Pending Project, Help!

I bought this awesome settee over the summer in hopes of transforming it into a beautiful prop chair  for my clients. The fabric is actually ripping and the stuffing is made of some sort of hard, yellow, crumbling styrofoam material.  Yes, hard styrofoam so the comfort level is virtually nil.  Overall quality though; near perfect-not wobbly, pretty sturdy.  I bet you were hoping for an after photo.  Sorry to disappoint but fast forward 7 months and this poor chair looks exactly the same and is sitting in the same spot. SIGH….

My husband can. Not. Stand. This. Settee.  How can you not love the lines, the tufting, that buttery yellow color?  He doesn’t have the eye, the foresight, the vision! LOL.   I dunno, it was kinda love at first sight when I spied it on craigslist (I’m an addict, remember this post?).  Old furniture?  Check.  Great lines? Check.  Great quality? Sturdy? Check and check.  Can the piece be resurrected from furniture abyss? Of course. Check! Do I have room for it in my house? Nope.  But I’ll take it!

My plans for it? reupholster it with a soft yellow velvet material?  But then after some thought I want to play it safe, maybe just cream so it goes with everything? Maybe red? Maybe turquoise? printed hip fabric?  When I see this chair there are too many possibilities (and work) that I just put it on hold. So here’s my question to you all. What would you do with this chair? What color would you chose? Maybe your suggestions and comments is just the kick in the pants I need to actually get started on this project.

P.S. sorry for the photo-taken with my iPhone:)

A little peak

Since I started off the week with wreaths, I thought I’d end it by showing you one I made.  I know, it’s not the natural variety but because I painted my walls off-white I was in need of some color.

Visit one of my earlier posts for an ornament wreath tutorial here.

Wreaths

Are you done with your christmas decorating? For those of you who aren’t here’s a little wreath inspiration courtesy of Southern Living. They’re surprisingly easy to make too. Visit Sunset here for a step by step tutorial.  I always have a Christmas wreath at my door and in the house.  Do you have a wreath in your home for the holidays? Did you make it?

Treats!

Hope you all had a wonderful Halloween.  I baked these severed finger cookies for our neighborhood Halloween party.   They’re sugar cookies with almond and cashew finger nails.  You can get the recipe here. They’re very good, although I think it actually creeped a few kids out. LOL.

Now on to a real treat and prettier things.  My friend Piper, of ONE SYDNEY ROAD, has opened her shop doors. I’ve been waiting and waiting for this day to come and am so happy to announce it here.  One Sydney Road is packed with inspired finds for your home.  Gorgeous, new, handmade + eco-friendly goods designed by indie artists from around the world.  Love vintage? She’s got that covered too.  There are lots of drool-worthy, great finds, so head on over to One Sydney Road.

Server Makeover

Eons ago I would wake up really early on Saturdays to hit garage sales in search of old, tattered furniture in need of TLC. I’d then bring them back to life by making minor repairs, refinishing or painting them. I don’t do this as often now but still find the time to dabble in projects when time permits. It’s so satisfying to see the transformation of something old to something spectacular. Sometimes a coat of paint and a little elbow grease is all it takes. If you haven’t seen my cane chair makeover check it out here.

Here’s the latest project. This little server needed a little oomph after the kitchen redo.

DH suggested I paint the body and leave the wood exposed on top. It turned out better than I expected. For painting over wood furniture, sand lightly with fine grit paper. Wipe dust off then paint. I used Behr Premium Plus Ultra Paint and Primer In One. It worked beautifully and I highly recommend this product. I’ve used this paint on my interior walls too and it sure does save you time!

By the way, I will be heading off to California tomorrow for a little R and R with family and friends. I’ll make sure to share my travels with you.

Topiary Tutorial/Challenge/Giveaway

Ok, due to popular demand, here’s the topiary tutorial. My kids made it for the most part. I haven’t made one of these in years so I’m glad you pressured me into it. I love the smell of eucalyptus wafting through the kitchen-ad added bonus.

NOW THE TOPIARY CHALLENGE AND GIVEAWAY

I hope you make one for yourself and share your pictures with me.  I’m sure you’re all going to make it your own and they’ll be amazing. Yes, this is a challenge!  A fun one, at that!  Send me a picture of your topiary and I’ll post them in a future post!   Please send them by July 12th, okay?  If you submit a photo of your topiary, you will be entered in a giveaway.  One person will be chosen by random and will receive a lovely package from Small Burst.

Oh, now here’s that tutorial….

