A Little Taller

I have this certain love for step stools. Maybe that's weird, but I think they are so cute and my daughter absolutely loves the fact that they make her just a little taller, just tall enough to reach all the good stuff in life. 

Before:

 After: 

I would love to have more sturdy wood step stools like this one to paint up really pretty. 

I spent only about 1 hour on this project with sanding, painting, stenciling and clear-coating. I am a fan of little projects, no hardware, no major repairs, no needing my husband's help to haul it around from place to place. Just simple and satisfying. 

This step was found at Mesa Thrift on Main street in between Alma School and Extention for $5. I like the size and that it is wide enough that it doesn't topple with wobbly kiddos on it. 

~ Chelsea ~

~Pretty Pink Kitchen~

Today we have a special guest on our blog ~ Jacob & Joni Beach!

They have been creating lots of awesome stuff for their homemade home. Here is a super cute kitchen that they made for their daughter (our Grandcutie!).

If you would like to see how they made it go to their blog ~ The Little Beaches

~*~Lynda~*~

Area Rug Color Change

Having hardwood floors required the purchase of a new (new to me) area rug. I looked and looked for something affordable (super inexpensive) and that would coordinate with my decorating style. I found this beautiful rug on Craigslist for only $30.00. The only problem was it had some colors in it that I wasn't real excited about. I loved the blues, greens and cream background, but the pink & burgandy not so much!

Splendid ~ I added some touches of brown & black to match it with my home decor colors.
Here are the fabric markers I used to cover the lovely pink & burgandy colors. I was blessed to find these FabricMate dye markers half off at Hob Lob!Here is a close-up picture of the rug before I changed some of the colors.And here it is after. It looks better not so close, but I just wanted to show you where I applied the dye. It was a very tedious job, and a tiny bit of the burgandy still shows through, but I am really pleased with the results!
~*~ Lynda~*~

Baby Car Seat Canopy

I was so excited to make a canopy for my baby coming the end of this year. 

I like the idea of these canopies for the following reasons:

privacy for the little bundle

less germs from interested people/kids

keeps the bright sun out of her sensitive eyes

keeps weather out

darkness for when baby is sleeping

keeps out drafts of cold air

the car seat handle is still accessible for carrying

they're CUTE!

Joann's had their quilted cotton fabrics 50% off, so I got them at $2.50 per yard and bought two different fabrics, one yard of each. 

So, a $5 project and I LOVE how it turned out.

I'm loving turquoise these days.

I used two different tutorials to get ideas for my canopy.

Sweet N Sassy Girls

and

Make It Do

Mine is not reversible, but I chose a contrasted fabric for the outside details and the inside for my baby's visual enjoyment. 

In case you don't want to read the entire tutorials, I cut of my fabric as follows:

Top and bottom main pieces (including the trim) 40" X 34"

Rounded the corners.

Straps: 8.5" X 2.5" 

I pieced together smaller scraps to save fabric and for extra cuteness.

I sewed on Velcro to secure the straps.

Total time needed for project: 1-2 hours

Can't wait to see how my baby likes my work! :)

~ Chelsea ~

$1 Coffee Table

Finally finished!

Before:

After:

Sanded, repaired and painted. 

Brushed-on semi-gloss black paint with foam brush, required 2-3 coats. Brush-on clear satin water based Polycrylic protective finish on table top. Sprayed-on lacquer finish on lower parts of table.

Thank you $1 yard sale find for a rewarding project!

~ Chelsea ~

My First Quilt!

I made a rag quilt and I am so proud of myself. It will definitely not be the last quilt that I make because I loved it! And it didn't take nearly as much time as I anticipated. I would guess that from start to finish, it was about 10 hours. 

Here it is with a very cute little girl:

Here are the steps to make a RAG QUILT:

1st, decide how large your quilt needs to be. I made a TWIN size quilt and determined after measuring the mattress and looking online that I wanted it to be 70" X 90". 

2nd, make your quilt plan. This requires a bit of brains and math. I looked at fabrics and got an idea of how many different patterns of cotton fabric I would use before making my plan. I chose 5 different fabrics at the store, but didn't purchase them yet.

Then, I drew out my plan using a ruler. 10 inches on my quilt = 1 inch on my paper plan, so it was accurate to scale. I numbered each of my 5 fabrics and had a key at the top of the page. After my original plan, I had to make a few adjustments because the fabrics I chose were only 45" wide. Some of my original measurements  exceeded that and I would have had to buy a lot more yardage to make it work. 

Here are my first and second quilt plans:

3rd: Once the plan was complete, I added 1/2 inch seam allowances for each seam and added the total fabric needed for each fabric pattern in inches and then converted it into yards. The total amount of fabric needed for the top was almost 6 yards. The back of the quilt is 6 yards of solid pink flannel. I chose not to use any quilt batting since it is so warm here in Mesa, AZ.

4th: Next, purchased the fabric needed.

5th: Then, cut out all of the pieces. Don't forget to cut each piece with seam allowances. I used a rotary cutter and a cutting mat. That saves a ton of time compared to cutting using fabric scissors.

