DIY

5 Simple Steps to a Furniture Refresh

| Heather

Maybe you’ve had a moment like this…you are at a garage sale, thrift sale, thrift shop…. and you find a piece of furniture that is a bit worn, maybe a bit sad, but interesting and the price is just right.

I love these moments, it’s the thrill of the hunt, looking for forgotten treasures full of history and purpose. There’s potential there, possibilities.

That’s how I felt when I spotted this beauty at an estate sale. Far from perfect, pretty dusty, but full of possibilities!

(You can see, I nearly forgot the before. 😬)

5 Simple Steps for the perfect refresh:

1. Clean. Get every bit of dirt and dust off. You may even want to sand or strip portions. This cabinet was pretty rough to begin with but I was ok with the overall color of the wood.

2. Prep. I decided I wanted to paint part of the cabinet (Is it a cabinet? I’m not entirely sure what it is). I’m really into the two-toned look. You get to keep some of the warmth of the wood but also add your own style and custom color to the piece. I taped off the parts I didn’t want to paint.

3. Paint. I love chalk paint, it gives a lovely matte finish and is super easy to work with. I used Shabby Paint’s Snow White for this piece. And then their Sheer Armor finishing product.

4. Embellish. This piece had some great hardware that had seen better days. I used Rub n’ Buff Antique Gold to refresh the color and bring out the interesting details.

5. Style. The missing door was the perfect opportunity to add a couple of baskets in the opening. Great for organization and some added texture. A few other antiques, a beautiful painting (this one is by Jenny Highsmith, JennyHighsmith.com), and some faux flowers complete the look.

Not bad for a piece of furniture I picked up for $30 that I don’t actually know what it is.

XO,

-h

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10 Tips for Building a Cardboard Pirate Ship

| Heather

Finally posting this… four months later.

Liam’s first birthday was upon us. His theme had to be nautical, his middle name is Saylor after all. So pirates, of course!

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate birthday party!

A quick Pinterest search yielded all these creative people who made giant cardboard pirate ships, so we decided we needed one too, obviously!

Ryan joined in and was able to get some very big pieces of cardboard from work, a few sketches and a scale model later, and we had our design. About a week of building, and here’s the final ship!

Here are my top 10 tips for making your own!

1. Have a plan! Cutting that kind of cardboard is very difficult, you don’t want to have to redo pieces. Sketch and then try out your design. We made some significant improvements between our sketch, model, and the final ship.

2. Gather the right tools. We used box knives, sharpies, packing tape and duct tape (for decoration), and a yard stick. Remember extra blades for your knife, you’ll need them.

3. Let the pieces of cardboard be your guide. We discovered right away how hard it is to cut the cardboard, so we let the pieces we had help decide the final size of the ship. For example, rather than cutting a foot off the length, we just embraced that extra foot.

4. Work as a team. This project would have been too difficult to tackle on my own. A second brain, pair of hands, and muscles really came in handy.

5. Packing tape is your friend. The duct tape was fun to decorate with, but the packing tape was the true hero in keeping things together. We often taped both sides of a seam to help reinforce the ship.

6. Build on site. We had planned to build the ship in the garage and then transfer to the house on the day of the party. Boy, we would have been sorry. Think through the finished size and build accordingly.

7. Make sure to add supports across the ship. Our plan had both a cabin and a front deck. These were not only super fun for the kids, but they added necessary support to the ship. Support and style, right?!! The kids LOVED the cabin.

8. Decorate. When we started I thought we’d keep the decor pretty simple. Ha ha, that doesn’t sound like me at all.

  • Like I mentioned, we used the brown duct tape to decorate with. I also added it to the exposed edges for safety.
  • I used the yard stick and brown sharpies to create a planking effect. Mistakes became imperfections in the wood adding to the authenticity of the ship. 😉
  • Cardboard tubes and black spray paint made cannons, a mast, and a boom.
  • I made the sail from some inexpensive muslin and rope.
  • We added a wooden captain’s wheel and anchor as well.
  • We traced dinner plates for the portholes, and I had the kids stand next to the ship to determine a good height they could peak through.
  • We made a crawl-through door on the stern of the ship. Liam was particularly fond of this feature.
  • A pirate flag on the bow completed the look. Argh!

9. Embellish. As if all the previous items weren’t enough, we blew up blue balloons to look like water. And I cut out shark fins to place in the water (more cardboard, yes more, and some silver paint). The kids even made up a fun game of trying to sink the ship with all the balloons.

10. Enjoy! We made the ship big enough that adults could get in there too. Ryan and I both enjoyed crawling in and playing in the ship. The kids loved it even more when we were all pirates together. Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate’s life for me!

