Around the House: Bringing the Outdoors In

chair

See the amazing chair above? That right there is the closest I ever want to get to camping. Just looking at that breath-taking chair, I can feel the sun on my face, smell the pines and relax. All the bliss and none of the yucky stuff like port-a-potties, bugs, no showers, sleeping on the ground and the like. I've been camping... once! Not my cup of tea. But that doesn't mean I can't enjoy all the beauty and fun that camping has to offer. It seems there are many who would agree with me...

embroidery chairs

rug

curtains

joel dewberry fabric

tent

sweetie pie bakery

bird camper

The fantastic irony of this little post is that while typing I was attacked by a huge fly. Okay, attacked is a strong word, but the noise their little wings make when swirling past my ears gives me the creeps. And yes, I realize I'm little neurotic. Oh, before I go I wanted to show you the amazing vintage pillowcase my husband picked up at a thrift store years ago. (The inspiration for today's post.) It reminds me of the pine trees on my Grandparent's old farm in North Carolina. Today the pillowcase is treasured by my oldest!  Happy Monday. May you enjoy all the outdoors has to offer - inside and out! xo

lovely isn't it?

Need a Lift? Step Stools

The above photo is my entry for the March styling challenge hosted by Miss Holly of decor8 on Flickr. I've never done one of these challenges but I was quite happy with the results. So, it stayed up in our living room with a couple modifications: no more nightgown, added white vintage magazine rack.

I scored this lovely little kitchen step stool at an estate sale for $10.00. I know...score! I have wanted one of these step stools ever since I saw one in my husband's grandparent's house. They're so cute! As first I thought I would use it as a kitchen seat for my youngest. Scratch that so not safe idea. I've found it's quite perfect for our living room and goes extremely well with our green couch. Even my husband likes it! Whoa!

Here's a look at some other kitchen step stools I found via flickr. I adore the color in these images and the fabric choices of the ones recovered are brilliant!

1. New Red Chair, 2. stool, 3. kitchen, 4. Recovered Vintage Step Stool

The red stool above is from Cosco. I'm glad someone it still making this classic. Here's a look at some other choices out there:

I have to say, this one via Home Depot is pretty cool and a great price - $9.99, but what if you need more height?

Then there's your basic step stool/ladder (again Home Depot) that offers height but isn't so cute. There are a lot of choices out there - basic step stool, small step ladder, the chair step stool combo and more. What's your pick? Whichever, they're all sure to give you the boost you need. Some just do it with a little more style! xo

Tutorial: Floral Cushions

Hello and happy Tuesday to you. Remember the chairs I showed you last week that I wanted to recover with that amazing green floral fabric? Well they're done and I thought I'd show you how I did it. For the record, I'm head over heels in love with the way they turned out!

When I bought these chairs at the garage sale they had been sitting outside for years and the cushions really showed it. So, I bought new square cushion at Micheal's and rounded the corners with scissors to match the shape of the chairs.

Then I traced around the cushions adding a half inch to make my pattern. Since this was a redo from my first job, I took the old covers off, ripped the seams, pressed them and used them to make my new pattern.

I then pinned down my "pattern" to the floral fabric right side to right side and cut them out.  When I first made these cushions, I cut the back piece of the cushion in half, added 2 inches to the top half and 3 inches to the bottom half to allow me to take the cushion covers off easily for washing. (I try to avoid zippers at all cost!)

Tip: The fabric is folded in half so that I cut out two chair cushions at once.

Once the new floral fabric pieces were all cut out, I pressed the seams for the top and bottom back pieces to prepare them for sewing, thus creating finished edges. After pressing, to the sewing machine they went where each top and bottom back piece edge was sewn at 1/2 inch.

Upon finishing all raw edges on the back pieces, I laid my top pieces right side up and put my top back piece down first (right side to right side) lining up my edges and then I put the back bottom piece down (right side to right side) and pinned all the way around to prepare for sewing. All that's left is sewing all around the fabric at 1/2 inch and voila...new seat cushions.

