I hope you all had a wonderful holiday.

Personally, I refuse to believe that Christmas is o.v.e.r.

so the tree is still up, my Jack Frost peppermint candles are burning, and

"White Christmas" can still be heard around here.

(We have yet to see snow in my part of New York
so I'm just dreaming of a white winter at this point.)

I've missed you all so and won't even begin to tell you everything I've been up to.

Two words come to mind though:

A LOT.

And, sometimes we just need to close the Macbook screen and...do.

As with many of you,

I scurried to finish projects in time for house guests

and made wonderful Christmas memories with my three babies.

A little over a week ago,
we were shaken with some sudden scary stuff with my little Grey.

(Because he is so young and for the sake of his privacy, 

I won't say much, but I'd appreciate any healing prayers you send his way.)

Here are some projects that are in the hopper to share soon.

Kitchen cabinet and counter top makeovers with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint...
I did.
And I love them.


Chalkboard Metal Chairs...
He's a 10-week old Seal-Lynx Point Himalayan ball of fluff.
Although you can't tell in the photo, he has dark, gray black ears.


Ballerina Tutu Bow Holders...
I made three different ballerina bow holders for Edyn and two of my neices,
inspired by one that my sister purchased on Etsy.

I also sewed a simple slip white denim cover for an ottoman, cleaned two closets,
and painted my kitchen walls.

 I didn't finish everything on my list, but I'm satisfied with what I did accomplish.
I can just nudge the other things into 2012.

Speaking of 2012,
I'm wishing you the happiest new year!
Thank you for all of the blessings you brought my way in 2011.

2011 was a cool year of little dreams, learning, growth, and introspection,

and I'm looking forward to the change in 2012.

I'll spend the next couple of days in hyper-organization mode,
making schedules and lists for everything under the sun,
(and catching up on laundry and ironing).

Do you hyper-organize before the start of a new year
so that you start with a fresh slate?
 
Well, that's the scoop around here.

Here's the scoop on a couple of favorites from the last party.

I know it's after Christmas, but these Merry Monsters made by Rinni's Playground
were too darn cute not to share...


I love Amy at Maison Decor's Shabby Chic Fabric Sample Art.
Laundry, clothespins and wire are a girl's best friend.

Happy 2012, laundry lovelies!

Happy Thursday.
 

That's how I spent my morning...

searching for a Himalayan kitten as a Christmas gift for our family.

Perhaps a kitten will be joining us soon.

On a more productive note,

I finished up most of my holiday shopping and finally finished decorating my tree.

I couldn't resist and went with the nostalgic look straight out of 1975 and I LOVE it.

(Doesn't match a single thing in my home, but then again, this isn't the North Pole.)

I'll share a photo this weekend.

Now for the cuteness you actually came to see

(unless you consider kitten fur a textile):

Jen at Scissors and Spatulas shared some pretty ruffled Christmas trees.

The Homeless Finch shared the cutest upcycled sweater wine bags.

Hailey Marie at Coastal Heart, Country Soul. 

shared her crafty Gypsy Ruffle Curtains...among other things.

Meg and Mum's shared these awesome chair and desk makeovers

(love the coordinating fabric lining in the drawers)!

Got burlap? Check out this burlap Pinspiration from Stylish Settings.

Tracy at Screaming Sardine shared this cute little Cardboard Tree tutorial.

Have a wonderful and creative weekend.
Thanks for linking or looking!

Textile Party Rules

1. Please link up TEXTILE projects and inspiration only.
(As long at is uses a fabric in some way, it's linkable.)
 2. Please link to your actual post, not to your blog in general.
3. As a common courtesy, I'd love it if you linked back with a text link or my button.

<a href="http://www.freckledlaundry.com"><img src="http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa176/JamiClune/NewPartyButton.png" alt="freckled laundry" width="125" height="125" /></a><br />

Not too long ago,

I shared Edyn's painted half of the twins' room,

painted in Dutch Boy's "Rosehips White," a very pale pink.

The left wall was stenciled with Cutting Edge Stencil's "Polka Dot."

Dutch Boy's "Eco Gray" arrived on my doorstep

and I got to work on Grey's half last night and finished today.

It is such a gorgeous gray...nearly identical to the gray in my bedroom.
In fact, I have another gallon of it that might find it's way onto our family room walls.

The photos seem a little darker than room actually is,
despite adjusting my shutter speed so I apologize.
{I'm still learning my way through a DSLR.}

Here is a shot of both sides together.

