Make Your Easter Bunny From Fabric

Handmade Easter bunny

Stuff it with wool to make a toy, or fill with dried lavender to scent a room
- a great way of recycling old jumpers.

YOU WILL NEED

To make your own Easter cloth fabric bunny:

paper bunny pattern - download from internet
paper, pen, pins and sewing scissors
old wool blanket or jumper
tailors’ chalk or water-soluble fabric pen
sewing machine and cotton thread
wooden spoon
sheep’s wool or dried lavender and millet
needle, embroidery needle and thread
ribbon for a bow
orange felt and green ribbon for carrot
coloured felt or wool fabric for clothes

How to Make Easter Bunny Cloth Rag Doll

1 Cut out the template and draw around it with chalk onto the wrong side of the wool - this is your sewing line. Leaving an extra 2cm around the edge, cut out the shape Draw around this onto the wrong side of more wool to make the back of the bunny.

2 Place your two wool pieces right sides together and pin. Start at the right shoulder and machine-sew around the chalk line using a small straight stitch until you reach the base of its right ear. Over-sew the first and last couple of stitches for added strength.

3 Remove your pins and turn the bunny the right way out. using the handle of a wooden spoon to push out the ears, arms and legs.

4 Stuff your shape - using the spoon handle to poke the filling in. Hand-sew the opening closed. Define the arms by stitching through the body, from shoulder to underarm.

5 For the face, push an embroidery needle and thread through the back of the head and add two eyes, a mouth and nose. Secure the thread with a couple of stitches, then push the needle out through the back of the head. Cut off the loose ends.

6 For the carrot, cut a triangle of orange felt. Place strips of green ribbon along the short edge and sew them in place. Roll up the triangle to form a cone, with the ribbon at the top. then hand-stitch along its length.

7 For the jacket, create a template using the bunny pattern: draw a line across the neck, waist and wrists. Cut this out. then draw round it onto your fabric. Cut this shape out and repeat so you have the front and back of a jacket. Snip a V out of the neck on the front piece, then hand-sew the jacket onto
the bunny round the seams and under the arms, joining the materials as you sew down the arms. Hand-stitch the paws together.

My  handmade Easter Bunnies

You can purchase them from my etsy store.

Rag Tilda Waldorf Decorative Collectible Bunny

https://www.etsy.com/listing/269845126/rag-doll-bunny-waldorf-rabbit-bunny-in

https://www.etsy.com/listing/267785446/stuffed-rabbit-bunny-waldorf-doll-easter

                   https://www.etsy.com/listing/269849098/rag-bunny-waldorf-rabbit-bunny-doll-in

Vintage Toy Rag doll Tilda couple in love. Toy animals. Stuffed animal rabbit doll. Valentine, Shabby chic

https://www.etsy.com/listing/265990491/waldorf-doll-rabbit-bunny-vintage-toy

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Country kitchen decorating tips and ideas

Country kitchen decor

WHETHER SUBTLE OR VIBRANT, A LITTLE PATTERN WILL BRING

INDIVIDUALITY AND COLOR TO YOUR COUNTRY KITCHEN DECOR

There’s been an explosion of surface pattern in fabric and wallpaper collections over the past 12 months and there's now a fresh move towards using decorative schemes on more permanent fixtures in the country kitchen decor. Designers of furniture, sinks, flooring and appliances are all being a little more adventurous. The country kitchen is often the soul of our homes.Patterned surfaces transmit a good feeling, so why shouldn't we also find them in our kitchen? Here are few country kitchen decorating tips and ideas.

CASE STUDY: HAND-PAINTED FINISH FOR COUNTRY KITCHEN

Jennifer Goulding and her husband Andrew were so delighted with the renovations to their Lake Windermere holiday home in Cumbria that they've made it their permanent residence. The country kitchen, with views across the lake, was inspired by the work of local Victor Ian landscape

architect Thom as Mawson, renowned for delicate pergolas and his ability to blend architecture with its natural surroundings.

Following his lead, we used very delicate furniture with natural wood elements and soft paint finishes such as Sage Green and Linen. Chalon’s in-house artist has decorated the Housekeeper's Cupboard (far left) with a delicate floral relief from the company's standard portfolio, but since it's painted by hand, without stencils, customers can have virtually any decor. You can repeat parts of the pattern on other cabinets but remember to keep the look elegant rather then busy.

COUNTRY KITCHEN COOKERS

Many companies produce limited-edition patterned designs for their range cookers. At Aga pottery designer Emma Bridgewater has added her trademark polka dots to help celebrate the

company’s 300th anniversary. Interior designer Nina Campbell has created a wisteria design for Britannia, while Rangemaster's Excel Floral collection features gerberas, orchids and wild flowers.

