Green Polka Dot Chair Makeover

Today I thought I would share my green polka dot chair makeover. I reupholstered this chair last year, so it's an old project, but I never shared it, so it's new to you!!

It was the very first time I had ever recovered anything bigger than a seat cushion, so I was a little nervous, and wasn't sure if it would turn out. But after some googling, I felt confident enough, to at least try. Plus check out this before, it's not like I had a lot to lose.

The chair had become "Chumba's chair", it was full of dog hair, and it looked like it was falling apart. My mother and father in law had given it to us years before, and when we moved to Nevada, my father in law actually asked me why I wanted them to bring the chair to us, from California. I told him my plans for the chair, but he didn't see the potential.

It's super comfy, and it was my favorite place to sit during my many sleepless nights I had with Riley. I'd just throw a blanket over it, and I was good to go. The big cushy arms, and the fact that it reclines were really nice, and the wings on the sides made a perfect spot to rest my head, I would fall asleep with him in my arms, and actually be comfortable.

Once I picked the fabric, it took me months to actually start recovering it, it was a huge project!! I took tons of pictures while I took it all apart, to remember how, and the order that everything went back together. Of course, once I started putting it back together, I didn't take progress pics, so I have nothing else to actually share.

After lots of sewing, and pulling and tucking and stapling and stopping to admire how far I'd gotten, I finally finished!! 

I planned on painting the legs, I still think about it sometimes, but I kinda like them the way they are. They look good with the other natural elements I have in the room. It's in my living room, although these pictures were taken in a then empty playroom.

Here is a detail shot, you can see the piping real good here.

I really wish I had added new foam and stuff when I recovered it, but I didn't realize how badly it needed it until I was finished. I was saying that to Mitch the other day, and I said, "Oh well, maybe next time." He looked at me like I was nuts, but it's a solid little chair, so who knows, I just might give it another makeover in a few years!

This last shot is with Howdy Cow, he has been around since Riley's first birthday. It was Barnyard themed, so he was part of the decoration, plus a present from mommy and daddy. Riley likes to have us bounce on him, while he rides horse on a stick, and we chase each other around the house and make animal noises. It's kinda exhausting, but he loves it so much, we can resist!!

♥ Kim

Linking up here: Today's Creative Blog, A Bowl Full of Lemons

I ♥ Blue

I seriously LOVE blue.

Especially turquoise blue.

I'm sure you've noticed that in Riley's nursery. In fact, you'll find it in almost every room of my house. And if you can't (since I am slooooooowly getting it all decorated) I can promise you that it WILL be there eventually.

Look, even my diaper bag is turquoise.

My beautiful dream diaper bag, that my super awesome husband let me splurge on, back when I was still pregnant with Riley. I still smile every time I use it. It was love at first sight. Hehee.

Soooo, I'm writing this post to share my pretty fabulous (at least to me) stool makeover.

A can of spray primer, followed by a can of spray paint.

It's not exactly turquoise, it's Rust-Oleum’s Painter’s Touch Ultra Cover 2x in Aqua. But it's close enough to my lovely favorite.

Then a fat quarter of fabric (Moda Authentic Numbers Black), and waaalaaa.

Pretty.

I was originally going to use a black, white and yellow colored fabric. And I still think the yellow would have been SO FUN! 

But I like this print better, for this stool. And Mitch really likes the fabric, so his praises sealed the deal.

Here is the before.

I actually have four stools like this. I got them at Walmart a few years back for really cheap. I like the before. And was originally gonna keep them like this. But I recently realized that I haven't been decorating for me, like I should be. I've been too obsessed with what others would like.

I like FUN and FUNKY and COLORFUL! And now that I realize that, I am so much happier. I feel less stress about decorating, and I am actually making progress toward turning my home into a place that I seriously love.

It is freeing.

Anyways, now that I got that outta the way, here is the after.

I really like it. And so does my little Riley. When we walked downstairs after he woke up from his nap, and he seen the newly made over stool, he wouldn't stop staring. He wanted to touch it and sit in it and look at it.