I originally painted above the molding and the ceiling white
but decided to carry over the gray.

Edyn's duvet cover is white (and her soon-to-be-installed canopy)

so I wanted to have some gray on her side too.

And, if you're a rule follower, it now follows the 60:30:10 rule...

in a roundabout way.

Santa's bringing Edyn a white ruched duvet for Christmas

that he ordered from PB Teen when he scored free shipping on Thanksgiving.

I thought about making it myself but the thought of adding one more project

to my list, made me shudder.

After all, I have 7 days to build a dollhouse,

finish painting kitchen cabinets, counter tops and walls,

and paint the family room...

when I'm not attending Christmas festivities, baking, and crafting with the kidletts.

(I want to paint my office too, but that's a little ambitious.)

Look what I found while I was searching PB Teen for the link to the duvet cover.

I want to DIY three of these for my family room after the holidays.

$159 each is a tad much.

Anyhow,

I'll share more photos of the room as I make progress.

• Although they are boy/girl twins, I didn't want to go with unisex colors

(i.e. mint & chocolate, etc.) because they are not unisex. 

Edyn is very much a frilly little girl and Grey is all boy.

• I wanted a distinct look between the two sides with a palette that still works together.

• Edyn's half will be very etherial with whispy, dreamy whites, silver, crystal, 

and an overall pale palette.

• To make up for the etherial nature of Edyn's side, Grey's side will be quite masculine

with an industrial influence, and a palette of shades of gray, white, and black. Grey's "silver" will come in the form of galvanized steel vs. Edyn's silver leafing. I plan to make a headboard out of either chalk cloth (padded) or chalkboard painted planks that will keep things a little juvenile.  I think I'll write the lyrics to one of our favorite songs or draw a little picture on it. 

Not sure yet.

Dutch Boy is a DIY Club sponsor,

so as a resident blogger for the club,

I'm sharing more photos and details over there.

While you're there,
don't forget that the 12 Days of Holiday DIY party is going on.
You can still link up to each of the parties
and enter ANY holiday project in the multi-color.
(Thank you so much to those of you that have entered my silver party!)

And, thank you for entering my Comfort Works giveaway

for a $120 to spend in their workroom.

The winner is Jessie at A Cozy Cottage in the City.

Congratulations, Jessie!

Happy Holidays.
Off to make some gingerbread play-dough with my sister and our children.

I wanted to keep my holiday mantel simple and sweet this year.

Shocking. I know.

I love my existing decor and wasn't tired of it yet

(What's up with that?!)

so rather than redo it entirely, I decided to add to it.

I created some giant, over-sized letters using Styrofoam,

muslin ruffles, and charcoal wool yarn
that I've been drooling over at JoAnn for at least a year.

(I don't knit or crochet so until now, buying it would have just added to my hoarding case!)

 What I wouldn't give for an afghan made out of that heavenly skein.

I know letter and typography tutorials aren't in short supply in Blogville,

but head over to

where I'm sharing the tutorial on how to make them using Styrofoam sheets.

Also...

Today is the LAST DAY to enter my Comfort Works giveaway!

A handful have entered {thank you!}

so be sure to enter if you could use a pretty, new slipcover like mine...

Click the image above for giveaway details.

You may have already noticed...

My holiday posting schedule will be a little unpredictable.

I'm just lovin' on my three children, creating Christmas memories,

baking, seeing the sights, taking in Christmas festivals, plays, etc.

When I'm not doing that,

it's crunch time to finish up several home projects before the in-laws arrive

including finishing my tree,

which I'll share whenever I can find moments (or in my case, hours) to sit down and write.

I know you all understand but just wanted to mention it.

It isn't easy to slow down on the blog, when I love it so!

Thank you all.

Merry Christmas!

{Welcome, new sweets!}

Okay.

Seriously?

I sure hope you checked out last week's party

because I could have easily featured 50 projects tonight.

I loved it all.

After a rough week last week,

you all put me back in the Christmas spirit.

{Thank you.}

I'm just going to get started here...

Melissa at Shabby Love shared all sorts of awesome Christmas decor.

I especially love these little ruffled trees.

I think my jaw hit the floor when I saw this.

Catherine at Freddy & Petunia transformed a huge antique mirror

into a queen size bed head.

Check out that fabric & tufting.

Ooh la la.

Abby at Morning By Morning Productions

sweetened up a bath mat with black fabric paint and stencils.

