Finally!

Eeek-a-licious!  Has it been that long since we posted??  We've been busy with our upcoming Block Party (join!) and with market coming this spring, Heather and I have been working our little hands as fast as we can trying to prepare.  I have a couple of sneak peeks to share today, hope it looks fun to you!

We moved this last summer and with moving comes new design opportunities (and challenges).  I love the excuse of getting to do something new, I guess that's a good part of moving.  I am making over my kitchen completely, and so far I love it!  Since we're in a rental, changing light fixtures, cabinetry and flooring isn't an option...but I am so happy that our new place is really nice and up to date, that helps a lot.

I've painted my table and chairs. L-O-V-E!  I have a problem with aqua, I have it everywhere.  I decided to paint the table a really soft blue and the chairs white.  I kinda adore it.  Only time will tell how it holds up, I hope it does okay though!!

And new window treatments.  I've obviously decided to go with aqua and red, and really if I'm going to be bold and cheery, the kitchen is the place to do it!  (Right??)  I've ended my two and a half year stand-off with the color red and have welcomed it back into my life with open arms! :)  I think we'll get along this time.

I've been considering adding a giant piece of red ric-rac along the bottom, what do you think?  I'm currently working on a clock for the space and soon a table runner and maybe a quilted wall hanging?  So I'm ambitious, but I'm hoping to fit things in here and there and get it all "done" in the next month or so.

And a sneak peek at some new projects:

This is all part of a new baby pattern that I'm finishing up writing and will be available in our shop soon.  It's not a quilt which is new for us, but I think it will be really fun and useful.  Just looking at all those happy baby fabrics makes me smile :)

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Make sure to check out my linky parties for other fun things, I'll be linking up!  And of course, make sure to share your own fabric project at Quilt Story.

No. I. Didn't.

We moved.  And had to leave behind our entertainment center.  And we wanted a new TV.  What's this a recipe for?  Compulsive refreshing on craig's list. 

(There are hundreds of posts of furniture in my area daily!!)

So I snatched this little gem up.  We wanted something that was tall so our boys couldn't get to the tv, check.  (The power button on this tv has been snapped off from repeated torture.)  We also wanted something with storage, check.  We wanted something sturdy, solid oak, check.  Oh and something that I could paint, check.  And cheap, check.

Afters many hours and extreme heat, I give you our new tv console:

(because console is way cooler than entertainment center)

Okay, I love it.  So much cleaner, fresh and happy than before and DEFINITELY better than the card table we were using.

Here's what I did.

I purchased everything at Lowe's.  (No I was not paid to say that, but desperately wish that I was!)

• removed doors and all hardware
• cleaned everything with soapy water and dried
• applied Klean-Strip Sander Deglosser, twice (left)
• one coat of Valspar Primer (latex)
• two coats of Valspar Glossy paint, color Du Jour (latex)
• attached new hardware
• hot glued in fabric
• adorned with extra large tv

oh, and I spray painted my hinges black!  I didn't want to mess with trying to find the right size.

Let's talk about this fabric.

Before the insert was embossed glass with designs...not my style and hard to cover.

I thought a lot about what I would use to cover those doors, and though initially I thought fabric, I kept it deep down for fear of being mocked for my dumb idea :) 

One magical night, soon after it had dried, I teasingly placed a piece of fabric over the empty space.

{insert heavenly choir}

Not only did I LOVE the look....but remotes work through fabric!!!

The long and short of it is, I cut a piece of fabric about 1 inch larger in width and height than the size of the hole.  I would squirt a section of hot glue with my left hand and follow with my right hand adhering the fabric.  In the end I went around and trimmed the excess fabric.  Eventually I'd like to get some trim or piping and glue it around the inside edge to give it a more finished look.

Originally the right side was intended for a tv.  We're using it for more storage.

These boxes are from Ikea.  They are made to fit about 15 dvds each, it is $5 for 2 boxes.

There you have it!  I have another painting project (kitchen table and chairs) and I've got all the stuff....but I need a painting hiatus.

I will definitely be linking this project up!  Make sure to check out these parties!

Glittery star fish decoration project!

I tagged along on my husband's business trip to San Francisco last week and while roaming the city alone, I came across this magnificent glittery star fish. It was $20, a little steep in my book, but it made me think of...

these pewterish starfish, shells, sand dollars I got last year at Target. I found them for half price so $8. I bought a set for part of my mother's day gift,, and one for me. I felt bad later and returned them. The next week I found them on the shelf for 80% off, so $4. And I rebought them! (and never regretted it) then I thougt of...

This glass cake stand with a doam that my mom found at Ross for me and knew I had to have it for $11...which made me think of...

my dear cohort, Spray Paint. White high gloss spray paint...and I went to town...isn't the underside detail pretty?

Put them together and what have you got???

