DIY (fake) reupholstered wingback chair

I've been DYING to cover up this hideous chair in my bedroom for forever now, but I could never work up the courage to spend money on fabric for something that may or may not turn out. I saw these chairs on Pinterest & instantly thought of the tapestry hanging behind my bed. 

It was perfect! I knew it probably wasn't enough fabric to fully cover the chair, but the front & sides were all I was really worried about. 

Since my last reupholstering attempt ended with my arm in an icebath & a naked chair that sat unfinished until it was mercifully disposed of, I decided to go at this the easiest way possible. 

I recruited two of my girlfriends & we got to work recovering the chair without actually taking it apart. At first I didn't want to cut the fabric at all, but eventually it got to the point where we could cut the fabric or have giant bulgy balloon arms, so we cut away.

 All we did was tuck, yank, pull & staple, kindof learning as we went. We were able to knock it out in a few hours, & it really wasn't bad at all! (The headboard I'm working on is another story!) 

I'm so so so happy with the results! It's nowhere near perfect, the back is empty & the seat isn't stapled so it requires some tucking when you get up, but for all the time & PAIN we saved by leaving all the original staples in, I can totally deal with the imperfections!

Current Projects

So many projects right now!!!
All of the items pictured are from my most recent "shop grandma's house" trip! I got an awesome old heater, a piano footstool, triangle shaped side table, some goat antlers, a brass magazine rack, an old wooden ladder, plus a queen size foam mattress topper, which I can use for my new headboard! All for FREE! I'm so excited to get working on them all!!

Mumford & Sons

Last Saturday Keith & I had tickets to Mumford & Sons!!! It was definitely the best concert I've ever been to! (Which actually isn't saying much since the only other one I've been to was Ke$ha!!) Keith has been to lots of concerts though, & said that this was a really good one! Our tickets were for the general admission standing area, & since we got there an hour & a half BEFORE the two hour long openers, we were so close to the stage!!

Craigslist chair DIY

After having this $30 Craigslist chair for almost a year, I finally got around to redoing it! 

I'd already reupholstered the cushion in the first picture, but when I got it the cushion was different. 

I loved the wicker look, but I could never decide what to do with it. I've been searching for a chair with wheels that I could use in my craft room, but I hate the way typical office chairs look. 

I finally decided that I might as well make use of the chair collecting dust in my garage, & since I could add wheels myself, I could use it in my craft room now & later it could serve as a multipurpose chair in the camper!

First thing first I tightened all the screws & stapled the sides where bits of the wicker were coming up. Not a very professional fix, but whatever, this chair was $30 & I'm very impatient.

I used Valspar spray paint for the first time, & was really happy with the results. 

The paint sprayed very evenly & the nozzle on the can was easier for me to hold down than Krylon.

Adding the casters was the trickiest part, even though it wasn't very hard at all! I've laid out the steps below, in case anyone else needs help with this.

The first thing to do when installing casters is to find the center of your leg, & mark it. 

Then take the caster apart & make sure your drill bit is the correct size. 

Next you'll drill into each leg where you marked the center.

Make sure to stop every now & then to clean the dust out of your bit, & check to see if your hole is deep enough. 

Once your hole is deep enough, stick your caster bit into the hole & hammer it down. 

Screw the wheels into the space, & voila!

Easy peasy!

Pet Section

I've been thinking about adding a pet section to my etsy shop!
The only problem is I have zero experience in sewing pet clothing! I tried to alter a shirt for Piper this morning & it turned out ok, but it's not something I'd be comfortable selling in my shop. Hopefully I'll figure it out though, because I have so many ideas! I want to learn to make collars & leashes & little bows that attach to collars, it'll be so cute!

Airstream

My love for Aistreams runs deep. I'm not sure what it is, but every time I see one of those shiny trailers I squeal with excitement & dream about owning one.

Today I was talking to Melissa about wanting to move into a camper & she suggested we just renovate the old Airstream my dad has parked on my grannie's land in Florence. 

WHAT A GREAT IDEA!

I can't even begin to describe my excitement over this! The camper isn't in the best condition, but we're thinking we can fix it up! I'm a little nervous about the appliances & plumbing & electrical stuff, but I think we should be able to handle everything else! 

Just look at some of these beautifully renovated Airstreams, don't they just make you want to work on one, like right now?!!!

It's gonna be ALOT of hard work, but I'm so excited for the finished product!!

Mother's Day

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY MOM!
I love you so much!!!

My mom is the strongest & most selfless person I know, I'm so lucky to have her! I have this picture of her graduating from college smack dap in the middle of my bulletin board in my craft room because its so inspiring! Looking at this always reminds me I can do it!

tiny house

I'm currently so obsessed with tiny houses.

The thought of downsizing so much, literally getting rid of every single thing that you don't need sounds so refreshing! 

