Harriet’s pillow

Tags

babies, bedrooms, crafts, DIY, gift ideas, interior decorating, pillows, sewing

A few weeks ago, I wrote a post called ‘Nesting by Association,” which featured a baby pillow I was making for a special baby named Harriet. After a trip across the continent, the pillow has arrived at its final destination. Thanks to Harriet’s mama, here are some photos of it in its natural habitat:

I love the way the yellow works with the baby blue and the colours in the striped blanket. Sweet dreams, Harriet!

Mad about this coffee table

Tags

coffee tables, furniture, interior decorating, living room, nature, river stones

When I was a child, my favourite activity was throwing stones in the lake with my dad. I loved smooth feel and solid weight of stones, and the way they skipped across the water. I always filled my pockets with the special ones and carried them home. As an adult, I continue to be drawn to raw materials and often bring pieces of nature inside, whether it be driftwood, bundles of hand-picked pussy willows, or collections of sea-smoothed glass.

This probably explains why I am completely nuts over these laquered resin coffee tables from Jason Phillips Designs:

Specifically, I am mad over the silver version pictured in the interior below:

This river stone would look fabulous in my living room. Fabulous. But I simply can not justify my local retailer’s price of $1635. And though I have found better prices online (see here and here), they don’t account for shipping charges.

Consequently, my mind has flipped into its most comfortable state of being: DIY mode. It may take a few months (maybe a year?!), but my goal is to create a coffee table for my living room that mimics the smooth, natural elements of this brilliant piece. I’ve never worked with resin and don’t know where to start, but I’m all in. I’ll keep you posted on my progress.

Frog & Blanket: A Perfect Baby Gift Set

Tags

babies, baby blanket, crafts, DIY, gift ideas, gifts, sewing, toys

Apropos my recent post, Nesting by Association, this weekend was my good friend A’s baby shower. She and I have been friends for years, and I really wanted to make something special for her first child, who is due to meet the world sometime in October.

I was fairly set on a blanket/toy combo from the outset, but I could not have predicted that I would make two blankets before I was happy with the gift. The trouble with the first? My fabric choice.

If you are like me, a trip to the fabric store is one part inspiring, one part aggravating, and two parts overwhelming. There are so many choices to make: cotton or polyblend, fleece or flannel, satin or chenille… It’s enough to make even the most seasoned seamstress grab a bolt of the closest fabric and run. And I never have enough hands to carry all the goodies I’ve gathered because the store doesn’t have carts! What’s a girl to do?!

The fabrics that I chose for the first blanket were sweet… but impractical. One side was perfect: a very soft, tactile gray chenille that baby’s little fingers would have loved. But the charming ivory flannelette with grey and baby blue polka dots that I chose for the contrasting side was a strike out. It began to pill and look dingy before I had even finished the blanket!

In my second trip to the fabric store (this time with my mother, who has an amazing eye for textiles), I found a luxurious light cotton corduroy in a gorgeous shade of green and a sweet complimentary cotton print with little birds on it. Significantly inspired, I crafted a blanket and a little frog toy using a free pattern from Coloured Buttons, which I stuffed with beans. I owe special thanks to mom for making this project possible: she helped find the fabulous replacement fabric, and she picked out the size of bean (yellow eye peas) that would fit properly through the frog’s narrow little legs!

Check out baby-to-be’s blanket and frog below:

  I ordinarily would have added buttons for eyes, but since it was for a newborn, I left them off. As it is, this toy is probably best used supervised or for decoration on a bookcase, considering its weight and contents. But doesn’t he look cute on a shelf? My partner thinks so. In fact, he wants one for his office.

LESSONS LEARNED:

• Always do a durability test when selecting fabric: Rub it rapidly together in your hands for at least thirty seconds, then examine both sections carefully. If there is any sign of wear (slight fading, fraying, pilling, etc.), move on.
• Have a pencil with a soft eraser handy when you are ready to flip the frog right side out after stitching. It’s a challenge to work the little webbed hands through the small arm holes, and this helped! Also, a friend suggested the back of a stitch ripper would work. I’ll have to try it next time.

Before & After: bedside table

Tags

before & afters, DIY, furniture, interior decorating, paint

How many of you have inherited furniture that has seen better days? Maybe you have a piece that looks eerily similar to this one?

If you are anything like me, you have dutifully carted this piece from apartment to apartment, all the while secretly loathing its wood grain finish and half-broken drawer pulls.  And if your piece is a family hand-me-down, you probably also feel a nagging responsibility to preserve its original features (even if they are chipped, faded, or stained). In my case, this dresser was part of a bedroom set that originally belonged to my grandmother, and I felt a tremendous responsibility to preserve its original form (despite its chips, fades, and stains).

At the root of this guilt was something I’ve noted is common in many families: the idea that painting over wood is a cardinal sin. Even if it’s scratched. Even if it has cigarette burns. Even if it isn’t the solid wood piece people assumed, but plywood covered with (gasp) wood veneer!

Confession: My extended family (especially my Grandmother) are wood-grain enthusiasts. In fact, the wood-allegiance runs so deep that it took me nearly a decade to go rogue and do this to the dressers’ matching bedside table.

One coat of primer, some sanding, a coat of Benjamin Moore’s White Dove, and some painstaking detail work with B. Moore’s Grasslands green later, I now have a piece of furniture I am proud to have in my home. And even Grandma likes it!

