My washer/dryer pedestal

Our new house came with some interesting challenges in the laundry room. First off, we couldn't bring our set because our dryer was gas, so we had to sell it. Secondly, if we had brought it, it wouldn't have fit in the space with the pedestals on. We decided to save money the second time around and bought a washer/dryer set without the pedestals with the idea that we would make our own. Here is my inspiration:

source:theidearoom.net
However, I decided I didn't need a beautiful piece of furniture, I just needed a sturdy platform so I didn't have to bend in half to get my clothes out. This is starting to get in the way:

Not to mention that most of our tools and equipment got left behind when we moved. So I set my expectations low and we headed to Lowes. My husband was not excited about this project, but Lowes helped out by cutting all the wood to our exact specifications. All we had to do was put the thing together. I hadn't even planned on painting it, but our handy helper at the store made me realize it would need to be protected from water. Luckily, I had this beautiful orange paint on hand (I ordered it free from Glidden about 3 years ago and never used it. It is a little bright for most projects). For a boring laundry room it is the perfect color and it makes me happy. The walls look a little green in this picture, but they are just cream.

TA-DA! This raises the washer and dryer up about 12 inches and now they are the perfect height. You can see I didn't add any decorative trim/molding-I didn't even try to hide the screws. Other than that we followed the tutorial on how to put this together and I am super happy with the result!

A lunch sack for Logan

 My son is starting a new preschool tomorrow and it goes through lunch time. (11-1:) So, he has to take a lunch. Being the budget savvy mom that I am (read: always looking for a project) I decided he needed a lunch bag instead of buying paper bags. Luckily I had everything on hand. I loosely used this tutorial, except I made it 13x10, added stabilizer and a lining, and a Velcro closure. I cut his name using my Silhouette. It was my first time cutting fabric and it worked perfectly! I ironed fusible webbing on first, then set the machine to cut fabric and two minutes later, perfect letters!

If I did it again, I would sew the velcro tab into the seam between the lining and outside, as well as adding the velcro on the outside before sewing it together.

A quilt

 I went shopping with my sister one day and we found these cute jelly rolls. She bought one and I suggested a few ideas for her to make a quilt. But then I got the itch and decided I had to have the same jelly roll so I could make a quilt. I went back to Joann's and begged a poor lady to look in the back to find me a second roll (Joann's are only half of a "real" jelly roll). Luckily she found one and I went home happy. For a while. Before I could come up with an idea for my find my sewing machine went into the shop (AGAIN!) and of course inspiration struck when I was machine-less. I remembered this quilt and decided to figure it out with my mother-in-laws trusty machine. I tried to go slow, but I had about half the squares done before my machine was finished. Actually that took 4 months so my timeline could be off, but I did get it back in time to finish this beauty. I found the border at a local quilt shop and the backing at another. I decided to bind it with the leftover strips.

For some reason I had trouble with the border stretching when I sewed it on. It was a pain and I can't remember how to make sure it doesn't happen next time, but it was worth it. I love this quilt so much! I am not sure what to do with it, it is baby quilt sized, but I love it. I have already used the leftovers to make a table runner and two hot pads ( I just decided to decorate my  kitchen in these colors-I am loving aqua lately). It is machine quilted on a diagonal next to the middle strips.

Tee shirt refashions

 I accidentally got some fusible webbing on the shirt :( otherwise it would have been really fun

 I sent this one to Theron's sister for her new baby last August

 Look closely at the next one-I wrote on Logan's shirt with washable markers. It was really cute for 1 day.

Swimsuit Re-fashion

Can I call it that? I don't know what else to call it. I bought this swim top last year when ShadeClothing was clearing out all of its inventory. It was the only size they had left, but at $8, I thought it would be worth a shot. Sadly, the bottoms were out of stock by the time I finally ordered (I kept putting off to get the LOWest price). So this year I have been on the hunt for some swim bottoms that would work. You would think black would be easy to work with, but every brand's black is different and some are shinier than others. I thought black and white would work, but it proved harder to find. By the time I went looking my LimeRicki supplier was out of black and white bottoms and I wasn't feeling like paying $7 for shipping $26 bottoms that I wasn't sure would look great. Anyhow, long story short I bought these bottoms and Wal-Mart ($15)that have black in the print.