Now that all pieces have been sewn together, simply turn them right side out and insert seat cushion. That's it. Pretty easy right? Now sit back and enjoy with a nice cup of coffee or tea. It's coffee for me! xo

Floral Inspiration

When I first saw the image above it was love at first sight. The flowers, the colors...heaven! It's so beautiful. I want to be transported here and have a lunch with some of my best girlfriends, all dressed to the nines and wearing lipstick. Since becoming a stay at home mom, all special events are marked by the wearing of lipstick.

Since I can't make the above dining room mine, it's time for a little makeover of my own dining room. Our current chairs, which I totally scored at a garage sale for $100.00, are covered in a black and white fabric. I thought it would be perfect to do a dark printed fabric since children can be messy. Good idea right? Well, the print is pretty big and there is still a lot of white space. Enter stains. As hard as I try, and the kids try too, accidents happen. End result - embarrassing stains on almost every chair. Not the most appetizing thing to see as you sit down to enjoy a lovely meal.

As I was saying, I knew it was time for a dining room chair makeover after seeing those amazing floral chairs. I began the hunt. First I visited some of my favorite fabric sites - no luck. Then I tried looking for Waverly fabric because my mother-in-law said the floral print looked like vintage Waverly. Still no luck. Finally I visited ebay; which I should have done in the first place. Hooray, hooray, hooray. I found some beautiful green floral fabric (3.5 yards) on ebay for under $20.00. I was so excited. I bid and I won!!!

Here's a look at the incredibly beautiful vintage green floral fabric and a mockup of the soon to be finished product! I'm so excited I can hardly stand it. Stains don't stand a chance of showing up on this fabric! xo

first image via living,etc.

Sittin' Pretty

One down - three to go!

I have to say, one of the coolest things about buying vintage pieces is that you never know what you'll uncover. When I took off the fabric that my Mother-in-law had used to recover these chairs, I was pleasantly surprised to find the "original" fabric. It's a super cool retro 50's or 60's floral print in blues, greens and golds. Oh gosh, it's so lovely! I'd show you, but I'm afraid that many of you would gasp if you saw what I was covering up. It truly is a shame. Unfortunately I have not been able to talk my husband into it allowing the lovely fabric to remain "uncovered." It's much more my style than his. So, until I can talk him into the floral, I'm pretty happy with the end results here. Now if I could just get the chairs painted white! There's always more to be done.

I'm curious... after my first little tutorial, did you learn anything? Is there anything you would have done differently? Gimme some feedback if you're out there! I'd love to hear from you. Have a wonderful weekend enjoying all the wonderful things around you. xo

I Think I Can...

Okay, I would like to begin this post by asking for a LOT of understanding and a little grace. I am NO photographer. I leave that up to my amazing husband. So, the photos included in this post are anything but good and it's a dark dreary morning here in Dallas so there is no natural light to speak of. Moving on...

Once you have removed the cushion from the chair, it's time to remove the fabric and the many staples that hold her in place. I like using a flathead screwdriver to get under the staples and pull up on the center. Once that is complete all the way around, I use needle-nose pliers to remove the staple completely.

Eco Tip: Hold onto the fabric you are removing from the chair (if you like it) and use it for something else later on down the road. There's no sense in adding to the landfill. (I am using this butterfly fabric to make new cushions for our couch - a little Spring update.)

Next up, cut out your new fabric using the fabric you removed as a pattern/template. Make sure the fabric is right side down and then place your cushion on top to begin recovering.

Tip: Always staple the center of the sides first and pull fabric taught. This will make sure the fabric is centered and stays put throughout the remainder of the stapling process.

Once you have stapled the centers of your edges, finish stapling all around while pulling the fabric taught each time. I save corners for last (with two to three inches of fabric play on each side of the corners) and try my best to miter them. Then I staple the heck out of the corner to make sure it's secure! (I'm quite sure that professionals don't do it that way, but I am no professional.) On that note, it should be said that any time you do a project like this or make something by hand there are bound to be slight imperfections. I have come to embrace that as part of the charm of handmade and DIY. I hope you too can embrace the imperfections of your projects. After all, no one is perfect.

I'll post the finished piece tomorrow and the completed set in my kitchen on Monday. Have a fabulous day enjoying life's imperfections! xo