Spring In East Texas

Hi friends,

We are in East Texas at the lake and spring has sprung.

The flowers around my sister in law's house are so pretty. 

The birds are chirping like crazy.

   The redbud tree has blossomed. 

 

Beautiful. 

The sweet Violets are blooming.

These remind me of my grandmother every single time I see them.

This purple is just too gorgeous.

All this color has me fooled into thinking that it's time to get my flowers in the ground.

We've had a mild winter but we could still get a hard freeze so I'll wait a couple more weeks.

I'm excited to get my hands dirty.

Have a wonderful day!

Katie

 

The Pottery Barn Pillow

My daughter is writing a book.

One of the characters loves Pottery Barn so Rebekah has been doing some research.

She noticed that our home has a slight resemblance to the popular home decor chain. 

Maybe more than slight because she asked if I was trying to live in a Pottery Barn.

She stopped in for Sunday night dinner and knew I'd been there. 
I had to pop over to Ft. Worth to get a tire checked and while I was there I took a jaunt over to the store. I've had a $10.00 gift card knocking around in my purse for almost 2 years. 

 

I knew that it would be difficult to spend only $10.00 which is why I put it off but I found an adorable pillow for spring.

It was $38.00 with the gift card. 

This is way more than I usually spend on a throw pillow but it's just so cute.

I saved by not getting their pillow insert which was $20.00.

I came home and stuffed a standard size pillow into the the new cover.  

It fit perfectly.  

 A duvet that coordinates with this has been on Rebekah's wish list. 
 She actually didn't think I'd like this line because of the black ground but I adore black backgrounds with pops of florals. 
I think she was shocked that we were both on the same wave length.

I tried to mimic the look in the catalogue by propping the letter M on the mantel. 

I got that last year at LaurieAnna's Vintage Home.

 

I also put some faux spring blubs in my terrarium from IKEA. 

The little lamb on the coffee table was an eBay find.

 

My aunt got one like it for my mom. 
I just adored it and searched until I found one for me.

It's such a darling.   

The weather continues to be a little wacky. 

It hasn't been very "winter like" so all the plaid has been put away for another year. 

 

Work continues at a crazy busy pace so
I've done some leather crafting in my down time to relax.
Now that I know my sewing machine can sew thin leather a whole new world of crafting has opened up.
 

Hop over and read about my pochette made out of denim and a vintage Louis Vuitton zipper. 

That is about it for this Monday night.

 

Thanks so much for stopping by,

Katie 

New Pochette From a Louis Vuitton Zipper

I save little bits and pieces from the vintage bags I've picked up. 

Certain types of vintage Louis Vuitton bags have super sticky linings. 

The Vuittonitte that they used 20 or 30 years ago breaks down over time and becomes sticky especially in humid climates. 

 A few years ago, I picked up a cute vintage brief case but the lining was trashed. 

Instead of trying to clean it I pulled it out and threw it away.  
The leather and zipper was cut away from the lining and saved for a later date.

I decided that the zipper would look cute on a pochette or pouch made out of denim. 
Louis Vuitton had a denim line for a while that I thought was darling.  

Yellow thread that matches a Louis Vuitton bag was a must. 

Joann's had a heavy weight yellow thread that was a near perfect match.

It took 8 hours of hand work to sew the zipper unit to the denim. 

My fingers were so sore even with the use of leather needles.  

The back is not pretty but it won't show. 

I sewed a rectangle around the new zipper to form the pouch.
I cut the opening and glued the sleveage with craft glue. 

A quick trip to Tandy Leather yielded the news that my sewing machine could sew through thin leathers. 
They had leather needles for my machine so I sewed a d-ring onto the corner of the bag. 
This piece was a leftover from another bag. 
The strap came from a vintage Louis Vuitton Pochette.

This was a Valentine's Day project since Bill was sick. 
Head phones and sewing helped me survive the 
Star Wars Trilogy. 
 

This holds my iPad or toiletries. 
It can also be used as a clutch. 
 I love Vachetta leather and denim. 
    

That is what I've been up to.
How about you?
Come back for more leather crafting.
I have been sewing leather with my machine! 
So fun. 
Katie 

Cute Table From Tuesday Morning

I have fought the revival of gold a little bit. 

 This house was completely blinged out when we bought it in 1993. 

 Gold faucets, door knobs and light fixtures were everywhere.

 By the time I'd replaced or spray painted over all the gold, 

I started reading that gold was back! 

 Umm, no! 

 Until...

I saw this beauty at Tuesday Morning.

 I adore the sweet scrolling through the glass.

It is the perfect little darling of an end table.

It's a part of the stock they just got it for spring.

 I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. 

Hubby was sick Valentine's Day so he watched the Star Wars Trilogy. 

 Where are my head phones? 

That's all I'm going to say about that. 

;)

Katie