Tooting My Own Horn....

It's not perfection but it's pretty close if you ask me... What am I talking about you ask? Well ladies and gentleman I reupholstered my first piece of furniture tonight.... Over a year ago I swiped this really cool chair from under Cole's office

 My baby.... Checking out the project of the day. (She is turning one tomorrow.... Oh my god a year ago tonight I was in the hospital taking my first Ambien waiting for Lucy. Who knew what a fast, wonderful ride I was in for... Who knew my heart would forever be stolen by such a little person. Crazy Love....)

 Cole works downtown Astoria. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Astoria it is the oldest settlement west of the Mississippi. This place has a lot of history. The history of Astoria was not on my mind when I claimed this chair from the depths of the town. Tonight though as I started to redo this chair I couldn't help but wonder what its history was. This was because as I went in to tear off the fabric I realized it was stuffed with straw. Now I have been doing my research and none of the blogs I've been studying have talked about coming across furniture stuffed with straw. How old is this chair and did I just destroy some antique that could be worth millions (OK thousands?).... Check out these tiny little nails. They are located under the green trim you see below. I was careful not to pull these out or let them drop on the floor.  They were rusty! So I tore off the green trim but when I ran into the straw I stopped and realized I was going to have to recover the chair with the existing fabric underneath. This decision however took me like four hours to make. I think the straw intimidated me so I had to give myself some pep talks. I needed a mental kick in the A. Then I attacked it and boy am I glad I did...

 Yeah folks get a load of that .... what is that pictured below and how do you cover it? Makes me wonder if there is treasure or money stuffed in the cushions of this baby....

Tearing off the trim.... It was just glued on. Please keep in mind that I do not have trim so the chair is not finished yet but I am too excited not to share this!

 I found this butter yellow fabric above on clearance at Mill End Fabric Store in Beaverton. I got it for $5.00 a yard. Not too bad... So I set out with my new staple gun and I just went to town. I was careful with my selection of every staple and before I knew it I was redoing a chair.

I couldn't help but notice some of the details in the wood on this chair. It by no means feels like a frail antique it actually is extremely sturdy and very heavy. (Who knew a chair could get me so excited, I guess its the little things these days. I like the little things.) I guess what I am really trying to say is that if this chair had a story to tell I would want to hear it.

 Here is my finished chair all prim and proper. Pretty cool huh? I am so excited that I did it. I can't wait for Lucy to wake up tomorrow... I know she will love the new chair all soft and velvety.

 Lets do a quick little before and after, shall we?
Before.............

After..............

 This picture shows some of my flaw spots. You can also see the exposed staples. I will put trim on it soon to cover the staples but until then... Who cares... I LOVE IT!

Nap Time Freedom

I try to make most of my crafts during nap time. This is really the only time that I can have all to myself. Both of the babies sleep and I art out. Today I found myself looking to make something with materials we already had. This is a tight month for Cole financially so we are trying to be super frugal... Damn taxes! Anyways I found myself in the garage holding this really cool frame I got at a local thrift shop for $4. Then I grabbed one of the coffee burlap sacks and my white paint. It was in the depths of my garage when I had my ah ha moment and decided that I would make an art piece. I wanted to make something modern and not super frilly. At first I decided that I was going to make a monogram for our house. I went to Pinterest for some ideas when I saw this.....

This chick does pretty cool stuff. I definitely got some other project ideas from her too. You can check her out here. I then decided that I was going to draw and paint a deer (remember the nostalgia post from earlier about horns and deer and stuff) with our monogram down below.

I got all my supplies together... All of which I had, score!
My coffee burlap coffee sack- $0.99, frame $4.00 open white gallon of paint. Not pictured black paint, sharpie, staple gun and paint brush. I got a little ahead of myself.

 Then I traced my frame with a sharpie and cut out my burlap a little inside the sharpie line.

 I used my paint holder container as my template for the deer bust picture.

 Tried my best at free handing a deer. Not too bad Huh?

 I decided to add a little monogram in the corner... So sweet... Home sweet home.

Then I took my old black paint (probably from college) which was really dry so I added some thinner to make it spread better,

 I painted in all the negative space around the deer... Lovely

 Now lets take a second to give a little shout out to my Daddy. He loves that I am working with tools and just knew that I desperately needed a staple gun among other things so he got me one. I love him... Thanks Dad you are the best.

Then I took my new toy and my freshly dried painted canvas and stapled it to my freshly white painted frame. I was sure to pull in nice and tight.

And.... Wait for it.... Instant art all ready to go and the it only took as long as nap time lasted about 1.5 hours.

 It took me a bit to decide where I wanted to put it but in the end I decided to put it by the door. We had an empty space and I was able to fill it with a meaningful picture that hits home for both Cole and I. (Looking at these pictures makes me realize I need to fill in my oval better its not perfectly rounded. Touch ups for tomorrow.)

Here is a too scale shot. See it's a nice size piece.

 If I can do this so can you. It was easy super cheap and super doable for anyone. If you need more of a pep talk to get going let me know and I would love to pump you up. I guess this post isn't for everyone cause maybe some people hate deer or monograms, who knows. Tell me what you think, or if you have betters ideas for things to paint on burlap I really want to know.

Outside Looking In...

Several of you have asked that I write a post highlighting what my house looks like on the exterior. I have described it several times as the big green monster and I think that left a lot to the imagination. This past weekend the weather was amazing for good old Astoria. Cole and I decided to get our booty's outside to mow and plant some of the hundreds of bulbs I purchased. So sunshine and all here is a look at our house currently...

