Slipcover

Some time ago, like months and months, I mentioned this slipcover that I had made. Today I thought I'd show you a better picture and write a bit of a post about it so I can link it up to this:
http://funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com/2011/02/sns-70-brings-you-slipcovers.html
(I have been having issues with putting button links in here. Not sure what's going on. Sorry.)



The fabric for the slipcover is actually from a couch slipcover that I bought at Walmart on clearance. From that slipcover I covered these chairs,


this ottoman,


this chair,


and made these valances.



This is kind of an older project, but I am currently working on another slipcover project that I'm not sure if I will complete in time to link up or not.

I did think that in a world of white slipcovers, this might be a nice change. Having said that, my current project is drop cloth slipcovers, like everyone else in the world is making right now. I LOVE them.

I'm also linking up here:

Bib Necklace

I had really been wanting to create one of these for a while, so when we went out to dinner for my friend's birthday, I made her one. Unfortunately, I threw it together in about 2 minutes (literally!), so I wasn't able to be a perfectionist with it. And because I can't create something without taking a picture of the end product, I laid it on my bed and snapped a couple pictures quickly. Sorry, I know they are dark and not very flattering. I can't seem to find the link to the tutorial I used. I'll try to add it later.

The Eternal Project

So here's the thing about DIY. Sometimes a project takes FOR. EVER. Like building the girls' bedroom. Granted, we started almost from scratch. We built walls, put in electrical, we ran a heat run, we drywalled, we taped, we mudded, we primed, we painted, we carpeted, we redid furniture and artwork, we trimmed, and I continue to trim. The trimming is at a standstill at the moment because we need a few more materials. So in the meantime, I decided today to start filling some nail holes with putty and caulking some cracks. And now, here's the thing about caulking. It's time-consuming and a little bit messy, but I really enjoy it. It makes SUCH a huge difference. I looked around the room at the trim I had put up and I thought, "Wow. What a crappy job I did!" BUT, when you start filling in cracks, suddenly it doesn't look so crappy anymore. It gives me hope that once the caulk is all in place and the faux board and batten has all received a final coat of paint, it might not look too bad! Here's hoping!

Uncaulked


Caulked


Uncaulked


Caulked


Uncaulked/Caulked


Uncaulked


Caulked




This project began almost a year ago. My goal is to finish this room before the building permit expires on March 15th. That involves getting the rest of the trim done, finishing up the caulking and puttying, painting, putting in vent covers, trimming out the doorway and putting up a door. Wish me luck!

Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate

I happen to love chocolate. So when I'm making a cake for someone, if they don't specifically request something else, chocolate is my default. This first cake I made for a friend's birthday. She told me she liked chocolate and raspberry. So- deep, dark, chocolate cake with yellow raspberry filling, chocolate buttercream, and chocolate chips. I did this one pretty quickly and just used fondant I had on hand, which is why I made another brown and pink cake. But I love that combination, so I might have made it that way anyway! This was my first attempt at this rose techinique.






And here is Devon's birthday cake. He requested Lego Indiana Jones. I wish I had covered the cake board, but I was being a little lazy.

A Thank You and Some Faves

This last week I was very flattered to receive an award from Tara at Just Devine Style.




Thank you, Tara, I am truly honored.

The rules of the Stylish Blogger Award are:
Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them in your post.
Share seven things about yourself.
Award seven recently discovered new blogs.
Contact these bloggers and let them know they've received the award.

Alrighty, folks. Are you ready for this?

1. I have a really hard time coming up with anything interesting to say about myself when I do this type of thing. (Is that cheating?!)

2. I am desperate to move to the country. (I am living vicariously through the Farmgirl of Critter Farm. See below.)

3. I hate mopping the floor. Every time I do it I think, "That's not that bad. If I would just do it each evening it would be simple." But I never do. I just hate it.

4. I am toying with the idea of running my first half marathon this year. The idea scares me and excites me at the same time.

5. My dream vacation is a week in the Maldives, sleeping in a hut over the Indian Ocean. This dream almost takes over my life in February in Wisconsin.

6. I have 5 surviving children, but I was pregnant 7 times in 8 years. Like rabbits, I tell ya.

7. I have a goal this year to really learn how to use my camera and take great photos for my blog.


I did it! OK, maybe I didn't come up with interesting things, but it was, indeed, seven things.

Here are my seven recently discovered blogs, and a confession. A couple of them aren't that recently discovered, but are good ones nonetheless. There are others that I discovered recently, but I wanted to keep it to folks who had less than 100 followers, so they would be more likely to be new to you.

You're Talking Too Much

On the Way To Critter Farm

Rosella's Lane

A Little Piece of Heaven

Moments

Luna's Baublebilities

Diapers and Divinity

These ladies are funny, inspirational, crafty, talented, and diverse. All of them are a good read, so go check them out. I promise there is something for everyone.

