faux fur pillow covers

One of the quickest & most surefire ways to update your decor each season is switching up your decorative pillows. And I love fall inspired pillow covers. But I always run into the problem of having expensive taste & an unwillingness to fork over much money at all, especially if I think I can make it myself.

This season, I found myself longing for these faux fur pillow covers from Pottery Barn.

However, the PB version is forty bucks a pop! Ouch.

So instead, I made some & I was able to make multiple pillow covers in different faux furs for the price of one Pottery Barn cover.

And with a little gumption & know-how, you can too!

1.
Buy some faux fur.

I found several different faux fur throws at TJ Maxx for $19 each.

 2.
Measure the pillows you are covering.

Mine were 18", which is a pretty common pillow size.

3.
Cut your fabric.

To do an envelope-style pillow cover, you will cut one front piece & two back pieces. If your pillow is 18" x 18", you can just use the numbers I used...they are in bold below.

For the front piece, add an inch to the measurements of your pillow (since mine was an 18" pillow, my front piece was 19" x 19"). This will give you a 1/2" seam allowance. For the back pieces, divide the pillow measurement by 2 & add 4" (so I did 18" divided by 2 = 9" plus 4" = 13". Thus my back pieces were 19" x 13"). These pieces will overlap in the back of the pillow case to give you a place to insert your pillow. To cut my pieces, I used a cutting mat, rotary cutter & clear acrylic quilting ruler. This was definitely a helpful piece of equipment to have. My fur was sort of stretchy & it would have been difficult to get a straight cut with scissors. But do whatever works best for you.

4.
Hem the back pieces.

To do this, fold over the fabric of one of the 19" sides about 3/4" & sew across with the longest stitch on your machine. I used a walking presser foot for all the sewing, which helped feed the material evenly & keep it from slipping.

5.
Sew the 3 pieces together.


Now it is time to pin the pieces together. Lay the front piece the "right" side facing up. Lay one back piece on top of this with the "wrong" side facing up & the hemmed 19" edge toward the center. Pin the fabric in place along the raw 19". Sew this with a 1/2" seam allowance. Do the same with the other back piece. This should give you one long piece of 19" wide fabric, hemmed on either end.

Fold the back pieces onto the front piece so the "right sides face each other. Pin along the unsewn edges. Sew with a 1/2" seam.


6.
Insert your pillow & enjoy!

my top ten halloween movies

We are down to the wire! Halloween is only days away. My candy bowl is filled to the brim & my dvd player is ready for some spooky action.

I will quickly preface this list by telling you what I like in my scary movies. I don't like anything that is overly gory or evil...I like a good scare & I like suspense, but movies like The Exorcism or Chainsaw Massacre are not for me. I like a movie that has an interesting plot, decent acting, consistent suspense and/or startling moments & an overall spooky or creepy vibe. This description in a review I read of The Awakening really nailed it on the head:

"Sometimes less really is more. There is a fine line to walk--especially with a ghost story--to achieve that spine-tingling, skin-crawling feeling, and that element can only be teased from the psyche with mystery, not in your face guts or a head being lopped off--that is shock value and gross out, which is perfectly fine for a slasher pic or a grind house movie, but not a good ghost story."

Also, I like Tim Burton. The end.

So without further ado, here is a list of my favorite scary flicks.

1. Casper

Girl meets ghost. Ghost falls in love with girl. Oh what a timeless story :) So I know this one isn't actually scary & it's a kids' movie, but it's a classic! Plus with the awesome party Kat throws in her haunted mansion, it's even more Halloween appropriate than your average ghost movie.

2. The Sixth Sense

A classic M Night Shayamalan movie, it's a twisty ghost story about a boy who can see dead people & a man who is trying to help him deal with these apparitions. And the Hubs says once you've seen it, you can't really enjoy it again because you know the ending. But I still love it. I think this was one of the first movies I saw that combined good storytelling, good acting, good filmmaking & a great plot twist.