Good luck, and just for fun, here’s a few more party ideas and a cute pic of the birthday boy as well.

XO,

-h

DIY Gingham Apron — Free Pattern

| Heather

So I dusted off my free flirty apron pattern to make matching aprons for my mom and sister. 

This fall their very own cookbook released, 150+ Gluten Free Family Favorites. It was a labor of love to create recipes that even the most strict gluten free diet can handle. My sister was diagnosed with Celiac Disease over 15 years ago and has lived completely gluten free since that time. Difficult yes, but with all the awesome recipes they have created, she doesn’t have to live without her favorite foods anymore! Can you say cinnamon rolls?!!

And obviously, they needed coordinating aprons for events! Obviously. 

You can get all the instructions and details from this previous post. 

Here are the finished aprons at the local gluten-free expo!

And how cute is this cookbook? See the coordinating blue and white gingham, aren’t we clever?!!



Are you, or someone you love, gluten free? You can order the book at any major retailer including Amazon.

-h

P.S. I die for the Salted Carmel Shortbread.

DIY – Reupholster a Dining Room Chair

| Heather

When Ryan and I were first married, my parents spent a weekend at my grandparents house getting rid of some clutter. One of the items that was on its way out was an old dining room table and chairs that originally belonged to my great grandparents.

Thankfully, my mom couldn’t bear to see them go. So, she called me! Yay!

I’m always up for a little DIY challenge and Ryan and I just so happened to be shopping for our first house. Perfect!

Mom saved the set from the landfill, Ryan and I bought a house, and the set was ours. We lovingly refinished the chairs with dark cherry stain and I re-covered the seats with a tone-on-tone red damask fabric. Gorgeous! We ended up having to buy a new table because the tabletop wasn’t salvageable (good news, we did save and reuse the legs).

Every time my parents come over for dinner, my Dad remarks fondly how glad he is that we saved the chairs. He remembers the “heart” shape backs from his own childhood. My grandmother has also been tickled to see them in our house. I love the history and stories these chairs tell. All the warm fuzzy feelings!

Now we have three little ones of our own and the stories continue. Sadly though, the red damask hasn’t loved the spilled oatmeal, applesauce, milk, ice cream, yogurt, syrup… you name it, those chairs have gotten doused in it.

I was wandering around Hobby Lobby looking for inspiration, and this is what called my name!

The chairs! Yes!

Materials:

1 yard home decor fabric (Mine was from Hobby Lobby)

6, 1″ foam chair pads (Hobby Lobby again), measuring 15″ x 17″

Tissue paper

Staple gun, staples

Pliers and screw driver (for removing old staples)

Directions:

    I started by removing the seats from the chairs. (Let’s be real, Ryan did that part. Thanks babe!)
    I used a combination of the flathead screwdriver and pliers to remove the old staples.
    I traced the seats out into the tissue paper and then added about 2.5″ all the way around to create a pattern. If you look closely (not only will you see my stylish slippers) you will also see my grandfather’s last name and my grandmother’s maiden name written on the back from when my grandparents were first married and had the chairs recovered. Family history right there!
  • Then I used my pattern to cut out my fabric. I also had to trim the chair foam just a bit to fit the seats.
    Assembling the seats is as simple as fabric face down, foam centered on the fabric, seat (face down) on top. Then staple, staple, and staple some more. To staple, you want to pull the fabric tight, actually pressing down on the foam. Start in the center of one side, and work to the edges, leaving the corners until all four sides are done. Do the corners last, making a nicely finished edge.
    Ryan put the screws back in and… voila!

Chairs full of legit family history sans oatmeal stains!

-h

P.S. Check out my cute little helper…

DIY Roman Shade

| Heather

I love myself a good roman shade. Don’t know what it is exactly, but my type A personality is drawn to the simplicity and nice lines time and time again. 

In the past ten years we have lived in our house, I have sewn several. In particular, I like to change out the one in my kitchen. We are in the middle of a mini remodel, and well, I thought I’d reward myself with a new one. I mean, the remodel my never be done, but I have myself an updated window treatment!

To top it off, I was in NYC a few months ago and got to visit Mood Fabrics. It was literally fabric heaven. While I was there, I picked up some fabric perfect for my new shade. Obviously. 

