Chair Redo Progress

After multiple posts depicting all of these amazing chair redos, I decided to start my own. The idea of recovering something, even something as simple as a cushion, has always freaked me out, but when the chair cost you a whopping $5 why not give it a shot!

So, after a trip to the Mission of Hope...

Meet Stella and Lola.

They're cute and their potential made them much more deserving of some Mission of Hope fate. So I adopted them. And yes, I named them. If I am going to love them and invest in their future, then by golly I deserve to be able to name them.



Then, after some convincing that they were not worth being deserted at the MOH, I started ridding them of their stinky, tattered dressings. (which look something like some type of horrible carpet gone wrong)

Then again...

And again... (Oh some horrible leathery ickiness)



and AGAIN... (and this time, I gagged. It was that nasty looking)

And under that was worse, but finally a glimpse of some wood!

Now, and please excuse her nakedness. She won't be that way for long.

She looks so much better already! And nothing is done yet, but getting rid of the horrible cushion! (If that is what you'd even call that science experiment gone wrong!)

Unfortunately, this project is now at a standstill. I am missing some key tools to finish them, such as wood putty, liquid nails, the fabric (or canvas that I may stencil) to recover the seat, and the foam for the cushion.

Hopefully all of this will be done soon. I am excited to see how they look when they are done! 

Thank God for Small Successes!

So, as of here lately, I have been.... somewhat discouraged. A failed crafting project tends to do that to me.

So all I have done the past week or so are little things, but each success, no matter how small, is a success none the less.... Right?

Here are a few of them:

The frame I have had forever. I originally got it at Target and have since painted it about a million times. Now, however, it is polka dotted and scuffed to heck and back. The picture is from a 1940's children's book that I fell in love with at our local flea market. I hated disassembling it, but I loved the illustrations enough to power through it. I have about ten or so more that I want to frame also, just have to actually do it. I like it though!

I also Mod Podged one of the boys' initials. When I got them originally I was ok with the finish they came with. Now, after being knocked off of the wall and thrown around, not so much. One is painted, this one is Mod Podged, and the rest will be redone in some other random medium. I like the idea of all of them being different.

I hope everyone else is completing things much more efficiently than I am! I need to get to work! 

Darn this week! And last week....

Sadly, I have nothing to show for this week. Nor last week for that matter! Ugh. I have a million things sitting here ready to be finished, and nothing is done! Maybe because I lack some supplies for almost every project.... That may be it.

Hopefully something will be done soon.

For now, what I have in the works is this hugamungo (Yes, I said Huge-A-Mungo) door frame. I worked on the piece that I have removed that I will soon be sanding down and painting prior to adding a lyric from mine and my husband's "song." The paint on this baby is proving to be a pain in my rear, but hopefully I can finish it quickly.

I have also been tossing around the idea of making and selling things here at the store I manage.... I have a bunch of different ideas, I just have to get the ball rolling. Hopefully soon I can get it started. It would be nice to make a little extra money that I can use for Christmas (Or possibly more crafting... Po-tate-o, Po-Tot-O, Same thing. Right?).

Anyway, hopefully I will have a few things done soon so I can share them! I am excited about the things I am working on, I just hope I can get them done! Wish me luck!

Tis the Season for Spookiness!

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. Not because of the whole scary stuff part, but for the pumpkins and the excuse to dress up like whatever the heck you want and have people GIVE you chocolate for it! 

Dressing up and chocolate? A holiday??? I AM IN! 

So, it has begun a tad bit early in our humble abode...

A little paper, little Mod Podge, chop a poor defenseless pumpkin in half.... I think the pumpkin would be proud though, so I WILL NOT allow myself to feel bad. 

A few tinsel spiders (a whopping BUCK at the Dollar Tree) hanging around...

A little cauldron mantel action...

And a small idea of what our mantel looks like at this very moment. It changes daily so don't expect it to stay looking like this. (I can't help it I find more stuff or move things around! It's a sickness!)

And now, definitely my favorite parts of Halloween.... My little pumpkins. Or, since they are trying to be scary I should probably toughen that description up a little.... And now, my uber scary, super creepy, favorite parts of Halloween... (which just so happen to be super cute)

How can you not love those little monsters! 

Why Is That Crazy Lady Loading A Huge Door Frame Into A Truck In The Rain???

Well, that crazy lady was me. 

That's right folks! I performed my very first EDR. That's right. E. D. R. Emergency. Dumpster. Rescue. 

Every day on the way to pick my son up from school I pass by a door and window company. Said door and window company leaves any unwanted pallets, doors, or windows on the side of their building. For days now I have driven past this place and saw this door frame sitting all sad and lonely next to that mean old dumpster. Well, I finally stopped. I went inside and politely asked if they had plans for that poor little door frame. They didn't. He actually said that any time I see anything out there that I may want that I am more than welcome to help myself. (Future score? I think so) 

Well, I soon found out that the cute little door frame was NOT so little. Nor was it as old as I was thinking. But, being the good samaritan that I am, I adopted it anyway. 

