Cable Knit Sweater Pillow

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Trend Spotting is my favorite pastime, I browse through stores, magazines, online blogs and catalogues.  In doing this, I see seasonal trends, I do not necessarily support all the latest trends, sometimes I just roll my eyes… And think oh not again! O.K. now my age maybe showing.

There are some trends that I think Hmmm…. Now that’s looks appealing!

One trend worth mentioning, are cable knit throw pillows.  Ooh La La… Love the high end look and feel of the pillows, not so much the price.  So, here’s how I created a high end  Wool Blend Cable Knit Sweater Pillow, whew say that fast three times!

It has already been established that I love thrift stores & second hand boutique’s!  So, in my travels I have been keeping an eye out for a good quality “brand name & material” cable knit sweater, I found one yesterday.

I simply turned the clean, size small, sweater inside out and sewed two parallel straight lines under the arms of the sweater.  Then cut the sweater above the lines, this prevented the sweater from unravelling.  Repeating the same process at the bottom of the sweater, leaving a 4 inch gap in the seam.

Using a pillow form from a surplus pillow in storage.  I then turned the sweater right side out and stuffed the form inside.  Then hand stitched the gap in the seam.  Voila!  I’m loving my new wool blend cable knit sweater pillow; Total cost $6.00.

Trust me on this, If I can do this, anyone can… sewing is not my strong suit.

Quick Tip:  When sewing a sweater on a machine use a longer stitch length and slow down the speed, allow the feeder foot advance the material. This keeps the sweater from stretching.

Keeping in touch!

Roxanne

Natural Cleaning Idea for Gleaming Hardwood Floors

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Admittedly, I am fastidious about my home especially the hardwood floors, I am continually trying new products on our floors.  Like any floor, routine vacuuming and washing is necessary to keep the hardwood floor in good shape.  I try to use earth friendly products, wanting also, to avoid damaging the flooring with harsh cleaners or chemicals.

Recently, I read that steeped tea does a tremendous job cleaning hardwood floors and left a lasting shine; I decided to give the steeped tea theory a test.

I steeped a bag of black tea, in an 8 cup measuring cup for about 10 minutes.  Then using a Vileda mop with a removable Cotton & Micro fibre cloth; “my personal favorite floor mop”.  I soaked the cloth in the warm tea, then gave a cloth a good squeeze to wring out the excess moisture, then proceeded to do a test wash on the hardwood floor.  I was pleasantly surprised, once dry, the floors gleamed.  I repeated the process to see if there would be a build up.  The results were the same, I have now washed the entire hardwood floor simply with steeped tea.  It has been noted, the tannin in tea is what creates the shine.  Steeped tea is easy to use, cost effective and earth friendly.

Quick Tips: Ensure the tea has cooled to Luke warm, and wring out the mop or cloth of excess moisture, hardwood does not like water.

A Creative Use for Old Lampshades

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It is the decorating season of the year!  Nothing says Christmas like Poinsettias; I love bringing in a natural element to our home at Christmas.

What I don’t love -  is the foil sleeves that the pot is slipped into at the store.  I wanted to disguise the plastic pot and foil sleeve… I could have re-potted the Poinsettias, but they tend to be fragile.

I came up with a creative idea to disguise both!  I removed the foil sleeve and cut the foil to reach the top of the pot, then slipped the sleeve back on to prevent leaking.  Then I went shopping in my store room, I chose 3 old burlap covered lamp shades, I simply bent the clip top lampshade wires flat and placed the pot inside.  Creating an instant decorative plant pot diguise!

Quick tip: Use grosgrain ribbon to embellish the shades, giving the plant pot diguises an extra festive flair.