The Life of an Ottoman, Textures, and The Winner of the Je T'aime Pillow

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE2BhinpH2xAW_JCKAAFaXreZHdrh75fMasionqb2FaRZLjQRLxZQHKaC9rBNPOLl7qjAmUkRBiuddWptxsZRYJSMMjHuBOuLxwPd8cyFRoO04vgCAc6VXN10r3A6VDRzSdsysJa-Plbc/s1600/DSC_0179f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE2BhinpH2xAW_JCKAAFaXreZHdrh75fMasionqb2FaRZLjQRLxZQHKaC9rBNPOLl7qjAmUkRBiuddWptxsZRYJSMMjHuBOuLxwPd8cyFRoO04vgCAc6VXN10r3A6VDRzSdsysJa-Plbc/s640/DSC_0179f.jpg" width="464" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Earlier this week Lillie and I made a slipcover for our ottoman which we stole back from my sister Dana. (Lillie mostly just enjoyed poking pins into the ottoman). We play musical furniture quite a bit in our family. You can look in my home and either Dana or Jamie's places and find pieces that we have traded back and forth or stolen from our parents basement or barn (and occasionally straight out of one of their rooms, although that is generally frowned upon and I am not the worst offender when it comes to that - haha!) It's even worse with clothes. My mom, Dana, Jamie and I all can wear the same shirt size even though we have different builds so often one of us will be wearing something that has passed through at least two of us and we always get a laugh. Anyway, back when we bought our first home in South Carolina we had a den that Jon used as his kind of "man's room". We had big flat screen TV in there and some couches and a leather chair and the walls had framed movie posters ("Hoosiers" and "Rudy") as well as some black and white framed photographs of Pistol Pete Maravich, Jon's favorite basketball player. We had the players over quite a bit and they all lived in that room. It was not exactly my favorite room, but seeing how I got to decorate the rest of the house however I liked I didn't mind it too much. We got this leather ottoman at Target and it worked nicely in that room. When we moved here to Virginia we really didn't have a space like that so a lot of those items went out on the garage. We used the ottoman temporarily in our family room after Lillie arrived because it made for a GREAT spot to change her. Once she got a little bigger though we moved it out to the garage and put our coffee table back in it's spot. I had planned on recovering the ottoman and moving it to our front living room to replace the trunk I had there but never got around to it. When my sister, Dana moved to Williamsburg last summer she ended up taking it and <a href="http://dearlillieblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/danas-apartment.html">recovering it </a>so it has been at her place for the last year and a half. Well, now that I am in major nesting mode I decided to steal it back and finally recover it. Dana didn't mind, and found something gorgeous to replace it which I will show in a post hopefully in the next week or two. At first I planned on just recovering it but then decided it would be smarter to make a slipcover that could easily be removed for washing since I plan on changing our new baby on it like it did with Lillie. I had three different fabrics I was trying to decide between and finally picked one. Well when I went to get two yards of it of course they only had a yard and a half left - arghhh! And the same went for my number two and three options as well. It was NOT my lucky day. I ended up quickly just grabbing something else even though it was lighter than I really wanted and a completely different texture, but oh well. I ended up changing the design as I went too because this fabric wouldn't work for my original idea. I am hoping they will get more of the first fabric I wanted and I will make a second back up slipcover option for when this one in is in the wash. Anyway, it is so nice finally having it done!  This poor ottoman has now had three different looks in the last three years and probably has many more slipcovers in it's future!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Here it is BEFORE:</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjezeihuRUYMxdF1QFaoEgjmXHLSZa_3Z_h0PkxnPT_ySJ0q40DGilQNDi0o08yjS0X1G3MKKk9r8Mz5znHNd1MIT0CeOdFbUxBy-MxYVuwFMz0feLp_Gm8WLmAgZwI57s_p1-U2EPRISw/s1600/DSC_0019e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjezeihuRUYMxdF1QFaoEgjmXHLSZa_3Z_h0PkxnPT_ySJ0q40DGilQNDi0o08yjS0X1G3MKKk9r8Mz5znHNd1MIT0CeOdFbUxBy-MxYVuwFMz0feLp_Gm8WLmAgZwI57s_p1-U2EPRISw/s640/DSC_0019e.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">And here it is AFTER:</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiFzoEEiuF9M4L1s3Chm-0juL9r5nlSN2PuO96EfzdmEWz7M0RAGf4xjv7AoZeWV9fx1Vd3OnQfnlw6orXDrX_z0-u7GPmZJcqLZkVb-6WKCRINVMy7QMtH2tHxrxGi_HPtoyq0dWKdow/s1600/DSC_0077e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="414" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiFzoEEiuF9M4L1s3Chm-0juL9r5nlSN2PuO96EfzdmEWz7M0RAGf4xjv7AoZeWV9fx1Vd3OnQfnlw6orXDrX_z0-u7GPmZJcqLZkVb-6WKCRINVMy7QMtH2tHxrxGi_HPtoyq0dWKdow/s640/DSC_0077e.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>I got the basket with a gift card I had gotten for my birthday last year. I am so excited about it because it has a cover (which is shown in a photo below) which will be great for storing things when the new baby arrives. In the meantime though Lillie and I went to Trader Joe's and got some fresh eucalyptus and ranunculus and then stopped by the thrift store and got three different vases. The white one shown below for $1.98, a cool milk bottle looking one for 98 cents which I will show you in another post, and a silver plated one for $6.98 (shown  a few photos below). I love those kinds of finds! I started playing around with the top of the ottoman and this was what I first did.