DIY projects - Petite Haus

Angelina April 11, 2020 DIY projects

DIY Faux Orchid Arrangement

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Last year I made my own real orchid arrangement – similar to ones you see in all the magazines, social media, etc!

DIY tutorial to make your own faux floral orchid arrangement in blue and white chinoiserie porcelain bowl decor

Except, I have a brown thumb. It is also an accomplishment to kill every one of my indoor plants I have ever purchased.

So I got the idea to make a faux orchid arrangement as the ones that are available for purchase are quite pricey!

I purchased this set of Orchid stems– you get a set of 4 for under $20. I ended up doing this project for another vase and bought these orchid stems which were a little more expensive at 2 for $20 – they look a *bit* more real, but really they both look good.

I purchased this set of Orchid leaves – you get 3 plants for under $20.

The blue and white porcelain bowl I purchased at Home Goods for $20. Floral foam was $3.

I took these pictures but then ended up purchasing are these stakes to make the stems a little more upright.

Take your dry floral foam and cut a piece to wedge into your vase.
Poke and place your orchid stems into the foam.
Then place your orchid leaves into the foam.
Use reindeer moss to cover the foam.

So I suppose project total was $63 – BUT listen… BONUS!! I made *TWO* orchid arrangements with the materials I bought! This one is sitting in my master bathroom! I already had this vase sitting here and had a faux rose that was looking… meh so I put this orchid stem here instead! I LOVE it!

Here is an update – with the slightly more expensive stems attached to the bamboo steak.

Here are some blue and white planters/vases that could work if you aren’t able to find one at Home Goods Or if Home Goods is closed in your area!

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Angelina May 26, 2019 DIY projects

DIY Orchid Centerpiece in an Ironstone Bowl

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I recently updated my orchid centerpiece in my living room.

DIY orchid centerpiece in white ironstone bowl

If you are regular follower of my blog, then you might remember by DIY orchid dough bowl centerpiece. The flowers on those orchids have wilted, so I updated my centerpiece!

DIY orchid centerpiece in white ironstone bowl

This time I used two large orchids I got at Trader Joe’s at $12.99/each. A third one sits in the back getting ready to bloom. I didn’t even take them out of the pots they came in since my iron stone bowl is deep. I sat them inside. Then I used packing peanuts and sprinkled them around the orchids. Then for the top layer, I used chartreuse reindeer moss.

DIY orchid centerpiece in white ironstone bowl

Super easy and chic!

DIY orchid centerpiece in white ironstone bowl

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Angelina March 10, 2019 DIY projects

DIY Orchid Dough Bowl Centerpiece

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It seems everywhere I look online, magazines, and in stores I see a bowl full of orchids (faux or real) with moss. I love the look, but often times they are super pricey.

I thought, well, HEY, I could do that myself. So I went on a hunt for white orchids. I eventually found these at Trader Joe’s. There are actually two different sizes here. Three mini ones and one medium size one. There is also a non-blooming orchid in the center that is large.

The mini ones were $6.99/each. The medium one was $11.99. I first filled my dough bowl with peanuts until I got it to a level that I liked.

Then I put some cardboard to make a flat surface, and then plastic down so if the orchids leaked it wouldn’t ruin the dough bowl. Next, I placed the orchids in their clear containers. Then I filled the bowl with chartreuse reindeer moss until I was happy.

Voila! This dough bowl is HUGE so it takes quite a few orchids. You could easily do this in a smaller bowl – dough bowl or really any other bowl. The orchids usually bloom for a month or two. I love this fun pop of color in the living room! I hope you enjoyed my DIY orchid dough bowl centerpiece

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Angelina April 23, 2017 DIY projects

How to Make a Mood Board for Your Room

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Today I am going to give you a well-known trade secret on how to create a perfect room for your house!

Creating a moodboard for your room creates a better sense of how the finished room will look.

It is what designers have been doing for ages – and you can do it yourself too!

STEP 1-SCHEME AWAY

If you have no idea where to start, I suggest browsing Pinterest. Create a board on Pinterest for your room and just start pinning away to that board. I liked French bedrooms, so I started by searching for French bedrooms.
Today I’m looking at my master bedroom, so here is my bedroom board.
A quick glance at my board shows that I am drawing to spa blues and neutral colors. I also love French beds and coronas.
Another option is to look through your favorite home decor magazines and rip out pictures of your favorite rooms and put them in a folder. Then go back through and decide on the elements you like the best and emulate it!

source

STEP 2- MAKE A LIST

Make a list of furniture, lighting, and rugs that you already have and are going to use in that room. I suggest taking pictures of all of these pieces and printing them out.