FABRIC PRINTS for you country kitchen decor

One of the easiest ways to introduce pattern into your country kitchen design is through fabrics and textiles. Choose washable or stain-resistant curtains and blinds for windows in close proximity to the sink, a good range of ticking and check oilcloths that have been treated with a PVC coating for a wipe-clean surface. Mixing spots and florals in complementary colors provides a modem update to the country look.

Country kitchen decorating tips and ideas

PAINT EFFECTS

Commissioning an artist to create a bespoke design isn't cheap but guarantees an original design feature. Most artists can offer ideas and inspiration while bespoke kitchen makers often have preferred artists or even an in-house artist who will help realize your dream. Bespoke tile designers can often be commissioned to work on cabinetry.

KITCHEN SINKS

A patterned relief on pure white ceramic brings subtle country kitchen design interest to this classic butlers sink by Villeroy & Boch. Available in single and double-bowl models with chrome waste, the sinks have an elegant filigree pattern with a shiny pearl finish. For a more textural pattern try Brass & Traditional Sink's Etienne  and Chateaux apron-fronted copper sinks, which have a rugged hand-pummeled patina.

FRIDGES AND FRIDGE-FREEZERS

Choose appliances sporting floral patterns, spots and stripes. Maytag s American-style fridge-freezers are available with a trim kit that allows you to slot in your own panels for endless design options. It can support any panel up to a depth of 6 mm. from decor panels in striking colors and fun family photos to discreet veneered panels that blend in with kitchen cabinets. Or you can find it on ebay.

WALL ART

Here is another useful country kitchen decorating tips and ideas.  A splash of vibrant wallpaper, even

on a very small area, will bring your kitchen to life. Protect papered areas that come into direct contact with water with toughened glass, or seek cut hard wearing designs with vinyl or gloss finishes. If you want to use regular wallpaper, add a coat of Protective Decorators Varnish.

SPLASHBACKS

The space between worktop and wall cabinets is ripe for country kitchen design. Experiment with colors, patterns and materials to make the most of the opportunity. Choosing waterproof finishes such as glass or ceramic tiles is paramount and it's also wise to keep the finish of the kitchen cabinets plain and simple to avoid a migraine. You can also buy single splashback panels with floral designs to fit between your cooker and hood.

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COLOR SCHEMES

A LESSON IN COLOR SCHEMES

Nico Springman, Director of Interior Decoration Classes at
Inchbald School of Design explains the
color theory he lectures to design students

"Interior designers and decorators have strong reactions to color schemes.
They will have spent time mixing up combinations and using their
knowledge of color theory before they start putting together a color
scheme. They will have understood this theory and then interpret it in
a way that gives the effect they are after.

They must consider the quality of light that is available in the room,
as the eye finds it difficult to read colors properly in inadequate light.
Therefore, the direction the room faces and the amount of daylight it
receives and the source of artificial light are all important.

Understanding that one artificial source of light burns at a lower or
higher temperature than another one is also important. Candlelight
burns at a lower temperature than most electric lamps; the light given
off is warmer (more orange) than most lamps, so it can destroy the
purity of any cooler hues such as violets, greens or blues.

Understanding colors and how they relate to each other is the most
crucial aspect of color scheming. More comfortable schemes rely on the
use of harmonious combinations, where the color schemes sit beside each other
on the color wheel. Exciting schemes, for where someone visits the space
for a short time, might be complementary: colors on the opposite side of
the color wheel which provide strong contrast. In equal quantities, this
might be uncomfortable, but an elegant solution can still be found where
just a tiny amount of the complementary color is used. A monochromatic
color scheme is made of the pure hue, and its associated tints and shades.
It can be quite dull, so variation in the patterns and textures is what will give
it interest. If you start with an Ultramarine blue, it can be tempting to add
something based on a Cerulean blue, but then the scheme ceases to be
a monochromatic one and becomes harmonious instead.

Designers and decorators do not often use unadulterated primary color schemes
(red, blue or yellow) or secondary hues (violet, green or orange). They tend
to build schemes on the tertiary colors that are found between the
primary and secondary colors. They will also experiment with colours that
are not at full intensity; most of them will have been altered by the addition
of white (to make a tint), black (to make a shade) or greyed - the addition
of a small amount of the opposite color, which kills the intensity or purity
of the original one.