Sparkly magical sea life decoration!

I added it to my armoire that you saw a few months ago...

remember this armoir cost me under $300 with little fixing upping and no painting!!! you can check out that before and after here...

Hope you like it!

I will be adding this post to some of these fun linky parties...

My Spring Mantle...

My spring mantle. And yes, it is barely spring here in Utah. Our winter just ended a week ago (cross your fingers for no more snow.)  I figure I can leave this mantle up for a couple more months and skip summer mantle all together! 

Anyhow, I have the rock wall behind my mantle. I feel like the accessories compete with it. I rather like all the white dishes against it, they stand out a lot. I filled the glass apothecary jars with eggs and twigs. I really like the colors, so I pulled from the egg colors for my other accessories.

I also love the cement bunny at the end. It was only $5.99 at Ross before Easter!

Found another cute ceramic teapot at Ross, $6. And my mom found that cute candle stick at TJMaxx, just had to buy it for me. (I love it when she has that urge!)

And another photo of fatty fat head on the spray painted ceramic cake stand. Makes me happy!

Going to link to some of these parties...

I'm Dreaming AND a reveal...

It's official.  I am moving 1,400 miles away.  Whoa.  I have 10 days.

I recently made over my bedroom...although there are a few things I'd like to still do with it.  So,

today I was dreaming of all the things I could add to my new room once we arrive in Arizona.  See, I'm moving from what could be compared to a really crappy place to a really nice place.  I've got hardwood floors throughout.  Which means a lot of rugs.  And I'm finally ready for my room to be DONE!

For starters, I'd like this vanity for my room.

Wouldn't I look adorable in that chair working on my blogs?  (I would.)

Then I'd like this chair to be sitting in an opposite corner:

That's where my husband would sit and look adorable reading medical books...zzzzzz...

And for our feet, I've been swooning over so many amazing rugs, this is what I want to be the last thing my feet touch before I snooze:

New rugs by Ms. Amy Butler...there were sooo many cute ones I just couldn't decide.

So you want to see what this all matches??

My Kinda Bedroom Reveal.

BEFORE:

This .jpg is titled shame.  This was at the start of my re-do.

PS Did I mention I did this in about 2 1/2 days??  I was crazy and decided to surprise my husband.  I started on Friday and he came home Sunday afternoon.

AFTER:

My fabric inspiration was Joel Dewberry's Deer Valley.

Call me a dumbo-head.  I have all these mirrored frames (to help with my accent color gray) and I didn't think about all the reflection possibilities.  I'm gonna work on that in my new place.

Imagine this:

• 
  
  slate gray duvet cover and matching shams behind my accent pillows
• 
  
  headboard raised a little
• 
  
  pieced quilt laid across the bottom with all my colors
• 
  
  an Amy Butler rug on my hardwood floors

that's the plan...

I showed in a tutorial here just exactly how I made those lamps.

And here I talked about re-making this memo board.

What did I do?

Here's the checklist:

spray painted headboard

stenciled and covered lamps

spray painted and stenciled memo board

spray painted a mirror and shadow box with my wedding bouquet inside (not pictured)

made 3 easy (no trim, just slip in the back) accent pillows

filled existing frames with photos

the pictures above the headboard are from our favorite vacation so far...the royal mile in Edinburgh Scotland on the left and Canterbury Cathedral in England on the right

Any tips?  Never share a half-finished project as a reveal in blog land.  It's in bad taste.  :)

PS We love to party, so check out our linky parties because we're linking up!

Cover that shade!

We've been MIA, once again.  Have you been to our QuiltStory blog?  We've been so excited, we've been working hard on it all week.  Whether you make quilts or just admire, go check them out.  And let me say, these aren't your grandma's quilts, these are vibrant darling quilts that I'd love to have in my own home!! 

my aplologies to grandma's and grandma quilt likers :)

Plus in the morning we'll be featuring my fabulous friend Sara and I'd love to see her get many comments!!

I've been meaning to post this for a bit.  My lovely friend Sara gave me her lamps when she moved.  ...this really isn't a before picture...see they used to be brass lamps and she made the first great leap by spray painting the bases.  I LOVE the color, so I decided I wanted to cover the lamp shades with new fabric, and here's how I did it.

Let me apologize for the awful photos.  With two babies, I do most my crafting at night, thus ugly pictures.

I really wanted to get a white based fabric with some maybe a little aqua design to cover the shades with.  Shockingly I was unable to find such a fabric at Walmart or the local quilt shop.  I decided to make my own by stenciling.  More on that in a minute.

1. Roll your shade along the wrong side of your fabric tracing the top and then the bottom with a pencil.

2.  Cut about 1/2 inch larger than your pencil line on the top and bottom.

This is how I made my own design.  Do you know about Freezer Paper? It's awesome and can be used in many ways.  It can be purchased at most grocery stores.  There is a paper and shiny side.

