Sectional Slipcover Part 1

This has been sucking up all of my free time.  This project alone is why you haven't heard from me much lately.  I have to admit that since I see the finish line drawing oh so close, it has been worth it.

When we were budgeting for our bonus room project, there were so many things on the list that seemed to suck up so much money!  Furniture was no exception.  As we looked at different things we could do to save money, it occurred to me that I could convert our old sectional that was sitting in the basement to a sleeker, more contemproary one by making a slipcover for it.  Here is how the sofa started out 

Not exactly what I was dreaming of for our new space, but this sectional has great bones.  That's why I could never get rid of it.  It was a hand me down when we first got married. In spite of being passed around 3 different family households in the last 20 years, the seat cushions are still firm.  Best of all, it is large and comfortable. The scale and profile is a great fit for how we want to use the room, so it was a no brainer to rescue it from the basement (with some modifications).

Here was the plan to update the sectional:
1. remove the skirt and reveal the square, oak legs
2. replace the back cushions with a series of large throw pillows
3. make the slipcover tight and fitted

To begin, I started removing the skirt armed with a pair of needlenose pliers and a screwdriver.  Each piece had a million staples.  I worked in our unfinished basement removing the skirt while my little one slept or played downstairs. It took a long time, but eventually the skirt was gone, and it already started to look updated.

The next step in the plan I'll share with you next time involves yards and yards of aqua fabric as well as a striped accent fabric. I leave you with a teaser of the finished product.

Stay tuned for the next phase.

Easier Than I Thought!

Creating a Meaningful Gallery Wall

Ever since I painted the dresser for my little one's big girl room, I wanted to create a gallery wall above the dresser.  This was months in the making as I gathered frames and items to include. Here it is as it hangs on the wall right now:

Here is how it looks above the dresser:

Gallery walls can be intimidating, but if you break it down to the simple pieces, it's very easy.  To start, I gathered frames and other momentos to include in the collage.

Once I had gathered everything I wanted to include, I laid it on the butcher block island in my kitchen (which was roughly the size of the portion of wall I wanted to use) and left it there for a few days. Every time I walked by I just kept playing with the arrangement until I found something that I liked.  As you can see, it took on several different arrangements.

Then, I settled on this last one and went to work painting the frames white to unify the items.

Since I knew I wanted the gallery to span the width of the dresser, I kept everything within those confines.  I had some blank spaces where I didn't know what I was going to put.  I didn't worry about it, because as time went by, I figured it out and found some things to use.  Almost all the items I used hold some kind of special meaning.

Once we moved the dresser into the room (thanks to my brother and husband for their help moving the bookcases out), I gathered up the items I had prepared for the gallery wall and went to work.  I used the 3M picture hanging strips to hang all of the things on the wall except for the circle frames.  I cut them in half lengthwise (they'll go twice as far) and hung everything using the instructions.

I started from either end and worked my way toward the center using my picture of the arrangement as a guide.  I didn't use a level or anything.  I wanted it to look a little haphazard and not so perfect. 

Here's a list of sources for the items:
Script A: Hobby Lobby
Hearts: yarn hearts we made for Valentine's Day
Dog drawings: pencil drawings by my sister of my little one's favorite stuffed animal
Believe: given to me by a friend when we were trying to conceive our little one
Framed prayer: Now I lay me down to sleep (used to hang in my bedroom as a child)
Flower: made by me
Cross: gift when she was born
Paper dress: made by me
Mirror: Hobby Lobby

 *all frames came from my stash, Hobby Lobby, or IKEA

I'll be sharing tutorials for some of the items here and there.

Easier Than I Thought!

