A busy Fourth of July Weekend:

I got a bee in my bonnet for Fourth of July Weekend...

I had four days off and I decided that we were gonna get some more projects done. We have house guests coming and more events this summer to do so we need to finish up some of these lingering projects.

First project to finish up was "South Facing Windows"... We started with "Blackout" on our Master Bedroom drapes. We also have a south facing skylight in the bathroom and if you remember, we talked about making a custom shade for that. Well here it is:
Steven took on the frame and I had left over black out fabric to line this adorable print from Dwell Studio. I only had to buy a yard, which is good, because it is EXPENSIVE. I think I have enough left over to do a little valence for the LAST south facing window, a little frosted number in the toilet/shower area.

This shade is perfect. I swear it. I can't even believe how exact it turned out for not having a pattern to work off. We just kind winged the entire thing, but we're really happy with the results. It is already making a big difference in the temperature and the light blockage. Plus, I think the little birds are cute.

The other shade that needed to be made was a curtain for the extra bedroom. I fell in love with the Damask Duchess fabric. At 54" wide, I only needed one panel. I love the black and white in here too, because we have a lot of red and pink accents. The muted taupe wall color works well too. This room just needs some art work to be done!
These last pictures aren't about home projects, Steven cut me some roses off our bushes in the backyard and put them in the bathroom for me. They smell SO good! I'm a lucky girl.Finally, here's a close up on my first dahlias, grown from bulbs! Here's hoping they keep blooming all summer long...
Basil plant in the background is doing spectacular too- just trimmed him and got enough for a full batch of pesto, that's 2 cups! Yummy!!

Recovering Dining Chairs: Part II

So after recovering Shelly's chairs, I decided to do mine!

It took a while to decide on fabric and have a garage to work in, but we finally decided that last weekend was the time to do it. We borrowed the staple gun from Dad and we set out to do 4 chairs by ourselves.

Here's the Before:Here we are mid-way through the process. The staples have been pulled, the old fabric and foam is off and we are officially half way through. From here we will cut the foam to fit and then hot glue it down to the board.

I would recommend shaving some of the edges off to give the foam a more rounded look, but we didn't do that here. I also got 2 inch foam instead of the 1 inch that was previously on it because, frankly, when I looked at the 1 inch in the store, I thought "That can't be enough to be comfortable!"... It wasn't.

I'm glad we went with the 2 inch.

In case anyone is wondering, to measure for how much fabric you need, I read directions on the internet:
- Measure the dimensions of your chair in inches
- Measure how thick your foam will be (here 2 in)
- Add 6 inches to each dimension for a chair with 1 inch foam, 8 inches for 2 inch foam. (This is so you will have enough extra fabric to cover the top and pull around the sides of the foam and still have enough to staple down. You can always trim away extra- you can't add more...
- Determine how many yards you need based on the measurements. I was lucky to find 54" width home fabric so I could get two per width. Sometimes you can only get one and you have a bunch extra...


After:I read that you can fold the corners down in hospital corners or you can do what I did here, which has a little more flair to it. We stapled the sides first and then pulled the corners down to give a rounded look rather than a folded look. All about personal preference.

I went with a black fabric that was very thick. It felt like it would hold up to any abuse. The white ticks are a fun bonus touch and the pattern wasn't anything too fussy that would require me to be careful about how I put the covers on... All in all, it ended up being a great choice! Also- it was on sale for Half off, plus I got another 10% with my holiday coupon. Score! I ended up needing a yard and a half for 4 chairs.Here is our 'refreshed' dinette set. I have my first dahlias from the garden in a vase and a new pewter bowl that I received as a hostess gift last weekend. I think the red place mats and white napkins (Homemade, they have Eiffel Towers on them!) add the final touch.

I have to say that I'm surprised what a difference the black and white fabric makes in the kitchen. It ties everything together for our color scheme. I'm now considering going back for some more fabric for a valence for the big kitchen window... projects, projects. I'm going to have to save that one for a rainy day...

Recovering Dining Chairs: Part I

Last Fall I promised my sister Shelly that I would help her recover her dining room chairs as part of my Christmas Gift to her.

We went to Mill End and picked out some lovely fabric for the chairs and coordinating fabric for some curtains.

Here's the before and after on the chairs.

Before:After:
She inherited this set from her in-laws and so we wanted to make sure we did a really good job with the recover. I think we did pretty good. It was a learning experience, for sure, but it turned out well in the end.

The main issue with these is that there is a swatch of fabric around the edges of the 2" foam. We had to cut a pattern out of muslin (cheap!) and then cut all the individual pieces and sew them all together to make a slip cover of sorts. Then we had to pull all the staple (trust me, there are A LOT) on the old covers, cut new foam to fit, hot glue the foam down (it makes it a lot easier, but not required), then we could actually put the new slip cover on and staple it down.

I have to say, it sounds like a lot of work... and it is kind of a big project, but we had Me, Shelly, Mom, Dad and for a while Steven helping out. We did all 6 chairs in less than 8 hours. We also took a break for lunch and then we had a nice dinner to top it off.

Pretty good right?

Mel's Bridal Shower!

I was so excited to be able to help host a Bridal Shower for my good friend Melissa last month!

It was so much fun putting together these goodies:

The shower was "Kitchen" themed, so I went for prizes that would go well in the Kitchen, soaps, lotions, candle and notepad set and two handmade aprons! I fell in love this this First Corinthians tissue paper at Hallmark, so I lined a basket I had laying around with it for some extra presentation flair!

I also made Strawberry Jam for favors. Then I used the cricut to cut card stock circles out and then used my favorite flower stamps to emboss the tops in her colors, purple and green. Very joyful! The card topper just sits between the lid and the ring. Then finished it all off with a little ribbon around the ring in a coordinating purple ribbon.

Here are the lovely people who won the aprons. I asked them each to pose for a photo:These aprons are the easiest things and out of fat quarters- who doesn't have a few of those laying around their sewing basket?? Using my serger, it takes longer to iron and cut the fabric than it does to actually sew it...
Look at all that loot girl! Somewhere in there was an ice cream maker and a crock pot- two things she really wanted!

Ryan: I just want you to know, you are marrying this:That's some "sisterly" love there :)
Finally, a serious pose with the Bride-to-be and her two bridesmaids.

I'm really looking forward to the wedding! Happy Bridal Shower to Melissa!!