</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ4Bg9bvkBT5Jk-MDCw_KWby1GRL9w1172hjCnlsM4o5rpa72elJ1kdebg32qKMCTeKyr5KT0ZxY80UR6yKIIY1CaPmmsTGV__DgYs7eICJ8fyeIHYKEwbvfb4bxxO3zGAdb3Nc9tQedM/s1600/DSC_0079e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ4Bg9bvkBT5Jk-MDCw_KWby1GRL9w1172hjCnlsM4o5rpa72elJ1kdebg32qKMCTeKyr5KT0ZxY80UR6yKIIY1CaPmmsTGV__DgYs7eICJ8fyeIHYKEwbvfb4bxxO3zGAdb3Nc9tQedM/s640/DSC_0079e.jpg" width="440" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjsYUVBVfUaPphmk8-UqpXZeNeRRakAI6-rKLtgREffhx3wp2iW5FhyphenhyphenjXja-3hbBkqxdXG5pHgWdZo07Rxyd_QE_Gu9CCxI16S6WNTzkD-vIx6CUI0wBencLKNuQV3wqNDJ1jd_ABmhz4/s1600/DSC_0045e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjsYUVBVfUaPphmk8-UqpXZeNeRRakAI6-rKLtgREffhx3wp2iW5FhyphenhyphenjXja-3hbBkqxdXG5pHgWdZo07Rxyd_QE_Gu9CCxI16S6WNTzkD-vIx6CUI0wBencLKNuQV3wqNDJ1jd_ABmhz4/s640/DSC_0045e.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFcBP02gquUEOmQQeK5CiAE6KUWnJClz5qxd7qG4sjkEmpDnOPjJPK6ICAlZxNrXl0WGeGRJHtGIFfvl-cBufJ-hnVuIdYAaheRJMuKY1wI1jjjqDNXzt_wDUmb8Wx4oGaf0p82kannOI/s1600/DSC_0085e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFcBP02gquUEOmQQeK5CiAE6KUWnJClz5qxd7qG4sjkEmpDnOPjJPK6ICAlZxNrXl0WGeGRJHtGIFfvl-cBufJ-hnVuIdYAaheRJMuKY1wI1jjjqDNXzt_wDUmb8Wx4oGaf0p82kannOI/s640/DSC_0085e.jpg" width="476" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Well, then I went to move the pitcher a bit and the handle fell off! Haha! No, it wasn't why it was $1.98. It was in perfect condition when we bought it but I carried the other two to the car and Lillie carried this one. She's so short that the bag kept clunking on the ground and when we got to the car I saw it had a tiny little crack on the handle but figured it was still good to use. Which it was - until it was full of water and I went to move it and the whole handle came off! </b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhidi1cGuG7yUa7aGKg11VLpV2cd4CCkj5_3VcbLq300OavDxmvnohUqPJab9VcWs9ZOcxUxv3Uqb0ayKS9-WjSwhiI5MN6xY3tXkjWAKZEVPzs61X7lFydWDAS7dkdn42j4CwdDRzRq34/s1600/DSC_0087e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhidi1cGuG7yUa7aGKg11VLpV2cd4CCkj5_3VcbLq300OavDxmvnohUqPJab9VcWs9ZOcxUxv3Uqb0ayKS9-WjSwhiI5MN6xY3tXkjWAKZEVPzs61X7lFydWDAS7dkdn42j4CwdDRzRq34/s640/DSC_0087e.jpg" width="488" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>So then I switched the flowers to this silver vase we got and moved the eucalyptus because it seemed a bit too much with the larger vase. I can't wait to have the basket filled with teeny tiny diapers and to be able to just pop the cover on and hide them.</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDdXfzmieEvvSCGqXs8C9zdECcU87EqXFRY5pkZaTcUh9zp1Ui_VSNBiNGHh5wI5FgTcbjaN6BONWT3bPwVKs_bIk8pCuIPXJ-q3Dua8BQcLZvD1u3AKT_QLLabHeYR7lx_cKAqrL1pN8/s1600/DSC_0117e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDdXfzmieEvvSCGqXs8C9zdECcU87EqXFRY5pkZaTcUh9zp1Ui_VSNBiNGHh5wI5FgTcbjaN6BONWT3bPwVKs_bIk8pCuIPXJ-q3Dua8BQcLZvD1u3AKT_QLLabHeYR7lx_cKAqrL1pN8/s640/DSC_0117e.jpg" width="448" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh6P05y3ToT94S8muijlkdgY5rrkAmt1sa5oP0TH68Gw7v82OEtlWjr_fTqyFTfc-9QDCOIH1uRei09BGSb_SCm_mQVb4zIOftnkCrsS3XV7BeYzC_YAi4QwVlLfA7IVoO1Ke6Fgnva6U/s1600/DSC_0144e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh6P05y3ToT94S8muijlkdgY5rrkAmt1sa5oP0TH68Gw7v82OEtlWjr_fTqyFTfc-9QDCOIH1uRei09BGSb_SCm_mQVb4zIOftnkCrsS3XV7BeYzC_YAi4QwVlLfA7IVoO1Ke6Fgnva6U/s640/DSC_0144e.jpg" width="456" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6KI7Flzfs89cGPt593wgIpplBbC4UwEZGmEtKMkFHOtgTEcrrv1wFE3htEbhH4jYmSKmo13LUJG0Tj5euz8bLCDXGEufB864Axj4IfW5giHKpxyImhwoTMK8kg-uBwHjWRrRreMX_0Qc/s1600/DSC_0114.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6KI7Flzfs89cGPt593wgIpplBbC4UwEZGmEtKMkFHOtgTEcrrv1wFE3htEbhH4jYmSKmo13LUJG0Tj5euz8bLCDXGEufB864Axj4IfW5giHKpxyImhwoTMK8kg-uBwHjWRrRreMX_0Qc/s640/DSC_0114.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">W<b>ell after watching Lillie run through the room several times I realized it wasn't the safest place for a vase. She knows enough not to touch the flowers or vase but the because it is an ottoman and not a coffee table it isn't a completely flat surface and I was afraid it might tip over if the ottoman even got the tiniest bump, and with a two year old that could definitely happen. So, we changed it out a THIRD time and this is what is there for now (well, at least until I change my mind again!)</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-zhDBRxb3_DQ0V49CJauE7JiPdzYP0hoG3atsJUNTNxvvp-bSFz5AyCxIOUl_xyW6Xm999covDk9I2moTT1TSCywbQfxYXIuG2_MS4zxi6LSN1CXIEAzdulwpD86H2iPKgyafBSvwGhg/s1600/DSC_0163e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-zhDBRxb3_DQ0V49CJauE7JiPdzYP0hoG3atsJUNTNxvvp-bSFz5AyCxIOUl_xyW6Xm999covDk9I2moTT1TSCywbQfxYXIuG2_MS4zxi6LSN1CXIEAzdulwpD86H2iPKgyafBSvwGhg/s640/DSC_0163e.jpg" width="468" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh07u-aShgFqudjCMomOqoarr6_S9qoexoe0MyTnrP0FQ8kEkPGTYNJhmqP3G1XkgpqhjJ_b4Ss_Hp_vbiD9IF2GmusN8G6RA-I00tTexm6jHcryMQRlD_DGr8WSEc00M9h1oUZbuCQWm0/s1600/DSC_0147.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh07u-aShgFqudjCMomOqoarr6_S9qoexoe0MyTnrP0FQ8kEkPGTYNJhmqP3G1XkgpqhjJ_b4Ss_Hp_vbiD9IF2GmusN8G6RA-I00tTexm6jHcryMQRlD_DGr8WSEc00M9h1oUZbuCQWm0/s640/DSC_0147.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2jaQI0e87qWH5jQSnVjHqKtno1aEDW8vBtC0arLH3IJ4k0hwJYflfKNEXDsw7I5CVhBhJ9k4TBYnClawvBAxvlvMVQOU9Dl4HqSCQbjaBf9yZYL3oDr5g_audbHCCJwStbrPWZebRRx8/s1600/DSC_0153.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="436" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2jaQI0e87qWH5jQSnVjHqKtno1aEDW8vBtC0arLH3IJ4k0hwJYflfKNEXDsw7I5CVhBhJ9k4TBYnClawvBAxvlvMVQOU9Dl4HqSCQbjaBf9yZYL3oDr5g_audbHCCJwStbrPWZebRRx8/s640/DSC_0153.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4MVv5oMIpEBGYNoNYAWV23Ns1gffDg9CLIPoYrAvNh-3uX3TwBX7CWY4LOOYxB9ZHxlePw22-sxGEcvfeLpMIJTkNwnHwkJnfgwUknugvj5F6kIm8Fe_LQz7Cd8Dkha1LI4QsczkqXIE/s1600/DSC_0155e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4MVv5oMIpEBGYNoNYAWV23Ns1gffDg9CLIPoYrAvNh-3uX3TwBX7CWY4LOOYxB9ZHxlePw22-sxGEcvfeLpMIJTkNwnHwkJnfgwUknugvj5F6kIm8Fe_LQz7Cd8Dkha1LI4QsczkqXIE/s640/DSC_0155e.