Browns and beiges are not neutral - grey is the only one. Found by mixing
equal quantities of colors on opposite sides of the color wheel, the result
will support both of the original colors at full intensity. White is total
reflection of light, black is total absorption of light, so they are referred to
as having no chroma. There are additional schemes based on triadic
colors (equally spaced at 120 degrees from each other on the color
wheel) which would be the three primary colors or the three secondary
ones. Split complementary schemes are not so hard on the eye as a full
complementary one. If a complementary color scheme is using yellow and
violet, a split complementary one will put yellow with a red violet and
a blue violet, where those two hues on either side of the complementary
colour are used.

Examine the hue of the color scheme; if a given item has a yellow hue to it, it
could be seen as warm or hot, but if it seems to have a blue hue to it, it will
seem cool or cold. A warm red (strawberry, flame or scarlet) will look more
comfortable with a warm off-white; both will have a tiny amount of yellow in
them. A colder red (raspberry, crimson or burgundy) will look better with a
more brilliant white.

If, for example, you have an avocado bath suite, towels in ivory, egg yolk
or mustard yellows, pale aqua or teal blues and flame or coral pinks will
look better than white, lemon, sky or navy blues or crimson, rose pink or
burgundy. This is because the colors have been adjusted in the same way
as the green of the sanitaryware. If you are starting with a Wenge wood, the
color of bitter chocolate, and you want to use a red with it, crimson or
a very pale, iced rose pink, might be the most comfortable red to put with
it. Other reds will look good to start with but after a bit, might trouble your
eye in some way.

The fixed points always have to come first - white sanitaryware in the
bathroom or the towels available in the store are givens. Match fabric and
paints to them. If the given item - furniture or flooring - is a warm hued
wood, warm hued colors therefore look better with it. If it has some black
in it, use hues that are shades, and if the given item seems to be a tint then
use tints of hues with it for the majority of the scheme. It will appear more
restful. Then inject a small amount of the opposite to provide some
zest in the scheme."

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Hardwood flooring

Hardwood floor tips and tricks 

 Hardwood gives a rich and sophisticated warmth to your home. The quality and long lengths of Superior Flooring hardwood gives each room a distinctive and stunning look. The quality of your hardwood floor is the key for longevity and maintaining its beauty. Superior Flooring's investment in higher grades of lumber means fewer knots, blemishes and discolourations. The finishing process is a water based colouring system for better wood penetration that involves a hot air/infrared drying and a nine coat finish which creates a durable and aesthetically appealing finish with low maintenance. 

Long lengths of hardwood are extremely popular and in demand now. Superior Flooring prides itself for providing the longest boards in the industry. Longer boards mean less joints or places where your wood connects which means a nicer, smoother looking floor with a more uniform, custom look and feel.

 Colour and texture along with the grain is the key to choosing the right hardwood floor to suit your own unique decor style and lifestyle for your family. Superior has over 150 options including eight species of woods in natural and stained colours with each species having its own distinctive colour palette to choose from. Board widths come in 2 A", 2 V", 3 3 Vi" and 4 lA" with many of the species available in all four widths and in low gloss or semi gloss finish.

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Dining room decorating ideas

Dining room decorating ideas

Typically, dining rooms are decorated in rich, deep colors - red, for instance, is said to stimulate the appetite - but this does tend to make them only suitable for night-time use. Some dining room decorating ideas turned tradition on its head: in keeping with the rest of this airy open-plan apartment, elegant dining room is fresh and light. Make dining room to link easily with the adjoining rooms when you are thinking of dining room decorating ideas. By taking this approach in decorating style, it means the space is more compatible to enjoy at any time of day. At night, along with subtle lighting and lots of candles, the mirrors add sparkle: glamour and light.

PERFECT SETTING

Use in the dining room decorating style a mix of decanters, twisted glass, gunmetal porcelain plates and bone-handled cutlery sit beautifully with the green opaline grapefruit dishes which here are used as soup bowls.

Consider using a room for dual purposes – adapt a dining room to be a library as well. And try to incorporate it into the natural flow of the house so it can be used and enjoyed much more often.

Don't abandon expensive material in dining room home decorating ideas if you really love it: what you buy
instead will never really please you. Buy a small amount and use it as an accent - on cushions or a chair, for example.

Don't overlook the importance of good storage in dining room decorating style - without it you can't live comfortably.

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How to create simple French vintage style

French vintage style decorating ideas

Check out our decorating ideas on how to create simple French vintage style.

Find the furniture

• Mix and match classic furniture with distressed and painted pieces and varnished fruitwood and oak antiques to create simple French vintage style.
• Choose cabriole-legged tables, chairs with deep-button upholstered details and armoires with exquisite handles for a timeless decorating look.
• Get some decorating ideas from scouring country sale rooms for old French furniture to restore and update with ticking cushions, loose covers or a lick of paint.

