Redecorating my old room

So, I haven't lived at home in awhile. Ok, more than awhile. Let's try 15 years? Right after I graduated high school, I packed my bags and moved a whopping 45 minutes away. Still, I never moved home again - until, well, now.

When I was in high school I painted my walls cobalt blue and covered them with black and white photos, posters and drawings.

I returned home to find baby pink walls and golden framed flowers:


Framed Precious Moments cross-stitches:


Lace curtains that let in surprisingly very little light:


In addition to pink walls, the carpet is this light spearmint-y / sage green color:


Eeep. How was I going to find stuff to match all of this? I stared at the pink walls unhappily, thinking that if I changed that, I might be inspired - but I had no clue what might combine with that spearmint green carpet.

Finally, I made a detour to Target and just bought a bunch of stuff I loved: a bright reddish-pink quilt, shams, sheets, and a purplish throw rug. I didn't care if it didn't match.

I got everything on sale, but there was a sheer white curtain with flocked dots I really wanted. I just didn't want to pay 20 dollars a pop for them (20 x 3 = way too much for me).

So I bought 3 sheer white curtains for 5.99 each, and cut polka dots out of an old white pillowcase instead:


Sewing the circles was a cinch - I used white embroidery floss (2 strands) and a simple straight stitch, nothing fancy at all:


I also hung the top portion of a birthday banner I made last year for a bit of extra happiness:


I hung big paper lanterns I brought back from New York:

Doesn't the new curtain let in so much more light?

Next, I got on a garland kick. I cut small circles out of an old turquoise t-shirt and strung them on white perle cotton:


I made flowers by squishing a bunch of circles together:


Or, just simple strings:


Then I hung them wherever I wanted some extra color:

That lovely lady on the right is of course my mom. On the left is an old knitting magazine I picked up in Cape May.

Finally, I added some more paper lanterns and my own embroidery and painting to this little corner:


And there we go, here is my new abode (for now):


Isn't it crazy the difference a bedspread, sheets, and a curtain make? All the crazy colors look good together and make me very happy. It's feeling much more like home now...

Revisiting the vintage transfer pillowcase

Ha ha ha - remember this?

http://unafloresita.blogspot.com/2009/04/trying-out-vintage-transfer.html

About a billion years ago, or to be more exact, in April of last year, I started embroidering this pillowcase using a vintage transfer.

I started it as whitework - in other words, all white threads on light blue. Maybe that was what gave me the blahs and didn't inspire me in the least to finish it. For over a year, there it sat...

But, as is usually the case, once I finally decided on the colors, I plugged away and finished it in no time...


That was the first flower I started on, and you can see I used a few different threads and stitches.



I can't believe I finally finished this!


Here's the pattern, if you want to try it: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mytransfers/3392786027/

That was one of the few nice things about having to pack up everything I own and mail it around - unpacking the boxes and looking at all my unfinished projects and actually feeling inspired to finish them all.

Thank you for all the kind comments you left on my posts about moving home and leaving New York. I'm slowly adapting to the quieter pace of life, with a great deal of joy - New York was wonderful, but it was always so loud and frenetic, and "on." I finally feel like I can draw in a breath and think. I still feel like a strange animal - a hybrid species that is not quite Texan and not quite New York. But you know? I kind of hope that never fades. :)

Oh, things I've been enjoying since I moved back:
walking 1-2 miles at my favorite parks
swimming as often as possible
tacos
pan dulce
air conditioning
friendliness
Twin Peaks episodes
reading: The Host, Let The Right One In, N.P.
barbecue
the tortilla aisle at the grocery store
dragonflies, butterflies, and insects