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Monday, May 30, 2011

Hanging Lavender Doily Sachets


Hello sweet friends!

{I hope your weekend was a lovely one!}

For those of us in the U.S., it was Memorial Day weekend~ a time for us to remember all of those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice to preserve our freedom. I am so thankful for them, as well as for all of those who are serving and have served in our military! Thank you.}

Now...

In the spirit of full disclosure, I initially started this little project in January. Yes, you read that right. I was just about done when my sewing machine gave up its ghost. I set the craft aside and started some home improvement projects instead, while I researched the right sewing machine to buy...My sweet husband pre-empted me on this, and purchased one for me for a birthday gift last month.

{Lavender Doily Sachets}



This idea was inspired by something my late grandma made for me a long time ago...below is the one she made.




Now she filled her sachets with potpourri, but I chose lavender instead...Actually, I even made one with a Mint Chocolate Lavender blend, which smells downright amazing!



{What you will need}

Doilies, about seven inches in diameter

Loose lavender, about one fourth cup per sachet

Ribbon

Tulle circles, in white or whichever color you prefer

Thread and sewing machine or needle for hand stitching


Now to make your own sachets...



If you can find tulle circles already cut to the right size to fit your doilies, this is the easiest way. For seven inch doilies, you want your tulle circles to be about four inches diameter.



Fold the tulle circle in half, and begin sewing it along the outer edges, but leave a gap at the end open so you have room to add your lavender. Oh, and one important thing: Make sure to backstitch at the beginning and end, as the stitches in the tulle will come out if you don't! {I found this out the hard way!} ;)



Now you are ready to add your lavender...



And now you can sew the tulle half closed, making sure again to backstitch! :)



Now place your tulle half inside your doily, and fold the doily circle over {like an omelette} and sew along the edges of where the tulle half ends. There should be around a one inch outer area on the edges of the sachet when you are finished.




Now it's time to pull out your ribbon! Cut two lengths of ribbon and sew them onto the first side of the doily sachet, like this:



Then take the other side of the two lengths of ribbon and sew those onto the other side of the sachet...



Now take the two small lengths of ribbon left underneath where you sewed, and tie them together and double tie. Tie them up against the white thread where you sewed the ribbon to the doily. This will cover the thread, or at least mostly so! {Out of sight, out of mind!} ;)



{One ribbon tied, one not tied yet}



If you would like a ribbon bow on the front, simply hot glue one onto the front! {Easy peasy lemon squeezy!}

I didn't add a bow to this one because it just looked like too much with the long ribbon ties in front...


{You may notice my stitching is not completely rounded. I was having difficulty on this one! Oops!} :)

One with a bow on front...



As with most things, you get better as you go along. I noticed that the hanging ribbon tended to pull the corners of the sachet up, which was driving me crazy! I have a couple of ideas to try out, and think if I keep on working on this, they will improve! But I thought I would show you what I had so far! :)

What do you think? Silly? Strange looking? I'm dying to hear your thoughts on this! :)

Oh, and a little "Plank Update":

I finally finished the plank ceiling this weekend. That is, I finished nailing up the boards, and have sunk most all of the nails. I still have to do some spackeling, and then prime and paint! But I will show you a half way picture very soon, hopefully tomorrow. If you squint your eyes, you can almost imagine how it will look when it's painted! ;)

{I am linking the lavender sachets to the lovely Jami's Air Your Laundry Friday party.}



freckled laundry


Well, that's all for me! I hope you have a good night and that your Tuesday is a beautiful one! Thank you so much for stopping by! :)

Much love,

Jenni



Tuesday, May 24, 2011

And the winner is...



Hello sweet friends!

How has your week been going so far?

{Here's hoping it has been lovely!}

Well now...

The Cymax giveaway has officially ended, and it's time to announce a winner! I used to put all the names in a basket and draw the winner that way, but then I discovered the "Random Generator" thing-a-ma-bob, and love it! Have you tried it out?

