Applique Onesie Tutorial

It’s football season and that means cheering for our favorite team! Alex and I were born and raised cheese heads so our blood runs green and gold even though we live in Viking country. Of course when Elizabeth arrived she was destined to become a Packer fan from the start and now that it’s football season I decided she needed her own Packer apparel to wear for games.

Instead of going the pre-bought route I decided to see if I could come up with something to make. I’ve made a couple appliqued onesies for her before so I thought going this route would be fun! Of course, if your blood runs different colors you can change it up for your favorite team. If you happen to be a Viking fan, “SKOL Vikings” might be fun for the front. I love using applique on onesies because not only is it beyond easy the finished product is unique and super cute!

Note: I never do anything perfectly so the final product is not perfect. That being said, I tend to like the imperfections … gives the final product character:)

Before you start appliqueing there are a few things you need to gather.

-a shirt/article of clothing

-fabric

-fusible web

-either a sewing machine or floss to finish it off

I used this type of fusible web that I found at JoAnn Fabrics:

Next, trace out your design onto the fusible web. Follow the directions…there are 2 pieces of paper stuck together, trace backwards onto the one with the sticky backing.

Then, cut out your design. Layout the design onto your article of clothing.

Remove the paper and adhere to the article of clothing.

Iron the design to adhere. 10-20 seconds is good on the cotton setting.

Once the fabric is set on the article of clothing you can either machine stitch around the edge, leave it as is, or hand stitch with floss and an embroidery needle around the edges. It’s up to you. I tend to hand stitch because I like the way the finished product looks but it’s a personal choice. Either way the applique should stay put once washed. I’ve never had an issue!

Enjoy the finished product and cheering for your home team!

Go Pack Go!

Here’s a view of the back:

DIY Ruffle Lampshade

Elizabeth’s room is almost finished. Finally. So many projects were slated for completion in the last few weeks of my pregnancy and then BAM…my water breaks early. So it’s taken some time to get them done but we’re in the home stretch.
When we compiled a vision for her room so many little details were missing. The bigger key components were there, but little items like the lamp were awaiting discovery. Not wanting to spend a lot on a lamp…(they’re expensive!)…I kept my eye out at our local goodwill. Seriously, great lamp shopping there! And I came home one day with a vintage charmer that I fully expected to spray paint and be done. But then the charm won us over. Well, it won Alex over first. And then I was faced with the task of finding a shade. Again, why are these things so expensive! And of course, anything with a little style was even more $$$. So DIY it was. I found the shade at IKEA for $2 that fit the lamp and so I used that. It was pink. Then I searched and found a simple tutorial online for a ruffled lampshade and knew it was easy enough for even my novice sewing skills. (but you don’t really need to machine sew this)
So enough rambling…here’s how you ruffle:)

Cut fabric into any size strip…mine were around 2” wide.

You can either hand sew or machine sew a straight stitch down the middle of the fabric. When you have all strips sewn you are on to step 3.

You can either sew the edges down or leave them be. I left them because I didn’t mind the unfinished look. Then clean up the edges. Then to make the ruffle pull one of the threads from the straight stitch while slowly pulling on the fabric. You will need to keep pulling the fabric down in order to keep ruffling. You can make the ruffle as tight or loose as you like.

Then use a glue gun to attach the ruffle to your lamp shade.

Isn’t it gorgeous…and easy peasy!

quick coat

I’m cheap.  Well, not really cheap but I am very frugal.  I wasn’t always this way, that’s for another post.  In fact, in the past I never would have thought to repurpose something.  But then marriage happened and I was taught some hard but very rewarding lessons about money. Now I’m all about repurposing and besides being “frugal” is all the rage again.  Simple living at its best.

When it came to our little living room revamp the entire project cost us less than $425.  If you subtract the furniture that we bought with some Christmas money we saved for that purpose then we did the whole thing for around $160.  Not bad at all. 

*note we pay cash for everything that we do. it’s a habit the hubby had been doing all his adult life and one I quickly adapted when we got married.  so we’ve been saving for this little spruce up.  kind of like young house love*

But one thing I’ve learned to love and now I love it more than anything, is holding a can of spray paint in my hand and revamping something.  Case in point, we’ve revamped so many inexpensive flower pots and now for the living room, I brought out the cans again.  Enter our gold mirror and the tray on the end table. 


                  Before                                                            After

                                                    During

I was lucky to do this in more moderate winter weather.  I do NOT recommend spraying things in your home in the dead of winter because of the toxic fumes.  I wore a mask and had many windows open.  This is best done in a garage, or outside when the weather is nicer.  You do have to be cautious of the outdoor temperature as noted on the can of spray paint.

