Old-Fashioned Decorating

Here's a tableau I saw once in a flea market
and recreated here at home.

It's an old step-ladder adorned with kitchen utensils and other household items that are old or made to look old.  Keeping
ribbons and greenery to a minimum enhances this simple look.

Simple Decorative Table Covering for Any Season

Look at me!  I actually did a craft!  This project is SEW simple to make with a machine, and would even work up quickly by hand if that's your style.  All you need is a yard of woven cotton fabric in any color or design you like and at least 1/2 yard of any coordinating fabric.

Square up your cuts of fabric.  I do it by pulling a thread, but maybe you know of a different way.

Cut the larger piece of fabric in as big a square as you can.  Because of crooked bolting and uneven cutting, it will almost certainly be less than a 36-inch square.  Fold and press edges in 1/4-inch, then fold them over another 1/4-inch and press again.  Then top stitch all the way around.

Do the same thing with the smaller fabric, making a square as close to 18 inches as possible, and hem it all the way around as well.

Depending on your table, you may want to adjust these sizes.

Place larger cloth on table with points toward table ends and sides.  Place smaller cloth on top at a 45° angle (with points toward table corners).  Place centerpiece as desired.  Or, you know, you can put it on the table any way you like.

These are simple and inexpensive to make, so why not have some for every holiday or season?  I find that in our house, a full table cloth is likely to shift or get pulled on by our unruly cats, but these smaller table toppers work great.  When the table is pretty, we're much less likely to use it as catch all surface, too.

Simple Decorating for Fall and Winter

I'm not a big fan of holiday-specific decorating.  I'd much rather decorate for the season than for this holiday or that.  For example, here is our kitchen table dressed up for autumn. 

A table runner or scarf, a coordinating napkin and a basket of gourds and squash is colorful, yet simple.  This type of decoration will take us through all of October and November.

For some reason, this particular photo of the hutch in our dining room makes me start thinking ahead to winter.


I'm thinking of tying some red plaid ribbon around those cream-colored canisters and maybe add a holiday-scented jar candle, some old-fashioned cookie cutters tied with red raffia and maybe a few sprigs of greenery in place of the houseplants on top.  It will have a Christmas-y feel to it, but can tastefully stay in place from December until spring rolls around again.

We'll have a tree in our living room, but for this space, I'm envisioning no Santas, no snowmen, no angels, no plastic baubles or twinkly lights.  Just simple and basic decorations that speaks less of holidays and more of winter in general.

Just tossing some ideas out to see where they go.  What do you think?  Does an understated style appeal to you?

January Sewing/Crafting: Just Under The Wire

Remember when I said I wanted to complete a crafty project a month this year?  And that the first thing I wanted (needed) to complete was cutting and hemming some drapes?  And that it wasn't exactly what I would call a fun craft?
 
Well, as expected -- by me, anyway -- I put it off and put it off until January was almost in the books.  I finally got the job done yesterday, just in the nick of time.  Thank you, dear blog readers!  If I didn't have you to be accountable to, all eight panels (our bedroom and Kat's) would still be dragging the floor.

I promise to be more punctual with my next project.  I'll succeed by default since there are only 29 days this month!