I also reworked the matching dresser (pictured in the Before); I will repost the finished dresser next week!

LESSONS LEARNED:

• If you hate it, paint it. Wood is not sacrosanct.
• Paint your furniture with a durable kitchen and bathroom cupboard paint, which will resist scratching, chipping, and denting.
• Even if you use the durable paint, throw a coat of polyurethane on top. It can’t hurt, and it will help save you touch-up work in the future.
• In a pinch, slanted eyeliner brushes work amazingly for detail work. In this case, I didn’t have the right brush on hand, so I used a MAC Angled Brow Brush to paint the green detail. At $19.50 a brush, it is expensive, but (as Mac attests) its “precise angled tip provides pro-style application.”

Nesting by association

Tags

babies, pillows

There must be something in the water.

What else can explain the prevalence of baby bumps on so many of my nearest-and-dearest? And not just on my friends, but on strangers too. It seems like everywhere I look, beaming women are proudly sporting bumps under cute t-shirts and summer dresses.

And while I admit that the recent rash of pregnancies is making the idea of infants seem slightly more appealing, I’m not ready to join in yet. Rather, I am enjoying all the nesting activities through association, and in some cases, on behalf of the mother-to-be. In the last few months, I have made baby blankets, burping cloths, mobiles, and favours for baby showers. The list goes on.

My most recent creation is for an old friend and her newborn, Harriet. Made out of 100% unbleached cotton, it makes a great pillow for a nursery rocking chair. This one is 16×16 and has a three-button closure.  The font I used for the ‘H’ is Book Antique, and I painted it with fabric paint after stenciling it from a computer print out I pinned to the fabric. (Sarah, if you’re reading this, this pillow is on its way to you as I type!)

With all this baby craziness around me, no wonder I have been craving a puppy.

Birds on the Brain

Tags

birds, design trends, fashion

Let’s talk about birds for a minute.

I am obsessed with birds – at least when it comes to decorating. So much so that my partner recently said that he thinks I would like anything that has birds on it. And while that might be a bit of an exaggeration, he’s not far off.

But it’s not just me. Birds are evidently in the zeitgeist.

I heart this key hanger from Belissimo.

Why the recent cultural bird-mania?

I suggest a number of reasons: Birds are retro (think Jonathon Seagull and 60s prints). They represent and reflect an eco-consciousness. They exude French provincial charm and reflect Art Nouveau sensibilities (both of which are experiencing a resurgence in popularity). In essence, birds are the perfect marriage of vintage chic and modern tree-hugger eco-minimalism.

GO birds.

But will birds burn out? Will they go the way of my mother’s fake rooster collection: overdone, overgifted, and ultimately, loathed? Will we turn against birds like she did her roosters? Are the yard sales of the future fated to be filled with all forms of fowl?

Probably not.

Birds aren’t lava lamps or shag rugs. Birds aren’t dusty rose carpet or brass light fixtures. Rather, birds represent nature, which never gets old. Bringing the outside into our homes never goes out of style.

The only exception to this argument is the owl craze of the 1960s, which was very short-lived. But I think it’s lack of staying-power had more to do with the materials used to make the owl ornamentation (mostly wood and poo-brown paint). It should be noted though, that owls are currently experiencing a resurgence in popularity. In fact, if fashion is any indication of home decorating trends (which it often is), this year’s owl jewelry is a sign of things to come in home decor.

 

WOOOO would have thunk it?

Roman Blinds, take one

Tags

interior decorating, living room, roman blinds, window coverings

After a year of procrastination/indecision, I finally decided on a window treatment for the bay window in my living room (yeah!). Hard to believe, but we have been living with these blinds (minus the valance) since we moved in last April:

Note: The only thing these blinds have going for them is that they will make for a dramatic before & after transformation. Also note this is not my furniture. This picture was taken when the previous homeowner lived there.

My excuse is this: In an effort to economize in our home decorating/renovating, we have been going project-by-project, and while these curtains were a huge priority, I could not decide on how to treat them. The last thing I wanted was to go to the trouble and expense of decking them out, only to hate it.  So, I waited (and waited and waited) for inspiration to strike, and it did (finally).

The verdict? Roman blinds in canvas with a strip of accent colour (orange). Here is my inspiration:

 

What do you think? This will be my first time making roman blinds. Wish me luck.

Oh, the places we’ll go!

Welcome to Jenny Lane Designs, a blog dedicated to all things DIY:  home improvement, interior decorating (a.k.a. cosy making), crafting, etc!

I am a 30-year-old professional communicator by day and a creator of lovely things and a crafter of words by night. Almost ten years out of art school, the purchase of my first house prompted a creative revival in me. In the last year, I have reclaimed my long-dormant sewing machine, paint brushes, and power tools and started sanding, painting, and sewing my way to a cozier  home.

What you will see in this blog are descriptions of my past and current projects, easy-to-follow tutorials, (hopefully) inspirational before and afters, and random musings about dog behaviour, the importance of good grammar, and mental health. 

About the author:

Jenny Lane is a professional communicator and visual artist/creator based out of Nova Scotia. Once a student of Nova Scotia College of Art & Design University, Jenny has recently reawakened her creative side and is putting it to good work updating her new home. In addition to being a craftor of words and creator of lovely things, she is a dedicated advocate for the reduction of stigma related to mental health.