Then I decided the top was too black and it needed some brightening up. I went to JoAnns, bought some swim fabric ($1.87) and added the ruffle to my swim top. It took FOREVER, but I love how it turned out. While I was at it, I took apart the straps and criss-crossed them in the back because I felt it would stay on better.

Chair Makeover + Craft room accessories

pRemember the chair from this post? Well, I finally decided what to do with it. We donated some wooden chairs to my brother-in-law and so my husband stole my office chair. Out of neccessity I grabbed this one for my craft room and wa-la inspiration! I kind of wanted to paint it green, but I didn't have enough of the floral print to cover the cushion. (I used it all on the curtain)

So I stuck with white.
This chair is not in great shape, so I decided to rough it up with sand paper and clear coat the finished product with spray paint.

I had some purple fabric in my stash that goes with the floral print and it adds some femininity to my blue craft room.

Last but not least, my ironing board. The original cover got destroyed (it was white) so I decided to make a new one. I used the old one as a pattern, cut it out, sewed a casing, and used the original string. It looks like its coming loose, but it stays on just fine.

I suggest measuring your ironing board before buying fabric as one yard was obviously not long enough to cover the whole thing. It was a happy accident though since I got to use some leftover floral to finish it up.

Lydia's Room

 I just made this cute tree out of fabrics left over from Lydia's quilt. I got the idea from trendypeas.com. I bought this frame a long time ago to use the glass for something else. When I got it home the glass was hot-glued into the frame and I broke it trying to get it out. I painted it pink and made a canvas using cardboard, posterboard, spray adhesive, and fabric. Then I attached all of the pieces using fusible webbing.

 Don't mind the black-out curtain-I'll do anything for a few extra minutes of sleep. I made the curtain using a tutorial from makeit-loveit.com, but you won't find it as a curtain, the tutorial is for a shower curtain. I think it could be longer, but I don't have any other coordinating fabrics.

 I found this blue rocking chair and a garage sale a few years ago. Someday I'll refinish it, but it works for now. The dresser I refinished here. The lamp was stolen out of Logan's room and I recovered the lamp shade with coordinating fabrics. (I bought the quilt fabric in 2007? and didn't buy any extra. I had to comb through the fat quarters at Porters to find a few that matched and then do an extensive online search to find a couple yards for the curtain and crib bumber (not shown)). I found the sweet birdcage at DI last week. It had nasty Christmas foliage in and I almost didn't see it. It is a creamy color, so I might spray paint it, but it is a nice contrast to the white dresser so it might stay creamy. I found the green clock and the bird in the cage at Real Deals.

This wall is still a little boring, but I still like it. This is the dress she wore at her baby blessing, it also happens to be the dress I wore when I was a baby. The shelf I already had, I think it's from Target, and the vases were found at DI. On the last wall next to her closet is the changing table and a bow holder that I made. I didn't take a picture of it because, well, that's where I put all the junk that was in the room before I took these pictures.
I don't think this room and 100% yet, but I am loving it. I was really nervous after I painted the walls that I wouldn't like the color, but it has grown on me and is a nice backdrop for the white furniture. Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated.

Thank You card turned Wall Art

I recently changed up the decor in my living room (thank you new couches) and had a bare spot I desperately needed to fill. As I was cleaning off my fridge, I almost threw away this thank-you card when I realized it was the same colors as my new living room. I set it aside for a few weeks before I got brave enough to try what I had in mind.

