Bath Apron

I got the wonderful idea of a bath apron from a friend on her Secret Stitch blog.

The idea of a bath apron is to keep mom as dry as possible during the splashy bathing process and to have the towel ready to surround baby once they're all clean. I love it! I made this one as a baby shower gift, but will definitely make one for my next baby too.

I apologize that this is the only photo I got of it, but hopefully you get the idea of how it can be used.

To make it, you just need one large bath towel (I got mine at Anna's Linens for about $5), ribbon for the strap and a pack of bias tape. Take your full towel and fold it in half and cut out your shape so it is symmetrical, then unfold and pin and sew on the bias tape and straps. Pretty quick and inexpensive project... my favorites. Check out Christie's tutorial for more details if you need them.

Also, with the scraps that I cut off of the towel, I made a few easy baby bibs by using my favorite bib as a template.

~ Chelsea ~

Mid-Century Accent Tables Turned French Country

I had a very lucky (blessed) day at Goodwill and found 2 awesome accent tables to refurbish! Yippee! As you can see the old varnish had yellowed and it was a little beat up, but I know how to fix that.
TaDa! Pearl White satin paint & Gray Glaze! Just beautiful!

I really liked the pulls just the way they were, so, I cleaned them up a bit.

Look at the gorgeous scrolly cut wood lattice! You know how much I love scrolly details!

The drawers were dove tailed construction! Always a special feature. I found some pretty contact paper at Dollar Tree to line the drawers with.

This next table is really special! The top was very messed up, but it was a very exciting moment when I discovered that I could sand it down to refinish it with some nice dark ebony stain.

How do you like her now?

What a beautiful top! Burl Wood on the edge and Pecan (my best guess) in the center.

These drawers were solid wood, but not dove tailed. A very well-made piece of furniture!

The pulls were beautiful too, but I preferred them painted with black enamel.

~*~Lynda~*~

~3 Gorgeous Wall Shelves~

Here are some fun wall shelves made out of chairs! I really liked the old varnish that was on the backs of 2 of these, so, it didn't get sanded off. I gave them the old worn look by painting 4 different colors of paint and then sanding to expose each layer a little bit here and there.

The paint colors that I chose for this project are ~ first a thick coat of dark brown, next a homemade color of olivey/bluish green, then light aqua and lastly a thin coat of white.

I am very happy how they turned out and I am so excited to actually keep these for our home.

This small little shelf ended up looking great sitting on our buffet instead of hanging on the wall!

I love birds and bird houses!

This is the 3rd shelf that I am showing today. I know it's so cool with all of the rock-n-roll magazine pictures glued to it. It had 3 shaker pegs too, and the 4th one was missing. After looking in 4 different stores for another peg the same size and couldn't find one, I decided to go with plan "b".

I like it a lot better with the 2 awesome hooks from Hob Lob anyway!

I stuck with the distressed look and glazed it with brown!

I also Mod Podged the pretty scrapbook paper on the tops of the 2 shelves! Then gave it a few swipes with the brown glaze!

I love these looks! ~*~Lynda~*~

Another Homemade Toy (Or Pillow)

I made this stuffed owl friend for a Christmas present this past year. 

I loved making it. It was a tad time-consuming, but that is coming from an impatient fast-results crafter. The tutorial I followed was amazing and can be found here. 

Just click on Download PDF and you will have the pattern and instructions.

So fun and cuddly!

~ Chelsea ~

Loving the Look of Gray Glaze!

I found this old door and turned it into an awesome piece of home decor!
I hope that the graffiti on there isn't a really awful slang word. I'm not very up on gang terms. Or maybe it's just from someone being silly and enjoying spray painting on an old door. Now it looks a little different, doesn't it? This picture is actually the other side of the same door (which was very disgusting too). It took 3 coats of paint and one coat of gray tinted glaze. Old wood is very dry and the first two coats of paint soaked right in.

I would like to give a very special "Thank You" to one of my favorite stores for having a half off sale on this gorgeous, old looking, door knob!

I love the half round window. It really looks like etched glass, but it's actually plexiglass. I would also like to mention that I took a fine light aqua colored felt pen and gave this door a few touches here & there. I think it gives more interest and dimension to the paint job.

One more close-up picture of the new finish that's made to look old & worn.

I forgot to take a before picture of this hope chest turned toy box. This was a fun repurpose/refurbish project. I was just asking my Handy Honey if he would build a toy box for our Grandcuties and then I stumbled across this one for free. Blessings come in all sorts of ways!