 When Cole and I first visited the house I did not like it. The price was very right but I had no vision for the big green thing. Since we have moved in the place, it has started to really grow on me. I think with some curb appeal upgrades this baby wont look too bad. Below is a house that has given some vision  for our place. I realize that our house looks nothing like the one below but I want to replicate the shingles in the gables and the stone around the bottom of the house. I also really like the color.


 

As for the entrance way we have talked with several contractors (I guess we kinda lucked out cause Cole's dad and my Mark are both contractors) who  have given us the idea to extend a patio about seven feet the length of the front left of the house and zig zag wider framed in shingled stairs. The ones that are up now are pretty much a death trap. Death traps are not a good thing to have when you have kids or so we have been told. I also want to add some exterior moulding to the windows to make them look more manly, they need a little beefing up. (PS I hate the telephone pole in my front yard but I guess it is frowned upon to axe those down.) I also love the look of this door with the address painted on the front. The color is awesome and I want to replicate everything about it. If you love this door and want to feast your eyes on more click here.

 Here is a good picture to show you what we're working with yardwise. Yes those are blackberry bushes. The neighbor told us that the yard was let go for a while especially when it was on the market. There is a lot to be done. Cole and I are still trying to come to a common vision for the yard, then we will probably spend several years attaining the vision.   So Cole and I took some baby steps on Saturday and we removed our first hideous plant that probably was a weed gone crazy. The plant about to meet its fate is the one one the right... Bye bye ugly

 Here I go digging away trying to put the plant out of its misery. I had a vision to dig it out and all the grass all the way to the street to make a lovely flower bed. Cole told me I was being too ambitious and that we didn't have that much time . He also doesn't want the neighbors to think we are the type that start projects and never finish them. Not to mention it would effect all of their mail boxes.

 Cole took the last couple swipes at the bush ad viola it was gone.

Since I didn't get the flower bed I had set out to get that day I pouted and and made a strong argument that all my bulbs would have been bought in vain if we didn't get some into the ground. So we stripped out a little section and I got to plant one bag on a very sun exposed side of the house.

 The bag I got to plant. Whoop Whoop... Can't wait to watch them grow and then pick them.

After a big day of Easter egg hunting (Ummm how come no one ever clued me into the psychoticness of parents and Easter egg hunts in public. If I knew what I was getting myself into I would of prepped for the crazy parents in the 0-2 year old section with trash bags in one hand full of eggs and immobile infants in the other. Lucy got two eggs this year cause we played nice, next year watch out Seaside we're gonna be prepared.) and planting we underwent a series of first in Lucy's life..... Enjoy a quick recap of her adventures...

Lucy's First Easter Egg Hunt.... Her two awesome eggs...

Swings.... She loved them... We have the all-time greatest park by the house. Can't wait to use and abuse this place.

 Slide with Daddy...

 Also her second Easter but it was the first time I got to dress her up like a contestant from Toddlers and Tiaras. Her dress definitely pushed the boundaries on too fluffy. I loved it. Hope you all have a great holiday weekend. Any firsts for any of you? Or maybe you have some good ideas on how we should add street appeal to our home. I would love to hear from you.

Holy Bird Cage

Well my Spring 2012 Restoration Hardware catalogue came the other day. I was so excited that I ripped it open and ran over to the sitting area where I was about to sit down and read it when of course I got distracted by something. I can't remember what got me (I probably realized the baby gate was open or something. God knows Lucy loves climbing up them but she isn't great at coming down) all I remember is that I didn't get to divulge in the over-indulgent catalogue. Of course I can't afford anything from this catalogue but a girl can dream and more importantly get ideas. Check out the girth on this baby...
As I was reading through it I was waiting for that moment of inspiration for my next DIY project instead I was in awe and shocked at what I found on page 136...

Can you believe what you are seeing? That my friends is a birdcage chandelier. It is the biggest thing ever. Part of me loves it and part of me hates it. How can this thing fit into any ones house. I mean I am visualizing it in some dark, hot nightclub with maybe a dancer on the inside. It would take up a whole room in my house. It is a true work of art but holy bird cage! I guess the bird fascination is in its next stage and has evolved to birdcages. Well if this birdcage is right up your alley you can purchase it here.

After the holy cowness wore off I decided to keep reading and I found myself fixated on the light fixtures. Like this lovely lamp below. Simple nice lines and clean looking. I need all the clean fixtures I can get in my house to compensate for all the messes.

 I also loved this spread. Maybe it is the Montana in me that loved the horns. I know they are not for everyone but they have a certain sense of nostalgia for me. No I am not a hunter. I couldn't kill anything if you paid me a million bucks. I can't even kill one of the ladybugs that are infesting our house right now. Lucy on the other hand... Well I have finger swiped two from her mouth...Lovely

 Then I came to the part of the magazine that inspired me and compared to the grand catalogue my inspiration was simple a relatively cheap considering...

Wouldn't this look nice above my redone kitchen table. I love the over sized Edison light and the simple shape. Not too fussy not too plain.

 And it is priced at $129.00 which would still require some saving but nowhere near as much as the birdcage light at almost $3000.

 See wouldn't it look nice hanging over my table. Right now we have a boring old light that looks like a big old boob. Looking at this picture also makes me want to paint my cupboards ...dark ...or light?
Or maybe we should replace these funky ones with them. These bad boys pictured below are up for grabs..By the way

Brushed something look... Maybe nickle?

Ok.... I need to get off the couch because as this is what it looks like out my window and god knows we don't get enough sun. Off Lucy and I go to enjoy this day. I hope all of you out there are having a magical day and hopefully a sunny one. PS it's Friday so that means its time for a beer too... Would it be bad if I put the beer in my stroller cup holder on our walk...?