DIY Custom Pillowcases

A few years ago, my mom bought me a pair of down pillows from the Hutterites. The pillows are great, but they’re an odd size. As a result, our standard pillowcases don’t quite fit. The end of the pillow pokes out like a chubby man’s midriff in a too-small T-shirt. This sliver of exposed pillow shouldn’t matter. After all, other people have Real Problems. But it bothers me. It seems . . . unseemly.

Here’s one solution that didn’t occur to me over the many months that naked wedge of pillow tormented me: DIY. Yes, that’s right. You can sew pillowcases. It’s super simple. I’ll show you how.

The Cure – Landing Strip and Magazine Purge

I’m participating in Apartment Therapy’s January Cure and blogging about my progress. Here are a few tasks that I completed during week three (and some that I failed to complete). And here’s the first installment in case you missed it. 

Day 9: Create a Landing Strip

First, can I just say that “landing strip” is not the *best* term to describe the place you hang coats and drop your keys. That’s because landing strip already has a definition. And it has nothing to do with home decor. Apartment Therapy, did you Google “landing strip” before you asked us to create one? Did you see the listings for gentlemen’s clubs? Did you see the photos?

Ok, I’m off my soapbox. Here’s the front door. You’re looking at the inner door. We have two. You can see we already have some basics like a coat rack (and a homemade door snake to keep out drafts).

The Cure – Painting, Framing, Dinner Party

Here’s my confession: I am not a dirty person, but I can be messy. I’m really really bad at picking up after myself. It should be so easy. The scissors come out, they make a cut, and then they’re supposed to go back in their drawer. But instead they end up on the dining room table, and then I run off to do something else. Soon the table is hidden under a thick layer of detritus and the bedroom floor is covered in clothes. Sigh. The junk piles up. And then putting it away becomes an actual time-consuming chore.

But people can change, right? (Shhhhhh — they can). As a first step toward change, I decided to join Apartment Therapy’s January Cure. The goal is to get a little more organized. Each day we get a new task. Some are easy (making lists). Some are kind of awful (mopping the floors, organizing files). I haven’t been religious about every single task, but I’ve mostly stuck with the program. Here’s an update on a few of the tasks. (To see the full task list, go here.)

Happy New Year – Eighties Style

The last of our holiday cards should have arrived by now, so I think I can finally share our 2012 photo without spoiling the surprise for anyone. Happy New Year, everybody!

Can you read the type at the bottom? “Trust me,” Cassie said. “North Dakota has great skiing, and my parents have all the gear we need!” That’s a joke, of course. North Dakota, my home state, is flat as a pancake, and you can see that my parents only have one set of skis. Those factors make skiing rather difficult. Which is fine by me. I may look like a snow bunny in this photo, but my only attempt at the sport ended in disaster. I broke my face and one ski. And I didn’t look cute doing it either.

These spectacular day-glo suits aren’t just any old ski suits. They’re special. My mom and stepdad wore them when they tied the knot in 1989 on Christmas Eve. No joke. They decided to have a ski wedding in Tahoe — just the two of them, a minister, and a photographer. Aren’t they precious?

I wish we’d thought to pose like this. And I wish my hair looked like my mom’s instead of smashed flat by that headband that Soren forced me to wear because he said it would make the outfit more “authentic.” Curse him! And curse my tiny head!

(Thanks, mom, for taking these photos!)

Green Table Setting

I hosted Christmas for the first time this year, so I decided to try my hand at creating a fancy pants table setting. You know, one with cloth napkins. One where things match. One where everyone has at least one fork, spoon, and knife — whether they need them or not.

(Um, I realize that no one has any silverware in this photo. But I did put it on the table before we ate. Honest.)

So ever since I turned my dining room green, I’ve been crushing on the color hard. I can’t get enough. I wanted to work green into my table setting, but I also wanted to work with what I already had.

Recipe: Cauliflower Soup

Wait! Don’t leave. I know cauliflower soup sounds disgusting. I didn’t think I would like it either. But it is actually kind of amazing. Behold!

What makes this soup awesome is the topping — a salty, crunchy, tangy mix of breadcrumbs, lemon zest, pancetta, and parsley. Recipe below the jump.

A Very Kitschy Christmas

The design blogosphere has been seized by Christmas spirit. Bloggers are hanging their hand-knit merino stockings by their painted brick chimneys with ever so much care (in the hopes that Todd Oldham soon will be there?).

I like Christmas too. But when Christmas decor succumbs to design trends, I want to vomit — just a little bit. Pink Christmas trees? Ombre decorations? Random bowls of matching ornaments? Not my style.

All I Want For Christmas . . .

Every year my parents ask me for a Christmas list. That’s right. I’m in my mid-thirties and I still make a Christmas list. Sometimes it feels like cheating. I mean, if they really knew me, would they even need a list?? But then I remember that I am very picky. And that lists are helpful. And that my parents are busy, and worried about disappointing me. And I relent.

Here are a few things from this year’s wish list:

1. Southwest Brass Earrings ($60) 2. Feathers of Fancy Earrings ($17.99) 3. Sky Earrings in Green Agate ($55)  4. Brass Tubes with Black Leather ($35) 5. Neon Dagger Studs ($16) 6. Point Me Toward the Shore Earrings ($17.99) 7. Gold Arrow Hoops ($28)

Foxy Lady

Alyson Fox’s pillow has a new home . . . on my couch. The pattern is a tad more pink than I anticipated, but Soren let me keep it anyway. (Actually I’m the one who doesn’t like pink, but somehow it works with these other colors). Here’s a more detailed view of the front and back.

This pillow and many other gorgeous home decor items are the offspring of a collaboration between Fox, an artist and designer in Austin, TX, and West Elm. Check out the rest of the collection here!

This post isn’t sponsored. None of my posts are. I just happen to really love these pillows. 

The Coolest Thing We Own

When my husband Soren was in his early twenties, he and his hooligan buddy Jay used to cruise the country in Jay’s Oldsmobile Eighty Eight — just two Montana boys, one enormous car, and the open road. They smoked, of course. Jay had mounted a bronze globe cigarette holder on the dashboard of the car for easy access. He’s smooth like that.

Soren eventually inherited the globe. But by the time I met him it was mysteriously broken. Too many tobacco-stained fingers yanking at the orb’s northern hemisphere had finally taken a toll. Soren tried to show me how it had once worked, but it just wasn’t the same. The explanation ruined it.

I generally don’t approve of hooliganism or smoking, but Soren loved that globe. So I found a shiny functional one on ebay, and I bought it. He was ecstatic. And we both agree it’s the coolest thing we own.

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The top image isn’t Jay’s old car. His was two different shades of rust.