Alot of the tiny houses that people build are mobile too! Isn't that so neat? You can take your home with you wherever you go! That got me thinking, maybe I should just move into a camper! I could take it wherever I want, I would have to downsize quite a bit, & its cheaper than building a tiny house! I found this article about a guy in Austin who lives in his rv, & it's so inspiring!

http://tynan.com/living-in-a-small-rv-introduction

So now instead of weddings I'm obsessed with campers!

Can you believe these are actual campers?! They're beautiful!!!
I'm so inspired, I can't wait to get one of my own to transform!

Beach Trip!

Keith & I went to the beach this week with two of our friends. We left Sunday evening & came home this morning. The hotel we stayed at was RIGHT on the beach, & only $70 a night! Since its during the off season their prices were half price! We've been checking the weather all week, & the chance of rain kept getting higher & higher. On Sunday we checked the 18 hour forecast & it showed that if was going to rain every single hour until 9 Monday night. BUT GUESS WHAT! It was sunny! We had a wonderful day at the beach & then after we went to dinner & came home an incredible storm passed through. The storm was so pretty, & then it was gone & we were able to go to the pool! It was a short trip, but I definitely needed it!

Wedding obsession

I am so wedding obsessed right now! Ever since I helped with a wedding last month I cannot get weddings off my mind. 

It's not just me though! Last week we had girls night & literally spent an hour just talking about our future weddings. 

Obviously I'm not going to get to plan my wedding for a while, but it never hurts to be prepared!

Here's some pictures I've seen on Pinterest that really inspire me:

Of course I want to have a typical southern wedding, whatever! 

My dream wedding would be at my grandma's house in Florence, and luckily that's very cost efficient! She's even going to let me wear her wedding dress! Now all I need is someone to propose to me with an antique ring that belonged to their grandma! 

I just can't wait to get married!

Cheesecake!

I know I failed to post on Tuesday, but this week has really been hard for me. All of the recent tragedies in Boston & Texas have frazzled me a bit, & on top of that I've been worried about my grandpa. It would be greatly appreciated if anyone wants to say a little prayer or send some positive energy his way!

On Monday I went out to my Abuelita's house in Florence & she helped me make a cheesecake!
If you know my grandma, then you know she makes the best cheesecake. She showed me her "Cheesecake Life Lessons" sheet, which she made for a cheesecake demonstration she did. We had such a good time laughing & goofing off, & the cheesecake was a success! I brought some to work & one of my employees told me I'd found my calling! I'm going to try & make one on my own soon & hopefully it will be just as good!

Greek yogurt

I love it!!!
Tonight I tried substituting sour cream with plain Greek yogurt.
It tastes just like sour cream, but then a tiny bit better!
I love it, I love it!

Yoga

Since I'm working on managing my time better, I'm designating Tuesdays for blog updates.

I would love to update more than that, but just for now expect a new post each Tuesday.

This past week I've made time for yoga every single day!

On days that I go into work early I've been doing it when I get home, & the days I'm off or go in late I do it in the morning. 

I AM SO SORE!

It's kindof embarrassing how sore I am, but other than that I feel great!

Every night that I come home & do yoga after work I feel instantly relaxed, & when I do it in the morning I feel energized & ready to take on the day!
Doing yoga has also inspired me to start eating better! I'm working on putting together little meals & snacks to keep me from binging on candy & crap throughout the day.

I've started following lots of yoga & healthy eating accounts on instagram to keep me motivated, and it seems to be helping! 

Time, time, time

For the past few months I've constantly felt like I don't have enough time.

I find myself thinking "I wish I had time to do that," every single day.

 

I want to do yoga,

I want to swim,

I want to start scrapbooking,

I want to read,

I want to finish the projects I've started & start new ones.

 

I've decided to stop complaining about not having the time for things & to make time.

I just wrote out all the things I would do if I had time, & then I fit them into my schedule.

With everything written out like that, I actually feel like I have alot of spare time!

No more excuses, it's time to do the things I want to do!

 



21'st Birthday!

Ok, even though my birthday isn't until June I've already gone way overboard planning my party.

I can't help it, I get too excited about things!

If you hadn't already guessed, it's going to be 90's themed (since I was born in the 90's!)

Which means tacky bike shorts, Nsync, Britney Spears & bubble tape! I AM SO EXCITED!

I've decided to order some custom print fabric from Spoonflower so I can make my own costume!

Along with the black splatter pattern above, I've made two other possible fabric designs!

I may be alone on this, but geometric shape prints definitely take me back to elementary school!

& another paint splatter, I couldn't decide between black & white, so I made both!

The white is kindof bad though, it's the first one I made & when it's tiled for the fabric you can see a definite line on the right edge. But I can fix that! 