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>On another note,</b> I<b> used to play with textures in Photoshop all of the time but hadn't in quite a while. I saw this post by Kat over at <a href="http://lowtidehighstyle.blogspot.com/">Low Tide High Style</a> and got inspired to play around a little. I haven't had time to finish them. I want to bring them into Illustrator now and do a few more things to them but who knows if that will ever happen at the rate I am going. However, if I do I am thinking about selling some prints in our Etsy shop (not necessarily any of these but of some other projects). I am torn whether or not to sell the actual prints and mail them or just sell the files (which I would sell really cheap - probably anywhere from $.99 - $4.99 depending on the work) so people can print them on their own. Do you find it easier to just have it arrive in the mail all ready to go or do you like having the option of being able to print it anywhere in any size on any type of medium that you would like? We sold some Christmas PDF files and I liked how nice and easy that was so I am leaning towards that.</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTSBz2E23CO5urvmBp8LxlCyPj_Z9cTYF84uhvLbLpsmqNJeuh8iLHt5WFtfdBteDwA-81tCZe8n03s1WqH5qBfXvxBDfYmPbVB5FnhhESQMMDRyqTTEEjxal2wBDqLwwrItXVIz916WU/s1600/DSC_0167ch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTSBz2E23CO5urvmBp8LxlCyPj_Z9cTYF84uhvLbLpsmqNJeuh8iLHt5WFtfdBteDwA-81tCZe8n03s1WqH5qBfXvxBDfYmPbVB5FnhhESQMMDRyqTTEEjxal2wBDqLwwrItXVIz916WU/s640/DSC_0167ch.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXCPgQE7UkKsXDcxwHVn4t02UyHOOmkPS3bx4TDN5-Eyo9digaq4judvmqx7raUUp28QqxLlHm_wEkZSbIOF6z034Jnbg31_pL7SG9Cmi-RqBOZy4Pvd98DDlO08IKsfzcpLbN4CJPIRI/s1600/DSC_0180cm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXCPgQE7UkKsXDcxwHVn4t02UyHOOmkPS3bx4TDN5-Eyo9digaq4judvmqx7raUUp28QqxLlHm_wEkZSbIOF6z034Jnbg31_pL7SG9Cmi-RqBOZy4Pvd98DDlO08IKsfzcpLbN4CJPIRI/s640/DSC_0180cm.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQuUt1rmaJyMYVPPKJ_pm5TUizw0pPqQViV8N6TVMuAXK6uuwfEgfXkjD2yHh69qCxmJ62SHVnmgrEHoTubWnd-6sHRXeEtThXvorq4wQmNy4z3b_zVp3Zy4DWOn_w9yibczOGKAJ06PY/s1600/DSC_0114vs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQuUt1rmaJyMYVPPKJ_pm5TUizw0pPqQViV8N6TVMuAXK6uuwfEgfXkjD2yHh69qCxmJ62SHVnmgrEHoTubWnd-6sHRXeEtThXvorq4wQmNy4z3b_zVp3Zy4DWOn_w9yibczOGKAJ06PY/s640/DSC_0114vs.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6V06gSYRvz6bMLkm3Ou3efHkV_tMbYKTB-nDeUqrhn8yySIKIorGNzSC1UYD5WttzSRK_7X6v2elmCugyg_cSBVGmL5l3JnXAYjMMfen54kTTUFiHrzPD96MqDGqQooqA7Lj9v1k0oMY/s1600/DSC_0179ee.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6V06gSYRvz6bMLkm3Ou3efHkV_tMbYKTB-nDeUqrhn8yySIKIorGNzSC1UYD5WttzSRK_7X6v2elmCugyg_cSBVGmL5l3JnXAYjMMfen54kTTUFiHrzPD96MqDGqQooqA7Lj9v1k0oMY/s640/DSC_0179ee.jpg" width="464" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikcyv8ejmqndYoPoVFV6Yt2nr1WLUEV9MN2_gqGrXDclD4JedOv1BEmMPT-7RtwryBxZbzVr3tO3oQxWZNdFgXbP0vpakYZ_V5a_zFcDoebeTc0Ox0fYG3H9XkqCM_OMTdoQd4Fc0Hwx4/s1600/DSC_0179eee.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikcyv8ejmqndYoPoVFV6Yt2nr1WLUEV9MN2_gqGrXDclD4JedOv1BEmMPT-7RtwryBxZbzVr3tO3oQxWZNdFgXbP0vpakYZ_V5a_zFcDoebeTc0Ox0fYG3H9XkqCM_OMTdoQd4Fc0Hwx4/s640/DSC_0179eee.jpg" width="464" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Also, thank you all for your wonderful opinions on the Valentine's shirts</b>! I went ahead and am printing the first design on long sleeve onesies size 3/6 months - 18/24 months and long sleeve baby ribbed tees in sizes 2 - 6. Then I am printing the first Je T'aime (the one I wrote) on white long sleeve onesies size 3/6 months - 18/24 months,  girls white thermals sizes 2 - 12, and women's white thermals sizes  S - XXL. Even though I will be printing a ton of shirts, I will only have a couple in each size (and in a few sizes only one). I am hoping to have them listed in our shop early next week (hopefully by either the 24th or 25th!) Also I am working on the Je T'aime pillow covers now and hope to have them available by Tuesday.  I am going to have them four or five in black but think I may offer one or two in a deep red print and one or two in a dark olive print as well. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Okay, and now onto the winner of the pillow:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Jillian!</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGqvy33UBu28xieLbqFgYcPim8ElHB4FKn0OM2asBqE1YfZdya_dtX0HJnSa1oM3WKseLvnzEKl0edRPvpWC6f62JZG8iwkFlfzBqb7V5gqXsMR6olrAbf-BhR-1UOTyrMxdyt4yOHYvI/s1600/Screen+shot+2011-01-15+at+3.14.49+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGqvy33UBu28xieLbqFgYcPim8ElHB4FKn0OM2asBqE1YfZdya_dtX0HJnSa1oM3WKseLvnzEKl0edRPvpWC6f62JZG8iwkFlfzBqb7V5gqXsMR6olrAbf-BhR-1UOTyrMxdyt4yOHYvI/s1600/Screen+shot+2011-01-15+at+3.14.49+PM.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Congratulations! Please contact us within 48 hours to give us your info! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Thanks again to everyone that entered. We will be hosting another giveaway soon so check back! Also, I want to thank Kim at <a href="http://733blog.blogspot.com/">Seven Thirty Three</a> for numbering our comments for us (that made it sooooo much easier for this giveaway than having to count out each one!)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I hope you all have a most wonderful weekend!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHV8r7b5N5LlPvp0qwJnBnOoy8gSIzpDlKyvnbyEr6e0GO2M0D3d1eWkoj3UpNHVlu-0EB38oIYr3VwI9IpwrS_MK1sG6LI6oYID5RlwGAUNIcjvKMZL18_BYC-Cs4qkzjQcmDqTU9980/s1600/sig.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHV8r7b5N5LlPvp0qwJnBnOoy8gSIzpDlKyvnbyEr6e0GO2M0D3d1eWkoj3UpNHVlu-0EB38oIYr3VwI9IpwrS_MK1sG6LI6oYID5RlwGAUNIcjvKMZL18_BYC-Cs4qkzjQcmDqTU9980/s1600/sig.png" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">PS - I am linked up to Miss Mustard Seed's Copy Me Challenge!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><center><a href="http://missmustardseed.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Copy Me Challenge" border="0" src="http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b243/signmakergirl/Screenshot2011-01-11at91635PM.png" /></a></center><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>