After my jaw hit the floor with Catherine's headboard,

I went completely light's out after seeing Rosemary's (Ozma of Odds) angel cloth.

Prettiest laundry ever.

I made a yarn letter for my mantel yesterday

but now I'm wantin' to make this little fella

made by Kim at Made in a Day.

So sweet.

My at Space 46 added some burlap letters to wooden plaques.

Cute.

Katie at Raising Oranges has a bunch of pretty Christmas decor going on.

IF YOU DON'T SEW, her felt stockings, garland, and wreath embellishments

can be easily done with hot glue as well.

Here's her wreath, up close & personal.

DIY Home Sweet Home shared this smarty pants idea

for a reusable microfiber (or felt) DIY Duster attachment to the Swiffer dusters.

Janel at Hating Martha made a pretty, knock-off Anthropologie bag.

I love this pattern. (She shares links to the tutorials.)

Loved this little felt book cover made by Miss B.

at Let's Go Moerkabout.

These would make great gifts covering mini photo albums

or 2012 planners.

Cynthia at Simply Chic Treasures made a beautiful, 

ruffled muslin tree skirt using Miss Mustard Seed's tutorial for HGTV.com.

And, I'm going to stop there tonight.

As always, thank you so much for linking or looking.

I'll be back tomorrow or Saturday with my simple & sweet Christmas mantel.

(Still haven't gone beyond lights on the tree but I'm getting there!)

Happy Friday.

$120 will easily get you one of my triple tie slipcovers, among other things.

1. Please link up TEXTILE projects and inspiration only.
(As long at is uses a fabric in some way, it's linkable.)
 2. Please link to your actual post, not to your blog in general.
3. As a common courtesy, I'd love it if you linked back with a text link or my button.

<a href="http://www.freckledlaundry.com"><img src="http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa176/JamiClune/NewPartyButton.png" alt="freckled laundry" width="125" height="125" /></a><br />

A short while ago,

I was the lucky winner of a giveaway for Comfort Works,

an online workroom that creates custom slipcovers, curtains and sheers, 

quilt and duvet covers.

Their fabrics are a laundry lover's dream.

{I'll get into that in just a sec.}

Comfort Works specializes in custom made IKEA sofa slipcovers too,

namely, Karlanda, Ektorp, Kramfors, Klippan, Nikkala, Ekeskog, Lillberg, Tomelilla, Tylosand, Allerum, Kivik, Karlstad, Manstad, 

Mysinge, Nils, Jennylund, Henriksdal and Poang.

Unfortunately, my nearest IKEA is a four hour drive

{thus no IKEA sofas here!}

so I used my giveaway winnings for custom slipcovers

for two standard Ballard Designs Parsons chairs.

Rachel at Comfort Works asked what I had in mind

and she and her production team took it from there.

I wanted something pure white, simple, loose-fitting, and casual,

with ties down the back.

And that's exactly what I got.

I {LOVE} them!

Here's an up close and personal shot of the back...

I ordered them in the beautiful Gaia White cotton

and both the quality of the fabric and the sewing exceeded my expectations.

(The flawless seams put my first slipcover skills to shame; That's for sure.)

The Gaia White is a thick, durable, upholstery weight cotton.

Comfort Works also made a custom slipcover in Lino Brushed for my

Pottery Barn Caitlin Bench cushion
(I recently painted the base with Annie Sloan's "Pure White" Chalk Paint)...

...and surprised me with two coordinating cushion covers

made with the Lino Brushed linen on the front and Gaia White cotton on the reverse.

Fits like a glove.

The Lino Brushed is so pretty.

I told Rachel that I wanted a grayish, oatmeal linen and it is exactly that.

(It reminds me of antique, nubby, hemp linen.)

Comfort Works is giving away $120 USD store credit to one of you too.

You will be able to choose from any of their current products and fabrics, 

or work with Comfort Works to create your own DIY project,

So, if you want to ring in the New Year with some pretty new laundry,

here are the rules:

To enter, 

upload a photo of something in your home that you would like slipcovered

on the Comfort Works' Facebook fan page with the words "Cover me Comfort Works"

and a link back to this post.

It can be anything from a dinning chair to a footstool, 

cushions, laundry bag, bed head, table cloths, aprons, etc.

Once you have posted the picture on the Comfort Works' Facebook fan page,

leave a comment in the comments section of this post  

letting me know that you've done so

You can upload as many photos as you'd like.

Just leave a separate comment/funny story HERE for each.

I will choose a winner on December 13.

Good luck!