You put in your minimum number (1) and the number of entries you received as the maximum, and click on "generate", and it gives you the winning number! See, easy as pie, right?

And as you can see, "27" is the winning number, and so the winner of this giveaway is Living in La La Land!

Congratulations, you win the $50 gift certificate to everypatiofurniture.com!


Thank you to all of you who entered this giveaway! We will be doing another giveaway in the next week or so, so stay tuned! :)



I hope you all have a good night! I am sorry this is such a short post...I will be back again tomorrow with a more substantial post! :)

Blessings to you~

{Jenni}






Monday, May 16, 2011

A Giveaway with Cymax Stores!

Hello sweet friends!

I hope you are having a good week so far.

I am excited to say that we are doing a giveaway here at {Beautiful Nest}, courtesy of Cymax Stores.

Have you visited their website? They have such a wonderful selection of items!

I have enjoyed looking at their outdoor furniture on everypatiofurniture.com ...Especially now that it is finally spring, when I just can't wait for those long evenings spent outside! This inspires dreams of a new patio dining set, or a couple of sweet wicker chairs...

I was especially taken with their outdoor lighting selection, where so many different styles of lighting are available. This is just one of the porch lights that caught my eye:



I love the vintage feel of it, and think it would be such a perfect touch for any beach cottage styled home!


And then I found the above lantern porch light. I think I gasped audibly when I saw it! It reminds me so much of the indoor light pendant that Michelle at Shell's Shabby Shack has hanging in her dining area, and I have been looking for something like it ever since! Here is a picture of it hanging in Michelle's absolutely gorgeous dining area! See how much alike they are?


{courtesy of Shell's Shabby Shack}

I have seen outdoor lights converted for indoor use before, and think this would look lovely either way!

Here is a more traditional porch light that also caught my eye...


And that is not all! They have a beautiful selection of outdoor rugs as well, including this cottage style rug:



Or this one:



This reminds me of the sweet prairie style I am loving so much!



And the above rug is my absolute favorite!

SO...would you love a chance to win $50 in store credit to everypatiofurniture.com?

{Of course you would, right?!} ;)

Well, here is all you have to do:

Enter for your chance to win by simply leaving a comment on this post!

For a
second chance to win, follow Cymax Stores on twitter and tweet the following:

Win a $50 GC to http://everypatiofurniture.com
>>> from @cymaxstores_ at Beautiful Nest ends 5/23 http://bit.ly/e80Jnh

And if you would like a third entry, like cymax-stores on facebook and let us know.

{Please make sure to leave in your comment a way for us to contact you if you should win!}

This giveaway will run until Monday, May 23, at 11:59 PM PST. We will announce a winner that day!

And if you haven't visited everypatiofurniture.com, make sure to check it out!

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Blessings,

{Jenni}

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Lavender Water and a plank wall sneak peek!


Hello friends!

{I hope you are having a lovely day so far!}

Have you ever heard of Lavender Water?

My mother-in-law made some for me a few years back, and I loved it! So I wanted to try my hand at it!

Lavender Water is wonderful when used to iron household linens. I am told it is especially lovely when used to iron bed sheets and pillow cases. Now I will confess that I don't iron my sheets! I prefer the tousled, rumpled look...Well no, actually I don't, but it sounds better and less lazy that way, don't you think? :)

So do you want to know what else I do with this lovely smelling lavender water?

I spray it in the bedrooms, in the bathrooms.

I spray it on the pillow cases, and this is especially nice to do after putting on freshly laundered {albeit unironed} ones!

The list of ingredients for this delightful concoction are few, and the directions easy-peasy!

Lavender Water

2 cups distilled water

1 oz. (2 tablespoons) vodka or rubbing alcohol

1/2 teaspoon lavender oil

Now, I used 3/4 teaspoon lavender oil, because I wanted it to be slightly stronger, but you may want to test it with 1/2 first before adding more, just in case!



Add each of these to a pretty spray bottle, and shake gently to mix. Spray on anything you please and enjoy!