The Life of an Ottoman, Textures, and The Winner of the Je T'aime Pillow

Earlier this week Lillie and I made a slipcover for our ottoman which we stole back from my sister Dana. (Lillie mostly just enjoyed poking ...

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Valentine's Shirts (Opinions Wanted) and Je T'aime Templates

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: left;"></div><div style="font: 16.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">REVISED DECEMBER 18, 2011</div><div style="font: 16.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br /></div><div style="font: 16.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Unfortunately over this holiday season we have discovered many instances were our free templates were being using by other shops across the internet. Many of these shops were using the templates featuring the scripted words with that I freehanded on items they were selling. Because of this, we have chosen to remove our free templates from this page. I really hate to do this, but unfortunately not everyone was willing to comply with what we thought was a fairly basic request that the templates just be used for personal use or gifts. We apologize to those who had hoped to use the templates for non-commercial purposes.</div>

Valentine's Shirts (Opinions Wanted) and Je T'aime Templates

REVISED DECEMBER 18, 2011 Unfortunately over this holiday season we have discovered many instances were our free templates were being using ...

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Je T'aime Pillow Giveaway and Another New Hat Color

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Along with the two square pillows I made the other day, Lillie and I also made two 12" by 24" inch ones as well. Well, actually, thanks to Lillie they didn't exactly end up 12" by 24" but that's okay. I also made a muslin heart and covered it with extra ruffles I had leftover from when I made our Christmas stockings. We are going to be giving away one of the je t'aime pillows so if you would like to enter just scroll down. </span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">****Please note that these are NOT perfect! We wouldn't sell them like this in our shop. These are just freehanded onto 100% cotton fabric with a sharpie and quickly sewn up with Miss Lillie helping me so they are a bit crooked, and not perfect but made with lots of love. If we do decide to sell a few in our shop they will be either screenprinted or painted and I do all of our Etsy sewing when Lillie is napping or in bed for the night so that I can make something I feel comfortable selling, unlike most of the items that I make for our home which I often do with Lillie's little hands helping me.  I still haven't decided about selling them yet, though. </span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Anyway, here is je t'aime pillow we will be giving away:</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3A5RUgiUuKL4YKXqSZ_xOHHzzmXZVel1m7hI7L2y_UOJ4v2riNqttNqy7c_zLvtUcmhyphenhyphenecRnPDWJqCtvLGhD_4pyHjOGoM1us3Wc5TKcnKoaj4wtBFjUrYrWXoe0__XOoXB1tPJKob1Q/s1600/DSC_0019d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3A5RUgiUuKL4YKXqSZ_xOHHzzmXZVel1m7hI7L2y_UOJ4v2riNqttNqy7c_zLvtUcmhyphenhyphenecRnPDWJqCtvLGhD_4pyHjOGoM1us3Wc5TKcnKoaj4wtBFjUrYrWXoe0__XOoXB1tPJKob1Q/s640/DSC_0019d.jpg" width="528" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU4hSidHz8cfYp-7fXT6K0OdDlu8b7IK9aIu3fwdBSLkbTr_LiV60tnvn1WLhAvJ7wwpC2lHboLR2Cp4sMqG17zr9xlrdIEO9uEDEJVvgHhlbespMIBzA3QsQLAOsgcIAl7Hz4a2RjvBU/s1600/DSC_0016d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU4hSidHz8cfYp-7fXT6K0OdDlu8b7IK9aIu3fwdBSLkbTr_LiV60tnvn1WLhAvJ7wwpC2lHboLR2Cp4sMqG17zr9xlrdIEO9uEDEJVvgHhlbespMIBzA3QsQLAOsgcIAl7Hz4a2RjvBU/s640/DSC_0016d.jpg" width="482" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And here is the other one that is in our family room (basically the same as the giveaway one):</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0UrK5S2-n-kr6Idn-rM_f8cJPbHf7MkT3IQ45G-9T-GPa82IYupJilR6s_6V9MBJ6cS_C34mE2HkXfiyYIDJKUgQ12fTGjOB76IFF3ZdSi7j8bWKeh-DVxF-UETnFjkP69W3xSw4s6po/s1600/DSC_0035d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="474" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0UrK5S2-n-kr6Idn-rM_f8cJPbHf7MkT3IQ45G-9T-GPa82IYupJilR6s_6V9MBJ6cS_C34mE2HkXfiyYIDJKUgQ12fTGjOB76IFF3ZdSi7j8bWKeh-DVxF-UETnFjkP69W3xSw4s6po/s640/DSC_0035d.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitAPH9lluHb9nj11PBEdk5ZFO1NhnLm_n1KP1EhmMhqWAUySQG0Itpq5YCGKQAsEUD5xl2d9woGon1AcSG04_BsyLpQ8kCvXiK4znkt3ou7lHnm46B0GlpatQbWGoKtJ_jaBfw92XrhTo/s1600/DSC_0038d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitAPH9lluHb9nj11PBEdk5ZFO1NhnLm_n1KP1EhmMhqWAUySQG0Itpq5YCGKQAsEUD5xl2d9woGon1AcSG04_BsyLpQ8kCvXiK4znkt3ou7lHnm46B0GlpatQbWGoKtJ_jaBfw92XrhTo/s640/DSC_0038d.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbz6txa92cWYmx-RIHSCV-fhzWdsdkDPB9UlSkGKXDiVqNLXdJEbKF4O7IgOs2Bto87O8pH3EOoZ_IhhShc06MBZM9N6mVhHQLKuN9FGt42BBsbQxuCYkpuavsTrYNwsJCvZ6DqmW7eZI/s1600/DSC_0042d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbz6txa92cWYmx-RIHSCV-fhzWdsdkDPB9UlSkGKXDiVqNLXdJEbKF4O7IgOs2Bto87O8pH3EOoZ_IhhShc06MBZM9N6mVhHQLKuN9FGt42BBsbQxuCYkpuavsTrYNwsJCvZ6DqmW7eZI/s640/DSC_0042d.jpg" width="450" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzDjyZdFsEq6CqY3momlC5OM3Fa_CWLMVl4d7YPxqM1xgP0J7GQr-adIhz2QaI3fxPCLgHspttzllJ-zoncOJ8VUgptYr6tEF8_vmQWbYgkWL7FTR698sOqVljOR3Bga8YE19Vn1ilMHc/s1600/DSC_0054d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="444" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzDjyZdFsEq6CqY3momlC5OM3Fa_CWLMVl4d7YPxqM1xgP0J7GQr-adIhz2QaI3fxPCLgHspttzllJ-zoncOJ8VUgptYr6tEF8_vmQWbYgkWL7FTR698sOqVljOR3Bga8YE19Vn1ilMHc/s640/DSC_0054d.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>And these are the ones from our last post:</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_e4F_VKd808c3r7eyV6CB8HSfkS6rMrJk-XanzYGOg90fiwuu0Mr0HhxMPX5TDmP9-tSB8SZ3jDnciAd5lE3fWCKCUZgpfUC-iXRgZjku71qBB7a6dODrW0jawBMb5I82Xm11yeKsPjA/s1600/DSC_0001d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_e4F_VKd808c3r7eyV6CB8HSfkS6rMrJk-XanzYGOg90fiwuu0Mr0HhxMPX5TDmP9-tSB8SZ3jDnciAd5lE3fWCKCUZgpfUC-iXRgZjku71qBB7a6dODrW0jawBMb5I82Xm11yeKsPjA/s640/DSC_0001d.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhydMQ7TqKQqfMgECvntlGco6N02OBsX0ORiEc0IzOC7dbqxVRdTLGXNboZrrVCmZEPj8z9CFpvMxVDIVFEaWsu7PROkGWP6vfLd5FJxOhnivNgbTnGEaK2ZbfGjXX-G1CGPgfgoV8ZmR8/s1600/DSC_0003d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhydMQ7TqKQqfMgECvntlGco6N02OBsX0ORiEc0IzOC7dbqxVRdTLGXNboZrrVCmZEPj8z9CFpvMxVDIVFEaWsu7PROkGWP6vfLd5FJxOhnivNgbTnGEaK2ZbfGjXX-G1CGPgfgoV8ZmR8/s640/DSC_0003d.