Now you can sort of the pieces you already have, the pieces you need, and the pieces you need to get rid of (good bye matchy matchy bedset that you bought when you were newlyweds but 5-10-20-30 years later you don’t like it anymore – get rid of it!)

STEP 3 – MAKE A BOARD

There are several ways to make a mood board.
Olioboard is an easy online service that’s free where you can design your own mood boards.
All you do is start searching for your product in the categories and then add it in. If you don’t find what you are looking for, you can upload pictures under the “my items” tab.

You can do the same thing with other programs too – I personally prefer Photoshop but Olioboard is free and easier to use than photoshop.

Although I confess I like the old-fashioned way and use poster boards, scissors, and tape.

Below is my actual mood-board. It doesn’t look as pretty as the virtual mood board, but it is easier for me to actual design all of the rooms this way.

I prefer to look at the textures and colors in person – fabrics look different in person and you can really appreciate the textures in real life. Having mood boards in person as opposed to online helps tremendously!

Then, with the pictures I took of all of my furniture, I am able to move the pieces around on the various boards!

This method is easier when designing multiple rooms in the house because you can easily move items around onto the different boards.

You can mix and match your fabrics, floors, etc with mood boards.

Mood boards are a fantastic way to organize your thoughts, save you time, and even save you money.

Shop some of my favorites for the bedroom (contains affiliate links)…

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Angelina February 5, 2017 DIY projects

How to Make a Macaron Tower

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I have been wanting to make a macaron tower for a little while, so I set out to create one. It was surprisingly easy!

I was delighted when I saw my finished product – how pretty!

I thought this pretty pink tower was perfect for a Valentine’s Day post.

Finding a cone to as a base for this was not super easy.

I first went to a specialty cake supply store – but they did not have any. I thought, great, I will just have to make it so they stack up on top of each other without a base. *rolls eyes* like I am skilled enough to do that. Nope I am not.

Then my Mom had the idea to get one of the floral foam cones – so off to Michael’s we went.

And we found one! Or two actually. I bought two sizes but decided to use the smaller one in this post.

Materials Needed

Foam floral cone

parchment paper

toothpicks

macarons

First, pictured below is the foam floral cone that I used.

I wrapped parchment paper around the cone because the foam flakes off. If you do not intend to eat the macarons off the tower, then you do not need to wrap the cone in parchment paper.

Here, I cut the paper and taped it to the cone. The paper didn’t hold very well with tape, so eventually I just put a few toothpicks in it to hold it in place.

Next, cut your toothpicks in half.

Then poke one hole into the cone where you want your macaron. It needs to stick out about halfway – you need enough toothpick sticking out so that it can fully support the macaron otherwise it will fall off.

Then, gently stick the macaron onto the toothpick. *gently*. It does not take much pressure to place it onto the toothpick!

Then, row by row, work your way up until you reach the top!

This tower was approximately 4 inches wide at the base by 9 inches tall.

It took approximately 50 filled cookies to fill this size of cone in the pictures. I estimate, depending in the size of your cookie, it could take 50 +/- 2 cookies.

I used several different sizes of cookies – the largest ones are on the bottom and the smallest ones are at the top. You don’t have to do that… it just had to do with my inconsistent piping and it worked out well in the end!

You could also using frosting to attach the cookies to the foam if you do not have toothpicks. Or you could do both.

I would recommend making this the day of and just before any party you bring it to!

This is *perfect* for bridal showers, tea parties, birthday parties, or fun celebrations! It is a pretty centerpiece! I would love it if you pinned this image.

How to Make a Macaron Tower – a DIY tutorial for French Macaron Towers!

Also, if you are not up to making your ownmacarons, you could just get some store bought ones – for instance, the ones from Trader Joe’s in the freezer aisle would be perfect! It would take several boxes but you could do it!

How to Make a Macaron Tower

You might also enjoy these Valentine’s Heart Macarons

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Angelina December 14, 2016 Christmas

Christmas Present Wrapping Ideas

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As I know we have all been busy shopping, the next step is to wrap your presents!

Usually I just pick whatever paper I find in the store, but for several years now I have been wanting to wrap my presents up in a theme.

This post may contain affiliate links. See my disclosure policy.

This year’s theme is “brown paper packages tied up with strings.” Which, of course, is from the song “My Favorite Things” in The Sound of Music.

