melody & leah's room

One morning last week I started the day feeling lost. I had planned on staying at home that day. I felt a pull to escape responsibility, escape the house, escape saving gas money. I paced and fought the pull. I called my friend Hannah, hoping for some relief. She has three little girls. We share the folly of escaping our homes, of chasing fast food cravings, of ordering onion rings and french fries at the same time, of drinking too much coke, of letting the laundry pile up, of listening to sad music when we are sad. To my delight Hannah answered the phone and chatted with me for a good thirty minutes. We dealt with our kids between sentences and I drank coffee as we talked. The good conversation (coupled with caffeine) was just what I needed to proceed with my day at home.

I decided to work on the girls' bedroom. A few months ago I rearranged their furniture. I failed to complete the job and never rearranged the wall hangings. I tackled the project with the ceiling fan on high and U2 in the portable CD player. Here are some pictures of the results...



These cuties are from Anthropologie clearance and a garage sale. Total: $14.50.



The wall hangings are all from Anthropologie also. I found a couple of them on ebay and a couple on clearance at the store. The pink metal square is from a going-out-of-business sale at a local furniture store. I love the border details and the light pink color. On it are paper letters spelling Melody's name. I cut them out of scrapbooking paper.



I found this twin headboard at a garage sale for $12. I didn't do anything to it. The brown blanket is from Walmart, on clearance for $5. The reverse side is light pink. I like the circle quilting. The pillow in the foreground is from IKEA. It's a splurge of the room at $20. I fell in love with it instantly. It's one of the items that pulls the whole room together.



This is a curtain made from vintage handkerchiefs. My mother-in-law helped me tackle the project a couple of years ago. I had had the handkerchiefs for a few years before that! She did all the sewing since I'm not very confident in my sewing skills. I was afraid to mess them up. Fear is the main reason so much of my projects go undone.





More handkerchief detail.



This curtain is made from a table cloth. I bought it at a garage sale about a year ago and just put it up last week. I love the blue and white of it.



I used little back hoop clips to fasten it to the curtain rod.



The light shines through beautifully in the late afternoon.



Lastly, is the elephant. Chad hates this item, but I love it. We usually do not disagree so strongly. I found this at Peir 1 (one of my favorite stores) after Christmas a few years ago. It was marked 75% off and I paid about $7 for it. It is another piece that holds the room together.

Some of you may be wondering how I got my work accomplished while taking care of Melody and Leah at the same time...



smoothies...



...and crackers! They had a great time.