Fall Farmhouse Tea Towel Pillows

 

It's almost fall, ya'all! What better way to celebrate the season of cool breezes, crisp apples, colorful leaves and plump pumpkins than with some cozy farmhouse style pillows?

Step 1: Tea Towels

I bought some awesome white towels from Walmart in the kitchen towel section. They are Mainstays

brand Flour Sack Towels in white. The fabric has an awesome farmhouse look and feel. The first step is to IRON your towel. They are very wrinkly, which isn't a bad thing since the look I was going for was casual, but I wanted my image transfer to be crisp.

Step 2: CitraSolv

There is a handy, delicious smelling orange cleaner out there called CitraSolv. It is heavenly! And it's awesome for transferring inkjet printed images onto fabric! **This transfer method does not work with laser printers. Only inkjet. Grab a little glass jar and a small housepaint brush for this.

Step 3: Print your picture... backwards!
I always mess up this step. I printed the entire image on four different sheets of paper before I realized I had forgotten to flip it. I use Photoshop to create a document the same size as my pillow. (In this case, around 22x22 inches). Then I crop each section to fit an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper and print them, line them up and tape them. I'm sorry if this is confusing. You may want to start with an image that can fit a standard sheet of paper... just don't forget to flip it backwards! If you don't have Photoshop, you can do this in MS Word by inserting Word Art, choosing Rotate and Flip Horizontal. You can do it with pictures, too.

Step 4: Transfer the image.
Once you have your (backwards) image place it on the tea towel so the ink is touching the fabric. Make sure it's centered. Tape the corners in place. Then lightly brush the CitraSolv onto the back of the image. Use a tablespoon to rub the image and transfer it to the fabric. After rubbing the entire image, gently lift it to be sure it transferred. It's very difficult to line it up again. I've never been successful doing it.


Step 5: Sew & stuff your pillow! And then repeat and make a few more! :)



 

 

 

 

The files for these designs are available on my Etsy shop:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/MyPorchPrints

 

Resize as needed and remember to FLIP them so they are backwards before you print! :)

 

 

Red Radio Cabinet

You may have seen a similar cabinet on Pinterest. Like me, you may have even pinned it. Twice. And you might have also thought, "I NEED that." Of course, radio cabinets aren't all that easy to come by, but when you do find one on Craigslist. In your town. You BUY it! And then you paint it RED.

Okay, so that's what happened. One dark and stormy night, the ever-beleaguered Hubby went out and brought home this bad boy: an antique wood radio cabinet.

I seriously thought about painting it white. "White goes with everyone's décor," I said. But my daughter convinced me to go for the red. "Not too many people can fit red into their house," I said. "Yes," she answered, "but that means the ones who can will be REALLY excited to find something in red."

Okay!

Here's a quick rundown of the process. First, Hubby removed the fabric "speaker" in the front. Then I sanded a few of the rough spots. Not enough, though. After I painted, some of the dents showed through, but we'll call that "character."

Then I primed it with Zinsser primer. This step may or may not have been necessary. I was going for a bit heavier distressing than usual, so I could have probably gone without the primer.

Then I painted the whole piece red. (Acrylic craft paint, Walmart craft section.) After that, I sanded it with a sanding block.The red was a tad on the orangey side, but I didn't mind because I knew I'd be going over it with a dark stain, which is the last process: to brush on stain and wipe it off. The stain helps bring out the sanded wood, essentially staining it again. It also adds depth and a little shine to the piece while giving it a layer of protection.

I really love how she turned out! Once again, I wish I had a bigger house, because I'd keep this one! Alas, it is moving on to greener pastures.