3. On the paper side trace your image and cut out.

4. IRON the shiny side to the right side of your fabric and sponge paint into the stencil!  You can make whatever image you want, and the paint won't bleed through the sides.  ALSO, you can reuse the stencils over and over, it irons on and peels off easy peasy.

 5. Trickiest part.  Using Aleene's Tacky Spray adhere the fabric to the shade.  It's sticky and this took some trial and error.

6. Hot glue your edges by folding into the shade.  Add a trim if you'd like!

Ta-da!

When I move to Arizona (we're counting down the days!) I'd like to find the perfect trim for the top and bottom.  I'm pleased how they turned out, definitely a statement!

From drab to fab

It is pretty rude of me to refer to this as "drab" considering my dear sister had made this for me.  However, she should be flattered because I love it and have had it in my room for several years!  I have changed my bedroom colors and the frame was in need of a paint job, so I decided to just re-do the whole thing.

My finished project!  I took it apart in the back and using a stencil I painted the Fleur De Lis onto plain white fabric.  Then I spray painted my frame, I believe the paint is called "Ocean Breeze".

It just looks so fresh and happy now!  As you can tell, I can't bare to place any memos on my memo board.  It just looks too pretty as is!

This was a small part of my bedroom makeover, which I will be sharing soon.  I went from creams, sages and blue to aqua, turquoise and white with some touches of gray and burnt orange.  It is so nice to finally do a little bit in my bedroom, it is always the last spot to get some love :)

Check out our linky parties button accross the top...see all the great places that we like to link up with as well as get fabulous ideas!! Hope you check them out soon!!

Mini Makeover REVEALED!

Emphasis on the mini.

You see, we're moving in a couple of months...and my baby has been sleeping in an office with a crib. I finally decided I wanted to make a few little things to make it his own room. When I was debating whether to do it in my head, I realized I decorate for Christmas, Valentines, and all these things that are just weeks, so I could definitely do this!

I started with the idea for artwork, three cars/trucks:

I decided to get canvas from Walmart...it was about $7 for all three, I painted around the border since my walls are already white, and mod podged the cars on. I used inspirations from Pottery Barn to create the cars and traced it onto scrapbook paper.

The one below was intended as a police car, and I used the yellow just for color. But once I put the siren on I realized it kinda looks like a cab! Either one works though.

So here is the bedding and pillows which I did make all of them, but not recently. If you've been following our blog for a while, I showed off my older son Sawyer's room a bit ago here...see I am one of "those" moms. Before I had kids I vowed I would never be walking around with two babies (that weren't twins). Well guess what? I did it. My boys are 18 months apart and so Sawyer moved into the toddler bed and Oliver moved right into the crib!

And this old clock, I had a post about this here.

And this corner is just in case he forgets his name. Wow! That's what happens when you make crafts at different times with no plan of where they'll go. I also mod podged over that shelf, we had it sitting around with no use and it was too old to return, it worked perfect!

Here is where told how I made the memory tin that reads "Oliver" and here you can learn to make the name blocks too!

Consider it revealed! It looks so much nicer than before. Promise. And no, you don't see the other wall because it's a desk :) I think when we move I'm going to hang the artwork with ribbon on some bright orange knobs, would that be cute?

Thanks for stopping by!

Partying with Between Naps on the Porch, The Girl Creative, Skip to my Lou and It's So Very Cheri.

Mini Makeover Part 2 & a tutorial

Part two of mini makeover: I've seen these cute little blockies around and just had to make some for my Oliver.

Wanna make some to?

Here's how to make adorable lettered fabric blocks for your baby.

You'll need:

• Six 3.5" squares of fabric per letter (36 for me)
• Heat n Bond
• Scrap fabric for letters
• Letters traced or printed from your computer
• Batting
  

1- Trace your letter onto Heat n Bond and cut out roughly around the letter (remember to do the letter in reverse).

2- Cut out six 3.5" squares for each block you want to make.

3-Following the directions on the Heat n Bond packaging, iron each letter onto one square.

4- Sew around each letter.

5- Sew 4 squares sides to sides together.

6- Pinning the top and bottom squares to the ends of the "coming together" block, make sure to match the corners and then sew around. This can be tricky, it kind of takes trial and error to learn how far to go to on the corners.

7- Leave a small opening to turn your block right side out with, and then stuff it with batting. Hand sew the hole closed.

If you wanted a crisper more square look to your blocks, I bet if you added some interfacing to each square it would give you that effect. I wanted a softer more playable look for these.

There you go! Now you have some cutie-patootie soft blocks for your baby.

How lucky am I that OLIVER is six letters? As always, let us know if you have any questions!

Partying with AmyLouWho and My Romantic Home.