Linked to:  Thrifty Decor Chic Mon.: Skip to My Lou Tues:  Tip Junkie,   Sugar Bee Crafts,  Today's Creative Blog,   Homestories AtoZ Wed:  Gingersnap Crafts,   Sew Much Ado,   Thurs: 36th Avenue,  52 Mantels,   House of Hepworths, Friday:Tatertots and Jello,  Serenity Now,  Whipperberry, Liz Marie Blog, Sat: Classy Clutter,  It's Overflowing  Sun.: I Heart Naptime,

Rapunzel Character T-Shirt

My little one is attending a birthday party on Saturday for one of her friends.  The birthday girl is obsessed with the movie Tangled and is having a Tangled theme for her party.  Since she is going to Disney this summer, I thought it would be fun to make a Rapunzel character shirt for her using a t-shirt.  I styled the shirt to look similar to Rapunzel's dress from the movie:

Here's the shirt I made from an Old Navy tee:

The sleeves and hem are stretch lace elastic, the front is grosgrain ribbon, and the sleeves have satin inserts that create the stripes.  If I get time, I'll write up a little tutorial on how I did it.  This technique would work well to create a few different princess shirts.  It could potentially be one that you could create using fabric glue too!

I hope she enjoys dressing up as Rapunzel in her new shirt.  Happy birthday to our little neighborhood friend!

Easier Than I Thought!

Linked to:  Thrifty Decor Chic Mon.: Skip to My Lou Tues:  Tip Junkie,   Sugar Bee Crafts,  Today's Creative Blog,   Homestories AtoZ Wed:  Gingersnap Crafts,   Sew Much Ado,   Thurs: 36th Avenue,  52 Mantels,   House of Hepworths, Friday:Tatertots and Jello,  Serenity Now,  Whipperberry, Liz Marie Blog, Sat: Classy Clutter,  It's Overflowing  Sun.: I Heart Naptime,

When Stainable Wood Filler Doesn't Stain...

Last week I filled you in on the first roadblock I encountered while staining the steps to the bonus room,  the discoloration in the wood.  Once I removed the discoloration, I was disappointed to see that the stainable wood filler I used to fill the deep screw holes on the treads and risers of the stairs was not absorbing the stain at the same rate as the wood around it.  That meant there were big circles that were lighter in color.

In researching this project, I found this problem with wood filler is called the curse of the woodworker.  I was afraid this would happen from the very beginning and took several precautions to avoid this.  First, I made sure to sand the filler smooth.  Then, I used a wood conditioner and stained the wood before the filler completely cured.  In spite of my efforts, the wood filler still didn't absorb the stain as well as I had hoped.  Every time I looked at the steps, all I saw were the lighter colored circles. 

I had no choice but to find a way to fix it.

The first thing I tried was a stain marker.  I thought if I colored the spots with the stain marker and let the stain absorb longer, the color would catch up.  It worked to a degree. 

Next, it was evident that the circles stood out from the rest of the step because the wood grain couldn't show through the wood filler.  A quick trip to the craft store helped me solve that problem.  I found a dark brown acrylic paint that was similar to the stained color of the dark wood grain and used a small paint brush to paint fake wood grain over the circles of filler.  It make the filler circles disappear almost completely.  Happy! Happy Day!!

The best part about the paint cover up is that the polyurethane will go right over it with no issues.  Now you have to look hard to see where the circles used to be.  Can you find the two hidden circles in the wood grain below?  It's kind of like Where's Waldo now (pretty darn inconspicuous)!

The work continues as I paint the risers and stringers. Then it's on to finishing up with the polyurethane!  Lots of work left to do.

Easier Than I Thought!

Linked to:  Thrifty Decor Chic Mon.: Skip to My Lou Tues:  Tip Junkie,   Sugar Bee Crafts,  Today's Creative Blog,   Homestories AtoZ Wed:  Gingersnap Crafts,   Sew Much Ado,   Thurs: 36th Avenue,  52 Mantels,   House of Hepworths, Friday:Tatertots and Jello,  Serenity Now,  Whipperberry, Liz Marie Blog, Sat: Classy Clutter,  It's Overflowing  Sun.: I Heart Naptime,

Making Cabana Shorts

I took a break from painting the steps the other night to make this adorable pair of cabana shorts for my little one.  It is a free tutorial found here from Living With Punks. They cost me a little less than an hour in time and about $3 in material!

The given pattern is for a 5T and my little girl is a 4T, so they're a little long on her (more like capris), but I love how they turned out. Plus, I think she will be able to wear them next year!

 Like the creator's daughter, she liked them because the billowing legs made her think it was a skirt.  When I put them on her she said, "ohhh, a skirt." I guess ruffles=skirt. She loves skirts!  