Materials:

Checked fabric – 2 yards (depends on the size of your window)

Coordinating Fabric – 1/4 yard (again depends on the size you are making

Coordinating thread

Coordinating Ribbon – I used grosgrain ribbon 1.5″ wide

DIY Steps:

  1. Measure your window. Cut your main fabric, adding two to five inches to the width. The length should measure about 2/3 to 3/4 of the height of your window. Add 1/2 for the seam allowance all around. 
  2. Next, cut out the coordinating fabric (if you so choose). This is for the curtain rod to slide into. The width should be the same as your main fabric by 5 1/2″ to 6″. Press in seam allowance on the sides and stitch. Press in half lengthwise, with wrong sides together. 
  3. Press in sides of main fabric and stitch. Press up hem, stitch. 
  4. Cut out your ribbon. Because of the width of my window, I decided to have three ribbons holding open my shade. So I cut six pieces of ribbon the same length as my main fabric. 
  5. Pin the ribbon onto the main fabric. Since I have three, I divided the width of my fabric by four to get my spacing between ribbons. Because of the precise pattern, I carefully lined up the ribbon to hit the pattern the same way. Three on the front, three evenly spaced on the back. 
  6. Next, pin the top of the main fabric to the open edge of the rod piece. Stitch together. Press. The top stitch. Top stitching might seem like just an extra step, but it sure does give a nice finished look. Make sure you pin your ribbon pieces down so you don’t catch them into the stitching. How would I know about this you may ask? Because I did it. Twice. 
  7. Now come the fun part!! Hang up your shade! You can tie your ribbon pieces at the height that you find visually pleasing. I like to make sure it is all even by ironing soft pleats along the bottom then tying the ribbon. This time I actually sewed the ribbon together, front to back and added a bow on top with hot glue. In the past, I’ve also just tied the bottom in a nice knot or freehand bow. You do what looks good to you!
  8. Bask in the glory of a nice, neat customized, roman shade. 

c

DIY Infant Stitch Costume in Less than 1 Hour!

| Heather

I love Halloween, like love it. You get to play dress up and people give you free candy. Does it get any better than that?!?!

This was Jackson’s first Halloween. When we were having the serious conversation that was the costume brainstorm we talked about how Kyrie was Boo from Monster’s Inc. dressed as a monster for her first Halloween. Logic dictated that Jackson should also be a monster, but “just a little one!”

Jackson as Stitch, so cute I could just die. 

Kyrie was Lilo, obviously, but more on that another time. This Stitch costume took about an hour and you could do the whole thing without sewing if you wanted to!!

Materials:

  • Hooded footie pajamas (I went on Amazon and found some that were the perfect color)
  • Blue and light purple craft felt (the blue should match the jammies)
  • Light blue polar fleece
  • Thread
  • Hot glue
  • Velcro

How to:

1. I started by making a pattern for the ears. 



2. Then I traced and cut out two on the blue felt and two on the light purple. I trimmed the light purple slightly smaller than the blue. 



3. Stitch has little notches in his ears, so I cut those out. 



4. Next I ironed the ears in half lengthwise and hot glued the blue and purple pieces together. 

5. Next for the tummy. I folded the light blue fleeces in quarters, measured, traced and cut out my tummy shape. 



6. At this point you could just hot glue on some Velcro and call it good. I decided to sew one side on and Velcro the other. However I wanted it to appear like the entire tummy was sewn. So I marked halfway and sewed just the left side of the fleece from pin to pin. 



7. Next I pinned the right side of the tummy piece to the jammies and sewed them together. Don’t forget to unzip the jammies and don’t sew across said zipper.



8. Next I hot glued the Velcro on the unattached side of the tummy piece and lined it up on the jammies. Again, attaching it with hot glue. 



 9. Finally, try the costume on your little one to determine ear location and attach ears. I used hot glue for this final step. 

Aww, such an adorable little Stitch!

-h





DIY Disneybounding Ariel Tank Top (Kids)

| Heather

“When’s it my turn?
Wouldn’t I love, love to explore that shore up above?
Out of the sea
Wish I could be
Part of that world”

Ok, if you were a little girl in the 90’s, you too probably belted out these lyrics as you pretended you were a mermaid with flowing red hair and a crush on a handsome prince. Well, not much has changed since then, little girls still dream about being Ariel. She’s my niece’s favorite Disney princess, and it isn’t hard for me to imagine why. Her Disneybounding look is next!

