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

Coming in 2010

So - we've moved and settled into our rental house. It has been a lot of fun making this house into a home. In lieu of all the projects that have been taking up my time, some trips planned and the normal holiday season business, I am taking a blogging hiatus here until the new year.

See you in January with plenty of pictures of thrifty ways to spruce up your new digs!

A Friend's Nursery - ooh la la!

Oooh - pretty baby stuff. Who can resist?! Here is my latest sewing project. I know many of the blogs I read and a lot of what I've been doing right now focuses home decor and thrifty decorating and reusing of old items. However - one of my loves is sewing! Last year I spent a lot of time sewing and selling on Etsy... but it began to feel like a chore and let's face it - the dollar per hour is not too alluring in the sewing business. So, now I have been enjoying projects that present themselves with no stress or payment involved.

The latest project is one I mentioned here. This delightful fabric choice by my friend is for her upcoming (soon!) arrival's nursery. I made the bed skirt, bumper, basket liners and valences for her. It was a lot of fun and turned out super cute! So - the finished project... ta da!

Here are the little baskets packed with her goodies for the shower.

I couldn't resist this picture - check out the homemade cupcakes...they were scrumptious if I do say so myself and coordinated with the bedding!

Chocolate with mint buttercream icing and pumpkin with cinnamon cream cheese icing were both topped with little mod-podged owls from her fabric on sticks trimmed with coordinating ribbon. Fun stuff!

This is her finished crib - lovely! I love the colors with the dark wood - I think she did an awesome job picking out the fabric!

DIY Tie-Dye Shirts!

This past weekend we attended a "Celebration of Cultures" festival - and there was a booth there selling tie-dye t-shirts. My five your old son was drawn to them and really wanted one. I - of course - told him... "we don't need to buy a tie-dye we can make our own". Some days I should think before I say that phrase. However, the next day my husband actually went and bought the supplies (two t-shirts and a tie-dye kit) and supervised the activity and they turned out great. Anyone who hasn't done this for awhile... give it a whirl with your kids! It's a lot of fun, they get to plan, be creative and then be surprised the next day when they see their finished product. Plus, the kit comes with plenty of dye... you could actually do some bandanas, napkins, an apron, a table cloth... the possibilities are endless! We stuck to t-shirts though. ;)

The KIT

Clothing optional during the process

Gloves not optional - this dye is serious business

The kids picked different banding techniques - but each turned out cool
Such concentration...
And yes, this is my daughter modeling her finished product in all her glory. No idea why goggles were necessary here - but hey - I'm liking it. You can also catch a glimpse of my son off to the side... but he isn't wearing his goggles so I couldn't let him in the photo.

Linking up to DIY day at Kimba's!! :)

Transitioning to Fall

It's that time of year - the air is getting crisper and pumpkins are showing up everywhere! I love it. Spring is usually my favorite - but fall is a close second. My projects have been minimal lately unless it involves cleaning out a closet or toy chest because we've just put our house on the market. However, I did make time to do a fun fall table scape on our dining room table and add a touch of fall to our front porch. And being as broke thrifty as I am... I think all supplies were found at Walmart (I know, I cringe a little too but you do what you have to do) and they worked great!

So - our table looked like this a lot of the summer...


And is now transformed to this:


I used a mixture of real and plastic pumpkins and squash... the leaves were actually cut off a strand of leaf garland that I had from a long time ago. The brown charger that they are all sitting on was like $2 on clearance... cheap project but it gives the table a fun look for visitors.


The other area that had a little metamorphosis is our front porch. The summer re-do had it looking like this:
The addition of a fall bouquet from above mentioned super-cheapo store added a fall "pop" that I love to come home to!

The little nest and eggs in the bowl were actually free. The kids found the nest in the front yard... and the little eggs are small wooden ones from my daughter's play kitchen (which is currently in storage as part of our de-cluttering attempt while our house is on the market). So - voila, there you have it. Quick, inexpensive and minimal... but it does feel a bit more like fall now!

Check out tons of cool ideas at BNOTP!

A Fun Family Craft - Family Flags!

This post is brought to you by my five year old son. He has an imagination and a sense of creativity that I like to think I have something to do with...although his Daddy is no dummy...so who knows where he actually gets it. Anyway - he asked me to take him to Michael's last weekend. He had a list of what he needed - below is the list. It turns out it was all just different colors of felt, but he had it very well planned out and even though he's just now in Kindergarten and learning to read - he wrote the first and last letter of each color so that he'd remember what he wanted. I thought that was pretty resourceful!
So, here it is part way through the project. There was a lot of planning, cutting and gluing going on. He worked for at least an hour (which, you know, in kids years is like 4 hours).


Have I mentioned I got him his own hot glue gun for his birthday last year. Sniff - my little boy makes me so proud. ;) Look at him wielding that dangerous tool. (BTW - Steelers jammies made by yours truly).

Here's the finished product! It is a Team T family flag. He planned it out with one T in the corner for each family member. The middle is a tiger - his current favorite animal. Not too shabby, huh? He plans to take it up and hang it at our summer get-away in Pennsylvania next year where the "T" side of our family gathers. I love it.

AND - this is one that my three year old and I made together. She - of course - had to pick out some felt too when her brother was doing his shopping. She's not quite as skilled with the hot glue and scissors as her brother (yet) - so she did the planning and I did the cutting for her. She did most of the placement and gluing though. Pretty cool, huh? I'm sure any of you who have young kids recognize this guy.

All in all a fun and successful family craft time that didn't end in tears or cost a lot of money... can't ask for much more than that. I can also see doing these with a theme for holidays, etc.