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5SWwHh2C4m27Bd8TUUePaae3lU_azmLb_yCDi3yOXgE4N4cudVQfA_nJNmmSxt-Qtg_aLP7QsXjV-pxV5eD5pmTE5rSLANwHWI1PodQyaj7UMVbThGykFJjk6LoBf3Y7ExXaxbdmeGAo/s1600/DSC_0007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5SWwHh2C4m27Bd8TUUePaae3lU_azmLb_yCDi3yOXgE4N4cudVQfA_nJNmmSxt-Qtg_aLP7QsXjV-pxV5eD5pmTE5rSLANwHWI1PodQyaj7UMVbThGykFJjk6LoBf3Y7ExXaxbdmeGAo/s640/DSC_0007.jpg" width="442" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdjSJ91qBnHlrwmrQyqLZxCh0AXlx6ROkzSoff6SkFog3veIC9WY4UbF2c_txuHlcZmsr1WKJvG3Dri14CkeMpCR6V5-yF2s51M2LC1YUPz1vWgLLtEkWLKmeQ48MwdfERl3JEj6g0fzk/s1600/DSC_0008b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdjSJ91qBnHlrwmrQyqLZxCh0AXlx6ROkzSoff6SkFog3veIC9WY4UbF2c_txuHlcZmsr1WKJvG3Dri14CkeMpCR6V5-yF2s51M2LC1YUPz1vWgLLtEkWLKmeQ48MwdfERl3JEj6g0fzk/s640/DSC_0008b.jpg" width="474" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #282828; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;">So, how can you win that first pillow shown?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #282828; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #282828; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #282828; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #b45f06;">All you have to do is leave a comment on this post!</span></span></span></strong></div><div style="color: #282828; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="color: #282828; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">You don't have to have a blog to enter, either. If you aren't a blogger, just enter a comment and then where it says "comment as" scroll down near the bottom and click on anonymous. However, if you do that, make sure to leave your e-mail address in the comment so that we can contact you if you win! If you have a blog or a profile where we can get your e-mail address then you don't need to worry about that part. If we draw the name of someone who we have no way of contacting we will simply draw a new name.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;"><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #93c47d;">You can comment each day if you would like to up your chances!</span></span></strong></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #282828; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><br /><div style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #b45f06;">For an extra entry become a follower of our blog!</span></span></span></strong></div><div style="color: #282828; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: #282828; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;"><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Just write "follower" as a second comment so it counts as an entry.</span></strong></div><div style="color: #282828; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;"><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></strong></div><div style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6aa84f;">We will draw the winner next weekend! </span></b></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6aa84f;"><br /></span></span></b></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6aa84f;"><br /></span></span></b></span></div><div style="color: #282828; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; line-height: normal;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="color: #282828; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; line-height: normal;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And here are a few photos of Lillie wearing another new hat Dana made for her. This time in gray with a pink flower clip. I took these the same time as the <a href="http://dearlillieblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/our-new-purple-knit-hat-and-some.html">purple ones from the last post</a> and as you can see she was much too busy playing in her window seat to actually sit still for me. </span></b></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbwZ7noy2ZXlrSNNPShNt6dMHTldeuvXXBvGyTir9obvDbAJUlab-aQ7JI98EpgmgS6xZPPFwEeCdEiN-QkkamtE_iKxNLwXK1TKxh73mZauqt3eMHN92ukjjZSpoIVFcl2Gbr7NFIrWo/s1600/DSC_0160c-swcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbwZ7noy2ZXlrSNNPShNt6dMHTldeuvXXBvGyTir9obvDbAJUlab-aQ7JI98EpgmgS6xZPPFwEeCdEiN-QkkamtE_iKxNLwXK1TKxh73mZauqt3eMHN92ukjjZSpoIVFcl2Gbr7NFIrWo/s640/DSC_0160c-swcopy.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUyuL_bX5pB0uw_h_bjA7aV6YYjMZfYjmuHxOBrzcpuXDtDtl0GSEh62Sx1cZU6Mbr1Nlk-N1EnNF7gCUeOk60sQVc16K5aO-y4Kv3DICT2s_YAnh0cVPx4jN70NwIzDZVIO5bB567H5o/s1600/DSC_0164c-swcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUyuL_bX5pB0uw_h_bjA7aV6YYjMZfYjmuHxOBrzcpuXDtDtl0GSEh62Sx1cZU6Mbr1Nlk-N1EnNF7gCUeOk60sQVc16K5aO-y4Kv3DICT2s_YAnh0cVPx4jN70NwIzDZVIO5bB567H5o/s640/DSC_0164c-swcopy.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The sun washed out the side of her face a bit on this one. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-WJtdKLjUHMn1qKzSvP6UYsOVctItsyBusmfbpDgiHGAfNadrOHa7j9ZFsJ7vPqJtf4bd8Tkl4yHG0dJzk0TreNkd8RFQHWL6nMjC34NwRoPff_oZI27msqi44NHOecgpo52zh57fPYA/s1600/DSC_0168c-softurbancopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-WJtdKLjUHMn1qKzSvP6UYsOVctItsyBusmfbpDgiHGAfNadrOHa7j9ZFsJ7vPqJtf4bd8Tkl4yHG0dJzk0TreNkd8RFQHWL6nMjC34NwRoPff_oZI27msqi44NHOecgpo52zh57fPYA/s640/DSC_0168c-softurbancopy.jpg" width="502" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMo-QIA3_SWuyLMx3DfBeujAFoJoKMA0-9PSGJjuFLKG0Iky60F6GAl6HoA3wS1gADzen8MW2njzruMvqJw-cpXMWidDueTH28olnVnFOkP4Fx4CP7Y0kqr8DFOANXLFUuWDMn61-tyLs/s1600/DSC_0168c-hopechestcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMo-QIA3_SWuyLMx3DfBeujAFoJoKMA0-9PSGJjuFLKG0Iky60F6GAl6HoA3wS1gADzen8MW2njzruMvqJw-cpXMWidDueTH28olnVnFOkP4Fx4CP7Y0kqr8DFOANXLFUuWDMn61-tyLs/s640/DSC_0168c-hopechestcopy.jpg" width="502" /></a></div><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I hope you all have a most wonderful weekend!</span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHV8r7b5N5LlPvp0qwJnBnOoy8gSIzpDlKyvnbyEr6e0GO2M0D3d1eWkoj3UpNHVlu-0EB38oIYr3VwI9IpwrS_MK1sG6LI6oYID5RlwGAUNIcjvKMZL18_BYC-Cs4qkzjQcmDqTU9980/s1600/sig.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHV8r7b5N5LlPvp0qwJnBnOoy8gSIzpDlKyvnbyEr6e0GO2M0D3d1eWkoj3UpNHVlu-0EB38oIYr3VwI9IpwrS_MK1sG6LI6oYID5RlwGAUNIcjvKMZL18_BYC-Cs4qkzjQcmDqTU9980/s1600/sig.png" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHV8r7b5N5LlPvp0qwJnBnOoy8gSIzpDlKyvnbyEr6e0GO2M0D3d1eWkoj3UpNHVlu-0EB38oIYr3VwI9IpwrS_MK1sG6LI6oYID5RlwGAUNIcjvKMZL18_BYC-Cs4qkzjQcmDqTU9980/s1600/sig.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHV8r7b5N5LlPvp0qwJnBnOoy8gSIzpDlKyvnbyEr6e0GO2M0D3d1eWkoj3UpNHVlu-0EB38oIYr3VwI9IpwrS_MK1sG6LI6oYID5RlwGAUNIcjvKMZL18_BYC-Cs4qkzjQcmDqTU9980/s1600/sig.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">PS - Don't worry, we know the numbering on the comments is messed up and is counting twice. It is in the process of being fixed.</span></a></div>

Je T'aime Pillow Giveaway and Another New Hat Color

  Along with the two square pillows I made the other day, Lillie and I also made two 12" by 24" inch ones as well. Well, actually,...

