How to make a tablecloth

I would love for my dining table to be exposed like this at all times:

smooth, dark espresso finish, with beautiful wood grain....

But with kids in the house- it is simply impossible.

All sorts of activities take place on our dining table: drawing, play dough, chopping ( when Alina is helping with dinner), cutting/pasting/gluing, etc.

So a durable, protective something was absolutely necessary! A regular fabric tablecloth just would not do it.

So when a few years ago, I saw somewhere in blogosphere a tailored oilcloth tablecloth, I knew it was a solution for me.

You have probably noticed my old black/white tablecloth on the background of these photos, here or here.

It did served me with loyalty for around 3 years, but it is time to replace it with something fresh.

The only problem is that there is a limited selection of oilcloth fabric out there, most are too bright and flowery and do not blend into my living/dining area.

It has taken me a while to find a suitable pattern/color for my new tablecloth. 

I  have finally settled on Ty Pennington Spice Fabric in laminated cotton. This is how my table looks now:

neat, tailored, with small geometric pattern.

If you up for making yourself a tailored tablecloth, here are the instructions in visuals:

Owls

Don't you feel like the owls are taking over? 

Here are some pretty owls on Etsy - just look at the variety!

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I keep seeing them everywhere, and have been resisting this owl-mania for quite a while. But I think, finally, I gave in.

Meet my new white owl umbrella stand.

But guess what I am using it for??

I keep my bread in there! We mostly buy long Italian loafs from a lovely bakery nearby, so I wanted something tall, to completely hide the bread in the plastic bag ( it keeps the bread softer longer)

None of the traditional bread boxes out there are long enough to do this, plus bread boxes take up a lot of counter space. But with this owl, I am able to keep the long bread loafs vertically and out of sight. :)

( the picture above shows yummy sesame bread rings, not bread loafs,we simply ran out of those ;)))

What have you re-purposed lately?

  

Fashion+Funny = I love it!

I have just discovered this really cool fashion video-blog and  wanted to share it with you.
I completely fell in love with Wendy! So adorable, funny and has a great sense of style!
Just watch one of her videos and you will love her too:

Hope you enjoy!

Chevron Rug for sale

Anybody up for a zig zag rug?
I bought it for my bedroom, but it just did not fit into the surroundings, no matter how hard I tried to convince myself that it COULD work.
Great quality, 100% wool, looped, 5'x8'.
I absolutely love it, I so wish I could use it, but it conflicts with my "serenity" themed decor.

If you want to buy it, please contact me: newmomdesigns {at} yahoo {dot} com. Price $240 +shipping.

Library inspired fabric

Here is a little sneak peak of what I have been working on,
What do you think this is?

All right, I'll just tell you ;)

One of he readers of my blog have reached out for help to spruce up her living room. As a young family of three with an adorable little girl, they needed  fresh, modern fabrics to fit the feel of their new apartment. Frankly, they both have done a great job decorating their home - just needed a little help with textiles, such as throw pillows and a new fabric for an ottoman.
We quickly decided to do a custom fabric for the large brown ottoman.
The idea is - library bookshelves wrapped around the ottoman. Not only it is a unique, eye-catching design for two book-lovers, it also pick up and ties together all the colors in the room.Texture is inspired by Holli Zollinger, one of the most popular Spoonflower designers!

Cannot wait till it's all done!

Slowly, but surely...

Just like many other projects, my gallery wall beautification project, which I have started so enthusiastically, came to a halt. No, no, it is far from being finished... I just lost my inspirational wind, so to speak.
Slowly, I have been trying to gear myself up to the task, browsed through endless Etsy pages in hopes of some bright enlightenment, but nothing so far.
At times, I think I just take it way too seriously - it is just a matter of a few frames I have to fill with SOMETHING!!! But then again, I start to argue with myself - that SOMETHING is what we all going to look  numeruous times, everyday. And I want to be pleasing to the eye, well... not just my eye, but everyone in my household at least ( I already gave up the idea of pleasing everyone with my choices, it is really impossible!)
So while I still have3 large frames that are still empty... awaiting..., here are a couple of new additions I wanted to share:

My $2 wood carved elephant I picked up at a discount store. I had to freshen it up with some paint, as the original woody surface looked dingy and dirty (weirdly, on the photo it looks good as original, but trust me... it did not in reality!)

My take on a weathered painted patina....

I may paint it again with a brighter color, to pop more against the wall. Unless I paint the walls, then...not sure.

And another new resident on my wall is a photo collage of my kids:

Not only it did bring some color to the wall, but every time I look at it - my heart smiles!

That's what I mean by the "right" selection for the frames. Of course, I don't expect to smile by looking at every single piece on my wall, but I am searching for something special..:)

To read the beginning of my gallery wall adventures click here.