Union Jack

Hello. My name is Natalie....

And I am an Anglophile.

My fate was sealed years ago. I blame it on the kind of books I first read when I was young, and have loved ever since. You probably know the ones I'm talking about.

The United Kingdom Flag (Union Jack) is one of my favorites. I've been thinking about making a Union Jack quilt for a while, and it's still on my to-do-list, but this weekend I was craving a smaller scaled project. Thus, a Union Jack pillow was born.

Shabby Chic (Rachel Ashwell) used to sell a Union Jack pillow for an insane price. My version is a little more budget friendly - I used fabric from my stash (Rouenneries, Peace on Earth & coarse muslin) and covered a sofa pillow already on hand.


I won't lie, figuring out this pattern was nothing but trouble. See the pile of blocks I screwed up...

Just a bit frustrating. But in the end those rusty geometry skills came through for me.

I'm really falling for Jack. Hope my hubby doesn't mind.

Bar Stool Makeover

A couple of years ago we tossed out our bar stools (which around here means hauled to the D.I.). They were really ugly and we hadn't yet discovered spray paint or even latex paint, as it pertains to furniture. Meanwhile 2 years went by, and we still hadn't replaced them.

So a few weeks ago I was at the D.I. and what did I find?

A pair of UGLY old bar stools. Ugly doesn't scare me anymore.

I enlisted this little guy to help prime. Actually, he begged to help - my kids are enamored with paint & brushes in all forms.

Then we painted. I was tempted to go with black to match our dining table & chairs, but I've come to realize black furniture is evil incarnate - it shows everything. Dust, crumbs, mystery slime... everything you don't want to see. So we went with my old favorite, Dusty Spruce (Valspar).


Now they are as good as new.
Better than new really, because as a mom, new scares me and seriously stresses me out. I know what active young children are capable of doing to nice, new furniture and it's not pretty.

With UGLY, we're ahead of the game.

Winter Swap

To our family members (& friends) in Virginia & Maryland:

THANK YOU for swapping winters with us. While you have been digging yourselves out from under the snow, we have been:

Whistling in the tree tops.

Cruising downhill & loving it like a ride at Disneyland (on her birthday, too!).

Swinging in the hammock, happy as can be.

Running around barefoot with the sunlight bouncing off our untamed hair.

OK, barefoot may be pushing it. But it has been altogether lovely.

Thank you. Thank you. THANK YOU.