SQUEEEEEL!!!

Okay gals....I totally have a post after this. And I know it's completely unflattering to toot my own horn. But I'm getting ready to....put in your ear plugs, if that kind of thing bugs you!!

Today has been a GREAT day. I've been trying to transfer over to a new computer. And if you've ever done that, you can understand the amount of times I've sworn. But regardless of said swears...things just looked up for me.

First, over at the CSI Project Pottery Barn Challenge

My little boys Surf Bedroom Makeover won "Jen's Pick"

"Jen" happens to be one of my "American Blogging Idols" from Tatertots and Jello. (that should totally be a show. I could be Simon.) So that pretty much makes me have tears. Wipe.


Then....as if that wasn't good enough....one of my other "American Blogging Idols"
(seriously. If someone steals this amazing show premise...I'm suing!) Amy @ Positively Splendid Featured lil' ol' me as her "reader spotlight" for the week. Really?

I adore both these blogs. They were mentioned in this post as two of my VERY favorites. And they really are. What a great day!!

Okay...the tooting has now ended....if you opted out of the horn toot. You may now re-join our regularly scheduled program!

To top off the room re-design post, I wanted to share with you the "how-to" on a couple of the elements. Starting with the pillow for his bedding. You might have not noticed, because we never got great photos of it. But I LOVE how it turned out. And I thought I'd show you how I did it.

Blogs are OVERFLOWING with amazing pillow tutorials. And I adore them truly. But most of them are girly. Let's face it. Us girls....we're easier to decorate for. But I wanted a cool pillow for my son's room that incorporated some of these popular techniques, but was in no way girlie.




I started with an old pillow. It had seen better days. And I think it had also seen a marker in that bottom corner. Using this old pillow saved me lots of money. I just loosely measured it so I had an idea of how much fabric I'd need.




I purchased an amazing Robert Kaufman modern orange fabric to doll up our cheap IKEA duvet cover. I bought 2 yards and had PLENTY to do a large stripe across the duvet and make this pillow. I cut the pillow squares to match my loose measurements. (planning to make it smaller if needed)




Then I cut 3 inch strips from a fat quarter of a matching blue fabric. I took those strips and sewed 2 together to make a long strip. I ended up using 3 long strips. (so 6 cut from the fat quarter) Then I took a long strip and folded it over. Then I tied a knot in the end.


Okay, please accept my apology...I was running on 3 hours sleep...but I forgot a picture of the next step. You'll have to just read along....GASP!!

• Pin your knotted strip to one piece of your pillow square fabric.
• twist the strip around and around until it's a messy rope.
• pin your rope down in whatever pattern you want to create. (this is where the technique usually turns into a flower. We're doing zig-zags...that loosely resemble waves)
• Slowly sew right over your rope and remove your pins as you go. The twist will be sewn right down.
• Once you've got the pattern just like you'd like it. Sew the pillow squares together. (right sides together.
  
• Only sew on 3 sides. Slide your pillow in and see what the fit looks like. Mine was a little loose. I ended up cutting off 2 inches all around and re-sewing. But it's much better to be too big than too little. You can always make it littler.
• Once it's just right sew in a little from each corner on the 4th side. Leaving a hole in the middle to stuff your pillow in.
• Turn inside out, stuff in pillow, and hand-sew the opening closed.

I ended up doing 3 rows of material "rope" to make this wave pattern. If you twist looser and tighter in different areas, you'll love the texture it creates. Isn't it CRAZY COOL? And so NOT frilly.




The finished product looks so amazing on his bed. I actually bought material to make a couple more. But this one was so great. I really didn't need them. I love it when that happens!

THANK YOU, THANK YOU for the delightful comments and reactions to our bedroom makeover.
I'm overwhelmed with the response. Such delightful friends I have made.
I don't know what to say....

Have a great weekend!