Before & After

We are all about hand-me-downs here in the parsonage.  We love them...like reallllly love them.  


There's something about broken-in stuff that is just...easy.  I mean, the fact that it's free helps....but there's something about the fact that it's already broken-in that just makes my family love it more. This winter, I bought the boys new coats...and then a few weeks later they received hand-me-down ones from my cousins.  Guess which ones they wore all winter?  Not the new ones.  


We're weird.


Whatever.  Back to my story.


My mother-in-law has furnished a vast majority of our home with her extra furniture.  When we first got married, we "borrowed" some stuff, ya know, to use until we got around to actually buying furniture.  Portions of it we've been borrowing for close to 14 years now.  


New is terribly over-rated.  It has no story.  No past.  No memories.


Unlike these beauties:

They are my mother-in-laws.  But had been living at my sister-in-laws.  And then made it back to my mother-in-laws and then she offered them to me.


And of course you know what I said.  


And after a little paint and a clearance curtain panel from Target, they look like this:

There's four of them in total.  Two have found a home at the dining table and two others are hanging around the rest of the house.  


Adorable, right?

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Before & After

Turns out, that before & after projects are way more fun to look at when you actually take before photos.  I instead had to do it the hard way and dig through old pictures to see if I might have captured the items in some random photo.  Waste time much?

I have been on a spray painting frenzy.  If there is a condition for this, then I most certainly have it.  *mental note to Google that later*

My latest project was a kitchen set for Lucy, that has been sitting in our basement for several years now.  It was originally Jake's.  *sigh*   Look at him, all little and wearing a bakers hat.  I melt.  We bought him this from Target, and it was a hit with the daddy because it was blue and red and made him feel better about me wanting to get him a kitchen set.  (which Jake totally loved by the way.;)

Before

This picture must have been 2006 or 2007.

The little kitchen needed a make-over.  

Thank you Krylon.

After:

I decided to make a curtain for it (a cheap dishtowel from Target did the trick.) Originally the "curtain" rod had hooks on it to hang utensils and pans...which never actually made it to the hooks.  


Lucy loves it.  I love it.  And all her little girlie friends love it.  Even Jake has had some fun helping his sister play.  Don't tell him I told you.

Up next was her little doll highchair that I bought at a thrift store for $5.  


Before:  

Try not to be freaked out by the enormous doll.

A little red paint...

Super fun.

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Slipcover for Chair

So...the other day I mentioned the white slipcovers, and how the drop cloth one that I purchased for the chair (and intended to make into a fitted cover) was driving me crazy and NEEDED to get made into a fitted cover asap.  

How's that for a run-on sentence?

Well, I did it.  

And I love it.  It's kinda wonky looking in parts...because DUDE it's tricky to sew that much material...but I still love it.  

Trust me, when I tell you, that I am the last person that should be presenting a tutorial of any kind.  So consider this a tutorial on the tutorials I used.  

Here goes. 

If this were an actual tutorial I would have taken better pictures...thank goodness this is a tutorial on tutorials because craptastic pictures will do!  This is the chair covered in the "drop cloth" style cover...it was a ton of material and I tucked it around the chair to make it as fitted as possible.  Most of the excess material I shoved under the seat cushion, which made the chair hard as cement to sit on.   Good times.

I talk more about where I got the covers in this post (in case you're wondering.)

First I went to the thrift store and bought two old bed sheets to use as a template.  And then I washed them.  In 1000 degree water.  

Anyways, I found this picture on Pinterest and I used it as my visual.  Because I'm like that.

Source: thenester.com via Sarah on Pinterest

This is my version:

I followed the seaming of the upholstery already on my chair.  I wanted the seaming to be in the right places so that it didn't pull too tight on certain seams when we sat down...thus ripping them.  And I made notes to myself in permanent marker.


For the next steps, I utterly failed at taking a single picture, which is unfortunate because you could have seen my kids walking all over the material and me trying to KEEP THEM OFF. What I did was take the slipcover that I purchased, and laid it out on my living room floor.  It took up the entire floor.  And then I took the sample pieces on the chair (above picture) unpinned them and laid them out on the slipcover material, like a giant puzzle.  I had just enough material.  Then I cut around the pieces.


