Entry Way Bench

I'm re-doing the "from the garage" entry. We moved the sofa table into the closet to make room for the Ikea Expedit Bookcase we picked up in Salt Lake. I've been super excited to build it and finally got around to it!

To make the bench seat I cut down some MDF board that was left over from my craft table! (Love it when I don't have to buy anything for a new project!)

Its important to note in this picture that I am using a pruning hand saw. Yes, a pruning saw. Awesome doesn't feel that it is safe for me to use a saw. *eye roll* And also it's expensive. Which I do agree with. Use what you have. It took awhile but I at last I cut through!

Next step was to cut the foam to size. Luckily, the craft store cut down the length exact but I had to narrow it down. I tried the pruning saw again but that was a fail. But a box cutter was like butter.

I cleared off a space, placed the fabric right side down, then the foam, then the MDF. Pulled up the edges, folded them over and used a staple gun to go through the folded fabric and MDF. Super easy and clean cut. Kind of fumbled on the corners but they are good enough.

Here's the finished bench!! I love it. And the vintage feel.

Pouf Chair Extravaganza

I decided I'm going to try to sell these in the fall when all of the holiday craft bazaars are going on. Not sure for how much, not sure if I'm going to make different sizes, don't really know much of anything yet! But I've been busy sewing and sewing and sewing to build up a little stock pile! I have a total of 7 made with probably enough fabric for about 3 more. I try to exclusively buy super sale or remnant fabric...

List of Completed Pouf Chairs: 

Purple and Grey

Purple

Light Blue

Teal

Blue and Green x2 

Summer Floral

My First Quilt

One of my friends recently posted a video on how to do a "Jelly Roll" Quilt top in less than an hour! Wow. That sounded like my kind of project. I watched the whole video and it didn't sound like anything I could handle so I started looking for jelly rolls on Amazon and was immediately overwhelmed and gave up--to save this project for another day.

But while walking through Joann's the other day I spotted these little beauties! I could not resist.  

In the jelly roll video the rolls were quite large so I bought two of these smaller ones and crossed my fingers that it would be the right size. And I followed this tutorial.  Here is how the top turned out without the borders.

I think its important to mention here that in the video it tells you to take the strips right of the roll. Which is what I did and the rows did not turn out as randomized as hers did in the video. I figured out that the smaller jelly rolls rotate the patterns and the larger ones stack each pattern then move to the next one. I made another one not pictured and separated the patterns out and it looked much better. 

I added a grey and a teal border just to square it up. I think it makes it look much better. It turned out HUMONGOUS. So it will have to wait until she's older before she can use it but i still love it. Some mistakes but overall I'm happy.

For the back I used a Minky super soft grey fabric that I love! it was like $14.99 a yard luckily I had a coupon.

Super happy with my first ever quilt!! 

Rag Quilts. Or as I like to call them: Stupid.

My super sweet and talented Mother made the most adorable rag quilts for both of my little ones when they were born. They are so soft and perfect for tummy time when the babies are small. 
She made each of my kids 2 and also made some for other people too. I figured, she's probably made over 20. Since she's made so many... how hard could they be to make. Mistake #1. 
So Joann's was having a sale on flannel so I bought 6-1yd patterns to make my first rag quilts. Let me tell you, I was excited. One of my friends is having a boy so I bought all blue and green. Adorable. 
So it was finally time for a new project and I remembered reading one time to cut the raw quilt squares 5"x5"... And instead of double checking the instructions on Pinterest or calling my Mom I just started cutting. Mistake #2. The squares should have been 8"x8" and would have saved my sanity while cutting. I cut 2 yards of fabric with scissors and thought to myself and quite possibly out loud. That this is stupid. Luckily, I was already stopping at the fabric store later that day so I picked up a rotary cutter. A new favorite toy that saved my sanity and made cutting the last 4 yards much easier. 
*Only 1 accident with the rotary cutter. But it was a fairly bad one. I had both the kids home and it happened in the morning, and I was NOT about to spend the day with 2 kids in the doctors office to get stitches. So, I used superglue to close the big slice (after cleaning it out and all that). I wouldn't recommend it. and it KILLED and separated again after just a day but luckily not as deep. Now its all healed and just a small scar is left. No biggie. 

