Friday, January 7, 2011

Pillowpalooza 2K11

I love making pillows. I think it mostly stems from the fact that I'm cheap and it's not super hard to sew 2 squares of fabric together, so there ya go.

Over the holidays I was a sewing machine, no pun intended, and knocked out my t-shirt quilt project that I have been working on for months. While sitting on my sofa trying my hardest to hand tie an entire quilt, I realized how darn generic my family room looks.

Exhibit 1: a big ole brown couch (snooze alert)
Exhibit 2: beige and brown/beige pillows that came with the sofa, gross
Exhibit 3: ugly fabric on our club chairs that I picked out from a book of ugly fabrics at an ugly furniture store ( I won the chairs in a sweepstakes so I shouldn't complain)

Soooo.. I took it upon myself to order some fabric that will hopefully blend in with the sea of beige yet add a little life to the place.
I know this one is still beige but the yellow blends well with the ugly fabric on the chairs

This pattern is actually huge. I think I'm going to center the red circle on the pillow and do a solid on the back.

Cost Breakdown:
4- 18x18 inch feather pillow inserts: $40.76
2 yards fabric: $21.75

That comes to about $15.50 per pillow which is a heck of a lot cheaper then buying the super cute, yet pricey pillows from Etsy that don't even come with the insert.

Thoughts? Am I still too beige? You can tell me the truth, the fabric was a good deal and I'll end up using it for something else if this doesn't work out!

Oh, and I bought a yard of this just for the heck of it! I'm thinking I might use it to cover my new sewing stool.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

South Africa: The Fnal Installment

Okay so I guess most of you are totally over seeing pictures of my vacation but I said I would do it so here is he last bit.

12 hours....that is how long it took for us to get from Pilanesberg to Durban! That is a long time to sit in a 15 passenger non air conditioned van, thank goodness for beautiful scenery, lots of snacks and rest stops with trampolines and petting zoos!



King of the Hill, Billy Goat style





Once we got to the Zimbali Resort the real relaxing began! We played by the pool, raced in the golf cart, chased the monkeys who stole the fruit from our drinks, and enjoyed all of the wedding festivities!

Our awesome house!




And the biggest thank you goes to the beautiful bride who not only planned a fabulous wedding but the best vacation to date!


*Thanks to Brandon and Kate for letting me steal some pictures!

Saturday, January 1, 2011

South Africa: Part 2

What's my new years resolution you ask? Not to be a lazy chump and start being a better blogger!

I know, I know we have been back from South Africa for over a month and I am just now posting the safari pictures.

Here goes....

After our few days in Johannesburg we drove about 6 hours north  to Pilanesberg National Park (disclaimer: for the normal traveler it will take 2 hours, but we like stops). We stayed at Buffalo Thorn Lodge in the Black Rhino Game Reserve and I must say, other than the wedding of course, it was the highlight of our trip!
We got up at 5:00 am every morning for a 5 hour game drive, then relaxed by the pool until it was time for our evening game drive.

According to our game driver, were were EXTREMELY lucky to see all that we did and that our next trip will most likely suck because it will never be that good again! Kind of a downer but still cool!

Here are a few pictures of our 6 hour journey, the lodge and the animals.

Brandon got "iced", google it...

Grocery stores are so much fun in foreign countries! We went overboard but don't worry the dollar goes pretty far over there!

15 passenger van, no air conditioner, long drive....



Impalas EVERYWHERE!



The first of the "Big Five" (called the Big Five because they are the 5 most dangerous animals to hunt)


Big 5- White Rhino

 Big 5- African Buffalo





Big 5- Leopard


 More Impala


 Our room

 The most amazing outdoor shower to date.



 We could see the animals from our pool deck

 Big 5- Lion





 It's Pumba!


 Springbok- Yummy!

 Hippo



Happy New Year! Pictures from the beach are next...