I used various ribbons for the packages. Some are also adorned with ornaments, bells, and candy.

I love the idea of attaching greenery to the presents, but I wrap mine in advance the greenery would long be dead before they would be given away!

Here are some great ideas to attach to the ribbons on your packages:

bells

candy canes

greenery

cinnamon sticks

chocolate

gift tag

ornaments

gingerbread

bows

Let’s look at some inspiration for wrapping paper themes…

Beautiful pink and gold…

Jennelise Rose

Gingerbread tags adorn brown paper packages…

Decorators Notebook

For a more modern look, black and white paper with green ribbons!

House & Home

Tartan or plaid gift wrap… here is red and gold and another pretty tartan paper.

via

White paper with colorful ribbons

Good housekeeping

Neutral colors…

Becky Luigart-Stayner

Blue and silver

C.Roehm

Purple and gold theme…

Music sheets or antique texts as paper…

Dear Lillie

Not all packages are for adults! How about these little snowmen for the kids, idea from Owe craft.

Or, if you are into printed paper, this is a pretty fun print!

If you want more prints, you could just choose printed paper and stick to a color theme.

Or you could stick to a theme, like all snowmen printed paper for instance.

I wrapped the presents for the kids in an Elf on the Shelf wrapping paper this year… thought they might find the brown “boring”!

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Angelina September 18, 2016 DIY projects

DIY Fall Wreath Tutorial

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I feel like I must be one of the last bloggers to make my own Fall wreath. You see, I’m not super crafty. But when my cheap-o one from last year fell apart, I started on my hunt for a new wreath. I just could not find one that I liked in my price range.

So, I headed off to Hobby Lobby with coupons in my purse and started picking out faux branches. I already had burlap ribbon at home plus I’ve had the Mackenzie Child ribbon for several years and hadn’t quite found the perfect project for it… until now!

Here are all of the materials I used:

1 grapevine wreath

Fall leave sprigs (enough to go around the wreath)

Fall gourds

Burlap ribbon

Mackenzie Childs Ribbon

Wire and Wire Cutters

When I started, I just picked one spot and started to place the leaf sprigs into the wreath. I secured it by wrapping the wire around it.

Then I added the gourds and other Fall sprigs around the wreath until I liked it.

Next came the hard part: making the bow. I struggled making this bow. I searched for a good tutorial and this one by Susie Harris is the one I ended up following. My Mom and I both made it together… you needed about four hands to hold it all! We secured the Mackenzie Childs ribbon on top with hot glue.

And Voila! Here is the finished project! I think it looks pretty nice! I like it better than anything I saw in the stores and I especially love the black and white courtly check ribbon! I wish I had bought the 2″ Mackenzie Child ribbon too! I used the 1″ ribbon.

Here is my image for pinning!!

Here are a few Fall Favorites…

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Angelina June 27, 2016 DIY projects

How to Dry Lavender and DIY Lavender Decorating Ideas

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I have been busy drying lavender this past month! Do you grow your own lavender? If you do, I highly recommend harvesting it and using it around the house! It so beautiful both alive and dried.

Drying your own lavender is easy to do. It is easier than drying other flowers!

Here are the simple steps:

1. Harvest your lavender just before it’s fully in bloom. Cut the lavender flowers just above the leaves. If you get some of the leaves, just pick them off. Don’t cut the woody part of the plant. I harvest at dusk after the bees have gone home for the night.

2. Gather the lavender into a hand-size bunch. Tie the stems with string, rubber band, etc.

3. Hang the lavender bunch upside down. I attached my bunches to a hanger.

4. Find a cool dark place to allow the lavender to dry. I put mine in my closet – it made the closet smell nice and it was cool and dark in there!

5. Allow to completely dry. Drying times vary depending on how big you made your bunches, where you stored them, etc. I let these hang for 2-3 weeks.

Decorating with lavender is one of my favorite things! I filled my dough bowl this year’s harvest of lavender, as you can see below. (Sorry for the picture quality, it was very difficult to get a good picture because it is so sunny here!)

Or, you can just wrap them up in a bunch and lay them on a table, like below…

You can make your own lavender sachets, like below. This sachet I happened to receive as a party favor from my relatives… they have their own lavender farm! It is very easy to make…. just dry your lavender as above. Then, once dry, you just pick off the flowers.

Here, I set up a French country lavender table using our home grown lavender.

Here is another pretty lavender sachet… Antique Style Blog used her antique hankies and turned them into these pretty sachets. Check out how she did that here.

