Our living room is relatively spacious but we don’t have a ton of seating.  This is fine for the most part since it’s just the two of us (excuse me, 3, if you count Spoo).  But it’s nice to have some casual seating around, just in case.  My friend Angela has a couple of Moroccan leather poufs at her place and I always thought they were a fun addition to the space and feel a lot less committal than big, heavy pieces of furniture.  So I figured I could make something similar.

I started to look online for some DIY instructions.  I’d google “how to make an ottoman” and such and couldn’t find what I was looking for.  After a few different attempts I stumbled upon this DIY Pouf tutorial. (Oh, a pouf – that’s what that thing is called!)  It seemed relatively easy (Samantha provides pattern instructions which is great since I didn’t want to figure that part out myself).  I already had the perfect fabric picked out from my vintage sheet stash.  I love vintage sheets because they are usually very colorful and cheery, plus there’s a lot of fabric in one piece.

I followed the instructions as written except for #2 – Instead of creating a hole on the center of the pouf by folding under the pointed ends, I stitched each piece end to end and left an opening in one of the seams.

I flat-lined the pieces with a plain white sheet.  The stuffing is everything you can think of: unwanted clothing, fabric, sewing projects gone sadly awry (and that I felt too guilty about tossing)…even with everything stuffed in there I still couldn’t make it completely full; this pouf is almost 2′ wide and it’s mind-boggling how much can fit inside it!  I also added an over-sized doily in the middle which I really like.

It’s very squishy.  Not annoying “I’m stuck in this flippin’ beanbag” squishy, but just enough.  Doesn’t it look summery?   I’m already thinking about making another one.  This next pouf would be smaller and perhaps I’ll round off the corners a bit so the top (and bottom) will have a flatter appearance.

Are you working on any DIY projects for summer?  Do tell!

You may recall that I’ve mentioned painting my breakfast nook a pale, spring green.  Once I got that completed, snafu and all, it promptly became too dark and gloomy to take any good photos of the results.  But now that spring has seemed to arrive, I can finally show you.  I really love the soft color and the nook has turned into my special little room where I can escape the computer and getting a little sewing done.

My friend Susan remembered that I had admired these spooky dead/dying flower prints at the art gallery in Disneyland and got them for me for my birthday.  I guess they are part of the Haunted Mansion decor although I have yet to locate them inside the ride on my visits there.  Anyway I’ve had them for ages and finally had them framed.

Here’s where my antique dress form lives.  The glass globe hanging from the hook was made by my friend Debbie, a super talented artist.

The built-in.  Don’t you just love it?  I get so excited when I see built-in cabinets in old homes like this.

I’ve cleared the counter top of the cookbooks and MS Living magazines and added some more interesting elements like creepy nature postcards in jars (which are, coincidentally, inspired by the magazines that are now tucked away in the kitchen).  In a month or so I’ll probably put African violets in these.

This is a peak inside the cupboard.  The succulents in brown Terra Cotta pots are new.  Perhaps it’s because I’ve lived in L.A. on and off for so long, I’ve come to appreciate desert-y landscaping that I see around the city – something I thought would never happen!  I used to consider myself strictly an English garden kind of girl – and succulents are so low maintenance.

I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing my freshened up little space.  It’s time for tea!

My dreadful cold turned into a terrible sinus infection and I’m finally, 3 weeks later, feeling almost completely normal and I plan to feel much better in a couple of days!  Huzzah!  Thank you so much for your kind comments while I’ve been hiding out in my little house recuperating.

The onset of winter has brought some bright and sunny yet chilly weather to these parts and it really feels like Christmas now.  Gosh, the holidays just seemed to sneak up on me this year – do you feel that way too?

I’m almost done with my stockings and the gifts are wrapped and ready.

Christmas baking is well under way.

Pie: Ah, yes, you say you’ll have only one teensy piece but you know that’s a lie.  Just have another blasted slice already.

Jen: OK, done.

Anyway, dears, have a merry, merry holiday! I’m going to enjoy a little break and I’ll talk to you soon!

{Shop Announcement}

My wee Etsy shops are closed until January 3rd but my own store, love Liette, will remain open.  Although physical goods won’t be shipped until the new year, you can still purchase downloadable items like patterns, printable paper and such.  The cold that I’m just getting over has taught me I need to slow it down a bit so I’m going to be taking it easy until January 3rd.   As always, please feel free to contact me during this time.

Thank you for all your support this year!

xoxo

My husband and I have been sick for the past 2 weeks.  Nothing serious but it’s been really, really annoying.   I was actually feeling better at the end of last week and made it to my needle-felting class (more on that in another post, once I finish up my project!) but then this weekend, maybe because of the heavy rain Saturday or the running around trying to run errands or the tiny glass of port wine I had (tiny it really was), I’m back to feeling crappy (hence the scarce posting).  Now the plumbers are here for an ALL DAY project which includes, but is not limited to, hammering, drilling and singing.  (Yes, singing!)  So I guess I won’t be able to crawl back into bed any time soon.

I managed to drag myself off the sofa long enough to do a wee bit of decorating, including wrapping some fairy lights around my antique dress form, above, in the breakfast nook.  (I know, FANCY.)  We have candles everywhere, burning in mercury glass holders when the sun goes down, more fairy lights and red & white candy-striped towels in the kitchen.  Somewhat minimal but really nice all the same.

And I even did some knitting!

I have 2 stockings to finish before Christmas and I’m making good time, even though I’ve waited until the last minute.   (Which is the only way it’s going to work around here; I can’t knit Christmas stockings when it’s 80 degrees outside.  It just doesn’t feel right.)

My goodness, drilling into ceramic tile certainly is loud.  I think that’s my que.  I hope you all are having a lovely week so far!

Update: Here’s the link to the Christmas stocking knitting pattern that I’m using: Personalized Christmas Stocking from 1945.