You Made that from WHAT???

First of all, THANKS to Karen over at The Graphics Fairy for featuring my book page wreath on her site today!!! What an honor! Go on over and check out this week’s Brag Monday. A lot of talented bloggers have posted their projects.
Now on to today’s subject….
My family and I moved to NY from NC a couple of years ago. Since we weren’t sure how long we would be calling NY “home”, we decided to rent. Renting is a new experience for me. We owned our home in NC, which meant when an urge to rip up carpet and put down flooring made from reclaimed barn wood hit…all I had to do was convince my dear hubby to go along with the idea. (OH how I miss those floors!!!) I could paint, knock down partial walls, replace cabinets, etc. whenever my time and budget allowed. Once we moved to NY, I worked to make our rental feel like home by adding decorative touches. Then a mere year later, we found another rental that fit our needs a little better. Guess what? I now have a cellar packed with things that don’t work in this house….including some expensive blinds…but live and learn. For our first year in the new house,  I did very little decorating. Well…that got OLD! Then one day I was visiting Miss Mustard Seed's blog. It was an entry about using canvas drop cloths to make slipcovers. Wonderful idea!!! Canvas drop cloths are inexpensive and match nearly everything!!! While I haven’t gotten around to making a slipcover for my sofa, I have made several other things.
Today I made a set of 3 covers for my overly worn banana-leaf bar stools.

I used a decorative stitch to add some detail. They took very little time. If I decide to change the color scheme in the neutral kitchen, all I have to do is make a new set and use a different color of thread for the detail! If we move again and they don’t match the new kitchen…I’ve lost very little money and time.
Instead of buying new blinds for the living room, I made these panels instead:

A hall closet was door-less. Since I didn’t want my cleaning items to be on view, I made a curtain panel for it also. For easy hanging, I used a tension rod.

A little more hiding….this time in my studio. I have some supplies hidden behind this little panel. I also used a tension rod to hang it.

I’ve already posted about this little pillow here. But here is another peek….

So….need to add some decorative touches for little money? Try canvas drop cloths.
***Before creating any of the above, I washed each drop cloth using hot water and bleach. I then dried them on high heat. This softens the material, lightens the color a bit, and pre-shrinks it. Once the item was completed, I washed it again in warm water and this time used liquid fabric softener during the rinse cycle. That will soften the fabric even more and helps the curtain panels hang nicer.
Happy creating!

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