Makeover of Family Area

The vibrant mix of colors and ethnic flare in this room caught my attention when I was pinteresting one day. I repined the photo to my home decor board right away. I would love to create a similar area in my house.

Picture from
http://blog.hgtv.com/design/2010/10/01/blog-of-the-week-sf-girl-by-bay/

We moved to our new home one and two months ago on 17th September 2012. While there are still projects for home improvement, I have finally unpacked all our stuffs and stored them accordingly.  I am taking time to add the finishing touches around the house. There are days that I would transfer plants from the old house, located not too far from the new one. Other days I would hang up pictures on the wall. After looking at the above photo again last night, I decided to do a little makeover for our family room, something that I have been reluctant to do because my husband prefers the decor and colors in the house to be simple and plain. But I finally decided to rule over him and take over the space since this area is adjunction to my studio. I supposed I can do what I like for my space :)

Before

Before the makeover, the corner had a slight ethnic flavor with the display of the Uyghur's carpet on the floor and Chinese floral cushion cover and Borneo Ikat displayed on top of the improvised TV bench. I found the room pleasant but it has yet to achieve my expectation. I love ethnic-eclectic style for home décor.  It will allow me to display my collection of beautiful textiles and knick knacks that I picked up from my travelling.  Additionally, I have made many cushion covers that will fit perfectly to this concept.

After

1- Cat stuffed toy from Northern Thailand; 2- Embroidery work from Uzbekistan; 3- Baby carrier of Dong people, China; 4- My handmade cushions and covers; 5- Left - white base cushion cover from the Akha people of Northern Thailand; 6- Yu Yu chair of Indonesia turned into TV shelf.

With a little creativity, I turned this little corner of my house to an oasis for cultural experience. Nice! This is a perfect place for reading and watching TV shows. I love the result but I believe there is still room for improvement. Perhaps I can change the curtain on the door or hang few more things on the wall to enhance the concept. I will keep you updated when there are new improvements to this project. 

Note: Please excuse the poor quality shots because I am relying on a phone camera for photography at this point of time.

Gathered Fabric Flower with Bird Hair Clip

My little girl had been talking about her kindergarten party all week. She kept asking me which outfit to wear and what headgear to match her outfit for the party. The kindergarten she is attending organized a headgear party today before the end of the school year next week. This is my daughter’s last year in the kindergarten and she will advance to primary school starting Jan 2013. I want her to enjoy her party and have been planning on making her a headgear or a hat to wear on that day. However, many events took place since end of last week, and I was not able to work on the headgear until this morning.

After sending my eldest daughter off to school at 6.15am, I started making this gathered fabric flower hair clip with bird resting atop. My initial plan was just to make a big flower hair clip. After completion of a flower hair clip, I felt like adding something to make it more interesting. A little decorative bird in the hallway flashed into mind. To enhance the concept, I picked up a green leave from my basket of artificial flower and add it at the bottom of the flower. Here it goes of my little creation completed in 2 hours. I would have added a tiny twig if my little girl would use it.

My little girl was not pleased with the bird resting atop the flower as she didn't want to look too outstanding among her friends. I had to convince her that other kids will come in fancier outfits and her headgear will just be cute and creative. The persuasion continued for a while and it eventually ended with bribery of a technical pencil, a stapler and an eraser!

At last, she was convinced and happy, and so was I. She returned home happily after school and told me about all the compliments she received from her teachers and friends.

The tutorial page should be out in few days. You may find it on Yann's Simple Tutorial page.