Yep, desired effect achieved. :)

Linking up here:

$1.00 Shelf Makeover

While Mitch and myself were out yardsaling one Sunday morning a couple months back, we ran across this shelf that I really liked. There was nobody outside to help us, and nothing was priced. Frustrated, we left. But I whined and whined about how I really liked the circle shelf, and thought it would look cute in Riley's room {after some altering of course.}

So, Mitch turned around, went and knocked at the door, and got the son to come out and help him. I told Mitch not to spend more than $10 for the thing, and a few minutes later, he was hauling it to our car, after having paid only $1.00 for it!

I was quite happy. Mitch was annoyed that we had another "piece of junk" that I was "planning" to re-do.

I didn't get to it right away like I planned. But over the past few months I {or sometimes we} have refinished every piece of furniture I have bought for that purpose.

Now Mitch finally not only has faith in my ability to finish a furniture project, but he is also impressed with the results, and is more willing to let me shop for future projects!!! YAY!

Wanna see my shelf before and after??

WaaaLaaaaa!

And here is a closer BEFORE....



And AFTER...



I took the whole thing apart and sanded it down pretty good.

Then I spray primed all the pieces once, followed by two coats of Rust-Oleum Green Apple.

The tops were really water damaged.... and since the circle pieces are all laminate, the water damage created raised bubbly areas, and there was NO WAY I was spending that much sanding time in the hope of creating a smooth surface.

So I did the next best thing {which turned out to be a better idea than painting the whole thing} MOD PODGE!!!

I wanted to use products I had at home already. So I found some pale yellow fabric. And used the regular Matte Mod Podge to glue it on.

But I didn't like just the plain yellow with the green, it was kinda boring, and actually looked a bit dirty. So after brainstorming FOREVER, I cut out circles from some orange paper I had.

I arranged them in a way I liked, and Mod Podged them over the fabric. After I finished one shelf, I was VERY happy with the results. So I cut out enough circles for the whole thing... 19 for each shelf, 5 shelves total, that's 95 orange circles I glued on. NINETY FIVE!!!! WAY more work than I planned on doing. And I coulda got the same effect from polka dot fabric, if I'd taken the time to search for some I liked. But I saved money this way, and in the end it was worth it!

I went through an entire bottle of Mod Podge. I believe each shelf got 4 coats. Then I applied 2 coats of Plaid Patricia Nimocks Clear Acrylic Sealer in Gloss.

After it was dry, I put it back together, and smiled lots, because I LOVE the final results!!! It looks awesome in Riley's room, and now I have a spot to put my water, that's within reaching distance from my chair. Which will really come in handy for the hours I'm gonna spend nursing and stuff in the very near future {about 6 more weeks!}

Here's one more picture before I go! :o)



Hope you like my $1.00 shelf re-do!!

Riley's Dresser Makeover

One of my MANY projects I've been working on is this dresser for Riley's room. It was a very ugly thing with broken drawers. It was in his closet when we moved in. Mitch wanted to trash it. But I moved it to our room, and used it for a few months. I figured it'd do until we could afford to buy a new dresser.

Well, after getting Riley's crib and chair/ottoman, and arranging everything, I decided I wanted the dresser in his room, I had the perfect spot for it.

Mitch still looked at me like I was nuts! It's laminate, and according to him, junk!

But I found a few tutorials for painting laminate, and had recently gotten a free quart of True Turquoise Glidden paint, that'd be a perfect match for his room colors. So I thought why not???

I bought some zinsser BIN primer, and after I sanded it with my new palm sander, I had Mitch prime it for me.

Then after lightly sanding his priming job, it was ready for my two coats of paint, followed by brand new handles that we had picked out. I had other handles that were wavy that I liked better. But I woulda had to fill the holes, and drill new ones, plus they were a few dollars more a piece. So Mitch convinced me these ones would work, and I like them.

Here is the BEFORE picture!


