A fresh start

Sometimes it's fun to start fresh. That's what I'm doing and you can find my new creative ramblings and plans for my new business venture here:

www.projectanthologies.com

Please join me.

FOUR DOLLAR TABLE!

The title is in all caps because you have to shout it! I mean - $4?! C'mon. So, this was at the Goodwill and it was in very rough shape. But - after washing, sanding and re-screwing the legs a little - it was in just bad shape. An improvement. The problem was with the top of the table. It was laminate and was bubbled and crusty like someone had spilled acid on it years ago. ? Who knows. My solution? I used textured wallpaper and then painted and sealed it. Voila. It is very cool and unique - and STILL JUST COST $4.

My antiquing technique is coming along nicely. Check out my sexy legs!

The new shaggy rug also makes me smile - but that baby was a little more than four bucks so it doesn't get a blog post. ;)

Also showing this off at Diane's Second Time Around!

Silent Auction Class Quilt

Yeah, yeah... I haven't posted here in ages. I've actually done plenty o'projects but - haven't been good about taking photos and posting them. But, no worries - I haven't quit my day job.

So - my latest, biggest project has been this quilt that I made for my daughters pre-k silent auction. I took fabric squares and fabric paint into the class and each student painted a spring painting. The students are all 3- 4 years old. Just so you know. ;) At home I trimmed, pieced, added appliques, and sewed the quilt. Technically, I did not "quilt" it (the process of sewing through all layers in some sort of pattern throughout) - I binded (bound?) it and batted it - but I wanted it to be more of a snuggly, blanket type-thing. It measures about 3 x 4 ft. I think?

I hoping for big money at the auction this weekend. Not for me of course. For the children of GLDS. :)
My daughter's picture is the one in the top row, middle here. Yellow butterfly with red polka dots.These pictures don't do it justice. The flannel backing is beautiful and the lettering matches the front picture borders.

Linking to the DIY Day Party at A Soft Place to Land!

Men's Shirt Repurposed

My Monday Metamporphis is a men's shirt that I picked up last week at "The Goodwheel" (as my 6 year old calls it). It is a men's shirt, Calvin Klein, nice blue pin stripe. Worn just enough to be comfy - but totally free of any yuckiness. I almost raided my husband's closet to do this - but I was pretty sure that as soon as I did that - he'd ask for the shirt that I had re-made.

So - here are some before shots...



Laying - waiting for me to make it pretty.



I tried it on and marked the sides where I wanted to taper it. I still wanted it to hang on me and be long...but I did not want it big and boxy. The picture below shows a line that runs from about three quarters down the arm, under the arm and down the side - tapering in some at the waiste. I folded the shirt in half and marked the other side accordingly.

I was not too uptight about precision here because I knew it was still going to be loose and a bit oversized. A cm here or there is not going to show for this project.




The material that was cut off the sides became cute ruffles on the front. Ruffles are hot right now - you know that, right? :)

Voila. My new shirt (I had to edit off my head because I hadn't done my hair- yes, I'm that vain). I always wear my creations around my little sis soon after I finish them and see if she compliments them - if so, I know that it was a success! This one got a compliment. Yay!

Check out other way cooler projects!

Ottoman slipcovers!

I bought two of these little red ottomans at Target a few years ago. They've been great because they serve as a storage place for toys in the living room (the tops unzip) - and as ottomans. Well, they've been SO well-used that they had become very "well-used" looking.


Check out the close-up. GROSS.


So - I sewed little slip covers and they have another few years left in them! I could tell you all the parts I would do differently next time - but that may take away from their charm. ;) I will say I wish I had made the top portion a little bigger so that the covers would be easier to put on and off. But, they do work and look much nicer! Not to mention I was so sick of the red after having red couches and these red ottomans for a few year. Notice the black couch in the back? Used to be red. A post for another day. ;)

My cute little table

I came upon this old sewing table at the Goodwill right after we moved. I was pretty sure my husband would think I was insane if I came home with more furniture after we just finished moving into a smaller house and have a garage full of junk that doesn't have a place in said house. However, we really did need a place for our TV in the den (our other house had some built-in shelves that held this tv). Soooo - I grabbed this little dude for ten dollars. I brought it right home and cleaned it up, removed the HEAVY old sewing machine, and painted it my favorite black color. It was done before he even got home - and sat for quite I will before he noticed it. ;)

