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.

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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?