Thoughtful Thinks – Careful Crafting… Don’t Cry and Cut

Today I am offering you words of wisdom based on my own not so careful crafting this week…

If you are weepy because you are suddenly hit to the realization that time is going by so fast, that your son is going to be a Junior next year… meaning half way through High School already, just give him a hug, tell him you are proud of him and go do NOTHING.

And by NOTHING I mean, DO NOT decide to start a craft project with tears rolling down your cheeks. Nothing good can come from a rotary fabric cutter and blurry eyes. Trust me on this. Nothing good at all…

You may get, however, a trip to urgent care, via a freaked out friend, who hopes you won’t pass out before she gets you there. Then after that, the only thing to look forward to is four stitches to put your thumb back together and a tetanus shot.

The good news though, by doctors orders, I am not to do dishes for 10 days! Hubby heard those words.

But she said nothing about some very careful crafting… 😉

Back to School with Duck Tape®

Creative Ideas for Lamp Shades

Changing out your lamp shades is an easy, inexpensive home decor update. But if you already have a shade that can be modified with a little DIY elbow grease, then you have an opportunity to create a unique lamp shade with minimal cost and supplies.

I picked up a plain, white lamp shade at a Pottery Barn Outlet a while ago, for 10.00. Once I had it home, it was too white and too plain to work with my decor.  So I did what many other DIY-ers would do… I checked out Pinterest for inspiration to get the ole mind rolling. ;D  Take a look at these creative ideas for lamp shades!

Rope Lamp Shade (source unknown)

Stenciled Lamp Shade

Lace Covered Lamp Shade

Button Lamp Shade

Fabric Lamp Shade (source unknown)

Prize Ribbon Lamp Shade

Sweater Lamp Shade

Ribbon Lamp Shade

Map Lamp Shade (source unknown)

Felt flowers Lamp Shade (Source unknown)

Reupholstering A Chair

I’m not a reupholstering expert AT ALL.  When I picked up this $20.00 rocker at an antique show, I thought I would just add more fluff to the chair then recover it with new fabric.  You know… reupholstering a chair the “I’ll wing it” way.  😉  Thank goodness I didn’t do that!  The fabric was so old, it was almost crunchy.  As I took the fabric and the layer of cotton off the chair, I discovered it was stuffed with hay.  Yes, HAY.  Can we say fire hazard??

The chair needed to be stripped down to the bones.  That meant I was going to have to build it back up.  While I’m sure this chair is not put together the “expert” way, it worked, looks pretty good, and it’s very comfy to sit in.  What more can you ask of a chair?

Here is what it looked like before. The fabric shredded as I pulled it off.

Hay! I had to put on a face mask during the deconstruction of this chair. The dust and goodness knows what else that came from the chair gave me an instant wicked headache. I would recommend wearing a mask anytime to take something apart!  You just never know where it’s been.

After the chair was fabric and hay free, I gave it a couple of coats of white spray paint.

Wide webbing was nowhere to be found, so narrow webbing was used to wrap the chair. Only the back needed webbing, as the seat still had really good springs. The next step was adding batting to the entire chair.
Now fabric… After centering the medallion in the fabric on the chair, I used a staple gun to attach it to the back. The extra fabric was trimmed off.

I used a piece of 1 inch foam for the back of the seat before I started to recover. The original chair had a piece of wood on the back, but after adding the webbing, wood was not necessary. Three inch foam was used to cover the seat.

I added a separate piece of fabric, with the edges turned under, to the leg where to seat and the chair back meets. It was easier than trying to cut the fabric just right to cover that area. And the original covering was put together like that.

Using another piece of fabric on the back side, I turned under the edges here too, then stapled it, following the outline of the shape of the chair. To cover up the staples, I’m going to glue coordinated cording to it.

I used a piece of cotton material that I had to cover the bottom of the chair. Again, I turned under the edges and stapled as I went.

Here is the finished chair. I actually liked reupholstering! If I can do it, you can do it too. 😀

 

Linking to:

I Should be Mopping the Floor
DIY ShowOff
Finding Fabulous – Frugalicious Friday
Not Just A Housewife – Show me what ya got
House on the Way – Twirl and Take a Bow
DIY by Design

 

Unique Handmade Gifts

Handmade gifts make the best presents (in my opinion).  When you receive one, you can see all the time, thought and love that was poured in to it. They are gifts from the heart.

Today I’m showing you some of the handmade gifts I have received.  All these gifts came from my talented, best friend, Kerry. (Aren’t I a lucky girl?!)  Perhaps these wonderful, beautiful ideas will inspire you to think “handmade” when you want to do something special for someone. 😀

Kerry found this mirror that matches the colors in my sewing/craft room. She bought letters and numbers for “house of 34” and added it to the bottom.

What a clever, customized idea! (Yes I cried when I saw it.)

I have had this picture collage for years now. I think it was the first handmade gift she gave me. It tells the story of our friendship.

