Thursday, February 2, 2012

What I Did On My January Snow Break!


As you probably gathered from the recent news, we had a decent snow storm here in Washington state. For once the weather forecast was correct! Schools were closed ahead of time and we braced ourselves for a power loss and all of the fun that brings! Well, we didn't loose power afterall, so I got to stay home and do some of the creative stuff that I wanted to do!

My craft room is "my" space so I decided to be a little bit crazy and do what I wanted to do with the wall between the door and the armoire. So I collected some ideas from pinterest.com (love that danged site) and painted this r.i.g.h.t.o.n.t.h.e.w.a.l.l.:


It is a floor to ceiling tree that I will add painted frames to as I collect them from one of my recent favorites places...the goodwill in Silverdale! Currently the frames have cork board in them so I can easily change what lives inside. That was a fun project to do. It even has a heart with my and hubby's initials in it! I WILL have to tidy up the base board a bit...I can be a messy painter. Maybe that is why my husband frowns on my painting adventures...

The tree took me only a couple of hours to create, so I moved onto another project I have been wanting to do.

Recently, I had found a great chair at the goodwill for a few dollars and thought that it would make a great first reupholstering project. In anticipation of this project, I had purchased some cotton fabric and so I began by stripping the chair of its nasty old skin.



I started with the top, because it looked the easiest. This is a shot of the back of the chair. Not too bad for a rookie. Pulling fabric taut and hammering in the tack at the same time is hard to do! As I was focused on doing the top, I wasted a bunch of fabric and was mad because I did not have a large enough piece to cover the seat in one swath. I stewed over it for a time then thought of Katie's wedding dress with all of the rooshing on it. I cut the strips to the correct size, gathered them and sewed them to the seat topper then sew a staying strip to the bottom of the gathers and tacked it in place on the underside of the chair.


This gives you and idea of all four sides of the seat. Pretty creative solution to my stupidity!


So here is the finished chair. I would probably choose a different fabric next time, but it turned out well for my first try. (My curtains have a fairly large graphic on them so I went for something small, although I was looking for a plaid at the time.) More tacks and pulling more on the top would smooth out the edges there. That project took me a couple of days to complete. I took my time and painted stuff while I pondered each step of the way.


What did I paint do you ask? Well I have been having fun repainting really ugly frames and arranging them on my wall. Eventually I think I will use chalk board paint or maybe a mirror on the empty one in the middle; I haven't decided. The bulletin board frame is decoupaged scrap book paper.


I mentioned earlier that I have been haunting pinterest. I saw this pinecone door thingy so I made one for my door next. I am still looking for something cool for January door decor, so until I find just what I want, this will do:

My version pinterest

Still out on snow days (there were three) so I got out the glitter that I bought at Michaels when I was out one time with Jesica (prebaby) and plastered my wood halloween tree that I purchased on clearance. YEah!



It lives on the top corner of my bulletin board for now.

Finally the snow was melted and we could get out. After work on Monday I went to my second favorite place to haunt when I am killing time. I found this fun clock for $20 bucks at Ross so it had to come home with me! It now lives at the top of the stairs.



Although this is not a snow day project, it was an "I got sick and didn't go to work project" (I cut laminate at home most of the time...) I got the idea on Pinterest...duh:



These are heart shaped pocket warmers that I sewed up from left over fabric in my stash. They are filled with rice. You zap them in the microwave for 10-20 seconds then pop them in your pocket to keep your hands toasty. They will be Valentine gifts for the people I work with.

So what have you been up to on these wintry days? I hope whatever it may be, that it make your heart smile!

XOXXO

PS My next project is a new duvet cover from Katie's wedding table fabric. I have a lot of it, and I am slightly in love with black, white and oatmeal colors these days! Enjoy!

2 comments:

  1. I really like what you did to the clock! Looks way good. Make us one? Ok!

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  2. I always love the stuff you come up with. Some day, when I have a house again that I can paint and decorate, you'll have to plan a trip out to give me a tree like the one you just did in the craft room. I want a big one in my front room where I can hang family pictures on it, like a family tree! Best of all though, was the initials on the trunk. I loved that!!!

    I also LOVE the pinecones. We get GIANT ones out here... like the size of my head sometimes... I'll have to save some and play with your door hanging idea.

    And, KILLER find on the clock. It suits your decor style perfectly.

    I think your snow time was time well spent!

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