Lamp Re-do

Good Wednesday to you all!!! How is everyone??
Thank you for all the sweet comments on the dresser re-finish from yesterday.  I am really happy with it and I hope some of you were inspired to try your hand at a similar project!

I had this black lamp...

Sorry about the fuzzy cell phone pic =/

I bought it a couple years ago, 5 to be exact, to go on my piano. Well I no longer wanted them to be black and I thought - HEY! I need new side table lamps for the spare room. Maybe I should customize the ones I have instead of buying new ones.

I went to the store to look for the perfect color spray paint. I ended up at Lowe's because they were who had the color I wanted and was close to work at lunch lol!

I got home and took my lamp apart outside

I used tape and a plastic grocery bag to protect the lighting part of the lamp so that it will still work.

Prepared to paint:

So at this point I got so caught up in what I was doing, I didn't take any more pictures until the project was finished. I told you I forget to keep taking pictures! haha!
Here is the end product!

 

Before this project I was a little, OK A LOT intimidated by spray paint. I have always been under the impression that it was messy and hard to work with. boy was I wrong! I can't wait to paint the other one and show you how it looks in the finished room. But that will take a few more weeks!

Is spray paint your friend or enemy??

Dresser Re-Finished

Hey Y'all!!!

You may remember when I showed you THIS piece of furniture.

  

It is a MESS...well it WAS a mess. I picked it up for FREE! I plan on using it in my craft room at the new house...we will have our closing date really REALLY soon!! Check out yesterday's post here!!

The VERY first thing I did to this piece was CLEAN it! I used a magic eraser to get most of the icky off. Once it was as clean as it was going to get, I knew it was time to prime.

Alright - so I did some research because I really really didn't want to go to town on this piece of painted furniture with a sander.  I found that Zissner 1-2-3 paint primer is magical. It will adhere to any surface and then you just paint over it! WOO! Talk about a TIME saver!

I DID sand the entire piece..nothing hard core but when I started with a hot mess, I felt sanding was a safe option. I just used a little $2 sanding block that was fine grit - some of the original paint was chipping and some of the edges were terribly rough.

After the sanding was complete, I used a paint brush to prime. That primer covered so well! I was impressed. I left the piece to dry overnight - for two reasons: I needed to let it sit for at least a couple hours before painting over it AND my hand was tired!

  

After I primed, I picked out the perfect white shade...can you believe how many shades of white are sold in the paint department?! I bought Toasted Marshmallow by Behr. For the accent color, which was originally gold on the piece, I used the light aqua color that will be used as an accent color for the stencil on the walls in the craft room.

Using a fine paint brush, I added the accent color. This part was definitely time consuming. Thankfully most of the spots I wanted to paint with the accent were on a routed accent.

Because the accent spots were more of an 'indent' and not raised, I was able to use a small foam roller to roll over it with the white. This didn't mess up the accent parts and helped me to clean up the 'overage' I left behind.

While all the paint dried, I knew i wanted to change the drawer pulls. They had been painted with the original pale yellow and then the gold swiped on for accent. I decided to get some Krylon brushed silver spray paint and just have at it.

Put it all together after the pulls dried and .....

VIOLA! My piece is complete.

         

It isn't in use yet because I am slowly working on packing everything now that we know a closing date is near =)

Have you ever refinished a piece of furniture?

If you have or if you do in the future, I would LOVE to see your completed project!

Fast Paced Life

Goodness gracious!! Can y'all belive it is ALREADY September?! There are 111 days until CHRISTMAS!!! WOW! Where has this year gone already!?

Alright - so here is an update. 

My car has been totaled out. It is kind of a bummer but in all reality - I didn't really want to drive a car again that I had wrecked. Our friend, Marc, has a car for me all ready to buy. SO as soon as I get the money transferred to my account, I will be purchasing another car. That will hopefully be before the end of the week. It really IS inconvenient to have only one vehicle for our household.

Now comes the AWESOME news:

Our realtor emailed us and said we will be receiving an approval letter along with a closing date in less than 30 days!!!!!!  I am so so excited!! 30 days is NOTHING. That is going to go by so so quickly!

In light of this wonderful news, this blog may be geared more towards DIY/re-finishing and decorating ideas for a bit. I have lots of projects that I want to have finished BEFORE we get into the house. I can't wait to start sharing!

Then you will get to go on the moving journey with me!! =)

OH and I have been moved into an actual office at work! YAY!

Thank you so much again to those of you who haven't given up on me, haven't stopped being a fan and have continued to check in on this little 'ol blog =) I have been so so busy with all sorts of craziness going on in our lives and now it is going to increase with us preparing to move! =) Thank you for all the prayers and well wishes as we have impatiently waited for the amazing news of an approval letter and closing date!

I hope y'all are having a wonderful long weekend!!

{Tutorial} DIY Makeup Brush Case

Before I share this tutorial with you -- this is my 300th post! =) WOO!! Ok, now that's out of the way...


