Office Chair Rehab

 Something I have been thinking of doing lately is getting another chair specifically for my craft desk.  Currently, I have just been moving the chair over from the computer desk every time I want to sit and craft.  I decided that I would just keep my eye out for a good chair.  It just so happened that I came across a nice office chair for $7 at my local GoodWill store here in Bryant.  I immediately snatched that puppy up.  It was a little dingy, so I decided to put some new fabric on!!

So here is the chair before I did anything.  Like I said, kind of dingy.  Usually you can just unscrew the seat and the seat back, and so that is what I did!!  The seat back has a black plastic covering on the back side of it, and once it was unscrewed the plastic part just popped right off.  Now, you could spend the time taking all of the staples out and removing the old fabric, but I decided just to staple my new fabric right over it.  I cut the fabric so there was about 2 inches of overhang around all four sides.  

Starting with the long sides and keeping the fabric taught, I began stapling with my handy dandy staple gun.  I used quarter inch staples.  You want to keep the fabric taught, but not really tight because it could cause the fabric to ripple.  Think of trying to fit yourself in to too skinny jeans and the ripple effect across the front. Don't want any of that going on.  Anyways, as you go around the corners, make little pleats.  This will make sure that the fabric stays smooth around the edges.  

Here is the finished beauty!!  I absolutely love it, and I think it fits in just perfect!  Now go out and try your own!!

Craft update

Well, lately I haven't been blogging much.  Just have been working and neglecting my growing mess of a craft room.  So, I thought I would give an update post about the crafts I have been doing lately.  This is absolutely a post in an effort to procrastinate cleaning up.  My parents went on a trip to the East Coast a few weeks ago to go to an artist workshop for my mother.  After they were done they got to go down the coast, and visited many points between Myrtle Beach and St. Petersburg.  While in St. Petersburg, they visited my aunt who is a major crafter herself.  My parents surprised me with a HUGE gift from my wonderful aunt - about a billion different colored buttons, some thread, some ribbon, and the best gift.....a SERGER!!!! Holy moly my dreams came true.  I have been wanting a serger for so long, but they are just out of my price range for now.  But now, thanks to her, I have one of my very own! I can't wait to start learning how to use it, the possibilities are endless!  To thank her, I sent her this festive holiday card using some of the buttons that she gave me.  I hope she loves it!

Pinterest is my new addiction, as I am sure it is for all of you other crafters out there.  It is just such an amazing way for us to share different projects!! It is also a great way for me to get ideas!  So many tutorials out there.  If you don't have an account, please let me know and I will send you an invite!  One of the things I have gotten kind of addicted to making are these cute woven ribbon headbands.  I now have three.  Before I was just experimenting with one ribbon, but the headband below is two ribbons woven together.  I love making them, and they take about 10 minutes to make! Easy and cute!

I wanted to make a cute centerpiece that was very simple but christmas-y for our kitchen table.  Another idea that I found many people doing on pinterest are these beautiful candles.  Supplies: candles of your color choice, double sided tape, glitter, and a paint brush.  Carefully place the double sided tape all the way around the candle in whatever design you choose.  Then pour the glitter over the stickyness, making sure every part is covered.  After you have it all covered, brush off the excess glitter with the paint brush.  The glitter left will be very stuck on the tape and shouldn't shed much.  I placed my candles on a mirror and put on the table! 

The hospital that I work at was having a Christmas wreath auction with the proceeds benefiting the hospitals foundation.  Each department made a wreath, then they were hung in our atrium and people bid on them.  Since I am the crafty one of the respiratory therapist, I naturally did the wreath.  Unfortunately, the wreath sold for $20 less then what it cost me to make it.....but it was the joy of making it that counts.  I wish I could have kept it for myself!!

About a year ago after Christmas, I bought a Martha Stewart scoring board.  This thing is so wonderful.  I use it to make envelopes and gift boxes, and any other paper craft you can think of!  Here is a cute little gift box I made the other day.  Love the cute little Santas!!  

The joy of working at a small hospital is that you tend to make good friends with your coworkers.  One of the nurses in the ICU, Julie, I got pretty close with.  She is the one who introduced me to Shakeology, and got me working out again.  Her husband got a very large promotion and they had to move to Oklahoma.  I am very bummed about it.  A few of the nurses and I put on a little going away party for her on her last day of work.  I made this canvas for her and brought it to work.  

To give her something to remember us by, I had us all put our thumb print on the canvas and write our names by it.  

Here is the card I made with directions: "Give Julie a thumbs up for all her hard work at SMH!! Please leave your thumb print and name so Julie has something to remember you! We will miss you, Julie!!"

I really enjoy my job, and one thing I love doing is visiting my with my patients and their families.  I met a wonderful young couple who also had a love of crafting.  After sharing a few things that I love to do, she asked me if I would make her niece some Tom's.  I told her that I would love to!!  The school colors are black and orange, and their mascot is the lions.  Here are the finished Tom's!

And last, and probably least, is a ruffle shirt that I made.  I really need some work on my sewing skills, and am thinking about maybe taking some classes to learn some more techniques.  Especially with my new serger, I definitely want to learn the proper way to do things!!

