Living Room Makeover!

I needed a shelf above my TV and this was the perfect solution!  I can't take the credit though.  All I did was paint, sand and stain it.  There is a guy in our ward that owns a wood store and sells things unfinished and at such a good price!  I added the hardware-all by myself I might add.  Yah I even used the powerdrill...with no man help.  I found the perfect turquoise vases and white flowers to go with it too.  I have a different frame that I am putting there, but I haven't painted it yet.

I also wanted a bookshelf thing in the corner to replace some old college-days fake crap (can you tell I had bitter feelings).  So I found this beauty on Craigslist, and had the husband bargain a little for a good deal.  I painted it the perfect red :) and stained it!  I could not love it more!!

Then I got to go shopping for some new decor!  I added some yellow, blue, and red to go with the rest of the room.  I still want to get some yellow bookends of some sort.  I just ran out of energy.  Can you imagine me, 8.5 months pregnant out in the garage painting 4 freaking coats of this paint on?!  The fumes and hard to reach areas about killed me!

Here is the new look!  I had to move around a couple of other wall decorations too, but it all worked out and I feel like I have a new living room!

I know we've already seen this table, but this is the decor I think I have finally settled on.  I have changed it so many times.

Blue Entry Table!

Aaaah!  I can't believe I forgot to take a "before" picture!  Just use your imagination and pretend it was all black with distressed edges.  This is with the first coat of blue paint.

This is with it sanded and stained.

And here we have it upstairs and all decorated.  I obviously need to update some decor, but one step at a time.  For now this will do!

Then I made this runner (with the same lamp fabric) to put on top of the bright piece of furniture.  I thought it would tone it down a little.  Maybe not.  But I love the color combo!

b&w lamp shade

Remember I said I would be tying in some more black and white?!  Well, I was just sick of this old style red lamp and I got a killer deal on this fabric at JoAnn's.  Since I was an expert (from doing it one whole time before)  :) I went to town with the glue gun and a new shaped shade.  I love it!

More blue for the living room.

I bought these cute little knobs at the craft store and threw some paint on them.

I thought they would be perfect to hang these existing boards on  -just to add some color and tie in the blue.  I also changed out the ribbon to a black and white paisley.  I have some of that to tie in also!

I got this cute family sign from a friend a while back.  It was super cute, but i decided to add some color to it while we're at it!  I forgot to take a before picture, so yes, this is the back, but it looked the same on the front...sort of. 

I Picked out some paint in all the colors I am trying to accent with.

Then I sanded the edged and then stained them darker.  Looks cute huh!? 

Quiet Books

Okay, I'm a nerd, but I am totally excited about these!  In fact I just finished them today and I am already blogging about it!  I was craft-blog-surfing yesterday (I love to do that on Sundays for some reason) and I found these free printable flashcard type things.  They are all church related and perfect for my kids!  I always wanted to make one of those fabric quiet books with all the zippers and buttons and all that...but lets face it, who has time for that??? I think my procrastinating paid off and now my kids are too old... right...two of them at least?

These topics are so basic and they are just right for kids.

Perfect!  The kids are all starting to memorize the Articles of Faith!

Okay, so I realize there's not a lot of "crafting" going on here, but can I just tell you how much I love simple and cheap projects?!  All I did was download these pictures, order them as 4x6 prints at Sam's Club one hour.  Then I planned on laminating and binding them...but I got smart and decided it would be cheaper (and a lot less work) to just buy $1.99 brag books and shove them in there.  SO easy and I LOVE the results!

We are headed out for a LONG car drive next week, so I decided to make a little learning book for my 2 yr old.  I think he might actually look at it because he loves cars so much!

And the final product.  I hope my kids will actually look at these in church and maybe learn something???  Maybe we will take these in the car too!

Boring Living Room Re-do

Step One: recover lampshade.  It was a beige color and it blended right in with the wall...boring.  So I bought a new shade, with a cooler shape, at Target, and some cute fabric at JoAnne's and used a lot of hot glue.   I am really digging this turquoise color lately with black or brown...or maybe both!  So I am going to try and add a little color slowly to the whole room, starting with this blue.

And I had these tan colored stick thingies in this vase, also blended right in with the wall, so I found super cute new ones at TJMaxx the other day for sooo cheap!  I love the colors with the blue!