I saw this tutorial a couple months ago and I have been really wanting to try to make one. I normally just throw my brushes into a makeup case with the rest of my makeup products that I was using at the time or into a makeup drawer/container. I don't like to buy something that I feel I can make so I thought this would be a quick project to tackle. AND it would be 100% customized!  Oh and something you should know, I get these grand ideas of sharing tutorials WITH pictures and then I get so caught up in the process that I forget to keep taking the pictures.  OK so here goes -- the tutorial =)

{SUPPLIES}

Fabric

Sewing Basics (machine, scissors, thread, etc)

Batting

Ribbon

{DIRECTIONS}

*For your fabric, I used two different: one for the case and a different for the pocket panel on the inside of the roll. It is up to you what you use.  I also lack a ton of brushes, so I didn't need to make mine too big.  I made the actual roll part 18X10.

-Cut 2 pieces of fabric for the outside of the roll; each piece should be the same size. Cut a piece of batting to match the size of your fabric pieces.

- Cut out one piece of fabric that is the same dimensions as the body of the roll.  fold that piece in half

*This is the last picture until I finished haha! OOPS!*

-Pin the panel (piece that be the pocket for the brushes) to the right side of one of the fabric pieces for the body of the case.

-Sew vertical lines either the length of the case or just the length of the pocket fabric. You can make them as wide or narrow as you want. These are going to make the individual pockets for your brushes and/or any other accessories you want to stick in your roll-up case.

-Lay flat and pin your big pieces of fabric (for the body) together, right sides facing one another. Pin your batting to the fabric as well.

-Sew your panels and batting together, leaving an opening on one side to turn our case right-side-out.

-Turn the case right side out, through the opening you left.

-Turn edges in and pin your ribbon ends in between the pieces of fabric at the opening. These will be your ties to keep the case rolled up.

-Sew opening shut.  You can either use an invisible (hand) stitch OR you can start at the opening and sew all the way around the edge of the case for a more finished look.

Ta Da! You have successfully created your make-up brush roll-up case! =)

 

Embellish as you desire. i didn't add any embellishments since I used a 'loud' fabric =)

Have you made anything lately?

If you make this case, I would LOVE to see how yours turned out =)



Miscellany Monday

Hello Out There!!!

Sorry I was MIA last week! I took a much needed break.  The month of August was a roller coaster -- The Husband and I are really really looking forward to September. Not necessarily because we have anything going on as of now but because August is over lol. 

I took last week off to kind of re-group. So here is what has been going on :

Link up here

2 weeks ago our A/C quit working!! We are working on buying a new house so a lot of our funds are off limits.  There are also other circumstances that keep us from spending the $1200 it would take to fix it. So right now we basically live in our bedroom with a window unit. Our room stays very comfortable -- the rest of the house....not so much! =/

I have started eating better since this post. I feel better already and this weekend I started a new work out routine that I am excited about.  It is something I put together on my own that has some variety in it and allows me to interchange days/work outs.

 I was in a car accident last Wednesday morning on my way to work =(

 

my poor car! They came and hauled it off and I should hear back regarding the damage sometime in the next couple days. I walked away unharmed and the guy I hit was in a Dodge 2500 with a life gate -- AKA NO DAMAGE to his vehicle.

I started color blocking the house, trying to find the perfect color(s) for when we move into the new house.

J originally picked this color:

He said it was too dark so we tried the same color card but the lighter shade.

  

He is much happier with this color -- so this will be the color for the 'man-room' and also, the laundry room and the accent color in the craft room.

We also set out to find the perfect color for MOST of the house.

  

We determined these two colors were too drab and too gray based. so we went for a warmer tone.

I think we have a winner. We are really happy with this color!!

Now I just need to figure out the gray shades for the master bed and bath.

Something else I worked on last week and this weekend was this little beauty:

  

Why, yes, it IS a hot mess. It was free and will provide wonderful storage in the craft room. The piece itself is good quality and very solid...it has seen some abuse though. Thankfully none of the wood is splintered, it is just a mess on the surface of the piece.   I have been refinishing it for the past week. I can't wait to show you the after pictures!

Still no closing date =( It has been about 5 weeks and I am tired of waiting. Every Sunday night, J and I say to one another, maybe we'll get a closing date this week. I'm really hoping we hear something soon. I know our realtor is starting to get annoyed - she copies me on the emails to the selling agent haha! She is even wondering why this is taking as long as it is.

Well, I think that about covers everything and catches me up! 

What has been going on in your life??

{Tutorial} Hand-made Comforter

I have been planning to make a quilt or comforter of some sort since The Husband and I decided to buy a new home. We haven't moved in yet so I have lots of time to work on my home DIYs. I posted the finished project over a week ago but I wanted to share a tutorial for those of you wanting to make your own!

First -- you will need to figure out your design. I had elaborate designs and very simple/basic designs. I decided to go with an in between - a hybrid design, if you will.

After you have designed your comforter, you will need to take measurements. You CAN go by the generic measurements listed online but I knew the generic weren't going to work for us. I went home and measured and decided I would make it 108" wide by 80" high. If this sounds very large, it is, I promise lol. We have a king bed and wanted the comforter to touch the foot board and side rails at the bottom of the mattress.

