Getting Back in the Swing - To Do List

I thought that maybe if I documented an actual to do list I might actually get something done. Being 5 months pregnant does slow me down, but not enough to not want to work on some home projects. And now that I am finished with grad school I technically should have some extra time on my hands...the more you have the more you use for other things though, right? My list is as follows, not in order of priority:

1. Follow through with blog redesign
2. Investigate blog alternatives - is Blogger being eliminated?
3. Design and work on baby brothers room: paint, fabric for bedding, window treatment, art
4. Finish updating Master bedroom with new bedding
5. Acquire a new dresser for Clarissa's room
6. Post pics of Clarissa's room
7. Work on foam and webbing to reinforce seats on kitchen parsons chairs
8. Reupholster/slipcover kitchen chairs - need 9 yards of fabric
9. Paint and reupholster craigslist chair that is sitting in living room
10. Choose fabric for living room pillows
11. Purchase roller shades for all bedrooms

NYAH Blog Re-Design

I know, I know. It has been over 6 months since my last post. Life has been a little hectic. Now that I've caught up on some winter zzz's I'm ready to come back to show you what I've been working on...but first I think a drastic change is in order. I'd like to re-design this blog and I need a little help. Can you help me decide on a color palette? I've come up with 6 for you to choose from, one for each month I've left you in suspense ;-). Use the poll buttons on the right to cast your vote!

Lattice - Not Just For Your Garden

Last week, I shared my table makeover with you. It was a lot of hard work, but I will admit that I admire it daily. I envisioned patterned parsons chairs around it. I tried to find an inspiration photo to share, but really I was just inspired by me. I love the lattice pattern that we are all seeing everywhere. So I found these chairs on craigslist for a mere $125 for six. What? Yes. They are not top quality, but for the amount of sitting around a dining table we do, they are perfect. They were a little dirty. I scrubbed and steamed them and was able to get most of the stains out. This picture was taken right after I steamed them, so they look a little wet.

I looked at both Michaels and A.C. Moore for a big lattice stencil and came up empty handed. Why in the world is there NOT a Hobby Lobby in the D.C.area??? I found this one on their website and got 40% off with a coupon. With shipping, it was about $16.

 

 I trimmed the stencil a little so it is slightly wider than the chair back and seat. I centered it and pinned it tightly with quilting pins.I also taped it down. This is a thick stencil. It almost would have been better if I had a thinner one.

 

 

I bought a fabric medium and mixed it with [my favorite] craft paint. I chose medium gray. Nothing fancy. You are supposed to mix equal parts, but the medium actually lightens it, so I only did about half of the medium.

 

I forgot to take an action shot of the "stippling", but I just used a stencil brush. It came out a little sloppier than I was hoping, but I think it looks pretty good.

Now the question remains. Do I do the whole chair or just the backs? Help me decide by taking the poll at the top right. Keep in mind I have six chairs to do!

A Table for Discussion

Did you miss me? I have been super busy being a mom, an employee, and a grad student. That hasn’t kept me from doing the things I love, it just prevented me from recording it.

I bought this oak table on craigslist about two years ago for $160. I remember the day. It was my birthday and my mother-in-law and I drove out to get it. I was really sick with allergies. I mean sick. I had gone to the doctor three times to ensure that I didn’t have the swine flu. It turns out that I am highly allergic to oak pollen...not oak tables.

So when I bought this table, I should have just gone with my gut instinct to strip it and refinish it. But, I didn’t. I painted it white. Although it looks pretty good here, it was chipping everywhere and the wood grain was actually starting to show through the paint. It just wasn’t what I wanted. 

What I really wanted was a big chunky dark brown, walnut-looking round pedestal table. Like this…

So a few weeks ago, I made a huge decision. I was so afraid to use stripper, but I found this somewhat safe stripping gel. It says you can use it inside, but I used it outside. If you decide to do this, make sure you put it on thick. The areas where I unintentionally painted it on thin were much more difficult to work with.

It took two rounds of the stripper to get 99% of the paint off. The other 1% chose to sit down in the grain of the wood. I sanded it, but there were still a few tiny areas that just wouldn’t budge. I’m sure you wouldn’t even notice it, but trust me, I know every inch of this table!

I bought the darkest stain possible, ebony, thinking my table would be, well, black. Ha. To my surprise, the stain just wasn’t getting as dark as I wanted. And the actual wood grain of one side of the table did not match the other. I wish I would have just skipped the oil-based stain all together. Holy stinky!