And yes, I cried with this one too! 😉

Kerry gave me this picture, with the cut up jeans, after we finished the doll house we made together. Getting to spend time with her several times a week for months was oodles fun!  We went through withdrawal when it was finished though.

She cut up her paint splattered, glue covered jeans as a representation of the labor of love that went into making our girls a doll house. She framed a lovely letter she wrote and added a picture of our first of many Lowes and HomeDepot shopping trips.  And yes, I cried again.

All these pictures will be added to my sewing/craft room when I get it finished and pretty. I hope these pictures will move you to make and give a handmade gift. 😀

Do you have a favorite handmade gift?

Stencil Giveaway!

I recently shared with you the ceiling I stenciled in my powder bath, using the Chez Ali stencil.  It’s probably one of my favoritest projects to date!  It was an easy project to do, but the impact it made was huge and gorgeous!  Now it’s your turn to stencil. 😀

Today begins the Royal Design Studio stencil giveaway!  You have the opportunity to win a stencil of your choice, up to a $50.00 value!  Wait ’til you see all their designs!  It may take you some time to decide on your favorite.  Decisions, decisions!

Here’s what to do to win your own stencil…

1. To go Royal Design Studio and browse around.
2. Then return to House of 34 and leave me a comment letting me know which stencil you love and where you would use it.
3. Enter to win in the Rafflecopter form below.  That’s it!  Good luck.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

DIY Wood Sign

A few months ago, I picked up a couple of old barn wood planks at an antique store.  As usual, I didn’t know exactly what I was going to do with them, although I knew it would be a wood sign of some sort.

Today, I made a very simple, personalized sign with one of them.  This is a very easy project!  Of course you can use any wood, old or new, to do this stenciled sign.

This board is weathered, battered and has old nail holes in it. It’s beautiful! 😀

I used Powerpoint to print this out. After finding the font and the size I wanted, I just cut out the letters to make a stencil.

I use to teach pre-school, can ya tell? Look at those nicely done cut-out letters. All my kids were very accomplished scissor users when they graduated pre-school.  Ha! 😉

I used a stencil brush and left over paint. Always pounce your brush on a paper towel before you begin. Less is more when stenciling!

I still need to place pictures in the frames, but finally this wall is complete.  Question… Why does 1995 looks so old and seem so long ago??  Was I even old enough to get married?  Wasn’t I just a baby?  1995 is like… last CENTURY!  Oh crap, I am old!

Yep, 1995, the year I was born married.  I still have one more board. What to do, what to do…

Linking to:

Custom Curtains

Drapes and curtains can be hard to find… especially if you are looking for a length longer than 84 inches.  The limited styles, textures and patterns offered out there leaves not much to be desired.  But making your own custom curtains can be very pricy as well.  The cost and yardage it takes to make a single drape can make your head spin, then multiply that by 2, 4 or more panels, well you just better sit down!

So, here’s my “almost” handmade way to get custom, original looking curtains.  I found fabric at my favorite fabric shop that I loved.  It’s a discount fabric store… even better!!  (I repainted the whole kitchen and Sunroom based on the colors in the fabric.)  Though the fabric was priced well, making drapes floor to ceiling in that pattern would have been too much (in looks and in cost).

IKEA baby!  I purchased white panels that come in a package of TWO for $19.99. (That’s unheard of!).  I cut the top of the white panels to remove the tabs and added my lovely material to the top third of the drape.  If you use your favorite fabric on the bottom of your curtain instead of the top, the IKEA curtains tabs are already there… even easier.  In my case, after adding my fabric to the top of the curtain, I needed to sew an open-ended seam wide enough to slide the curtain rod through. You can also use curtain rings with clips to hang your curtains as well.  Voila!

Fireplace Backsplash Updated

Remember when I did the fireplace backsplash?  I updated it a bit.

I have a lot of wood wall planks left over from when I went crazy and bought all I could find because it was on clearance for $3.50.  I bought two different styles.  The planks I used in my son’s bathroom were plain tongue and groove, but I also purchased a couple of packages of the wide beadboard looking planks.

I add the beadboard planks to the fireplace backsplash.  (Nothing stays the same in my house for very long.  It’s a sickness.)

This DIY project was quick and simple! A little extra character for very little money.

This is a picture of the fireplace before and after the first time I did it.

Here’s the now “Before”.

I cut the planks to size, then added the first piece to the middle of the fireplace. That way the planks would end at the same place on both sides.  The boards were trimmed length-wise with a circular saw.  I used a nail gun to attach the wood planks to the wall. I just love that thing!

A close up after it was caulked and painted.

The after After! Not a huge difference, but  it looks more finished now. It took one package of wood planks, so it cost only $3.50!  Gotta love that!

Apartment Therapy The Homies 2013

I apologize if this is a repeat post for you. I woke up this morning to find my post gone.

Guess what?  House of 34 is one of the nominees at Apartment Therapy’s The Homies 2013!  It’s listed in “Best Home Projects and DIY Blog” category.

I would love your vote, if you feel so inclined.  You can vote for House of 34 here.  😀  Thanks!