Once we were done we carried it upstairs, and put the drawers back in.

And here is the AFTER picture!!


These last two pictures actually show the color blue more accurately. In this one you can see the handles up close!


And here you can catch a peek of one of the 3 circle rugs {orange, dark blue, and apple green} and a little bit of the crib.


I can't wait to have the room all decorated and show you how great it looks next to everything else.

That dresser and painting the room were two big projects that I am glad to have done!!! Now I gotta find a low dresser that we can refinish to match, that will double as a changing table. It's gonna go under the window.... which needs curtains still.

Tomorrow I will probably be refinishing this $1 shelf I fell in love with at a yardsale. It will be apple green.... and match the frame on my bulletin board, which I will show you soon! I promise!!!

The grand total I spent for this dresser was about $35!
Dresser - FREE
Paint - FREE {shipped to me by Glidden for a promo they were having last month}
Primer - $10.98
Handles - $3.97 a piece x 6 = $23.82

Mitch is actually quite impressed with the finished result! He no longer thinks it is a piece of junk, and is actually getting a little jealous that Riley is going to {at least for now} have a nicer room than us, lol!

And for that price, I absolutely LOVE it! :o)

Presents for Baby Ezekiel

I've mentioned before that one of my little sisters Danetta is pregnant as well. Her due date is 5 days before mine, and she is also having a boy.

Her and her hubby Jordan are naming their son Ezekiel. They had their baby shower last Sunday. I got to go to California {just for 24 hours, cause Mitch had to work the day before and the day after.}

I got her a gift card,
but also had to make her some handmade stuff as well!!

This is a picture of the nursery bedding she is getting. Although her furniture will be a darker espresso brown.


They wanted books instead of cards. So of course I had to make a little book. It's a 4x4 inch counting book. Those buttons seriously took FOREVER to do!!! All 59 of them!

Here is the front.


Inside.


And back.


I signed it on the back, so he'd never forget it was Aunt Kimmy who taught him how to count in style, hehe!!!


I wanted to make her a decorative magnet board, and originally was gonna use a cookie sheet. But one day at the thrift store I ran across this, and at $1.99, it was perfect!


I sanded the shiny teflon finish off, drilled two holes, spray painted it espresso brown, added pretty scrapbook papers and a monogram, and finished it off with a textured Mod Podge finish and some matching ribbon.

And Tadaaaa!

In the next two pictures you can see the textured finish.

The reason I wanted a magnet board is because I made some bottlecap magnets. I also decorated an adorable keepsake tin to store them in. I figure once she takes the magnets out, the tin can store precious keepsake things, like a lock of hair and a tooth.

Here is the set together.


Here is the tin before:


And after:


And here are the bottle caps before:


And after:


I took my husbands bad habits, and turned them into something cute! And at no extra cost!!!

Anyways, she just loved everything! I got a little embarrassed at the shower when she made a BIG deal outta my present, and it was the only one that got passed around.

I have some pictures of the shower, and my trip to Cali. I'll share them in a separate post, since this one is so long already!

Time Out Bench

Mitch bought this little {really little, it only goes to my knee} bench from our neighbors yard sale for $1. It was adorable and ugly all rolled into one. The bench itself was super cute, but the colors were ugly. See????


So I pondered what to do with it. Paint it??? Stain it?? Where will it go? I finally decided that I wanted it downstairs in my living room area. Where I could keep an eye on the naughty child that would one day sit in it.

So, I sanded it down, and used the same stain I had used on the desk that I redid last year. Then I painted the letters blue, and decoupaged very subtle blue scrapbook paper onto the front of them.

And voila! Much prettier time out bench, that perfectly matches my living room!!!


Here's some "during" pictures. I took it apart and sanded it down.


Then I had to have Mitch help, because stain and polyurethane are BAD to use when pregnant, and I wasn't taking any chances with this little baby of mine!


Here's a couple more angle shots of the little bench.




