Craftiness

 Headboard

I have been hoarding wood from the side of the road and other bits and pieces for a while.  After Kaylee moved into the bigger bedroom (so that she and her future sister could share a room later).  I was stuck with a guest room that I had no idea how to decorate.  You know, it's one of those rooms that catches all the leftover decorations because I didn't want to buy anything for it.  So I used my mission scroll above the bed and that just ended up falling on people's heads, super annoying!  So I decided to make a headboard.  I had all the stuff to do an upholstered headboard, except the fabric.  So I tore apart the room.  Then, my in-laws said they were coming to visit in a couple days.  I quickly put together the frame and had that done in just an hour.  Then I had to figure out the fabric.  I looked at my fabric stash...I had to have something right?  Nope.  So then I looked at the window by my sewing machine.  There was a curtain just the right size I needed and it was sufficiently heavy.  I had other fabric I wanted to make curtains out of, so I took it down, washed it and upholstered the headboard.  By far, the hardest part was putting the buttons on.  The foam was so thick it was hard to get them right where I wanted them.  Then it was hard to get them as tight as I wanted them.  They still don't pucker quite right, but it was good enough that I was able to put the room back in order with a new headboard before my in-laws arrived.  Phew!

 Old Crib

My next door neighbor was throwing away an old crib.  I couldn't think what I would do with an old crib, but I asked if I could have it.  He said sure and that it had been stored outside so it wasn't structurally stable.  That was fine with me though :)  So, with a tiny bit of sanding, and a metal wreath I already had, I got a wall decoration.

Wood Table

In May, I was really wanting a new coffee table.  But, I couldn't justify the hundreds of dollars to buy a new one and none of the used ones on Craigslist were what I was wanting.  In the end, I was talking to my dad and he said he had some wood slabs in his barn.  This wood was from a tree he had planted as a child.  The tree had died last year on his father's property and my dad had asked for the wood from the tree.  It was maple.  He let me have a slab and for $20 on Amazon, I bought legs for it.  This is what Tyler and I made.  It wasn't quite what I was wanting, but for the history of the wood and all the hard work that went into it, I think it's beautiful and I couldn't ask for better.

 The Chair Saga

When Tyler and I were first married, we bought two matching wing back chairs at a garage sale for $15.  They were stained and old, but they got us through school.  They were one of the few pieces of furniture we took with us to Boise.  Well, I just barely (in July of 2019) finished the first one.  Now, I just have to work on the second one.  Reupholstering is not an easy process and I don't look forward to doing it again.  But, just doing the first has shown me a lot of mistakes not to make next time and hopefully that should speed up the process a bit for the next one.

Before

After

More Home Improvements

So, I was super tired of our builder grade fireplace, but we did not have the money in the budget for a total redo.  But, seeing it ever day just drove me up the wall, so I decided to look around and see what some potential options were.  I found a small can of paint on Amazon that was an add-on and was only $3, so I painted the tile.  I liked it, but the mantel still drove me up a wall.  I figured out that it was only held onto the wall through a cleat and three screws.  I realized I could make any box type shape and install it on the wall.  I found three fence panels in the backyard (left by the previous homeowner).  I used those to make a three sided box, filled in the gaps on the sides with leftover wood pieces from trimming the fence panels to fit and then used wood filler to fill in little holes.  I then stained it.  I also found small corbels on Amazon (once again as an add-on) for $3 each and stained those the same color.  So, for $9 in supplies (plus the stain and wood filler I already had), I updated my fireplace and I love it!!!  I would love to do more with it at another point in time, but this will satisfy me for quite a while.  Now I need to work on some mantel decorations.  I'd like something with some more height on the sides, but that will come later :)

Before

After

This is a picture of the blackboard I made for Kaylee.  This is in it's primed state.  Super easy and super cheap!  I bought Revolution board ($15 for a huge piece of it at Lowe's and it's not too heavy) and painted four coats of chalkboard paint on it.  While that was curing for a few days, I stained a frame made of 1x2's and used corner braces (so no mitering needed) to make the frame.  I then screwed the chalkboard portion to the frame and used two french cleat picture hangers to hang it on the wall.  So it's super sturdy for Kaylee to play and draw on anytime!

Home Improvement Projects

Alright, so since moving in to our new house, I realized that we need a lot of things, but that we can't buy all the things that I want.  So, I have decided to DIY some of them when I can find the materials cheap enough.  

Before (Dish Satellite Tripod garage sale $3)                   After (I still need to find a longer lamp

                                                                                          shade for it)

These lamps were spray painted silver and I got new lampshades for them.

I bought this at a store for 80% off the original price because the glass was cracked on the bottom, I fixed it with electrical tape and Tyler still hasn't noticed it was ever broken.

I bought this highchair off of Craigslist for pretty cheap.  It was beat up, painted black, the belt was missing and had a lot of problems.  I fixed it up, sanded and stained it and bought a new belt for it and it looks pretty good.  But, the best part it, Kaylee loves it and she sits in it with the tray off at our kitchen bar area--it's the perfect height!

My next plans include: putting shelving in the laundry room and one of the closets, painting an old dresser that I had when I was little, making an upholstered headboard for Kaylee (once she will sleep in a regular bed), and lots of other things.

Desks

I found some free desks next to a dumpster (yep, that's how I roll--the cheaper the better, so free is the best). They are the old kind of desks--metal with fake wood on top. I asked my parents to help me pick them up (since they own a truck). My mom was adamant that they were ugly and she didn't want to pick them up. Somehow though, I convinced her to pick them up. I am currently in the process of spray painting them navy blue, I am really liking how they turned out. I'm taking the tape off soon and when I do, the desks will be my new sewing table/fabric storage. Yay!

Easter Dress

I made Kaylee an Easter dress. I have to say that I think it's the cutest thing I've made in a long time. Unfortunately, posting pictures to blogger is still not working, so I'll do my best to describe it to you. The bodice and cap sleeves are made from cream fabric with yellow and gray flowers and butterflies. The waistband and ties are made from a cream silky fabric and the waistband has a decorative gray belt that is stitched with a leaf motif. The skirt of the dress is cream with a gray hem binding. I hope I can upload pictures soon, because she looked darling in it! :)

Watercolors

I have decided that I need keep doing all the things I enjoy, even though Kaylee likes to take up all my time.  Kaylee does go to bed early, and Tyler has homework, so at night I sometimes have some time to create.  My watercolor paints dried out this last summer and I wasn't able to replace them.  But, for Christmas, my in-laws got me new watercolor paints.  So, these are the things I've been working on (please note, they are not finished yet).

This is for Kaylee's room.  I feel like it could be done, but I also think it needs something else.  So, I'm not sure how I'm going to finish it yet.

In honor of my great-grandmother (if I remember correctly), my mother has a few glass birds made from blue glass.  As I was searching through the wealth of internet pictures for inspiration, I thought about these blue birds.  I saw a picture of a blue bird and decided, he was my inspiration.  This is what it is so far.  I am going to add a few leaves and maybe some berries to add more color.  I am surprised by how much I like this little guy :)