Thanks again, Tara!

Valentine's Day Leftovers

Today I want to share a few things that I did for Valentine's Day but I never got around to highlighting until now.

First off, I gave you a sneak peek at the pom-poms I made for our party the other night. Here are some more pictures of those. I didn't manage to get a good picture of the table all dressed up, but these are pretty good.




Seriously, these pom-poms are so easy and fun. I used this tutorial, and just adjusted for size. The big ones are full sheets of tissue paper, like what you buy to put in a gift bag. The medium ones are 1/2 a sheet, and the small ones are 1/4. Pretty simple.

I also made these little little pom-poms for my tree out of cupcake liners. I used 5 for each one. Two opened just a little, two opened a little more, and 1 opened all the way. Then I used a needle and thread to do one stitch in and back, cutting the thread long for hanging. Again, easy.


This morning Jesse's preschool class had a Valentine's Party. I just wasn't feeling like baking, after doing three cakes, party desserts, and birthday cupcakes since the beginning of the month, and having a couple more cakes still to go before the end of the month. In fact, I put off planning anything until it was almost time to go. I figured I'd just stop at the store on my way. But I didn't really want to spend the time or money to stop, so I looked in the pantry to see what I had. Here's what I came up with:


Graham crackers with frosting and Valentine's sprinkles. Quick, easy, and still kind of cute!

You may have noticed my "Be Mine" blocks in my hutch. I made those a couple years ago with some scrap wood. It's all freehand. They have turned out to be one of my very favorite Valentine's decorations.



Another is my "Love" pennant style banner I made. Scrapbook paper, jute twine, and empty cereal boxes were used for this. They remind me a bit of conversation hearts.


And one last thing, remember when I bought my huge enamelware pitcher and I said it would look great with peonies in it this summer? I think these pom-poms look a lot like double cotton candy colored peonies and I was right. I love them in it!

Today's cake order...

Today I did a cake for my friend Torre's daughter, Natalie, hence the N on the cake. My first attempt at zebra stripes, here in the wavy band around the cake.

Died and Pom Pom to Heaven

Here's a little sneak peak at what I did last night in preparation for our Valentine's party tomorrow. I've loved these things for a while and finally decided to give them a try. Sooo easy and fun! I'm addicted!




Linking up to Funky Junk's SNS

This is the story of a hutch...

We had been married about two years. We were living in Washington, NJ. We were about to move to Columbus, OH. We were out garage sale-ing. We came across a table and hutch, $40 for the pair. We needed a bigger, made of actual wood, table. The hutch was icing on the cake. Being a young married couple with our first baby, we didn't have a lot of extra cash. This was a great deal, and we knew it. However, I wasn't crazy about the color of the wood, or the shiny finish on the tabletop. We put them both in our storage area because there was no room in our tiny, one bedroom, barely more than a studio, apartment.

When we moved to Columbus, the table and hutch came out of storage and took their places in the new, much larger, apartment. But the Mr. was still not loving the hutch. I have pictures of the hutch in its original finish, but they were taken in our pre-digital days and I'm too lazy to scan one. We made a couple more moves, and ended up buying a house in Charlotte, NC. One day I was looking at the hutch. Lincoln had mentioned a few times that he just didn't like the hutch and wanted to get rid of it. So I thought, "I'm going to paint this puppy with a crackle finish. What have I got to lose?" So I did. I started first thing in the morning and had it mostly done by the time Lincoln got home that evening. (I didn't do a base coat because I wanted the wood to show through the crackle. That made it quicker.) I loved it. Lincoln loved it. We loved it for many years.



But it is now 2011. Crackle finish is very 2000. The finish on the hutch served us well for many years. It got lots of compliments from company. But it was definitely beginning to look dated and dingy. It was time to go.

I decided not to sand it down. I went back and forth on that decision many times. I proceeded with it unsanded because I thought the crackly paint underneath would add to the chippy, layers of paint look I wanted. Remember, I wasn't looking for a clean, smooth, look. Once the paint was on and dry, I started distressing. I sanded edges here and there, there and here. The more I sanded, the more the layers of paint seemed right.

And you know what? I love the hutch again.






I left the inside the way I painted it when I did the crackle finish. I kind of just painted on and wiped off and added water for a wash and anything else I could think of to give it a rough look. I still love that.



I think maybe I'll replace the cabinet door pulls with sparkly glass knobs. I think it is begging for just a touch of sparkle.

And did you notice the Valentine's tree? The girls did that the other day. They put anything pink that they could find on it. That's a stuffed hippo with Build a Bear fairy wings sitting proudly atop the tree. It's very funny and cute.