Lighter and Brighter and Miss 90's

If you have been reading my blog for any amount of time, you will know that since I moved I have been trying very hard to go "lighter and brighter."  A hard task for me at times since I seem to be naturally drawn to the darker, richer colors.  But it has been a fun challenge.  The easiest way to achive this has been by slipcovering my furniture.

Slipcovering is fantastic because you still have your original piece, without any damage done to it, it's kinda like a 2 for 1!  But even better, if you move alot, like we happen to (by the way, I just counted it up the other day... we have been married for 12 years and we have moved 24 times!  Gosh, that's like moving every six months, but in reality we have stayed in most places longer than 6 months!) then slipcovers are fantastic because you can very quickly and easily take them off before the packers come, throw them in the wash and pack them safely in a box yourself.  Then when you get to your new home, you can take it out, have a perfectly clean piece of furniture and if the movers happen to have scratched, dented, ripped, or otherwise mangled your piece, you can be non-stress about it and know you still have a beautiful cover to go on top.  When I make slip covers I do them very custom.  I like to have them look like it is an upholstered piece of furniture.  I know some people really like the loose fit, but for me, I like it to be snug and custom, so I use buttons and velcro to close up any seams that have to be able to open.   Here is one from a past post - - see how fitted it is and how the back is closed up by a row of buttons?

But when it comes to a piece of furniture that you absolutely can not stand the fabric on it, then I think it is time to reupholster!  Such was the case for my project this week.  I found this chair at the Salvation Army for $50. 

Not bad, it was in perfect shape as far as sturdiness, no smells, no odd stains that make you wonder.  It had a fabulous shape, look at the curved back...

It's one drawback?  It's  -"I'm still living in the early 90"s floral upholstery."  It definately was not fitting into "lighter and brighter."

 I did not want to keep Miss 90's current frock, so it was a perfect candidate for reupholstery.  One postive about reupholstery is that it take less fabric than slipcovers so I was able to look through my stash and use one of my fabrics that I have been wanting to use, but I knew I did not have enough for a slipcover. 

What do you think?  Isn't this a fabulous pattern?

And here is Miss 90's after her makeover!  I think she is showing herself quite well and she fits perfectly into my lighter and brighter livingroom makeover.  This room is almost done - - only 2 more slipcovers to go and then the big reveal!!

A Sneak Peek!

I had to put some sneak peeks on here of some projects I am working on!  First up... a chair before and after.  These chairs were saved from their trip to the trash pile but they obviously needed some work!  The fabric  on these chairs was in horrible condition, not to mention those UGLY legs! 

But look at this fabulous after!  A clean line, femanine, white slipcover.  I wanted to be able to keep the shape the curved top to these chairs, so the slipcover is  more like a jacket with the entire front fitting onto the chair and then closed with an entire row of buttons down the back.

Some closer details

And another sneak peek at a little Halloween  pillow I am working on.  So festive!

Broken

Oh, what a sad, sad day at my house :(  My sewing maching has broken down - - broken as in, can't pretend that it is working corectly - - broken as in, can't jerry rig it to make it work - - - broken as in... no sewing for me until it is fixed.    GRRRRR and I was working on so many fun projects right now!!!  I did pull out my old dinosaur machine.  The hamsters that are running around in it to make it go sound very tired and strangely metalic!  So no detailed or exact sewing on that one either.  Now all I have to do is figure out where to take my machine to get it serviced and figure out how to transfer my warranty from the CA shop to wherever the new shop is in VA.  Moving has so many little details that you just don't think of!

So, in light of the fact that no new crafty things are going on, I thought I would share some pictures of our little day trip to DC.  Going into "the city" is only a 30-45 min. drive depending on the traffic, but we like to take the metro in, so we don't have to worry about traffic or parking and we can just enjoy the day!  We love to go into DC, I would go at least once a week if I could still get everything else done that I needed to.  There is so much history and fun stuff to do.  I don't think we will ever be able to do it all, even if we are here for three years.  It is the perfect place for homeschooling.  Where better to learn American History than right where it all took place?  The best part about DC?  Being the "frugal" person that I am, I love the fact that almost everything is free!!  The Smithsonian -made up of something like 13 different museums in the DC area - and all of them FREE!!!

while we were walking toward the Washington Monument, we heard lots of helocopters going over...

and then we got to see Marine 1 land on the whitehoue lawn - - pretty cool!

looking from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial toward the Washington Monument

Arlington Cemetary

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

The view from the top of Arlington cemetary, over the cemetary, across the Potomac and the Washington Monument and Capitol in the background.  What a view and what a perspective.  Knowing that all of the people buried here have sacraficed their lives for everything that those monuments and buildings represent.  May we never take it for granted!

A Night in My Father's Vineyard

So this past weekend, I was invited to my Mom's church for a women's dinner.  "A Night In My Father's Vineyard."  While my Mom read various devotional selections about vineyards relating to John 15:5, "I am the Vine and you are the branches..." I painted.  It has been a long time since I have painted and I have to tell you I was a little nervous about pulling out the brushes for the first time in 3 years in front of a large room full of women!!  But it all worked out well.  I painted a landscape of a vineyard and then one large grape vine/plant with lots of grape clusters on it.  I wasn't 100% sold on it the night of the dinner, but after a little tweaking and some repainting the next day, I am quite pleased.  The church is going to hang it in their "meeting room" and put a frame around it.  It is a very large picture 8ft x 6 ft so it should make quite a statement!  Here are some pictures of the during - and wouldn't yuu know it, I didn't get any pictures of it completed!  Story of my life!

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!)