From Vanity to End Tables

I love big trash day mostly for the possibility of there being something great, but not because I usually find anything worth taking.  Usually its - well, for lack of a better term - trash!

But this month was different.  This month that persons trash was my treasure.  Here's what was sitting across the street from my house:

I didn't get a chance to get over there all day, but was itching to know what it was, so after yoga my two lovely sisters-in-law went to check it out and report back.  I do not need more furniture, but for something this great (and free!), I will find a place.

It was obviously missing the mirror, but the only thing wrong with it, besides a few dings, was that it was missing one of the eight wheels.  It has all the original hardware, the drawers work and the details on the front are beautiful.

The middle shelf unscrewed easily from the sides to make two end tables the perfect height.  Just a little sanding and staining where the shelf came off, a wheel from the antique mall and some orange oil and elbow grease and VOILA!

Two beautiful new end tables.

- Jen

Garden Trellis

Well, our garden for the summer is just about over, but it worked particularly well this year due to one major thing.  A trellis:

And lots of helpers!

It just gets too darn hot here in the summer to grow anything.  Well, that or its too hot to be outside long enough to water the garden in order for things to grow....but either way, last year's garden was a bust.  

We built the garden up a bit this year and we planted some grapes outside of it which, of course, needed something to climb. 

And then this handy guy I know (thank you Love!) built a trellis (all out of his own head) that gave us both a shade for the garden AND a trellis for the grapes.  It looks really nice (I think he wanted to be in on the blog!).

Everything seemed to thrive.  The melons (that I'm sure I never planted) managed to squeeze up through the top, but were none the worse for a little extra sun.

 

The lettuce and beans did great.  The jalapenos and tomatoes put in a good showing, but the watermelon and cucumbers were still failures.  Next year we're planting more of the mystery melon (we think it was honeydew) because it was delicious!

And hopefully in a couple of years the grapes will be producing.  We're keeping our fingers crossed.

- Jen

Baby Toys

So its not EXACTLY refashioned, but I did a little recycling when I made these. Plus they turned out super cute!  Anyway, on to the project....

First, I had a little nephew on the way (who is now three months!) and wanted a special present for him so that I would be his favorite auntie!  So this is what I came up with:

I wanted the pages to be cute AND fun, so, to make it crunchy when you touch it, in between each page is a cereal box liner which I just sewed in when I put the pages together. Like this:

I think the most difficult part was trying to figure out how to do the words. I wanted to make sure they were all the same size (and that you could read them), but an embroidery pencil doesn't work on felt, so in the end I had to get creative, but it worked really well.  Probably people more experienced than I do this all the time, but I thought I was a genius!

I wrote out each word on paper, stitched over the letters and then peeled the paper away. Worked like a charm!  And then the rest came together easily.  Heres a look at the pages:

This next toy is for a baby dedication we are going to this weekend.  Just a simple little bird.

My favorite part is the legs!  This one also has the cereal box liner, but I only put it on the front side and  if I were to make it again I would have lined the back also for maximum crunch.  I also thought of stuffing it with shredded cereal box liner, but thought that might not be the safest thing for a baby if she managed to get the thing pulled apart!  So I stuck with a cut up old sock (clean, of course!).  

Its good baby hand size, bright and hopefully crunchy enough to keep her interest.  Something special for this special day.

-Jen

New Velvet Headboard, Same Old Bed

My husband didn't want to get a new bed, but I was ready for a change.  So I built a frame that hooks over the old headboard and upholstered it in velvet.  It is so cozy and I can't believe I waited so long.  I bought my first staple gun.  Love staple guns...

Ikea bed before:


Building the frame:

 

 

View from the back - messy, but keeps the original headboard protected:

I fiddled around with covering buttons, but the fabric was too thick.  Staples weren't strong enough to hold all of the layers.  So I ended up using dark bronze screws with washers (I needed the washers to keep the fabric from pulling up around the screws.)  We can call it "industrial chic," even if it was serendipitous.

Way easier than I had worried all this time.  Especially if you don't need to work over an existing headboard and just start with a piece of plywood the right size.

Supplies:

• fabric
• egg carton mattress pad for tufting.
• screws, washers
• staple gun
• power drill
• wood

~ Kellie

New rug!

It's been forever since I posted anything. I either forget to take a before picture or I haven't done anything. The latter is the most likely. Anyway, I am on summer break, so I have some time to do stuff!  I've been looking for a rug for my living room for the better part of 5 years.  I'm both picky and cheap, so it's been a long haul. On a recent trip to Home Goods (TJ Maxx) I saw a yellow and white chevron rug in woven cotton, but it was half the size of what I needed. Boo! They had two of them though, and at $15 a piece, I laid them out on the store floor to see if they somewhat lined up. It's not a perfect match of the lines, but it's close enough for me. I had to make Eddie swear he wouldn't obsess. :)  I already had the thread on hand, so there was no additional cost for that. Only HOURS of hand sewing them together.  I suppose some people could use a machine, but I wasn't willing to break mine to find out. After $30 and a few episodes of Myth Busters and a viewing of Nanny McPhee, I have a new rug.  Now to get a sticky liner so no one cracks their head open. :)

Before:
2 rugs becoming one (Avert your eyes!)

After:

I pretty much love it. I also know of two cats that will die if they hack up a furball on it.

Christmas Hats

I know this is going back a while, but I haven't posted things in a while, so you're all going to get a few out of date projects until I catch up to the relevant posts!  As you can see from the title, this one's from Christmas.  Using one old sweater and a borrowed sewing machine here's what I came up with for 2 nieces, and a nephew for Christmas (out of one sweater!). I also made some gloves, but I forgot to get a picture of those....oops!

The models are pretty stinkin' cute too, though that one up top (as you can see) was not such a willing participant!  I used one of my husbands old t-shirts for lining since the felted wool from the sweater would be itchy on little foreheads.

I love all the different colored stripes.  You could wear them with anything.  Plus I just kept getting new ideas as I made them.  Here's the detail on the owl hat.

So, there you have it.

-Jen

Valentine Card Party

Ok, so I'm a bit slow in getting these things posted, but better late than never, right?  Right?!

I always feel awkward at those home parties where your friends invite you to their home and then you get there and its just a big sales pitch.  I actually enjoy the stamping/crafty ones...up until the end when the sales lady is waiting for me to make an order.  I would rather just hang out with my friends and make cards without feeling guilty for using the supplies and then not buying something and thereby making my friends look bad for having cheap friends!

So, this was MY version of a card party:

I emailed my friends and family and invited them to brunch at my house on a Saturday.  I would provide the food and drinks if they would come, bearing any crafty/card-making supplies they cared to share and make cards with me.  I have to admit I have some pretty creative friends and family and they all had different things to bring to the proverbial table.

There were quite a few are scrapbookers (all kinds of cool gear).  My contribution was card stock and embroidery floss.  And then there were ribbons and paint and glitter and paint swatches from the hardware store, fabric, fancy pens and scissors and so much more...

I did provide one template for those who couldn't get their creative juices flowing (I found it on martha stewart's website).

And then we just went for it.  The idea was you could make a valentine card (or 4 or 6 or 10), but then we got carried away and just started making whatever came to mind.  It was hard to remember to stop for food!

So much fun! And nobody went home any poorer!

-Jen