New Life for 2 Sad Dining Chairs...

These lovely ladies had seen better days...missing their seats, lots of scratches & scuffs...

Nothing a hand sander and a little upholstered bench seat can't fix! First, I made the scratches and scuffs appear to be on purpose (by adding more of course!) and attached a rectangular piece of plywood covered with a graphic black and cream floral. I also added a burlap pillow with a large red felt flower pin. So many possibilities with these....what a cool project! I had planned to cover the seat with burlap and do a floral pillow, but changed my mind at the last. Glad I did!

I think I will be making more benches.....sorry Dad!

(Fresh) Trash 2 Treasure

First, the maple side table....a dumpster find....! Please note, I did not actually climb in the dumpster, the tables were sitting beside it. & A friend was kind enough to point them out to me :) ! I simply sanded the tables, painted a cream color, distressed some more, and wiped an ebony stain on top! 2 Free tables....check! They are going to the school auction later this month!

And now the ugly 80's mauve lamps. Same dumpster, well just beside it. First, as you can see in picture #1 above, I sanded the lamps. I then painted them white, too boring. I then wiped an ebony stain on top of the paint, to weird. Hmmmmmm.....decoupage will cover up all my mistakes!!! I used an old dictionary purchased at the Habitat Restore for $0.50. (knew it would come in handy!) Funky shades with black and khaki stripes, perfect match. Still think the shades need a great big colorful fabric flower? What do you think???? Lamps are also headed to the auction, sure hope they find a home!

Another auction quilt down & 1 TO GO....

So I have not posted in a while....busy quilting, refinishing furniture, and taking care of a sick child and a husband that just had surgery. (not in that order) Child is better, husband is on the mend.

But finally! The three year old class quilt is finished! The silhouettes turned out great and were super easy! Here are the steps:

1. Take a profile picture, against a white or light colored wall
2. Print the picture using black & white ink (draft mode on your printer)
3. Iron heavy duty wonder under (or similar product) to a piece of fabric large enough to hold picture.
4. Using a glue stick or double sided tape attach picture to the paper side of wonder under
5. SLOWLY cut around the picture...you are cutting through the paper, wonder under, and fabric
6. Peel off paper (picture) and wonder under. You should be left with a profile silhouette, fabric on one side, and shiny sticky material on the other
7. Place fabric shiny side down onto the bask fabric and iron! DONE!
8. Do not try to sew through the finished product...it doesn't work, trust me ;)

More School Quilts for Auction!

Another quilt is almost complete! This is the 2 year old class quilt. I think the flowers look like lollipops, but my children assure me they look like flowers! Do you think they need leaves? I am also going to add a bird to the tree...should have done that before I added the back!

Bringing a drawing to life!

Three days in the house with my sick little guy! We found this fun idea in a Martha Stewart Good Things for Kids Craft booklet (the kind that are available at the grocery store checkout!). My son drew his "creature" on a regular sheet of paper. I then cut around the picture leaving a 1/4 inch seam allowance. He chose his fabric and buttons from my stash & we put the hole thing together! Just needs some stuffing & we are done! Something fun to do on a cold, yucky day!

Pillowcase Dress Tutorial ~ Doll Size

I have been working on a girl's pillowcase dress with a matching doll dress. I have looked everywhere for a tutorial on making a pillowcase dress for a doll. I was unable to find anything! So here is what I did...I folded a regular 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper in half lengthwise and trimmed a corner for a sleeve. I then cut two pieces from this pattern. I then followed a regular pillowcase dress pattern. Free patterns are available everywhere!

See the pictures below for the final dress & doll dress! Both are up for grabs in my ESTY shop!

Tote Bag made from an old T-Shirt

I have seen this done before & even found a few tutorials. All of the instructions I found online made a SIMPLE, 5 minute project , WAY to complicated. Most of my friends know I like quick, easy projects....that I can do in a day (or 10 minutes, really). I have no patience & can not wait to see the end result!

So here goes...

1. Find an old t-shirt
2. Cut off the sleeves
3. Cut around the neckline, a few inches from the collar (see pics)
4. Turn the entire thing inside out (or outside in if you are that kinda person)
5. Stitch 3 rows of straight stitched across the bottom, back stitching at each end
6. Stitch a row of zigzag stitches for extra stability
7. Turn right side out & YOU ARE DONE!