A Simple Slipcover

Everytime we move, I rearrange everything.  Nothing goes back in the same room it came out of (except for the obvious things like the dining room table and chairs - and maybe the couch)  it makes everything feel new and exciting again and it is an adventure for me to see how many different ways I can use an item.  My curtains always move rooms.  My former living room curtains, are now in the guestroom and my dining room curtains have been moved to the kitchen.  Before we moved I had a big garage sale and got rid of alot of stuff that had served it's purpose, but it was now time for them to move on and be someone elses treasures!  My policyis if it is still with us after two moves and I didn't use it in the last year, it is time to be repurposed!

This little beauty of a couch - I think technically it is called a settee - is a fabulous garage sale find!  I got it a little over a year ago.  It was a random morning that I decided to go "saling" and miracle upon miracles I did not even have a child with me!!  I was pulling up into a little cul de sac that had about 4 family garage sales, kinda just getting ready to do the drive by thing, when this beauty literally made me squeel my tires as I simultaneously stopped the van, put it in park, and jumped out.  I just knew she was going to have a sold sign on her already - but she didn't (woohoo!).  I asked how much and when they said $20, I couldn't whip my cash out fast enough!!  Twenty dollard - you have got to be kidding me?!  Actually, she didn't look so good, she had a green metalic paint gracing her legs and a horrible metalic gold upholstery job, but I could see her potential!!

here she is after I fixed her all up in our old home (obviously at Chirstmas time!)

I packed her up and brought her home with me.  At the time I wanted a golden colored upholstery fabric on her and I spraypainted the frame black - - it served it's purpose at our old house right in front of the kitchen counter/bar area that opened up into the diningroom.  It was a great place for people to hangout while last minute preperations were being made on dinner and it was a great stepstool for the kids to reach the sink from the backside!

When we moved here, she needed a new home.  So she got moved to our bedroom.  The creamy yellow/gold fabric does not work in there at all, so I thought it was a great opportunity to make a very simple slipcover.  I wanted something that still showed off her details and her "curves!"

here she is with her new slipcover - - I think that I need to paint her frame white and distress it a little...What do you think?

I love the details of this simple slipcover, I gently rounded the sides of the arms to follow the curve of the frame

Besides just draping a large piece of fabric over a piece of furniture, this is by far the easist slipcover I have ever done.  Hardly any precision work, no separate cushion, and no funny angles.  In fact, other than hemming it, the only sewing I had to do was to attach the two arms - - so easy!!

Just attaching the entire thing with simple twill tape bows, keeps it feminine and oh so easy!!

and just because she is so pretty, here she is again!!

I do have to admit, that this is a very poor before and after because the before picture, in my opinion, is a lot better than the after. It was Christmas for goodness sakes and the picture was taken just minutes before lots and lots of people walked through my home for "Tour of Homes" - - so the house was as close to perfect as it was ever going to get!  Just remember that my house is a work in progress, and that we aren't painting any walls here, but eventually when I get my bedroom all put together, it is going to be a very white, spa-like, very relaxing room.  Are you seeing it?  Yes, I probably need to paint the woodwork and distress it or maybe do a blue glaze over it to show off the carving details.  What do you think?

I took pictures as I went along, but I am now second guessing myself as far as posting a "how to" - - just not sure if anyone would really be interested.  So if you would like to see how to, just leave me a comment and I will work it up.

September 11

As we were doing our opening for school this morning, I was discussing Sept. 11 with the kids and their resounding question was, "Why?"  I love a childs point of view, they are so innocent and they love everyone.  Children are so much more Christlike than adults.  They wanted to know if they had apologized.  They wanted to know why they didn't want everyone to live in free countries.  They wanted to know why they wanted to hurt people.  They wanted to know why it has to affect their lives so much, when they were not even alive when it happened.  I think as American's we take our freedom for granted.  We take our way of life for granted.  We forget the sacrafice that others have made for us.  We love to complain.  We love to share our opinion.  We love to....forget.  Forget that over 3000 people died that day.  Forget all the lives that have been lost fighting the terrorists.  Forget the families of those that died.  Forget the soldiers who are fighting.  Forget the families who stay strong during countless deployments.  Forget the children who do not have a mother or father at home every night.  Forget the wives who don't have a husband coming home... ever.    As we were talking this morning I found myself wanting to shelter my children, to not tell them about the bad things that had happened.  To protect them from the evil of the world.  But if I do that, I will be doing a disservice to them.  I will be teaching them to take their freedom for granted.  I will be teaching them to forget.

For another military wives perspective on Sept. 11, hop on over to Mom in High Heels and read her comments.

A Fall "Jacket"

For the first time this week, I am beginning to believe that there might be and end to the DC humidity and fall may be just around the corner!  Woohoo!  Fall is my favorite season and I have not experienced it for the past three years!  Bring on the cool mornings, the smell of leaves, and of course...

Bring on the color!! 

In the spirit of fall, this cute chair needed itself a little "jacket."  A change from it's beautiful white spring/summer look to something more "fallish!" 

What do you think?