Now that I had the measurements and design, I made my way to Joann's. I knew what colors I was looking for based on both the design and the color scheme that The Husband and I had already come up with for our new master bedroom.  

MAKE SURE YOU BUY ENOUGH FABRIC! When I was going to start making cuts and putting it all together, I realized I was about 3 yards short on material. Thankfully I found the same exact material and was able to get more.

For my measurements, I needed 12 yards of the main fabric (the gold) 1.5 yards of the gray and 1.5 yards of the teal. You will also need whatever you decide to use for trim if you want trim.
You can decide to make your comforter as a duvet cover or an actual comforter. 

Now I have to admit, I am a bit of a cheater with my comforter. You can buy the batting and do all that good stuff (ie: more time and more money) OR you can make your way to you local Ikea and buy a duvet of your preferred weight and size for so much less.  I picked up the cool temp alternative down king size for $15!!! Seriously - so much easier to deal with later AND much cheaper -- and we all know this girl loves a good deal =)

The very first thing I did when I started was make the ruffles. I wanted two different types of ruffles to add a little extra dimension and to create multiple textures. The gray ruffle I knew would take the longest, as I followed the tutorial found here for honeycomb smocking. I love the look but I thought the smocking would have been a little more structure than what I wanted.

I started out following the instructions to a T and realized it was going to take FOREVER. So I quit ironing the pleats and started doing everything by hand.  This gave the fluffier more ruffled look that I wanted. To hand stitch 318 inches of fabric into pleats/ruffles takes about 5-6 hours.When I finally finished the gray ruffle, I cut the fabric for the teal ruffle.

I decided for this one I would use the sewing machine and make the ruffle using the gathering method. This is SO much faster! Seriously -- it took about 20 minutes total! *NOTE:When making this ruffle I also used 3 times the amount of material necessary for the width of the comforter

 

After those two ruffles were complete, I cut the material for the rest of the comforter.  I referred back to my drawing and calculation a lot to make sure I had enough. I made the cuts for the flat front pieces, the back pieces and the gold/yellow ruffle (again using 3 times the width for the ruffle).

I was tired of doing ruffles for the moment and I wanted to start seeing progress, so my next step was to start pinning the yellow fabric to the ruffles. 

I pinned a thinner yellow piece to one side of the teal ruffle - right sides together. Sew and remove the pins.

I then pinned the yellow to the gray ruffle, right sides facing, and sewed together.

SOME NOTES:  I get rolling and forget to take pictures, therefore, some are missing.  you may notice that my sewing isn't start at the end and move forward, I started kind of in the middle...where the ruffles were and would be the most 'difficult' to sew together because of the additional material from the ruffle, nevermind all the material that would later be in the way from the rest of the comforter.

I pinned and sewed the piece of fabric that would be at the bottom of the comforter --  to the teal ruffle. Pin and sew the piece of fabric for the middle of the comforter to the teal ruffle.

Then I pinned the gray ruffle to the yellow fabric that would serve as the 'middle' of the comforter, right sides together. Sew and remove the pins.

 

As I neared the end of the front of the comforter, I created the final ruffle -- I used the gold fabric. This was to add just a little more texture to the comforter without throwing in more color. I used the machine/gathering method for the three strips of fabric for this ruffle. Once the ruffle had been created, I sewed the ends to one another using the machine.

I laid out the comforter on the bed and pinned the gold ruffle to the end of the gold middle piece, right sides facing each other. Gather up all the comforter and sew together and remove pins.

 

I pinned the final piece of material (for the front) to the top of the comforter, right sides facing each other. Sew and remove the pins.

 

At this point, I had 6 yards of fabric leftover so I cut it down to 3 yards each and sewed them together on the long edge, right sides facing each other.

Next I pinned and sewed the duvet insert to the front side of the comforter on the long ends. Once sewed together, I flipped it right side out so that the sewn edges were 'inside' facing the duvet insert.

  

The FINAL step was to pin and sew the back of the comforter to the rest of the made comforter, right sides facing each other.

 

Make sure to leave an opening for you to flip your comforter right side out...otherwise your seam ripper will come in handy =)

Once it is right side out, finish with an invisible stitch or use your sewing machine. Like anything else, it is a matter of preference.

TA-DA!!

 

You are FINALLY finished!

 

 

I didn't add a trim even though I bought ribbon to use. I pinned it and didn't really like the look of it. The black was too stark in contrast. I am really leaning towards just sewing all the way around the comforter to give it a finished 'rolled' look. I haven't decided yet BUT I have now made a comforter =)

I hope this inspires you to make your own!! =)

Linking up to the following:
Polly Want a Crafter
Craft-O-Maniac
DIY Show Off

DIY Friday!!

Hello Everyone!!

♥ Happy Friday!!! ♥

I am guest posting today over at DIY Kinda Gal!  Check it out because I just made a HAND MADE COMFORTER!!!! What do you know about that?!  Here's what it looks like:

Go check her out -- she is awesome-sauce and she has had a lot of guest bloggers lately, so go find some new reads and inspiration =) and enjoy your weekend!

PS: this was the secret from Wednesday that I wanted to share =)