I really like it. And my nephew Dylan likes sitting in it, even though he know it's where you go when you're bad. He just makes sure that we are all aware that he is not being punished, and is sitting there by choice, lol!

Altered Manicure Lap Desk

I bought this Manicure Lap Desk from Pottery Barn Teen a few years back. I totally love it! It is way girlie, and a perfect spot to keep my nail polish and to do my nails!

The only problem was that the top had gotten ugly from me and my sisters spilling nail polish on it. The nail polish took off the cream colored paint, and it looked icky!

So I decided to decoupage the top with some pretty matching paper! Voila!

Here is the Before picture...



And here is the beautiful after shot...

And I know you were dying to see inside! :o)

So here you go!!!



It was super easy to do! And even Mitch thinks it is a HUGE improvement.He seriously thinks I should decoupage EVERYTHING! Kitchen cabinets anyone???

Anywho, I have another project I finished {a pretty makeup brush roll that I made for my sister} but I'll save that for another post! And I taught myself how to knit, so when I finish my scarf I'm making I'll share pictures.

Here are a few more pretty pictures to admire!




Hope everyone out there in bloggyland is having a fabulous day! Thanks for your sweet comments on my previous post! They mean a lot! :o)

Altered clock and other stuff...

I have been blog SLACKING lately!!! Seriously, I have been so busy. And I have barely even made time to catch up on my blog reading list, let alone write about my crazy life!

I finished reading Twilight. I seriously LOVED the book! I ordered the 4 book collectors set, I got the whole thing {including} shipping for $35. I hope it comes soon. Although, I really need to do other stuff besides read ALL day long!

I also seen the movie. With Mitch. I thought he'd hate it. Well, he REALLY liked it. SERIOUSLY??? I have mixed feelings about it, but will buy it when it comes out on DVD, and watch it again. I've heard it is better the 2nd time around. That's understandable. Now that I know what happens, and how it compares to the book, I'll actually be able to relax and watch it. Instead of being all judgmental.

We had Thanksgiving the day BEFORE Thanksgiving. It was small, just me, Mitch, Sami and Justin. But it was my first one ALL by myself. YIKES! Everything turned out awesome! Mmmmmm mmmmm Yummy! Mitch made the turkey, well it was a group effort, but HE did all the ICKY stuff, and heavy lifting!


Crappy picture! Sami made me take pictures of our little feast, AFTER her and Mitcheal picked at it, LOL!!!

This has got to be the FULLEST my oven has ever been!


Don't look too close at how dirty it is inside my oven. Ewwww. Oh, and here is a picture of my full plate!!!


Now, it may not look like anything unusual to you. But.... if you knew me, you'd know that I never ever ever eat sweet potatoes, stuffing or cranberry sauce! Well, I ate it all!!!! I think it had to do with the fact that I made it, and I made it just the way I like it. Oh goodness, it was Yum Yum Yummy!

Oh and I made pumpkin cupcakes. Actually, I made Sami make them, while I did the peppercini wraps. Which was harder, because the cream cheese WOULD NOT freakin' spread!!! And the thin slices of turkey kept ripping. GRRR! But the cupcakes turned out sooo good! The recipe is over at Little Birdie Secrets.

OK, so before I head to bed, which I need to do VERY soon. Mitch begged me to come to bed tonight BEFORE 2 am. Hmmmm, getting close. I wanted to share my altered clock I made today. It is for my father in law, for Christmas. Here it is BEFORE!


And here it is AFTER!




He loves Harley Davidson. He has a shed in the yard that he keeps his in, and it is decorated inside with Harley stuff. Soooooo, I decided to alter a clock I had here in my studio. It looks way way better in real life. I designed the clock face in Adobe Photoshop Elements. Added brads. Then added the leather eyelet trim around the edges.

I really like the way it turned out. And it's handmade! Or semi-handmade, since it is altered. So it is keeping with my plans to do a handmade Christmas this year!!!

Anyways, it is 1:37, so I need to go to bed now! Good night!! :o)