I think it is a great pop of color and, I think it's owner is going to love how it looks in her bedroom. 

No more blending into the walls for this piece! 

Here's a close up of the fabulous fabric this slipcover is made from. 

Love it!

And of course some details of the button closures.  Can I just say I love my sewing maching?  I used to HATE doing button holes, but it is SO easy with my new machine!

You might recognize this chair from an earlier post - - funny part about it is that it's original upholstery was orange - - then it got completely redone in white, and now a slipcover in orange ( a different color orange of course - a far cry from the 70's burnt orange!)

This one's for you Kristi!

Because I am too lazy to retype what I already wrote, you will have to go to the bottom of the post to see what these pictures are all about! Why doesn't blogger let you cut and paste?

This one is both symetrical and A-sym - - notice the two triangles on the outside and yet another one in the center?

Balancing heavy objects with lighter ones
the height of the apothacary being the top of the triangle with the nest and silver dish but all balanced by putting a picture behind the "triangle"

A wide triangle made with mostly heavy objects but anchored by the picture in the middle

My favorite... a perfect triangle made with some bright whites and "mercury glass"!

My friend Kristi just texted me asking what is the secret to ant A symetrical vignette... I tried texting her some pictures, but they didn't go through, so now everyone gets to enjoy my version of A symetircal vignettes!

Like I told her, think triangles! Have a tall item and two other smaller anchors and you can fill in with other things if you want.

Here are some examples from my home...

Pink Chandelier

I think every newconstruction house probably has - or if you are lucky HAD - one of these ugly brass chandeliers. The most likely place you will find it is overhead in the dining room. Ugh! Who ever thought these were pretty or even desireable? Well, would you belive it, I actually went out looking for one? I didn't have to look far! I found this one at the loca thrift store for only $4.50!

Why, when I just testified to how ugly they are would I look for one? Well, as you know we are renting. Our house is really nice, it really is, and I like it alot, but if I were to have one complaint, it would be that the builder - -to save money, did not put any overhead lights in the bedrooms. In fact, one of the only rooms that does have a light is the dining room and yup, you guessed it, it has exactly the kind of light I am talking about! Anyway - - our bedrooms need light! It's hard to just use lamps in kids rooms. They don't allow enough light in the rooms for them to be able to read or work on their little projects and if you had a little girl like Charise, you would know that it is much safer to have a light above instead of a lamp!! Thus the desire for a cheap, ugly chandelier! Did you know you can very easily attach a cord to the wires, hang a hook in the ceiling, plug it in and... whaalaa! Instant light without anything more than a small hole in the ceiling!

Of course, I didn't want just an ugly old brass light up there, I had to do something to it!! And change it I did! I am still going to add some custom shades to them, but I promised Kristi that I would do a post :) so I will have to post some more pictures once i get the shades done! Here's how I did it...

I started with my ugly $4.50 lamp...

covered each socket with tape so that paint would not get in there...

Sprayed it with primer....

Then...spray painted it a very girly pink!!!

Doesn't every girly girl want a pink chandelier hanging in their room? Charise loves it and shows it off to everyone! Like I said, I'm not done with it yet, gotta make those shades still, but it is going to look fantastic when it is all done!


*UPDATE*

After looking at the chandelier some more and mulling over exactly what I was going to do for shades and such and being the cheap thrifty person that I am.  I decided to go in a little different direction.  The lamp just pink was not enough for me, it didn't scream "girly!"  So I decided to check around and see what I had that would cost me nothing.  Scrapbook paper - check,  beads (given to me by my aunt as part of a complete set Christmas tree decorations) - check, crystals (picked up on clearance a couple of years ago, but just holding on to them for the right project) - check, double sided tape - crud just used all that up on another project.....thinking...., regular tape (I guess I can make it double sided the old fashioned way! - check!

I took the scrapbook paper and cut it down to fit around each of the "candle sticks" (I'm sure there is some technical name for them, but I haven't got a clue what it is).  Then I fit them around the candlestick and taped them all the way around.  Initially I just put one piece of tape along the back seam, but that popped open within a few minuted, so I just went with one piece all the way around, plus, you can't see it, so it doesn't really matter.    then I used my circle cutter and cut a circle from the paper for under each of the lights.  I cut a small circle in the center of each one (like a doughnut) then cut a slit for an opening, then fit that around the bottom of the light, using my ghetto double sided tape I taped it to the bottom, then ran a piece of tape along the seam and up over the light to securely hold it.

Next, I took all those beads (I used 4 strands of the christmas beads) and began wrapping and wiring them around the bottom of the chandelier, letting them hang down evenly between the lights.  Then I took the crystals that I had been holding on to forever and attached them under the lights and along the beads.

I think the results now scream, "girlie" and just as added proof, everytime someone new comes to our house, the first thing Charise wants them to see is her new Princess Chandelier!!

Now that I think this is girlified enough, I am going to post it in Between Nap's on the Porch's Metamorphasis Monday - - - except that I just realized that it's Tuesday - - I guess I got thrown off by Labor Day!  Oh well, jump on over to her site and check out all the other inspirational changes that people have posted!!

