Talk about Black Friday, how about the impulsive shopping that takes place before hosting guests for Thanksgiving? As I’ve said many time, Thanksgiving is our FAVORITE holiday around here. Warm and cozy, without the pressure. Except for some of my vintage furniture that sags a little. Every time my older brother sits on our sofa and sinks way back and down low, I think of how the cobbler’s children went without shoes. For Pete’s sake!! Wouldn’t you think I could fix my blasted sofa?
Well, instead of digging deep into sofa structure repair, new throw pillows could do wonders and are always a good decoy. I’m so tired of looking at the same old throw pillows on my sofas. Ugh!

Two years ago I did a tutorial over on Curbly showing how you can take some Goodwill tops and easily turn them into my patented (Ha!) Recycled Inside Out Pillows. It’s true, you can find some fairly interesting fabrics from Goodwill clothes, be sure to wash them, and then pin and stitch. Easy Louise-y.

See the full step by step over on Curbly, and check out more pillow tutes right here and here. And here is one more from my Curbly days.
Once you get a design mastered, make a pattern to use the next time you need to visual refreshment on a budget.

When the mailman turned down our street this morning, I scampered out to wait for him. I knew the September issue of Country Living was on its way. And Yes! There it was. I tore into the envelope while chatting on the phone with my mom. I tried to explain to her what I was so excited about, but she’ll need to see it. (She was, and still is, one of the most creative thinkers I know.)
Anyway, the cartoon-y button pillow finally made it to the pages of Country Living. Thanks to Jourdan Crouch for the clear editing and great photo. Oh yeah, it’s on page 59 of this month’s issue.

Cococozy, one of my favorite bloggers, has busted right on through her blog and is launching her own line of throws, pillows, draperies, bedding and fabric by the yard. Wait! Did you say fabric by the yard??? Does this mean there will be upholstery weight fabric available in these patterns? I don’t know the answer yet, but I’ll let you know. You can be sure I’ll get my hands on some of it.
She’s taken her trademark gray logo, as well as other traditional designs, put a crisp modern spin on them and then turned them into warm and cozy linens and bedding.

What I love so much is that she shows us some behind the scenes photographs of the fabric being printed and pillows being photographed. (I always love to see what goes on behind the scenes.)
She’s packing up and headed to the New York International Gift Fair this month to sell her wares. I don’t foresee any lack of customers for her.

All images are the property of Cocozy.com

People often ask where they can find good upholstery fabric. My response is to make sure it grabs your attention and then make sure it’s on sale. Rarely do I pay full price for fabric yardage. There’s no need to. There are so many local and online fabric resources selling bolt ends, you can find something that suits your fancy for a fraction of full price yardage. Today, I was going to share unusual lattice fabrics with you. Then, unexpectedly, I saw this fabric. Unusual, interesting, and linen. Wow!

It’s only available from Fabrics & Paper, which looks to be based in the UK. I’m keeping my eyes open for a version of this making it’s way over here. I can think of a way to DIY this by stitching on ribbons or a flat weave trim. This gives me an idea for a tutorial. Gotta go.

Photo image: Apartment Therapy

Look, I was sporting gray and yellow light years before it was “in”. Shouldn’t there be some reward for those of us who discover an offbeat color scheme before it appeals to the masses? Once the look is all over the blogosphere and on the pages of what’s left of the the design magazines, I feel a real itch to move on. I need to move on, not because it’s everywhere, but because for some reason I like to be different. I know it may be a little kooky, but I genuinely enjoy being different. It’s been a lifelong struggle and I only hope there is at least one other poor schmuck that understands this personality disorder.

Photo image: IndyStar.com

Anywho, I’m still loving gray walls with yellow, orange, red or magenta. I’ll give this scheme another year and then maybe I’ll have to ditch it for some new offbeat look. As long as I keep the big things neutral, I can easily change the small stuff. I don’t sweat the small stuff.

Don’t you love these uber modern patched together pillows by Lisa Stickley? Are they DIY-able?  OF COURSE!  Get ready. We’re preparing five great tutorials for next week.  Each day we’ll show you a different finishing trim technique to fancify your handmade pillows.  Don’t be afraid, we’ll walk you through it. 

Image: Jars of Cute