Then she was loaded into my boss's truck. 

In the rain. 

In 6 inch heels. 

Not. Fun. 

Even though she isn't as old and rustic as she appeared from the road, she still have some pieces that could be made into something lovely. So. Today, I got down and dirty and started ripping her apart. After an HOUR of going at this thing, this is how far I have gotten...

This one piece is off. ONE PIECE. AN HOUR. ONE PIECE (in case that didn't sink in). This is the very top, which in the picture (since the picture is sideways because the door WILL NOT fit into our store sitting up right) is the very left. 

I am thinking that after stripping the not so lovely paint off of the framing, a paint job with a little distressing, and a lyric from mine and my husband's song (which is interesting in itself) it will be a success! Can you imagine it handing on the wall? I can! And I am excited! 

Stay tuned folks! It's going to be a good one! 

If Loving Burlap is Wrong....

I don't want to be right!

I am currently in the process of making burlap table runners for our big upcoming 6th/1st Railroad Birthday Party Extravaganza. 

This is an extremely rough draft as to what the runners will look like. They need something across the bottom for sure. Still deciding what exactly will be down there.... Not to mention that I did this one before measuring the tables and it is entirely too short. Live, learn, and always measure. Now I have three of the five runners measured out, just have to cut and assemble. Overall I think they will be precious. This birthday is a labor of love.... Heavy on the labor. But also on the cheap, so I am not going to complain.

As for burlap.... This wonder fabric may have also manage to sneak into a large portion of my fall decor.... Is my house already decorated for Halloween.... Maybe. Are my boys and I enjoying the heck out of it, definitely.

I am currently working on this...

Not even close to finished, but I do believe the end result will be satisfactory. I have a long frame that SOMEHOW managed to magically end up with broken glass... How it happened I have NO idea, but it definitely did not happen after I dropped it on the floor.

The frame is hanging on the wall of my dining room, sad and empty. Soon this revamped, fall back and the sad empty frame will be reunited. After I give these naked pumpkins a stem and some leafy goodness!

What else do I have going on.... Oh yes! I finally cleaned up my old tool box and gave him a good coat of Krylon loveliness.

This is my poor toolbox before...

And don't get me wrong... I loved him before! His rust, his dust, his rough and tumble vibe. My only issue was that I purchased him, for a whopping $.50, for the food table of the boys joint party. And rusty toolbox on a food table just didn't sit right with me. Soooo...

He's still rough and tumble, just not so rusty or dusty. I'm liking him though. I made sure to scuff him up a bit so he didn't lose his true self... We can't have that now can we!

I do hope that everyone is having one very MARVELOUS Tuesday! And if you aren't....

How can you not be after looking at that!

Happy Fall!



Happy Birthday!!!!

34 years ago today, my husband began his journey of finding me and carrying out his destined path of driving me nuts for the rest of our lives!

Since his work schedule is so crazy, last night is when we had our little cupcake celebration.

And of course since he is THE biggest Auburn fan that I know....

AUBURN THEMED CUPCAKES!

(I may or may not have used glitter paper to construct the football team themed wrappers and topper... He didn't comment and they needed some pizazz)

They turned out so cute! AND, added bonus, I didn't have to fight with my Cricut for HOURS trying to get the right cuts! Doubly awesome.... That's my kind of project! Unfortunately, I did not get to go all Paula Dean on some fancy cupcake flavors since my husband is a good old fashioned yellow cake with chocolate frosting kind of guy, but it did make it easier! So I will take that!

Happy Birthday Honey!

(Us at the Auburn game last Saturday. The tickets were part of his Father's Day gift basket. And might I add... Football games are a lot more fun to watch when you are actually AT them.)

Craving Some New Ideas????

This whole linky party thing is PHENOMENAL!

Meeting people, seeing new ideas for stuff that I just KNOW I cannot live without doing.... I am in love.

Today's linky love...

Some wonderful ideas and very creative folks! Check it out!

Look Who Finally Jumped on the Bandwagon!

ME!

 My very first ever linky party dealio! I am so excited! And, of course, now that I know it is as easy as it is.... I will probably be doing it a lot. Wich means I will have to craft more..... It's a win win!

Check it out! Lot's of amazing ideas! 

Cupcake Bouquet!

Buying birthday presents, make that any presents, for my mom is difficult. So when her birthday started heading my way, I decided that making something was the way to go. 

Enter, the Cupcake Bouquet! 

