Rocking Chair Cushion

After finishing Jonah's rocking chair it still wasn't looking... well... finished? So I made a cushion.

At first I thought the fabric I chose would be too girly. It's a teal/robin egg blue and the designs are brown. But I think it'll go great in his room. And I have a lot left over so I can use it for something else too!

 

Complete with ties on the back and everything! I'm pretty proud of my sewing work, I didn't even use a pattern.

The cushion is a little small in comparison to the chair seat, I didn't account for it shrinking up a little after I stuffed it. Lesson learned.

Jonah's big bro' has been loving his chair. I can't wait to set it up in Jonah's room!

 

 

Rocking Chair Refinish

Even though we're moving 3000 miles to a new house before Jonah's arrival, I've still been busy working on things for his room. So that I won't have much to do but set it all up when we get into our new house.

Two-ish weeks ago I found this rickety, old rocking chair at Goodwill for $10 bucks. I almost passed it up because it was (in all honesty) pretty gross. But that's nothing some bleach wipes and some wood glue couldn't fix.

[All cleaned up and ready to start the makeover]

I can remember loving a little rocking chair like this when I was little. If I'm not mistaken, my grandparents bought all of their grandchildren one. I loved mine, and I wanted to continue the tradition onto my kids. Jack was already lovin' it when we brought it home, he even helped me clean it up. And with a little sprucing up, it'll be perfect in Jonah's old-timey nursery.

First thing I did was take those weird little plastic cuffs off the rockers. I think they were originally put on to help keep the chair from rocking too far forwards or backwards. I'm all for safety but they were yellowed and yuck. Also, if you look closely at the picture you'll see what looks like a tan jewelry box attached to one of the rockers in the back. It took us a while, but we figured out that it was "supposed" to play a lullaby tune when the chair is being rocked. It sort of sounded like a dying cat. So off it came, as well.

After a coat of primer and a base coat of brown paint here's what it looked like:

I know, I know "Kate, why did you prime it just to paint it back brown?"

Here's why... Look closely, that shiny coating that's half covering the seat? It's crackle paint!

[Americana Weathered Wood Crackle Medium]

As I mentioned before, Jonah's nursery is going to be antique, old-timey, and adorable if I do say so myself. I've been waiting for the chance to use this stuff, and this was the perfect opportunity! *happy dance* After the crackle paint went on, I added the top coat, creamy white.

And here's a close up of the crackle effect:

Pretty cool huh?

It wasn't too terribly hard to work with. You just have to make sure to do one swift brushstroke of the top coat, otherwise the crackle medium causes the top coat to separate too much. (It's hard to explain what happens, but trust me it just looks weird).

And here's what happens when you forget to even put the crackle medium on:

Oops! Ah well, at least it's on the underside so no one will see it... right?

Here's the finished product!

It's not perfect, but I kind of like it that way. There's places where the paint isn't even (lots of them, because I made it), but I think it still turned out pretty darn good. 

What do you think?

The chair cost me $10 and the crackle medium was $4. (I already had the brown and cream white). So, total = $14!

Next up, a cushion for the seat!

Munchkin's Table Makeover

TWO craft posts in one week? You got it!

I'm bad about going into the thrift store/Goodwill with a list of things I already have a plan for... And coming out with things that I have no plan for that will have a plan eventually :)

This little guy was one of them

Doesn't he just looked so sad and helpless! It looks like he might have been a Precious Moments table at a time long, long ago. But everyone deserves a second chance, right? So I snatched him up and bought him at Goodwill for $2.99 and brought him home to start his restoration right away! (that was the plan, I've actually had this table since November and just now got around to fixin' him up, sorry lil' guy!)

Much to my excitment, my wonderful husband jumped at the chance to help me with a project! And I am definitely not one to turn down help with sanding! We decided to use colors to go along with Jack's toy shelf (Or I picked out the colors and they just happened to sort of coordinate, whatever)

After the first coats of paint, still looking pretty rough. Oh and of course we primed it first. HOW could I almost forget that... My son actually spilled the whole can of primer on our kitchen floor. Thank goodness for mineral spirits! We just used plain ole' acrylic paints from Apple Barrel seen in the picture.

The colors match up better than these two pictures make it seem (the picture of the storage bin organizer is from Target's website so the lighting is different). After many, many coats of base paint, I then had to decide what I wanted to do with the table top. Being the "teacher's kid" that I am, I drew from ideas that would help him with his development and learning. Colors and letters! I would paint letters and numbers in all different colors! So that he can point, and ask, and learn! My next dilemma, how do I get the letters/numbers to look somewhat NOT like my son actually did them.

And then.. I found my solution while taking a potty break, litterally.

Behold, Jack's bath toys. Foam letters and numbers included *happy dance*

FYI, they make awesome stamps! And acrylic paints wash out with soap & water so no harm done, they can go back to your child's bathtub after use.

This picture is a little blurry but you can see the start of my stamping (using the same colors I used for the legs). By the end, there were some letters/numbers missing because I think our bathtub ate some of them, but oh well.