Once it was all done, I decided to stitch X's across, like I had seen in a post. Mistake #3. A quick call to my Mom again would have confirmed that this is an unneeded step because I was not using batting. Oh well. Here are all my stacks all done. Whew. 

After this step, putting the blankets together was really a sinch. Just lay out the pattern you want and stitch the rows together. This by far was my favorite part. I finished sewing them together in no time. 

Now the cutting. Back to Stupid. Now my scissors could use some sharpening but they are not the right kind apparently. After cutting one whole blanket and destroying hands with my horrible scissors, I called my mom and said "HOW DID YOU DO THIS SO MANY TIMES??"
It was awful. And she told me I needed to get these amazing scissors called "Rag Quilt Scissors" that have a spring and will save your life...or your hands anyway. 

I found them and you better believe I bought them! They are essential for anyone making these blankets. It made cutting the other 2 blankets a piece of cake. 
Here are my masterpieces: 

This one I think is probably my favorite. Its a safari print that I have never seen before and I love the blue and green multicolored chevron. 

The other 2 are practically the same just different designs. 

Things I learned: 
1. Bigger Squares: 8" 10" or 12"
2. Don't X if you aren't using batting
3. Use a Rotary Cutter *just watch your fingers when cutting!
4. Use Rag Quilt scissors--A MUST
5. Don't wash the fabric before you cut. You have to wash it when you are done anyway.


Materials and Cost:
6 yards of flannel: I don't remember and can't find the receipt but it was all 60% off. Wait for a sale if you can!
Rotary Cutter and Mat: $12
Rag Quilt Scissors: $14
TIME: ALOT.

Total: Approx. $15/blanket but that includes the scissors.

>> I was able to get THREE baby blankets for the amount of flannel I purchased and I was only expecting 1, so that was a nice bonus for me. 

So 6 yards of fabric, cut 5"x5" squares, makes 3 blankets and not pictured I had enough for a burp cloth too.

I won't say that I will never make any of these again...but I probably won't. They were not my favorite project. But they did turn out pretty cute. 

The Reading Corner

Once Upon A Time...
I was just like everyone else, slightly obsessed with Pinterest, but lacking motivation to actually complete any project that I pinned. UNTIL The "Ikea Spice Rack Bookshelves"...
This was my first ever Pinterest Craft/Project and it turned out so well that we even packed them and brought them to our new home!
Here is a picture when they were first finished:

So beautiful. I loved them so much, and they were perfect size and height for Little Man to use.
Anyway, since in the new house we have a "Play Room" I wanted there to be a designated space for reading and story time. So I began pinning all the things I wanted to have in the Reading Corner, and then started searching and crafting!

First Stop was an old antique and collectibles shop where I found all kinds of goodies for more projects!

I ended up walking away with an oil lamp, some apothecary bottles and jars, some serving trays, old door knobs and exactly what I was looking for a little kids rocking chair!!

I don't want to discuss how much I paid but I got what I wanted, I was looking for an upcycle project, and let's just put it this way, I paid way too much!
I already made the pouf chairs for the reading corner so I knew what colors I wanted and got to work refinishing the chair.

It was in pretty rough shape and took a lot of sanding and elbow grease to get it looking decent. Most importantly I wanted it smooth since my kiddos were going to be sitting in it--No Splinters Please!

Then I started Painting. I chose not to stain, not really sure why I guess I just wanted some color?
Anyway here it is! Before, In Progress, and AFTER! I LOVE it. 

After it was done I decided it needed a cushion and I had plenty of left over scraps from the poufs so I got to work and now it all matches. 

So now I just had to remount the Ikea Spice Rack Bookshelves and call this project DONE! 

