"Poof!" My Work Here Is Done

This weekend I made new drapes for my dining room. Once Upon A Time I was doddling in the fabric store, when what to my wondering eyes did appear, but red toile rooster fabric.

Three of my favorite things on one textile.

Red. Roosters. And toile.

Clearly, it was love at first sight. I swooned right there in the home dec isle, caressed the bolt a bit, and eagerly pledged my undying love to the red rooster toile. I asked it if it would like to come to my manor where it could live in my heart (and in my dining room) for all of time. And at 40 percent off, it was as if a little toile fairy had waved her magic wand of happiness right over my head.

Such were the humble beginnings of my new drapes.

I've earned a pearl or two of wisdom over my blog reading days, not the least of which are a few tips from The Nester on feathering my nest. Mostly, I'm far too unambitious to take any kind of advantage of the decorating advice I read. I typically just nod in agreement, then glance around my house and think about how cute it could look if I could get off my duff and fire up my glue gun every once in a while. Truth is, I'm not much of a decorating diva, but that red rooster toile prodded me to bust a decorating move.

And so I did.

Nester is known for her window "mistreatments". She doesn't stoop to drastic measures like sewing, lining, pleating, fussing, or fretting. Her motto is "it doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful". I figured that even in an unambitious stupor I could embrace imperfection as a motto. So, I took the advice of Nester. I folded and tucked and clipped and cheated my way to new drapes. And once they were hung, in all of their unlined, unsewn, poorly measured glory, I climbed up on my step stool and "poofed" around a little bit with the tops until they looked like actual drapes!

And now the view from my dining room is quite cozy!

Those drapes really got my juices flowing, and I decided to go ahead and "Easter-fy" my house. I love Easter decorations, but I decided Emma was a little too young for the dangly egg trees this year. So, I kept it simple and did some groupings of rabbits throughout the house. Since I'm getting a late start this year I wanted the look to be more spring than Easter so I can leave the decorations out for a few weeks.

Mom gave me this bunny made of dried grass for Valentine's Day. He's light as a feather and looks so real! Emma keeps squatting down next to the coffee table to give him kisses on the nose. :) The little eggs were a Christmas gift from Aunt Jackie. She knows how much I love Easter decorations! They are made entirely out of little paper flowers. She also gave me an egg tree and two little lambs to match them.

Proof that boys live here. And help me decorate for Easter. :)

My favorite bunny.

This little set of bunnies was a gift from my Grandma, "Honey", when I was a little girl. I just love them because they remind me of my childhood and of Honey. The little dish was Honey's too, from her collection of pink flowered Limoge china.

Looks like spring on the inside, but the weather outside hasn't decided to commit to springtime yet. :) Still lots of cold days, and a bit of wind and rain too. A good opportunity to stay inside and admire a few yards of skillfully hung red rooster toile! :-)