The other thing that I love is the versatility.  They're a little dressy-looking but rugged enough to wear to the playground on a windy day (as evidenced below).

 

I think I will be making another pair soon.

Easier Than I Thought!

Linked to:  Thrifty Decor Chic Mon.: Skip to My Lou Tues:  Tip Junkie,   Sugar Bee Crafts,  Today's Creative Blog,   Homestories AtoZ Wed:  Gingersnap Crafts,   Sew Much Ado,   Thurs: 36th Avenue,  52 Mantels,   House of Hepworths, Friday:Tatertots and Jello,  Serenity Now,  Whipperberry, Liz Marie Blog, Sat: Classy Clutter,  It's Overflowing  Sun.: I Heart Naptime,

Staining and Removing Discoloration from Wood

I have been working on the stairs leading to the bonus room. They have been under plywood treads and rosin paper since we moved in.  When I removed the protective covering last week, the naked wood showed in all of its glory and I was excited to take them from this:

to something like this:

via Houzz

I am working on staining the treads, then I will paint the risers a dark color and paint the stringers and baseboard white (similar to the Houzz pic above).

I am a novice when it comes to staining.  I have used stain on a few projects, but not on one of this scale.  I have learned a lot over the last couple of weeks.

The first problem I encountered when staining the treads was that there was a mysterious stain that appeared on the bottom two stairs once I applied the stain.  It looked like greasy fingerprints or bootprints.  You can see it in this picture:

The picture doesn't do it justice.  It looked bad.  I couldn't disguise it in the wood grain because it was so much darker and appeared blotchy.  My guess was maybe it was a water stain. I was really bummed.

After some research, I tried bleach and it worked!  Here's the secret: If you have a dark stain on wood that has been previously stained, you can try bleach.  Spray it on and let it sit for about 15 min.  You can do this about three times.  If the stain doesn't come out after that, it probably won't.  Next, spray with a one part vinegar and one part water solution and let it dry.  A quick sanding will help the stain adhere over the top.
*Obviously, this trick only works if you intend on refinishing the piece and apply stain in the end.

I don't have an after picture, but the stain is gone.  The bleach worked pretty darn well!

My staining woes unfortunately don't end there.  I'll be sharing how I overcame stainable wood filler that wouldn't stain in a future post.

Easier Than I Thought!

Linked to:  Thrifty Decor Chic Mon.: Skip to My Lou Tues:  Tip Junkie,   Sugar Bee Crafts,  Today's Creative Blog,   Homestories AtoZ Wed:  Gingersnap Crafts,   Sew Much Ado,   Thurs: 36th Avenue,  52 Mantels,   House of Hepworths, Friday:Tatertots and Jello,  Serenity Now,  Whipperberry, Liz Marie Blog, Sat: Classy Clutter,  It's Overflowing  Sun.: I Heart Naptime,

Trike/Bike Bucket

Since it has warmed up, my little one is wanting to go out every day to ride the Radio Flyer trike she got for her birthday.  After watching her try to balance her baby on the back of her trike, I decided she needed a basket or bucket to tote around all her goodies.   I have had this tutorial from Noodlehead pinned forever in anticipation that this project would come up one day.

 I let my little one pick out the fabric and spent about an hour making it one night last week after she went to bed.  The stiff interfacing helps it keep the cylindrical shape. The only change I had to make from the original tutorial was to separate the velcro strip on the back into two pieces to allow for the bar between the handlebars.

The first thing she wanted to put in it was a paint stick she got from Lowe's and some rocks.  Toys are way over-rated:)

Happy trike trails!

Easier Than I Thought! 

Linked to:  Thrifty Decor Chic Mon.: Skip to My Lou Tues:  Tip Junkie,   Sugar Bee Crafts,  Today's Creative Blog,   Homestories AtoZ Wed:  Gingersnap Crafts,   Sew Much Ado,   Thurs: 36th Avenue,  52 Mantels,   House of Hepworths, Friday:Tatertots and Jello,  Serenity Now,  Whipperberry, Liz Marie Blog, Sat: Classy Clutter,  It's Overflowing  Sun.: I Heart Naptime,