Start with an awesome pot that you found for only a big fat $.70, get home and find out that the styrofoam ball that you have is too small for said pot, whip out a bucket that you have handy, Krylon love it, smack a little Cricut love on the front, and you have the beginning! (I can't do anything the easy way. Stupid too big pot!)

Then insert styrofoam ball who let you down by being too small for original Cupcake Bouquet pot.

Wood dowels to keep your cupcakes where they need to be...

Bake some cupcakes, frost some cupcakes, fight with your Cricut for two hours trying to cut out the wrappers that you want just to find out that your Cricut hates you and refuses to do so, feel defeated, cut out simple wrappers, wrap and assemble. 

I added the burlap detail after deciding that I wasn't a fan of seeing the styrofoam through the spaces around the bottom edges. Over all, I love how it came out. I am actually very proud. 

Will I make it again? You bet your bottom! Somewhat easy, if I had done it anyone else's way, and not too hefty on the wallet. 

Happy Birthday to my Mom! THE best mom/dad/driver/chef/crafter/baker/seamstress around! 

It isn't October yet????

I have been perusing the shelves of every store I have entered for a glimpse of Halloween stuff for weeks now.

Well, yesterday morning I spotted it. It took all of two seconds after stepping into Target and The Dollar Tree for me to figure out that the Halloween stuff was finally out. Well, some of it ended up randomly jumping into my cart and following me home! How crazy is that! 

 This little baby was conjured up by myself after finding a gallon Ziploc baggy full of these spools of thread at GW. I knew I would be able to use them for something. A little twine and some nature later and I have some pumpkins. (Not too mention some snowmen when Christmas rolls around and maybe even some turkeys when Thanksgiving comes!)

Freezer paper stenciled burlap runner. It still needs something. I just haven't put my finger quite on what that something is.

My little white pumpkins with twine stems came from the Dollar Tree. They were an awful shade of orange with ugly plastic stems, but after a little Krylon lovin and glue gun/twine tag teaming they look much better. And at a dollar a pice.... Forget about it! 

Am I finished with the Halloween decor? Not even CLOSE! Next trip to Target and the good old DT and there will be more! 

HELLO HALLOWEEN! 

Cupcake and Blogs... THE Breakfast of Champions.

Good Wednesday morning world!

It is currently a LOVELY 67 degrees here in the Southern tip of Alabama (God's country, as I like to think of it) and I am sitting at my desk enjoying two of my favorite things. A cupcake and some super crafty blogs. 

Good morning? I think so. But... "Cupcake? At 8:30 in the morning? " you may be thinking to yourself.

Well, let me just say. This is not just ANY cupcake. This is a homemade chocolate cupcake with a peanut butter buttercream. And not only is it not JUST homemade, but it is homemade by ME.

"Big whoop, I bake cupcakes from scratch all the time." Well, if that is your first thought, you are a better woman than I am. This homemade cupcake is from the kitchen of a gal who counts take-out as homemade (I MADE my way to and from the restaurant and plated it, so it's homemade, right?).

 I like to think that I don't get all Emeril Lagasse in the kitchen because I have three boys and work a full time job, so the June Cleaver bit isn't really my... cup o' tea.  (OR, it may because I have a small issue with impatience. And a little issue with following directions.)  

But these cupcakes I made from scratch. Myself. With no help. I followed directions, took my time, and they turned out beautifully.

Am I proud of myself? If I said a little, it would be a SERIOUS understatement. Especially since the last time I attempted to make a cake from scratch it was roughly the consistency of a dish sponge.  

So this morning I will start the day with a pat on the back to all first time "From Scratch"ers out there! Because ending up with a tasty "from scratch" cupcake even if you spent the entire time swatting little fingers from stealing all of your cupcake batter is an accomplishment!

Well Hello There, Cool Weather!

Even if it is JUST for the next few mornings, the cooler weather is MORE than welcome!

Well, Happy Tuesday Morning All!

Not too much going on here lately. I finished making the boys joint 6th/1st birthday party invites and they turned out fabulously!

It's train themed, in case you didn't notice. I have been avoiding the train theme for a while now, but I finally gave in. Giving it a vintage feel is making it MUCH better in my opinion. All of the brightly colored Thomas parties and ChooChoo parties are nice and all, but just not my cup of tea. Now a vintage railroad party... Now THAT is something I can sink my teeth into!

We have decided on having the little soiree at an old train station/museum just up the road and may I say, it fits with the theme beautifully. Don't get me wrong, the place needs a good bit of decorating love, but the bones are right up this party's alley.

Please ignore the poor image quality. My phone had to suffice as the camera for the day we went to check it out, but you get the idea. Imagine balloons and banners everywhere. It's going to be fantastic. That is, if I don't end up biting off way more than I can chew.

Wish me luck! I am excited about this one. It's going to be fantastic.