No Place Like Home

It's good to be home, but we did have a great time with friends this past weekend.  Thursday we left Liam with my parent's while we headed out in their Prius to California.  We were so grateful for the gas savings.  One fill up, which cost around $30, got us all the way to the rental house in Anderson (outside of Redding).  If we wouldn't have car payments, I'd love to own a Prius.

Once in Redding we worked and played all weekend in order to put on a fantastic outdoor wedding for our friends.  It was beautiful, and Kristyn and Kyle were ecstatic.  I was so glad we could be there to help make their wedding dreams come true, and to witness the beginning of their married life.

Congrats Kyle and Kristyn!

Now we're back home in rainy Oregon.  Although I miss sunny California, I'm happy to be back with Liam, and able to sleep in my own bed.  There's just something about the comfort of home :)

My birthday was a couple days ago, and I enjoyed all the well wishes from family and friends.  My mom in-law even sent me a gift card to World Market.  She knows how much I love that store.  Our bedroom set and ottoman are from there.  I also like to buy food, beer, and accessories from World Market.

I wasted little time in heading to World Market, and had one goal in mind.  New throw pillows!  Our couches are three years old.  While the couches themselves are still in good shape, the throw pillows that came with them are dull, have many thread pulls, and have flattened.  I've been wanting new ones for about a year.

I couldn't bring myself to spend $25 for one pillow at World Market, and none of the clearance pillows fit the style I wanted.  However, I recalled watching the Today Show earlier, and Nate Berkus shared a tip on making inexpensive pillows.  He simply used cloth napkins and had the dry cleaner make them into pillows.

I found napkins that matched our couches and room perfectly, and even Brent loved the patterns.  I grabbed 4 floral patterns for one side of the four pillows, and 4 stripe for the reverse.  In total, the 8 napkins cost me just under $24.  In actuality, they were free since I had a $25 gift card.

The following day I headed out to buy some thread, extra stuffing, and straight pins.  These cost me about $10.00.  I didn't need a ton of stuffing since I was mostly using the stuff inside my old pillows.

My great grandmother's sewing machine hasn't been used in years, but I brought it out for this project.  Thankfully, I still remembered how to use it, and once I got started, sewing the pillows were easy.

I love the finished product.

Liam added the cute element to the photos :)

In the end, I made 4 pillows for under $35.00.  That's less then $10.00 a pillow, and with them being reversible, it's more like 8 pillows!

-Anna