17 Pretty Ways to Decorate With a Brown Sofa

Now don't gasp when I say this, because I know brown sofas are so five years ago, but I have a brown sofa and I love it!  Mine is actually a giant sectional out at our beach house, and I never worry about it looking dirty. In the Pacific Northwest, our sand is kind of grayish brown.  Also, dirt is brown.... and so is chocolate...  and those are the three things most likely to get on my upholstery.

Another reason I bought a brown sofa? I knew it would be easy to convince my husband to buy that color, and I wanted a new sofa. Plus, it's super neutral, so I have lots of options for the rest of the space, and I can change up the look of the room with a thirty dollar can of paint and a couple of throw pillows!

Mini Felted Wool Mitten Ornament Gifts

What do you get your mother-in-law for Christmas, when she really doesn't need one single thing?  That's what I was wondering when she came out to the beach house for a visit this fall. She happened to bring up some embroidered ornaments I had given her years ago, mentioning that they were her favorites.   An idea formed.

Why not make little "grandchild ornaments" for my mother-in-law for Christmas?   

I had tons of small felted wool scraps leftover from the gift card ornaments I wrote about here.  The scraps were small and I was debating whether to throw them away.  Why not make a smaller version of the gift card ornaments, using the leftover materials, for my mother-in-law's gift?

I love how they turned out -- about twenty in all, plus a couple of extras "just in case".  Filled with festive goodies, they will look so sweet hanging on a tree or a garland!

These were super easy to make -- not nearly as time-consuming as those embroidered ornaments I made years ago.

• Create a mitten template (mine was about two and a half inches from fingertip to cuff edge)
• Cut out two pieces of felted wool for each mitten.  
• Blanket-stitch (or glue) the two sides together 
• Add little embroidered embellishments, if you'd like, such as sweet little lazy daisies (or you could glue on some embellishments)

The cuffs and hangers are simply narrow strips of wool scraps that were glued in place.  Glue some goodies (I used bits and pieces rescued from old Christmas decorations) inside the top of the mittens.  Add a little name banner to each mitten and you're done!

This sweet little set of gift ornaments cost virtually nothing to make. The embroidery took a little time (about fifteen minutes of stitching per mitten), but my mother-in-law is worth it.  The parts that were glued together were done "assembly line" style in one evening.

Edit:  My mother-in-law LOVED her gift! 

Are You Ready to Get Your (Tangerine) Tango On? Color of the Year...

Do you have plans to implement Tangerine Tango, Pantone's 2012 Color of the year, into your projects?  As we saw with 2011's Honeysuckle Pink, we don't always interpret color trends literally, choosing instead to use a more subdued version of a hue.

Pieter Estersohn

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And, then again, sometimes we punch it up a notch or two!

Thibault Jeanson 

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So, what are your plans?  Maybe you have already been incorporating the orange color family into your designs?

Eric Piasecki

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Maybe you plan to use pops of coral, orange, or tangerine?

Victoria Pearson

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Maybe you will use it in your entry to set the tone for your space?

Jonny Valiant 

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I would love to see what you are planning to do with this color!  Do you love it? Hate it? Never want to see it again? Want to surround yourself with it?  Let me know what you think.