BEACH Cottage Reveal!!!

Before I get going on my cottage tour I want to thank everyone who linked up and shared their fabulous sewing projects during the month of May! You kept me inspired to finish up some sewing of my own so we would be ready for a photo shoot for our upcoming feature in South Shore Living Magazine. Nothing like having a professional photographer come to your house to get you on your decorating toes! So, without further adieu, come on in! The Sea Horse is open!

 The top photo ( inside that cute new frame ) was taken a decade ago. It's so hard to believe our little beach bums are young adults now. I'm here to tell you that you don't need a lot of square footage, the latest in coastal trend decor, or even an indoor shower to enjoy family time at the beach. In fact, we prefer the rustic conditions of our solar powered beach cottage.

ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE AND THE BEACH! 

This view is from our bedroom looking out into the sunny kitchen. The cottage is small and scarcely decorated to keep things light and airy! It's anything but when you add 4 grown people and one hairy Corgi! Many of our items we have crafted or painted ourselves over the years. I painted the kitchen table, the dresser and the top of that little blue table my hubby made from an oar. I also made the curtains with a sailing them in mind.

I made the valances so they would hang flat, rather than bunched and inserted grommet in the top corner of each panel. Then with a twist of a large sized cup hook they were hung in an instant. 

To make a valance like this one. Measure the width of your window and add enough to make a half inch hem on both sides. To figure out how tall to make your valance, measure the drop from the top of where your valance will hang and add enough on the top and bottom for a half inch hem. You don't even need to sew a pocket in the top since you aren't using a rod for hanging.

I made a similar valance for our bathroom window but this one has a 2 inch rod pocket at the top. 

 

 Most of the pillows are new ( great bargains at Home Goods) but one is handmade and special...

Can you tell which one it is? You guessed it! The floral pillow was a vintage table cloth. I loved the colors and with all these stripes, I just had to have some flowers somewhere!

We have two futons on our 9 x 16 sleeping porch. I opted out of the matchy-matchy look and went with different pillows and a bright coral herringbone throw for this one. My mom painted the pretty yellow cottage painting and my hubby took the other photograph.

We have one wall shingled inside the porch so it feels as if it's part of an outdoor room. 

I found the mirror with hooks at Walmart several years ago and I love the double duty it provides in our small space.

 

This little cabinet was a road side find. I paid $5.00 for it and it fits in this space perfectly.

Isn't this a great pic of our daughter? What can I say? Moving right along...

 

Our small vintage dresser sits at the foot of our bed and serves as dresser and sideboard for books, candles, sunglasses, phones and what ever else may get dropped there during the day. In this picture it's nice and neat for you!

Our room is so small book shelves take the place of traditional nightstands. Which at the beach, is perfect!

 

 

 I made the ticking curtains too! Same principle as the valances but if you want them to bunch up then double the width. At 423 square feet you might say our little beach cottage qualifies as a tiny home. It was originally built in the 1950's then survived a decorating attack in the 1970's and over the last twenty years we ( along with our family ) have brought back some of it's original charm and kept its retro spirit with out getting too theme specific.

Now, who's ready for a little sumthin', sumthin' to eat and drink?

VINTAGE Tablecloth Pillow Tutorial

Dear friends,

 If you've been with me for a while you already know that I've been on the hunt of late to fill up my booth space at the Antique Mall in my home town. I've been gathering in vintage tablecloths, feed sacks, flour sacks and grain sacks to have on hand for making pillows. I'm especially drawn to anything with bold, colorful FLOWER ( you know me and flowers ) prints. Lucky for me, this seems to have been  ' the thing" back in the day! Today I'm sharing a simple pillow project that I whipped up using a piece of vintage table cloth fabric. If this pattern doesn't put a skip in your deep winter step I don't know what would other than maybe a trip to the Bahama's.

Don't rule out a table cloth if it has minor light staining on it. It's possible to remove some stains with a heavy duty cleaner such as  Lestoil ( my hubby told me about it) but if your tablecloth is large enough you can use it as a cutter for crafts or home decor items which is what I did with this one. I already had a 20 x 20 down filled pillow form on hand which I purchased at Ikea for 7.00 each. It's a quality pillow form and makes my old/new pillow look and feel like a luxurious modern day item with homespun appeal.

 

No pattern necessary! 

• measure and cut your fabric in to a 22 x 22 square.
• turn fabric inside out and sew three sides together with a 1 inch seem allowance.
• leave a large enough opening to insert your pillow form.
• turn fabric right side out and insert pillow.
• pin opening together and sew it closed by hand or with your machine. 

Up-cycled vintage tablecloths make adorable cafe' curtains, valances, aprons, tote bags even framed artwork! 

And, if you are lucky to find some that are in " mint " condition they make wonderful wedding gifts for your retro loving friends! 

Do you collect vintage linens? Do you UPCYCLE them ? I'd love to hear what YOU make...!