3. The Haunting

A group of people brought together under false pretenses discover that this house is haunted...or maybe just evil. This is another I consider sort of a classic, but maybe that's just because I first saw it a long time ago. This movie used to seriously creep me out &, honestly, it still does if I watch it alone in the dark. Again, a  nice plot with a good twist at the end.

4. The Nightmare Before Christmas

The classic story of the Pumpkin King who longs for something that will fill the empty space in his heart. Ahhhh, Tim Burton. Where would we be without him. I seriously watch at least 3 or 4 Tim Burton movies each October. Side note: If you haven't heard the Nightmare Revisited soundtrack & you are a fan of this movie, you should really check it out.

5. The Awakening

Florence Cathcart, an expert on supernatural hoaxes, is called to figure out what is happening at a boarding school. But is this "haunting" really a hoax? This one is mostly pretty mild, but I really enjoyed the plot & the artistic element of this movie. I completely agree with the tag line on the movie poster...visually sumptuous and chilling.

6. The Woman in Black

A young lawyer travels to a remote village to settle a large estate. But his work is interrupted by strange events that seem to be linked to a vengeful ghost. Maybe I just really like the way Brits tell ghost stories, but The Woman in Black is right up my alley. Creepy, dreary, suspenseful...plus it's fun to see Harry Potter as an awkward lawyer.

7. Corpse Bride

On the eve of his arranged marriage, a clumsy young man accidentally marries a corpse bride. Definitely one of my favorite Tim Burton movies. The music, the animation, the fun! If you like Tim Burton, you'll love this one.

8. The Uninvited

After returning from a stint in a mental hospital, Anna has trouble adjusting back to normal life with a cruel stepmother, aloof father & a ghost haunting the house. This one is a remake of a japanese horror film. And though I'm sure the original was scarier (the japanese apparently know how to scare you out of your pants), I enjoyed the filmmaking, plot & acting. Creepy & well done. I always really like Emily Browning.

9. The Conjuring

This might be the scariest one on my list. It's also one of the newer movies. Based on the experiences of Ed & Lorraine Warren, a married couple who investigated paranormal activities. A well-made, totally scary movie.

10. The Haunting in Connecticut

Talk about a well-told ghost story! A boy suffering from cancer is starts seeing disturbing thing after his family moves into a house that used to be a mortuary. When someone asks me what my favorite scary movie is, I answer with this movie. I've seen it enough now that it no longer scares me as much as it used to, but I still appreciate the story & like the fact that it revolves so much around the characters.

Now tell me, what movies would you recommend to me?

xo, erinkay

a very good {october} book

One of my favorite October traditions is to read (almost exclusively) scary literature during the month of October. I've read some awesome Stephen King books (a special shout out to Pet Cemetery & The Shining), a fair amount of Edgar Allen Poe and a few other randoms.

This year, I started off October reading Summer of Night by Dan Simmons. And I tell you, I LOVED it. It was the perfect blend of creepiness, story-telling & nostalgia & I would highly recommend this book to anyone who isn't afraid to be afraid.

Hope you're having a very spooky October.

I Am Posting at the Request of My Good Friend, Megan Jean!

Tee hee. Megan Jean Whitlock posted on my facebook wall today and said I should really blog or something, which is funny because I was just thinking about doing just that yesterday! Anyway...

Life is wonderful! We are currently experiencing AUTUMN here in Pocatello, Idaho! Craziness! None of this skip-from-summer-right-to-winter-in-less-than-a-week's-time stuff! It's beautiful. The trees are mostly yellow now and every time I walk home from campus I can smell the leaves that have already fallen. But at the same time, it is so warm!

I am excited for caramel apples, the chemistry magic show, Halloween parties (this Saturday & next Friday!), carving pumpkins, scary movies & tomato tortellini soup. I am dressing up as Peter Pan! But I'm nervous that the sewing pattern I bought online won't get here by this Saturday... Cross your fingers that it will, because otherwise I'll probably have to just be a dead runner or something...

I'm going to run now, because I have to quiz Ryan on the muscles of the body & get ready for dinner. I will try to post more regularly :)

Love you Megan!

Love.