How to make a burlap wreath blog teaches us how to make a dried lavender wreath! I love it!

Below in my centerpiece, you can see a dried lavender wreath too. I did not make it! Bought it at my favorite store in Napa!

This past Winter I trimmed the lavender so far back into the woody part all you could see was the woody party! I was afraid it wouldn’t grow back! But it DID! Do you grow your own lavender?

Here is a French farmhouse lavender tablescape I did!

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Angelina January 27, 2016 DIY projects

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Cabinet Makeover

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I’m excited to share with you all a chalk paint cabinet makeover that I did. It took me a total of 4 hours – start to finish. No joke! It’s super easy to do! The nice part about chalk paint is that you don’t have to apply a base or a topcoat. You just start painting and voila! You’re done! While I know there a million tutorials online, this is just my review of using the paint!

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AFTER – Annie Sloan Cabinet Makeover

I saw so many tutorials I thought I ought to see what the big deal is with chalk paint. The cabinet I started with is actually one my Grandfather made. He used to build cabinets and he literally had hundreds of them laying around his house and outside. This one is the one he kept in his bedroom, so I’m assuming it was one of his favorites since he chose it for himself.

Cabinet BEFORE

When he passed away, I knew I wanted one of the cabinets. I chose this one. Unfortunately, the color of the wood is not my thing. I didnt want to have it laying around in the garage, so I knew that I had to fix it up. Opa (as we called him) never painted wood. He thought wood should be shown in its natural glory. So let’s not tell him we painted it.

I like the vintage shabby chic feel of the cabinet!

Before painting, I wiped the spiderwebs off and sanded down a few parts of rough surfaces. Then, I just applied one coat of Paris Grey. Just one coat! That’s it. It dries super fast and honestly the top of the cabinet was dry before I was even half way done! (Granted it WAS 100 degrees that day!) I couldn’t believe how EASY using chalk paint was! SO EASY!!

To give it a little bit of texture and aged finish, I did brush some clear wax onto parts and rub it in. I used the special wax brush for this. After using the brush, I used an old t shirt and rubbed the wax in to get rid of the clumps. It made the paint color a little darker. You can kind of notice it at the bottom of the cabinet in the picture above. The wax helps seal the paint. If you’re painting a dresser or a piece with high use, you NEED to put wax on it to help with wear and tear.

For the brown trim around the glass, I applied some dark wax. To apply the dark wax, I just used an old t-shirt and rubbed it in.Then, after applying the dark wax I applied clear wax on top. I used the wax brush to apply the clear wax. Then I rubbed it in with an old t-shirt. The dark wax filled into the deeper crevices and made the trim stand out more.

What about Buying Annie Sloan’s Paint Brushes?? – now, they will try to sell you one brushes when you go into one of their stockists. I actually did buy their special wax brush to apply the wax. Then I used a regular paint brush for the chalk paint itself.

I don’t need to explain to you how to do it. Annie Sloan’s Website has many video tutorials. It’s so super easy, but go watch some of the videos before you start!

I also used the Purple Painted Lady’s tutorials. She has lots of information and videos as well.

Here, my cabinet is filled with little treasures. Some faux hens and chicks candles, little houses, favorite Paris postcards, mini steins, German handmade angels, favorite little napkins! I actually hung it in a powder room. I love the new old cabinet! Plus, I can still keep my Opa’s cabinet!

linking up at: amaze me monday The Scoop! Metamorphosis Monday’s Inspire Me Tuesday Wow us Wednesdays! Share Your Style Thursday Favorite Things, Home Sweet Home Feathered Nest Fridays Foodie Friday & Everything Else Best of the Weekend Curators Collection The Creative Circle

Written at http://peoniesandorangeblossoms.blogspot.com

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Angelina November 30, 2015 Christmas

How to make Pomanders for Christmas

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I’m back from a busy Thanksgiving week with my first Christmas project! This year I made pomanders… they smell so wonderful with the fresh orange and clove scent!

They look pretty dang cute too! They are really pretty easy to make.

Materials needed:
-a bag of oranges (I picked mine from one of our orange trees, love living in California!)
-a whole bunch of cloves (buy them in bulk, it is a LOT cheaper)
-pretty ribbon
-something to poke holes in the oranges (I used the end of a corn-on-the-cob holder, but the end of a fork or a tooth pick could work too)

Directions
1. Poke holes in the oranges and then put a clove in the hole. DONE.

helpful hints: put the cloves a little bit further away from each other otherwise the orange will split. Also, check routinely for mold and make sure the oranges stay dry!

