Chair Recover

I've been dyyyyyying to attack my parent's old dining room set they gave me a few months ago!

Planning to paint it (white I think!), but I couldn't look at the nasty '70ish material covering the seats one second longer!

I only got one chair semi-finished tonight so I'll still have to look at them awhile longer, but I am soooooo in love with this new redo!

Hopefully, you can tell the new one is the one on the left! If you're diggin the one on the right- wish you could see it in person- IIIICK!!!



NEW



Drop cloth cover, painted on nautical stripes using painter's tape and some navy paint I've had forever and use lots in my bedroom.

I'm thinking of painting some numbers over on the other side and putting the stripes in different areas on the other 5 chairs. Yep, I've got 5 more to go!


OLD



It's this nasty, icky, rough, weaved fabric that is probably older than me! Not fun to remove, took a lot of pulling with a flat head screw driver and pliers to get the rusty old nails out!

Linking up here:

NC Beaches Subway Art

I just got back from a trip to Wilmington with my family and my BFF (I wrote about my thrifting/shopping there here!)

Before I went, I made this sign for my BFF!

We usually hit up the NC coast, beaches and cities a bit inland around 2-3 times a year. She's much closer since she lives in Charlotte, but I still try to make it as much as I can even from far away Nashville!

I had a vision of this sign before I made it, and it surpassed my expectations!


Here it is:

And here's how I did it!


- 11x14 wood board from Home Depot
I got a huge board from Home Depot cut down into 6 11x14 pieces, plus a few small leftover pieced I kept for other projects! I can't remember what this board was called, but it was right by the MDF boards.

- Drilled small holes in the top to string jute (didn't take pics of this!)

- Sanded around holes to make them smooth

- Painted board White

Why are my fingers covered in paint? Oh I left out a step!

- Clean up the mess that happens when you shake a bucket of paint that has the LID ON LOOSE!!!

Have to say, I'm kinda glad that it was a cold day, and I painted inside! At least everything I spilled on was already white or almost white! It actually was trim paint that I used so I put it to use by touching up some spots in the house. Don't think the dishwasher needed that new coat though! Ha!

- Used Silhouette machine to print out beaches/cities onto vinyl, used "weld" tool to make each word one piece- makes it easier to transfer in my opinion! You could use stencils or lots of other things too!

- Applied vinyl letters to board.

I *could* have done this reverse, painted the board black and applied the white vinyl on top, but I wanted a more finished look.

- Spray painted flat black over the top, didn't want a glossy look for this project. Home Depot carries a basic flat or glossy black for $.99!

Yeah, that *blinding*white may be some leftover paint!

- Peeled off letters with tweezers.

I thought it would benefit me to work quickly before the paint dried, but turned out that the letters at the end were actually easier to get off because I didn't smear any paint. (easily wiped up where I did smear though!)

Oh yeah, these are my Revlon tweezers that I cannot live without for my eyebrow plucking!! I should get some ones I can get paint all over! I did give them a good scrubbing....when I went to pluck my eyebrows the next time!

Let's add some black paint on the hands to those leftover white flecks!

- String jute through holes, tie knots and hang!

I originally purchased sawtooth hangers to put on the back, but changed my mind. So glad I did because I love the look of the jute, and it was much easier! I was just gonna wing it and hope the sawtooth hangers would work on the thin piece of wood!

- Debate over actually delivering this to BFF cause I am in loooooove with it, but give in when I realize I can do it all over again!

- Take lots and lots of pics of it, outside and in!

It's safe to say I WILL be doing this again!

I have plans for a bigger black and white one using vacation spots for me and the hubby (it'll go on the wall next to those black and jute apothecary jars you see above!!), and another one with these same beaches for me, but blues, tans, and shabbied up which will match our guest room! At least thats the plans I have for now!

I'll be linking up here!

Baby Girl's Bow Holder

I've been meaning to make Baby Girl a bow holder for quite awhile now, but wasn't sure what I was going to do!

I've got so many projects to do on her room still (and she's almost 7 months old already!!), so I needed something super easy!

My mom bought me this hanging organizer/dry erase board awhile back from Ross' for $1.99.

(Imagine it without the blue ribbon here I forgot that first pic!)

You can't really tell from the picture but it was really cheaply made and wasn't going to work to really write on as a dry erase board. Plus, what does a baby need with one of those! But at under $2, I knew I'd come up with something!

The fabric is cute, but the board is just cardboard around the edges under the fabric and a thin floppy piece of shiny....I don't know what! Super thin papery whiteboard? It's no wonder it ended up on clearance! However the fabric matches her room really well.