I'm going to order samples of each since I'm having such a hard time deciding! 

I'm making slap bracelets for the gift bags (those are 90's right?!) & I'm splattering glow in the dark neon paint on the fabric for them! 

Since I'll be in Colorado the week of my birthday, I'll have it the Saturday that I get back. Which means I wont have time to make a cake! Unfortunately I'm too much of a control freak to let any of my friends make it for me, so I think this year I'll have to order on from a bakery.

But at least that means my cake will be near perfect! 

I'm obsessed with this cake I found on google, I literally show it to everyone I talk to!

This one with the furby & gigs pets is really neat too!

I know I'm going way overboard with the splatter thing, but I just really love the idea of my outfit, invitations, cake & party favors all matching!

The coolest part is that one of my employees is in a band & offered to play 90's covers as a birthday gift!

Really the whole band is just stoked they get to dress up in awesome 90's clothes c;

We were also thinking of having a slip n slide, but that seems a little bit too high school cliche. 

But then again it IS a 21st birthday AND it's 90's, two thing allowed to be outrageous!

Ah! I just can't wait! 

Bad babies!

This morning I caught Piper & Toulouse eating the marshmallows from the marshmallow cone Keith got me on Valentine's Day...

Those little stinkers! Toulouse had one he was licking, & Piper swooped in & gobbled up two. 

(he actually ate the one above the second after I took a picture)

Bad, bad, but very cute, babies!

I've also made a little rule for myself that I'm only going to use the manual mode on my camera for a while. I've become way too reliant on auto! 

My morning

I woke up & did some yoga while Toulouse eyed me from Piper's bed. Now I'm enjoying a bagel & some Piper time before work. Today will be a good day!

Headache update!

So far in 2013 I've attempted so many different diets to help my headaches it's crazy!

First I tried being vegan; that went well for two weeks, then on date night I allowed myself some queso & things went down hill from there.

So then I decided to stick to a vegan diet on the weekdays, but allow myself meat & dairy on the weekends. This also went well for a week or two, then I ate donuts on a Monday & couldn't stop.

 My mom forwarded me this email about refined sugars, so I started trying to cut most sugar out of my diet. This one lasted two days until I saw the gas station by my house carried red velvet cake ice cream pints....

With all these crazy changes in my diet it's been easier for me to figure out how certain foods make me feel.

 I THINK breads are one of the foods causing my headaches. I'm not completely positive about this, but it seems like I'll be fine until a bit after I eat a sandwich. This may be a complete coincidence, but my next "crazy diet" is going to be cutting gluten. This actually shouldn't be too hard for me, I work at a restaurant that specializes in gluten free food! Plus during my vegan days I stocked up on some gluten free pastas, so hopefully this will be easier & help my headaches!

DIY Faux Canopy Bed

I've always loved the look of canopy beds, but thought they would be too hot for me to sleep in.

I fell in love with the faux canopy look in one of the photos I posted in my bedroom inspiration post.

So of course I had to try & recreate that look in my own room. 

I started out with a very very long window panel I picked up at a thrift store for $3.
The first thing I did was run a piece of yarn through the panel casing at the top of the curtain.
I used a needle because I forgot about the casing, but it'd be much much easier to do without a needle as it kept pushing through the fabric & was such a pain.

Then I pulled the strings tight, bunching the entire panel together. I tied a little knot & then tied that to a nail.  It probably would've been smarter to use a a nail with a bigger head, but I was impatient and a tiny nail was all I had. My whole panel will probably fall off one night, I'll just deal with that then though! Then I hammered the nail straight up into the ceiling while balancing on a laundry basket on top of my bed!

Next I folded the panel in half horizontally & found the center. With my finger marking the center I pulled the panel to the wall with enough slack to create a nice shape. I hammered a nail into that center spot on the wall, and another right below it for added reinforcement. I did the same to corners of the panel & then in between those nails.

I hung my tapestry at the very top of the wall (off centered, of course) , overlapping the fabric from the canopy. Even though it isn't perfect (or ironed), I really like with how it looks. It especially looks nice when you're laying in bed looking up.

Please ignore my messy, duvet cover-less bed, ugly pillows, night stand & lamp, I'm in the middle of a makeover here!

I'm finally decorating my bedroom! 

I've been planning this for so long, its so exciting that I finally get to bring all my ideas to life! 

Here's a collection of images that really inspire me:

I cannot wait to get started! I love the idea of using lots of different fabrics, not only to create texture but to bring all the colors of the room together through different prints. If you're looking for different textiles I've found Urban Outfitters & West Elm have some great tapestries, rugs & pillows. Also World Market has some beautiful lamps & wall decor items. My grandma is letting me dig through her storage trailer on Monday, so I'm hoping I can find some wonderful pieces that I don't have to buy!