And here's the little guy all finished, sealed with some polycrylic, and looking much happier in his new home!

Sorry the picture quality is so bad! But you can see in the second picture, Jack is enjoying his new munchkin table!

Now just have to find some munchkin chairs to go with it! Ikea? I think so :)

P.S. I'm linking to:

Nifty Thrifty - Monogrammed Christmas Wreath

After reading about one of my best friend's latest craft adventure, I decided I must follow in her footsteps and make a monogrammed wreath of my own!

Click to see Kellee's wreath

Here's mine:

My wreath's total cost ended up being FIVE DOLLARS! That's 20-25% of what a typical 24in wreath costs. Yes, I'm pretty proud of that.

I used suction-cup hooks to hang it on the door. They were $2 for a 2pck.

This is my first "Nifty Thrifty" that I have put together using NOTHING from the thrift store. And still managed to save a lot.

The plain 24in. wreath is from Target, I bought a tube of mini-bulb ornaments there as well for $1. (They were in the front in the little dollar section of knick-knacks every Target store has). And the white ribbon I used to make the bow, I already had at home.

The monogram is made totally out of materials I already had at home. I used cardboard from a diaper box to make the actual "D". Oh, and duct tape.. CAMO duct tape at that. haha. (left over from Jeff's homecoming). After I had the shape I wanted, I covered it in Modpodge, then ripped up scrapbook paper scraps (black, white, and red), and then another coat of Modpodge. Originally I had planned for that to be it's finished look.. but my OCD kicked in and I couldn't stand that it didn't have some sort of pattern. So I wrapped silver ribbon all around it (The kind you tie to balloons). And then stuck some scrapbook stickers on it spelling "D-A-V-I-S".

 mini ornaments, the "D", and the bow are all hot-glued onto the wreath. And WAAAAA-LAA!

DONE!

Nifty Thrifty 10.24.10

First thing's first, I have a nifty thrifty for you today!

So, remember that boquet Kellee made me from pipe cleaners and cupcake liners?

(If not you can see her post about it HERE)

And here's a picture of the one she made 'specially for me!

Give it a little flare with a vase I picked up from my FAVorite place (aka the thrift store).. and a shelf I already had to park it's cute little self on and...

It has a new home on my bathroom wall!

Thanks Kellee!

The actual boquet was a homemade gift (I'm going to guess about $3 to make), the vase was $1, and the shelf I got at a thrift store in Ohio a while ago for $1. So total cost =$5!

And you could also add some small candles to either side of the vase to spiff it up even more!

Nifty Thrifties Oct 18

Here's my introduction to a new series I'm starting called "Nifty Thrifties". (I'm on a roll lately huh? with WonderWoman Wednesdays and now this...) Anyways, posts tagged with "Nifty Thrifties" will featured items I have found at a thrift store, or goodwill, or for REALLY cheap (probably clearance) at a department store. I bring them home, give them a little TLC and/or add some creative flare and waaaalaaaa! You get to see the before and after pictures and break downs of costs, along with what I did and how I did it. Hope you likey!

Since we moved into our new house in May, I've been slowly, VERY slowly adding decor items when we can afford them. For the first couple months, I was looking for cute stuff in IKEA, and Target, etc. Realizing just how ridicously expensive that stuff is, I decided there HAD to be a cheaper way to make your home look... homey?

So I began to do some research with blogs, and DIY magazines and websites, etc. One of my absolute favorite blogs to stalk daily for creative inspiration I mean, browse every once in while ;) is She's Crafty. Rachelle posts great stuff, and is amazingly talented! You should definitely check her out.

Now, that I have you saying "I wanna see some nifty thrifties!"... Here ya go!

I bought this hideous frame from the Goodwill store in Lacey, WA. It was 99 cents, and I couldn't pass it up. Aside from being fairly atroucious in color and pattern, it was in great condition!

And here's what a can of black spray paint ($1) and a FREE collage from Walgreens can do for an ugly old frame! (Thank you Thrifty NW Mom for letting me know about the free collage!)

So with the cost of the thrifted frame (99cents), and the cost of the can of spray paint ($1), and a FREE collage. We have a total cost of under 2 bucks for this bad boy!

I have another item to share today, my mirror makeover. I found this mirror at the same goodwill as the previous one. It too was in pretty good condition for the price ($2.99) and only setback was a missing divider bar. (This picture was taken after I removed the mirror for painting)

I used the same can of spray paint for this frame, added some scrapbook stickers, and bought a wall hanger because the original was missing. For a total of $5.49 invested, here is the end result

Sorry for the bad photo qualtiy. I'll take some more of the entire wall later on, in daylight. The frame is about 2ft by 1-1/2 ft. Pretty good size, and and its monogrammed with "The Davis Family".

Hope you enjoyed my first "Nifty Thrifties" Post.. I'm currently working on a kiddy table I found today (Again, at Goodwill) for $3! So be on the lookout for those pictures soon!