“Just lean into it” my sister told me as we set out to tackle Nate Berkus week for our O You Boot Camp. I’m leaning but nothing seems to be happening. Clearly if this was a competition, my older sister would win this week. She is rocking it! Editing rooms left an right. She even has a bag of “neutral” dog toys to donate. Seriously. Apparently her dogs have no real attachment to them.

So today’s personal challenge was all about making throw pillows out of napkins. I have to say my sister was amazing! You see…I don’t sew. When I was a young kid my mom got me one of those little toy sewing machines. Yes, a TOY sewing machine. It didn’t go well. Within the first few uses I had successfully put the needle through my index finger. Yeah…not a sewer. I still can’t believe they sold them as toys. Today I remain totally intimidated and freaked out by sewing machines.

However, I was able to help a little. We had decided to go with standard pillows as our throw pillow inserts. They would have to be cut down and sewn closed but they were on sale at Target for only $2.50…much cheaper than normal pillow inserts. I trimmed off the edges of the pillows (my big job) and gave positive support while my sister took to the machine. She is so brave. Each pillow had a small section that we were cutting away and secretly I prayed we’d have enough to make a dog bed. Yeah…that didn’t happen. When we sewed up the newly trimmed pillow it was a little too short. So, we had to use the excess for the original pillows. So long, dog bed.

My job was over pretty quickly and soon I was the creepy sister staring at her older sister. With Nate in mind, it was time to do some editing. At first I felt like I was just moving everything around from place to place trying to find a new fit. I wanted to pull everything out of the room and start fresh, but honestly with only an hour until dinner was to be made, it just wasn’t practical. So I ended up doing more cleaning than editing. Kids stuff goes to kids room. Things left out were put back in their place. I did however manage to edit out a few things…things I will never miss. Sadly, the bag was smaller than my sister’s dog toy donations. Yet, I am still patting myself on the back because I know that every little bit counts.

At the end of the day, we ended up with some pretty awesome throw pillows. The best part….not only did we end up with pillows that matched the sofa perfectly, but we were able to find the perfect napkins on sale at Kohl’s. Each pillow only cost us around $6. A TOTAL bargain! NOW…I want a dog bed. Who knows? By the end of the week, I may have to sew it myself. Oh please…who am I kidding!