Choose the fabrics

• The essence of French vintage style is typified by an elegant mix of treasured .
• Choose different scales of toile de Jouy ticking, traditional Provencal prints and formal embroidery to create a timeless charm.
• Use fabrics to inject a burst of vibrant color. Create areas of detail with layers of intense patterned fabric and contrast with chalky walls and painted furniture.
• Mix contemporary prints with nostalgia vintage fabrics from the 1940s and 1950's.

Add the accessories to your French vintage style

• Update worn cushions with trimming.
• French Aubusson rugs are very decorative and help to define the character of a room bringing faded pattern underfoot.
• Fill Provencal jugs and pots with flower heads for a flavor of the French country decorating style.
• Choose accessories with French countryside napkins with cuffs, a cafetiere cozy or a collection of perfume bottles.

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How to choose granite kitchen counters

Granite kitchen counters

Granite kitchen counters take any kitchen from drab to fab, but with a price tag of $50 to $100 per square foot installed, they're a pricey upgrade. Get your granite kitchen counters and stay within budget with these pointers.

■ Take your measurements. Granite is sold by the square foot, so a counter that is 2 feet deep and 9 feet long will require 18 square feet, plus the amount needed for edging or a backsplash. To make price comparisons easy, map out the surfaces you want to cover in your kitchen and determine the square footage before you start shopping.

■ Go straight to the source. Bypass kitchen stores and home centers. Instead, shop directly at a granite yard to snag a better price per square foot. Just keep in mind that hiring a fabricator to install the granite can significantly raise the overall price. For a clear comparison, look for a granite yard that offers fabrication as part of their services.

■ Skip the frills. Save money by choosing a standard granite kitchen counters edge. Fancy edge details add a hefty price (starting at $30 per linear foot). Or do without the edge altogether by asking a carpenter to add wood edging after the granite kitchen counters is installed.

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Cute hedgehog flower arrangement

Hedgehog flower arrangement

Looking for a very cute, unusual and interesting flower arrangement? Check out this super cute hedgehog flower arrangement.

For this flower arrangement you will need :

 

large leaves (Aspidistra or Monstera) 

Santini 

hypericum, 

pitosporum, 

vaksflauer, 

stalks of roses, 

piaflor, 

three beads (or buttons) 

two decorative berries on tenterhooks 

pan (or a plate or dish) 

Scotch 

floral knife and secateurs. 

1. For our hedgehog flower arrangement first soak piaflor in water, then cut out the body of a hedgehog. Note: it's easier to make piaflor bricks rough shape by using a knife, but sand the corners by hands. 

Our hedgehog is hero, and we used 2 bricks of piaflor.

2. Place hedgehog piaflor body on a pallet or aspidistra leaves Monstera (they mimic the green grass on which there is our hedgehog). Fasten three pieces of piaflora with stripe tape.

3.Pprune santini  in a way so the buds have roughly 2 cm of stem. Then insert a chrysanthemum in piaflor. Flowers should stand very tight! If formed hole, use a small florets. 

To make our hedgehog  flower arrangement accurate and beautiful, make neat rows of flowers. After completing a row, move on to another.

And then complete hedgehog flower arrangement following these picture instructions:

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Floral embroidered throw pillows

Handmade floral embroidered throw pillows

Beautiful and simply to make floral embroidered throw pillows.

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Home Decorating Ideas from designer

Home decorating ideas

Check out very helpful home decorating ideas from designer Antonia Stewart.

"You should always spend on the actual building itself, trying to create as near perfect a canvas as possible. If you are happy with the actual space of the building then the decorating can come over time. A home will naturally evolve and will reflect current trends and the changing tastes of the owners, undoubtedly [containing] items from their travels, even new books, artwork or photographs.

Thinking of home decorating ideas use lots of less expensive fabric and then accessories with more expensive items. For example, a feature wall could be done in an expensive wall covering, with the rest of the walls being done in a paint. Or cushions covered in expensive fabrics could be put on sofas covered in cottons or linens.

Fabrics with embellishments, such as beads, hand embroidery or metal threads, can often look more
expensive than a plain version. To update a bedroom decor you could buy new bed linen. You could paint the back of a bookcase a different color to the shelves: dark colors for a study; fun colors for children's bedrooms.

Here are another home decorating ideas. Lighting is very important for me and can make or break the atmosphere of a room. For the evening I would always have lighting only from table lamps, standard lamps or picture lights, preferably on a dimmer so that the light can be controlled. Downlights and pendant lights are fine for general lighting but too bright for an evening setting.