What you need:

• 4 oz. Dried Eucalyptus branches- 3 of them
• 4 inch green Styrofoam ball
• Thick branch as the the stem.  Found mine in the yard.
• Planter (I have lots of planters laying around from garage sales.  You can get them for 25 cents!)
• Large rocks
• Newspaper
• Glue gun
• Deer moss

1.     Cut the eucalyptus in 3 or 4 inch pieces. If you want a more compact topiary, cut the eucalyptus shorter.

2.     Strip the leaves off of at the bottom approx. 1/2 in.  Set the leaves aside and and use for potpourri. I just placed all the left over pieces in a nice bowl in the bathroom.

3.    Insert the stripped side into the styrofoam ball. Work your way around, insterting branches 1/4″ apart.

4.      Leave a small area on the bottom clear for the stem. My kids found a great branch in the yard. Insert stem and glue in place.

5.     Fill in the empty spaces with more branches. You can use the imperfect branches for the underside.

6.     Place the stem in your planter.  I used large rocks found in the yard to hold it in place and used          newspaper/scratch paper to fill in the pot and to further stabilize the stem.  You can also use floral dri-foam instead of the rocks which I’ve done in the past.  Cut the dri-foam to fit in your planter and instert the stem.

7.     Got this new unopened package of Pottery Barn premium deer moss from a yard sale for $1.  Place deer moss on top of paper and glue in place.  This time around, I didn’t glue them so I can use them later for another project.  I’ve had this deer moss for a year and used them to decorate throughout the year.

and viola!

Also tried it in this white planter (also from a yard sale for cheap ninety-nine)

What do you think-the terra cotta or white planter?  I may go with the white planter since it’s smaller and fits on the window sill. But I like the natural, rustic look of the terra cotta.

Check this project out over at My Backyard Eden.   Click on the link below.

I’m also struttin’ my stuff on Somewhat Simple.

Caught The Bead Bug…Again

I haven’t made jewelry in years for fear that one of my lovies would pick up a wayward piece and choke on it.  I know, I’m paranoid.  Now that they’re older I thought I’d get my dusty tools and equipment out again. It was nice to see them all, like reacquainting with old friends. I also rediscovered all the beads I’ve accumulated through the years. That didn’t stop my daughter and I from hitting up the bead store. This was her first visit and was she fascinated; probably because the beads weren’t macaroni or great big plastic pieces. She wanted everything.

When the time came to put my earrings together, I was a bit rusty and completely forgot what used to come so naturally. From placement to tool handling, I had to relearn. Seriously, it took a while to make these earrings. Well, here’s my attempt at jewelry making after a very long hiatus. My daughter made the necklace all by herself. I was so proud of her. I think I’ve caught that bead bug again. Must. Make. Jewelry.

Don’t forget about the Elizabeth Designs Wristlet Giveaway. Enter by Friday, April 16th.

Mudrooms

Don’t you love mudrooms?  I had to clean mine out today so of course I looked up a few on-line to inspire me.   I am now ready to rearrange, repaint & reupholster. Add another project to the list…

This is our mudroom/shoe station.  We don’t wear shoes in the house so it all ends up here.  We couldn’t find storage big enough but quick thinking DH found this Ikea Billy Bookcase in the clearance section and once again thought outside the box-flip the shelf on its side and add shelves.

I made the seat cushion.  I had mdf board cut to size, added a 2″ foam pad  and batting and stapled it on. No sewing! I also placed a grip pad between the cushion and the seat to prevent it from moving.

I’ll be repainting the room soon enough to an off white color; a shade darker than the ceiling.  I’m also going to reupholster the bench with a livelier color.  This fabric is so drab and stodgy. What was I thinking? Stay tuned for after photos!!

Vintage Hobnail Milk Glass Lamp

I found a pair of these lamps at a yard sale for $3.  Even though it came with this tattered old shade, I knew there was potential.

I went to Paper Source to chose my shade.  Have you ever been to Paper Source? They have tons and tons of gorgeous paper which also make great lamp shades!

I carefully took the old shade apart and kept the old metal parts

I used the old shade a traced it onto my Paper Source paper

Glue ribbon trim on the shade

Carefully fasten shade to metal parts with clips or clothes pins

Hot-glue shade in place

Do you have vintage milk glass lamps? I’d love to see them.  E-mail me a pic and I’ll post it.

Valentines Day Crafts

We’re bracing ourselves for another snow-filled weekend.  Thank goodness for these V-Day crafts. Now we have something to do while we’re holed up for a couple of days.  Here are some adorable “good things”  you can make courtesy of Martha Stewart.

Can I just say these felt fortune cookies are cute enough eat!

Super cute Valentine bookmarks for the kiddos.

Dyed pistachio wreath. So lovely.

These Lacy Votive Holders would look great on the mantle.