My Handy Honey did help me to line this toy box. It was a 4-hand job. The lining is a cool silver embossed vinyl! Isn't it pretty?!

I'm a stencil kindof gal. Maybe someday I will be better at freehand drawing, but for now I love stenciling!

Bye for Now ~*~Lynda~*~

Portable Play Road

I love making children's toys. I think that is my favorite when it comes to sewing. 

For my nephew turning two, I made a fabric portable road with a pocket for 2 hot wheels-size cars. This project is a mixture between some car mats I have seen and the crayon rolls I have made in the past. One of the best parts was that I used materials that I had already, thanks to my hefty fabric stash.

Here it is:

I first decided how large I wanted it to be. Then I cut out 2 pieces of the blue cotton fabric that size (plus an inch for seam allowances). Then, I "decorated" one blue piece of fabric by sewing on the strip of black road (leaving an open slot for the car pocket), the felt road stripes and felt stop sign.

The black fabric I used was really different. I'm not sure what it is called because I got it from someone else's fabric scraps, but it is slightly rubbery and smooth on one side and textured on the other side. It doesn't fray, so the cars pocket was simple. Choosing a fabric that doesn't fray for the detailing on this project is preferred. 

 After I added all the details, I sewed the 2 blue pieces of blue fabric with right sides together along 3 edges, leaving one small side for turning right side out. While doing this, I attached the black grosgrain ribbon in the center of one short end. Then, I folded and top-stitched the last short end closed. I also top stitched all around because I like the way that looks and it helps it stay more flat.

Then, I rolled it up with the 2 little cars inside the pocket and I was happy that they stayed in there when it is rolled up tight. I think it turned out great and it makes a great, simple and portable toy that encourages imagination and fun. Goal accomplished!

~ Chelsea ~

A great web-site to get ideas for your HOME!

Here is the link to one of my favorite web-sites ~ http://www.hgtv.com/decorating-basics/index.html . You can find everything under the sun about home & garden on there.

While you're here, I put a few pictures on of a little vignette that I gathered together over my husbands desk. Something really special in this pile of books is a replica of an old Book of Mormon. A book that is another testament of Jesus Christ and has a lot of meaning to us. The stones in an old canning jar are special to us also! They came from a little ranch that we used to own in Snowflake, AZ. We have mixed feelings that we had to sell the ranch, but grateful to have had the time enjoying it and that it still had a lot of equity after our job loss.
Isn't this a precious little wreath? One day 2 of our Grandcuties and I collected these acorns from an oak tree at a park. I love the natural beauty of the acorns!

Pretty Coffee Table

Here is a beautiful coffee table that I picked up at Goodwill. It is loaded with detail! In this first picture I had already given the top a very good sanding leaving it stripped away of the previous finish. You know, that dark stain with pepper flecks that was so popular in the 70's? That's what it looked like.Here's how it ended up!!!!!! Black with some distressing on the bottom and stained on the beautiful oak top.
It had a little damage on the other side, but wood filler and sanding fixed that right up.


I used the Watco stain in a medium walnut color on the top. Then I used my favorite polyurathane over that. That little pile of plastic on the table is something that I want to tell you about. I usually put 2 or 3 layers of the wipe on poly on stained wood finishes. So, while the first coat is drying I wrap my rag right inside of the vinyl glove I am using. This keeps the rag from drying out in between usage. You just have to take your glove off in a way (turning it inside out) that won't be too hard to put it back on later.

In-lays are so amazing to me! This top had 2 of these.


This is a pic before.

And this is a pic after!!!!

I hand painted the black satin paint on with a foam brush in 2 thin coats. I love the look of some wood slightly showing through. Also, I distressed a little to give it that beautiful aged worn look! I also like to spray some clear lacquer over the painted areas for extra protection.

Even though there is no drawer, a pull was added just for extra gorgeousness!

Love the Look! Rustic, Tuscany, Spanish, Country!

~*~Lynda~*~

Easter Flowers Shadow Box

I made this Easter art last year and I was excited to pull it out again as one of my few Easter decorations.

I got the idea for the simple, folded paper flowers from Martha Stewart. You can check out her tutorial online HERE.

I love shadow boxes because they allow a perfect, dust-free place for three-dimensional art such as these flowers. I had this shadow box on hand, so I made the art to fit it perfectly. I attached the flowers and simple green leaves by their centers using fast-drying tacky glue.

You should try out these cute flowers. They also add a little bit of dainty beauty to gift wrapping or cards.

I hope everyone enjoys a beautiful Easter this year!

~ Chelsea ~