I first laid out the drop cloth, because the issue of overspray is very real.  I then lined the mirror portion with newspaper to ensure the mirror would not get coated in paint.  But if it does, it’s easy to remove with a razor blade or paint thinner.  I used “hammered black” for the mirror and “antique white” for the tray.  It’s as easy as pie.

If you’re curious of our budget, here’s the breakdown on costs:

2 Nils chairs (Ikea): $160 for 2
1 Bjorkudden Table (Ikea): $100
Gallon of wall paint (Menards): $18
Quart of table paint (Menards): $12
Floral chair: repurposed from our office (a chair from storage took it’s place)
2 napkins=new pillow cover (west elm): $8
Mercury votive (west elm): $5
Gray square ottoman (tjmaxx): $7
Tray on end table (Target): $5
7 Frames (Ikea): ~ $90
Wall art: FREE (paper and pictures we had on hand or made)
Pillow Covers (Ikea & west elm): Striped $7, Red w/buttons $9

Totals:  $421 (with furniture)
           $161 (without dining furniture)

Not bad if you ask me considering we’ve been slowly putting away into the fix up fund for the living room/dining room.  And the fact that we have a dining table and chairs again, well that’s PRICELESS. 

Dinner conversation is SO worth it.  Seriously.  I’ve been waiting for this.  Having meaningful conversation with my husband most nights of the week instead of watching Wheel of Fortune or old episodes of the Office, is so refreshing.  I’m not gonna lie, we still fall into our old patterns:)

redecorate

Inspiration 101.

Note this next week will mark the beginning of a minor transformation at our house.  *note* I said minor.

In the past we have flipped a few houses and in turn we have acquired some great furniture that we bought and also that we inherited from our family.  The chair in the top corner is one of my favorite inheritances.  Not only is it incredibly comfortable but it has some great style as well.  Other than the couch, side/coffee tables and some of our bedroom furniture, everything else we bought to stage our flip house was not our style.  So out with the old and in with the new. 

Ever since I was little I've loved decorating.  As a kid I would beg my mother to my my friends and I poster board.  On this poster board we would trace out a house, fill in the rooms, and then proceed to add the furniture.  It looked a lot like the game "Race to the Roof" if you have ever played it.  I'm not sure what prompted this love, maybe it was that our family toured the Parade of Homes every spring and fall, maybe it was my builder uncle, maybe it was the roommate in college who I lived vicarously through as she worked her way to a degree in Interior Design.  You shouldn't be surprised that one of the first dates my hubby and I went on was to the Luxury Home Tour.  I think I begged, laid forth obvious clues, and almost bought the tickets myself...I wanted to go that bad.  

Then again, it shouldn't surprise you that I married someone in this field, he's a Design/Build Remodeler and that I love working with my husband.  Probably why flipping 2 homes filled me with ecstatic joy, well until it came to selling them.  Good thing the Lord saw fit to bless that.  We've been saving, selling, and purging stuff from our house and now we are ready to restyle it a bit with more of our taste.

But back to the issues at hand.  Our living room has now been purged of two very uncomfortable chairs and the beautiful chair above has replaced them near the fireplace.  Now I need your help.  This next week while the hubby is off skiing in Colorado I will be here, paint brush in hand, repainting the awful peachy tan we put up on the walls over a year ago with a beautiful pale gray.  I will also be hopefully revamping the table above, it's the Bjorkudden from Ikea, and it will either turn a darker gray or a lighter putty color.

 

What would you choose? 

Chairs for the table are still under debate...I love the chairs above, lower left, for their versatility and low price.  Ikea again.  Either in white or gray, still undecided.  But they seem like the perfect chair not only for dining but for moving around to the living room for extra seating that is still comfortable.

Also we are hoping to incorporate my grandparents old record player cabinet.  The hope is to revamp it into a bar cabinet after removing the stereo components.  Don't worry when we actually get to this, I'll post pictures:) 

Pillows and accessories above.  Will wait until these go on sale, that's why I mentioned above this is going to take a bit.  After all, it's just a *minor* transformation:)

homemade christmas decor

I like trying to be crafty.

I usually try to pick things that are easy and inexpensive but don’t look cheap.  Sometimes I succeed and other times I fail.  But this idea I think was a success.

Yarn Trees.

Yup, I have a thing for trees around the holidays.  I just can’t stay away.  Last year I acquired all my natural and glitter trees for about a dollar after Christmas and thinking they needed some friends, this year I added some made from yarn.


