Kitchen Table Redo

I can finally say that I have completed our first project for our new home! I must say, I’m glad it is DONE. On the other hand, I did learn a few things.

1. Do not obsess over it being perfect. If you do this the project will NEVER be finished.

2. I don’t know how to use polyurethane. My first attempt looked HORRIBLE. streak lines everywhere and my table turned yellow. I consulted google and a professional painter, neither gave any wisdom that fixed my problem. So, I decided to sand the table down and basically start over. This obviously upset my husband. I was, after all, taking up valuable garage space storing this thing. This time I tried the spray clear coats, and after using 5 cans and two different kinds decided they would not give the kind of protection this table needs from my 3yr old and 19 month old. I finally went back to the polyurethane, but this time I used an old rag to apply it. I did several VERY THIN coats (these were on top of the coats from the spray sealers) an achieved a strong protective coat without streaks or too much yellowing.

Here is a before picture:

I started with a table I found at a nearby garage sale. Layers of primer, paint, spray sealer, and polyurethane later…

This is what it looks like now:

I sanded some of the edges and wanted to antique the grooves in the base and more of the edges, but my husband was itching to get it out of the garage so it will have to wait. Despite the pain of my first real furniture painting project, I am happy with the result. There will still be a next time, and I think/hope those go smoother.

 

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Ice Cream Social

Is it just me or has it been a hot summer? I mean really hot. I know it is supposed to be hot in summer, I just don’t remember it being this hot as a child. Do our kids notice how hot it is? Nonetheless, if we are going to be outside, we need something to help us cool off. Two words. Ice cream.

This is a board I created in Pinterest dedicated to an ice cream social, including my new cupcake toppers! How fun would this be??!! Feel free to check out my board, or plan your own ice cream social!!

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Free Printable Cupcake Toppers!

Okay, I know it has been a while since my last post, so I thought I would make it up to with some free printable cupcake toppers for the 4th of July! I hope you use them! As always, link to your pictures in the comment section!

Click here to download

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Party Inspiration

My oldest daughter’s 3rd birthday is in a month. I have none of the projects for it started, especially her present. I haven’t even bought any of the materials. I am not settled into the new house yet. I. Am. Freaking. Out. This, my friends, is what my train of thought has been today. So I decided to get my thoughts in order by compiling inspiration for her party and subjecting all of you to it. Hope you like it.

And here is an idea of the kitchen set my husband and I are going to build for her present.

We will see how much of the kitchen is completed by her birthday. She may only get a play sink for her present. Wish me luck!

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Roll-up Fabric Brush Holder

My mother-in-law is a very artistic woman. She once made a birthday card for my husband that was soo awesome I want to share it with you.

I LOVE this card. Anyway, my point in sharing this with you is that I wanted to make something for her to support her creativity. I decided to make a roll-up fabric brush holder. These can be used for art brushes, makeup brushes, pens, or really anything you can come up with! Here is how to do it:

You will need:

3 pieces of fabric (mine were 10″x11″, but you can customize the dimensions to meet your needs)                                ribbon                                                                                                                                                                                      1 piece of fusible interfacing 1/2 and inch shorter than the fabric all around

Step 1:  Choose which piece of fabric will be the lining of the pocket and follow the directions on your interfacing package to attach it to the fabric.

Step 2: Choose which fabric piece will be the pocket. I chose a contrasting fabric. Fold this fabric in half, wrong sides together, so that the longest side is still its full length (mine was 5″x11″). The side with the fold should be the top of the pocket. Pin it in place.

Step 3: Sew verticle lines to create the pockets as shown in the picture below. I backstitched at the top and bottom of each line to give more durability. Do not sew the sides of the pocket yet, unless you want to do an unecessary extra step ;) . Also, it helps to use a fabric pen/pencil to mark the pockets before you sew. I skipped this because I could not find my pencil. This step is what makes the project so versitile. You can make the pockets whatever size you want! I made varying sizes.

Step 4: Fold your ribbon right sides together and lay it on top of the last fabric piece, about halfway down. Then lay the fabric piece with the pocket on top right sides together. Line up the edges, pin in place, and sew along the edges-leaving a gap on one edge so you can turn it inside out.

