$3.00 Chair tansformation!!

I have to say that this has been one of my favorite projects lately. A friend gave us this chair, it was great for a boys room, but I needed it for my 6 year old daughters room.

So, I sanded and painted the chair and recovered the cushion.

(Don't you LOVE the mask, haha)

This is how it turned out, I think it is cute, and matches the colors in her room.  This transformation cost me $3.00.  I spent $0.99 on the fennel's on the top of the chair, and $2.00 on a yard of fabric, however I only used about 1/4 of the fabric.  I already has the painting supplies and sand paper.

I am linking to these great parties.

Frugal Valentines Day Gift Idea, Sugar Scrub!!

I love sugar scrubs, they make your skin feel so good, especially during the winter. However, I DO NOT love to pay such a high price for them at places like Bath and Body Works. So, what is my solution, I make it myself!! 

It is super simple, all you need is one cup of sugar, one cup of brown sugar, and one cup of vegetable oil. You also need a container. I found some great glass containers at the Dollar Tree around Christmas time for only $1.00 each.

Mix all of the ingredients together in the container, and there you have it. It is that simple. Now to make it into a gift, grab some pretty ribbon and tie it around the top of the container. For pennies, you have a super yummy gift that will be greatly appreciated by the recipient.  Everyone loves yummy things around Valentines day, right??  Who says you have to be able to eat them all.  This is a super Valentines Day Treat!! 

If you want to make it a little more unique you can add a drop or two of essential oil that you like. I have also added a splash of vanilla extract to mine before, and that makes it small delicious.

Pillowcase Dress Tutorial!!

I wanted to share this tutorial with you all. I love making little Pillowcase dresses for my girls. I think they are so cute, and they are super simple. Trust me, when I started making them I had NO sewing experience. Now it takes me about 15 minutes from start to finish to make one of the super cute dresses.

Okay, to start you will need the material that you like. If you want something a little more unique, buy two materials that complement each other and use one as a border around the bottom of the dress.

Next, you need to figure out your measurements. The dress that I am making today will be for a size 3T, and the measurements that work for my little one are as follows:
Base material: 19 inches long
Border material: 5 inches long

When I buy my material, I use the width that comes off of the bolt, and cut the length.

So, I will try not to be confusing with this part. I love using this method to add the border, because it looks neater to me. Once you have measured and cut your material, you want to take the base material and roll it up from top to bottom. Then you want to take the border material and lay it flat with the right side of the material facing you. Place the rolled up piece of material on top of the border material and then fold it over. You should have a layer of border, one layer of base material, and then another layer of border material. Pin this all the way down.

Sew all the way across. Next you are going to turn it right side out.

Next press your material.

The next step is to add a seam to the dress so you end up with a tube.

Turn your material right side out and press.

Now, for the arm holes. For a size 3T I measure down 6.5 inches from the top of the dress and mark. Fold over the dress, so you can cut both sides at the same time.

Once you arms are cut, you need to make your bias tape. You can use the kind that you purchase, but I like to take some of the extra material and make my own. It really is very simple. Cut a strip of material that will be long enough to go around the entire arm hole. Next, fold each side in, and then fold in half and press. Place on the raw edge of the arm holes and sew on.

The next step is the top of the dress. Fold the top over once and press, then fold it over again and press. You are making a casing for the ribbon. Make sure your casing is big enough to fit the ribbon through.

Sew across.

Next find ribbon that matches your dress. I take the ribbon and lay it across the top of the dress (the neck) and make it three times that length. That always ensures that I will have enough ribbon to make pretty bows. Place a safety pin in one end of the ribbon and use the pin to thread the ribbon through the casing.

Tie your bows, and ta-da you are done.

Show and Tell












Tales from Bloggeritaville
The Shabby Nest.

From old desk to entry way beauty!!

Okay, I wanted to share one of my latest projects with you all. When we moved into this house, I actually had an entry way area (I did not really have one of these in our other house), so I was excited but a little lost as to what I should put there. I had a small picture hanging on the wall and was thinking about adding a little table, but I did not have a table at the time.

I had this piece of furniture. As you can see it is an older desk that was originally the basic brown color. After thinking about it for a while I decided that I would try to make it work by using what I already had on hand.

The first step was to remove the knobs and sand it. This piece took a lot of sanding. I think it was because it had a shiny coat on the top. After tons of sanding I added my first coat of paint.

I went with the green paint because I had an entire gallon left over from painting my kitchen.

Once the first coat was dry, I decided to try a different technique. I brushed on a second coat, and went back with a dry brush and removed some of the paint. I am super happy with the result. You can see just a little of the brown showing through, and I have to say that I think it is fabulous.

I went shopping in my attic again, and found this big picture that I had purchased at a thrift shop a while back for $10.00. I thought I went perfectly with my newly green desk. What do you think??

(I still have to put the knobs back on!)

Now, I just have to figure out what to put on top of my desk. That will probably be my next project.

You can find more great Thrifty Thursday projects over at Tales From Bloggeritaville.



The Shabby Chic Cottage

Tackle it Tuesday!!

Okay, so today I decided to tackle the closet in the babies room. I have to admit that I have not really touched it since we moved in, and that was almost a month ago (I know, terrible)!!

So, this is the before picture:

**The diaper in the floor is a baby doll diaper, not a dirty diaper, Just wanted to put that out there**

After a few minutes of sorting and hanging clothes, this is the after picture:

Much better, now I do not have to cringe when I go to open the closet door!!

So, have you tackled a project today??  If so, leave a comment and share, or head over to 5 minutes for mom and check out what others have tackled this week!!

Some other great places to stop by are:  Anti-procrastination Tuesday and Thirty Minute Blog Challenge.

Shutter Headboard = $8.00!!

I have been posting a lot of home improvement projects lately. Since moving we have remodeled a bathroom, refinished the floors, and today I am going to share how I made a headboard out of old shutters.

Shutters are easy to find, you can usually find old ones at yard sales, or thrift stores. I found mine in the basement of our new house, so they were FREE!! I love FREE!!

So, the first thing you need to do is measure your bed, to find out how long your head board needs to be.

Next, find some old shutters. I used old wooden shutters, but if you have a different kind, they would work as well.

This is what I started out with.

Next you need to decide what color you want to paint your headboard.  I went with green.

The next step is to remove all of the hardware.  I took the hinges off of my shutters, but left the knobs and hooks.

I sprayed a couple of coats on the shutters and allowed them to dry completely.

Next you will need some scrap wood.  We had some left over from other projects, so we cut it to fit the length of the shutters and attached it to the back using screws.  I also added a small 2*2 near the top to sturdy it up, and allow for a place to insert hooks.

At the top of my headboard I added a piece of molding, this was also left over from a different project.  I attached it with small finishing nails.

Then I applied my final coat of paint.

This is a picture of the finished product hanging in my bedroom.  I know the comforter does not match, but I am still looking for a new one.

So these are my expenses the headboard project:
Shutters = FREE
Molding = FREE
Nails = Left over from another project
Screws = Left over from another project
Paint = (2) cans of Valspar spray paint around $4.00 each

Total = $8.00 for a new headboard!! I personally love the way it turned out.  It looks unique and original, and it definitely has character.

Do you have a creative headboard?  If so leave a comment or link and share it.