For a country-kitchen look, Neptune is a rapidly growing company that has some fabulous products at
competitive prices. By purchasing their standard unit modules you can create your own bespoke kitchen at
o fraction of the price of other kitchen companies. It really is a great idea. They also do lots of other painted
furniture which is also very smart and not too expensive."

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HOW TO CHOOSE A WOODBURNER

TIPS ON HOW TO... CHOOSE A WOODBURNER

Using a woodbumer is an environmentally friendly form of heating. Here re our easy
and important tips on how to choose right wood burner.

■ First, do a heat calculation for your room so you buy the right size of
woodbumer - try the output calculator at woodbumerwarehause.co.uk.
■ Consider the technical instructions when you buy as some
woodbumers require a 25mm constructional hearth and others
need a 12mm non-combustible hearth.
■ The chimney must be at least the size of the wood bumer outlet.
■ When you position your woodbumer, make sure there is plenty
of space around it for heat and air to flow - your installer will let you
know if you need to install a ventilation gril to increase the airfl ow.
■ If you live in a smokeless zone, you must use a smokeless fuel or
a DEFRA-approved app iance to bum wood.
■ Make sure you use a Local installer who is approved and experienced
in the insta atlon of woodbumers - try hetas.co.uk

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HOW TO CHOOSE STONE FLOORING

CHOOSE THE RIGHT STONE FLOORING

Create authentic country style with stone slabs or tiles by choosing right flooring. Although expensive, stone flooring will last a lifetime if property sealed and cared for. Fit underfloor heating for extra warmth.

Much-loved limestone, sometimes has visible fossilised shells and comes in finishes from polished to honed; brushed to tumbled. Its cousin travertine has a pitted, rustic effect though the pits can be filled before delivery.

Ask to see a sealed flooring sample as sealing affects the color and look of the stone.

Granite is tough and hardwiring and comes in smart glossy black and speckled greys.
Slate is a good option for a rustic kitchen and is often riven (split naturally along its grain) for an uneven effect. It comes in rust tones as well as black, blues, greens and greys.
Marble flooring works well in a black and white chequerboard design.

Reclaimed flagstones flooring can create a grand entrance, having a patina that's due to years of wear. Or try Cassical Flagstones for replica f agstones made from prints of original fags.

That were our simple flooring tips and ideas to choose for your home.

 

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5 DECORATING TIPS FOR SMALL SPACES IN KITCHEN

5 DECORATING IDEAS FOR SMALL SPACES IN KITCHEN

Pushed for room in your country kitchen? Make every inch count with these simple decorating tips and ideas for small kitchens...

1Choose bespoke cabinetry. 'The beauty of commissioning a kitchen is that each cabinet is made with your room's dimensions in mind,' says designer Debbie Bowden from Barnes of Ashburton. 'Worktops can be reduced in depth and cabinets scaled down to suit.'

2 Make the most of dead space in corner cabinets using specialist Magic Corners and Le Mans s ystems (available from Hettich, 0161872 9552, hettich.com), which pull all contents out into view. Plinth drawers under base units can store baking tins and trays.

3Locate storage according to frequency of use. Saucepans and utensils should be near the cooker, and crockery and glassware adjacent to the dishwasher - great and simple decorating tips and ideas for small kitchens. Check out Blum's Dynamic Space concept, which uses a zoning system to efficiently plan storage or attend a free seminar, held regularly at its Milton Keynes
headquarters (01908 285700, Wum.com).

4Invest in compact appliances such as slimline dishwashers and smaller ovens - or consider multipurpose products. The Trio, £950, from Candy (01685 721222, candy-domestic.co.uk) combines an electric oven, hob, grill and dishwasher in one 60cm wide appliance.

5 Focus on space-enhancing materials when you searching for simple decorating tips and ideas for small kitchens. Mirrored glass, high-gloss lacquered cabinetry and stainless steel appliances all help to create a feeling of space.

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Homemade Christmas tree decorations

Homemade Christmas decorations

This is fun, simple and easy homemade Christmas tree decorations project that can be done together with children. Kids would love to make this homemade Christmas tree garland decorating!

DIY Homemade Christmas tree decorations with embroidered winter garland and snowy forest.

You will need:

Scissors

Cereal or chocolate box

Glue

Yarn & needle

Stapler

Punch

Bias trim

Thambtack

For our homemade Christmas tree decorations cut the card board shapes as shown below from the cereal box and punch the holes around it as shown on the picture.

Now we are ready for sewing the trunk of our homemade Christmas tree decorations. Do it as shown on the picture below.

Creating foliage of our homemade Christmas tree by using green yarn, needls and scissors.

And now our homemade Christmas tree garland is ready to be hang over the mantel or any other place.

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