Christmas Backdrop

A unique way to change how your furniture looks at Christmas. How about changing the background of shelves or behind wall units? Initially the work takes some time, but once it's all done you can store it and pull it out the next year. You can change it up easily, year to year.

Here is the cabinet that I'm going to create a new background for. A few years ago I cut and placed matchstick blinds behind the cabinet to give it a different look. For Christmas I'm giving them a real seasonal look.

I use thin, luan wood for each section. Measuring is key, of coarse and I learned that the hard way.

I cut out each section using my jigsaw and lightly sanded the sides.

As you can see below, each section was covered with red satin. I use "duct tape" to attach the satin. You may think this is a strange selection for adhesion, but it worked great! It gave me the ability to pull the fabric tight and it also gives me the option of taking it off easily next year and change it to gold or green fabric. I like this.

Here is the finished look. Maybe next year I'll do gold. Have a great holiday!!

Christy

01 02 12

Recovering An Old Chair Pillow

This particular chair I got off the sidewalk in front of Pier 1 Imports a few years ago. It was only slightly damaged and seemed simple enough to touch up with some paint, which is what I did when I got it home. I paid $69.00 dollars for it, which I knew was a real bargain.

A few years have passed and now the white pillow is getting worn out and just crappy looking. Time to recover that chair seat. Now, what's the best way to go about it? Carefully take the pillow seams apart and disassemble the fabric, piece by piece. This creates a template for your new cover.

Below you can see the pieces removed and taken apart. Now all I did was pin them to the new fabric and cut out the new pieces.

Here, the pieces are pinned to the new fabric.

Just to be on the safe side, I've pinned the new fabric to the pillow to make sure it will all fit. It should if I followed the template correctly.

Sewing right sides together, the pillow is almost complete. This job is best done with a sewing machine and some basic sewing skills, but honestly not that difficult to do. Now the issue becomes this: what is the best way to close up this pillow. A zipper is great, but a lot more work, or the use of Velcro which works great but is still some extra work. I decided to leave an opening, stuff the pillow in and hand sew the pillow closed. I picked this option because the pillow is hardly ever used and should hold up for a few years, before it needs to be replaced again.

Here's the pillow all finished. Great that it looks clean and like new again. I used 1 and 1/2 yards of fabric. The fabric was $6.99 a yard on the clearance rack and I used a 40% off coupon at Joann's. Not a bad deal and pretty easy to sew up.

Christy

01 02 12

Christmas Scents for the effusion lamp

I'm currently burning two delightful scents that are combined, in my effusion lamp. This one is just perfect for the holidays. All my scents were purchased at Brambleberry.com

Recipe:

1/2 ounce of Christmas Tree

1/2 ounce of Apple Jack Peel

1 ounce of distilled water

The rest of the bottle (16 oz) is filled with 91% Isopropyl alcohol

The combination of these scents are perfect for the holiday. I've burned "Christmas Tree" alone and it is just like the real thing. That certainly helps if you have an artificial tree like I do. The addition of the apple jack peel adds flavors of cinnamon and apple.

I also purchased "Christmas candy" for the holidays. Sweet and delicious, it spreads throughout the entire house in no time.

Also for the holidays I've picked up the following scents. Turkish Mocha (I think this should smell like coffee), Celestial Waters, Christmas Spice, Bay Rum and Red Apple. I'll let you know how they work out.

Lucky me! My daughter bought me a new effusion lamp.......

To add to my growing collection. They are just so beautiful, just to display.

I still receive emails about these lamps on a weekly basis. I'm glad to answer any questions you may have. My blog archives are full of more information if you are interested.

In the mean time, scent the house up like it really is the holidays!

Christy

01 02 12