Well, I hope you enjoyed it.  I have thoroughly enjoyed the crafting that I have been doing lately.  And now to go and organize my craft room!!  I may or may not have hit up Joann.com for their black friday sales, and  I may or may not have a new Cricut on its way to my house!!  Wahoo!!!! I can't wait.  

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!  The thing I am most thankful for this year is my wonderful husband.  We have been married for eight months now, and could not be happier.  

Chandelier-Boring to Glam!

I have totally been neglecting my blog lately.  So sorry, mass amount of people who read my blog (teehee).  A few weeks back I finished my first chandelier re-vamp project.  It was so much fun!!  I had been wanting to try this for so long, and I finally found the perfect project.  While I was in Hot Springs for our State Respiratory Care Society Meeting, I stopped by the Habitat Re-Store that was right down the street from the convention center.  There were a few lights, but none that really stuck out.  That had been my luck at all of the Goodwill's and Re-Stores I had been to.  Well, as I was leaving, this baby caught my eye!  I ran away with this beaut for 20 whole dollars.  

The light bulbs were all really old and most didn't work, so I knew they would have to go.  Also, the cheap-o "candlestick" look wasn't doing anything for me.  Anyways, I took off all of the little crystals  and gave the chandelier a good rub down with some lysol wipes.  

After removing all of the light bulbs, it was time to get ready to paint.  You never want to paint where the light bulbs are going to screw in, so I took paper towels and smushed them down in to place.  I also papertoweled and taped the end of the wire, I didn't want to mess up the part of the lamp that would make it work!!

I bought a can of Rustoleum Oil-Rubbed Nickel spray paint.  I wanted a paint that would match the hardware that we already have all over our house (remember its a builders new house, so everything is the same in every room).  It worked perfectly, and was so shiny in the sun!!  It took just a few coats, and a lot of different angles to make sure that every surface was painted.  

My dad happened to be coming by the house, so he showed me how to hook up the chandelier without frying myself.  Very important step--turn on the lights in the bathroom, then go turn off the breaker, if the lights go off you know the power is off!!  He and I went to Lowes and found a pretty ceiling medallion that we liked with the lamp.  Here it is in its permanent home!!  After it was hanging I replaced all of the bulbs (ones that had the "soft glow" effect to them) and I put all of the little hanging crystals back on.  I think it looks great, and LOVE walking in to the bathroom now!!  

Since we are coming up on thanksgiving, I thought I would just add a little note saying how thankful I am for my Wonderful Husband.  He is truly my best friend (and he puts up with all of my projects around the house).  We are so blessed to have the wonderful life that we have including owning our own home, and having our two wonderful furry children, Macy and Cruz.  

Macy, 8, in back.  Cruz, 7 months, in front.

Guest bathroom makeover!

Sorry it has been so long since I posted last.  Work has been a little crazy, and I have gotten myself in the middle of about a billion projects.  I personally like to do projects that I can finish in one sitting.  But I have been ambitious lately and have been doing projects that take a bit more effort.  The makeover of our guest bathroom has been one of those projects.  For a while it was just.....naked.  No decorations.  Very sad since you know.....guests happen to use the guest bathroom frequently.  So, since I had the day off work today I decided to finish decorating this poor little room.  

First stop is my Anthropologie inspired shower curtain.  These babies sell for about $140 at the store.  Not sure about most people....but I just don't have that kind of money sitting around that I can blow on a SHOWER CURTAIN.  So I did some googling....and found a few tutorials that laid out the steps to make this on my own.  Since I didn't follow one specific blog, I don't have one to give credit to on here.  Well, turns out I am a very amateur seamstress.  Having to ruffle 140 inches worth of fabric times ten...lets just say it was a job.  In fact I started this project a long time ago, got frustrated, and threw it in a corner of my craft room to collect dust.  Today I picked it up determined to tackle and finish it.  And I did! I get a cookie.  My point is, if you don't sew much, do NOT try this as your first big project, it will make you never want to see another piece of fabric ever again!! But, alas, it is finish and this beauty is now hanging with all its' glory in its forever home.     

From the shower curtain project, I had leftover strips of fabric hanging around begging me to do something with them. Fabric strip rosettes are all over the blogging world right now, so I figured why not.  Take your fabric strips, some felt and hot glue, and get your twist on.  I decided they would look pretty cute hanging above the toilet so I added some hooks and started nailing.  They look pretty okay.  Not sure they are my favorite, but for now they will work.  

Not sure if you can tell, but the picture in the frame is something that I made, and it is a fleur de lis.  I made it by using a thumb tack and punching the design through paper. The basket is holding some extra guest towels, and a cute ball with a fleur de lis! The basket also has the cute little design all the way around.  Are you sensing a theme yet??

Well just in case you didn't get it, I added these cute little fleur de lis door knobs on the cabinets below the sink to finish it off.  

I absolutely love that the bathroom is finally finished!!! I feel proud to have our guests use it now.  The next blog will be dedicated to the chandelier that I made and that is now hanging in our master bathroom!  

Happy Tuesday, everyone!