I had trouble thinking through how I would do Ariel without needing sea shells, or something that wasn’t very appropriate for a 5 year old, but luckily I found some inspiration… somewhere… Here’s my sketch…

 

Ariel Disneybounding Sketch 

 
Materials:

  • Purple Tank Top
  • Sea green fabric – I found a fun sequined fabric at Joann’s that the little girl inside fantasizing about being Ariel couldn’t resist. 🙂
  • Coordinating Thread

    Ariel Disnebounding Materials

DIY:

  1. I decided the overdress would be at the empire waistline. Measure the width and length from the empire waistline to the bottom of the tank top. Add a few inches to the width so you can gather. Cut out two rectangles.
  2. Right sides together, stitch together the side seams. 
  3. Run at least two lines of a gathering stitch along the top of the overdress. Gather to fit to the tank top.
  4. Pin overdress to the tank top along the empire waistline (right sides together) so the dress is basically “flipped up”. Ariel in progress
  5. Zigzag stitch all the way around around, press dress down.
  6. To create some slight gathering at the neckline, I hand-stitched about two inches down and gathered it (securing inside the tank top).Ariel Detail Shot

OMG, talk about ADORARABLE!! Who wouldn’t want to be a mermaid princess, really? 

 –h

Disneybounding Merida T-Shirt DIY

| Heather

Ok, you may be wondering, what is Disneybounding? Here’s the concept in a nutshell…

Disneybounding: Creating a fashion look based on a Disney character by drawing from colors, or iconic design elements from that character’s clothing. Disneybounding isn’t simply making a costume, but instead creating a look you could wear on a normal day and hint at a favorite character. You know, bring a little Disney magic to your every day. 😉

Merida from Brave is up next in our little series. My mom chose her because she loves Merida’s color palette. Confession, I haven’t see Brave yet, but luckily Google images came to my rescue and gave me plenty of inspiration! This is an easy project, with VERY little sewing.

Materials:

  • Green t-shirt
  • Suede or faux leather cording
  • Small grommets or eyelets
  • Faux leather or brown trim
  • Coordinating ThreadMerida Disneybounding Materials

How-To:

  1. Here’s the design I sketched up, you can see how simple it is when you start with a t-shirt.
    Merida Disneybounding Sketch
  2. Measure, mark and apply grommets following the directions on the package.Merida Disneybounding Top
  3. Cut the cording to the desired length.
  4. Measure/cut cording. Lace up your top. Tie knots at the end of the cording.
    Merida Detail Shot
  5. Measure/cut trim.  Sew side seams together, pin and sew on trim.Merida Detail Shot 2

    Disneybounding Merida Finished

Seriously, 5 steps and you too can Disneybound Merida. How’s that for quick, easy, fun! The countdown to Disneyland is on!

–h

DIY Disneybounding: Princess Aurora Tank Top

| Heather

We are heading to Disneyland later this month with my family and I can’t wait! I decided all of us girls should get to Disneybound one of the princesses. So I sketched up some concepts and let everyone pick. Watch for the entire series of posts!

My sister went for Aurora…Do you remember the legendary rivalry between Flora and Merryweather? Blue…Pink…Blue…Pink!! Well that rivalry is very real between me and my sister. I know you will be shocked to learn I am clearly in the superior pink camp and she is definitely in the blue camp. So, I’m making her a pink shirt. Because I can. Pink wins!

Aurora Disneybounding Sketch

Materials:

  • Pink Tank top – I found one for $5 at Target
  • White Material – I used some I had in my stash (don’t ask, it’s a little out of control). The fabric you choose needs to have some structure and some stretch. You might need to use some interfacing if your fabric can’t hold the shape.
  • White Thread
    Aurora Disneybounding Materials

How-To:

1. Measure from the center of the bust, to side of the arm. Then measure from the same spot on the arm all the way across the back to the side of the other arm. This will give you everything you need to create the simple pattern.
Aurora Disneybounding Pattern Sketch

2. Draw out the pattern on some tissue paper or wrapping paper. You will notice there is an angle on the arm seams. Ideally, you would determine the angle by trying the piece on the recipient. I just guessed and then had to make some adjustments after the fact. Better to do this step now instead of later.

3. Place your patterns on your white fabric and cut out two front pieces and one back piece.

4. Right sides together, sew the two front pieces together at the center seam. Right sides together sew together the front pieces to back piece at side seams. Trim and press seams open.

5. Fold the entire piece in half length-wise with wrong sides together. Press.

6. Now it’s time to attach it to the tank top. With the folded side up, pin. I pinned the front at a slight downward angle toward the center front to give it the look I was going for. Zigzag stitch to the tank top all the way around (skipping the arm holes for now). Press down.

Aurora Disneybounding front   Aurora Disnebounding back

7. Press down the seam allowance in the arm holes, and top-stitch across the arm holes.

Disneybounding Aurora Finished

Tada! You’re ready to Disneybound Princess Aurora just in time for vacay! The shirt is PINK!

–h

P.S. Add a gold headband (or crown) if you really want to go for it!!