I ran across this ladybud/flower cutout ribbon from the $1 bins at Michaels the other day. I bought it before Baby Girl was ever born and knew I'd have a use for it someday!

I literally just cut, and stapled it to the cardboard- which you could reach up under the fabric to get to.

Then I hung up all her bows and clips on the ribbon! Love the way it looks!

(I don't know why the pic makes it look like that 3rd one is crooked!)

Then, the bottom pocket was a little floppy and hung way down, while the top ones are separated. So I pinned it with a leftover rosette from Baby Girl's wreath.

I stuck one on the pockets above, just to match a little even though it didn't need it!

Yep, that headband on the right looks just like the fabric on the organizer!

The top pockets hold her headbands and the bottom has hats! (So teeny you can't really see them!)

I may make some more to put across the top of it just to fancy it up a bit, but this is on the back of her door so no one will really see it unless they go in her room and shut the door!

Slooooowly working through my list of Baby Girl Projects! Yep, I should have more done since she's almost 7 months, but understand I didn't start reading decor/crafting blogs until after she was born! Aaaand I took so long deciding on her theme, I didn't even start her room until a month and a half before she came!

Decorating for Fall with Heirloom White!

After seeing all the lovely projects the girls at Shanty2Chic have done using Rustoleum's Heirloom White Spray Paint. I just had to check it out for myself! I'm more of a bright white gal, but I thought that the softer Heirloom White would be a great touch to add to my fall decor!

I also purchased some Ralph Lauren Glaze (tinted in Smoke) from Home Depot, as the Shanty girl's suggest! (I also found that the Rustoleum spray paint is cheaper there than at Hobby Lobby- unless you have a coupon!- and Walmart)I had lots of fall decor that was ugly orange, yellow, brown and green. Well, ugly to me since I'm not a fan of traditional fall colors! They can be great in other people's houses- just not mine!

Here's some before pics of the stuff I painted with Heirloom White!

Cheapo looking plastic bowls

Silver candle sticks (don't worry- not real silver!)
Cute but not my style Autumn and Harvest signs

Candle lamp my mom gave me a few years ago

I also painted a ceramic plate that was really ugly orange and green, some beaded candle garland and some mini pumpkins that I did not take before pics of!

Here are the after pics!

Much less cheapo looking "candy" bowls filled with candy
that doesn't tempt us, but does tempt guests!
Autumn sign has some of the letters highlighted with Ralph Lauren Glaze.
(I'm still working on tweaking this space, not loving it yet.
I did have tea pots and teacups displayed here.)

 

Candle sticks and garland painted Heirloom White and brushed with glaze

Plate and candle lamp painted heirloom white, lamp brushed with glaze on the pop outs and trim.

Harvest sign painted Heirloom White and various letters and accents glazed,
mini orange pumpkins painted Heirloom White.

And here's a look at how it all came together in decorating our dining room area for fall!

Before:

After:



Funny that the tablecloth looks aqua! It's really about the same color as the walls!

One thing I love about the details here, is a lot of them have meaning-things that were already there or that are newly placed!

• The framed pictures are all pictures I took in NC- mostly Wilmington/Wrightsville beach area. One of my favorite places in the world!


• The shelf was made by my grandfather who passed away many years ago.


• The Joy sign was made by my sis-in-law and was our Christmas present last year from her and my bro.


• The pillar candles and starfish are from our wedding.


• The trifle bowl (with pinecones and real white pumpkin), china, and almost everything in the china hutch are wedding presents.


• The candle on the hutch behind the candy bowls is an antique find that is a replica of a candle holder at the restaurant from our hotel on our honeymoon in Costa Rica.


• The high chair shows off that we have a new addition in the family! Hehe!


• The acorns are memories from Baby Girl's first hike last week.


• The pumpkins are from Baby Girl's first trip to the pumpkin farm!

Here's some closer pics to show you those details! You can also click on any of the pics above for a better view!

 

 

 

 

 

The other touches I added were the jute around the blue pillar candles, the scrapbook paper and/or ribbon around the candles, the vase of wheat, and wheat stalk stuck in the napkin rings.  Basically the only things that I bought were the pumpkins and gourds (the gourds I got free at the grocery store since I had coupons that "made" me money!), the spray paint, and the glaze, but those were really bought for another project I'll show soon! My mom bought me the wheat at Publix, and it was only $2.99. I "shopped" my house for the ribbon, candles, scrapbook paper, and all the stuff I spray painted I've had for awhile.

This is definitely the happiest I've ever been with my fall decor! I am so happy that I discovered it is actually OK to not decorate in traditional fall colors! :)

I'm sharing my post at these parties! Visit the links below for more great fall decor ideas!