Thoughts of lavender inspired these flowers:




I love the way the purple looks with the aqua jar...

Also, here is a sneak peek of the plank wall in the master bedroom:



The one plank wall is finished, except for the last row on top, which I will do after doing the plank ceiling. I thought it might be a good idea to see the way the ceiling and one plank wall actually looked together, before going ahead with the two adjacent walls! I might change my mind and think it is too much. :) Today David and I are going to mark the ceiling with the chalk line, and tomorrow I will begin installing the planks! (Yea!) I am very excited to see how the room will look sans popcorn ceiling! ;)

Also, I am sorry about the slightly blurry pictures today! I was having trouble getting really sharp ones for some reason. Maybe it is the dark and dreary weather?

I hope you have a wonderful day and thank you for stopping by!

Blessings to you~

Jenni


Sunday, May 8, 2011

Wishing you...

...a very Happy Mother's Day!
Be blessed.

Friday, May 6, 2011

Romantic Prairie Style


Hello lovely friends!

{how are you?}

I hope you have had a pleasant week, and have a good weekend to look forward to! :)

I wanted to share something that I am excited about, not anything big, just a little something!

Just one of the good things about turning 36:

I was beyond happy to receive this book!

Have you seen this? I first found out about it when I saw it on Michelle's blog, Shell's Shabby Shack, on her sidebar.

Well, put the words "romantic" and "prairie" together, and I'm a goner. Plus, if Michelle likes it, it is going to be a good book! :)

Am I the only one who conjures up lovely things when I think of the word {prairie} in particular?

I think of:

First and foremost, Little House on the Prairie. (Of course!)

Tall grass, swaying in the breeze, "Sarah Plain and Tall" style.

Wide open spaces

Farmhouses with wide front porches

Ticking and weathered hardwood floors

Plank walls! ;)

Large cozy "eat in" kitchens

Crickets

Dark night sky

Oh yes, when it comes to prairie life, I would move there in a heartbeat! But even if you don't live in the Midwest, and you live in say, Seattle for example, you can still have a little bit of prairie!

The colors and textures are muted and understated, and so much a part of prairie style.

The pages of this gorgeous book are brimming over with beautiful rooms...

Do you see those white floors?
{love}

Yes, send me to the late 1890's, and I'd be happy as a clam...except for outhouses and the lack of daily showers! ;)

Now... if you do not yet own this book, here is a little hint: Stay tuned because a little bird told me that you will soon have a chance to win your very own copy! :)

SO...

if you could step back in time and live in another time period, when would it be?

I hope you all have a beautiful Friday!

Much love~

Jenni

P.S. Today I will be finishing up the first plank wall! I will try to post a sneak peek this weekend! :)


Monday, May 2, 2011

{A sweet gift on my doorstep}


Hello sweet friends!

And how, may I ask, was your weekend? Was it a good one for you?

{I sure hope it was!}

Well now...

Late last week, I opened my door to find a package on the front porch. This package to be precise:

I couldn't remember ordering anything...But then I saw the return address of my friend Mrs. Tiff in Australia!

{I have never been sent anything from Australia before, and so even just this was very exciting!}

And oh! Look how lovely she wrapped it up!

I was SO honored to have won her sweet giveaway recently, which was one of gorgeous handmade cushions. Have you seen them?

They are ALL beautiful! Yes, I love each and every one she has made. So when she said she was giving this amazing Union Jack cushion away, I did what any sane, reasonable, cushion-loving girl would do, and entered her giveaway lickity-split! ;)

But I have to admit I was VERY surprised to actually win it!

Thank you, Mrs. Tiff, for such a lovely package, and an equally lovely pillow! :)

And if you have not met the lovely Mrs. Tiff or visited her beautiful blog, do make sure to stop by and say hello!

Well, I hope you all had a beautiful Monday, and that your week is off to a great start! :) Thank you so much for stopping by!

Have a wonderful night~

Jenni

{sigh}