New Tablecloth and Other Decor Updates

There have been a few project updates going on around here the last few weeks. I finally got around to hemming a huge end of bolt fabric purchase from Jo-Ann Fabric. For only $13 we now have a new dark blue polka dot tablecloth that accomodates the table when fully extended with both leaves.

In the background you may have noticed a new holiday wreath. I went directly off of this tutorial using plastic dollar store ornaments and a foam floral ring from Michaels. I needed about $11 worth of ornaments which included some small gold and silver jingle bells to fit in the smaller gaps. The foam ring was spray painted beige in case any spots peeped through and jute string was used to hang. This close up picture does not do the color justice which made it appear much more yellow than it really is.

Next a cheapo clear plastic frame was studded out with brass studs normally found on leather goods straight from this tutorial. Come on, ain't it cool?

And finally after spotting this $1 tray hack I picked up two of the hexagon trays from Target's Dollar Spot. Using my new favorite handy dandy Krylon Gold Leaf Pen they now looks tres chic...

Right now they hold a few dollar store gold trees for the holidays.

Gotta love the humongous painting of my dad.

While many times I'm winging it when doing things around the house, I just had to try out some of these fun projects from other people's blogs. Sometimes you don't need to reinvent the wheel when others have already done such a great job!

Bench Slipcover

Do you have a piece of furniture you just had to have and now look at it and say to yourself, "why oh why"? Well I do. In fact I have a house full of questionable purchases. I still like most of them but payed way too much and didn't think how they would work with kids. This bench was purchase from RH back in 2005.

It's been in the girls room so Mike and I could have a place to sit. Ususally it's covered in a quilt because the fabric shows stains easily. I finally decided to tackle a slipcover in my quest to conquer my sewing machine.

I started with this amazing fabric from TonicLiving. Let me tell you, it is even more gorgeous in person. This fabric has the most lovely shades of lavender and plum with little hits of dark blue, grass green and greige. Since it was the inspiration for the entire room I decided to order two yards even though it was a little more than I originally planned to spend.

After the fabric was washed and dried a large top piece was cut with piping which was pinned then sewed on. This was only the second time I've made piping and I improved my technique a bit. I didn't sew as closely when making the piping so the stitches would be covered when sewing all the pieces together. I also overlapped the piping fabric following the instructions from this tutorial. I used an old Nate Berkus for Linens N Things sheet (this was his line years ago before Target) for the piping and each corner because the color worked and there wasn't enough floral fabric for these parts.

I then cut and hemmed the four small corner, two short side side and two long side pieces. The top edge was zigzag stitched to prevent fraying.

The four floral pieces were pinned followed by four corner pieces on top of that. This took some adjusting and repinning to make sure the fabric all fell to same length. This shows how the corner looked pinned. The floral side panels are pinned and laying on top of the bench so you are seeing the "wrong side" of the fabric in this picture.

With a little patience all eight panels were stitched on in. I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best. Was it going to lay straight... Was the fabric going to bunch...Thank goodness it worked!

Now the girls room is starting to make more sense design wise. The lavender dresser's color was pulled from this fabric along with the green trim added to the lamp that was made over.

/>

Les Touches Inspired Bulletin Board

I am still in love with the Les Touches fabric. I couldn't spend the $$ on it when making this pillow cover but still wanted that print to live somewhere in my house in a bad way. Since I'm currently in the process of redoing my girls room, I thought I could bring in a little DIY Les Touches to their room in a fun way. My 4 year old daughter loves everything metallic and shiny so I decided to try my hand with a paint pen.

This cork board was purchased for $3 at Goodwill.

The wood frame had a clear topcoat so I gave it a light sanding then sprayed with Zinsser 1-2-3 Primer.

Two coats of white paint were rolled on to fully cover the cork and brushed onto the frame. I was fortunate to find copies of the Les Touches fabric I could print from this wonderful blog. The paper copies were a guide but I didn't follow them exactly. Many people have projectors for projects like this but I just tried free hand and hoped for the best.

By the way did you see the paint pen I used? It's Krylons 18K Gold Leafing Pen and it's great! The gold paint has a beautiful warm tone and is very reflective. At first I was going to use a gold Sharpie but was worried it wouldn't be metallic enough. With a 50% coupon it was $4.50 at Hobby Lobby so not the cheapest paint pen around but it helped make my amateur attempt look decent.

The spots were a little tedious to paint on. I knocked it out in four 15 minute sessions while catching up on The Voice after the kiddos went to bed. Halfway through I decided to add a few more spots than the inspiration fabric because it looked a little off. Here it is hanging on the girl's wall over their newly painted lilac campaign dressers.

With time this board will fill up with special pictures and treasures. A few gold spots will peek through as an added bonus. Now I've satisfied my Les Touches dreams and gold shiny animal print is what little girls dream of right?

For The Love Of...Bamboo

Okay I admit it. I love bamboo. Fabric, furniture, accessories, you name it and I'm interested. Over the past couple of years I've collected quite a bit of this stuff in my home because it looks good everywhere.