I ended up doing some sanding on the edges to "distress" it because I scraped it up putting the TV up on top of it. Our big, old (because I think 4 years is old for a tv these days) TV is even heavier than that old sewing machine was. This little table also got new brushed silver hardware that I had on hand. I, personally, LOVE this little table. The big, old TV... that's a different story. I'm envisioning a cute little flat screen up here... but one hasn't turned up at the Goodwill yet. ;)

I'm linking up to Creative Cats Friday @ Poppies at Play!

Who's the Leader of the Club?

Shortly after my son started saying he wanted a Star Wars bedroom (see yesterday's post), my 3 year old daughter informed me that she has "never liked pink and brown polka dots" and really wants a Mickey Mouse bedroom. Don't mind the fact that she has never actually expressed an interest in The Mouse - whatever. I humored her for awhile talking about how that "would be cool" and "maybe someday". Then - we moved. Once we moved I decided to go ahead and do some Mousey things to her room while not going overboard. I actually love how it turned out.

It started with this little headboard from The Goodwill - $5 - score.

I painted it white with some good ol' Krylon spray paint and then glued little red beads I had from an old necklace to it.

Ooh - an existing lamp that I just hot-glued some ridiculously expenisive very exquisite mouse ribbon on to!

The bedding is an expensive set of sheets from Wally mart and then a blanket cover made by yours truly. I went with red and turquoise fleece and LOVE the colorful result. I just sewed the two layers together much like a duvet cover with no duvet inside (she rarely uses covers anyway). The mouse ears are just a big flannel applique I made. I feel like it is totally mouse-i-fied without looking - ummm - cheesy?

I made the bed skirt by simply sewing a turquoise ribbon along a full-size white sheet that I had trimmed and hemmed to fit as a skirt for this twin size bed.

The last part that took a little work was making window treatment. I've mentioned before - this is a rental - so I'm not going to go buy all new blinds even though these leave plenty to be desired. However, fun polka dot valences go a long way (let's hope she DOES like red and white polka dots).

It was fun, done in a day, and has made my baby happy.

Linking to the famous ASPTL!

The Star Wars Bedroom

I decided several weeks ago that I wouldn't force myself to start posting on this blog until I was actually in the mood and felt that it would be fun and not a hassle. And today is the day. I'm not sure how often I'll post here... I do have dreams of being up there with the ranks of The Nestor, Kimba, Lindsay, Susan, Thrifty Decor Chick...and SO many others. But, with a full-time job, two little kids, a great husband that I like to hang out with - it's hard for me to do a niche blog very well right now. But, I can use it as a small motivator to me to stay creative and enjoy doing some projects. So, that's how it shall stay. For now. :)

Today I'm displaying a few photos of our son's new Star Wars themed bedroom. I don't have a full before/after type thing going on because we just moved in this house a few months ago and so the before room would just be an empty room.

The one "before" I can show is the dresser that was handed down to me from my great aunt. It was used for a couple years in our guest bedroom in it's antique glory - and then when our little boy was about 18 months old we painted it like this for his room in our new house:

It has now transitioned once again and here is the more "grown up" (if by grown up you mean 6 years old) version. This time it's painted especially for the Star Wars room!

The color is a very pretty light grey and soft black. The knobs really make the dresser! Thank you Ebay. Each knob is a different SW character. Below - yoda - my fave.

To go along with the dresser, we hung a black corner shelf to display some action figures:

And finally - my husband and I combined our talents to make this awesome Darth Vader headboard/wall decor for over his bed.

We would love to paint the walls and do it up a little more - but it's a rental house that we aren't sure how long we'll be in. The good news is that using his Star Wars toys and accessories, it has turned out very cool. I'll try to get a whole room shot soon (as in - when I get a new camera and aren't taking all of these on my blackberry). ;)

Thanks for stopping by. I'm linking up to the following:

It's So Very Cheri - Creative Party

and