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Seasonal

upholstered Christmas banner tutorial

A few weeks ago, I was browsing Christmas decor and tripped across this sweet “Happy Christmas” banner at Terrain.  The vintage-looking stuffed velvet letters appealed to me, but I wasn’t a fan of the color or the unevenness of the letters. I liked the idea of making one, but I had to think through how to make it.  The inspiration banner looks like each letter was sewn and stuffed.  That process was not even an option for me.  I am not precise when it comes to sewing, which is why I was a horrible quilter, and this project would take precision.  I needed to figure out a Marian-friendly way to do this. Well, I can do upholstery.  I wonder if I could upholster the letters…maybe on wood or thick chipboard letters.  I looked into a bunch of different wood letters, thinking chipboard wouldn’t hold the staples well, but they were

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November 23, 2014 44 Comments
Decorating

mason jar "snow globes"

I have to start off by saying how much I enjoyed reading all of the comments in response to my post yesterday.  In a way, it was very therapeutic for me to write and I’m glad it was encouraging to others as well. This is definitely one of those not-new-at-all ideas, but they are so cute that I thought I would make a few mason jar “snow globes”.  Kriste is the one who introduced me to them and she pointed me in the right direction when it came to picking out cute things to put inside the jars… I found most of the items, as well as the jars, on Etsy and at antique stores.  We found a few of the bottle brush trees at Hobby Lobby.  At first, I was a little perplexed at how to fill the jars and Kriste got a good laugh at me.  Just give me a

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November 19, 2014 21 Comments
Favorite Finds

recent finds & photo shoots

When we were in Charlottesville last week, Jeff extended the invitation to me to do a little antique shopping.  He knows this means I will most likely fill our van with a bunch of things he doesn’t really “get.”  It means I’ll buy things that I expect him to fix and it even may mean he gets longing looks from me over a beastly piece of furniture that I want to rearrange everything in our van for.  He knows all of this and still encouraged me to stop at a couple of antique malls.  It hasn’t always been this way.  I swear he used to distract me by pointing out a field of cows and would accelerate as we drove by a sign for an antique mall.  He has finally learned that milling around 25,000 square feet of musty, old stuff is my idea of a very fun afternoon and he

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November 17, 2014 52 Comments
Favorite Finds

epic craig's list find

I have found a lot of great pieces on Craig’s List over the years…chandeliers, dressers, hutches, cupboards, chairs, sofas…you name it.  I’ve bought a lot off of Craig’s List.  When I’m getting ready for a market, I troll the local antiques & furniture sections daily in our local areas to see if I come up with anything good (and I often do.)  And I have another ace up my sleeve when it comes to shopping CL…my dad.  He has a truck, likes to drive and likes to meet new people, so he’s in charge of coordinating the details of the pick up and then he delivers it to me.  It saves me a lot of time and he enjoys helping out. So, I was browsing through Craig’s List a few days ago and came across a listing for a French armoire.  I have been looking for one for my bedroom

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November 16, 2014 64 Comments
crafts

block printed wrapping paper & snowball garland

I walked into the studio ready to work on Christmas things this morning.  I told Kriste at one point that I wished I could work on five different things at once.  There was a bee in my bonnet.  I had a lot on the wish list to get done, but I knew it was way too much for one day, so we  got started and just worked until we needed to stop.  We started making a grain sack tree skirt, did some housekeeping things for the studio and played around with some papers and ribbon I have been collecting over the last few weeks. I also used an antique wooden stamp I bought at an antique store to “block print” some craft paper and I love how it turned out. I see these wooden printing blocks here and there when I’m at antique stores, but I never though to buy one until Kriste

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November 14, 2014 24 Comments
Living Room

a slip turned into a slip

I found a pretty antique petticoat a few months ago at an antique store and decided it would make a pretty pillow cover.  I would turn a slip into a pillow slip!  Two, actually. Since the ruffle was only on one side, I made it like a slip-on pillow case instead of a traditional decorative bolster cover.  It worked out perfectly, since the ruffle hangs over the sofa and it’s tailored on the back side. It always pains me a little to cut up antique linens, but the detail on this piece was too pretty to not use. You can see a peek of the pillow form under the pillow case, but it’s white, so it’s not distracting.  I might make a simple muslin cover for it at some point, but maybe not.  I’ve even thought about putting blue and white ticking on the end that shows as a fun little detail.

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November 12, 2014 17 Comments
Decorating

a chandelier, watering live evergreens & blue checks

The living room is in the front of our house, which faces south.  Most of the day, the room gets beautiful light..streaming through the dining room and front windows in the morning and in long, golden beams through the west-facing windows in the afternoon.  At night, though, this room is dark.  That is because it has no overhead lighting.  The house was built in the 1940’s and having lots of junction boxes and outlets was just not the thing to do.  I’ve wanted to add pot (recessed) lights and junction boxes for light fixtures to the old part of the house for years, but with plasterboard ceilings and no easy access the ceilings, it would be a major, messy project.  I think lighting is so important for a room, but lines have to be drawn somewhere when you’re fixing up a home that you’re not planning to live in for very

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November 11, 2014 21 Comments
Decorating

a girl can change her mind (and often does)

Soooo…the curtain saga continues.  I’ve confessed that rugs are my nemesis, but now that I’ve switched to sisal and jute blends, I’ve made peace with rugs.  It seems like curtains might be my new nemesis.  I think the struggle I have with curtains is that it’s not a design choice that’s easily (or inexpensively) changed.  In a room with one window…okay, it’s not that big of a deal.  But my family room and living/dining room have four windows each, which means eight full length panels are needed.  That’s at least 25 yards of fabric, plus the lining and a whole lot of time at the sewing machine. I’ve known for a white that I wanted to replace the curtains in the living/dining room, but the reasons above prevented me from doing anything.  I still love that fabric, but I’m ready for a change and I’ve learned a lot about making

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November 10, 2014 43 Comments

I’m Marian, a painter, writer, and lover of all things creative. From art and antiques to home projects and everyday life, I share my journey in hopes of inspiring you to embrace your own creativity and make beauty in the spaces you live.

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