It’s fun thinking of different patterns… you can do whatever you think of!

Tie some ribbon around them… you could easily hang these in a tree as ornaments!

They are drying here on a plate… but I put them in my bread bowl! They can look pretty in a bowl, in an arrangement on the table, hanging as ornaments in a tree, nestled in a garland… wherever you want to put them!

linking up at: The Scoop! Metamorphosis Monday’s Inspire Me Tuesday Wow us Wednesdays! Share Your Style Thursday Favorite Things, Home Sweet Home Feathered Nest Fridays Foodie Friday & Everything Else Sunday’s Down Under

Written at http://peoniesandorangeblossoms.blogspot.com

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Angelina October 12, 2015 DIY projects

DIY Felted Wool Acorns

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I’ve got an easy DIY project for you today that’s perfect for Fall! Felted wool acorns! Aren’t they cute??

The inspiration for this project came from these velvet acorns that are made by Hot Skwash, pictured below.

Like velvet pumpkins, velvet acorns don’t come cheap!

So, my Mom and I had the idea to make our own! We didn’t have velvet laying around, but we did find some wool felt balls at a local fabric store.

We thought, wouldn’t those little wool felt balls work perfectly as little acorns? So, we bought some acorn “hats” off of etsy.

The project is very easy: use a glue gun and glue the felted wool ball to the acorn hat. The acorn hats are from real acorns.

In real life, the seed of the acorn detaches from its little hat after it hits the ground. You can find acorn hats everywhere. DONE!

See? Instantly you have the same look for less!! I love the fun colors. I think the colors of the velvet ones do look a little richer, but I think this looks pretty good and it cost a fraction of the price!

While writing this post, I searched for wool felted acorn on Etsy… turns out a lot of people make them. But they sell for about $2 each per acorn! WOW!! The velvet acorns go for more… approx $5 each!

Let’s look at the cost of making your own: the felted wool balls go for $10 for 50 balls. The acorn hats are $2 for 25… so you could have 50 homemade acorns for $14… the price of 6 premade wool acorns off of Etsy OR two velvet acorns. I think I’ll take mine, thank you! Plus, it didn’t take that long to make!

Hmm, maybe I need to make more and sell them… oh wait. I already have a full time job. Never mind.

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Angelina December 1, 2014 DIY projects

Easy DIY Coaster Ornaments

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This is a really simple project. How many times have you been in the store and found some cute coasters, but you don’t know what to do with them since you have so many coasters already?

Well, I found a project for you! You can easily turn the cardboard coasters into Christmas ornaments.

It’s really simple. It’s actually a pretty cheap way to get a whole bunch of ornaments.

Here are the steps:
1. Find a cardboard coaster you like.
2. Drill a hole in the top.
3. Use a ribbon of your choice (I used baker’s twine) and tie it through the hole.
4. Hang on tree.

Total project cost: the coasters were $4, I think there are 8 in the set. I already had the bakers twine. So… $0.50 for a cute ornament! Where can you find that in the store??

These ornament coasters were found at Tuesday Morning, they are by “Michel Design Works”.

I kinda like the green baker’s twine as it blends in with tree, as you can see below!

Here are some other cute coasters that I think would make cute ornaments:

Letterpress Christmas Deer Coasters - Set of 12 - Red and Green Holiday Coasters, Hostess gift, Ready to Ship

etsy, Dinglewood Design $8

Fluid Ink Letterpress, Etsy, $12.50

Antique Ornament multicolored letterpress coasters, set of 8

pink orchid lettpress, etsy, $12

Alright, that should do it! Now go turn your coasters into some ornaments!

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Angelina August 21, 2014 DIY projects

Easy DIY Pineapple Vase

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In this post – Easy DIY Pineapple Vase

This post may contain affiliate links.

YOU GUYS. I have got the COOLEST tool maybe…. ever.

A Pineapple De-Corer and Slicer

It did this:

At first I thought, oooh! A neat pineapple cup for drinks! How cool is that?

I thought of another use for this pineapple as well…

A pineapple vase! This would be great for tropical themed parties!

Perfect for luaus.

Or it would make a great vase for an outdoor BBQ or party because it can withstand the elements from the outdoors.

Get it here or get it on Amazon.

You could put more tropical appearing flowers in it: protea, birds of paradise, orchids…

I just used some roses from the garden.

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Angelina August 12, 2014 DIY projects

DIY Mackenzie-Childs Courtly Check placemats!