Don’t worry, I turned to my old standby, craft paint. Oh, what would I do without craft paint? I mixed the darkest brown I had with a little water and started to brush it on in the direction of the wood grain. I used long strokes. To my surprise, it started to look really awesome. And even with three layers, I could still see the wood grain, which was even better. 

When it was all dry, I applied two coats of semi-gloss polyacrylic and voila! I think it turned out great. 

My dining area is currently forgoing a makeover which may [probably] involve craft paint. There’s more to come, I promise!

Meant to Be?

I was on Overstock this morning looking at small round rugs for my dining area. Ya know how places make recommendations for you now because they are tracking your every move? Well, this came up in the "May we also suggest" column.

I'm thinking Overstock knows me pretty well. What do you think?

Seeing Spots

I doodle, a lot. So when I discovered Spoonflower a few months ago, a place where you can design your own fabric, I was all about putting my doodles to work. I have these famous doodles where I just keep drawing dots. Dots, dots, and more dots. Translating dots into a fabric design was interesting. I never did upload the final images to Spoonflower. This was the initial color palette and design:

And the final design that I envisioned upholstering a funky chair with:

 

Well, the dream of becoming a famous fabric designer has since dissipated. The fabric world has enought Heathers. (Maybe next year.) My love of dots however hasn't. I was semi-inspired by my one of my favorite blogs Young House Love's temporary art for this project. I wanted to add some color in my living room and some art. I really tried finding something on Etsy, but I just couldn't find a series of art that I really liked. And isn't it so much cooler to have original, one-of-a-kind art? No one in the world has it? I love that.

I started with 11 X 15 canvases that I got at A.C. Moore. They were having a 50% off sale on the econo-packs, so I got three 2-packs for $12 (a total of 6 canvases). Can you beat that? 

I really didn't know what I was going to do with them, but I thought I would start by taping them off with a two inch border.

  

Then I just started filling in the rectangle with acrylic craft paint. I thought I had a really great color scheme going, but then decided to paint over top of a few. I finally came up with something that I was pretty happy with though.

After they were all painted I just started painting dots. I tried to come up with six different shapes or designs so that they wouldn't be too similar. I painted the dots with a pearly white paint called platinum.

Sphere

Bubbles

Star

Wave

Cube

Cornered

For once, I'm completely satisfied. Maybe because I have years of experience drawing dots, not paying attention, day dreaming...etc. And by the way, the dots are totally random and took no time. I bet you could do it, too. Look what Clarissa did...

Who Needs Pottery Barn Kids? Not me!

I've neglected posting Clarissa's final pillow long enough. It has been finished for a week. I've just been waiting for a sunny day to take a photo of it. I'm still relying on my iPhone and its just not acceptable to me! But until I can get one of those fancy shmancy DSLRs it will have to do. It's a shame the world has come to this. My manual SLR was all the rage back in the day. Although I'm embarrassed to say that I've never taken a single color photo with it - only black and white film. Well, anyway. On to the meat...

I decided to use a king size pillow rather than a body pillow. Although it is the perfect size, this pillow is so plump that I'm not sure I'm getting the desired outcome, but we'll see what you guys think.


I added some pink trim to the edges. Remember the back of Clarissa's quilt? The pink flat sheet? Well I had some significant scraps left over.

All I did was cut strips, fold them in half, and then pinned them to the right side of the pillow. (I didn't have any cord to cover for piping like in the window seat covers, but I think this came out just as nice.)

I sewed the folded strips the right side of the pillow. Then I pinned the right sides of the pillow case together, following the trim stitch while sewing.

Don't forget to leave an opening so you can put your pillow inside if you are going to do this. Then hand stitch close. The corners were kind of tricky, because I would normally cover cord and make piping. But I think they look ok...as long as all four corners look the same, you can do whatever you want, right?

I'm very happy with how the trim came out. And I will say I did not have any hiccups with this project. Knocking on wood right now! Let's just hope my letters stay put. Here is Clarissa's finished pillow. I think it goes with the quilt nicely.

I would love to give you a better picture, but I don't want to take any "detailed" pics of Clarissa's room until she gets a new bed.  I really want to get her a Jenny Lind (spindle) bed and am having little luck finding one. Saturday the "Michelles" and I ventured out to the Old Lucketts Store. There was a very inexpensive bed there that resembled a spindle bed and it was only $85. Kicking myself now for not purchasing it.  We did get to meet Miss Mustard Seed, writer of my newest blog obsession. She was so nice and was happy to answer all of our chalk paint-related questions. She even mentions meeting us at the end of her recent post. To me, she is oh so inspiring...thus the fire lit under my butt to post Clarissa's finished pillow. ;-)