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All Things Home

wing chair drop cloth slipcovers

I try not to get too engrossed in my blog analytics and all of the numbers, but it’s interesting sometimes to check them out…see what’s popular and what is most often pinned.  One trend I’ve noticed is that my readers loved my drop cloth projects.  I still get questions about which ones I use and how I bleached them.  Well, I thought I would give an update on drop cloth slipcovers I made for a pair of wing chairs about five years ago…  These chairs have a great story.  This is what they (and my family room) looked like when we first moved in… Yes, they are the blue checked wing chairs.  (Ha!  I just noticed a bagel sandwich on the back of the sofa!)  Anyway, the chairs were put up for sale by some friends at a yard sale and, believe it or not, they didn’t sell!  So, I

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Decorating

When being a DIYer prevents you from getting something done…

If you read the title and you’re a DIYer, you know what I’m talking about.  Most of us have wish lists waiting to be completed and piles of supplies waiting to be turned into that finished project we’ve been dreaming about.  There are times when those lists and piles are too overwhelming and I would just rather get sucked into a show on Netflix and pitter about on Pinterest.  Then, there are times when I’m plowing through the list, trying to find the non-existent end.  What I have found with some projects, is that I just need to do what non-DIYers do on a regular basis – just buy the darn thing and get it finished.  But, if you’re a DIYer to the core, you know that’s hard to do. I have been wanting to frame family pictures for years.  YEARS!  I have had a “to-frame” pile for, seriously, about

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Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint

tough coat 101 video

We introduced the Tough Coat a few months ago as  part of the MMS Milk Paint line.  It was a product that was many months in the making. You see, I’m a pretty tough sell when it comes to adding new products to the line.  I have to really love them, use them and being okay with them sporting my name.  I never planned on carrying a water based poly product, because my preference is for oils and waxes.  When I first started furniture painting, I used water based poly and was usually disappointed with the finish.  It got so much better when I found smooth applicator pads and even better when I started using my sprayer.  I never imagined going back once I started using waxes and oils, though. Then, I had to deal with this piece… I painted it with one coat of milk paint that almost all

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Decorating

guest room curtains…check

I tend to get a little bit aimless around the holidays.  Those aimless times are when it’s hard to be your own boss.  I have long lists of things I want and need to do, but I don’t have anything pressing.  (Actually, I need to finish my Christmas shopping and that’s getting pretty pressing…)  When I start to feel aimless, I usually do one of two things.  One – I’ll give myself a break and have an easy day.  Or two – I’ll start knocking stuff out.  I chose the latter today. Knowing that I had lots to do, but wasn’t sure what I was going to do, I went upstairs and unclipped the fabric at the guest room window and threw it in the car to finally sew them into real curtains.  I started right into pinning and pressing when I got to the studio.  When Kriste showed up, she

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Living Room

ottoman slipcover tutorial

My blog was eerily quiet for a couple of days until I realized there was an error with the comments plugin!  Well, it’s back up a running, so you can talk to me again. Before the Chapel Market, I made a slipcover for an ottoman I found at a second-hand shop and promised a tutorial.  The pictures were soon buried and I forgot all about it!  I was digging through the depths of my Lightroom library and was reminded of my promise.  So, here we go! For this project, I used a couple of vintage textiles I’d been saving in my stash for just the right project.  One was a piece of an old blue & white quilt with amazing stitching and the other was about a yard of antique cream homespun linen.  The quilt piece wasn’t large enough to cover the top of the ottoman, so I needed to use pieces

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crafts

cinnamon ornaments

I’ve been wanting to make cinnamon ornaments for our tree for a couple of weeks and there just never seemed to be a good time to take over the kitchen counters with the endeavor.  We had a dusting of snow this morning and I had a relatively open day, so I decided to dive on in. There are a lot of different variations on this recipe, but this is the one I settled on… Start with two cups of ground cinnamon… Dump it in a large bowl and add 1/2 cup of smooth applesauce. Mix the two ingredients with a spoon (or spoonula).  I thought maybe I did something wrong, because it looked “mealy”, but I pressed onward… …and added one cup of all-purpose white glue.  The “dough” started to come together more, but it was pretty thick and sticky.  I pressed it into a ball with my hands and dumped it

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crafts

how to make yarn pom-poms

I’ve been using a lot of handmade wool poms in my Christmas decorating and I didn’t even think about making a tutorial for them.  A tutorial was requested, though, so I thought I would oblige. I made these when I was a kid, to use on hats, hair ties, socks, slippers, etc.  I think most of the ones I made ended up as toys for our two siamese cats.  (A little wallet I crocheted out of wool yarn became one of our cat’s “baby” for a time, but that’s another story.) My inspiration for making these was some wool “snowball” garlands I bought from Anthropologie.  They were so fluffy…it was definitely a Despicable Me moment.  “They’re so fluffy, I’m gonna die!!“ I might not have thought that if I saw them online, but in the store they looked so amazing draped over an antique ladder and I bought one.  I

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Holiday

grain sack tree skirt

I intended to make a tutorial on how to make the grain sack tree skirt under our family room tree and it started out that way, but things went south about 1/3 of the way through.  It may surprise you (or not) to know that I don’t usually have a plan when I make something.  Not a detailed plan, anyway.  I know what I want to make and I have a general idea how to make it and then I trust in my ability to wing-it.  I tend to be an optimist when it comes to DIY, which often works in my favor, but can sometimes get me in trouble. It’s hard to get into too much trouble with a tree skirt, so I decided to fly by the seat of my pants and started cutting fabric.  I knew I didn’t have enough of the the antique hemp toweling I wanted to use,

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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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