Step 5: Turn it inside out, and iron flat. Tuck in the open edge so that it is flush with the seam. Pin it in place and sew along the top of the entire piece with about an 1/8″ seam allowance (as close to the edge as you can go). Then you are FINISHED!! It should look something like this:

You could also fold the top of the finished product down and iron it to make a flap to cover the brushes, or whatever else you put in there. I would also like to point out that I did not fold my ribbon right sides together, so my finished product has the matte side of the fabric showing. Oh well. I am happy with how it turned out. I hope you give this project a try and let me know how it turnes out!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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DIY Design

I am moving in 8 days. It feels so unreal that i am having trouble being motivated to finish packing. On the other hand, I am having no trouble daydreaming about decor ideas for every single space. Typical. Well, maybe if I unload some of my ideas on you I can focus on the important things. Here is a collage for some of my design inspiration.

Of course, this will be quite the task as I have maybe one of the items in this collage. One of my biggest design challenges is pillows. At least i think so. The pillows I like cost at least $20. That adds up fast when you see how many pillows are in my design collage. And if you are anything like me, you like to change out pillow designs frequently. This is a problem. However, I think I have found a good solution. I can change out my pillows for a fraction of the cost, without getting rid of or storing my current pillows! How? Envelope pillow covers!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a tutorial link for you! For those of you who prefer video tutorials or want add a bit more craftiness to your pillows, check out this video tutorial. As always, if you have any pictures to share, please link to them in the comments section!

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Clothespins…Jazzed Up!

Clothespins. With a paper design. While this is VERY unnecessary, it is so cute and fun to do. It is also the perfect craft if you have scrap pieces of paper your holding onto in hopes of finding a use for.

What you will need: [paper, Mod Podge (I use the matte finish), scissors, clothespins, and a foam brush]

Step 1: Trace the clothespins on the back side of the paper.

Step 2: Cut out the strips of paper and put them on the clothespins (without glue) to see if there is any excess paper. If there is, cut off the excess.

Step 3: Using the foam brush, apply Mod Podge to the back side of the paper (the side without the design), and attach it to the clothespin. Do this for every clothespin.

Step 4: Apply Mod Podge to the top of each papered clothespin as a clear coat to protect the paper.

That is it! It is a quick and easy craft that can be used in so many ways. You can attach magnets to the back for cute magnet clips, or you can even use them for their intended purpose and hang your clothes with them. I made a few, myself. Here is the finished product:

 

 

 

 

 

 

I enjoyed making these so much I think I will make some for magnets, and anything else I can find. However, the ones pictured above, I will be using for a clip art display for our girls’ artwork. This is a future project, as we are in the process of moving, and my husband has suspended all crafts until we are unpacked in our new home. This means it will likely be a few weeks until I can do a post on the clip art rail. In the mean time, I hope you enjoy these as much as I did. If you have any ideas on other ways to use these jazzed up clothespins, please post them! And as always, if you create some, I would love for you to link to your pictures in the comments section!

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Just in Time for Easter

Since Easter is around the corner, I thought I would share with you the most adorable Easter basket I have ever seen! Check out Moda Bake Shop‘s fabric Easter basket.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is so adorable and looks very easy to do. I think I am going to give it a try, although I plan to make a bowl or box instead of a basket. I will create a tutorial for you if I do it :)

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FREE Bookshelves!!!!!

I am probably overly excited about this post, but come on, FREE!! You all know how I love DIY projects, so I want to introduce you to my absolute favorite blog for DIY projects…ana-white.com! This woman has so many wonderful projects on her site, not to mention the fact that she has empowered so many women to feel confident in building things. I love her and I don’t even know her! Anyway, a dear friend of my husband and I was nice enough to give me some pallets for free! I immediately got to work on these awesome pallet shelves from Ana’s site! This is how they turned out:

I am so happy with them! As you can tell from the picture I am using them for bookshelves in the girls’ room. I just need to figure out what kind of finish to give them. I could stain them or paint them. I would keep them in their current “reclaimed” state if they were going in another part of the house, but since they will be in the girls’ room want to reduce the chances for splinters, etc. If you have any ideas, please leave a comment and let me know!!

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Fabric Envelopes

I love the idea of the cash envelope system, although my husband and I are bad about actually getting the cash out of the bank to begin with. Recently, however, I stumbled upon this fabric envelope tutorial from Sew, Mama, Sew! I thought this would be a great motivation for using the envelope system. After all, you have to put to use awesome fabric envelopes you made yourself!! I also loved how the fabric version looks just like a regular envelope. So I gave it a try and this is how it turned out…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course it is not perfect, but I am learning that perfection is not a good goal in life. It is unattainable, so why torture ourselves! I am very happy with the fabrics I chose.

While this is an easy project that can be done during nap time, I will warn you that you must be very precise with your measurements. It has to be a perfect square for the folds to line up correctly. I hope you give it a try, and let me know what you use it for! I would also love to see pictures if you can link to them in the comments section!!

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