Work in Progress

Well, I promised pictures, but they are all a work in progress! We are getting all the boxes unpacked (actually, I think they are all unpacked, its just a matter of finding a place for everything!)...now we can move on to the decorating - - the fun part!

This is right in our entryway. I stacked our two smaller bookcases on top of the two larger ones (turned them upside down) and now I have 10 foot tall bookcases! I put 8 little push-lights inside of them to give them some lighting and added a skinny curtain rod on the top to be the "library ladder rail". I'm not sure if the curtain rod is doing it's job, but I really do like how the rest of it looks. I still need to find something decorative for the top shelves, but that will come!

This is a little vignette on a small wall between the kitchen and dining room.
This is just a sneak peek at my workroom - - I have been busy working in it and it isn't quite finished yet, but I absolutely love the walls. I moved this fabric with us and it is the perfect remedy for a rental home. I can't paint the walls, but I can put fabric up!

More works in progress. I am looking for another chair to match the blue one that I got from my Grandma, then I am going to slipcover them both in the fabric that is draped over the chair on the left. Do you love the lamp? I do - - Hobby Lobby $8 - - you can't beat that!! Of course I bought two! Off to the right in this picture is my workroom and to the left is the living room. I am standing in the dining room taking this picture.

And one last picture of something I have been working on - - - a diaper bag for a good friend. This was the first time working with this pattern, and I changed the handles out to make them more comfortable. I just love the fabric combination - - I should take a close-up because all the raspberry fabric is a raspberry and white seersucker stripe - - so cute! I hope she loves this bag as much as I do!!

Hope you enjoyed all the little sneak peaks - - I have so many projects planned for this house, it is just going to take time! Stick with me and you will get to see them all!

Anyone want an update?

Well, I thought it might be a good time for an update! So much has happened in the last month and a half since I updated last. We've packed up the entire house, cleaned it all (passing inspection with flying colors!), moved to the other side of the country, visited friends and family along the way, found a great house to rent (more on that story), had all our household goods delivered, cried over some pieces that were ruined, unpacked boxes and am currently busy trying to find a place for everything and make this place ito our home! whew... I'm tired just after writing all that! Living out of a suitcase for over a month is not for me!!

I don't have pictures of the house yet, but I promise they will be up shortly so today I will tell you about how we got this house!

On our way here, we stopped in Ohio to visit my mom and Papa O. We ended up leaving the kids with them (what a huge blessing) while Jason and I took off for VA to find us a house. We had already filled out all the paperwork for on post housing, but all the places told us the wait list was 6 to 12 - - remember that in 6 months Jason is supposed to deploy - - so waiting was not an option for us, we wanted to be in a home and settled by the time he has to leave. We got to VA late Monday night. We knew that on Tuesday, we had to go to the housing office and check in with them before we could start really looking for a house. On Monday night, we searched the internet for homes for rent in the DC area... we had a list of about 20 potential homes and we started calling that evening to try to set up times to see the homes. No one answered except for about 3 or 4 people who all told us that the homes had already been rented out. Tuesday we went into the city to check in at the post and talk to the housing office. We finished there about noon and we were on our way to trying to find a house.

We called on a few more homes on our list and either did not get an answer, or they had already rented it out. Finally we decided to just enter some of the addresses into our GPS and see the neighborhoods and houses and then we would know if we were even interested. We drove to the first house we entered and knew instantly that it was not for us. So we headed to the second address. when we pulled into the subdivision we knew this was a good possibility... We found the house that was listed and imediatly called on it - - - someone answered - a good sign! It was the realestate agent who promptly told us that the house had already rented...darn! As we were driving out of the subdivision we were looking at street sign and I saw one I recognized. I looked on our list and there was a home listed for rent on that street. We immediately called. Someone answered (oh happy day!). It was the owner she told us that the previous people had just moved out the day before. When Jason asked her if we could see it, she said it would take her about an hour to get there but we could see it. Woohoo! then someone actually called us back and told us we could come and look at their home at 3. We went and grabbed some lunch, then headed back to the first house to see the inside. we walked in and it was spacious, clean, new (only 3 years old), and a great location. The only negative was it was going to cost us all of our housing money and we would still have to pay utilities out of our pocket. We told the landlord that we were really interested, but we had another house to look at that had 5 bedrooms and was a lot less per month. She asked us how much. We told her and she said - - I will give it to you for that, but you will have to mow your own lawn. I know our jaws hit the ground! We told her that we would give her a call back after we looked at the other home...

The next home was not the one for us at all - - wallpaper and all green trim - - that's all I am going to say... we called the original landlord back immediately and told her we wanted it! Just like that - - we only looked at two homes and we had our house. Everyone told us to take our time and not make any quick decisions, but we just knew this was right. Turns out that the lady who works in the cubicle next to Jason lives just 5 houses down, so he was able to jump in on their carpool right away.

Oh - - - and did I mention that we now live only 5 minutes from the mall, Target and Ikea? I live in civilization again!!

I promise pictures will be on here soon!!