Big Garbage Pick-Up Day

OK
Everyone is packed up and we are headed to downtown Houston to go to a splash park when I see...the garbage truck picking up...a patio set! Well...a really used, mostly destroyed patio set minus the table. Anyway I knew I could salvage the chairs and make them beautiful again. Besides I have been wanting some patio furniture for a looooong time now, but not for $500...or the $200 people are trying to sell it for on Craigslist. No...free sounds much more reasonable!!
Only problem: transporting. The same problem I have every time I find something awesome.
Good news this time! My mom was visiting while Hubby was out of town on business and she has a bigger car!! We loaded it all up and I was excited about fixing it up!

The seats had gashes all the way through them. I thought--no problem we will just sew together some new seats--only the price for outdoor fabric is...awful $65/yard? Not what I had in mind.
So we thought about it for awhile...and my mom had a stroke of genius! We had 4 chairs-really only needed 2...So we took the backs off of 2 chairs and made them seats. This required a lot of bolting, pulling and rescrewing...but it worked! Then I taped and spray painted the chairs white!
Total cost: $6.99 (spray paint)

Diaper Cake

My mom came to visit and while she was here she helped me put together this cake for a baby shower I am throwing next week. It was way simpler than I thought, but most things are when you sit down and do them. I think it turned out pretty cute.

Framing the Builder Mirror

I have seen this project done all over bloggy world and decided to give it a go myself!
My fireplace needed something BIG, and I loved how the previous owners had a mirror hanging there. The project itself was super easy-not as cheap as I expected--but still not expensive either-and a really great deal for a PRETTY and BIG mirror with a frame. I think the toughest part of the whole thing was dragging my 2 babies to Home Depot while my husband cut the boards for me. We simply measured the mirror, picked out the boards in the molding section of Home Depot, and cut them into appropriate sizes. At home we simply applyed the glue-and let it seal the wood to the mirror. Easy Peasy. A few people at the store recommended using Liquid Nails as the adhesive. and its holding up well! My mirror got cracked when it was being "handled" and so I had to come up with some spontaneous "decorating" to cheer it up. My next dilemna is hanging it on the brick fireplace...its ridiculously heavy...any suggestions?



Cost of Mirror: $5.00 to a friend who had it laying in her garage.
Cost of Molding: approximately $18.00
Glue at Home Depot: $3.00
Scrap Paper: found in my craft room
Letter S: $0.75 and covered with fabric from my craft room

My chic trunk!

Remember my junk find? The beautiful trunk from Goodwill? Well, I finally finished the outside of it! I know your dying to see what it looks like...but first you have to listen to me ramble about beautification process...or you could just scroll down and check it out. My original plans for this trunk were altered twice-but I am so happy with how it turned out! Originally I was planning on doing the brass hardware a silver color-because I think that is soooo classy. I roughed it up a little bit with sandpaper and found that it was extremely difficult to get the paint to stick in any way where it didn't look painted...so I decided to go with the flow of it and painted the trim white, I was hoping it would turn out to look vintage chic-or purposely obvious that I had painted it. The rest was a breeze to paint-just took a little bit of sweet time, and 2 coats. I sealed it with a spray sealant so that it wouldn't get roughed up too bad in the toy room. After all---poor girl has been through a lot! I think she turned out lovely-and she matches my LR couches, so when she has retired from the baby toy business I will move her in to be a coffee table or a blanket storage for those cold Houston nights. LOL. As if that ever happened!
Before:After:
What do you think?

Book Bag

We needed a library bag for books. After scavenging the house in search of something to use, I decided to make one out of an old tank-top that I no longer use. I love repurposing, and I've seen lots of cute things made out of "old"stuff. This project couldn't have been easier. If you can sew a simple straight stitch-you can make this bag.

Simply turn the tank top inside out and sew a straight line across the bottom edge of the tank top. Then flip back right side out. Viola! Its done.Its a really stretchy bag so it will hole books of all sizes and perfectly hangs on my stroller handle. I thought that it needed a little something so I cut out the words "I love books" from blue felt. and sewed it on the front.

Hello Gorgeous!

I want you all to meet the most beautiful treasure I found at our local thrift store.
She was burried under smelly junk. No, really-she was. (someone please tell me why they don't spray some febreeze!) I spotted her from across the store and knew she had to be mine...even when we couldn't pry her open to check her insides-I knew that whatever she came as I could fix. Kudos to my husband who bravely tried to bargain down the cashier. I was proud of him, even if she looked at him like he was a lunatic and said "..uh we don't bargain prices..." That's ok. $10 for the most beautiful toy/blanket/storage chest? Sold. I haven't decided on what direction I am going to take the transformation...but stay tuned. Its sure to be good.

Patchwork Skirt

I made this super easy, super cute skirt this week. I have had this b*e*a*u*t*i*f*u*l* fabric (the kind that is so pretty you don't dare cut) sitting in my craft room for a few months, I finally bit the bullet and got to work! In an hour-wa-la! I didn't use a pattern-just eyeballed it and when it ended up too short I added in the trim lace. The top has an elastic wasteband so no messing with zippers, it was very simple it took me about an hour to get it right. I like how the lace compliments the heavier look of the patched fabric and gives it more of a summer-y look.

The Cost for this project:
Old fabric lying around-free
Elastic-I took this from another project that was um....dead. Free
Lace to bottom skirt-2$