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Our New Purple Knit Hat and Some Valentine's Day Pillows

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> am going to type as fast as I can to see if I can get this post up before Lillie wakes up from her nap. I can hear her stirring so I may not get it done. Anyway, this is going to be short but just thought I would show you all one of our two newest hat colors (will show you the other one in my next post) and a preview of some of the Valentine's Day pillows I have been working on. Dana made one in this color for both Lillie and Jamie for Christmas. I wish I had of gotten a shot of them wearing their hats together. Maybe I will when Jamie comes down for a visit next time.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>As usual I didn't get a smile from Miss Lillabel but at least I got one shot of her looking at the camera! Jon thinks she looks WAY too grown up here and I agree! What happened to our baby? He actually doesn't like this picture at all because he thought it was posed but then I showed him the other 40 or so I took of her and the rest she's got her thumb in her mouth or is making faces so he realized this was just a shot of her glaring at me! =)  Here are a few versions.</b> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxsLWC73KpMywCuW7l9IR5Vv2WbMPRPLsNzTl24gQmaGJLD2rXMJxhcblEP2SkHyE6voziDN4papABahvr849fWu8yFyblXN-k0cI0RobvxVO3aacrCy6QIjU2GKgrWNjYL3vf4a7fJ1w/s1600/DSC_0109flarec-copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxsLWC73KpMywCuW7l9IR5Vv2WbMPRPLsNzTl24gQmaGJLD2rXMJxhcblEP2SkHyE6voziDN4papABahvr849fWu8yFyblXN-k0cI0RobvxVO3aacrCy6QIjU2GKgrWNjYL3vf4a7fJ1w/s640/DSC_0109flarec-copy.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCVWEdwcJuRIM585gKN2OkkofCX2eroqrmvcGXp7cEUy_06LZvuxG2YMnyBoG7by-i9JTViPTMbOjG9LCiWSgzzCXAWqzF84o9tP0kqWeOKrQOH8c8mMQYb0oYoVUtG6v3hj_Pu7PcSVU/s1600/DSC_0109c-whisperingwindswarmcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCVWEdwcJuRIM585gKN2OkkofCX2eroqrmvcGXp7cEUy_06LZvuxG2YMnyBoG7by-i9JTViPTMbOjG9LCiWSgzzCXAWqzF84o9tP0kqWeOKrQOH8c8mMQYb0oYoVUtG6v3hj_Pu7PcSVU/s640/DSC_0109c-whisperingwindswarmcopy.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM7QRjHBCKTEpvF60RYwTl61mukCtx8KmgHs1TVzXMb9_PVYDT0e-1R3QuqJgM6XVhQTeUx8cdW7I5idYMdhHnl8ycStUbdbb_w7Vlttwpd2IfzgVrgXIU1iJX004wkXYcALCI-PKn-90/s1600/DSC_0109c-platcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM7QRjHBCKTEpvF60RYwTl61mukCtx8KmgHs1TVzXMb9_PVYDT0e-1R3QuqJgM6XVhQTeUx8cdW7I5idYMdhHnl8ycStUbdbb_w7Vlttwpd2IfzgVrgXIU1iJX004wkXYcALCI-PKn-90/s640/DSC_0109c-platcopy.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And here are a few shots of some of the Valentine's Day pillows I am working on. I am HORRIBLE when it comes to foreign languages and every time I googled "valentine" in a handful of different languages something different would come up so I hope I don't have these spelled or accented incorrectly! I originally was just planning on doing one or two 12" by 24" longer pillows but when I took down my Silent Night and Holy Night pillows and put them away the couch looked so bare so I decided to start with two 20" squares to cover the inserts of the Silent Night ones. Plus I like having a little pop of something black and graphic in that room. I also made two 12" by 24" ones that I will post pictures of tomorrow or Saturday (one of which we are going to give away here on our blog!) and two heart shaped pillows. One in burlap and the other in muslin. You can see the burlap one on our sofa. I think it may be a little too "cutesy" for me though so I may move it on up to the guest bedroom.</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCzjqOVmv91O296Oa33VYc8ihJiD1YmKY8Q2OgxAzClqv6YkbJJtq9bWEgi3Sn950ts29w3wld28fFKBaPbfmveER5OG514Ai0yXaBI1m-8TiBQKt_iwQ8xMVHyfnPta-PqU4vSh5P9ek/s1600/DSC_0003b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="470" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCzjqOVmv91O296Oa33VYc8ihJiD1YmKY8Q2OgxAzClqv6YkbJJtq9bWEgi3Sn950ts29w3wld28fFKBaPbfmveER5OG514Ai0yXaBI1m-8TiBQKt_iwQ8xMVHyfnPta-PqU4vSh5P9ek/s640/DSC_0003b.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBZr2ieogfNWh4mAHWdiYgLWCR0VUxB4NK6QewKZyeV1N4qSAP6XrCTgOqtl6xILXGJX_dWKD-GvzJZQUx29Dpk8RsE9GYLdgHM4lT604iIehNxWX7ulrYdiMf17dawpBFELFVfsvm6_0/s1600/DSC_0007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBZr2ieogfNWh4mAHWdiYgLWCR0VUxB4NK6QewKZyeV1N4qSAP6XrCTgOqtl6xILXGJX_dWKD-GvzJZQUx29Dpk8RsE9GYLdgHM4lT604iIehNxWX7ulrYdiMf17dawpBFELFVfsvm6_0/s640/DSC_0007.jpg" width="442" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_7l3qSr6bNRPKd8ZLNhBWk9KVj-AQBnl1uOGXP8k3FdFlKCwDa7x5lbhGNab0E4j07mGyoU2rm72zWppdnwt7vQJy0zPqQ4dRENHgufShhU-cGfpnGNsaw4l52S-7__ajlh6sWRsTMTI/s1600/DSC_0010d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_7l3qSr6bNRPKd8ZLNhBWk9KVj-AQBnl1uOGXP8k3FdFlKCwDa7x5lbhGNab0E4j07mGyoU2rm72zWppdnwt7vQJy0zPqQ4dRENHgufShhU-cGfpnGNsaw4l52S-7__ajlh6sWRsTMTI/s640/DSC_0010d.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Over the last couple of months we have gotten quite a few requests about doing tutorials here on our blog. As I mentioned a little while back that is something I do want to attempt doing, but am a bit nervous to because I am horrible at explaining things. I thought I would give it a try though and have my first one be with these pillows because I figured what could be easier than a basic pillow tutorial, right? How could that go wrong? Well, first I tried taking pictures as I went with the script pillows. It was late at night when I was making them so when I uploaded the pictures on my computer they were AWFUL! They were not photos I would ever want to post! In fact they were all quickly deleted! Then I figured I would try with the heart pillows the next day but half-way in realized I had no idea what I was doing myself - so I definitely should not be giving a tutorial on them so I stopped. Plus, I am not super happy with either of them and I don't want to do our first Dear Lillie tutorial on a project that I am not a big fan of.  So, it is embarrassing to say that the part I was most worried about as far as doing a tutorial was the writing and I never even got that far - haha! Oh well. Anyway, to those of you who have asked - I promise I am going to keep trying and at some point will do a tutorial or two on here and if they work out will go from there. </span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In the meantime, although we won't be giving a tutorial <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #674ea7;">we will be giving away one of our "je t'aime" pillows in our next post.</span></b> It might be tomorrow (if I have time) but more likely will be Saturday so be sure to check back!  Also, I haven't had time to make templates of the script for those you who want to make your own pillows yet, but if I do get to it later tonight I will post them with the giveaway. I was quite shocked at how many of you used the Silent Night/ Holy Night ones so I will definitely try to get some templates made up for these if I have time.</span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Okay - that's all for now! (Oh and no - Lillie doesn't nap until 10pm! She woke up shortly after I started writing and I am just now getting around to finishing it up!)</span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I hope you all have had a wonderful Thursday! </span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHV8r7b5N5LlPvp0qwJnBnOoy8gSIzpDlKyvnbyEr6e0GO2M0D3d1eWkoj3UpNHVlu-0EB38oIYr3VwI9IpwrS_MK1sG6LI6oYID5RlwGAUNIcjvKMZL18_BYC-Cs4qkzjQcmDqTU9980/s1600/sig.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHV8r7b5N5LlPvp0qwJnBnOoy8gSIzpDlKyvnbyEr6e0GO2M0D3d1eWkoj3UpNHVlu-0EB38oIYr3VwI9IpwrS_MK1sG6LI6oYID5RlwGAUNIcjvKMZL18_BYC-Cs4qkzjQcmDqTU9980/s1600/sig.png" /></span></a></div>