I checked off each piece on my paper plan as I cut them out so I could keep track. Then I laid out my fabric pieces in a pile in order according to my quilt plan. That just helped me stay organized.

6th: Next, sew each piece of cotton patterned fabric to a corresponding sized piece of flannel fabric with wrong sides together. I sewed an X pattern through each large piece to secure the flannel and cotton together.
7th: Once each piece has a flannel piece attached, start sewing your pieces together into rows with 1/2 inch seam allowances. With a rag quilt, you sew the seams with the two pieces backing-side together. So, with my quilt, pink flannel sides were together. This makes the seam stick up on the top side of the quilt and later will have a cute raggy look. I laid out my rows as I finished each one.

8th: Once all of the rows are completed, sew them together starting at the top and working down. Again, make sure all seams are facing up after sewing each row together.
This is what the seams will look like after sewing:

9th: After all of the quilt pieces are together (woohoo!), sew all the way around the edge, 1/2 inch away from the edge. I used a double needle for this to give the edge added strength. You can look here for great information on how to use a double needle.

10th: Here's the tedious part of rag quilts... trimming the seams. In order for the showing seams to get the cute rag look, they need to cut every 1/4 inch toward and close to the stitches. Using spring-loaded scissors makes this task a bit easier. Be cautious not to cut any of your threads and do this step in several different sessions so you don't kill the tendons in your hand!

Here's how the seams look after being trimmed:

11th: The Final Step is to wash and dry the quilt. I took my quilt to a laundromat and spent $3 in quarters to wash and dry it. I did this because I read somewhere in my rag quilt research that the high amount of strings and lint from the ragged seams could be too much for a residential washer and dryer. The first wash is the only one that has that high amount of lint, so in the future, I'll wash it at home.

I can hardly wait to make another rag quilt sometime soon. Maybe I'll make it really easy and do a baby sized quilt next time. 


I hope this information is helpful!


~ Chelsea ~

Felt Flower Canvas Art

I am so pleased with how this simple and inexpensive project turned out. 

All that is needed for this project is:

an artist canvas (mine is 8"X10")

felt

a hot glue gun

hot glue

Optional: decor for the center, I chose 3 pearl beads

My friend made a flower pillow using the same semi-circle felt pieces, but she sewed them onto the pillow front rather than using hot glue. So many possibilities with this flower!

First, cut out your semi-circles. 

The flower I made is about 9 inches in diameter when completed and it took 19 large and 15 small semicircles of felt. 

Then, practice on your canvas by laying out the felt pieces until you get the design and layout that you are looking for. I tried to keep my flower round and I wanted a few petals to go over the top and bottom edges of the canvas. Experiment before gluing. 

Then, start gluing the large felt semicircles down to the canvas, starting with the outer edge and moving toward the center. Once the large pieces are gone, transition to the small for the center. I gave each petal a little pucker to give the flower more dimension. 

Keep placing your felt pieces with each new row only a few centimeters from the last, or however you placed them when you practiced. Pucker the few center pieces a bit more to create the center of the flower. 

The flower is complete unless you want to add something fun to the center. It could be a button, pearls or anything your heart desires. I think it looks cute with nothing too. 

Finish it off by making sure there are no hot glue strings showing on your art and hang it up or give it away!

~ Chelsea ~

THIS ITEM IS FOR SALE. Click HERE for information. 

Refurbishing the Royal Chair!

I had a lot of fun with this chair that my Grandcuties call "The Kings Chair". I guess it looks large and thronish to them. I was in the mood to be more creative and not worry about if someone would buy it or not. So, this is what came from that mood!
I mixed up a costum color of mostly robins egg blue, vintage white, & chocolate brown acrylic paint and gave the wood 2 light coats with a foam brush. After distressing, I gave it a good spray of clear satin lacquer. I just like doing that. It seals it beautifully and makes cleaning easy.

I took the upholstered seat off and gave it a good cleaning right in my kitchen sink 3 days prior to painting it. I wanted to make sure it was good and dry before painting.


Using one of my favorite stencils, I painted the deep brown color on first. After that was mostly dry I took a small paint brush and added the touches of my custom blue paint on some of the swirly places! I sprayed Scotch Gard on the upholstery after the paint was dry.

The close-up picture shows you just how imperfect it really is. But I still think it looks great and goes with the distressed, rustic look! I figured if I get tired of this look I can always just cover it with some awesome new upholstery!

Look at the beautiful detail that shows so nicely when distressed!

Sanding also helps me to destress a little!

Another great thing about this look is that if it gets a few bumps and scratches it just adds to the character! I think I resemble that remark! *~*Lynda*~*

A few more Shirts

Ok, I promise this is will be the last painted shirts I post on here, at least for a bit. I just love to share some ideas in case any of you are getting into this with me.

So much fun. Fast, easy crafting... just what I enjoy.

And I'm loving making these for personalized gifts for some kiddos that I love. 

~ Chelsea ~