Category Archives: Home Decor

Sea Creature Block Printing

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I’ve always loved the look of block printing. I made all our Christmas cards this past year, and it had me yearning to create a little set of beachy themed prints. It’s a very calming thing to design and cut a linoleum block. It’s not something that can be rushed since you’re working with sharp objects to cut the block.

So I settled on my favorite shapes for my first 2 prints. The plan is to do a series of six.

One of my other favorite things about block printing is that they don’t have to be a solid color even if it is a single block design. So I chose a few blended colors for the nautilus.

My other favorite thing is lobsters. I like eating them. And I like looking at them.

Each is 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 and mounted on a 5×7″ board. I made 10 of each and am selling them for $15. Or maybe I’ll just keep one set for myself!

Some of My Favorite Things

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I’m working on a new quilt. But until I finish it, I thought I’d share some of the things that I really love around my house – besides my husband that is. Let’s start in my office…

From left to right: a handmade mobile, the Nantucket themed tin I keep mailing supplies in, a painting of Brant Point lighthouse, and family pictures.

My youngest step-daughter made this for my birthday one year. There is an origami bird for every year that we had been part of each others lives. I built the mobile from all the birds she made for me. But I always think of the whole thing as being from her.

I married my previous husband in 1983, One of our invited guests was Fred Rogers, an old family friend. He was unable to come, but he sent this tin and a matching trash can from his summer home on Nantucket. I have special ties to the Island myself, so I treasure this for the place as well as the sender.

More Nantucket. My husband is many things including a wonderful painter. He painted this oil a few years ago, and this month I finally framed it. I really love the rustic white with a more formal gold roping. I sit at my desk every morning before I go to my day job and look at this.

Every member of my family is artistic. My step-daughter loves to draw and requested Copic markers for Christmas a few years ago. We got this as a thank you note.

One of my other favorite places is this cabinet in my kitchen. It has coffee, tea, cocoa, and baking spices. Everything good lives in this cabinet. And the smell that comes out when I open the door never fails to warm me. If I could live inside it, I probably would.

Plush Pumpkins

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Small cotton and satin pumpkins

A few years ago, my husband started carving pumpkins professionally. I, in turn, started making plush ones to sell at his events. I started with a basic design with fabric stems. The satin one in the picture here has a cinnamon stick.

I moved on to pumpkins with representations of my husband’s faces. We made transfers of each of the best faces and turned them into permanent keepsakes. Many people attending the event would want to know if the carvings could be saved. This is one of the best ways!

I also had a bunch of burlap basmati rice bags I had been saving. I had no clue what I was going to do with them, and they languished in my basement for years. With country chic being such a popular decorating style, it was clear that pumpkins were the way to go with them.

Having run out of rice bags, I bought several linen feed sacks at an antique mall. So new this season…French Country Linen Plush Pumpkins!

All pumpkins have either 6 or 8 panels. With the feed sacks, I aligned the stripes with the centers of the panels.

There are 3 sizes: small 8 panel, medium 6 panel, and large 6 panel.

More to come along with white damask linen in several sizes. All will be available on PumpkinStuff.com.

Glass Tile Table – part 3 and Done

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Here we are at the end of another UFO (unfinished object). I love the feeling, because it has me looking around for the next new thing. It’s more fun to start a new project than to finish something that’s been hanging around for a year. Ah, the possibilities.

On the other hand, there is something satisfying about sitting back and breathing a sigh of relief that I accomplished something all the way to the end.

Here are the plans I drew up to finish the glass tile table.

Debby's scribbles

Debby’s scribbles

Continue reading…

Glass Tile Table – part 2

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The beginning of this story is that I was able to get a plethora (that’s a fun word, say it again) of glass tile samples from a friend. I spent months soaking them off the carrier cards and cleaning of the excess paper. When we last left off, it was the middle of winter, and I had arranged them on some graph paper.

I couldn’t leave them there indefinitely. I had moved my design board out to the back porch when it was too cold to spend any time out there, but the weather was warming up, and I was forced into action. This meant building the table top and sticking all those tiles down.

Continue reading…

Back to the Half-Bath

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You know how when you look at a project that you’ve finished and you breathe a sigh of relief that it’s all done? Well, maybe you don’t. I do. But then I generally find something else to pick at. This time I am sure I’m done.

Last May I remodeled our half-bath. Down to the walls. I think the only thing we kept was the mirror – which we had cut down and put a new frame on – and the medicine cabinet.

mirror cut and framed

mirror cut and framed

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Glass Tile Table

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Early last year a good friend was giving away a bucketload of tile samples she got from a specialty store. I didn’t want everything, but I did want the glass tiles. I have wanted to try another table project ever since the back porch coffee table project. And now I want a bench/table on the front porch.

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Christmas in the Office

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My office decided to have a cubicle decorating contest this year. I had a great time planning what I was going to do and what ornaments I wanted on my little tree. I won the competition. Partly because I am so darn creative and told everyone how I made everything, and partly because only one other person decorated with more than a wreath.

The first bits go up.

The first bits go up.

The beginning of my inspiration was a banner on Pinterest. It doesn’t look like the HGTV link from there works any longer, but I only needed the inspiration. I have a shelf on my outside wall, so I thought it could stand in for a mantlepiece. D— is a much better draw-er than I am, so I asked him to take a length of the roofing felt that we had leftover from doing the entry hall and draw a fireplace on it for me. He found a pastel crayon that didn’t flake and had this for me in about 30 minutes. Continue reading…

The Half Bath – Finito

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When we left off, I had finished the floor and needed to wait another day for the grout to set up. D— jumped in to help me with the painting and the moulding. He painted all the bead board panels and moulding. The biggest tip I have for anyone who takes a room down to nothing like this is to paint all your moulding before you install it. It’s far easier to touch up nail holes and caulk than it is to paint it on the wall.

paneling before moulding

paneling before moulding

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