Then I found this awesome pillow there too.  I am so in love with it.  I only wish there were two.  But that's the sacrifice you make when you shop at those kinds of stores I guess!  Take what you can find.  Plus I think I will go for lots of different color pillows anyway, not just turquoise.  Like yellow and black&white and maybe red.  Ooh, sounds fun doesn't it?!  Next step is buying some furniture to paint and distress.  I am going for a "shabby chic" meets semi-modern look.  I am sick of the old red, green, brown...blah blah blah....wish me luck!

Cars blanket for my little buddy

I wish you could all feel how SOFT this is!!!  They have this really expensive material at Madsen's (the polka-dot one) that I have always wanted to use, but not pay the price for!  I finally had the perfect project for it.  I bought this remnant of Cars fabric like 2 yrs ago for dirt cheap.  My oldest was over it, but about 3 months ago my 2 yr old fell in love with all things Cars.  I thought the fabric was a little cheesy, and there wasn't enough for a full blanket, so I decided to cool it up with a strip of this (totally affordable if only buying 1/2 yd) and brown minky on the back. I am sooo in love with it, and it is so soft, did I mention that already?! 

The real test was if Owen liked it...uh yaahh!  He asked me almost every day if I had "worked on it" -he went with me to buy the fabric, so he kinda knew what was going on.  He was soooo excited when it was finished.

I love how he points to all the characters and tells me their names.

He has snuggled it to sleep for every nap and at bedtime since he got it.  I'm way into this "quilt" pattern and can't wait to splurge on some more ridiculously over priced fabric for the new baby!

$3 Nightstand

Yah, you read that right....$3.00!!!  Wahoo!  I never find good deals at DI.  I always wonder how people do, but this one time I got lucky!!  I found this little beauty there and saw some potential for my little girls room.  She's been needing a nightstand for a while now.

Now I will admit, I started this project in September...finished it in October...just posting now! 

AFTER!!  A little pink pain, some dark stain and sanding!

Oh and a little glass knob.  I LOVE how it turned out!  It looks so cute in her room.  

HALLOWEEN PILLOWS!

I took the kids to the fabric store and let them each pick out fabric for a pillow case.  They thought that was pretty cool, and I think they did a really great job!!!  I love the way they turned out, we might have to carry on the tradition for each holiday now.  I have trick or treat bags too, pictures to come!

ALRIGHT...just ONE more SKIRT ...i SWEAR!
I really couldn't resist this pink and black TWIRLY skirt!

The layers, all ready to sew together

I love gathering. It takes forever, but cutest results ever!

Throw that elastic in there... so much easier than a zipper!

I had the fun idea of adding black tulle to the bottom tier. I LOVE it!

Looks like a skirt...getting excited to try it on Lucy. Of course I only get a chance to sew at midnight, so I have to wait until she wakes up the next morning to try things on! She usually loves anything I make her so it's worth the wait!

The finished product!
When people tell her it's cute, she always says "it a twirly skirt" and then gives them a little spin!

A TU-TU for my princess!

Yah, she already has one, and a bunch of dress-up clothes...but what little girl doesn't love another poofy, twirly, girly tutu!?

Once again, went with the pink and black!
I saw a photographer that had a little girl with only a pink and black tutu, and matching pink and black headband/flower on. It looked sooo cute!

This one was really easy. I just got a thick piece of black elastic and tied strips of dark pink, light pink, white and black around it. Sewed it together (after measuring her waist of course) attached some pink flowers from my stock pile and done!

STAMPING METAL
How fun! I saw this on someone's blog and thought it would be fun to do with my activity days girls. But for now I practiced on my kids!

I went to the hardware store by myself (lol) and found this metal stamp set and some flat washers. It was pretty comical to see me at Harbor Freight. Luckily I ran into a fellow crafter there, so we laughed together!

I stamped the letters, then colored them in with a black sharpie. I wiped the excess off very quickly, and voila! (my kids love to say that)

If I were cooler, I would put this on a real chain and make it look more professional. But for now, the ribbon and bead will have to do.



KEYCHAIN
I have seen these (well, similar) for sell at craft boutiques and almost bought one. Then I found a tutorial online to make my own!

You just sew two coordinating pieces together, with some interfacing in between. Then you add a keychain loopy thing.

Sew it together and add some decorative ribbon!

The stitching is not perfect, so don't look too close! But from far away it is way cute. I love how easy it is to find my keys in my purse!