Our New Purple Knit Hat and Some Valentine's Day Pillows

I am going to type as fast as I can to see if I can get this post up before Lillie wakes up from her nap. I can hear her stirring so I may ...

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Fresh Green Apple Wreath

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Thank you all so much for your prayers! Our Uncle Bob, was able to return home from the hospital today after getting a pacemaker put in yesterday, and I got the okay to be up and about again - yay! Thank you all for your sweet notes of encouragement. I am going to be extra careful from here on out and have to cut back on some things (mainly we won't be offering as many new items in our Etsy shop as I had planned on this spring, but hopefully will be able to by this fall!) I need to keep my little munchkin cooking for as long as possible and don't need any more scares like these past two weeks! We will be <b>reopening our shop on Friday</b> with all of our current items and hopefully will be slowly offering a few more new things over the next few weeks but definitely not as many as originally planned. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Also, I wanted to say thank you to <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">René over at <a href="http://cottageandvine.blogspot.com/">Cottage and Vine</a> for featuring Dana's apartment that we did a <a href="http://dearlillieblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/danas-apartment.html">post on</a> back in August. You should check out her fabulous blog that is full of decorating ideas on a budget! I especially have enjoyed her recent drop-cloth posts. There are a few ideas I really want to try!</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 19px;">We finally got all of our Christmas decorations down and everything put away. I always have such mixed feelings when we take down all of the Christmas stuff. At first is seems so depressing and our house starts to look so barren and cold. Then once everything is put away I always get a huge urge to clean (and it was even worse this year thanks to my already being in major nesting mode - haha). Because I am not supposed to be doing a whole lot still, Jon did most of the scrubbing and heavy-duty cleaning and I got to work on cleaning out drawers and organizing. Once the cleaning is done I always get excited again and don't miss the Christmas decorations at all. It feel so good to have everything organized and have a fresh clean slate to start playing around with. I always struggle the most with decorating this time of year, though, because by January I am starting to get sick of the darker, warmer colors that I start using in September, but it is too early to do anything too spring-like. I generally end up sticking with the same green and white palette I use for Christmas but try to lighten and brighten it up a bit more.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 19px;">Today I worked on a few projects. First Lillie and I added some fresh green apples to a wreath. She thought poking holes in the apples was great fun! Several years ago I covered a grapevine wreath left over from our wedding with a mix of greenery from Hobby Lobby and every year after Christmas I pull it out and add either fresh granny smith apples or pears to it. I think it looks better when I do a full circle of apples (filling in the gaps between the apples with more apples) but that makes the wreath sooooo heavy. When I use it for our front door I do that because I think it looks prettier and our wreath hanger can handle the weight, but indoors on this mirror I was afraid it would be too heavy. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">T<b>he apples generally last around 2 to 3 weeks depending on the weather and then I normally replace them once or twice and then after that it is on to a new project and I put this away or use it somewhere else until the following January. Obviously I could use faux apples and glue them on the wreath but I like using fresh, natural items as much as possible!</b></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrG44d_TZs9z7buQKCNPS-ea3RYraDdvFo3zcRFBDAc7SIZ8qIp7dUdylySxiKY0uylmdDime7_6mTPQ-NWD71hwHbrQ7ohaphIaKLAwVWyw_RhyphenhyphenwNNVrmT3NPKLs2w_pWoKPlcJDxJjw/s1600/DSC_0009a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrG44d_TZs9z7buQKCNPS-ea3RYraDdvFo3zcRFBDAc7SIZ8qIp7dUdylySxiKY0uylmdDime7_6mTPQ-NWD71hwHbrQ7ohaphIaKLAwVWyw_RhyphenhyphenwNNVrmT3NPKLs2w_pWoKPlcJDxJjw/s640/DSC_0009a.jpg" width="458" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyE4-mjX6Zb9LOYcFoYq024My9zIAwW0Sm5nFz4Hwdtmr1Xc9AVJLF787xc1fJmwPNvpdemUi8Y7pDoOZrqQ9kRjxDU5hH-vo7wfZ8IiCSkqsDgaTPL0obpLf5MS9BMCsW5oRoAO94zpA/s1600/DSC_0093a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyE4-mjX6Zb9LOYcFoYq024My9zIAwW0Sm5nFz4Hwdtmr1Xc9AVJLF787xc1fJmwPNvpdemUi8Y7pDoOZrqQ9kRjxDU5hH-vo7wfZ8IiCSkqsDgaTPL0obpLf5MS9BMCsW5oRoAO94zpA/s640/DSC_0093a.jpg" width="488" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMFYBKmh7mHq17rAYCuBVUdn_5uX3t-FQN24vG0uiOJ2zDufbPI4K-Vw243n32MNrSv48KqoRPKlxBss9I4tAWVtDgJhPbzwYqQDui6em6pNBfleZKtkFZCjBSJUJhjGbieD2WwaAR9L0/s1600/DSC_0003a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMFYBKmh7mHq17rAYCuBVUdn_5uX3t-FQN24vG0uiOJ2zDufbPI4K-Vw243n32MNrSv48KqoRPKlxBss9I4tAWVtDgJhPbzwYqQDui6em6pNBfleZKtkFZCjBSJUJhjGbieD2WwaAR9L0/s640/DSC_0003a.jpg" width="466" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVTPgXoCXtcew5NWZ4VDDmcG1y8vMt8HQHg_5-Ode40120gWDPbZMHJTgl1jLwVxxUK28-jD1bl-T7BkpKTABGJJapjGka178GvKIvx2mn46woT6LAOXra2DMIIrvX9FN-v_koKvcaIIk/s1600/DSC_0015a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVTPgXoCXtcew5NWZ4VDDmcG1y8vMt8HQHg_5-Ode40120gWDPbZMHJTgl1jLwVxxUK28-jD1bl-T7BkpKTABGJJapjGka178GvKIvx2mn46woT6LAOXra2DMIIrvX9FN-v_koKvcaIIk/s640/DSC_0015a.jpg" width="474" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>We