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I have long wanted some Mackenzie Child’s Courtly Check placemats. But their cheapest cork back ones run at $68 for a set of four. Whereas their fabric ones are $56 a piece! Boo! So I had to come up with my own solution! I’ll make my own!

Easy DIY Mackenzie Childs Courtly Check placemats!

Materials Needed

Courtly Check tissue paper (you can get this either from a previous MK purchase OR you can search eBay and purchase some).

Directions

Cut out the tissue paper in the placemat size desired. Use a previous placemat as a guide.
Go to kinkos and have the paper laminated. The tissue paper is too soft for the laminator, so using a regular piece of paper to back it is a good idea. I used the biggest piece of paper that could fit in their laminator at my local kinkos. Size will vary depending on local kinkos.
And there is no number three. You are already DONE!

Total project cost for making 8 placemats: $52.

Are they as nice as the real MK placemats? NO. But now whenever I spill my salsa drips on these ones, it’s no big deal!

Easy DIY Mackenzie-childs placemats

A view from the side:

A view from the back…

Love this idea because it gives me the look for literally the price of 1 placemat!

Now check back next week because I’ll unveil my tablescape with these wonderful placemats!

Written at http://peoniesandorangeblossoms.blogspot.com

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Angelina April 5, 2014 DIY projects

French Country Curtains

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Some exciting news!

I’ve got new curtains! Ever since I looked through my first Charles Faudree book, I fell in love with French country style. I have been trying to achieve that look, slowly but surely! I have had my eye on the Chelsea Textiles check linen for a long time. And… I finally got some!!

So let’s talk about the before. I had some burlap drop cloths as my drapes. It was cheap, on-trend with burlap, and cost a total of under $20. However… they are so boring. And, they aren’t really drapes. But they did the job.

BEFORE with burlap drop cloths:

Yes, the only picture I have of them is with the Halloween tablescape.

AFTER!! Oh my gosh I’m in love… with some fabric. I suppose that’s what happens when your mother is an antique linen collector… runs in the genes!

swooon, aren’t they pretty?

I love how they go with my French farmhouse table and French Louis XVI dining chairs!

Ok, now let’s talk about the process. First, my design goals are pretty much summed up on the cover of Charles Faudree’s French Country Signature. He has checks, toiles, French furniture, and antiques.

my favorite designer!

Another designer, Mario Buatta, uses check fabrics too. And hey! I just noticed the floral fabric on the bed is the SAME pattern I chose as a 5 year old to wallpaper my room. Talk about being stylish at age 5!

Mario Buatta

Ok, so I like checks on the curtains.

Next question, big checks or small checks?

Here’s a picture with smaller checks…

Cathy Kincaid

And larger checks…

John Stefinidis

After scouring the internet and my design books, I decided I wanted a large check for my curtains. I think the smaller checks get lost from further away and blend into one color.

Next question, what color?!

Well, we’re limited on colors based on the colors in the room. So, I started with the rug. Here are the 3 options I narrowed it down to.

Seafoam left, seamist center, sand right

Hmm, can’t decide. I think the Seamist looks the best. They all look good. Let’s look at it against the couch…

Seafoam left, seamist center, sand right

Well, geez, that didn’t help much. The seafoam looks a little too white. I like the sand the best.

Sand left, seafoam center, seamist right.

Well… the seafoam looks really good against my toile chairs.

The brown looked the best with everything… but brown is so boring! It’s not much change from the burlap that I had. Seamist in person looked the best with everything and it is the color I went with. It may be a little hard to tell in the pictures.

Ok, fabric ordered, time to make curtains! I want to give a shout-out to my mom, the best mom in the world. She can make curtains. I need to learn this from her. She said the secret to good curtains is a great sewing machine.

The Pfaff, our trusty Pferd (translation, Pferd = Horse in German!)

Choosing pleats… we went with the two finger. Debated between the two finger, French, and goblet.

This is where I came back in to help (besides picking the colors)… laying out fabric/measuring. Excuse the mess!

One side is up!

And now the other side. Love it!

Now I just need the paint the walls! Don’t these new drapes look great?

This is a picture from nighttime, so you can see how the colors change at night.

Slowly achieving my goal of decorating in the French country style. Toile French chairs? check. French dining chairs? Check. French farmhouse table? check. Check curtains? check. All I need is some transferware, more antiques, and a petit gâteau at the table and we’ll be good to go!

To read about my French toile chairs as pictured above, click here!

Written at http://peoniesandorangeblossoms.blogspot.com

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