And then I pinned the pieces around the chair, wrong sides facing down or in, or whatever.  The slip cover is basically inside out at this point.


Like so:

Next, I took a needle with black thread and basted (big huge stitches) where I had pinned.  


Side note:  On the sample bed-sheet version, I didn't baste it.  I took it off and attempted to sew it with just pins.  Not only did I get stuck with pins, I couldn't figure out what was what once I tried to shove that heavy material under the needle of the sewing machine.


Basting was so much easier to follow, definitely worth it.


Sewing it together proved to be the trickiest part, because it's just a lot of material, and at some points on the arms, there are three different sections of material coming together...and did I mention 100% Cotton Duck is THICK?!?


But, it was definitely worth it.  And I'd do it again.  It took me part of an evening and then the next morning to finish it.  

Ta da!

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White Slip Covers

 
Day 25and 26 of 31 Days of Happy


White Slip Cover Happy


I like white.  It's not practical, but sometimes...practical is over-rated, or in the very least not cute.


I blame Pinterest for pushing me over the edge into white-slip-cover heaven.

Source: theshowandtellblog.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Source: thepursuitaesthetic.tumblr.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Source: countryliving.com via Jenn on Pinterest

We are terribly hard on furniture.  I have proof...

I came across this blog, and was elated to find out she had a messy family like myself, and STILL loved her white slip covers.  She makes her own covers.  I debated about whether or not I thought I could make my own.  I ended up  deciding that my patience and skill level was not quite adequate to tackle a sofa cover (yet), but I thought I could probably pull off a chair/ottoman one.


After some internet searching I came across the website Ugly Sofa.  They sell high-end slip covers for a deeply discounted price.  Perfect. 


And when the covers came, guess what the tags said?  Pottery Barn.  I may have skipped around my living room for several minutes just from sheer elation.  

They even sent me this little monogrammed (Pottery Barn) makeup bag thingy as a surprise free gift.  Bonus!  

Before:  

After:

This is right out of the package...I am NOT ironing a couch.  For Realz.

Loose-fit cover

I ended up making my own ottoman cover *pat on back* 


And for the wing back chair, I ordered a loose cover, and am planning on making a fitted cover out of that.  But first I'm gonna have to practice with old bedsheets or something.  


The couch cover has been on for a week.  I thought I'd give it some time before I  blogged about it...so I could let you know how it's really going.  It  stayed cleaner than I thought it would.  I did learn that I need to put a blanket over the seat on the weekends though, because the boys go in and out of the house and then sit on it and it was looking a little grubby.


I washed it yesterday for the first time.  Easy peasy to wash, bleach, dry,  and get back on.  It makes me kind of grossed out to think of whats on my couch and never been washed off.  *shudder*  I really do love it.  It's casual, yet clean looking and it just makes me happy.  


I need to get crackin' on the chair slipcover, because the loose fitting one is driving me a little crazy.  I only paid $30 for it, and it is enough material for me to make the fitted cover.  It was far cheaper to go this route than it was to purchase the material at the fabric store.  ( all covers are 100% White Cotton Duck)


I also made some envelope pillow slip covers as well.  Because as you know...makeovers just keep spreading from one thing to the next.  Like the common cold.


I've made some other stuff too...I'm a sewing fool.

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Today and Yesterday...

Here's some random:

• I'm trying to make a menu for the week, but I can't seem to get past BLT's.  I guess we'll eat them every night.
• I'm in desperate need of a blog makeover.  I've said that before...but THIS time I'm doing something about it.
• This weekend I get to go on a little girls getaway.  YAY.  When we planned it, we didn't realize it was also Father's Day weekend.  Oops.  But what better way to help celebrate than to let our husbands have the kids ALL to themselves?  
• I've been painting lots of things turquoise:

 

You get the idea.  I've recently bought orange and grey spray paint, but haven't quite decided what to paint.

• My oldest is away at camp for the week.  It's his first time away...he was thrilled.  Letting go is hard.  And feels weird.  
• Ben and I had a date night on Saturday.  You know you're in a building project when date night involves looking at cabinets and flooring at Lowes.  Floor plans and details make my head hurt.  Starbucks helped make it better.
• I made a quilt this weekend. Well, sorta.  My mother in law cut the squares for me, because I have a TERRIBLE time cutting things evenly.  I still have to sew the back on, but here it is:

This little chicklet helped.  She liked to push the foot pedal to the sewing machine every single time I turned around to iron.   But with that smile, what can you do?!?