Finally I bought the paint and decided to go for it. I had a 16x16 canvas hanging around that I bought more than 2 years ago and hadn't done anything with. I decided this would be my canvas. So I scanned in the thank-you card, resized it in a photo-editing program and edited out all of the leaves and background. Then, since I don't have a silhouette (sigh) I printed the design backwards directly onto the back of some vinyl. (Cheap roll stuff you can buy at craft stores) Then I cut out the design and applied the vinyl to my pre-painted canvas.

And started painting

Ta-da! The first layer is finished

I did a similiar process with the leaves, but I didn't take pictures. I ended up painting them twice because I didn't like the first green color that I mixed. I also did a stencil for the leaf centers, but instead of cutting out 9, I just kept using the same one.

I tried two different birds, but settled on this one. Instead of painting in on, I decided to modpodge. Oops! The mod podge was a bit messy and I forgot that it had a glossy finish. I'm not sure what to do about it right now, but I hung it up anyways. Besides that, i really like how it turned out.

Monster Bags

If you haven't been to Ucreate with Kids, you should check it out. I mostly like to look, but sometimes things stick in my head and we actually do them. These fall leaves were really fun and I had everything on hand. I forgot to take a picture, but we made enough to hang in the front entry and even my super artistic brother-in-law asked how we did them.

I found this adorable monster bag tutorial and decided to make it on the spot. The red one is Logan's and even though it somehow turned out really small, Logan loves it. He helped me choose the colors and glued the eyes together. The little pockets in the front hold crayons and markers and we put snacks and paper inside. It's perfect to take to church or in the car. His cousins were intrigued with his monster bag so I decided to make them each one for Christmas. I think they turned out pretty cute.

Halloween Crafts

I wanted to put something in these frames, so I googled around for a while and found frankenstien at this website and adapted him a little. I can't remember where I found the idea for the mummy, but if I did him over again I would tear the paper instead of just cutting it.

*They are both 5x7*

I wanted to do something with the kids silhouettes, and this is what I came up with. I took their profiles, added horn to Logan's and a hat to Lydia's, then printed them out on the opposite side of my vinyl. (If only I had a silhouette:() That way I could cut out the image. I put them on the glass in these shadow box frames with spooky paper behind and I think it turned out cool.

*These are 5x5*

This one doesn't look very exciting, but it filled the space I needed it too. I found a scrap of wood and painted the edges black and orange, then printed out the wording directly onto the orange paper and mod podged it onto the wood.

 

Birthday Shirts

 I decorated this shirt for Logan's second birthday. I found the red tee at DI but it was longsleeved. I shortened them, then cut out the number and letters from felt. I took this picture the day I tore off the design and turned it into a USA shirt for Independence Day:

For his third birthday I tried my hand at freezer paper stenciling. I cut the letters out of freezer paper using the Cricut and went to work. (All this on his actual birthday) I didn't wash his shirt beforehand, but next time I will. The paint cracked after washing the shirt and I think that's why. On the back it says, "What's your excuse."

Lydia's Dresser

Theron's grandparents rescued five of these dressers from the apartments they used to own. Until recently, this one was sitting in their garage storing odds and ends most people wouldn't consider saving. I have been waiting for the renters to move out so I could go and save it.
The hardest part about refinishing old dressers is the non-standard hole centers on the drawer pulls. I decided (a little late) to fill the holes and drill new ones so I wasn't limited to one style of pull. I also filled the center hole on the top drawers because knobs aren't cheap.

First coat of primer. I ended up priming at least twice and then three coats of paint. I meticulously sanded between every coat. The top could probably use another, but its good enough for me.

Logan wanted to paint, so I gave him the awesome responsibility of painting the back. He loved it!

All finished with the new hardware. I ended up going to eBay for the knobs and pulls and am happy with the result. I think I should have sprung for two more knobs, but Theron thinks it would have been too much. Really he just doesn't like me second guessing myself. :)
What do you think? It's for Lydia's room and I'm going for a shabby-chic look. Should I sand down the edges? Add two more knobs? Or just leave it alone?