I know you're wondering "Tara, where did this obsession come from?". Well I recently came across some childhood photos that I hadn't seen in forever. This is our kitchen booth in the house I spent most of my younger years in. Look at that wallpaper and light fixture. And yes I'm a little overly excited in yellow.

And our family spent a lot of time at this place sitting in those awesome chairs.

So here is rundown of my bamboo pieces. I made four of these frames using plain pine frames from Target, river cane cut to size and gold paint with an antique glaze.

This is a huge 31" Paul Hanson lamp found at Goodwill for $3.20. I need to repaint the base but holy cow what a steal. I found a pair of these exact lamps on ebay for $400.

This thrifted tray was purchased for $1.

These chairs were found on Craigslist already in this incredible pattern.

Also a Craigslist find for $25. I spray painted the chair Valspar Plumberry and had the cushions professionally made in Ralph Lauren's Sand Leopard print fabric.

Six dining room chairs from Craigslist (notice a theme here?) for around $250 were spray painted Rustoleum's Heirloom White.

And finally a silver bowl with bamboo handles that was my mom's. We use it to hold the remotes in the family room.

Bamboo brings wonderful detail into a space without looking too feminine. Also since we live in a smaller house bamboo chairs don't block the line of sight which help rooms appear more spacious. Thank goodness with some patience great vintage pieces can be found!

Lilac Campaign Dressers

Remember when I found these beauties of this shopping trip?

Well I decided to tackle them this past week. It was time consuming so I broke it down into steps and tried to knock something out everyday until they were finally completed last night. It only took 30 minutes to pry off the hardware with a handy steak knife.

I decided on the color Enchant by Sherwin Williams. It's the third color down on the paint strip.

For supplied I used Zinsser Cover Stain primer because it sticks to everything. I love Sherwin Williams ProClassic because of its durable finish that doesn't require a topcoat. Finally a little Rub n Buff was needed for select hardware pieces.

My dining room turned into a makeshift painting room after pushing the furniture to the wall. This is after the first coat of primer.

I waited a full day before applying the second coat of primer and two days between the two coats of paint. Here is one of the dressers before all of the hardware was put back on.

The handles were cleaned up after soaking in ketchup which worked great. Oddly the discs and brackets were not solid brass so I applied Antique Gold Rub n Buff to them for a decent match to the handles.

Here they are sitting pretty still in my dining room. I couldn't help but style it a little with the makeover lamp and tray to see what it might actually look like in the girls room.

The second coat of paint goes on the walls in the girls room today so hopefully the dressers will move upstairs this weekend. Once the new curtains are hung along with a few more updates their room will be done. Come back next week to see the full reveal (and better pictures)!

Paint Chip Art

There are many amazing paint chip art projects floating around and I was interested in creating my own. This piece and this piece were my main sources of inspiration. Just so you know I don't scoop up tons of these paint strips at the hardware store. I only pick up two or three occasionally when making my usual run to the store. I do buy paint from these places so I'm okay with it.

Only a few supplies were needed to get started. The large hole punch was $11 with a 40% coupon and I purchased a $4 brown bamboo frame from Goodwill that was spray painted Heirloom White.

The stack of paint strip samples probably took about 9 months to accumulate.

After punching out the ovals in the colors I was interested in I did a dry run to see how I liked the layout. This is what I ended up with after playing around with the pieces.

I then carefully stacked all the pieces in order by layer and set them to the side. Rub n Buff was applied by finger on the particle board insert that came with the frame. About a half hour later I attached the ovals with glue starting with the outer layer. It definitely helped looking at the picture of the dry run to remember the placement of each piece. Here is an upclose shot of the antique gold backround with the paint chips.

Some Mod Podge was brushed on to only the ovals to add dimension to the finished piece. Here it is hanging on the living room wall.

What's great about this project is customizing the colors to fit your decor. I was looking for ways to add a little berry or pink to the space and this fit the bill. Now I have to figure out what to do with the leftover paint chips that were punched but not used...

Glossy Lamp Makeover

Recently I found this lamp at Salvation Army for only $5. The double gourd shape was gorgeous and I just knew with a new coat of paint it would be perfect for the girls room.

I read this great tutorial on how to spray paint a lamp and decided to go for it. First the cord and socket were covered with plastic bags then taped off.

I decided on on Rustoleum's Universal Paint and Primer in One because it has great adhesion properties and the white color is a true white without being too bright. Three thin coats sprayed a few minutes apart were needed to fully cover the dark brown lamp base. This project was started just as the sun was setting so the white looks a little different by the third coat.

First Coat

Second Coat

Third Coat

While painting two bugs landed on the lamp. I worried I'd have to sand and add another coat the next day. I waited until the next day and lightly brushed them off. Luckily there were no marks so I then finished the lamp off with two coats of Rustoleum Clear Gloss. These coats were a little thicker to make the lamp as glossy as possible.

Here it is up close. Look at that shine!

Topped with a plain white barrel shade is fine for now. I'm on the lookout for some fun trim to add once I have a better idea of where the room is going colorwise.