Wish I could say I came up with the idea but I actually spotted a finished one at Michaels.  Which of course led me to the paper mache cone aisle to grab the necessary supplies.

Because I am a knitting failure I have plenty of unused yarn around our house.  I chose the gray which I think blends nicely with the rest of the forest!  Along with some adhesive we were set to go.  This project is extremely easy, would be good for kids, and is really fun.

(plain cone on left/finished on right.  I used mod podge for my adhesive.)

Steps:
1.  Paint mod podge onto first quarter of cone, repeating as you go farther down the cone.
2.  Starting at the top, press one inch of yarn down from the tip and then start winding the yarn around that 1 inch piece to hold the starting line in place and to create a tip at the top.
3. . Continue winding adding more adhesive when you run out of room.
Next project:  Coffee Filter Wreath

linen pinboard

Linen Pinboard courtesy of Pottery Barn 

For a slight hiatus from vacation postings, don’t worry I have the rest of the trip coming soon, I had to post a project I completed yesterday. 

Inspired by many bloggers and Pottery Barn, I armed myself with my glue gun, linen fabric and a cheap corkboard from Ikea.  I was going to use our staple gun but I couldn’t find it and Alex wasn’t home.  Next time though, I will use the staple gun, I forgot how hot glue can be and my hands did not appreciate it:)

So back to the project…I have been craving a way for my jewelry to be more accessible and on display so I will actually wear it.  Yup, it’s normally hidden in a box on my nightstand but I wanted it in a place where I could see it.  Enter the closet.  Perfect spot.  You grab clothes there so why not grab jewelry too.

After pulling and adhering the fabric to the pinboard I was ecstatic to see that my hard work?!? resulted in the perfect jewelry holder:

 

From spendy to inexpensive, rounding out a whopping $10,

I’m in Love:)

decor on the dollar

My favorite place to find art?  Nope, not Target or Homegoods, not the Salvation Army or a thrift store.  My favorite places to find art are at Archivers (or other paper stores) or my own computer.  Surprised?

I’ve found paper to be incredibly cheap (under $1) and to create really fun art throughout our house. Some areas where we have paper as art?  Our bedroom and the hubby's bathroom.

















The paper in the frames I got at Archiver’s for under $1 a piece.  And yes, we each have a picture of the other on our nightstand, we’re dorks like that.  I mean who wouldn’t want to wake up like that:)



And this piece of paper, again was under a dollar.  But the real reason this was a winner, well because the hubby loves vintage art, especially art relating to golf, I mean how perfect is that!

Now for computer generated art.  If you have a word processing program and a color printer you are on your way to great wall art.  It’s as easy as that.  This is the print that I made for my bathroom.  I love the idea of Scripture art but I don’t love the traditional look.  So I made it in a more modern way on the computer and now it’s a great way to get my mind ready for the day as I get my body ready.  Perfect!

(Psalm 62:1-2)

One of my favorite home blogs is Young House Love.  Check out some of their great homemade art on the cheap:)

http://www.younghouselove.com/2010/08/reader-redesign-create-barrel/
http://www.younghouselove.com/2010/04/nursery-progress-adding-some-art/

Happy Decorating!

a little more girly…

And a little more manly.  I’m talking about our bathrooms.  For almost 4 years, the hubby and I have shared a bathroom despite the fact that we have 2 bathrooms!  I decided that this year we would try out having separate bathrooms and see how it worked.

The main reason for the change?  The bathroom we shared is connected to the hubby's office and other than the summer, when I’m up and out of the house before he starts work, having the shower going while trying to work just doesn’t cut it. I mean who wants to be on the phone and hear the toilet flush or shower going..Eww!

Since I’ve always wanted to incorporate pink into our color scheme, I transformed the other bathroom into the perfect girly space while changing a couple things in the existing bathroom to make it a little more manly.
So here they are, our “new” bathrooms!

Mine:    
                             
        

Cost Breakdown: 
-New Shower Curtain $10, Ikea Candle $4, Ikea Frames $15 Total: $29

The rest of the items we had and I grabbed them out of hiding for the bathroom.  We picked up the iconic “Keep Calm and Carry On” postcard at the Imperial War Museum in London last year, before they became the “IT” thing:)  Also the other picture is one I made thanks to a sheet of paper and our printer…more on that later.

Now for the manly space:

Updates:  A new picture, totaling $1 for the piece of paper.  Again I grabbed things out of hiding for this bathroom too and the color scheme is more masculine with greens, orange, and red. 

All it takes is a little imagination and basically, some paper:)