My New Reading Corner in the playroom. Now let's just hope the munchkins love reading as much as I do. 

Material and Cost: 

4 Ikea Spice Racks: $3/each

White, Purple, Blue Paint: $1/each

Pouf Chair Costs: $18/each

Rocking Chair-antique store: *ahem* $40

Sandpaper-Owned: Free

READ letters: $2/each

Total Project/Corner Costs: $99*

*I know I know... paying $40 for the rocker is what KILLED my budget for this project but I still love it. And Awesome hasn't been too upset over my crafting costs lately! Thank heaven for great husbands! :-)

Winner Winner!! --- Update!

This month is National Craft Month and there are quite a few contests going on! The first one I found is on instagram and it is put on my Joann Fabric Stores. Since I've spent $$BIG$$ money there recently (lets not talk about how much just in case Awesome happens to read this) I figured why not enter! I was a few days late when I finally found it, but it is a "post a day" contest for the whole month of March, and each day features a different thing to post. For instance Day 2, was favorite Upcycle Project and since I just finished my buffet cabinet: perfect!

Long story short (well long now) we won't know the winner for a few more days and I am so anxious! I have posted everyday since I think day 4 so I feel like I have a shot. And I did the math >>Nerd Alert<< and based on my calculations *pushes glasses on nose* I believe there are only 135~ish people participating every day and they are giving away FIVE $250 gift cards. So stay tuned...

Fingers crossed, throw some salt, knock on wood, rub the rabbit foot and say a prayer! 

Anyway, while participating in that contest, I ran across ANOTHER giveaway on a different profile on Instagram. I had never heard of her site before but I figured why not give it a shot! This giveaway is every Monday they give away a $50 Michael's Stores gift card to someone with the best/most voted project of the week. The first week I posted a picture of the Rocking Chair (blog post coming soon) that I up cycled but sadly I was not a winner. The next week I posed everything! The Be the Good Board, the Buffet Cabinet, the Time Out Chair, and probably like 10 others.

And............. I WON!!

Thank you CherylStyle for picking my chair and making me a Craft Month Winner! My first ever contest, giveaway, or anything VICTORY! So stoked! Can't wait to keep crafting'!

UPDATE!!: 

I received my box/giftcard from CherylStyle and they sent me all kinds of goodies! Thank you!

So excited to plan another project! 

Craft Night with my Mom and lil Sis.

Back in October I went out to visit my Mom and little Sister and we had a craft night at our church. We signed up for projects ahead of time and made them as a huge group one night.
The three projects I signed up for were: (and I believe I paid $20 for the supplies for all three)
1. A "Be the Good" Sign
2. A 3 Wise Men Photo Block
3. A Photo Block of the Prophet of our Church (to learn more about our church visit here)
The goal was to complete all three projects from start to finish in 3 hours! My kind of night!

First, the Be the Good Sign:
We started with this one because we had to stain the 1"x4" planks first. It took some time for it to dry because it was night time...in Colorado... in October... So of course there was snow on the ground and moisture in the air! Let's just say it took awhile.

Then, once that was dry, we took nails, hammers and hangers and beat the heck out of the planks to give it that distressed look. then I sanded the edges again to give it some definition. Once all that was done then you paint the letters. We used a stencil and regular craft paint with sponges--literally took me about 5 minutes. Then you screw the boards together with 3 pieces of scrap wood on the back and hang some picture wire and BOOM, an awesome piece of decor with that DIY touch! I love it.

So while those were drying we started on the photo blocks. Pieces of 2"x4" wood cut to the size of a 4"x6" photo. We used sand paper to smooth off the edges and then painted them so the photo could have a background color. Since I chose white, it took mine a bit longer because I had to do more coats than those who chose to use black. Anyway once the paint was dry, you use Mod Podge, in either Matte or Gloss, and paste the photo (or in our case picture printed paper). Super, super easy. Here are the finished photo blocks: