since it couldn't be attached to each other, I just kinda reinforced it by stitching one side to the other. R.I.G.G.E.D.

So now, all I needed was the top piece that would hide my awful looking stitches, rig job, etc. Enter the hemming tape!

I measured the top, cut a piece of dropcloth with about an inch to spare on each side and used the hemming tape to create nice-looking hems.

Then, I used the hemming tape again to attach the top piece to the bottom!



So, here it is... "done".................. It was definitely missing something.

Soooo, I used the same idea from my message board project and added nailheads!

Here it is in process with the inspiration in the background. An added bonus- I am no longer worried about having to adjust the table skirt if it shifts... that sucker is on there for life! (Side note- the Hubs was able to 'oversee' the nailhead process while on the couch watching football. Don't worry- he did point out that my nailheads were not 100% straight) Oh wells.



And here is the finished product!!

You might fear that there is too much nailhead/dropcloth happening. But, this table sits in the landing right as you walk in the Chouse. The place where the message board is far enough away that it's not NH/DC deja vu. I might add some sort of trim  later, but overall I'm really, really happy with it! What do ya'll think??

xoxo, Emily

Emmy Awards: the LRD

The theme of the night at the Emmy Awards seemed to be the LRD (little red dress). I have proclaimed my love of red before, so of course I was thrilled to see it on so many lovely ladies. Here are some of the best from the evening.

Don't know who Nina Dobrev is, but her dress was FAB.u.lous.



Not a LRD, but I just hope I am as fabulous as Christine Baranski when I am her age. Go ON with yourself, sister.

All photos via here.

Happy Monday!

xoxo, Emily

Wingback update

As you all know, I have been searching for a way to re-vamp our wingback chair for quite a while. I decided no on a loose-fit slipcover because I want something a bit cleaner looking. I also thought about painting it, but then figured out that turned out to be a huge fail. I even toyed with the idea of reupholstering it myself. But since it is something that we want to have for a long time, I am just too nervous to mess it up! So after looking at these other options, I think we are going to bite the bullet and get it reupholstered professionally. (please note- I am dragging the Hubs kicking and screaming through this process. He likes the wingback just the way it is.)

Here is my thought process- it's a great and really well made piece. To purchase another wingback (that is as good of quality and fabric that I like) would be much more expensive. And since I have twinges of tree-hugger in me, I hate the idea of not re-purposing something that is a perfectly good piece. SO, then the question was... well, what fabric do we want?

Again, I am a huge reality television fan. And I watch Giuliana and Bill (love!). They have two really great wingbacks that caught my eye...


(Note- this photo was taken in their LA condo)

Here.

Since I def. want something traditional and I know I will love for a very long time and that could work in a variety of houses/rooms, I think a stripe is the best way to go. And black/white is my favorite color combo pretty much of all time (I'm wearing b/w as I write this post).
Soooooo, the search began. I found this fabric from Ballard Designs and I loooooove it.

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But, at $30/yard... it's just too spendy for my taste (I would have to buy 7-8 yards).I was feeling pretty let down by the other prospects I was finding until I stumbled upon this...

Here.



I actually like it even better than the Ballard Fabric! It's Waverly Sun'n'Shade, which I have used on upholstery before and I know it holds up really well. So, I ordered it last night! Now, we just have to decide when we want to do the actual reupholstery job... But even if we don't decide to do it for a while, at least I can feel good that I got a great deal on the fabric!

xoxo, Emily

(DIY) Ballard Designs Message Board

I have a Pinterest board called Art.DIY.Crafting. Now, I love Pinterest. But sometimes I get bogged down by how many great ideas there are that I don't think I will ever have the time to do them all. However, I did do one this past weekend and I. heart. it. Here is the initial pin.

Here.

It's a lovely message board from Ballard Designs (which is a store I absolutely love.. but can be a tad pricey). Upon seeing this, I knew I could DIY it. And yes, DIY is a verb to me.

So I started with a bulletin board I had lying around. I bought a 9x12 drop cloth from Home Depot. I did NOT use the entire drop cloth, the reason I bought such a big size is because there are some other projects I want to use it for. I also got some cute black tacks from HD that serve as the nail head trim. Side note number 1- I over bought on this item. I bought 7 packages of 25. I think I used 2...worst guesstimator ever. The last thing I needed was just some batting from Hobby Lobby. And I already had the staple gun.

So, I spread out the batting and set the board on top of it. Then, I stapled it down. Side note number 2- my hands look really vein-y in this pic.

After the batting was all stapled down...



Next, I did the same thing with the drop cloth. One thing I wish I would have paid more attention to was how thick the batting was around the corners on the back. If it's too thick, it makes it really hard to staple the fabric down through it. I ended up having to cut some of the batting out of the back. It was no big deal, but it would have been easier to not have to do that at all.

Side note number 3- this is how Daisy looked during this process :)

After both the batting and the fabric were stapled down, I started the 'nail head' (aka tack) process. I started at one corner, then measured 2 inches and marked each measurement.

One thing that really helped me stay straight was the fact that this particular bulletin board had a frame. So, I did that all the way around and ended up with the finished product!

Hung up and with some stuff on it...

Loves it!

Let's re-cap cost, shall we?
Bulletin board- $0 (already had)
Batting- $8
Tacks- 3 at $1.50= $4.50
Drop cloth- was $20, but since I only used like 1/8 of it, let's call it $5 because I am bad at math.
Staplegun/staples- $0 (already had)
Total- $17.50ish for a 36x24 board.

Holllllleerrrrr. It's important for me to point out (mostly to the Hubs because I like to brag about savings) that the a similar message board from Ballard Designs is $89. Plus tax and shipping. Just saying :)

Now, I may have gotten carried away with the whole drop cloth/nail head situation... because I have another DIY to share later in the week that uses both of these items.

xoxo, Emily