removed the Silent Night and The First Noel prints from the frames and put back in photos of Miss Lillabel. I kept the burlap pillows and stack of books with the boxwood as is for now because they still work with the green of the wreath. Then I switched out the little rosemary tree (which had died while we were away) for some oversized twine balls. </b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj40Y3vdhnAZvNiBMl__i62iq3rnC45gVFSRnityJoERRwInFt99tark7PSdkHsGHbJwL1jsaEHVf3S-wFw0_yX-9_Lx4BY-1wb6u1-t4Q0VTcb4_WimwzRtoHKTG28tapPHlFgKWQctGA/s1600/DSC_0022a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj40Y3vdhnAZvNiBMl__i62iq3rnC45gVFSRnityJoERRwInFt99tark7PSdkHsGHbJwL1jsaEHVf3S-wFw0_yX-9_Lx4BY-1wb6u1-t4Q0VTcb4_WimwzRtoHKTG28tapPHlFgKWQctGA/s640/DSC_0022a.jpg" width="462" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG7z6ohxK9qvjdCNCkuf7cxHtFwvWWzMO8gYJoxhy-Elce54x1eF98lqxKdk6iAEVbG1ZyxEeC96p3246hhXDxkhlL31VbgntPbTHXYgBG7NZdDaa8MrhYbeIUd4MSWIQq6BjSUcimIHo/s1600/DSC_0024a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="454" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG7z6ohxK9qvjdCNCkuf7cxHtFwvWWzMO8gYJoxhy-Elce54x1eF98lqxKdk6iAEVbG1ZyxEeC96p3246hhXDxkhlL31VbgntPbTHXYgBG7NZdDaa8MrhYbeIUd4MSWIQq6BjSUcimIHo/s640/DSC_0024a.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinQt1ySDrVGvesspRC4nwXqpY4mC0smLPv_hi5UNBjkNaf4SpGyPdNUX2seSFqeoUqiVdwSSgvzA5K5Bd0U_U5Pi2wfc10g12GRlyvbgTBsb-V_7KxlMnna9a1TXgSNn_VZvu4k8egO-c/s1600/DSC_0070a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinQt1ySDrVGvesspRC4nwXqpY4mC0smLPv_hi5UNBjkNaf4SpGyPdNUX2seSFqeoUqiVdwSSgvzA5K5Bd0U_U5Pi2wfc10g12GRlyvbgTBsb-V_7KxlMnna9a1TXgSNn_VZvu4k8egO-c/s640/DSC_0070a.jpg" width="452" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b>I took down all of the greenery, lights and stockings from the mantel but left the paperwhites. I have a few projects planned for sprucing the mantel back up - it looks so bare and boring now! </b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzAxwNCyQ41MuQaIXJfuNz7RqC_kFMlCkYHDEp9d2QcCl890USMx6Pxa9uKUJ0jDsi2KwPtvFolr3J7mZVgR4RpFbpw4w4kyFnE5OgKSzkuNLsuIZH_57_1Vlhjdzt1hFnpf1PHbeFA9U/s1600/DSC_0050a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzAxwNCyQ41MuQaIXJfuNz7RqC_kFMlCkYHDEp9d2QcCl890USMx6Pxa9uKUJ0jDsi2KwPtvFolr3J7mZVgR4RpFbpw4w4kyFnE5OgKSzkuNLsuIZH_57_1Vlhjdzt1hFnpf1PHbeFA9U/s640/DSC_0050a.jpg" width="460" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAEyCnc0O9FPoNdgvDSWBj7HFflaYp3FJGMSmjV4Atx5SRzulKno6ZljOsz0UM6LJ-dLjZjAI031_AlKGw6064QQM2xgd6tnzPtz1ZTNOvQT-QYMlDA84yHevSddY744q9bBHZRuOHl7g/s1600/DSC_0049a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAEyCnc0O9FPoNdgvDSWBj7HFflaYp3FJGMSmjV4Atx5SRzulKno6ZljOsz0UM6LJ-dLjZjAI031_AlKGw6064QQM2xgd6tnzPtz1ZTNOvQT-QYMlDA84yHevSddY744q9bBHZRuOHl7g/s640/DSC_0049a.jpg" width="470" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b> I also have some projects planned for this little corner of the living room too that I hope to get to in the next week or so.</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLdTdgKR9MVM0fjf6JqEs2IspdLMlf_k2YTnYluFwNQyJK7BNJLYhVotCc7S5ejf5tV77HwVEExmHlgdxi58zFR8Ik6JYu05HT6F2jnO4bpVg7Ctzxb23aUYMZx1qQ05mgdcOIqCdh0mI/s1600/DSC_0053a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLdTdgKR9MVM0fjf6JqEs2IspdLMlf_k2YTnYluFwNQyJK7BNJLYhVotCc7S5ejf5tV77HwVEExmHlgdxi58zFR8Ik6JYu05HT6F2jnO4bpVg7Ctzxb23aUYMZx1qQ05mgdcOIqCdh0mI/s640/DSC_0053a.jpg" width="490" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Although I have always enjoyed making cards and candy and little things like that I have never done any decorating for Valentine's Day before. This year though I have a few projects I am planning on doing starting with a few pillows. I have four that I am working on. I got two of them finished today and they are sitting on our sofa.  The other two I am still working on. Here is the script from one of the finished ones. Hopefully I will have time to photograph them tomorrow in natural light. I didn't finish them until tonight so there wasn't any point in trying to take any photos. </b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikHCcWS4LStNpqgNM-FT98w5HqNXxvHQhg3wORJACkoQjl7o0fCCWkZwbRT9CoNbO-YyOP8NWK9EaXjvaDITKGShNVEh6PGMMZ51hXpSOaMqO-GP19jKy1Vm4i92pzWUoBrPOoddO0ZpY/s1600/DSC_0073a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="516" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikHCcWS4LStNpqgNM-FT98w5HqNXxvHQhg3wORJACkoQjl7o0fCCWkZwbRT9CoNbO-YyOP8NWK9EaXjvaDITKGShNVEh6PGMMZ51hXpSOaMqO-GP19jKy1Vm4i92pzWUoBrPOoddO0ZpY/s640/DSC_0073a.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Well, I hope you all are having a wonderful week! If I have time tomorrow I will post some pictures of the pillows!</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmkXWvcuvI2krlj6w5rSkBwuSoI_jox0FuDuc4OufJvGC10xGNrykquZW-cOkCNYqPkaEsXxtHjI7idBKv5bQAq5shmvvla4ztPBkl3qlqLzXKvc8eFB9fNUPcMsKvqANtSGLJNQrGhbU/s1600/sig.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmkXWvcuvI2krlj6w5rSkBwuSoI_jox0FuDuc4OufJvGC10xGNrykquZW-cOkCNYqPkaEsXxtHjI7idBKv5bQAq5shmvvla4ztPBkl3qlqLzXKvc8eFB9fNUPcMsKvqANtSGLJNQrGhbU/s1600/sig.png" /></a></div>

Fresh Green Apple Wreath

Thank you all so much for your prayers! Our Uncle Bob, was able to return home from the hospital today after getting a pacemaker put in yest...

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