Side Note:  I now cannot stand the material I put on the chairs awhile back.  I'm not sure what I was thinking at the time.  Bleh.  I'm on the lookout for new material that fits in with my new "vision"...new cheap material ;)

• I have a new favorite skirt that I can't wait to share with you, but I have to take a picture first.  
• I love love love Summer.  
• I really have to go get groceries now.  Bye!

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The Moral of the Story...

Not long ago on Facebook, I posted a picture of this in my status:

It could be titled:  I Had Three Boys First and I Don't Know What to do With These Things


Or maybe a shorter title would be better.



But my friend Cortney hooked me up.  Big time.  As in,  she made me the ribbon holder and hand delivered it to my front door.  Is that not fantastic?!?

Seriously people, I don't want you to miss the moral of this story.  Which is, in desperate circumstance, throw that problem out on the internet and someone somewhere will take pity on you and help you and soon you'll go from that terrible picture above, to  this:

I got this idea from a friend too.  It's full of all the headband thingys.


Lucy's head still looks like this:

Now I just have to remember to actually put them in her hair. 

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Before & After

So, after I posted that pic of Jake on the table the other day, I noticed how shabby the material on my chairs looked.  It's been three years or so since I last covered them.


They started like this (3 years ago):  Boring and stained from my kids.

And then they looked like this:  Now faded, but great pattern and colors for hiding stains.

Yesterday I decided to hit the fabric store, and found some cute new stuff to fit better with my latest color scheme (while still hiding stains.)  Meet the new stuff:

Jake informed me he hates the new ones.  This, from the kid who made a hat this morning and then hung out outside while I staple-gunned my heart out inside.

I think Lucy loves the new look, no?

Happy Friday Friends!!

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This Ones For Julie...

I'm a nester. Not kidding. With each of my boys I think I had the nursery done by the time I was 5 months pregnant. I can't help myself, something inside of me needs it to be ready.

Apparently, I do not need to actually birth a child for this to happen. Remember the post about waiting to find out if Julie would actually get to be the one? Truth be told, I'd already been dreaming of what her room would look like.

Once it was a go, I couldn't wait to ask her what colors she liked (I do, after all, need her input :) She pretty much gave me free reign...I'm sure she'll learn to reign me in once she gets here ;)

Julie's room is actually the room we kicked moved Jake out of. He's now in with his brothers. It seems to be working just fine. By August they should all be totally adjusted ;)

I have some before and after pictures for you. Because I know ya'll like to see some home improvement pics.

The pictorial tour of the new room is for Julie. Turns out, that sending numerous pics as attachments in emails to Norway is S-l-o-w from my computer. So she gets to see her room at the same time you all do...so the commentary is for her, because I'm pretty sure ya'll aren't gonna care about the size of the closet...but a girl's got to know this sort of thing, am I right? Of course I am.

Let's begin.

Jake's room before: Please note the carpet. Yeah. And the broken blinds. And the remains of several jars of miscellaneous goo that he's smeared on the walls in the three years we've lived here. Lovely.

The Process begins...

And after: The carpet was installed THIS morning :) Ben is home with Strep throat...he still managed to assemble the bed for me. Good man.

The bed and new wood blinds. The carpet is tan...it looks like a funky color in this picture, but it is not. I promise. I ordered the pillowcases from Potter Barn Teen...I couldn't resist. They inspired the green for the bed and desk.

Julie, this is the view (from the bed) of the other half of the room. There will be a desk there that will be the same green as the bed frame. The mirror (from my mom :) will be hung up too along with a shelf thingy for you to put stuff in. The picture makes the walls look splotchy, but they're not :)

The closet is near the headboard of the bed. This is the left side view of it. There won't be little boys clothes hanging in it when you arrive ;)

Middle section of closet:

Right side view.

Alright, that's all I'm showing you...the completely finished product will have to be a surprise for when you FINALLY get here!

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